CENSORED: Humboldt Herald blocked from Eureka City servers

It appears that employees of the City of Eureka will have to get their Humboldt Herald fix after hours.  The North Coast’s premier local blog is now forbidden fruit on the city’s computers.

City workers first began noticing the block earlier this week, according to sources.

All other local blogs are accessible — except for one: the now-defunct Above the Law blog.  But back when baseless rants were being posted daily to that blog all city workers had access — including the “small group of employees” at EPD who made false accusations against Chief Garr Nielsen.  Apparently bashing the Chief was a-ok with the City Manager.

Humboldt Herald readers who wish to defy the ban can subscribe by email.  And if you use an RSS reader, you can subscribe to posts, comments or both.

Unfortunately, however, such measures will not allow you to leave comments.  That will have to wait until after work when you leave the dictatorial confines implemented by Eureka’s Supreme Leader.

And until Mr. Bossypants takes away your email privileges, you can always contact the Humboldt Herald with inside info on the power plays at City Hall.

INNOCENT: Grand Jury concludes police chief investigation

A slew of complaints against Eureka Police Chief Garr Nielsen were found to be “without merit” according to the 2008-09 Grand Jury Final Report.  The complaints were filed by EPD personnel.

This week’s Journal cover story painted an ugly picture of life inside the Department, and said the “anti-Nielsen side shows no sign whatsoever of backing down” and predicted “ongoing dysfunction in the city’s most critical institution.” But the Grand Jury found inevitable tension stemming from much-needed changes at EPD were improving.

“The center of antagonism against the Police Chief has been reduced to a small group of employees who may never come to terms with some of the changes our municipal leaders are seeking within the Police Department,” according to the Report.

The Grand Jury investigated complaints including the unauthorized use of City property, seeking and receiving improper compensation for professional and/or personal expenses, engaging in illegal hiring practices, abuse of authority, misrepresentation of Peace Officer certification status, retaliation against a Department employee, incomplete conflict of interest statement and sharing information inappropriately with professional colleagues.

The Grand Jury notes that Nielsen was given “firm and specific direction by both the City Council and the City Manager to implement significant changes in the Police Department” including reform of the “existing and historical culture within the Department.

No responses to the report are required.

The Report encourages everyone in the Department to “seek ways to move beyond the current tension… and to “refocus the attention of everyone in the Department on its fundamental mission to serve and to protect the citizens of our community.”

1976 Article about Alternative Owner Builder

Below is a 1976 article from the Arcata Union newspaper.  If you can’t read it, try downloading the pdf.

Eureka Police blog spawns lawsuit

Devora Wilson.

A bitter rift in the Eureka Police Department has resulted in a lawsuit between employees, and at the center of the controversy is a blog.

EPD Communications Supervisor Tawnie Hansen filed the suit late last year against Support Services Manager Devora Wilson and others yet-to-be-named  The lawsuit alleges libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The suit appears to be based on the now defunct Above the Law blog, which largely contained petty, personal gripes against Police Chief Garr Nielson.

Hansen alleges the blog contained false statements that she was having an affair with the chief and received special treatment because of the illicit relationship.  The blog also claimed Hansen had influence over the chief to promote or demote EPD personnel, according to the lawsuit.

Coincidentally, Wilson complained to the Eureka City Council last year that she had been punitively reassigned by Nielsen in February 2008.

Wilson’s malicious behavior went beyond statements posted on the blog, according to the lawsuit, and included flowers and other items sent to Hansen under the name “Tawnie Nielsen” which combined Hansen’s first name with the police chief’s last name as if they were married.

Both Hansen and Nielsen are married to other people.

Wilson denies the allegations.

Most of the content on Above the Law — including all of the comments — have been deleted, making it impossible to see the original material that led to the lawsuit.  But the Humboldt Herald recalls reading lurid claims of secret liaisons between the chief and a woman inside the department.  Herald readers posted their reviews of the blog here.

Chief Nielsen joined EPD following a string of fatal shootings by Eureka officers that had Humboldt County in an uproar in 2006.

Many Eureka residents have gone before the City Council recently to praise the changes at EPD brought by Nielsen, saying their neighborhoods are safer.

20 years of Humboldt County commercials

Humboldt County personality Rick St. Charles posted on YouTube a sampling of the many television commercials he produced for local businesses between 1985-2005.

Article Fail

STEELHEAD SPECIAL: An interview with Joe Shermis

The Steelhead Special is a local publication in Humboldt County since 1991.  Below is an interview with publisher Joe Shermis by Dave Berman of We Do Not Consent.

Berman has a new blog called Manifest Positivity: Advocacy journalism as a public service for peaceful revolution.

Living wages in Humboldt County

Do you make a living wage at your job in Humboldt County? Check out this living wage calculator to find out.

Rural resident supports Health Impact Assessment

Dr. Ann Lindsay talks about the Health Impact Assessment in Garberville.

Petrolia resident Ellen Taylor comes out in defense of county health official Ann Lindsay in today’s Times-Standard. The doctor’s good name has been dragged through the mud over her Health Impact Assessment for the county’s General Plan Update.

Taylor herself is a health care professional and given her backwater residence it will be difficult for the foot-stomping, name-calling faction of the Coalition for Property Rights to dismiss her as a “urban environmentalist.”

In spite of the seriousness of these concerns, Dr. Lindsay’s comments drew hot protests from a group of Realtors at [a September Board of Supervisors] meeting. They leaped indignantly to their feet, accusing her of trying to control how people live, and branding her recommendations as “social engineering.” They urged the board not to adopt the report. This summer’s Humboldt Coalition for Property Rights (CPR) newsletter continued the campaign, in an article questioning her scientific integrity, with the suggestion that she is being manipulated by the county planning department.

This vehemence invites scrutiny. Health, internationally recognized as a fundamental right of every human being, is cited by the World Bank as a vital engine of economic growth. The ancient art of municipal planning has always taken for granted the dependence of individuals upon community health.

Read Taylor’s editorial here.

MAJOR POT RAID: The anniversary

One year ago yesterday a significant chunk of Humboldt County’s population was freaking the eff out while 450 federal agents stormed properties north and south for marijuana.  KHUM dubbed the affair “Doobie Tuesday.”  The feds called it “Southern Sweep.”

The feds put out press releases timed at 4:20 and seemed to enjoy — if sarcastically — the local culture.  But (their) joking aside, they reportedly used unconstitutional measures to kick people off their land for several days while agents searched the properties.  KMUD reported residents were denied the right to get a change of clothes or even retrieve the family dog.  And for their extreme efforts the agents walked away with relatively little weed and money.

The main focus was on cut-over Barnum Timber land turned hippie corporation known as Buddhaville.  The Feds eventually filed seizure notices for the property.

Minus the major raids, this year looks a lot like the last.  KMUD reported Wednesday that Drug Enforcement Agents were conducting flight training in Mendocino County — just like June 2008 before the raids.  But such training is an annual thing.

One new element this year is involvement of the Civil Air Patrol from Alabama which is the “civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force” according to their website.  A CAP spokesperson told KMUD that DEA and Mendocino Sheriffs are their “customers” in this training mission.

Earlier Wednesday KMUD aired reports from the Civil Liberties Monitoring Project that low flying helicopters were scouting the houses in the Spyrock Road area in “reconnaissance mode.”

Ah, summer.