The Humboldt Herald

A San Francisco police officer who was killed while attempting to serve a warrant on an escaped prisoner was laid to rest Friday. Officer Bryan Tuvera was killed three days before Christmas by fugitive Marlon Ruff, who escaped from a prison work crew in Redway in February 2005.

The Chronicle reports:

Officers ... began actively seeking Ruff, who escaped from a minimum-security work camp in Humboldt County where he was sent after beating and robbing a Brinks courier in Daly City in 2003. He was supposed to be in prison until at least October 2008.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 7:38 PM 57 comments

Don’t miss the two citizen editorials in today’s Eureka Reporter. The same-day publication of the contrasting opinions adds to the public discussion surrounding the Oct. 23 police shooting of 16 year-old Chris Burgess.

First we hear from Officer Derek Miller, who informs us that the “fine probation officers” who attempted to take Burgess into custody “knew” he was using methamphetamine. This is news to the general public who’ve been denied details of events that lead to the shooting as well as the identities of officers involved (aside from Officer Terry Liles who pulled the trigger). And since the community is stranded in this forced ignorance about a critical issue that still draws letters and Op-Eds more than two months after the shooting, Miller’s editorial appears unjustifiably cranky.

In contrast is editorial from Fortuna resident Mary Ash who expresses frustration at lack of forthcoming answers. She is right to point out that “if the police were questioning a civilian and he or she was as evasive [as the cops have been about Burgess], their head would be slammed on the pavement and their butt would be headed for jail.”

It seems that not only do the “authorities” oppose a citizen review board; they also deem the citizenry unworthy of the facts. Instead, we are peppered with repeated calls to just “believe in” the police. Last I checked Eureka is not the 700 Club.

Someone with the authority to call a Coroner’s Inquest needs to step up. We need a public airing of the facts and evidence or this issue will never truly be put to rest.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 11:17 AM 95 comments

It happened the day after Christmas. If you only count US soldiers who died in Iraq and exclude those whose injuries or suicides snuff the flame at a later date, you arrive at a significant number. But never mind the 655,000 Iraqis who’ve died in Haliburton’s war for oil.

And not that Iraq had jack to do with the events of 9/11. But, you know, the devilishness is in the details.

Meanwhile, some soldiers are being called back for a third tour of duty. The chicken hawks are aiming to boost troop levels, even considering recruiting non-citizens.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 10:10 AM 50 comments

The question of whether Mayor Virginia Bass can legally break a tie to appoint the next council member is back in the forefront.

Local citizen group The Eureka Civic Association contacted a San Francisco law firm for an outside opinion on whether the Eureka city charter allowed for the mayor to break a tie when it comes to appointing a new council member. A lawyer with the firm, Michael Zinn, said in an email that the charter does not give that right, and that the appointment must come by a majority of sitting council members. However, Eureka city attorney Sheryl Schaffner disagrees.

Mayor Bass previously stated she wanted to create a “new spirit of tolerance and cooperation” on the council, and the word “consensus” was thrown around to describe the process in which a candidate would be chosen. Bass has been asked to refrain from casting a tie-breaking vote in order to achieve that consensus, but has not agreed.

Bass will announce her candidate selection on Friday, and the council will vote January 4. If it comes down to a tie we may see the 2006 election season get even longer. The T-S prays(!) for a majority vote.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 10:09 AM 18 comments

Sudden Link, AT&T and other service providers are currently on the skids with no estimate for when services will be returned. The problem reportedly lies with the delicate fibers that bring high-tech services into Humboldt County. Some cell phone services are also down.

If you’re reading this message you’re one of the lucky.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 5:55 PM 9 comments

If you’re out there taking part in the last minute shopping frenzy on this weekend before Christmas, you might have been too busy comparing prices to notice the frazzled person behind the counter. Odds are this person is overworked, underpaid, and reaching the end of an already fragile rope after a month of getting pulverized by the combustion of the X-mas engine. And this is no small engine – it’s the heart of the US economy.

