Another year has come and gone here on the North Coast. For better and for worse, 2025 was one of fear and resistance, resilience and resolve, with moments of brightness and solidarity amid palpable uncertainty for many in our community. In no particular order, here’s our list of the most important and impactful stories of the year, many of which will continue to play out in 2026. Happy New Year.
Year One: Trump 2.0
While Humboldt County is thousands of miles away from the halls of the White House, reverberations of policies and actions effected during the second Trump administration’s first year have left an indelible mark on the region.
That includes the Department of Government Efficiency’s slash-and-burn approach that left an untold number of local federal workers without jobs, while cuts and freezes in federal grant funding threatened community efforts ranging from wildfire prevention and mental health counseling for school children to hunger prevention programs that paired local farmers with food banks.
Not to mention the trickle-down effects of Trump’s tariffs on local businesses and consumers.
There were also pushes that target the most vulnerable among us, from the gutting of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs and attempts to legally erase the very existence of transgender people, to the unprecedented ICE deportation efforts that have struck fear in immigrant communities here and across the nation, ensnaring even those legally working their way through the asylum and residency process.
And, amid the dizzying flurry of executive orders is the president’s war on wind power, which has the potential to sideline the project slated to take place off Humboldt Bay.
That was just a sampling, and more impacts that will disproportionately hit locals already living on the financial brink are still to come. This includes changes in eligibility for federal nutrition programs and Medi-Cal arriving soon. How Humboldt and the nation rate the job he’s been doing — and by extension other Republicans — remains to be seen with the midterms looming large on the horizon.
Inspired by seeing inflatable frogs at protests in Portland and elsewhere, attendees in inflatable frog costumes also appeared at the anti-Trump administration No Kings protest in front of the Humboldt County courthouse on Saturday, next to one skilled and loud vuvuzela player. Credit: Photo by Mark Larson
A Year of Protests
The Humboldt County Courthouse saw plenty of foot traffic from protests and marches in 2025, starting with the 200 or so folks who lined the sidewalk for the People’s March on Jan. 18, days ahead of Donald Trump’s second inauguration. Nearly every month was marked by marches and demonstrations that drew hundreds and, in the case of the No Kings, Hands Off and the Labor Day Workers over Billionaires gatherings, thousands. The No Kings rally on June 19, which coincided with Trump’s birthday and a military parade for the Army’s 250th anniversary, was attended by between 3,000 and 4,000 people.
While protesters waved signs at passing cars at the courthouse on the Fourth of July, the packed Independence Day street celebration in Old Town also saw a silent demonstration in the intersection by the gazebo. The Good Trouble Lives On event on July 17 included participants biking, roller skating and walking along the newly opened Humboldt Bay Trail South, while a Sept. 14 Defend Democracy Fair took place at Madaket Plaza.
Protesters and organizations like Centro Del Pueblo, 50501, Hum Dem, Humboldt 350 and others came together with signs and songs about a broad range of issues including but not limited to: the climate crisis, billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency budget cuts, abortion rights, voting rights, healthcare, corruption, immigration, ICE, inflation, the Epstein files, the president committing sexual assault, threats to the Constitution, fascism and Gaza.
The State vs. St. Joseph
More than a year after the California Attorney General’s Office first filed a lawsuit alleging Providence St. Joseph Hospital violated state law when it refused to provide medically necessary abortions, putting women’s lives at risk, the case continues to play out in the courts.
The landmark litigation — centered on two women who suffered similar medical conditions early on that meant their pregnancies would not survive and necessitated emergency abortion care in order to protect their lives — argues they were denied treatment due to the hospital’s religious doctrines and forced to go to other facilities to receive the care they needed.
Among Providence’s arguments — one that previously failed to win dismissal of the case — is that the hospital retains a First Amendment right to the free practice of religion that protects its faith-based policies.
In December, Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Timothy Canning heard the AG Office’s arguments for imposing a preliminary injunction to mandate the hospital to comply with California’s Emergency Services Law, which “requires hospitals to provide abortion care when needed to treat a medical emergency” while the state’s lawsuit makes its way through the legal process.
Canning is expected to rule on that aspect sometime in the next two months.
Meanwhile, an existing stipulated agreement reached between the state of California and Providence St. Joseph back in October of 2024 — but later objected to by Diocese of Santa Rosa Bishop Robert Vasa — remains in effect at the only remaining hospital in the county with a birthing center.
