Category: Far North

Patricia “Patty” Berg, a fervent Democrat and former State Assemblywoman, passed away on Nov. 19, 2024, in Eureka. A Humboldt County resident since 1974, Berg established herself not only as one of the California Legislature’s most dependably progressive members, but also as one of the few members whose personal integrity earned her respect and cooperation on both sides of the political aisle. As a member of the Legislature, one of Patty’s proudest efforts was carrying “Death with Dignity” legislation in 2005 through 2007, aiming to replicate the Oregon law of choice to allow aid in dying. It was an effort that spurred the adoption of the landmark Compassionate Choices Act in 2015. She was a creative force in the Humboldt community, over the years leaving her stamp of enthusiasm and effectiveness on many organizations. She was founder of the Area I Agency on Aging and cofounder of the Redwood Coast Jazz Festival. She was also enormously proud to have helped start “the Girlfriends Over 60” group — 16 fabulous, local women friends who met monthly to discuss issues around how to grow old with class

A bomb cyclone is headed toward Vancouver Island and Humboldt County is expected to get hit with the tail end of it, bringing high winds and rain. The bomb cyclone, which is caused by the collision of cold Artic winds and subtropical moisture, is pushing an atmospheric river onto Northern California, with Humboldt County expected to experience moderate risk of excessive rainfall this this week, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The county is expected to experience high winds and flooding tonight and Wednesday morning that could last until Saturday. While it is not uncommon for the county to experience similar storms this time of year, Troy Nicolini, meteorologist in-charge at the Eureka NOAA, warned of the dangers of the incoming system. “This could be an unusually strong and potent storm,” Nicolini warned. He said winds will be high enough that knocked over trees will “almost certainly” occur. Nicolini advised residents to prepare for power outages and discouraged traveling tonight and Wednesday morning. He said residents should avoid driving if possible, but if they have to, to make sure to slow down

Former North Coast Assemblymember Patty Berg, the founding executive director of the Area 1 Agency on Aging, who spearheaded the state’s first-of-its-kind master plan on aging, has died. She was 82. Berg, best known for her six years serving the North Coast in the California Assembly, was a fierce advocate for seniors and dedicated much of her adult life to improving life on the North Coast, working on everything from school curriculum to protecting health care access. “Saddened to hear that former Assemblymember Patty Berg passed away,” North Coast state Sen. Mike McGuire posted to social media. “The North Coast was fortunate to have a champion like Assemblymember Berg. … She’ll be missed dearly.” Born in Seattle, Berg moved to Humboldt County in 1974 with her husband, Patrick Murphy, who was a psychiatrist. She was influential in the startup of the Humboldt Senior Resource Center in 1975 and worked in the county Public Health Department, where she helped develop the state’s first comprehensive K-12 family life and sex education curriculum for public schools, which later became a national model. She became the founding executive director

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office reported today that a bone found in the Redway area in July has been identified as belonging to a local man reported missing in February of 2018. According to a news release, the left tibia was sent to the Department of Justice and the agency notified the sheriff’s office Nov. 14 that the remains were confirmed to be those of Mark Charles Burleigh, who was 32 when he was last seen. No “further findings” were located at the time after the area where the bone was found was searched using specialized canines, the release states. “Search efforts will continue as part of the missing person investigation,” the release states. Burleigh was last seen by a family member in the Alderpoint area in September of 2017, according to the HCSO missing persons’ database, which states Burleigh was “missing under suspicious circumstances.” A previous HCSO release says he had not reached “out to family or friends since that time.” He was reported missing in February of 2018 and the case remains under investigation. The sheriff’s office asks anyone with information to call

Sequoia Park Zoo Director Jim Campbell-Spickler won’t give the exact height of the tree that will be decorated just beyond the Watershed Heroes exhibit, since the public will be invited to guess the dimensions. But is it taller than the Sitka spruce celebrated at Ferndale’s annual lighting event? “Absolutely,” says Campbell-Spickler, who has some climbing chops, noting he checked with a tape measure. The zoo’s namesake trees will be illuminated along the Skywalk during its Zoo Lights event starting the second week of December, as will the new anticipated holder of the tallest living lighted Christmas tree title. For $5 ($4 members) over 15 nights, Campbell-Spickler says visitors can stroll among the walkways and view the tremendous tannenbaum as part of what he expects will be an even better experience than last year. Arborist Bambi Anderson, who’s worked on and at times funded and rustled up volunteers from near and far for the maintenance of Ferndale’s tree, greeted the news saying, “Oh really? Cool!” She’s excited to learn how the festooning will be carried out, familiar as she is with the challenges of the job.