In addition to ringing up purchases and counting the bosses money, these people race to keep shelves stocked and merchandise in order while tornados of Christmas shoppers tear through in constant streams of destruction. Unsupervised children create mini storms that force frustrated workers to add “unpaid nanny” to their list of impossible duties.

In a few short hours it’ll be all over but the unwrapping. The food orgy that started on Thanksgiving will peak in crescendos and moans will shatter the silence while bellies are rubbed and treated with antacids. Let the recovery begin.

But such luxury evades the righteous worker of retail, for they must return to the front lines and address the waiving throngs who come to return or exchange gifts for which there may or may not be a receipt. These shoppers have gift certificates to spend while family members tag along to browse the isles in sweet afterglow of the post Christmas chaos. Meanwhile, the worker works, busy with task of untangling another oblivious customer’s pre-holiday purchasing problem.

So if you have the audacity to step foot into some store on Dec. 26, remember to be especially nice to the people there to serve you. They’ve hardly had a chance to sit down.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 1:58 PM 8 comments

This blogger can’t help but wonder if the name helps or hurts in this situation. People might joke that the name dooms the man to a life of hitting the hard stuff. I wonder if the judge will notice the link between his name and his crime. I wonder if his parents knew what they were doing when they named him. Maybe it’s a family name.

This blog post would be incomplete without a reminder to drink responsibly. The holidays are no time to discover the interior of the Humboldt County Jail. Or the morgue.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 10:45 AM 15 comments

So naturally, PL CEO George O’Brien chose the holidaze to bust out with some completely contradictory statements (and lawsuits).

When the holiday lay-off season hit Scotia on Dec. 1, O’Brien sang songs of friendship between his beleaguered company and Water Quality officials. He gave the feel-good news that PL “has enjoyed improved relationships in recent months with the regulatory agencies that have been at odds with the timber company in recent years.”

But lo and behold not three weeks later, PL files a lawsuit against the state and water agencies. O’Brien had changed his tune, saying “[o]ur companies have lived up to their obligations, but unfortunately the state and its agencies have not.”

So which is it?

The relationship between PL and the North Coast Regional Water Board has been conspicuously rocky in the last few years, including threats by a PL representative “to get the current Regional Board Executive Officer ‘fired’ if she did not give Pacific Lumber Company the permits it want[ed].”

The Executive Officer, Catherine Kuhlman, kept her job, but it’s easy to see why three people who’d held the position before her “burned out” on PL’s obstructive behavior. Ms. Kuhlman deserves a medal.

Of course, PL’s contradictions aren’t restricted to regulators. See how company statements about its ability to make debt payments differ from statements by parent corporation Maxxam to the Securities Exchange Commission. It’s on the Save Ancient Forests blog.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 3:25 PM 10 comments

Who didn’t see this coming?

The latest saga in the Maxxam swindle hit Fresno Superior Court yesterday when Pacific Lumber and Scotia Pacific filed a lawsuit over the Headwaters Deal. The company is accusing the state of not holding up its end of the controversial agreement.

Details about the suit are scarce since no one has seen the Complaint yet. But John Driscoll from the Times-Standard reported that a source from a state agency said the suit targets the state of California, the state Water Resources Control Board, and the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. However, neither of these two water control boards were parties to the Headwaters agreement.

So, why was the suit filed in Fresno rather than Humboldt County? One can only speculate but two things are certain – it will be difficult for the press or other interested locals to obtain copies of the staggering amount of paperwork that is sure to be filed in the case, and it will be impossible for most people to attend the hearings.

UPDATE: This latest lawsuit filed by Pacific Lumber follows a claim the company lodged last year with the Victims Compensation and Government Claims Board. Like the lawsuit, the claim named the State of California and the two water control boards mentioned above.

