After a decade on the job, Humboldt County Public Defender Kevin Robinson has informed the Board of Supervisors that he will be retiring in January. In a short letter sent to the board last week, Robinson says his last day heading the Public Defender’s Office will be Jan. 20 and offers to assist with training […]
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Jail Adds Suicide Netting to Budget
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors will discuss tomorrow whether to add a provision for suicide netting to the Humboldt County jail’s budget. The item comes after a rash of suicide attempts — 12 in 2015 — in the facility, one of which proved fatal. Two of the 12 attempts involved inmates jumping from the […]
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Grand Jury Blasts County Procurement Process
On Wednesday the Humboldt County civil grand jury came out with another startling report: The county is not adequately tracking how millions of dollars in contracts are being spent. The report alleges a lack of accountability, lack of transparency, lack of consistent terminology and a lack of oversight. Over the last decade, an increasing number […]
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3rd UPDATE: Fennell Strolls to Reelection in 2nd
3rd UDPATE: The final election night report is up and shows incumbent Estelle Fennell cementing her landslide re-election bid, having won 77 percent of the vote to challenger Glen “Bud” Rogers’ 22 percent. While there are still votes to be tallied, the final election night count has Fennell finishing with 3,503 of the 4,563 votes […]
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3rd UPDATE: Mike Wilson Takes 3rd District Race in Landslide
3rd UPDATE: With 100 percent of Humboldt County precincts reporting, the final election night tally has Harbor Commissioner Mike Wilson finishing with 82 percent of the vote to become the county’s next 3rd District supervisor. While there are still votes to be counted, Wilson finishes the night with 5,076 of the 6,204 ballots cast in […]
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Supes to Planning Commission: “MYOB”
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors took a remarkable step last week: It’s going to tell planning commissioners they have to ask permission to discuss matters that the commission isn’t mandated to take up. That may sound unremarkable, but it plays into a strange power dynamic in place for years and stands as a rebuke […]
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Must, Need & Nice: Measure Z Committee Makes Its Recommendations
The Citizen’s Advisory Committee on Measure Z has finished sorting through the 43 applications it received for funding, breaking the requests up into three categories: “must,” “need” and “nice.” The process, which involved six meetings and a public hearing, short-listed the “musts” for inclusion in the 2016-2017 fiscal year, the budget for which will be up […]
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County and City of Eureka Meet Tomorrow to Discuss Long-Awaited Report
It has taken months for the respective orbits of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors and the Eureka City Council to align, but tomorrow they will finally sit down to discuss the estimated 844 people who sleep unsheltered in Humboldt County. The majority of those people are in Eureka, which has borne the brunt of […]
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Humboldt County Releases a Draft Marijuana Cultivation Ordinance
Just weeks after the board of supervisors agreed to take on the creation of an outdoor medical marijuana cultivation ordinance, county staff has released a detailed draft ordinance that would create a strict permitting plan for the county’s cannabis cultivators. It’s a remarkably fast turnaround for a staff that shared concerns that it would be […]
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Big Turnout for Tiny Homes
The parking lot of the Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Bayside was full within an an hour of the Affordable Homeless Housing Alternatives (AHHA) Tiny House Expo, held Saturday. Cars parked on the narrow shoulder of Jacoby Creek Road as people walked onto the church grounds to take in music, eat a free meal, attend […]
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UPDATE: No Re-election Bid for Supe Lovelace or Harbor Comish Newman
Third District Supervisor Mark Lovelace announced this afternoon that he will not seek re-election in 2016, giving credence to rumors that had been circulating for weeks. It appears he will finish out his term. Several weeks ago Lovelace told the Journal he hadn’t come to a decision yet, and that he hadn’t anticipated making one […]
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Mobile Home Owners Rally over Rent
On July 14, a group of local mobile home residents bearing white balloons descended on the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors meeting. The balloons, bobbing above the heads of the crowd, bore a stark message written in red pen: Save Our Seniors. The residents, primarily local seniors and low-income renters, flooded the public comment period […]