Arcata Mayor Sofia Pereira, who has also served as the county’s Emergency Operations Center operation chief during the COVID-19 pandemic, announced she will be stepping down from the Arcata City Council by June 25 after being named Public Health’s new director, replacing Michele Stephens. “Starting June 27, I will begin a new chapter as the […]
Connie Beck
Posted inNews
County Says AG’s Push to Extend Monitoring of CWS ‘Waste of Taxpayer Money’
Nearly two years after the California Attorney General’s Office, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Sheriff’s Office reached an agreement regarding an AG investigation into local adherence to the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced today he would be seeking a court order requiring the county […]
Posted inNews
County Announces Virtual Town Hall Meeting on COVID-19 Response
Humboldt County Public Health is urging local residents to participate in a virtual town hall meeting with local officials Monday evening to discuss the local response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting, which will be be broadcast and streamed live, will include Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services Director Connie Beck, Board of […]
Posted inNews
Hundreds Attend ACEs Town Hall Featuring California Surgeon General Nadine Burke Harris (with Video)
The Sequoia Conference Center on Humboldt County Office of Education’s campus was at capacity, 448 people had landed a seat — while at least another 100 watched from a live stream in a separate room. The draw was a conversation among California’s first Surgeon General Nadine Burke Harris and a panel of locals spearheading Humboldt […]
Posted inNews
CNN Names Betty Chinn ‘Hero’
Eureka philanthropist Betty Chinn has been named “this week’s CNN hero.” The network’s Heroes series is designed to “celebrate everyday people changing the world” and showcase “how one person can truly make a difference.” The network accepts nominations annually and showcases one hero weekly, one of whom will be named the network’s hero of the […]
Posted inNews
Fixing a Broken System
The Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services and Sheriff’s Office have agreed to a series of overhauls after a California Attorney General’s Office investigation found serious lapses in the local child abuse reporting system. Under the stipulated judgement accepted by a judge last week, DHHS’ Child Welfare Services and the sheriff’s office are […]
Posted inNews
Agreement Reached in Attorney General’s HumCo Child Abuse Reporting Inquiry
A Humboldt County Superior Court judge has accepted a stipulated judgement negotiated between the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services, the Sheriff’s Office and the California Attorney General stemming from the AG’s civil investigation into whether the county was in compliance with the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, the county announced […]
Posted inNews
DHHS, Sheriff, Respond to Grand Jury Reports on Child Welfare
In June, the Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury released two reports related to the outcomes of at-risk youth in our county child welfare system. The reports, “Child Welfare In Humboldt: Getting the Door Open” and “Responding in Time to Help Our ‘At Risk’ Children,’” allege that the three agencies most responsible for protecting local children, […]
Posted inNews
Former County Employee Wins Gender-Discrimination Case
Steve Hughes says there’s at least one positive outcome to his being passed over for promotion after a 26-year career with Humboldt County’s Employee Training Division. “I have an idea what discrimination feels like,” he says. Discrimination was something Hughes knew a lot about professionally. He was his division’s equal employment officer and disability program […]
Posted inNews
Shipping Container Homeless Village: Happening. Probably.
A bed, three meals a day and a door that locks: Small luxuries, but still more than many have. This is what the new partnership between the Betty Kwan Chinn Homeless Foundation and the Humboldt Coalition for Property Rights is promising for at least 40 of the currently homeless people living behind the Bayshore Mall, […]
Posted inNews
Interim no More: Supes Tap Beck as New DHHS Director
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors has voted to remove the “interim” from Connie Beck’s job title and make her the official director of its Department of Health and Human Services. Beck was appointed the department’s interim director back in December, taking over for the retiring Phillip Crandall after the supervisors’ hired replacement, Kristin Brinks, […]
Posted inNews
After Bitter Debate, Eureka Declares Shelter Crisis
Public comment was brief, compared to previous meetings on the subject of homelessness. Only around 30 citizens came up to the podium to address the city council about the proposed declaration of a citywide shelter crisis. The declaration, originally proposed by Councilmember Linda Atkins, was reworked by city staff before being put before the council […]