KMUD news interviewed Paul Mason of the Sierra Club, who read the Complaint filed yesterday in Fresno. He said the Victims Compensation board ignored PL’s claim, so PL filed the lawsuit. Mason said the suit appears to be “baseless,” which is obviously the same conclusion reached by the Victims Compensation board.

Taxpayers have no choice in footing the bill to defend the state and two regulatory agencies from the lawsuit. Mason said he resents PL’s misuse of the legal system, and that the suit was only filed so PL could “waive it around.”

And waive it they will, no doubt, when they face the DA in the Court of Appeals in 2007.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 9:41 AM 19 comments

A lawsuit brought by former deputy DA Gloria Sheets against the county ended when the jury returned a verdict in favor of the county.

Obviously Sheets was unhappy with the verdict and took the opportunity to call Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos a liar.

”Mr. Gallegos, once again, lied with impunity,” Sheets was quoted. “Someone believed him.”

That someone was a jury, who after a deliberation based on facts and evidence declined to agree with her.

Sheets has been a vocal critic of Gallegos, and ran in a 2004 recall election that failed to oust the DA.

She has the option to appeal the case, but will have to weigh whether it’s worth risking further costs.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 10:58 AM 32 comments

A few weeks ago this blogger expressed displeasure with the T-S for the new but (thankfully) short lived policy of omitting op-eds from their website. There might have been some harsh criticism on my part when I told them to “get with the 21^st century.” I apologize.

‘Cause now I’m the old fuddy duddy and the T-S is like a rocket ship from the future. This morning when I logged on I found that not only could I suddenly access comments on T-S articles, but I could digg the article, too. It’s even possible for readers to accomplish something del.icio.io.us.

I’m still not sure what that means.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 9:52 PM 2 comments

Humboldt County in the early 70’s was a raucous place. The cultural war on “back-to-the-land” newcomers was like a squawking newborn sucking its first few breaths. It was a time of police shootings, a failed recall attempt, and plump bags bearing letters to the editor while helicopters swirled overhead. Local police hated the District Attorney, and emotions on both sides ran high.

It was a time a lot like now.

The recall campaign targeted Justice of the Peace Charles Thomas, who was accused of being (I kid you not) “soft on hippies.” He was taunted by sheriffs’ deputies as the “Just-Ass of the Peace,” and the campaign operated out of the Garberville Sheriffs substation. The recall failed, but the cultural divide deepened.

The Rolling Stone article is built around a man named Dirk Dickenson who in early 1972 was shot in the back as he ran unarmed from agents who descended on his property on Pratt Mountain from a Huey helicopter. The raid was based on faulty information by deputy sheriff Mel Ames, who claimed he spotted a million-dollar meth lab on Dickenson’s property during an aerial surveillance.

Humboldt County law enforcement’s bias against newcomers tainted officers’ judgment and botched their investigations. Before the raid, Undersheriff Bob Bollman boasted to then-managing editor of the Times-Standard, Dan Walters that the biggest narcotics bust in Humboldt County history was about to go down. Bollman ordered Walters to assign reporters to the bust and insisted they bring cameras. Walters was quoted as saying that “[i]f it wouldn’t have been for Undersheriff Bollman’s ego, chances are the world never would have found out about Dirk Dickenson. Chances are things might have been tidied up.”

The reporters, however, were about as savvy as the cops. They made an extremely unprofessional agreement to limit questioning at the scene to Undersheriff Bollman and Federal Narcotics agent Kenny Krusco. But they were witnesses none the less, and what they saw was chilling. T-S reporter Richard Harris scribbled a sentence in his notebook: “Looks like an assault on an enemy prison camp in Vietnam.”

Dirk Dickenson and his girlfriend Judy Arnold didn’t fear the Huey helicopter and waved back at the plainclothes agents’ seemingly friendly greeting. But when they saw the guns in the hands of unidentified men who kicked down the front door without warning, Dickenson hopped off his back porch and ran for the woods.

