A Southern California nonprofit filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday alleging that Anthem Blue Cross misled millions of customers when rolling out its plans under the Affordable Care Act, leaving many enrollees on the hook for large out-of-pocket expenses. According to a report in the Sacramento Bee, the suit alleges that the insurance giant published inaccurate provider networks, causing many customers […]
Crime
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Father, Son Killed in Alleged Fortuna DUI
A 74-year-old man and his 53-year-old son were both killed Thursday night in a suspected DUI crash on Fortuna’s Drake Hill Road, the California Highway Patrol reported this morning. According to the CHP, Jacky Martin, 53, of San Francisco, was driving a 2004 Mini Cooper southbound on Ronald Avenue toward Drake Hill Road with his […]
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Coroner IDs 26-year-old Killed in 101 Crash
The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office has identified the Arcata woman killed in a rollover crash north of Redcrest Saturday as 26-year-old Camille Louise Rand. The crash occurred at about 8:30 p.m. when Jonathan Rosales, 35, of Bayside, was driving his 2005 Dodge Ram pickup southbound on U.S. Highway 101, lost control of the truck, causing […]
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Willow Creek Hit-and-Run Victim Identified
The pedestrian killed in a hit-and-run collision in Willow Creek on Saturday has been identified as 22-year-old Manuel Alejandro Garcia. Humboldt County Deputy Coroner Roy Horton said Garcia appeared to have been walking on the shoulder of the westbound lane of State Route 299, where it makes a sweeping left-hand turn in front of Buddy’s […]
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Jail Death Investigated: Updated
UPDATE: According to Sheriff’s Lt. Wayne Hanson, the man who died in the jail has been identified as Daren Ethan Borges, 42, of Eureka. An autopsy is scheduled for Saturday. PREVIOUSLY: Officials are investigating the death of an inmate inside the Humboldt County Correctional Facility. According to a news release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s […]
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Kneeland Man Taps Eccentric, Powerhouse Lawyer for Murder Defense
After months of telling a federal court he intended to plead guilty to charges that he murdered one of the workers tending his marijuana farm, a Kneeland man has reconsidered and appears ready to take his case to trial. Mikal Xylon Wilde, 32, was indicted federally March 1, 2012 on six counts, including murder in […]
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Biologist Gets 10 Months for Yurok Grift
A judge today sentenced a local biologist to serve 10 months in prison for his role in conspiring to embezzle nearly $1 million in federal funds from the Yurok Tribe over a three-year period beginning in 2007, according to Yurok Tribal Chairman Thomas O’Rourke. Mad River Biologists founder Ron LeValley pleaded guilty in February to […]
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Prosecutors Weighing Death Penalty in Murder Case
The Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office is still in the process of deciding whether to pursue the death penalty against a 22-year-old man accused of brutally stabbing a man to death in a wooded area outside of McKinleyville last year. Police arrested Michael Raymond Youravish June 19, 2013, hours after finding the body of Forrest […]
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Harbor Commissioner to Stand Trial in Poaching Case
A superior court judge ruled today that there is sufficient evidence to hold Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District Commissioner Aaron Newman to stand trial on poaching and perjury charges. Newman was arrested June 8 and has pleaded not guilty to a total of eight charges in the case, which alleges that he lied […]
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Park Service: Burl Poacher Pinched
An Orick man was arrested recently on suspicion of hacking burl out of redwood trees on public land a year ago and selling them to a nearby burl souvenir shop. Danny E. Garcia is facing charges of grand theft, vandalism and receiving stolen property stemming from the discovery of a badly damaged tree in Redwood […]
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McKinleyville Man Facing 8 Life Sentences Granted Mistrial
A McKinleyville man was sitting in the proverbial executioner’s chair last week when the power went out. Timothy Floyd Littlefield was facing eight life sentences in state prison without the possibility of parole stemming from convictions on 11 child molestation charges when he stood before Humboldt County Superior Court Judge John Feeney last week at […]
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The Revolving Door
If you just got out of prison, chances are you’re going back — and soon — according to a recent study by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. The study — which analyzed recidivism rates of prisoners released in 30 states between 2005 and 2010 — found that about two-thirds of people released from state prisons are […]