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DOUBLE HOMICIDE IN ARCATA

On May 18, 2013, at about 2 a.m., the Arcata Police Department received a 9-1-1 telephone call from a residence in the 2400 block of Eye Street.  The caller reported hearing multiple gunshots within the residence.  Upon investigating, the resident found two acquaintances in another room suffering from gunshot wounds.

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Displaced houseguests outside the house at 2547 Eye Street, with APD Community Service Office David Greaney manning the perimeter. KLH | Eye

Kevin L. Hoover

Eye Editor

EYE STREET – Two people, a male and a female, were killed in a house on Eye Street early this morning.

People staying at the house said that a suspect, another houseguest, shot the two with a revolver. Police have no one in custody, but are pursuing a “person of interest,” according to APD Lt. Ryan Peterson.

Victims have not been identified. The houseguests said the female was an 18-year-old high school student.

Peterson said the female was pronounced dead at the scene. The male died shortly thereafter at Mad River Community Hospital. names have not yet been released.

Arcata Police have the house cordoned off and are processing the scene. Another team is pursuing leads and tracking down witnesses.

What the houseguests say

This morning, nearly a dozen individuals milled about outside, some lying and sitting about in the street eating donuts and tending to pets. Several said that they had been staying at the house. “People crash here,” said one of the guests. Some said they had been staying at the house for two days.

About 2 a.m., the houseguests said, three to five shots rang out and the guests discovered the victims in the living room. They applied pressure to the victims’ bleeding wounds while 911 was called.

Police arrived, the guests were told to leave the home, and were interviewed by officers outside. They left all their possessions inside.

The suspect was described by the houseguests as an African-American man in his twenties who went by the name of “C Nasty.” He was dressed in gray sweat pants, with a “wife beater” sleeveless t-shirt and an Oakland Raiders cap.

He has a tattoo of a tree on his upper arm, and what was described as an “all-seeing eye.” All in all, said witnesses, the man had a “thuggish look.”

The houseguests characterized the man as unpleasant and sexually aggressive towards the women staying at the house. “He was drunk all the time,” said one. “He hit on every girl here.”

“He tried to feel up on me,” said a young woman sitting in the street holding a cat. “He was into terrible music.” The guests described the music as abrasive, with the term “thirsty-ass hoes” repeatedly used.

“He was really fucked up,” said a man. “He talked about Garberville, about the Bloods accepting him. Gang and drug talk.” The suspect was armed with some sort of baton, in addition to the firearm.

“We think he was trying to get with the girl,” said a man who had been in the house when the homicides occurred. The consensus scenario was that the suspect had solicited sex from the female, and that the male victim had tried to defend her.

The man apparently went by the name “Sunshine.” The woman’s name is not yet disclosed.

The female victim  just turned 18 years old, the guests said. they described her a “sweet and nice,” and still in high school. “She was a bubbly young lady, full of life,” one guest said.

Investigation underway

Police Chief Tom Chapman is out of town, and Peterson is acting chief in his absence.

Peterson said even more people were staying at the house, and that they are being tracked down.

Evidence technicians are currently processing the house.

Updates when available…

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Bayside Park Farmer Leandra Lopez. KLH | Eye

ARCATA/BAYSIDE – Arcata’s Community Supported Agriculture farms invite your membership and participation.

Secure your farm share from the Bayside Park Farm before the vegetable harvesting begins. Enjoy 21 weeks, from June until November, of some of the freshest organic produce available, grown with care by local farmers. Each farm share costs $450 and each week’s box of produce will feed about three or four people. That’s about $22 a week for organic, locally grown food.

Community supported agriculture, or CSAs, are a way for people to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. Members of the CSA support their farmers by pledging their commitment and purchasing a share in the spring. Once harvest begins, shareholders pick up their portion of weekly produce at the farm. Buying directly from the farmer keeps your dollars local, builds a sustainable economy and cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions from trucking in food.

Bayside Park Farm is a two-acre vegetable farm located in the City of Arcata’s Bayside Park on Old Arcata Road. The Farm has been operated since 1993 by blossoming student farmers.

To buy a share in your community organic farm, contact the Arcata Recreation Division office at (707) 822-7091. Shares can also be purchased online at cityofarcata.org/departments/parks-recreation. 

For more information about CSAs and Bayside Park Farm, call Farmer Jayme at (615) 427-9372 or Farmer Leandra at (951) 258-4609, or e-mail baysideparkfarm@cityofarcata.org.

Redwood Roots Farm

Main Season Shares are also available at heavenly Redwood Roots Farm in Bayside. The shares for June through October (22 weeks) are $500. This share offers the full complement of veggies to flowers to herbs to berries. We focus on the staples of lettuce, greens, broccoli, potatoes, onions, carrots and other familiar vegetables, but offer seasonal specialties like bok choi and arugula early on; tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and beans at the height of the season; and fall favorites like winter squash and pumpkins.

Also included in this share are strawberries and apples, as well as farm-favorite U-pick flower bouquets. Shares are distributed on Wednesdays at the farm, from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. (shareholders also have the option to pick up their shares during Thursday Farm Stand hours, noon to 6 p.m.). Contact Farmer Janet Czarnecki at redwoodrootsfarm.com, Facebook, (707) 826-0211.