The single bullet entered Dickenson’s back just above his waist and beside his spine, and exited from the lower groin. The “million dollar meth lab” was no where to be found. News of Dickenson’s death hit the airwaves before his mother was notified.

The man who pulled the trigger was Lloyd Clifton, an agent with the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD). Clifton had a history of unnecessarily beating people during his time with the Berkeley police. One beating occurred after Clifton pulled over a man for a traffic violation. The man, Clifton said, “smirked at me,” so Clifton beat him with his baton.

Humboldt County District Attorney Bill Ferroggiaro, announced he would take no action until the investigation was complete. And actually, there would be two investigations – one by the US Dept. of Justice and one by the Humboldt County DA’s office.

The Federal investigation began a few weeks after the shooting. US attorney James K. Browning, Jr. announced investigators had “an open mind.” But he added, apparently without fear of appearing biased, that he suspected the shooting would “fall into the category of justifiable homicide.”

At the time, no federal narcotics agent anywhere in the US had ever been charged with violating the constitutional rights of a suspect.

The policy manual of the BNDD stated that “[t]he agent should not shoot at any persons except to protect his own life or that of some other person. The agent will not fire at fleeing automobiles, suspects or defendants.” The manual, it would seem, forbid the very action taken by Lloyd Clifton.

Not surprisingly, the investigation by the DOJ concluded Clifton had not violated Dickenson’s rights by shooting him in the back. The pressure was now on DA Ferroggiaro, who was already under fire for failing to bring charges or win convictions stemming from a string of other violent incidences. One of those incidences involved Patrick Berti, a lifelong resident of Ferndale, who suffered a fatal police shot to the chest for holding a marijuana branch.

The branch was from one of two four-foot plants that were growing in the banks of the Eel River near Ferndale. The plants were the subject of a week-long stakeout by an “ambitious” sheriff’s deputy, Mel Ames, the same man who spotted the mysterious million-dollar meth lab. On a sunny Sunday afternoon, Ames was enjoying the weekend off while deputy Larry Lema watched the plants. Lema and Berti were “life-long acquaintances,” but Lema said he mistook the branch for a gun. Berti reportedly saw Lema lean over him and said “Christ, Larry, you’ve shot me,” and died.

In another crazy incident, CHP officer Robert Hahn pulled out his gun to chase a man whose crime was abandoning his motorcycle on the side of 101 near HSU and running through the brush. Upon catching up to the man, Hahn ordered him to stop. William Smith, a 38 year-old employee of Simpson Lumber Company and father of five, stopped and faced the officer, who shot Smith between the eyes with a .38 Special revolver. Officer Hahn fled the scene, and days later was assigned to work on the investigation. Four days after beginning work on the investigation, Hahn confessed to the killing. The DA called it an “accident” and said Hahn was “negligent.” Hahn was charged with the minimal crime of involuntary manslaughter, but beat the rap.

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After a Humboldt County Grand Jury reviewed the case of Dirk Dickenson, Lloyd Clifton “became the first agent in the five-year history of the government Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs to face homicide charges.” He also became the first person in Humboldt County history to forego booking into the Humboldt County jail following an indictment for murder.

Clifton was defended in court by James McKittrick, the same lawyer who beat the charges against Officer Hahn. The case ended up in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and in 1977 the Appellate Court sided with Clifton. (Clifton v. Cox, 549 F.2d 722). The outcome has been cited in many other cases against officers as an example of how far an officer can go and still receive “immunity.”

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The above only scratches the surface of this story. It is strongly recommended that anyone interested in today’s turmoil get a copy of the Rolling Stone article. A look back is prudent (and fascinating) as we struggle to move forward after the tumultuous events of 2006.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 3:03 PM 65 comments

I do not get it. What on earth does crab season, crabbers, or crab sandwiches have to do with cops, EPD, or cop haters? I think an innocuous discussion instigated by Heraldo about the best place to get coffee in town would just open up a jungle of free association amongst some commentors that would lead inevitably to donuts. Christ!

