In the wee hours of Tuesday morning the portable toilets in the Bayshore Mall’s north parking lot burnt to almost nothing. So says the press release from Humboldt Bay Fire, which responded to a call at 5:28 a.m. to find the plastic potties completely destroyed by fire. But Richard Marks, who serves on the Humboldt […]
PalCo Marsh
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Eureka: Marsh Campers Must be out May 2
The city of Eureka is moving forward with a plan to expel all homeless encampments from the Palco Marsh area behind the Bayshore Mall by May 2. The city is meanwhile soliciting proposals from organizations or individuals with an “exit strategy” for the 200 or so people currently living in the marsh area, but doesn’t […]
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Mayor Jager Joins Pro-Camp Camp
On the evening of Tuesday, Mar. 1, the Eureka City Council unanimously approved a resolution to support the Humboldt Area Center for Harm Reduction’s needle supply program, opted to send the Eureka Police Department’s little-used mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle back to the federal government and, after a smatter of discussion and dissent, approve changes to […]
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County and City of Eureka Meet Tomorrow to Discuss Long-Awaited Report
It has taken months for the respective orbits of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors and the Eureka City Council to align, but tomorrow they will finally sit down to discuss the estimated 844 people who sleep unsheltered in Humboldt County. The majority of those people are in Eureka, which has borne the brunt of […]
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After Bitter Debate, Eureka Declares Shelter Crisis
Public comment was brief, compared to previous meetings on the subject of homelessness. Only around 30 citizens came up to the podium to address the city council about the proposed declaration of a citywide shelter crisis. The declaration, originally proposed by Councilmember Linda Atkins, was reworked by city staff before being put before the council […]
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City Mulls Shelter Crisis as Activists Protest Police Presence in PalCo Marsh
Tomorrow evening the Eureka City Council will meet to discuss two items related to the city’s homeless: the feasibility of a temporary, sanctioned camp and whether or not the city should declare a shelter crisis. City Manager Greg Sparks said a site has been identified as a potential temporary camp, a city-owned parking lot at […]
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City Revisits Plan for Sanctioned Homeless Camp
The Eureka City Council agenda for Tues. Dec. 15 went out yesterday replete with a vintage item: discussing the feasibility of a temporary sanctioned homeless camp. Within an hour, it was yoinked back via an emailed retraction, with the note that the item would be back on the table at the Jan. 5 meeting, when […]
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PalCo Marsh Update
Two nights of battering storms had given way to a clear Wednesday morning when Erin Powers-Taylor and Kim Bergel met in the north parking lot of the Bayshore Mall. Powers-Taylor, a volunteer with the Friends of the Marsh Group, which serves a free meal for the marsh homeless every Friday, handed Bergel, a Eureka City […]
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City Council to Revisit Open Space Property Management Ordinance; Housing Analysis Timetable Still Unclear
The Eureka Police Department, Humboldt County County Sheriff’s Office and City of Eureka visited the PalCo Marsh area behind the Bayshore Mall yesterday to remove traces of homeless camps. EPD recently announced officers would do less enforcement on a specific area of the marsh, just north of the Bayshore Mall. Campers were told that they must […]
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Homeless in Humboldt Update: Death, Drones and Rallies
A drone video of the PalCo Marsh, known to some as “The Devil’s Playground,” shows camps still firmly entrenched in the wooded area just behind the mall, an area where the Eureka Police Department is preparing to cite and arrest campers. EPD is encouraging people to move north, to the flat area adjacent to the […]
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Marsh Campers Condensed in Wake of Stabbings
The Eureka Police Department and homeless advocacy group Friends of the Marsh are encouraging campers in the PalCo Marsh area to move their camps from directly behind the Bayshore Mall to the northern part of the marsh, away from the abandoned structures and closer to Vigo Street. The push comes in response to two recent […]
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UPDATE: Eureka City Council Tables Controversial Ordinances
UPDATE: Following hours of impassioned debate, the Eureka City Council moved last night to table a controversial ordinance regarding the storage of personal belongings on city property. Public comment on the ordinance lasted for hours, stretching the meeting until 11 p.m. Several dozen people also gathered outside City Hall prior to the meeting to protest […]