DeepSeeded Community Farm

Main Season Shares are also available at DeepSeeded Community Farm, just west of the Westwood neighborhood. Weekly produce baskets throughout the harvest season.

Two season options are available: 36 weeks at $24/week ($864) or 30 weeks at $24/week ($720). Payment options are available. E-mail Farmer Eddie Tanner at deepseeded@gmail.com or call (707) 825-8033 with any questions.

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But what happens to all the items that are left? Free piles cost the City, the environment and ultimately the community money. It is a widely accepted form of littering.

The City of Arcata has compiled a great list of for profit and nonprofit entities that reuse, recycle and consign you materials. This list can be found on the City of Arcata website or at scraphumboldt.wordpress.com/resources.

SCRAP Humboldt is participating in HSU’s Donation Dash where three other non-profit thrift stores will be collecting materials on campus. This HSU project helps support local commmunity non profits by making it easy for students and their families to make tax-deductible donations of their old goods. SCRAP Humboldt collects office, artist, and other materials for their Creative Reuse Center located at 101 H street (on the magical corner of G and H streets). A complete list of accepted materials can be found at scraphumboldt.org. 

SCRAP Humboldt is open Wednesday through Friday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Students can also donate during the Donation Dash at the College Creek Site Saturday May 18 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

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Eye Correspondent

HUMBOLDT – Weighing geographically-divided community opinion, the county has extended its consideration of a draft outdoor medical marijuana ordinance and will narrow its initial focus to impacts that affect neighborhoods.

The complex issues related to outdoor grows were again mulled over by the Board of Supervisors at its May 7 meeting. A discussion on the ordinance didn’t yield closure and supervisors decided to prolong its approval process but limit its scope to grows that occur in neighborhoods.

The draft ordinance intends to limit neighborhood impacts but its findings also mention large, remote grows associated with a variety of environmental harms. Most supervisors agreed that the latter grow type will be more difficult to address and should be considered later.

County Administrative Officer Phillip Smith-Hanes summarized comments from community meetings in held in Garberville, the Petrolia area and Willow Creek last month. He said feedback was different in Willow Creek, where residents complained about nuisance issues like odor.

The draft ordinance includes restrictions on setbacks and options that define parcel sizes and plant numbers. Those aspects and a mandatory registration provision drew objections at the Southern Humboldt meetings. Supervisor Estelle Fennell said based on what she’s heard, the county needs to change its approach.

“I think at this particular point, it’s obvious, from the input, that the draft ordinance is pretty much going nowhere,” she said. A written staff report offers other options, including “redirecting resources away from ordinance development and into engagement on issues of enforcement and resources” and Fennell said that approach “got a lot of attention” in Southern Humboldt.

“There are laws on the books already to deal with these egregious environmental impacts,” she continued.

Smith-Hanes had said that the people at the Garberville meeting were mostly “involved in the industry,” while most of the Willow Creek attendees were neighborhood residents who asked for reducing the impacts of nearby grows.

A division of opinion on what defines a medical grow was apparent. Fennell disagreed with the description of the Garberville meeting’s attendees, saying that “what I heard for the most part was people who said they were growing medical marijuana — they weren’t involved in an industry.”

“I’m not aware of anyone who volunteers that what they’re growing is not medical, because that would be illegal and they’d basically be saying, ‘Yes, I am a criminal,’” said Supervisor Mark Lovelace.

He said he supports the concept of medical marijuana but also believes that “there’s a tremendous amount of abuse happening under the guise of medical marijuana.”

Supervisors were hesitant to venture specific directions to staff on how to proceed, as there were various opinions on what should be done. Fennell said the distinction between medical growers and those whose scale is industrial needs to be kept in mind.

“What’s caused a lot of the furor in this county and in general is the industrial level of marijuana growing that’s happening in our county and is destroying our environment – that’s the problem,” she continued.

Lovelace said it needs to be defined in order to address it in an ordinance. When Fennell said it’s well-defined by the highly-publicized Google Earth aerial images of large grows carved into remote hillsides, Lovelace reiterated the need to “put a number on it, in some way.”

Supervisor Rex Bohn said he doesn’t think that would be difficult but he sees other challenges. “I don’t know who’s going to fight this war for us,” he said. “Until I see something in our budget that says we’re going to get six code enforcement guys and add 15 more deputies to do this, we’re just doing it in the wind, guys.”

More discussion ensued but when the talks appeared to be gridlocked, supervisors agreed to refer the ordinance back to the board’s Medical Marijuana Subcommittee. Despite Fennell’s and Lovelace’s doubts, there was also agreement that the ordinance should first strive to address grows that are seen as neighborhood nuisances.

Earlier, Deputy County Counsel Davina Smith had reported the outcome of the state Supreme Court’s ruling on a lawsuit challenging the City of Riverside’s effort to ban medical marijuana dispensaries. Smith said the court ruled that municipalities do have the authority to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries, including use of prohibitions.

Smith acknowledged that bans aren’t the approach Humboldt favors, but the ruling establishes a state precedent for applying “nuisance per se” laws to control the impacts of medical marijuana production and distribution.