Kenneth “Joe” Shepp, 74, passed away Nov. 4, 2024, in Lakeport, California. Born on May 16, 1950, in Bay City, Michigan, Joe was a dedicated husband, a steadfast father, and a cherished member of the Southern Humboldt community. He will be remembered for his bold spirit, self-made success and unique sense of humor. Joe spent much of his life as a heavy equipment operator with Shepp’s Equipment, as a master cannabis farmer, and as a skilled carpenter and mechanic. He was an early homesteader in Ettersberg, a local bush pilot, a motorcycle racer, an ocean sailor and a cold water surfer, embodying a love for the outdoors and fearless pursuits. He shared 47 devoted years with his late wife, Mary Shepp, who passed away June 16, 2013, and later found companionship with Jessica Duran, his partner of 10 years. Joe is survived by his three sons, their families and grandchildren: Joey, Stacie and Devin Shepp; Jason, his former wife Amber, and their children Makoa, Alana, Ikaika, and Mahina Shepp; and Jerrell, his former wife Rakhia, and their children Jacoby, Omarie, and Khyrie Shepp. He is

After 83 years of exuberant life, Malcolm Terence died in August of 2024 the way he’d hoped, peacefully at home with Sue by his side. Malcolm’s positive, willing spirit showed up in whatever he endeavored. In typical fashion, he baked bread for neighbors two days before he died. You can find his recipe for bread here, which he shared generously with the world at every opportunity.  Malcolm will be remembered with love as a son (Rose and Abe,) brother (Carol and Susie,) husband (Sue) parent (Slate, Erica, Shawnna and Scot,) grandparent (Aja, Brent and Emma,) great grandparent (Amaya and Malia) bread baker, gardener, homesteader, walking and jogging partner, reporter, author, mechanic, teacher, mentor, neighbor, colleague, union organizer, activist, long-haired hippie, communard, timber cruiser, fire fighter, chef, rock band manager, friend and all-around Renaissance man. Malcolm approached life non-judgmentally with curiosity, intelligence and energy. Malcolm’s love for listening to and telling stories about people and life on The River is reflected in his book Beginner’s Luck, published by OSU Press in 2018. If you would like to tell or write a story about an experience involving

John Nunes, a beloved figure in the Ferndale and Fortuna communities, passed away peacefully on Oct. 20, 2024, at 10:25 am, walking into a friend’s home with the usual smile on his face, preparing to cheer on his undefeated Minnesota Vikings. He was 67 years old. John was born on Aug. 29, 1957, to Tony and Velma Nunes and was the sixth of 10 children. A proud Ferndale Wildcat, John excelled in football, track and basketball. After high school, he carried on his family’s legacy at the Beatrice Dairy, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather as a dairyman. John’s passion for gardening, especially garlic, earned him the affectionate title of “Garlic Guru.” He also enjoyed horseracing and had a knack for picking winners. His wife’s Uncle Frank always said John’s racing tips made the betting machine better than an ATM.  His greatest love was the “littles” in his life. His daughter and stepson, his two cherished “grands,” 24 special nieces and nephews, their spouses and significant others, and his 11 little “greats” brought him immense joy.  John was a loving husband, father, Pop

In cherished memory of Gary James Krohn (Gary Violin), who passed away peacefully at 73 in Santa Rosa, California. He fought a brave 12-year battle with cancer and subsequent surgical complications, inspiring all who knew him with his resilience and spirit. Gary was born and raised in Wisconsin in low-income housing in Milwaukee, and was the eldest of two. Gary was a devoted father to his two children, Shayna Rae Krohn and Garrison Eldon Howard Krohn, who reside in Wisconsin. His loving brother, Jeffrey James Krohn, mother, Dorothy J. Krohn, and father, James Krohn, preceded him in death. By 8, Gary learned to play the guitar and violin. Music was Gary’s heart and soul, and constant companion, shaping his life in profound ways. At the age of 10, he played the violin with the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, a pivotal moment that set the stage for his musical journey. In 1973, bringing his unique blend of vocals and violin to their performances throughout Wisconsin, captivating audiences with their soulful melodies and pop power. In 1976, he moved to the Minneapolis area and auditioned for well-known

Michael Fredrick Thompson, 61, passed away peacefully at home encircled by the love of his family. He will be remembered with tremendous affection as a loving husband, father, stepdad, uncle and grandpa. He was a one of a kind gentleman. He bravely battled Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer since the fall of 2022. Mike navigated the last two years with courage and class. He was always considerate, kind and truly never complained even though he deeply wanted more time with family, friends and music. Mike was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Lucretia Chairo Thompson and Geoffrey Fredrick Thompson. He was the oldest of five siblings. When his father finished his doctorate in chemistry he moved the family to Sunnyvale, California. It was there that Mike made lifelong friends. He roamed the neighborhood and Ortega Park with his pals. His first job was a paper route in his neighborhood. He attended Inverness Elementary School and Ortega Junior High in Sunnyvale and then Bellarmine College Preparatory High School in San Jose. He had countless escapades with his friends during his teen years that he recounted with humor. His

