UPDATE: Planning Director John Ford followed up with the Journal this afternoon after publication of this article to say he’d checked his records and wanted to clarify the timeline surrounding his Jan. 19 conversation with developer Travis Schneider. Ford was adamant that he did not undermine what county planner Cliff Johnson had relayed to Schneider […]
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PlanCo Staff Recommends Approval of Schneider Permit; Documents Shed New Light on Contentious Meeting
A couple weeks after the matter spilled cantankerously into public view, Humboldt County and Building Department staff is recommending the Planning Commission approve the permits necessary to allow a local developer to continue construction of his family home, with some revised conditions, at its meeting tonight. The issue arose after Travis Schneider violated the terms […]
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‘Forcing the Hand’: Gavin Newsom Leans into Legislative Agenda as First Terms Nears End
As California’s legislative session comes to an end tonight, the priorities and focus of the closing days have been heavily shaped by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who in the final year of his first term has taken significant steps to execute his agenda through legislation like never before. His first three years in office saw Newsom […]
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Help Paying Water Bills May Be Coming for Low-Income Californians
María Dolores Díaz sighs when she opens her water bill every month because she knows what she’ll see: another bill that she’ll struggle to pay. Diaz looks at the envelope and doesn’t want to open it because she wonders: How much, this time? “Ya nomás miro la carta y ‘aí ya no lo quiero abrir!’ […]
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Ranchers, Tribes, State Officials Clash Over Shasta River Water
The land that Jim Scala and his family have been ranching for three generations is parched and brown as far as he can see. The pond where his cattle used to drink is now a puddle, ringed with cracked mud. In other years, water pumped from the Shasta River would have periodically flooded this land, […]
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T-minus 3 Days for California Lawmakers
The two-year legislative session ends Wednesday at midnight, giving Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers just three days to hammer out agreements on complex, controversial bills and budget items encompassing everything from nuclear power to abortion to youth vaccination. According to veteran Sacramento lobbyist Chris Micheli, legislators still need to determine the fate of about […]
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NCJ Preview: Planning Commission Blow-up, Fair Food Throw-down
This week we’re looking into the conflict that began with a developer violating the terms of his land use permits and bubbled over at a Humboldt County Planning Commission meeting with accusations of lying, “offensive” comments and a damaged relationship between the commission and local Native tribes. Then we’ll swing over to the Humboldt County […]
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‘Close to the Line:’ California’s Top Campaign Finance Watchdog Wants a Deeper Look at Donor Network
California’s campaign finance regulator will not investigate a complaint into Govern For California, the subject of a CalMatters investigation that explored the nonprofit’s role influencing legislative elections and “pushing the envelope” of state campaign finance law. But the chairperson of the Fair Political Practices Commission said he would seek to develop new regulations more clearly […]
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Electric Day in California: State to Phase Out Sales of Gas Cars
UPDATE: According to media reports, the California Air Resources Board voted to move ahead with phasing out the sale of gas cars in the state in an effort to combat climate change. PREVIOUS: In its biggest move yet to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and fight climate change, California is poised today to enact the […]
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Election Countdown: Council, Mayor Races Set for November
The list of candidates vying for open city council seats across Humboldt County is now set for the November election, which will also see dozens of local school and special district board races on the ballot. Over in Arcata, six candidates are seeking to fill two open seats, including incumbents Meredith Matthews, who was appointed […]
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What’s Behind Newsom’s Safe Injection Sites Veto?
Read between the lines of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Monday veto of a controversial bill that would have allowed San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles to launch trial supervised drug injection sites in a bid to curb California’s epidemic of fatal overdoses, and you might catch a glimpse of the political tightrope he’s walking. Although the […]
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Fishing Association, Environmental Groups Appeal Fish Farm EIR Certification
The Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association, the Redwood Region Audubon Society and 350 Humboldt have appealed the Humboldt County Planning Commission’s recent approval of an environmental review of a large fish farm on the Samoa Peninsula to the Board of Supervisors. In an Aug. 17 letter , the three agencies listed numerous issues with the review […]