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• Monday, March 4 3:38 a.m. A car window on Tanglewood Road was broken, with a wallet and papers taken.

7:15 a.m. A car window on Zehndner Avenue was broken and the vehicle burglarized.

11:17 a.m. A gun, camping equipment and computers were stolen from a Wilson avenue address, and two “friends” suspected of the thefts had accused each other.

2:28 p.m. A 2 a.m. car burglary in Martha Court had been interrupted before completion.

5:22 p.m. The Bravada Burglar was interrupted stealing a jewelry box from Connie’s house on Virginia Avenue.

8:41 p.m. A man being treated at the hospital for painful urination was reported being “inappropriate” with nursing staff.

• Tuesday, March 5 6:01 a.m. A duffle bag containing $400 in soccer jerseys was stolen through a broken car window in the 1600 block of 10th Street.

10:32 a.m. A man living with other “casual residents” at a house near Seventh and J streets reported that when a woman was kicked out, she took his chocolate lab with her. He suspected that she may have turned the dog over to a homeless camp near Humboldt State.

• Friday, March 8 5:35 a.m. After reportedly trying to kill herself in a variety of ways – cutting herself, drowning herself in the bathtub and starting a fire by pluging numerous items into all her home’s outlets – a woman was taken to the nervous hospital.

12:25 p.m. Men were reported milling about the Plaza’s center, “smoking weed” and kicking a pile of sawdust around. Police found no weed smoking or sawdust kicking, but the group dispersed anyway.

3:30 p.m. Work documents were stolen from a car trunk during a vehicle break-in at Seventh and J streets.

11:19 p.m. A World War 1 “dough boy” helmet was stolen off an F Street porch.

Saturday, March 9 5:43 a.m. A couple and their dog were seen waving flashlights and rummaging through bushes near a D Street park.

11:54 a.m. Five figures lurked on Janes Road—two near a bus stop, two on the side of the road, and one directly in the street, all trying to footrace passing cars. An officer found a few of them lying in the road and admonished them.

10:54 p.m. Someone hung around a 15th Street residence, whistled a bit, rang the doorbell twice and then vanished.

• Sunday, March 10 1:19 a.m. He was certainly dedicated, but after seven hours the bar patrons were really getting sick of that trumpet.

11:50 a.m. A man was overheard threatening a woman in Tina Court, possibly with weapons, and someone was taken to the hospital for an overdose.

11:54 a.m. A man came to the APD front desk asking for help removing his ex-girlfriend from his house, where she was still living.

12:59 p.m. A broken window, the chair below it and the sweatshirt padding the frame boded ill for a G Street apartment, but it was just the residents trying to get in after they’d locked themselves out.

7:28 p.m. In the 20 minutes that the owner was out walking around, a window in her vehicle was smashed and her purse and an iPod charger stolen, per routine.

• Monday, March 11 12:56 a.m. Get a room, you guys. No, seriously, you’re right outside a hotel.

1:20 a.m. A man urinated on a Chinese restaurant and then wandered off into the night.

10:40 a.m. A rocking chair rocked itself right off a Zehndner Avenue porch.

10:57 a.m. A friendly German shepherd puppy showed up on Alliance road, but with nobody to claim him, he was soon taken to the shelter.

2:23 p.m. Two kids who left school to allegedly break into houses had their plans foiled when they realized the resident was still at home. They returned to school, and their principal soon handed them over to police.

• Tuesday, March 12 5:48 a.m. A man sat in a wheelchair on Palomino, disoriented and possibly hallucinating. When contacted, he said he was just confused about the time change. An officer took him home.

7:46 a.m. Driving into a stop sign. Relish the irony.

9:54 a.m. While using the restroom next door, a man left his backpack and the laptop inside and unattended in a laundromat, and it was inevitably claimed by ever-present opportunivores. On his way to the station, he found some of its contents abandoned, and later saw a man wearing it around town.

11:30 a.m. Goats frolicked on Aldergrove.

1:30 p.m. A Chihuahua lurked in a Stromberg yard, shivering and growling whenever anyone got too close, but soon fled.

• Friday, March 15 1:29 p.m. A man called the station to report that he is a black belt in karate and his landlord is threatening his stuff, saying “stuff” was going to happen to it unless he got it out of the house.

2:18 p.m. A man was riding a bicycle on L.K. Wood Boulevard when a black pickup truck roared by and its driver lobbed a piece of fruit at him.

5:35 p.m. Nothing says the high life like waving cash around and groping yourself at a gas station.

5:50 p.m. Two men, one in a black T-shirt, the other in a green hoodie, swung at each other outside an off-Plaza movie theatre and then went their separate ways.

• Saturday, March 16 7:57 a.m. A porta-potty was savagely upended in Redwood Park.

10:59 a.m. A way-drunk woman was found unresponsive but conscious off the side of a trail. An ambulance was called.

2:02 p.m. A Fifth Street lumber yard reported a mustached man in a black cowboy hat wandering around and rearranging things, and the caller was concerned for his welfare. The man was asked to stay off the property unless he had written permission.

6:59 p.m. A dirty child in a Janes Road yard reportedly said his parents had had a fight and left him and that he hadn’t eaten that day. When contacted, however, both parents were home and the child was clean and eating.