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 10:09 PM 48 comments

Seems there was a “gentlemans agreement” between crabbers to hold-off until the weather calmed down but some handshakes only go so far, I guess.

And if you missed the fact that Myrtle Ave. Market has had crab from Bodega Bay for the last few weeks, you’ll be especially ready for a hearty crab sandwich culled from our local waters.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 9:56 AM 20 comments

Eureka Reporter editor Glenn Franco Simmons seeks feedback on his editorial which praises police actions during the three fatal shootings in Eureka this year. Franco Simmons says he wants to hear from readers, even if they don’t share his views.

I guess this means he already published all the letters and editorials that disagreed with his position - but I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.

So here’s my response, free from unauthorized edits or the editor’s trash can.

Let’s begin with the title: Community should support, believe in police department. The wise citizen reserves belief and faith for religious or spiritual activities and withholds it from government. As we’ve seen, George W. Bush believes he was told by God to invade Iraq, an action that sunk both countries into an unmitigated disaster. Perhaps God was hitting the spiked eggnog a little too hard that day. Failing to engage critical thought is the wrong way to assess government and police actions.

Franco Simmons opines that “[t]he unprecedented development in Eureka of three police shooting deaths in one year is obviously upsetting, prompting many people to question officers’ and the EPD’s professionalism and tactics.”

This is factually incorrect. Questions of police professionalism and tactics began following the first shooting of Eureka resident Cheri Lyn Moore. Such questions would still be asked if the Chris Burgess and Jonni Honda shootings never occurred.

Franco Simmons continues, “I’m not an expert, but I feel the shootings reflect a serious crisis of mental illness locally, as well as drug addiction and criminal behavior.”

Perhaps so, but police had reason to know about the local crisis in mental illness long before shooting their first mentally unstable person of the year. They had reason to receive training to deal with such situations prior to pulling the triggers.

One of the first pieces of information police learned about Cheri Moore on April 14 was that she was paranoid about police. The cops responded by walking though her front door with the aid of her hostile landlord. This action predictably inflamed the situation.

Later, when the cops busted down her door and surprised this paranoid and distraught woman, they expected her to respond calmly and reasonably. When she didn’t they blew her away.

This incident was dominated by poor training and hasty tactics which will leave a scar on Eureka for years to come.

“In all three shootings, if we are to believe the Eureka Police Department, which I do, deadly force had to be used.”

Here we agree, in part. Deadly force had to be used because officers in two of the three shootings put themselves in a situation where they had no choice. This is common but unacceptable. Regarding other police shootings, the San Francisco Chronicle found that “[i]n the moments leading to the shootings, officers used faulty tactics, needlessly placing themselves in danger, then shot their way out.”

“Interim Eureka Police Chief Murl Harpham may have reacted defensively when holding a news conference over the weekend, but do you blame him?”

Humboldt County residents reacted to the shootings with relevant questions that still remain unanswered. Do you blame us? Well, I guess you do if you think the only appropriate response is to “believe in [the] police.”

“When you point a weapon — be it a flare gun, a knife or a gun — at an officer, what do you expect?”

When police confront mentally unstable people like Cheri Moore whose non-lethal weapon was easily defended against, they apparently expect a rational response. This reflects a crisis of ignorance among police, who need to be trained in how to work with other agencies to appropriately respond to the mentally ill.

The Honda situation appears quite different than the Burgess and Moore shootings. Combining the three robs community and police from truly understanding these events and damages prevention of additional unnecessary shootings.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 12:58 PM 53 comments

But He’s Still in Jail

It is unclear to this blogger why Fieldbrook resident Michael Kenneth Throckmorton, 25, remains in custody. He was found 'not guilty' on murder charges stemming from an altercation outside his home, but was returned to jail until a January 3 hearing on bail reduction.

