At the request of the city of Arcata, a court hearing today on a workplace restraining order for Councilmember Brett Watson was continued to December, without objection from Watson’s attorney, and both sides also agreed to have Arcata Police Chief Brian Ahearn search Watson’s house “immediately” for possible firearms. The city’s attorney Tom O’Connell told […]
Government
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Universities Can’t Yank Financial Aid from Students Who Get Private Scholarships, New Law Says
As Dixie Samaniego prepared for her first semester at California State University Fullerton, she had one focus: finding a way to pay. “I knew that my family wasn’t going to be able to pay, or help in any way financially,” said Samaniego, now a senior, “so I started applying to scholarships everywhere.” As a low-income […]
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Supes Decide Not to Censure Bushnell
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday decided not to censure Supervisor Michelle Bushnell after an outside investigation found she mistreated an employee during a meeting last December, with several of her fellow board members citing the Second District representative’s efforts to address the situation, including attending trainings. In a 4-0 vote, with Bushnell […]
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Supes to Consider Bushnell Censure
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors is set Tuesday to consider the public censure of Supervisor Michelle Bushnell after an investigation sustained an allegation that the Second District representative mistreated a Planning Department staff member during a December of 2021 meeting. The staff report states the “board action is limited to public censure,” which would […]
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CDC’s Move Paves Way for California to Require School COVID Vaccines — But Lawmakers Have Given Up for Now
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccination advisors voted last week to recommend all children get the COVID-19 vaccine, a move that does not change California’s list of vaccines required for children to attend school. The addition of the COVID-19 vaccine to the CDC’s recommended vaccines for kids is not a mandate for […]
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What You Need to Know About the California Governor Debate
After months of an extraordinarily quiet race, in which Gov. Gavin Newsom has barely even acknowledged his own campaign for re-election, the Democrat came out blazing Sunday in the only gubernatorial debate, relentlessly attacking his Republican challenger as a stooge of oil companies who has obstructed his every effort to solve the biggest problems facing […]
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Agency Battling Wage Theft is Too Short-staffed to Do Its Job
For decades California’s lawmakers and regulators have taken aim at employers who rob their workers of pay, overtime premiums, tips and other forms of compensation. Just last year, legislators made certain instances of wage theft a felony. They also fixed their sights on wage theft in the garment industry, eliminating some longstanding pay practices that […]
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California to End COVID State of Emergency
California’s COVID-19 state of emergency will end on Feb. 28, 2023, nearly three years after it began, officials in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced today. The announcement came as the new variants raise concerns of another deadly winter spike across the country and as test positivity rates stabilize in California after a nearly three-month decline. […]
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NCJ Preview: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons and a Young Entrepreneur
This week, we’re looking at the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons epidemic and the Yurok Tribe’s symposium bringing Native representatives from all over the state and local politicians to work on systemic issues and solutions. We’ve also got a story on a 15-year-old running his own food truck selling baked goods. Hit subscribe for weekly […]
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This is How Much Money You’ll Get from the California Gas Rebate
California is sending money directly to millions of residents to help with rising costs and high gas prices. The payments, which started going out Oct. 7, range from $200 to $1,050, depending on income and other factors. About 18 million payments will be distributed over the next few months, benefiting up to 23 million Californians. […]
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Local Developer Started Controversial Home Construction Without Permit
When then Humboldt County Planning Commission Chair Alan Bongio did some undisclosed concrete work at local developer Travis Schneider’s home, it may have been during a more than eight-month period in which Schneider was building without a permit, the Journal has learned. According to Schneider, Bongio did the concrete work on the project one day […]
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Congenital Syphilis Rates Soar Across California as Public Health Funding Dwindles
In the Central Valley, where two-thirds of the nation’s fruit and nuts are grown, the pastoral landscape masks entrenched racial and economic disparities. Life expectancy in Fresno County drops by 20 years depending on where you live, and it’s those who live in historically poor, redlined or rural neighborhoods who are most impacted by a […]