Christina (Christine) Louise Borges passed away on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, at the age of 89. She was a resident of Fortuna and will be long remembered as a loving wife, mother and grandmother. She was born July 9, 1935, in Ferndale, California. The daughter of Louis (“Louie”) Bucher and Laura Luis Kinzel, she grew up in Fortuna and graduated from Fortuna High School. Shortly after graduation, she married Max R. Borges and moved to Rio Dell, where they raised four children. Taught to play piano as a young girl, she loved music and passed that enthusiasm onto her family. She spent many years as head librarian at the Rio Dell Library and was active in the PTA, Boy Scouts and as a seamstress. As her children began to leave home, Christine became more active in the workforce. For several years, she managed the Little Ponderosa Cafe in Rio Dell, and then she and Max managed the Rio Dell Bowl and Coffee Shop. Later, she was hostess for Sanford’s Seafood restaurant in the Redwood Village Shopping Center. She will be most recently remembered for assisting

The Humboldt County Elections Office has issued its first post election report, adding about 21,000 votes to the tally, with 54,741 votes counted thus far, representing about 64.63 percent of registered voters. Here’s a rundown of the results so far in the races for city council, open seats on the Humboldt Bay Harbor and Conservation District and local ballots measures. Arcata City Council (three seats) Stacy Atkins-Salazar — 4,022 votes (26.00 percent) Gregory Daggett — 1,153 votes (7.45 percent) Shea Love Freedomhowler — 806 votes (5.21 percent) Dana Quillman — 559 votes (3.61 percent) Sarah Schaefer — 3,615 votes (23.37 percent) Genevieve Serna — 2,410 votes (15.58 percent) Alexandra Stillman — 2,893 votes (18.70 percent) Blue Lake City Council (three seats) Christopher Edgar — 186 votes (13.11 percent) Christopher Guy Firor — 202 votes (14.24 percent) Adelene Jones — 214 votes (15.08 percent) Michelle Lewis Lusso — 251 votes (17.69 percent) Katheryn Napier — 215 (15.15 percent) Verda Winona Natasha Pitts — 130 votes (9.16 percent) John Swatzky — 221 votes (15.57 percent) Eureka City Council, Ward 2 Kenny Carswell — 598 votes (37.70) Kati

One of the North Coast’s 18 condors is undergoing treatment at the Sequoia Park Zoo for lead poisoning, while eight others had levels high enough to be detected during recent medical exams. In an update this week, the Northern California Condor Restoration Program — a Yurok Tribe-led effort to reestablish a self-sustaining population of the endangered bird they know as prey-go-neesh in the region — described the situation as “alarming.” “Ingestion of lead fragments from spent ammunition remains the single biggest threat to condors in the wild,” a NCCRP social media post states, noting nearly half of all condor deaths in the wild are due to consuming carrion tainted by lead ammunition. Just released into the wild for the first time in early October, A9’s potentially lethal exposure was detected only a few weeks later during the annual fall exam, a time when the entire flock is brought in for not only a hands-on assessment but a chance to make any needed repairs to the birds’ satellite transmitters and identification tags. Due to the lead levels detected in the blood work-ups, A9 was immediately placed

Carl Allen Fairfield, 86, passed away peacefully at home encircled by family and friends. He will be remembered as a loving husband, dad, stepdad, grandfather and spiritual seeker with a kind heart, a concern for community care and a sweet sense of humor until the very end. Carl joked that he was an avid indoorsman; he loved redwood trees and foggy mornings, as long as he could gaze at them through the window from his comfy chair with a cup of coffee.  Carl was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Leona Craig Fairfield and John Buchanan Fairfield, the only child of two only children. After graduating Tulsa Central High, he attended Princeton University, where he majored in psychology and minored in art. During a year off, he moved to New York City and worked as a page at NBC. After college, upon hearing he was about to be drafted, Carl joined the U.S. Navy. Lieutenant (junior grade) Carl served as a radar officer on the USS Cogswell DD651 and did a tour of duty in the Pacific, blessedly serving in between wars. One of his most

