The Eureka City Council emerged from a special closed session meeting this afternoon called to discuss the potential firing or discipline of an employee to announce that the council and City Attorney Cyndy Day-Wilson have mutually agreed to part ways. Mayor Frank Jager thanked Day-Wilson for her service and City Manager Greg Sparks called the […]
Greg Sparks
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Eureka Passes Syringe Management Ordinance
After nearly two hours of discussion, debate and public comment, the Eureka City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday night codifying best practices around syringe exchange programs within city limits. The unanimous decision was met with some grumbling from a rowdy crowd, which filled the council chambers and delivered many strong opinions during public comment. Loose […]
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Eureka Council to Tackle Needle Regulation
The Eureka City Council is expected to vote on an ordinance Tuesday that may offer more oversight of syringe exchange programs within city limits. Syringe or needle exchange has become a hot button issue in recent months, with some residents blaming the harm reduction programs for large amounts of discarded needles on public property. (A […]
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Eureka Mayor Slams County, Legal Cannabis
The Eureka City Council unanimously approved several hot-button issues on Tuesday night despite an unprecedented amount of pushback from Mayor Frank Jager and a smatter of spirited public comment. The first item to be pulled from the consent calendar for discussion, and the least controversial, was the official swearing-in of Police Chief Steve Watson. City […]
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Eureka Names Watson Police Chief
The city of Eureka announced this afternoon that it’s looking to drop the “interim” from interim Police Chief Steve Watson’s title. In a press release, the city announced that City Manager Greg Sparks has offered Watson the position and the former captain has accepted. The hire will now go before the Eureka City Council on […]
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‘Tipped Over the Edge’
When city officials released a salacious, unsubstantiated, third-hand allegation of impropriety against the city’s most notorious landlord, Eureka City Manager Greg Sparks says the action was meant to impart a message. “We thought that it just added some gravitas in terms of what we are dealing with when it comes to Mr. Squires and his […]
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Arkley Emails Foreshadow Litigation over Tuluwat Island
Twenty days before he went on KINS Radio’s “Talkshop” program and touched off a public firestorm by musing aloud about the city of Eureka’s “giving away” Indian Island to the Wiyot Tribe, Robin P. Arkley II had some questions. A letter dated July 11, sent from Arkley’s company Security National to Eureka City Manager Greg […]
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‘The People’s Chief’
Andrew Mills had just finished lunch and was strolling through Old Town on a Thursday afternoon, just about 24 hours before his almost four-year tenure as Eureka’s chief of police was to come to an end. Every few yards someone stopped him. There was the old department volunteer, the rabble-rousing community organizer, the former Marine, […]
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Who’s Next?
Before former Eureka Police Chief Andrew Mills had left the building, City Manager Greg Sparks was already setting the wheels in motion to find his replacement. As the Journal went to press, Sparks was meeting with one of the owners of the recruitment firm Peckham and McKenney, Inc., guiding him through a series of meetings […]
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Eureka Appoints Watson Interim Police Chief
The city of Eureka announced this afternoon that police Capt. Steve Watson will take over as interim chief upon Andrew Mills’ departure on Friday. Watson, born and raised in Fortuna, returned to Humboldt County in 2005 after serving in the U.S. Army, working as an elementary school teacher and serving as a deputy in Santa […]
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Clarke Museum May Make Room for Welcome Center
UPDATE: The Eureka City Council approved the proposal. Previously: The Eureka City Council is set to vote tomorrow night on whether to authorize City Manager Greg Sparks to negotiate with local nonprofit Humboldt Made to operate a visitor center that will take up the main room of the Clarke Museum, at Third and E streets. […]
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UPDATED: Chief Mills’ Last Day Set for July 21
UPDATE: The Eureka City Council is not currently slated to discuss the process for replacing police Chief Andrew Mills at the July 18 meeting, which comes just three days before his last day on the job. City Clerk Pam Powell said more information on the process may be announced next week and the appointment of […]