The prosecution’s star witness, David Wayne Harris, 46, admits taking methamphetamine with a cohort before trespassing on property rented by Throkmorton on the night of March 4. The men were asked to leave and Harris (by his own admission) assaulted Throkmorton, who defended himself with a knife. The cohort, Robert Peter Wyland, 58, ended up dead.

Throkmorton’s girlfriend called police, and Harris hid from arriving sheriffs in the bushes and used his cell phone to call his roommate for a ride.

How is it that Harris, who in addition to meth was well over the limit for drunkenness, is not charged with a crime? Harris admits three crimes that led to the altercation, yet he is somehow the victim. Hello?

Now that the ‘not guilty’ verdict is in, the DA can decide whether to charge Throkmorton with lesser charges. However, the jury voted on those charges but failed to come to a unanimous conclusion.

Maybe there is more to the story, but last I heard using meth is frowned upon in Humboldt County, especially when the tweeker goes on to commit additional crimes while intoxicated.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 11:19 PM 20 comments

Winks and nudges on the front page of the Eureka Reporter

Just think how a beautiful mural on the side of a giant big box would make us feel like a community. Local artists could create an abstract evolution-type thing that would engender a sense of togetherness as you enter the sprawling parking lot.

The mural could start with, like, hieroglyphics and cave paintings that morph into families who are unafraid of prosperity walking hand-in-hand into Home Depot, the pinnacle of our evolutionary journey. This is progress after all, where we aim to saddle every inch of open space with mammoth chain stores that squash the competition.

I’m a philanthropist, hear me roar.

It almost makes you want to send the Republicans money without actually buying anything.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 11:05 AM 35 comments

And a word on weeklies

Local journolo Hank Sims offers an interesting perspective on the Jonni Honda case in this week’s Town Dandy. He talked to Honda’s ex-wife, Mifty Honda, who described her ex-husband as “a tough man...[whose] toughness manifested itself in many different ways, not all of them positive. He was stubborn and self-centered, she said, and often ended up hurting the people around him.”

That could include his foster children, who accused him of crimes that led Eureka Police to serve the felony warrant which led to the stand-off.

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Weekly papers, such as the NCJ, are an interesting piece of the media puzzle – they are free from competition between the two Eureka dailies. The Times-Standard and the Eureka Reporter suffered a 24-hr. news lag on the latest death-by-police due to timing of the midnight shooting. Meanwhile the NCJ had time to digest media reports, including blogs, and the plethora of comments left thereto before busting out with a reflective piece that included quotes from the ex-Mrs. Honda.

The dailies get screwed in this regard. Internet communication is obviously faster to the consumer than daily dead-tree publications, and weeklies offer perspective following the crash-bang of breaking news. (Not that weeklies always get it right).

Many newspapers, including the San Francisco Chronicle and the Santa Rosa Press Democrat update their websites throughout the day. Not so in Humboldt County: The T-S offers an occasional mid-day update while the ER offers no such a service.

But there is a place for everyone, maybe even the Arkley mouthpiece, which appears to be having a drought on letters-to-the-editor these days.

Maybe it’s due to convenience of the blogs.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 5:11 PM 25 comments

But look out! Senator (and presidential-hopeful) John McCain is back on the attack - not only on bloggers but those pesky people who insist on leaving comments.

Among other things, the bill proposes to give stiffer penalties to bloggers who offer comments sections.

The bill is cloaked in the guise of cracking down on internet sexual predators:

"This constitutionally dubious proposal is being made apparently mostly based on fear or political considerations rather than on the facts," said [Keving Bankston of the Electronic Frontier Foundation]. Studies by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children show the online sexual solicitation of minors has dropped in the past five years, despite the growth of social-networking services, he said.

McCain’s bill could affect not only blogs and similar sites, like myspace.com, but also sites like Amazon.com and even the Times-Standard if they continue to allow (hard to access) comments.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 4:36 PM 12 comments

Citing the recent fatal shootings by Eureka Police, interim Chief Murl Hapham is calling for an outside investigation into the 34-hour stand-off that ended with the death of Jonni Honda. In addition to the investigative team from the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office, a separate team from the California Department of Justice will conduct an investigation.