• Sunday, March 17 8:41 a.m. A creature both bald and be-dreaded yelled at a woman as he rode his bike around Redwood Park.

1:17 p.m. Party aftermath followed a woman home, where she found an upset guest had broken into her apartment and stolen her laptop and all of her left shoes. The property was retrieved, but it still doesn’t explain why they left her a cup of coffee in the morning.

9:48 p.m. An unknown woman was following a man from place to place and starting to unnerve him. Police found the two arguing outside a late-night donut shop and sent them on their separate ways.

• Monday, March 18 7:18 a.m. A woman in a black sweatshirt and a male friend walked towards the hospital, talking about her taking an overdose. Upon contact, the woman said she had wanted to hurt herself by injecting extra insulin because she was in a fight with her boyfriend. Now that they were no longer arguing, she didn’t want to do it. She was advised to stay with a friend for the day until things calmed down between the two of them.

8:32 a.m. Unknown petrol pirates drilled into a gas tank and drained about 15 gallons of fuel.

10:15 a.m. A patient in the emergency room demanded to speak with an officer, claiming the government had placed a tracking chip in his finger and that the “Yurok Mafia” was after him. He then called 911 to say that he had been accused of molesting someone in Trinidad, and requested police protection. He was taken to the nervous hospital.

• Friday, March 22 1:33 a.m. Well, it’s almost the weekend, and what better a way to unwind than charging about in your underwear and knocking on random doors?

5:40 a.m. In between streams of nonsensical chatter was the complaint that she was getting pimples from the meth the people under her house were smoking. Police found nobody under or around the house.

11:33 a.m. A man with curly brown hair and a green jacket kicked and wrenched at the door of a yoga studio until the lock broke, slammed it a few times and then left. Police were unable to locate him.

1:12 p.m. A woman identified only as “Smiley” argued with a Plaza bartender, then tried to leave with a pint stuffed in her pocket.

• Saturday, March 23 4:17 a.m. A caller reported a gun being stolen from their F street home the previous night, then somehow returning at about 2:30.

6:55 a.m. A man who had been sleeping by a gas station appeared to have a bloody lip, and said he’d just got out of the hospital. Police could not locate him.

• Saturday, March 23 1:40 p.m. A purse left in a car was soon smash ’n’ grabbed. Just another reminder to keep all the valuables in your car out of sight.

6:48 p.m. A group of kids slogged their way through the field behind an apartment complex, occasionally pausing to take another slug of booze and further raise the concern of a woman nearby. Bristling at the suggestion that they were too young to be drinking, they managed to engage their sodden prefrontal cortexes enough to devise a logical response — in this case, the semi-simian hurling of a bottle. The obstreperous oaves were out of city limits, and referred to the Sheriff’s Office.

• Tuesday, March 26 11:34 a.m. A white car parked across from a Valley West motel was described as a “sweat box,” harboring multiple dogs that appeared to have been locked inside all night. The caller reported the dogs looking distressed and trying to get out. The car was gone upon arrival.

3:38 p.m. A week after being fired, a brewery’s formerly gruntled ex-employee came in and stole 75 tickets and $400 in cash.

• Wednesday, March 27 9:06 a.m. Dude, you’re 13. It’s physically impossible to be a badass at that age. Go back to class.

10:41 a.m. This is the third time his car’s been messed with, but the first where he’s been left a bunch of raw chicken and a “Got Karma?” sign.

4:16 p.m. A man hurled abuse at another man who had taken shelter inside a donut shop, screaming at him to come outside but threatening to hurt him if he did. Eventually, he wandered off, and the man he had been harassing was advised about restraining orders.

• Thursday, March 28 10:42 a.m. Yak Man and his diminutive companion argued at a passing jogger before being admonished. One must greet the yakherders with extreme courtesy and caution as they go about purifying Arcata.

10:55 a.m. A dazed-looking woman paced around F Street, apparently fascinated by the flashing Caltrans lights, then wandered off to parts unknown.

3:58 p.m. A woman reported an ex-neighbor identified only as “Malcolm” making threats about his father in Louisiana, telling her he would torture him and make his brother watch. He went on to mention a gun and “making it look like an accident” before driving off in a gold pickup truck with a camper hood.

• Saturday, March 30 12:32 a.m. A man locked himself out of his apartment with the stove on, but managed to get back inside before anything happened.

2:42 p.m. A woman requested an officer make her roommate come back and clean up the room she had trashed.

11:32 p.m. Someone yelled, babies cried, and people jumped around during an argument, yet cops found nothing there.

• Sunday, March 13 12:09 a.m. With close to 70 people, a D Street party became too much for neighbors to handle.

3:49 p.m. A masseuse temporarily left her place of business and came back to find a man who wasn’t a client sleeping naked on the massage table.

4:39 p.m. A shaggy-haired man in a plaid jacket appeared to have his arm around a girl’s throat at a Valley West store. When a woman attempted to intervene, he began shouting at both her and the girl he was restraining. He later called from City Hall to say that he and his daughter had been horseplaying, not fighting, and when contacted, his daughter appeared to be fine.

