Zanzi appointed to Coastal Commission

Outgoing Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Fortuna City Councilman Ken Zanzi to the California Coastal Commission, according to the San Francisco Sentinel:

Kenneth Zanzi, 67, of Fortuna, has been appointed to the California Coastal Commission representing the north coast region. He has been mayor pro tem of the city of Fortuna since 2010 and where he served as city councilmember from 2008 to 2010. Zanzi has owned Mad River Parkway Business Center since 1983. He worked for the Department of Fish and Game from 1965 to 1998 retiring as the deputy chief of the Wildlife Management Division. Zanzi is a member of the Fortuna Chamber of Commerce. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no salary. Zanzi is a Republican.

The appointment brings an end — for now — to heated discussion about who should represent the North Coast on the powerful statewide Commission, which oversees projects in California’s coastal zone.  The City of Fortuna lies outside the zone.

How long Zanzi will remain on the Commission remains in question.  Incoming Governor Jerry Brown, who will be sworn into office on Tuesday Monday, may dismiss Schwarzenegger’s picks at any time and make other appointments.

Zanzi supports big box development as an economic strategy, at least in Fortuna.

The Top 10 of 2010

After combing the data and crunching the numbers, the Humboldt Herald presents the top ten posts that sparked the most comments in 2010.

1. Sundberg’s DUI (616 comments) — We begin our walk down memory lane with a story that broke records for most comments ever received on a single post on the Herald.  The shocking revelation that a candidate for Humboldt County Supervisor had a twice-the-limit DUI followed by the giant media fail to report it in a timely manner.  The Herald broke the story late on a Friday night as mail-in ballots were already making their way to the elections office. Despite the late posting, the proverbial fan was hit, spattering the walls on impact.  But the controversy easily slid off the back of Ryan Sundberg who will be sworn in as Fifth District Supervisor on January 3, 2011.
2. Freshwater Pulp Gets the Go-Ahead (503 comments) — Despite the headline, the pulp mill is now being dismantled after this particular prospect for good-paying jobs and local industry never got off the ground.
3. Bass Campaigner Threatens Bonnie (484 comments) — The right-wing’s ultra-fanatical rhetoric against then-Supervisor Bonnie Neely erupted in the unchecked political passions of one young man who unwisely left a threatening phone message from a Google-able phone number at the campaign HQ.  This misguided fellow surfaced again recently with an editorial proclaiming the anti-big box movement is dead and that a glorious future of jobs jobs jobs at Home Depot and other such saviors await us, hallelujah and amen.
4. About this sacred zoo business (323 comments) — The “public safety vs. Sequoia Park Zoo” took a turn for the religious when the Times-Standard declared the zoo a “sacred” site.
5. Healthy Humboldt running general plan radio ads (306 comments) — The title speaks for itself.  A liberal org disseminates facts in order to educate the public on the county’s contentious General Plan Update.  All hell breaks loose.
6. Hello Arkleyville (306 comments) Here we have a tie.  Even before all the election night votes were counted it was clear that our next four years will be like a carnival ride at Arkleyworld.  Cotton candy Now!
7. Tea Partier Challenges Chesbro (274 comments) — But in the California that lies outside Eureka, the tea party lost big in California on election night.
8. Live blogging the Balloon Track zoning measure debate (273 comments) — The Arkley revolution to put Measure N on the November ballot.  The promise of “Marina Center Now!” and its big box utopia has yet to materialize.
9. Bonnie bashers head to Sacramento (246 comments) — Their mission: crash a campaign fundraiser.  The result: nothing that night, but Neely lost re-election and the zealots have declared her the root of all problems that ever faced a developer anywhere and whose all mighty powers must be guarded against with garlic and crosses and fervent prayers to city hall.
10. NCJ on the DUI (241 comments) — We conclude our list where we began, with the DUI (not) heard ’round the county — until many months later. The strange saga of a candidates criminal proceedings became a tepid tale about media’s failure to report and, in the case of the NCJ, the decision to withhold the story until after the Primary Election.

How to get elected when your head is full of air

Local cartoonists from Seven-O-Heaven illustrate the secret of political success in Humboldt County.

Jager to recommend Melinda Ciarabellini for city council seat

Frank Jager will recommend retired Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Captain Melinda Ciarabellini to fill the City Council seat he vacated to become Mayor after the November elections, according to the Times-Standard.

The Council will vote on the matter at its January 4th meeting.

The HCSO website hasn’t updated its site since her reported retirement and lists her position as current.  Read her bio here.

Humboldt on HGTV

Local mosaic artist Laurel Skye on Home and Garden TV.  The clip is a rare chance to see Humboldt on television minus the controversy.

See Laurel’s website.

Yurok Tribe wants National Park, Forest acreage

San Francisco Chronicle: California’s largest tribe is seeking thousands of acres of the state’s national parks to build eco-lodges, gift shops and water taxis that travel into the backcountry along the Klamath River.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Yurok tribe officials want Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, to propose legislation that would give them 1,200 acres of Redwood National Park, 1,200 acres of redwood stands in the Six Rivers National Forest and Redding Rock.

Thompson hasn’t signed off on the bill yet.

Full Story.

[Image source.]

Christmas Haiku

Christmas haiku post
Neal asked for it days ago
Here it is but late

[Guest Haiku by Neal Latt]:

Woke up this morning
Rushed over to my laptop
No haiku.  Let-down.

Coal in my stocking
Verses bubbling out my head
No where to go now.

Trudging through the snow
Arkleyville cold, desolate:
Lance, Brady, Newman.

Hooked on Humboldt

This Humboldt County promo video hit more than 4,000 clicks on YouTube in the few days it’s been online.

More.

Bad to the Bohn

Rex Bohn.

A pillar of conservative Eureka society is one step away from finally landing a seat on the Eureka City Council, according to the Journal.

Rex Bohn made it to the top two picks of potential warm bodies to fill the seat left vacant by Frank Jager, who won the mayor’s seat in November. A selection committee has narrowed the field to Bohn and Melinda Ciarabellini, a retired captain from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.

Bohn has long been considered the heir apparent by City Hall watchers who see the selection committee as a formality in the path to Bohn’s inevitable placement on the Council.

Bohn was backed by big money in his campaign for the 4th Ward Council seat in 2004, but lost to progressive candidate Chris Kerrigan.

Bohn is an outspoken supporter of the Marina Center project, and championed the recent lawsuit which challenged the California Coastal Commission’s jurisdiction over the Balloon Track property.  The lawsuit was tossed but is being appealed to a higher court.

Firecracker cop faces charges

A Humboldt County Sheriff’s Deputy who severely injured himself and a 10-year old Ferndale girl with a Fourth-of-July firework will face charges from District Attorney Paul Gallegos, reports KMUD news.

Deputy Joe Marsh will face a felony child endangerment complaint based on a CalFire investigation. Conviction could result in 9 years in prison.  Marsh has not been arrested, and will be arraigned on Jan 21, 2011 in Humboldt County Superior Court.

EARLIER:  Cop’s illegal firework caused July 4th accident