Times-Standard barred from depositions

Officials with the City of Eureka will be allowed to give sworn testimony outside the presence of reporters after a ruling this morning in Humboldt County Superior Court.

Judge John Feeney partially granted a request for a protective order that stops non-parties from attending depositions in the harassment case filed against the City of Eureka by former city employee Tawnie Hansen.

The move for a protective order followed attempts by Times-Standard reporter Thadeus Greenson to attend the depositions of city officials.  The city halted the testimony of Mayor Virginia Bass to seek the protective order in January.

But today’s ruling wasn’t a total win for the city.  Judge Feeney denied the city’s request for all transcripts to be deemed confidential, which opens the door for non-parties to obtain transcripts of the depositions.  However, those transcripts will be expensive, and it remains to be seen whether the T-S will foot the bill for such investigative journalism despite vocal support by T-S readers.

FDIC to probe Arkley bank failure

The closure of Statewide Bank has triggered a federal investigation due to the massive cost to the fund of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The Covington, Louisiana bank owned by Eureka powerhouse Rob Arkley shut on March 12 and cost the fund $38.1 million.  Investigations are required into any bank failure costing more than $25 million.

A report will be issued by the FDIC Inspector General within six months.

From New Orleans City Business:

Sid Seymour, chief investigator with the state Office of Financial Institutions, said Statewide’s failure has caused state regulators to take note of other Louisiana banks with similar characteristics. Specifically, they are keeping an eye out for banks that experience rapid asset growth and those with significant concentrations in construction and development loans as well as commercial real estate, he said.

“If you look at the high risk assets that Statewide had … certainly we would have to look at other banks with similar portfolios,” Seymour said.

More.

Dikeman supporting Hagen?

Allison Jackson, Worth Dikeman and Paul Hagen.

The last time Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos had to defend his job on election day he faced seasoned prosecutor Worth Dikeman.  Gallegos won, and eventually sent Dikeman packing from the DA’s office.

Current candidate Allison Jackson was a big supporter of Dikeman back in the day, but recently released campaign donation forms reveal Dikeman’s money is on former environmental prosecutor Paul Hagen this time around: Dikeman donated $99 to Hagen’s campaign.

The donation is dated March 4th — the day before Jackson announced her intention to run, which wasn’t a secret.  But maybe Dikeman didn’t know of her intentions.  Or maybe he had money burning a proverbial hole to throw at any opposition.

Perhaps Jackson will have the opportunity to list him in the next round of disclosure forms.

Dikeman and Jackson worked together in the DA’s office before and (briefly) during the Gallegos tenure.  They shared a passionate dislike of Gallegos, and Jackson supported Dikeman both in the failed 2004 recall attempt on Gallegos and the 2006 election.

To peruse an easy list of “high-rolling” donators to this year’s local elections, check out John Osborn’s blog.

Green Diamond 10-year harvest map

Ten years of logging by Green Diamond Resource Co. (formerly Simpson Timber) is shown in this Google Earth map put together by the Environmental Protection Information Center.

From the EPIC blog:

This map shows the 10yr logging history on Green Diamond lands in the Maple Creek and Little River areas near Trinidad. This pattern is repeated in watersheds all across the Green Diamond landscape

More.

The Audacity of Jeff

Fourth District supervisorial candidate Jeff Leonard is sporting a succinct little cartoon on his campaign website.  The pictorial depiction of campaign money in Humboldt’s most contentious race comes from local cartoonist Joel Mielke.

[h/t John Osborn]

Coastal Commission wins again

The Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) is suffering a second loss this month to the California Coastal Commission.

After a blistering defeat three weeks ago, the San Francisco First District Court of Appeal found sea birds have rights when faced with 4th-of-July yahoos. And like the PLF’s recent Balloon Track lawsuit, the argument was over jurisdiction.

From the Press Democrat:

The case pitted those supporting a July 4 pyrotechnic show in Gualala against those trying to protect sea birds on a island near the Sonoma and Mendocino county line.

The display was halted after two years following complaints that it disturbed sea birds on Gualala Point Island. A study in 2007 indicated sea birds fled their nests at about the time of the fireworks show.

The Coastal Commission said the Gualala Festivals Committee would need to apply for a coastal permit to continue the show. To obtain a permit, the group would need to demonstrate it could avoid upsetting the birds.

Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation sued the commission on behalf of fireworks supporters, contending the commission does not have jurisdiction over fireworks.

Complaints followed the first fireworks show in 2006 when birds fled Gualala Point Island. The island is protected by the federal Bureau of Land Management and part of the California Coastal National Monument Program.

In Eureka, PLF sued the Coastal Commission over the Balloon Track last month, claiming the state agency doesn’t have jurisdiction over any half-baked “clean-up” plans for the contaminated property.

Life inside the Humboldt County jail

KHUM dj Mike Dronkers has a childhood friend serving time in the Humboldt County jail for driving without a license. Sawyer first called the KHUM studio line a couple weeks back to give a report from the inside. Dronkers said an influx of calls and emails followed Sawyer’s original call.

Dronkers interviewed Sawyer again this morning, who is now in the maximum security section of the jail because he got a friend to call an ambulance for a sick inmate. There was also a narrowly avoided fight over a muffin.  He now shares an 8×10 cell with a roommate.

Sawyer said prison politics are brought to the local jail by a “revolving door” of inmates from San Quentin and Pelican Bay. He said inmates set more rules than jail guards, and the rules are based on race and hygiene, among other things. He said the natives are in charge at the HumCo lockup.

Sawyer said it’s easy for people to get “institutionalized” in jail. “For some guys its like being a 17 year-old kid living at their parents house without a job,” he said. Inmates get food, mail, and sleep all day.

The Humboldt County jail is full, according to Sawyer, with some 40 inmates in the maximum security side.

Catch the full interview on the KHUM blog.

Voters to decide pot legalization in November

Californians will head to the polls in November to decide whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use.

From the Chronicle:

If Californians were to pass the measure, it would be the first in the nation to do so as similar efforts in other states all have failed. California would also have the most comprehensive laws on legal marijuana in the entire world, marijuana reform advocates say. Opponents are confident they will easily defeat the measure.

Backers needed to collect at least 433,971 valid signatures of registered voters. They submitted nearly 700,000 signatures.

CREG: Security National is stonewalling

The Citizens for Real Economic Growth are held a press conference this afternoon about what they call “stonewalling” by Security National/CUE VI to provide information to the California Costal Commission regarding the Balloon Track.

KHUM interviewed Neal Latt of CREG this morning, followed by Randy Gans of Security National.

Below is the CREG press release for the press conference:

EPD officers involved in shooting id’d

The two Eureka Police Officers who fired weapons in the fatal incident that killed David Sequoia (aka David Barger) last week have been identified as Rodrigo Sanchez and Patrick Bishop.  A third officer on the scene who did not fire his gun is identified as Brian Stephens.