This week we’re talking about how controlled burning works on private ranch land as wildfire prevention, with staff writer Linda Stansberry sharing her own family’s experience. Also, with summer vegetables taking over the local farmers markets, we’ve got Simona Carini’s roasted vegetable recipe, which may have you rethinking your standard sides. And a little bird […]
Government
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Is it Too Easy for Write-in Candidates in California Elections?
Rich Kinney readily concedes: Making it onto California’s November election ballot is a miracle. The 66-year-old associate pastor and former mayor of San Pablo in the Bay Area is running to unseat Democratic Assemblymember Buffy Wicks out of staunch opposition to her support for abortion rights. What did it take for him to make the […]
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Delta Tunnel: Salmon at Risk from Massive Water Project, State Report Says
California’s water agency today released a long-awaited environmental report outlining the details and impacts of a controversial proposal to replumb the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and pump more water south. In the report, state officials said the tunnel project could harm endangered and threatened species, including the Delta smelt, winter-run chinook salmon and steelhead trout. To […]
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New Police Accountability Laws Up Demands on State Agencies
California Department of Justice agents realized they were short-handed just hours after a Los Angeles police officer shot and killed an unarmed man on Hollywood Boulevard. A 911 caller told police the man was threatening people on the morning of July 15, 2021, waving what appeared to be a pistol in a busy tourist pocket. […]
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Millions in Federal Funds Set for Upgrades, Studies at Local Airports
Three Humboldt County airports — the California Redwood Coast-Humboldt County Airport in McKinleyville, Murray Field Airport outside Eureka and Rohnerville Airport outside Fortuna — are receiving Federal Aviation Administration funding for studies, upgrades and updates, according to a news release from North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman. The vast majority — $13 million of $16.1 million […]
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Some COVID Orphans in California Will Get Financial Help
In a small town in California’s Central Valley, a trio of siblings lost both their parents to COVID-19 within two weeks of each other in 2021. Their deaths made the oldest son a pseudo-parent to his teenage siblings overnight and forced the brothers and sister to figure out a future without their mom and dad. […]
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NCJ Preview: An Organic Waste Overhaul and New Food and Brew Offerings in Arcata
Humboldt County’s trash collection system is about to get a lot more complicated, with a new state law taking effect aimed at reducing climate pollutants and creating a closed-loop organic waste economy. Meanwhile, a new brewery and deli in Arcata is offering up sandwiches and small-batch brews and recently released documents shed new light on […]
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California Counties Siphon Social Security Benefits from Some Foster Kids
When she was 15 and had been a ward of the courts for half her life, Kristina Tanner learned the cost of her stays in group homes and with foster families was coming out of her own pocket. She had qualified for monthly survivor benefits checks, a Social Security program for children whose parents had died. […]
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State Controller: Investigation Found Short Staffing, Lack of Training, Contributed to Delinquent Financial Filings
The California State Controller issued its long-awaited report from its months-long investigation into Humboldt County’s highly publicized fiscal accounting and reporting problems this morning. The report spans 23 pages, including responses from the county Auditor-Controller’s Office and the County Administrative Office. A press release from the SCO identifies some key findings, including that the county […]
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Police Investigating Pursuit, Reported Shootout with Fleeing Vehicle
The county’s multi-agency critical incident response team is investigating a police pursuit yesterday evening that reportedly saw a suspect shoot at officers from the fleeing vehicle and at least one officer return fire before the chase ended in a non-injury car crash at the intersection of Buhne Street and Harrison. No injuries were reported in […]
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California Poised to Restrict Bee-killing Pesticides
Widely used insecticides that harm bees and songbirds would face far-reaching restrictions in California under regulations proposed by the state’s pesticide agency. The new limits would be among the nation’s most extensive for agricultural use of neonicotinoids, a class of insecticides used to kill plant-damaging pests like aphids. The highly potent pesticides have been shown […]
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National 988 Mental Health Crisis Line Up and Running
The national 988 hotline launched over the weekend, giving those experiencing or witnessing a mental health crisis just three numbers to dial to be connected with intervention services without being routed through a police dispatcher. The new number, which takes the place of the suicide prevention hotline, is part of a national effort to overhaul […]