The Plight of the Abalone
It’s no secret that the North Coast’s marine environments — and by extension the red abalone — have been struggling in the aftermath of a series of devastating ecological events that scientists have described as a “perfect storm” dating back more than a decade.
From a massive die-off of sea stars due to a wasting disease and back-to-back warm water blobs that decimated large swaths of the region’s bull kelp forests to an explosion in purple sea urchin left unchecked by the near extinction of their keystone predator the sunflower star, the iconic shellfish’s numbers plummeted amid the collapse of the delicate ecosystem on which it depends.
Amid that backdrop, the California Fish and Game Commission made the unprecedented decision in 2017 to temporarily shut down the last recreational abalone fishery in the state. Last month, with recovery still elusive, the board extended the closure for a third time. The sunset date is now set for 2036.
As was the case when the season was first shuttered eight years ago, the hope is that yet another pause in the take of abalone will allow the species to rebound and provide a chance for underwater conditions to improve in the interim with the help of restoration and recovery efforts taking place across the North Coast.
Klamath River Rebounding
One year after the waters of the Klamath River began flowing free for the first time in a century, nature’s resilience was on full display. The beginnings of a comeback followed completion of the largest dam removal project in the nation’s history.
The momentous milestone was the culmination of decades of efforts by tribal nations, including the Karuk and Yurok tribes on the lower Klamath, whose traditions and way of life have been intricately linked to the river and the salmon in its waters since time immemorial.
Mere weeks after the last of the four dams (Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, J.C. Boyle and Iron Gate) came down last October, the first salmon was spotted in the Klamath Basin area since 1912, when the first of the dams was installed, blocking fish passage to the hundreds of miles of historic habitat.
As the year mark hit, as Underscore Native News reported, Klamath River scientists gave an update on the ecosystem’s response to the unshackled waterway, announcing that they were seeing “salmon swimming upstream, bald eagles flying overhead, and increased bear, beaver, otter and osprey activity.”
Along with the wildlife, native plants are also reclaiming their space in the Klamath River Valley after land once underwater was reseeded.
But amid all that success, the monitoring work that helped bring it to light was hit by federal funding cuts, which Underscore Native News reported included the extensive studies being done by a team from conservation nonprofit California Trout, which was working to find other means to continue the work.
SNAP Scare
As the longest government shutdown in the nation’s history played out this fall, thousands of North Coast residents already living on the financial brink were left in limbo for weeks about whether they would receive the federal assistance needed to put food on their tables.
Known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the financial lifeline helps cover the grocery bills of 20,000 Humboldt County low-income households, encompassing 30,000 individuals, including children, the elderly and the disabled.
But this year marked the first time a budget battle on Capitol Hill threatened to put the U.S. Department of Agriculture program depended on by millions across the country on hold, with the Trump administration announcing in late October that payments would be suspended. In response, several states — including California — went to court to release the funds.
Meanwhile, hunger prevention programs across the region, including the county’s largest food bank, Food for People, which was already weathering massive cuts in federal funding, readied to do whatever was possible to try to fill some of the impending void.
In a bright spot amid the looming uncertainty, Humboldt residents opened their pocketbooks and volunteered to help as an influx of people sought other means of assistance out of fear they would not have enough to eat with the loss of SNAP benefits.
In the end, the electronic payments made to prepaid cards went out in November for use at grocery stores or farmers markets to buy staples like vegetables, milk and bread. But the chapter serves as yet another reminder of how many in our region struggle with food insecurity on a daily basis and is a portent of what is to come in 2026 when eligibility changes go into effect.
No Racing at the Fair
In August, the gates and grandstands of the 129th Humboldt County Fair opened without horse racing for the first time in its history. The collapse of the circuit in Northern California, following the shuttering of Golden Gate Fields and the ensuing crumbling of the California Authority of Racing Fairs (CARF) didn’t bode well, as racing opportunities headed to the southern half of the state. But the Humboldt County Fair Association held out hope for better news and the funds a busy track and the accompanying bar and concessions sales would bring the financially strapped fair.
All bets were off by May, when the California Horse Racing Board voted against granting racing dates, despite the delegation of trainers and Humboldt County supervisors showing support, as well as a letter from Ferndalian fair fan Guy Fieri.
