About 100 people filled a 312 seat theatre Wednesday night as College of the Redwoods hosted the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors District 1 and District 2 candidate forum. All seven candidates running attended, with current District One Supervisor Rex Bohn running against local radio personality Cliff Berkowitz, while incumbent Estelle Fennel is challenged by […]
Rex Bohn
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Incumbents Hold Large Cash Advantage in Supes Races
When it comes to financing a supervisorial campaign, it sure is nice to be an incumbent. That’s the primary takeaway from the first round of campaign finance disclosure reports filed with the Humboldt County Elections Office in advance of the March 3 primary, which will see five challengers battle a pair of incumbents for seats […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Top 10 Dick Moves of 2019
In the final weeks of the decade, instead of a plague of locusts, a beach full of floppy, pink innkeeper worms, aka “penis fish,” washed ashore at Bodega Bay. We get it, universe/God/all-powerful being/Baby Yoda: so many dicks. Here in Humboldt, we had our own tide of dick moves, with local actors making more than […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
‘Incredibly Disappointing’
Two days and 600 miles apart, a pair of governing bodies held very different conversations about the need for local input into development decisions that will impact Humboldt County for decades to come. It was a bit jarring. First, on May 7, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors had a testy exchange over a seemingly […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Sad Days in the First District
It’s been a rough couple of weeks for voters in Humboldt County’s First District. First, they watched as challenger Allen McCloskey’s campaign to unseat two-term incumbent Rex Bohn in next year’s election imploded in spectacular fashion. The Lost Coast Outpost’s Ryan Burns published an investigative report April 2 detailing an assortment of allegations of dishonesty […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Fisticuffs in First District Supes Race
It’s been a bare-knuckle week in the upstart campaign to become Humboldt County’s next First District supervisor. First, Tuesday afternoon, the Lost Coast Outpost’s Ryan Burns published an impressive piece of investigative journalism detailing allegations of fraud and perjury in challenger Allen McCloskey’s past and the candidate’s seeming inability to offer a clear explanation for […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
New Ban on Unsafe Target Shooting Approved by Supervisors
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors took what some might consider a long-overdue action Tuesday on the issue of shooting on unincorporated land, unanimously voting in favor of a county ordinance that would prohibit target shooting in any area that does not meet standards for safe shooting. Those standards require a 20-foot birm of packed […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Pathway Planned for Downtown Petrolia
Petrolia locals have taken on an ambitious project: a one-mile pedestrian path stretching from the George C. Lindley Memorial Bridge to the Petrolia General Store in an effort to make a safer walking environment for children. The project is expected to begin this summer. On May 17, 2017, Petrolia resident Darlene Santner was clipped by a […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Supes Pass Cannabis Ordinance 2.0
After hours of discussion, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted this afternoon to pass its new commercial cannabis land use ordinance. The ordinance got four “yes” votes but Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson didn’t support it, though it’s unclear if he voted against it or abstained. (It seemed like he said he abstained from […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Power Struggles, Security Breaches, a Sexual Harassment Complaint and a Brown Act Violation Rock the Auditor-Controller's Office
Although it’s elected, the position of county auditor-controller is rarely the stuff of headlines. But the county’s top fiscal job, which involves financial oversight of county agencies, budgeting and disbursement of county funds, has recently garnered some controversy, thanks in part to Assistant Auditor Karen Paz Dominguez, who first stepped into the spotlight at a […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Board of Supervisors Declare Shelter Crisis
Following more than a month of meetings and deliberation by an ad hoc committee and intense public comment on the issue, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously today to declare a shelter crisis and create a committee to explore housing trust funds and solutions to homelessness. The decision, which came after over an […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Supes to Consider Public Defender’s $25K Severance Agreement
When the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors convenes tomorrow, it will discuss whether to approve a severance agreement for former Public Defender David Marcus that has already been executed and can’t legally be ratified. The severance agreement, which followed Marcus’ Nov. 22 resignation after nine embattled months on the job and pays him about $25,000, […]