Former Fortuna City Councilmember Kris Mobley has been federally indicted on three counts of mail and wire fraud stemming from allegations she embezzled more than $500,000 from a local construction company that had employed her for 30 years. Journal attempts to reach Mobley, who was elected to the council in 2022 and resigned her post […]
FBI
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Fortuna: Councilmember Mobley Resigns Amid FBI Investigation
UPDATE: The Fortuna City Council voted unanimously Feb. 3 to solicit applications for the seat recently vacated by Councilmember Kris Mobley, who resigned last week, and appoint her replacement. Mobley informed the city she would be resigning her post, effective immediately, in an email last week and the city promptly issued a press release announcing […]
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FBI Investigating Voting Center Vandalism, Polls Open Until 8
Humboldt County Registrar of Voters Juan Pablo Cervantes says he’s been in touch with the FBI regarding vandalism that occurred overnight at the county voting center set up in the Arcata Community Center. Cervantes says he received a report at about 5:45 this morning from precinct workers who arrived to find a variety of pro-Palestinian […]
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Former HumCo Fair Bookkeeper Indicted for Alleged ‘Ghost Payroll’ Scheme
A federal grand jury has indicted the Humboldt County Fair Association’s former bookkeeper on five counts of wire fraud stemming from an alleged embezzlement scheme that prosecutors believe saw her reroute hundreds of thousands of dollars from the association and another local nonprofit to her personal accounts in 2021 and 2022. Nina Tafarella, who oversaw […]
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FBI Takes on Fair Association Embezzlement Investigation
The investigation and possible prosecution of a 47-year-old woman accused of embezzling from the Humboldt County Fair Association and a Eureka nonprofit are being taken over by federal agencies, according to Ferndale Police Chief Ron Sligh. Nina Tafarella, 47, was arrested Nov. 15 by Ferndale police at Bear River Casino on suspicion of embezzling more […]
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California Cannabis Enters the Blast Zone
This Trump-Ukraine scandal has tendrils stretching all over the place. You may have missed it — what, with the president not only openly admitting on television to soliciting foreign help, in his re-election campaign but then doubling down by asking again for said help, and near daily revelations from the House impeachment inquiry that there […]
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Update on Courthouse White Powder Incident
The white substance found smeared on the outside of the county court clerk’s office was not identified as a “chemical or biological agent” in initial tests but more will be conducted by an out-of-town lab. One person did come into contact with the powder-like material, prompting “precautionary measures” to be taken, according to a release […]
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FBI Contacted about White Powder on Court Clerk’s Doors
The white substance found on the Humboldt County Court Clerk’s Office doors this morning has been sent for testing but results in the field “ruled out most common threats, including biological and chemical agents,” according to a release. The court clerk’s office, located on the side of the courthouse, is closed for the day “out […]
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Languishing or Progressing?
Tom Parker, a retired FBI agent who recently stepped down from assisting the Arcata Police Department’s investigation into David Josiah Lawson’s killing, says he’s convinced the case could be solved in just a few months, if not weeks, if he were able to bring the right people on board. “We’d have this thing finished up,” […]
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UPDATE: Mother of Slain HSU Student Files Claim Against Arcata, Council Responds
The civil rights attorney for the mother of slain Humboldt State University student David Josiah Lawson has filed a claim seeking at least $500,000 from the city of Arcata, alleging Charmaine Lawson suffered injuries including emotional distress and anxiety due to a “negligent” police investigation into her son’s death. The 13-page document, the precursor to […]
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Former Trinidad Resident Robert Durst Pleads Not Guilty to Murder
Sometime in the mid-1990s, a quirky man with a mysterious past and proclivity for tall tales arrived in Trinidad, buying a home with sweeping ocean views in the small, secluded fishing village. From this far-flung location — seemingly as removed as possible from his life as the scion of New York’s real estate elite — […]
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Who Bombed Judi Bari? 25 Years Later, We May Find an Answer
Twenty-five years after a bomb exploded on an Oakland freeway, shocking the environmental community, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is mulling launching a criminal investigation. Capt. Gregory Van Patten said police have received some “new information” related to the May 24, 1990 bombing of Earth First activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney, and are reviewing […]