The decision is certainly better than leaving the police to perform a fishy investigation themselves, which happened with the police shootings of Cheri Moore and Chris Burgess.

And the incident with Honda seems to be a safe one to call for an outside investigation. From all appearances, the police gave Honda every opportunity to end his stand-off peacefully. Honda had a real gun (not a flare or a knife), and was facing felony charges of molesting girls under the age of 14. Thus far, it seems Honda actually chose “suicide by cop.”

But not every citizen on the receiving end of police force makes a decision to die. And if the police are going to say every time that such shootings are “suicide by cop,” they’re going to have to deal with some serious citizen eye-rolling.

For this reason, this blogger takes issue with Harpham’s stated reasoning for the second investigation. He said “it is only because of the recent incidents our officers have been forced into and the negative reaction by some people and the spin by some media.”

Ahem. No one “forced” the cops to bust down Cheri Moore’s door and blow her to pieces at pointblank in her own apartment. In fact, that incident looks more needless and terrible as time goes on, especially in comparison with the most recent stand-off.

Unanswered questions about the Moore and Burgess shootings remain to this day. Perhaps if a second investigation had been conducted we would have all the answers.

It appears the “negative reaction” residents had to those shootings resulted in the level-headed approach to the Honda stand-off and the decision for an outside investigation.

That sounds like a good thing.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 9:23 AM 78 comments

Norman Banks "Ike" Livermore Jr., a one-time treasurer of the old Pacific Lumber Company, who was tapped by then-Governor Ronald Reagan to be State Secretary of Resources, died Tuesday at the age of 95.

Livermore joined PL in 1952 and stayed on for 15 years. He had no prior experience in government before joining the Reagan Administration, but was the only member of the cabinet to maintain his seat for the entire eight years.

Livermore was a conservationist who helped create Redwood National Park and stopped destructive dams and highways from destroying wilderness and archeological sites.

Environmentalists feared Reagan's tenure when he was elected governor in 1966. Asked during the campaign about preserving California's natural resources, including its spectacular redwoods, he had said, "A tree is a tree — how many more do you need to look at?"

Anyone unfamiliar with Livermore might have assumed his agreement with the governor's remark. He was a card-carrying Republican who had been the treasurer of the Pacific Lumber Co. for 15 years when Reagan tapped him for the state job.

But he also had been a member of the Sierra Club since the 1930s whose immersion in California's wilderness had begun when he was boy growing up in San Francisco.

"I am a living contradiction," he once said. Or, as his friend David Brower, the legendary Sierra Club leader, called him, he was "the man in the middle," who effectively melded a businessman's respect for the financial bottom line with the environmentalist's reverence for the natural world.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 4:10 PM 1 comments

The application’s been filed and the check received, kicking into action the recount of votes in the election for Eureka's 3rd ward City Council seat.

A Monday meeting between Jeff Leonard, Ron Kuhnel and the Elections office will determine the details of the recount, which could begin the following day.

The recount could take up to three days to complete.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 1:27 AM 11 comments

The stand-off between Eureka Police and a man inside a Super8 Motel room is approaching the 24 hour mark. The incident began yesterday at around 3:00pm when police attempted to serve a warrant.

The Times-Standard posted the “breaking news” of the continuing stand-off on their homepage at 2:11pm, but gave no other new information.

UPDATE: On the KMUD 6:00 news acting police Chief Murl Harpham confirmed the suspect is wanted for child molestation in Trinity County.

Harpham described the suspect as a “mountain man” rescuer who is known to EPD detectives.

The first allegations of child molestation appeared in anonymous comments on another blog - rather than news reports - which makes this blogger suspect that police are commenting on local blogs. This isn’t the first time this suspicion was raised, but current circumstances beg the obvious.

