Local crafts Sunday

The season of holiday guilt is upon us.  Lucky for you Humboldt County is full of artsy folk loaded with gifts to fill your shopping needs.

The Crafty Mavericks will be slinging goods at the Bayside Grange on Sunday from 10-4, so get out your checkbooks because if you live in Humboldt County you know someone who will love these pendants from Humboldt’s sauciest local blogger.

More at Chocolate Covered Xanax.

Coastal Commission to hear Marina Center appeal

An appeal over phase 1 of the controversial Marina Center project will come before the California Coastal Commission at its December 10th meeting.  The appeal was filed by Commissioners Mark Stone and Ross Mirkarimi.

Appeals were also filed by Humboldt County Planning Commissioner Ralph Faust (as an individual and not on behalf of the Planning Commission) and jointly by Humboldt Baykeeper, Environmental Protection Information Center and Northcoast Environmental Center.

Both appeals cite harm to Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Areas, or ESHA, and non-compliance with the City of Eureka’s Local Coastal Program.

“Although the project proponent contends that this work is remediation of the property to comply with requirements of the Regional Water Quality Control Board, this is merely a pretext for its first step toward final development of the property, the eradication of the wetlands and ESHA,” says the groups’ appeal.  “There is no evidence that filling of the wetlands on the property is required to satisfy the Regional Board’s request to reduce the level of pollutants contained in the site’s storm water discharges.”

Meeting will be held in San Francisco and will stream live on the internet.

BORING: Humboldt County

Humboldt County has a new website called Humboldt Online.  Currently the site acts as a “data mining project to help point people towards relevant news about our area.”

There is some original content in the FAQ section, however.  Readers will be sad to learn that Humboldt’s inadequate supply of big box stores is driving us to drugs and suicide.

Q. What is there to do in Humboldt County?

A. Humboldt County is not the entertainment capital of the world, to be sure. Due to its poor economic conditions, there are far fewer places to shop than in most locations its size. There are no amusement parks, and few places of interest to small children, or those with short attention spans. Many residents spend their spare time visiting our many public parks to take in the beautiful, local scenery. Unfortunately, the lack of exciting things to do here, especially in the Winter months, have resulted in a higher than normal average when it comes to drug and alcohol abuse. Mental illness and suicides also seem to be more widespread here than in most parts of the country. Indian casinos seem to be the biggest form of adult entertainment in the area. They are especially popular with local seniors.

So much for a good time!  Perhaps the Visitor’s Bureau can contact the site’s owner before it’s too late.

New candidate for sheriff

Mike Downey

With the upcoming retirement of Humboldt County sheriff Gary Philp, Undersheriff Mike Downey is throwing his hat in the ring.  Here’s the presser:

EUREKA, California (November 18, 2009) – Michael Downey announces his candidacy for the office of Sheriff of Humboldt County. His decision to run for office is based upon discussions with Sheriff Gary Philp and Sheriff Philp’s choice not to seek re-election. Sheriff Philp has faithfully served the citizens of Humboldt County for 38 years and has decided to retire at the end of his current term, December 31, 2010.

Mike Downey has been Undersheriff of Humboldt County for three and a half years and has been employed with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office for a total of 24 years. Since being appointed Undersheriff, Mike has worked closely with Sheriff Philp and other county, state, and local government officials. Mike has a thorough knowledge of the Sheriff Office, with leadership experience in many units within the office.

Mike has been married to Annette for 29 years and they have raised six children in Humboldt County. Mike understands the importance of a strong relationship between the Sheriff’s Office and the community and, as Sheriff, Mike will diligently work to maintain that relationship.

The future of the Sheriff’s Office depends on strong leadership and foresight for the tough economic times ahead.

“I have the experience, ability and vision to lead the Sheriff’s Office,” said Mike Downey.

[h/t @nate_downey]

Update on investigation costs post

On Monday the Humboldt Herald featured a post on the high cost of investigations into employee-related disputes in the city of Eureka.  As noted, the $275,000 figure was given by city manager Dave Tyson at the March 3, 2009 meeting.

Access Humboldt kindly uploaded video of that meeting which had been missing from their archive. The cost discussion — and Tyson’s curious comments about trying to avoid sarcasm — start at 31:40.

