Every year a group of 19 volunteers comes together to form the Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury in a civilian oversight tradition that dates back to the Magna Carta. Wielding the power of the subpoena and carrying a mandate enshrined in the state Constitution to serve as overseers of local government, the panel spends months […]
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‘The Next Wave’
When a powerful earthquake off the North Coast generates a life-threatening tsunami, time will be of the essence for those in its path. In the most serious scenarios, including the “big one,” a magnitude 9.0 megathrust event on the Cascadian Subduction Zone, waves could reach the shore in minutes, before any official alert would even […]
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Nobody is Coming to Help After a Disaster — Nobody but Us
What each of us can do to make our community more resilient It’s been a difficult start to the year in our corner of far Northern California, with record tidal flooding that inundated more than 40 homes in King Salmon Jan. 4-6, the same weekend as the fire in downtown Arcata. Just over a year […]
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UPDATING: Initial Damage Reports Minimal After 7.0 Quake
THIRD UPDATE: Preliminary reports indicate very little damage throughout Humboldt County despite the severity of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck about 60 miles west of Petrolia at 10:44 a.m. Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal says the Eel River Valley was impacted worse than other areas of the county, but nothing like the damage caused […]
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County Establishes Long-term Recovery Line for Those Affected by Earthquake
Humboldt County residents who lost housing due to the magnitude 6.4 earthquake on Dec. 20 and the 5.4 aftershock on Jan. 1 are able to call the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Service’s newly established long-term recovery line at (707) 441-5000 for assistance finding short-term housing. “The county is making every effort to […]
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State Route 299 to Reopen Tonight
Caltrans plans to re-open State Route 299 at 6:30 p.m. today after crews worked throughout the day to clear the roadway of trees and power lines downed by days of snowfall over the weekend. According to Caltrans, the road will be open to two-way traffic from east of Blue Lake through Willow Creek, but people […]
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Yurok Tribes Declares Emergency In Response to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
The Yurok Tribal Council has issued an emergency declaration in response to a large number of local missing persons and attempted human trafficking incidents involving Native women. The declaration also aims to raise awareness of the disproportionate number of the missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis. “Today, we are asking our local, state and federal partners […]
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HCSO Launches New Evacuation Mapping Tool
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has launched a new evacuation mapping tool website called Zonehaven AWARE that categorizes Humboldt County neighborhoods into specific zones to be used by first responders to determine necessary evacuations in the event of an emergency. “We are so happy to offer this incredible preparedness tool to our community,” Humboldt County […]
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Blood Bank in Emergency Need of Type O Donations
The Northern California Community Blood Bank has issued an emergency call for donations from type O donors, including those who have never donated before, in the face of a shortage. The Blood Bank is asking folks to schedule an appointment here to come in and donate (from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), or to catch […]
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Pedestrian Injured After Struck by Vehicle in Eureka
At about 5:17 p.m., a vehicle struck a pedestrian near the intersection of Fourth and L streets in Eureka. About 5:20 p.m., an officer told dispatch over the scanner that he was “out with one down in the roadway. The left two lanes of Fourth Street are blocked. Please remember that information gathered from initial […]
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Texting 9-1-1 is Now Available in Humboldt County
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office announced today that texting 9-1-1 for emergencies is now available in unincorporated areas of Humboldt County, the city of Fortuna, Arcata, Humboldt State University and California Highway Patrol (other local cities will be launching Text to 9-1-1 capabilities soon). Calling 9-1-1 during an emergency is still the preferred way to ask […]
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Public Health Officer Explains Shelter in Place Order
Humboldt County Public Health Officer Teresa Frankovich explained at a press conference this afternoon that the shelter-in-place order taking effect locally at midnight tonight is a response to changing COVID-19 conditions elsewhere and “not because there is a significant change in our own community.” “I’m issuing this order right now because of the changes that […]