Government

The Anderson Valley Post is reporting that the job of Eureka’s next police chief has been offered to Michael Johnson, a former EPD sergeant who was involved in the fatal 2006 shooting of 49-year-old Eureka resident Cheri Lyn Moore. Eureka City Manager Bill Panos yesterday confirmed that a job offer had been made but declined […]

Hezekiah Allen, an Arcata resident who recently announced his run for the 2nd District seat in the state Assembly, has launched a change.org petition urging the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors to reconsider actions it took on June 3 — namely, swapping out a long-established and publicly vetted set of guiding principles in the county’s […]

When it comes to planning for the future, Humboldt Bay Harbor District CEO Jack Crider is focusing on achievable near-term goals while casting a skeptical eye toward the resurgence of rail service. He recently announced that the district is paying $19,500 for a financial pre-feasibility study that will analyze the potential of restoring rail service […]

The tie-breaking vote fell to 5th District Supervisor Ryan Sundberg, much to his chagrin. At today’s meeting, all five county supervisors commended the two high-quality candidates for the board of the North Coast Railroad Authority — Dan Hauser, a political veteran who served in the state Assembly, helped create the NCRA and spent two years […]

Next Monday, two county supervisors will call into question the 12 principles that have been guiding the county’s general plan update since March 2004. In an email to Planning Director Kevin Hamblin sent yesterday evening, 2nd District Supervisor Estelle Fennell offered a draft of 11 rewritten guiding principles. She explained that she’s “been hearing from […]

I suppose this is what you end up with when you rename an airport by committee — an unwieldy 13-syllable Franken-name that no one will ever use in conversation. Ever. Today the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted five-zip to change the name of the Arcata-Eureka Airport to (deep breath) “California Redwood Coast — Humboldt […]

A pair of lawsuits against the North Coast Railroad Authority have been dismissed by a Marin County judge, who ruled that federal law has precedence over state environmental regulations when it comes to railroad operations. Friends of the Eel River and Californians for Alternatives to Toxics (CATs) filed separate suits against the NCRA two years […]

Third District Supervisor Mark Lovelace — the sole dissenting vote on the supervisor-approved settlement — explained his decision in an email this afternoon: “Ultimately, I believe this case was politically motivated from the start, and I’m confident the court would have recognized that the County has consistently complied with the public records act in good […]

The years-long, controversial tenure of Humboldt County Airport Manager Jacquelyn Hulsey is over — she handed in her resignation this week just as budget shortfalls were threatening several county aviation jobs. Hulsey drew fire for her handling of an airplane disappearance in 2009 that left two men presumably dead and a months-long unexplained paid leave. […]