Still, the grandstands weren’t empty, as human-powered kinetic sculpture races took the place of equine contests, and Lady’s Hat Day still capped off the festivities. The fair’s revenue was down, but preliminary numbers indicate it still managed to stay in the black without the ponies. The fair board is working to see racehorses kick up the furloughs at the fair again this August with the logistical aid of Bernal Park Racing, LLC, and is set to make its case at CHRB’s January meeting.
Bohn and Bushnell Investigations
Just weeks apart over the summer, separate complaints were filed against two Humboldt County supervisors — Rex Bohn and Michelle Bushnell — alleging they acted in a hostile manner toward staff.
In each case, a three-member panel of senior county officials — under a policy approved in 2023 by Bohn, Bushnell and the other board members — determined that an independent, outside investigation was warranted.
While Bushnell hired an attorney in an attempt to forestall the matter from entering the public sphere, alleging she was denied due process “in a flawed system,” she was censured by her colleagues and removed as board chair by a board majority on Nov. 4 after the findings sustained the complaint about her conduct.
During that discussion, Bohn made public his own investigation. “This is not a process. This is a very slow death by a thousand cuts,” he said at the time, adding, “I’m going through this myself right now, before someone leaks it out.”
Documents released under a public records request made by the Journal show the allegations are in reference to a June 24 meeting Bohn called. According to the complaint, the First District representative engaged in “abusive and hostile behavior” toward staff and attempted to “direct staff to disregard” an ordinance “for a special favor for his friend.”
Emails released by the county indicate Bohn declined to participate in the investigation, the status of which remains unclear. Meanwhile, the board has asked the county’s civil ground jury to look into the code of conduct process that led to the investigations, as well as Bushnell’s conduct, which could mean — but is not a foregone conclusion — that a more in-depth look at both will be coming in 2026.
Former Fortuna Councilmember Mobley
On Jan. 29, 2025, then Fortuna Councilmember Kris Mobley, who’d been under investigation by the FBI for embezzlement, resigned from her post as a Fortuna councilmember. City officials have said they were aware of the investigation back in November of 2024.
In March, she was indicted and on Dec. 10, she pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud. Originally charged with 10 counts, Mobley is alleged to have bilked the company that employed her as a bookkeeper of $366,800 through fraudulent checks and electronic transfers that went toward her credit card debt. It also alleges she issued herself payroll checks beyond her hours and used the company credit card for personal travel expenses and cash advances at casinos. While the employer from which Mobley is accused of embezzling from between 2022 and 2024 is not named in the indictment, she did tell The Enterprise in 2022 that she worked at Fortuna’s Beacon Construction Co.
According to a U.S. Department of Justice press release, each of the counts carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and “a fine of $250,000 or twice the value of the property in-volved in the transactions, and forfeiture and restitution.” Sentencing is scheduled for March.
Three Bears
It was a bear of a year at the Sequoia Park Zoo.
After losing beloved Noni in 2024, the zoo welcomed Ishŭng in March when the bear estimated to be 3 years old, or about the same age as fellow denizen Tule, was removed from a wildlife sanctuary. The Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria chose her name (pronounced “Ee-shung”), which means “She likes to eat.”
As her name suggests, Ishŭng was a bit larger than your average bear on arrival, but the zoo reports she’s made steady progress with changes in her diet and lots of exercise time in the enclosure boasting trees, enrichment activities and a stream to play in. Described as “friendly,” “curious” and a “sweetheart,” Ishŭng was deemed un-releasable due to her affinity for people, but the zoo received little information about her background.
In late June, a rescued cub that also was unable to be released rounded out the trio and was given the name Kunabulilh, which translates to “he bites” in the Wiyot language Soulatluk. Zookeepers nicknamed the yearling “Nabu.” While unused to people because the hope had been to return him to the wild, the zoo reports he’s interacting well with his caretakers and exploring new areas of the bear habitat.
But as much adoration as the zoo’s three bears have received from fans far and wide, it was a wild yearling that took the national spotlight after making its way onto the grounds in October. Zoo staff described the visitor as very polite and said the young bear spent a little one-on-one time with Tule, Ishŭng and Nabu through their habitat fencing before being ushered out a back gate.
This article appears in Top 10 Stories of 2025.