• Monday, April 1 10:53 a.m. A man was heard beating a small puppy in an H Street apartment building, with loud banging noises and the puppy crying. Police were unable to locate him. The puppy is reported as being brown with white markings and the man as a shitstain on society.

9:27 p.m. The most important rule of exploring is to take only photographs and leave only footprints. When you’re breaking into somebody’s house, however, feel free to nab a laptop instead of a photo op.

• Tuesday, April 2 9:32 a.m. A child who was playing with a phone was admonished for calling 911.

10:16 a.m. A man called worried for his brother, who was hanging out with some sketchy people and doing drugs. The brother was currently in a green Ford Explorer in the driveway with a friend. Police found them on the roof instead and arrested the duo.

10:37 a.m. A man claiming to work for a local motel came to the station asking for any records relating to a past guest, providing a “badge number” but being really weirdly aggressive about it. When denied access to the records, the man said he would e-mail for the information later that day.

8:43 p.m. A liquored-up creature in a wool hat wandered around in front of an Eleventh Street church, darting into traffic and back and yelling to himself. Police were unable to locate him.

• Wednesday, April 3 7:08 a.m. A health clinic’s car remained unlocked overnight and was subsequently ransacked.

12:14 p.m. After guzzling down a few of his favorite adult beverages, a tall, bearded man in a Yankees cap decided it would be a good idea to go to a mobile home park and try to punch an eight-year-old. After attempting to grab him, however, the man receive a decisive thwack with kid’s skateboard, and he fled on foot.

1:45 p.m. A hissyfit in a parking lot ended up with a moped being pushed over and someone getting kicked.

7:58 p.m. A caller suspected a nearby residence to be a grow house, what with the massive foot traffic and the trailer arriving every month or two.

• Thursday, April 4 12:33 a.m. A painted school bus and its lowrider companions disgorged a large number of travelers on Virginia way.

7:54 p.m. After accidentally shoplifting from an off-Plaza grocery store, a woman agreed to pay the $50 she owed.

11:09 p.m. A fight in an F Street home appeared to end with an intoxicated woman trying to drive away with her two children in the truck. Police found her still at her residence after arguing with a cousin on the phone. She agreed to remain off the street.

• Friday, April 5 1:26 a.m. An extremely intoxicated man called the police to ask for help getting to the bathroom. Nevermind, his roommate will help him.

• 1:01 p.m. Two men entered a Westwood grocery store, collected a bagful of goodies and then tried to pay for it with a counterfeit hundred-dollar bill.

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Oyster Festival crowds have swelled in recent years to the point, says Arcata Main Street, where a new approach is needed. Eye file photo

Kevin L. Hoover

Eye Editor

ARCATA – Arcata Main Street announced a major and risky change in this year’s Oyster Festival last week – if plans are approved, it will fence off the Plaza and charge $10 admission to attend the event.

For 23 years, attendees have been able to freely enter the booth-crammed square, roam about and partake of the food, beverages, kids’ attraction, music and festive Oysterfest features. They can still do that, but they’ll have to pay their way in through one of four checkpoints at the Plaza’s corners.

The plan – which, for all the furor, has not yet been approved by the City and Fire Dept. – involves installation of a temporary fence all around the Plaza. Still pending is approval of the evacuation plan and sign-off by fire and police officials.

The decision to charge an entry fee came about for a number of reasons, according to Main Street officials. The fee, they say, will pay for the rest of Main Street’s events, including Halloween Trick or Treating, the holiday Season of Wonder and Light, concerts and picnics on the Plaza and more. It will also allow Main Street to detach itself from dependency on taxpayer dollars, as the City’s of Arcata’s ever-diminishing annual subsidy is now just $15,000.

Enclosing the square will enable better crowd management and public safety, and, as Main Street puts it, “change the dynamic and energy of the event.” That’s code for filtering out troublemakers and drunks with the $10 entry threshold.

Within hours of the Thursday announcement, Arcata Main Street Director Jennifer Koopman and her board had been reviled as greedy, incompetent, dishonest, self-interested and even anatomically mutated. “I don’t know where your head is, but it’s not on your shoulders,” one caller to Main Street said in a voice mail message. Some online commenters wove the news into a broader narrative about the dysfunctional hellscape of oppression and ruin Arcata has become.

Many commenters pledged not to attend the Oyster Festival, and expressed dismay that a public facility – the Plaza – could be cordoned off from free public use.

Police Chief Tom Chapman said that since the fencing approach is new and untested, the City wouldn’t change anything about the way it handles the Oyster Festival. Arcata Police will deploy additional officers late in the day, to cope with the swelling crowd and alcohol-related misbehavior.

“We’re always thinking, ‘what’s the worst-case scenario and how could we handle it?’” Chapman said. That, he said, would likely be a fire or earthquake that would cause a panic and stampede. “While the possibility is remote, I’m paid to think of these things,” he said.

Assistant Fire Chief Desmond Cowan said no plan has yet been approved. Arcata Fire’s priorities are “immediate access and good communication.” Cowan’s preliminary view was that the fencing proposal was “no better or worse, just different.”

The enclosure would be a six-foot-tall cyclone fence placed curbside around the Plaza. The original plan was to do that on all four sides, though Main Street is now modifying that concept.