Tyson and the city are facing a $1.4 million lawsuit by a former employee whose complaints of harassment were allegedly overlooked by an overly-broad investigation.

The Times-Standard has a new article on the lawsuit in today’s paper.

Watch your mouth

Eureka skate park users can practice their moves without feeling the over-reaching hand of the man following an urgency ordinance adopted at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

Thanks to a slight change of wording skaters can pop ollies and not get popped by the po-po for an occasional f-bomb.

The original language called for no profanity, but Councilman Larry Glass suggested the council “ease up” by changing the wording to “no excessive profanity.”  He said the goal is to bring kids in to the park, not create outlaws.

Poll testing popularity of incumbents, candidates

Regular Humboldt Herald reader Highboldtage Bill got phone polled tonight.  He said the poll is questioning voters on District Attorney Paul Gallegos and his likely challenger Paul Hagen.

Bill said the poll also asked about challengers (or in one case, possible challenger) to County Supervisor Bonnie Neely: City Councilman Jeff Leonard and Eureka Mayor Virginia Bass.

Anyone else get the call?

Local painters release 2010 Calendar

[FYI.]

Lost Coast Daily Painters Release 2010 Calendar, Host Holiday Sale

Last Night at O-H's, by Linda Mitchell.

Last spring, a group of Humboldt County painters joined together to sell small works online through their blog, Lost Coast Daily Painters. The effort proved more successful than they could have imagined: collectively, they’ve sold over 150 paintings in six months. They group continues to attract new members: painters Alicia Tredway, Terry Oats, and Steve Porter have joined this month. Now they’re celebrating with the release of a 2010 calendar of Humboldt County scenes, and a holiday sale at Kathy O’Leary’s studio at 208 C Street in Eureka on December 5 for Arts Alive.

The calendar features paintings by O’Leary, Linda Mitchell, Rachel Schlueter, and Amy Stewart. Scenes include Indian Island, the Ferndale racetrack, and the AA bar. Some of the images are already part of Humboldt’s past. “As we were putting it together, we realized that already some of the places we painted had changed,” Mitchell said. “I went to O-H’s the night it closed to get one last painting. We also included Rachel’s painting of Gepetto’s in Eureka, and Amy’s painting of the pulp mill when it was still operating.”

‘Global investigation’ expensive

The lawsuit against the city of Eureka and city manager Dave Tyson alleges intra-office complaints of harassment were buried by an over-broad “global investigation” that failed to uncover libelous activities inside the Eureka Police Dept.

Tyson revealed in March that the city spent $275,000 on outside help with employee-related disputes in the 2008-2009 fiscal year. Tyson was clearly annoyed by the subject at the March 3, 2009 city council meeting, and said he would try to answer a question about the cost “without being too sarcastic.”*

According to the lawsuit, the investigation into Plaintiff Tawnie Hansen’s grievance was concluded in May 2009, so the figure will likely go up. And for all the money, the investigation “never refut[ed] that the harassing conduct occurred [and] failed to find anyone responsible for it.”

Hansen’s lawyers apparently weren’t so stumped — a lawsuit against Hansen’s former co-worker, DeeDee Wilson, was settled in August.
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*Video of the 3/3/09 city council meeting is missing from the Access Humboldt archives.  This post will be updated if it surfaces.

UPDATE: Thanks to Access Humboldt for uploading the 3/3/09 Eureka City Council meeting. Discussion of investigation costs start at 31:40.

On propaganda

Comments in a thread below have turned to the issue of propaganda and whether blogs, newspapers and political parties are guilty of distributing it.

Late Humboldt State Graphic Arts professor Wayne Knight assembled an exhibit of propaganda poster art last month and offered some clarifying remarks on the subject:

The popular notion of propaganda is that it’s always political and it’s always a form of disinformation. The reality is that at its base it’s simply an attempt to convince, whether right or wrong, whether it is a lie or the truth. All artists are attempting to convince in some form, the minute the object is put before the public, that it has value, that the vision is unique, or that it just has the right to exist. This show is composed of many views on various topics that resonate with the artist. These HSU Graphic Design students want you to see it their way.

Don’t miss the collection of posters.