A gift or a curse? For Angelique Ashby, running as a “women’s advocate” in a heated state Senate race in Sacramento might be a little of both. Her competitor, Dave Jones, a fellow Democrat, went to court to block Ashby from using that as her ballot designation under her name, arguing that it wasn’t her […]
Government
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Supes Support Proposal for Sue-meg Point Naming
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to support a proposal to rename the Patrick’s Point headland as Sue-meg Point, following in line with the State Parks and Recreation Commission’s decision last year. The item brought forward by Fifth Supervisor Steve Madrone supports a request that California State Parks submitted to the U.S. […]
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Supes to Consider Censure of Bongio
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors is slated to consider censuring Planning Commission Chair Alan Bongio tomorrow, a month after he made incendiary and offensive comments about local Native tribes, referring to them as “Indians” while intoning they had lied and negotiated in bad faith with a local developer. The agenda item will also see […]
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Cal State Says It Can’t Afford a Staff Wage Hike Even if Newsom OKs It
A last-minute bill that sailed through the Legislature may leave Cal State University on the hook for nearly $900 million in new costs over the next decade — possibly forcing it to raise tuition for only the second time in more than a decade. That “may” assumes lawmakers allot no new increases in university funding. […]
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NCJ Preview: Nuclear Safety, Zoellner’s Civil Case and Painted Wild Times
Is 44 feet far enough away from Humboldt Bay for spent nuclear fuel rods? We’ll talk about the long-term plans and risks, as well as the 44 Feet group working toward a longer-term solution. We’re also updating on the civil case Kyle Zoellner has brought against the city of Arcata and the twist in the […]
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Humboldt CSD Board to Consider Stripping Bongio of Presidency
The Humboldt Community Services Board of Directors will consider at its next meeting whether to remove Director Alan Bongio from his role as president amid an ongoing backlash over recent comments made in his role as chair of the Humboldt County Planning Commissioner that left local tribal officials deeply offended and shook their confidence in […]
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‘Edge of the Cliff’: PG&E’s Lack of Electricity Capacity Puts Eel River Valley Projects at Risk
City officials in Fortuna and Rio Dell are raising concerns about PG&E’s inability to provide new electric hookups in the Eel River Valley, leaving major economic development plans in the lurch and putting future projects, including new housing, at risk. Fortuna City Manager Meritt Perry said he is bringing the issue before the City Council […]
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Rap Lyrics on Trial: Bill Would Limit Prosecutors’ Use of Words, Music as Evidence
Gary Bryant Jr. exchanged gunfire with a man in an Antioch apartment parking lot on a July afternoon in 2014. Both were struck by bullets. Bryant survived and the other man died. Police said it was part of a string of gang shootings in the East Bay. At trial, prosecutors alleged — and a jury […]
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Problems Plague California School Data System, Putting Local Funding at Risk
The data management system for California’s K-12 schools has been on the fritz for months after it was updated in April then rolled out with minimal testing, potentially jeopardizing school district funding. The California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System, or CALPADS, stores information for the state’s 6 million public school students. It’s how the state knows […]
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California to Give $2,500 Training Grant to Workers Who Lost Jobs During Pandemic
Living through a pandemic sucks, but for Diana McLaughlin, early 2020 was especially bad: A divorce in February 2020, societal shut-down in March, and as part of the COVID-19 economic fallout, she lost her job in April of that year, returning to full-time work only 18 months later. California lawmakers had economically distressed folks like […]
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Interior Department Removes Derogatory Term from Humboldt Sites, Hundreds of Others Nationwide
The Department of the Interior announced today that replacement names have been approved for hundreds of valleys, streams, ridges, summits and other geographic features across the nation, including several in Humboldt County, that contained a derogatory word for Native women. The final vote by the Board on Geographic Names — the federal body tasked with […]
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NCJ Preview: Fire and Real Estate, and a Chili Contender
How will the already stretched Arcata Fire District manage with proposed expansion of Arcata’s population and housing in light of the university’s shift to a Cal Poly? We’ll talk about what the costs and obstacles for keeping people safe. Speaking of Cal Poly Humboldt, we’ve got a story on the university’s high-priced land purchase. We’ve […]