The north side of Ninth Street along Tavern Row will get the curbside fence treatment.

But in a new twist, Koopman said that if all the businesses on a given block approve, the fence could be eliminated from out front, and limited to the ends of the block. That way, the sidewalks and businesses would only be accessible to OysterFest attendees who have paid the entry fee.

One business on H Street adamantly rejected the offer, so the fence apparently will be placed curbside along the western side of the Plaza. But businesses on the east side, along G Street, are OK with the idea, so that block may not be fenced. Businesses along the south side, along Eighth Street, seem to be generally sympathetic to the idea, but unanimity has not been achieved.

If the fence is eliminated on the south side, Jacoby’s Storehouse and the Golden Building (which houses Libation) will have extra security, as they have internal stairs through which people could enter the Plaza without going through a corner entry checkpoint.

The cyclone fence segments will be held together with zip ties. In case of emergency, OysterFest workers will be equipped with snippers to quickly disconnect the fence segments for easy exit.

Plaza merchants’ initial reactions ranged from cautious approval to harsh rejection.

“It’s worth a try,” said Diane Cutshall, manager of Hotel Arcata. “Hopefully, it’s a good thing, maybe more control over what’s happening. Let’s see how it goes.”

“It’s turning a community event into more of an exclusive event,” said People’s Records owner Steve Lovett. “I think it should be free.”

Todd Larsen, manager of Baroni Designs, which owns the Plaza store, said the fence might help to keep people with messy drinks and food from coming in, but that same lack of access could impact business. “It would be a shame to have 6,000 to 10,000 people on the Plaza without easy access to the businesses,” he said.

Alibi owner Justin Ladd said he was “incredulous” at what he believes is an ill-considered plan and a too-high entry fee. He suggested Main Street “ease into” a new approach, perhaps offering more festivals to garner additional income.

Ladd said the $10 door fee would be a big jolt to visitors from elsewhere, who are already spending big on hotels, restaurants and other shopping. ”I think it’s extremely high,” he said. “There’s no justification.”

Koopman pointed out that the $10 entry fee includes a wristband for alcohol purchase that used to cost $3. So the door fee for imbibing adults is, in effect, $7.

Luke Patterson of Luke’s Joint was outraged, calling the plan “a reactionary response instead of a pro-active fix.”

He faulted Main Street for poor messaging in terms of being seen as shutting out the public, and not working things out collaboratively with the business community in advance. He plans to close Luke’s Joint for the day and hold a counter-event featuring non-alcoholic sponsors and child-friendly features.

“Keep your eyes peeled for a new festival, called ‘The Other Fest’ coming soon to a parking lot near The Other Place,” Patterson said.

Koopman said the Arcata Chamber of Commerce has been briefed and supports the plan. All Plaza businesses will be given two free tickets to the event, and all Main Street members will receive four tickets. In addition, those who pay the admission fee will be given discount coupons for local businesses.

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Aerial photos taken by Superivsor Mark Lovelace last year show cannabis-related clearcuts throughout remote wooded areas of Humbboldt County.

Daniel Mintz

Eye Correspondent

HUMBOLDT – Environmentally harmful marijuana production has again been documented, this time before the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, and a state official has estimated that it will cost between $3 million and $5 million a year to pay for additional staff to crack down on it.

There’s been a surge in awareness of large-scale grow impacts in Northern California and a panel presentation put the issue on the water board’s radar at its May 2 meeting at Eureka’s Wharfinger Building.

Stormer Feiler, a water board environmental scientist, used a series of photographs to reveal watershed damage that was described as “shocking” by board members and panelists.

There’s consensus that more enforcement is needed to respond to the sometimes outrageous destruction being wrought in sensitive watersheds but federal help is limited and it will be expensive for the state to beef up its response.

Feiler said there’s been an “exponential increase” in the numbers of rural and wilderness grow sites. Many are being recklessly developed and “organized criminal relationships” are apparent, he continued.

The bad practices include grading of forested areas, illegal road construction without drainage, fertilizer and pesticide runoff, spills of oils and fuels, harmful fill depositing, high volume water diversion and wildlife poisoning. Detailing cases that have resulted in prosecution in Mendocino County, Feiler showed photos of large-scale grading that “completely filled three streams” with soil, “obliterating them.” In another case, a property owner excavated about 20,000 cubic yards of earth and debris and resisted a $423,000 clean-up and abatement bill by declaring bankruptcy, he said.

A case of “recreational bulldozing” was also documented as Feiler displayed a photo of a small dozer stuck in a stream channel. It was identified as having been stolen and a prosecution for grand theft was carried out.

Photos of emptied chemical containers, rickety diesel rigs, muddied streams and denuded riparian areas followed. Brad Job of the Bureau of Land Management’s Arcata office said water diversion and other impacts are also being seen on public lands and he told the board he’d “bet my next paycheck” that phosphorous run-off from grows is the cause of blue-green algae blooms in the Eel River.

Job described a case of illegal grading and excavation that was referred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which declined to prosecute. Showing a photo of a shoddy-looking diesel generator and fuel storage set-up on privately-owned property, he told boardmembers that profit is being made from fuel deliveries and that the water board has the legal authority to intervene.

