Brought to you by Balloon Track turkey.

Menlo College students studying digital storytelling uploaded their work to YouTube.  The collection includes Humboldt local Ben Brothers’ story of growing up off the grid in Humboldt County.

Suzie Owsley

For the second time in two weeks, the City of Eureka was slapped with a lawsuit by a police department employee. This time the Plaintiff is Officer Suzie Owsley, who is also suing Eureka Police Chief Garr Nielsen and Erin McBride, a supervisor at EPD.

Owsley alleges a string of complaints, most of which she first aired in April 2008.  Multiple investigations — including one by the Humboldt County Grand Jury — found a similar laundry list of allegations against Nielsen were “without merit.”

The lawsuit is lobbed from the other side of the rift as the one filed by former EPD dispatcher Tawnie Hansen on November 10th.  Owsley bases her claims in part on the alleged affair between Hansen and Nielsen — which Hansen and Nielsen both deny. This workplace rumor is also at the heart of Hansen’s lawsuit, and the settlement she won against co-worker DeeDee Wilson in August.

Owsley alleges discrimination based on sex and age but fails to state any facts to support the claim. Her main beef is that she was the victim of retaliation, which she claims happened after she allegedly received a text message from Nielsen. Owsley and other Nielsen haters made much hay with the text, including on the now defunct Above the Law blog presumably run by Wilson. But the anti-Nielsen crowd has yet to form a coherent narrative about the incident.

And here’s some irony: Owsley told the Times-Standard that people should ignore “anonymous blogs.”  Yet her story about the text message and the salacious insinuations about same first appeared — anonymously — on Above the Law.  Owsley’s lawyer, Bradford Floyd, represented the presumed anonymous blogger Wilson in the Hansen case.

Owsley appears to be one of the “small group of employees” noted by the Humboldt County Grand Jury,” who may never come to terms with some of the changes our municipal leaders are seeking within the Police Department.”

Perhaps the biggest difference between the Hansen and Owsley suits is the events that preceded their filing. Hansen’s suit appears formidable, bolstered by the settlement she already won against Wilson which appears to support her claims.

Owsley, on the other hand, has only multiple investigations which turned up nada, and a Grand Jury report which points the finger at her and those who will testify on her behalf.

Times must be tough!

Eureka developer Rob Arkley is giving up the life of luxury and selling his prized fishing lodge on the banks of Alaska’s Naknek River.

The sprawling property also offers moose, bear and caribou hunting.  Think he ever hosted the Palins?

From the listing:

This is the “Finest” Alaska has to offer.  A play ground for the Rich and Famous.  It has been used in the past years truly as a Rich’s Man Toy.  You can leave in the morning with your private jet anywhere in the USA and be landing in the all weather airport of King Salmon (ILS equipped) and be fishing that afternoon.

Swanky!

The realtor says the $3.2 million price tag is a steal. “One could not even begin to replace it for this price.”

A breakdown of unemployment rates by city in Humboldt County hit the internet last week — but somehow didn’t make the local paper.

The county’s rate stood at 11.1% on Oct. 31, below the state average of 12.5%.  Rio Dell is the only Humboldt town above the state average.

Check out the analysis on Humboldt Online from whence we swiped this data table:

The Journal posted some other notable numbers, including the 2,600 jobs lost between Oct. 2008 – Oct. 2009.

When Eureka City Councilman Larry Glass voted against a coastal development permit for the Home Depot-based Marina Center project, he said in a few short words what the California Coastal Commission staff detailed in an 82-page report.

The interim cleanup plan is “bogus,” said Glass.  “Moving soil around before you’ve characterized it is not how you clean the site up.”

The CCC staff agrees.

[T]he unearthing of heretofore subsurface material in an area that has been generally documented as contaminated with elevated levels of petroleum distillates, metals, and polychlorinated dibenzo-dioxins and furans, initiating the wetland reserve component before full characterization of the site has been undertaken, could result in exposing the aquatic resources within the slough and, in turn, Humboldt Bay, to toxics which could have deleterious impacts on the biological productivity of water quality of areas and species of special biological or economic significance.

While project proponents say their interim cleanup plan has nothing to do with development of the Marina Center, CCC staff aren’t so gullible.

[C]onsidering that the authorized interim remediation work is but an initial phase of a larger … mixed-use development project envisioned for construction directly atop the areas graded and filled for stormwater management purposes, the assertion that the filling and grading is for “restoration purposes” is questionable.

When Councilman Jeff Leonard voted “yes” on the permit, he said no other alternatives had been suggested.  But Coastal Commission staff strongly disagree.

[T]he City findings provide no substantive analysis of project alternatives that address other feasible options to the grading and filling of nearly 2/3 of the roughly 40-acre site that would achieved the same water quality objectives.

In rejecting all other alternatives to the wetlands filling and grading, the City concluded that no other legally feasible option to the approved remedial actions exists. The rationale for this determination was based on the City conflating the “concurrence” received from the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board staff for the subject “Supplemental Interim Remedial Action Plan” with the directive within the Regional Board’s 2001 Cleanup and Abatement Order No. R1-2001-26, erroneously recasting the tentative approval the SIRAP into a firm mandate of the one and only acceptable remedial action that the agency would consider as being consistent with the cleanup order.

[T]he decision to approve such development without rigorous consideration of other feasible, less environmentally damaging alternatives could set a troublesome precedent.

So much for Leonard’s claim that the Environmental Impact Report for the project was the greatest ever.

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.

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.

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.

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]