The Yurok Tribe has declared a state of emergency after seven young tribal members took their own lives over an 18-month span. The tribe is working with tribal, state and federal agencies and developing a “broad, collaborative plan to identify the root causes of this epidemic,” according to a press release. All of the suicides […]
Mental health
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Humboldt Hits Grim Mark: Suicides at Five Year Peak
The recent death of a 30-year-old man from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head brings the county to 40 suicides in 2015, its highest mark in five years, surpassing its 2012 total of 37, according to numbers from the Humboldt County Coroner’s Office. It also places Humboldt County at nearly three times the California […]
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Welcome to Humboldt: New DHHS Director Says She’s “Excited”
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors announced this week that it’s made a hire to head the county’s largest department, the much-beleaguered Department of Health and Human Services. Kristin Brinks, currently the deputy director of Community Services for the El Dorado County Health and Human Services Agency, will take the reins from Phillip Crandall in […]
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County Nabs $20 Million for New Transitional Jail Facility
Humboldt County Sheriff Mike Downey announced yesterday that the state has approved a $20 million funding request to build a multi-use addition onto the county jail that officials hope will revolutionize offender rehabilitation locally. The funding will be matched with $1.5 million from the county to build a three-story structure on the gravel lot adjacent […]
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Arcata Bay Crossing Opens
Humboldt County’s newest and shiniest low income housing project is open for business, and it’s already full. The Arcata Bay Crossing, tucked between the freeway and South G Street, is a collaborative project by the Humboldt Bay Housing Development Corporation, the Rural Communities Housing Development Corporation and several local governmental and non-profit organizations. A robust […]
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County Mental Health Crisis Reprieve Expected
County officials announced a plan today to address a staffing crisis at the Mental Health Branch that bubbled to the surface in recent weeks. A spate of resignations was poised to leave mental health — which runs Sempervirens, the county psychiatric hospital, and provides other outpatient adult and child psychiatric services — with only one […]
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Officers Stand Down at Standoff
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has de-escalated a standoff situation in the Cutten area with a man believed to be having mental health issues. “We had a subject who was mentally unstable and was acting out some — had some violent tendencies — and his parent had some concerns so she called the sheriff’s office,” […]
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Unsealed
Two young people gunned down in the middle of the night at a house party in Arcata. A beloved priest tortured and bludgeoned to death in his Eureka rectory. Two men killed execution-style in a home in a nice, quiet neighborhood of Eureka. Each of these crimes stilled the local community, capturing waves of media […]
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Letter from Robert Parker
Yesterday evening, a memorial was held for Sophia Parker Pedreros, the 2-year-old girl who died in the Trinity River. A story on the memorial by Journal intern Travis Turner is below the break. Today, Sofia’s dad, Robert Parker, sent the following letter: Yesterday I attended a memorial service that I had never imagined I would […]
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Today in Wiggins
The P-D lands the first post-“bullshit” interview with the senator. I’m bumping it up here into a new post because it’s a frightening, must-read piece. It’s absolutely clear that Wiggins is not well, and is in desperate need of the medical attention that her friends and associates insist she is not receiving. Instead, they’re propping […]
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The Evolving Wiggins Mystery
The Press Democrat comes through with a telling update. Santa Rosans close to the senator tell tales very similar to the ones that Humboldters tell in this week’s “Town Dandy,” which will go live right here at the stroke of midnight. P-D reporters Derek J. Moore and Mike McCoy provide a lot more detail, though: […]