Similar presentations have been made across the region and to those who have been at them or read news reports on them, none of it is unfamiliar.

Water board members seemed aghast, though, and when they asked what their agency can do to help, Jeanette Pederson of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said funding more enforcement staff is necessary.

“We don’t have enough Stormers,” she said, referring to Feiler. “Government agencies never seem to have enough staff but in this case, staffing would be of tremendous value.”

It would be a substantial investment. After saying that “the green rush is on,” Scott Bauer of the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife estimated it will take up to $5 million to pay for more enforcement. He had given a presentation on a study he worked on that identified grows in Humboldt’s Redwood Creek and Salmon Creek watersheds using Google Earth and about 1,100 grows were mapped.

A conservative estimate would put combined water use in the two areas at about 34 million gallons of water per growing season, Bauer said.

Boardmember Irene Tynes told him that his documentation is a call for action. “The thing that clearly said, ‘I have a responsibility’ was that you proved to me, in two watersheds, that this is happening,” she said, adding that documentation is useful because “we need to prove to other lawmakers that something has to be done.

The state needs assistance to combat a problem that Feiler said is “exceeding our ability to respond.” There was talk of asking the federal government to do more but Tim Broadman, an enforcement agent with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has doubts about that.

Aerial photos taken by Superivsor Mark Lovelace last year show cannabis-related clearcuts throughout remote wooded areas of Humbboldt County.

“I don’t think the federal government is going to bail you out of this,” he said. “California has the best environmental laws, probably, in the world and the problem as I see it is that there’s not enough prosecution.”

State and county laws are “very strong,” Broadman continued but “either we don’t have enough people or, really, we don’t have hungry prosecutors that want to take these things on.”

That led to a discussion on the cultural aspects of marijuana. Boardmember William Massey said the lack of prosecution could be due to marijuana’s benign “public image” but “this isn’t marijuana for fun – this is environmental damage.”

Boardmember Heidi Harris lives in western Trinity County and she said there’s an “absolute culture conflict” between growers and other community residents. But a distinction was made between growers who are known to their neighbors and those who are connected to organized crime or have criminal mentalities.

“You’re not seeing what we are trying to tell you – how they go about conducting their business from day to day, week to week, month to month does not follow any kind of laws and regulations,” Broadman said.

“I guess I’m a hopeful person and I’m thinking the guy that’s the wrestling coach and the guy that’s the baseball coach who says he has a carpentry business on the side actually has something in him,” said Harris. “Because when I look into his eyes and I talk to him, I sense there’s a person in there that cares.”

But the ones who are filling in stream beds aren’t coaching baseball. “If they’re members of the community, you probably have a chance but the problem is, these are not members of anybody’s community,” Massey said.

“That’s right,” said someone in the audience.

Someone else rejoined, “They’re members of their own community.”

The board’s commentary concluded with Board Chairman David Noren underscoring the need for action and saying, “I believe we have a role here, as an agency.”

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Bradley C. Remington

APD Press Release

On April 26,2013 the Humboldt County Drug Task Force was contacted by an Agent with the Homeland Security Investigation Unit (H.S.I.U.) regarding a package that they had intercepted.

The Agent with H.S.I.U. relayed that the package was being shipped from China through the United States Postal Service to a residence located in the 4900 block of Airstream Avenue, Arcata. The package contained 106 grams of MDMA also known as Ecstasy.

On Friday, May 3 at about 10:30 a.m., the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office assisted by the Drug Task Force and H.S.I.U. conducted a controlled delivery of the 106 grams of MDMA to the residence located in the 4900 block of Airstream Avenue, Arcata. After the delivery of the MDMA, Officers served a search warrant at the residence.

Officers detained five suspects at the residence. During their investigation officers learned that Bradley C. Remington, age 20, who was one of the five subjects detained was the suspect that had ordered the narcotics from China. Remington was on felony probation for assault with a deadly weapon with a search and seizure clause.

Officers learned through their investigation that Remington’s residence was located in the 4900 block of Valley East Blvd, Arcata. Officers then went to Remington’s residence to conduct a probation search.

Officers located 10 pounds of processed marijuana in Remington’s residence. Officers placed Remington under arrest for possession for sales of a controlled substance (MDMA), possession of marijuana for sales and for violation of probation. Remington was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility.  The other four suspects at the residence were released at the scene.

This case is still under investigation by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigation Unit.

Anyone with information on this case or related drug activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Drug Task Force at 707-444-8095 or the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Tip line at 707-268-2539.

Mike Downey Sheriff

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Arcata Main Street Director Jennifer Koopman.

When did you decide to charge?

We as board have talked about it for years, but funding has decreased over the years from other entities. We have been able to spend the proceeds from the festival’s beer sales to pay for all the other FREE events we put on such as Concerts on the Plaza, Picnics on the Plaza, Trick Or Treat On & Around the Plaza as well as the Christmas decorations. Not to mention, all the marketing and collateral we do for our monthly Arts! Arcata event.

The proceeds are also used to pay for office rental space in Jacoby’s Storehouse, office supplies, my salary, the website, tents, permits, insurance and all the other supplies needed to put on such a massive event including security, sanitation & recycling services, etc….