A Life of Adventure — Laughing Sal shall laugh no more! Sal’s preëminent patron, fan of fun, Carol Lynn (née Ayers) Wilson of Eureka, California, has passed. Carol loved Laughing Sal, that iconic robotic greeter at Playland at the Beach. As a child she eagerly looked forward to visiting Playland with her family on yearly vacations to San Francisco. All are but a memory. Carol, the daughter of Laila and Morris Ayers of Eureka, California, arrived on this good earth in 1942. She passed away in the manner she came in, quietly in a room with a view of rhododendrons, and of coastal redwoods reaching for the heavens. Carol was an adventurer from the beginning. At age 3 she cut off her long blond braids to the horror of her mother, Laila Ayers, and kept her hair short for the rest of her days. She was independent. Her realms of adventure included gourmet French cuisine (and teaching her 7-year-old nephew how to prepare escargot). Carol and her husband, Curtis F. Wilson, were global travelers. Their adventures included traveling the the world from Bora Bora to

Born Aug. 28, 1938, in Scotia, California, Clara May Voigt was the fifth child of 10 born to her parents Warren G. and Clara M. Voigt of Shively, California. She was the fourth girl of seven in the family in addition to three brothers. Life in Shively in the ’40s and early ’50s was rather dull. Clara, maybe more than any of her other siblings, was a girl of adventure. A city girl trapped in a country setting. How she loved the trips to Eureka on the train with her grandmother as a young child. The big city had so much to offer a young country girl. She would always behave her very best hoping to coax a nickel out of her favorite grandmother for some special “shopping” in Eureka. Come to think of it, shopping was always her favorite pastime to the very end. Coming out of the Great Depression, life was very simple in her youth. Father Warren worked for the railroad and, as was common in those days, her mother Clara was home with all the children. With nine mouths to feed

On this week’s NCJ Preview, News Editor Thadeus Greenson covers how the Jefferson Center is now thriving as a Westside hub, in Digital Editor Kimberly Wear’s story Community Connection. Arts and Features Editor Jennifer Fumiko Cahill talks about Tiggerbouncer Custodio’s coverage of a pair of stage performances . Finally, Greenson touches on Trans Week of Resistance and its importance in the aftermath of the presidential election in ‘The Gift of Community.” Find these stories and more in this week’s North Coast Journal! READ FULL STORIES HERE Community Connection Silence and Depth ‘The Gift of Community’ All these stories and more can be found in the latest issue of the Journal or on our website at: northcoastjournal.com/. …

Hope can be intoxicating. Reality is the antidote. Mixed up emotions cascade, carom, careen, Ricocheting from vibrant visions of dreamt futures realized Echoing in dark wells of defeat. As the returns return hope dwindles, flickers, and fades away. It’s hard to look at US and not recoil. “That’s not who we are!” We hear it everywhere, as a response to the worst in our nature. We all say it. We all mean it. But…     up here The view from up here on the objective plane exposes US. This is who we are, in fact, after fact, after fact. The proud citadel…shamed. The shining city on a hill…dimmed The beacon of freedom…sputtering before the world. We are all in this together. Let’s face it. It walks like a duck. Quack, quack! We are the duck…whether we like it or not. The big WE, who I am a part of, made that choice. Embracing the tyrant. Arms not meant for hugging, Words unfit for speaking, Leaders not looked up to, Embarrassment, shame, disrespect. They flash by, but I resist them. I choose to HOPE. I will resist the

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Editor: The voters of America have made their choice, President Trump will return to the White House and work for all Americans to repair the damage to our country from four years of the Biden/Harris administration (NCJ Daily, Nov. 7). By default, America is the stabilizing force in the world against the worst actions of men with bad intentions. When Biden abandoned Afghanistan to the 10th century barbarians, costing the lives of 13 American service members, terrorists took notice. Israel and Ukraine paid the price for the decisions of a man that hasn’t been correct in his entire political career. His bad choices were evident by picking a woman as his vice president that was unable to articulate a simple answer to any question. A women charged with dealing with our southern border played Solitaire on her computer in her office, while 10 to 15 million illegal immigrants walked into our country. Harris could have won the election, as WSJ Opinion writer Peggy Noonan wrote, if she had stated six words, “No boys on the girls team,” but she was unable. Biden/Harris were unfit in

The human family was treated to comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) during October, a visitor from the outer reaches of the solar system. Here in Humboldt County, it graced the western skies after sunset for several weeks, but it is fading fast now as it recedes from our planet on its journey back out from the sun. Many comets have predictable orbits. This one came in from far beyond Pluto, and it was originally thought that it would return to our part of the solar system in around 80,000 years, but it now seems to be on a course that will take it out of the solar system entirely. So much for predictability, but you and I were never going to see it again in any case. I hadn’t been going out much to do my night photography of late, but with the comet’s arrival my little voice started piping up, “If you don’t go out, you won’t bring anything back.” People who fish probably have that voice, too. But on some of the best viewing nights it wasn’t possible for me to get out. On other nights