On May 2, President Trump released a budget blueprint for the next fiscal year that would take a chainsaw to social, environmental and education programs. Some of the sharpest cuts are directed at housing programs that are meant to serve the poor, housing insecure and unhoused. In California, millions are served by these funds and […]
Homelessness
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Eureka City Schools to Talk Jacobs, Grand Jury Response
The California Highway Patrol appears to be back at the table, negotiating to purchase 8.3 acres of the former Jacobs Middle School campus from Eureka City Schools. A closed session item for the board to conference with Superintendent Gary Storts, the district’s negotiator, concerning price and terms of payment of a potential deal with CHP, […]
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Supreme Court Gives Cities in California and Beyond More Power to Crack Down on Homeless Camps
The U.S. Supreme Court today granted cities more power to arrest, cite and fine people who sleep outside in public places — overturning six years of legal protections for homeless residents in California and other western states. In Grants Pass v. Johnson, the court sided with Grants Pass in a 6-3 decision — ruling an […]
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EPD Identifies Man Found in Mall Fire, Deems Death Accidental
The Eureka Police Department has identified the man whose remains were found burned in a small fire near the Bayshore Mall in October and determined his death was likely accidental. EPD used a witness account and DNA results to identify the man as Richard George Shannon, 27. According to the department, its investigation revealed Shannon […]
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Parking Lot Protection Initiative Submits Signatures to Qualify for March Ballot
Proponents of an initiative that would effectively block the city of Eureka’s plans to convert municipal downtown parking into multi-family housing have collected enough signatures to qualify the measure for the March ballot, they announced in a press release. The release says that Mike Munson, one of the leaders of the so-called “City of Eureka […]
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Cal Poly Humboldt Scales Back Hotel Housing Plans as School Year Approaches
Both excitement and concern about a potential explosion in Cal Poly Humboldt’s enrollment due to its new status as the state’s third polytechnic university seem to have been premature. While the university excitedly announced in November that freshman applications were up 86 percent over the prior year, then set a wave of panic across campus […]
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California’s Next Housing Crackdown Could Force Cities to Plan More Homeless Shelters
All over California, cities are falling far short when it comes to providing enough shelter for their homeless communities. More than 69,000 homeless residents live in Los Angeles County, for instance, but that county has just over 21,000 beds in shelters and temporary housing programs. It’s a similar story in Sacramento County, which counted nearly […]
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Lawmakers Want to Know Why Billions in Spending isn’t Reducing Homelessness
The state has spent billions of dollars on homelessness in recent years. So why is the crisis getting worse instead of better? That’s what a bipartisan group of California legislators is trying to get to the bottom of by calling for a first-of-its kind, large-scale audit of the state’s homelessness spending. The state has stepped […]
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Eureka Announced Partnership to Open Extreme Weather Shelter
The city of Eureka is partnering with the area’s faith-based community to open an Extreme Weather Overnight Warming Center at the Lifehouse Church in Myrtletown in cases of significant events, which could include high winds, freezing temperatures or pervasive rain. According to a news release, the city’s UPLIFT Eureka program, the Eureka Police Department’s Community […]
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Eureka to Host “Encampment, Tiny House Workshop’
The city of Eureka announced this afternoon it will host a workshop next week to “describe and discuss” the process and requirements to established an authorized homeless encampment sheltering people in tents or tiny homes within the city. The Feb. 28 workshop will feature presentations from city staff and the county of Humboldt about their […]
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California Homelessness: Where are the State’s Billions Going? Here’s the New, Best Answer
In Sacramento, there’s a word that keeps popping up during discussions about the state’s homelessness crisis: “accountability.” Gov. Gavin Newsom has scolded cities and counties for failing to get more people off the street, hundreds of millions in state spending notwithstanding. “Californians demand accountability and results, not settling for the status quo,” the governor said […]
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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 […]