I have 10 FREE scheduled events beginning in mid-July: Picnics & Concerts on the Plaza where I pay the bands, sound technicians, sound equipment rental, etc. These are all FREE to the general public.

Arcata Main Street has a smaller membership than Eureka Main Street does. Plus, Eureka Main Street has two paid employees I believe. They also have a Business Improvement District where they get additional funding. You would think all the businesses on the Plaza would be paying members of Arcata Main Street, but they are not. I would say about 19 out of maybe 39 are members. We have around 17 businesses that are not located directly on the Plaza but in downtown Arcata that are paying members. If you look at last year’s Oyster Festival poster you’ll notice most of the sponsors are not even located in Arcata. Most of them are in kind sponsors or trade or donate to the organization.

Are you blocking off the businesses with fencing?

First off, the proposal is not for fencing to block off the public from the businesses, but to enclose the vendor booths and the inner Plaza square. Nothing is final yet. All the paperwork is ongoing.

I’m employed by and for the Arcata merchants. The whole mission of AMS is to bring and sustain local commerce in the downtown area. If I were to fence off access to the stores, that would be counterproductive to all my goals. The Plaza is a public space and it can be rented from the city. Nothing is final yet. We are still working in concert with the fire department, police and the city. We are currently working on an emergency evacuation plan, fencing map and the logistics of all entry and exit points. All the sidewalks will be open for foot traffic. The fences would go in the streets as they are barricaded off already to cars and traffic. People will still be able to walk on and around the Plaza. We are just enclosing off the food vendors, beer and music.

A lot of merchants may have record setting days in sales on June 15, but they still have to deal with all the mayhem, clean up and vandalism after the event. Restaurants like Abruzzi and Plaza Grill are considering closing on Oyster Festival. So, I not only have an obligation to bring more commerce to the downtown area, but I have to consider everyone’s complaints and try to help them. The Oyster Festival was started to benefit the town, not too hurt it.

Is it all about the money?

Of course I want the event to be profitable and have some reserve, but I also want to lesson the problems and the impact the festival has on the community. I’ve had a lot of families tell me they no longer go to the festival because it’s just too crowded.

I also have to consider the guests who are visiting our town for the first time. Is the Oyster Festival a true festival about oysters or has it become a drunk fest? If a fire breaks out, are too many people in danger because it’s too crowded? $10 may fan out the crowds. We only have the potential to make more money based on the attendance.

If the event gets any bigger, we’d have to move it. What if the Oyster Festival gets moved to another city — then Arcata loses, the city loses and the merchants I serve all lose.

We are definitely concerned about the festival food vendors potentially seeing a drop off. We are working on a contingency plan for them as we speak. We want them to come back and we want them all to be profitable. If citizens are concerned, they should consider donating their time and volunteer to work for a food vendor. Help the local restaurants and/or non-profit organizations such as Eureka High Cheerleading, The Fire Arts Center, Boyscouts of the Northcoast who vend at this event as their annual fundraiser.

Where does all the money go?

With the potential revenue – the jury is still out on that – depending on attendance and once all the bills are paid, I could potentially hire some extra staff. I pretty much receive help from my Board of Directors who all have full time jobs, a couple of interns, some close friends and my family who volunteer their time to help out with this huge event.

The money will also be reinvested into the FREE Picnics & Concerts on the Plaza series I have slated beginning in mid-July. The money will pay the bands and artists, sound, equipment  and marketing collateral. I’ve been lucky, the artists and bands have all been so generous to Main Street over the years. For example, the band Moonalice, that is playing in Napa at Bottlerock, have played the Plaza for free for the last three years. But I still have many costs associated with every event including pay for sound, equipment, permitting fees, insurance, etc. In addition to maintaining the events we already produce, we have also set up a support fund with Humboldt Area Foundation, where a portion of the proceeds will be donated back to local environmental projects surrounding Humboldt’s aquaculture industry. We are exploring starting a new event. The possibilities are endless but we are committed to do reinvesting the majority of the money will be right back into the local community.

Here is a breakdown of the fees associated with the Oyster Festival:

Fee’s that go directly to Main Street are as follows:
$600 single booth space which includes a 10′ x 10′ serving area and a 10′ x 10′ area for preparation
$850 double booth space which includes a 20′ x 20′ serving area and 20′ x 20′ food preparation area
$75 non-refundable cleaning fee
$25 Electricity

Health Department compliant Tent Rental:
$200

Other fee’s that are associated with the event but go to other entities:

One Day City of Arcata Business License: $21 and non-profits are free (Fee is paid to the City of Arcata)
Temporary Food Facility Application and Policy: $63  (Fee is paid to the Health Department)
One Day Liability Insurance (varies from vendor to vendor); (Fee is paid to their insurance provider)

Please note that fees have remained the same for the last couple years.  Since 2010, we increased the fees by $50.

Also, the $75 non-refundable cleaning fee was implemented in 2011 because vendors were not properly disposing of their grey water so Arcata Main Street had to hire additional staff to collect and properly dispose of the water so it didn’t impact our drinking water and the festivals environmental impact.

Like everything in life, this is a learning lesson. This new $10 fee might look bad to some, but it may turn out to be a positive for others. We’ll never know until we try something new.

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