Press release from the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC): A federal judge on Wednesday ordered California state transportation officials to stop work on a controversial plan to cut wider highway lanes through ancient redwoods in Northern California’s Richardson Grove State Park. The judge granted the injunction that was being sought by a group of plaintiffs […]
Law
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Kinetic Klash Kontinues
Memorial Day weekend may have come and gone, and with it our world famous Kinetic Race, but the Kinetic kontroversy that surfaced before and during the race just took another major turn. As you may recall, a couple of weeks before race day, Justin Hobart Brown, son of the late “Glorious Founder” Hobart Brown, announced […]
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EPD Chief Garr Nielsen Fired [Updated]
Eureka Police Chief Garr Nielsen was fired this morning. Initially reported on the Humboldt Herald blog, Nielsen’s termination was confirmed by the former chief himself in the Times-Standard. “It’s completely out of the blue,” he told the T-S. “It caught me completely off guard.” Nielsen had been in the running for the chief of police position […]
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County Will Hop To It On Rezone
We went to press before Humboldt County’s Community Development Services Director Kirk Girard came out of closed-door negotiations on Tuesday to announce a settlement with Housing For All, the housing-advocacy outfit that intervened in a lawsuit filed by Humboldt Sunshine. In the settlement, the county agrees to set a firm deadline to finish its plan […]
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PLF v. Coastal Commission
This just in from Harold Johnson, attorney and communications director, Pacific Legal Foundation, presented without comment (feel free to provide your own). MEDIA ADVISORY: THIS THURSDAY (June 9): Appellate Court hears PLF suit vs. Cal. Coastal Commission for blocking cleanup of contaminated Balloon Track property in Eureka PLF attorneys represent organization of Eureka citizens promoting environmental cleanup and protection WHAT: […]
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Salzman Sues Arcata Over Panhandling Law
Political activist/consultant/sign maker Richard Salzman (above right) filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court yesterday against the City of Arcata, claiming that the liberal mecca’s panhandling ordinance is unconstitutional. Ordinance no. 1399, which narrowly passed the Arcata City Council last March, made it illegal to panhandle “in an aggresive manner.” It also prohibits panhandling in certain […]
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Summer CAMP
It ain’t legal yet, goddammit. That could well be the subtext of a press release today from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, in which they announced the end of week one of the 2010 Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP) season. The multi-agency law-enforcement effort yielded more than 33,500 marijuana plants in just four days, according […]
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Omega-3 Pills Looking Fishy?
For years we’ve been hearing that omega-3 fatty acids are good for our increasingly fatty asses. That’s still true, so far as we can tell. (Well, they’re for heart health, technically.) But when delivered via certain over-the-counter supplements, these beneficial fish oils may be accompanied by some nasty toxins, according to a lawsuit filed earlier […]
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Bike Coalition Takes On Careless Drivers
Just an aside to the post before this about restitution in the Alan Bear case: The California Bicycle Coalition is looking to sponsor legislation this year that would, according to the CBC’s newsletter: enhance the penalties for careless drivers who injure or kill bicyclists, pedestrians, runners, highway workers, farm equipment operators and other vulnerable road […]
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Could L.A. Weed Ruling Hurt Local Economy?
Yesterday, the Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance that will limit the number of licensed marijuana dispensaries in the city to 70. Currently they have about 1,000 of ’em, according to Reuters . The measure also will prohibit dispensaries from locating less than 1,000 feet from schools, public parks, libraries or churches or across […]
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Pla-Garr-ism?
The blogosphere’s abuzz, sorta, with speculation that Eureka Police Chief Garr Nielsen plagiarized his recent My Word piece in the Times-Standard. The exact same piece, word-for-word, appeared the week before in the Fresno Bee. The Journal called up the EPD for an explanation. Chief Nielsen was not in, but shortly thereafter he issued the following […]
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Tyson, City Sued on Harassment Charges
Tawnie Hansen, the former Eureka Police Department dispatcher who found herself at the center of a fight between supporters and detractors of Chief Garr Nielsen, has filed a huge lawsuit against the City of Eureka and City Manager David Tyson. Hansen, who is asking for $1.4 million plus punitive damages, alleges that the city slow-played […]