UPDATE - 12-09-06 - 1:08am: According to anonymous blog comments, the suspect, Jonni Honda, was shot and killed at midnight after leaving his motel room and pointing a gun at police.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 2:33 PM 29 comments

Officer Sean Meade, 41, was arrested after video cameras set up inside a police station caught an assault on a hand-cuffed teen.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was not happy:

"I believe that abuse of authority in the use of force, especially when directed at a minor, is a grave violation of the trust we place in law enforcement and an insult to the values of the brave men and women of the LAPD who put their lives on the line to keep us safe," the mayor said.

"It is just mind-boggling that we have a situation where a 16-year-old Latino kid is arrested and handcuffed and sitting in a room posing no threat to anyone and this officer just comes in and beats the hell out of him," Mack said.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 10:43 PM 19 comments

Promises and challenges in filling the empty city council seat

'Scuse us for being a little skeptical. By taking this issue out of the hands of the voters and placing it with those who won their seats by shockingly narrow margins, the council majority is planting seeds of doubt. It doesn’t help that the issue was moved to the end of the Tuesday night meeting, causing difficulty for those in attendance to offer comments they came to make.

New mayor Virginia Bass is promising “the spirit of cooperation” and we certainly hope she is being sincere. Otherwise, the verbal barbs and jabs aimed at her and the “consensus candidate” will be terribly predictable for the next few years.

David Cobb is calling on Bass to refrain from breaking any tie votes regarding the "consensus candidate" between the four sitting council members, and she would be wise to agree. Such a decision would be a great way to show that Bass means what she says. Failing to follow through on lofty promises would sour voters on her sincerity in the future.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 9:07 AM 48 comments

The Sunday SF Chronicle features several articles on police use of force following shootings that caused the city to pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars to victims’ families. In examining four shootings, a familiar pattern emerged:

-- In the moments leading to the shootings, officers used faulty tactics, needlessly placing themselves in danger, then shot their way out.

-- The department's internal investigations resulted in reports that did not mention the missteps.

-- The public did not receive a full account, and police officials may have lost opportunities to discipline or retrain officers and to improve operations to help prevent more shootings.

With at least one lawsuit against EPD on the horizon, the Eureka police shootings of 2006 and events leading to them will be a topic in the news and courts for the foreseeable future.

But if future tragedies are to be prevented, the city of Eureka must look closely at these patterns now, especially as they consider who will be the next chief of police.

At present, the public has not received a full examination of the facts in either incident, although new information was presented during the coroner’s inquest into the Moore shooting.

But there is much about the Burgess shooting the public hasn't heard – like the name of the off-duty sheriff who participated in the chase and witnessed the shooting.

Anyway, check out the many links in the Chronicle article, including the interactive graphics.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 11:47 PM 34 comments

No matter how many PR firms he hires to boost his post-prison image, Michael Milken still gets a giant thumbs down from Humboldt County.

Rare is the man who earns the title of “king” in modern day America. To qualify, you must do something exceptionally terrible. Otherwise you’re just a mockery of the term, like a “hot dog king.”

Michael Milken - the Junk Bond King – who aided Charles Hurwitz in the 1986 hostile take-over Pacific Lumber, is such a man. His actions led to massive clear-cutting of irreplaceable ancient redwoods and the destruction of a once-stable timber industry. Humboldt will suffer the dirty dealings of Hurwitz-Milken for decades through job loss, broken fishery, and flood-induced property destruction. Thousands of redwood acres may never recover.

In a recent letter to the Times-Standard, a Milken associate (Geoffrey Moore) attempted to reform Milken’s image into some kind of goodwill baby-saver who practices yoga to atone for his crimes. Such PR woo-woo talk doesn’t hold water - kinda like Northern Humboldt’s silt-choked Elk River.

Perhaps Milken will think of Humboldt County while he stands in yogic tree pose, comfortable on a heated floor that dons his yoga mat. He’ll meditate on the 90 jobs that were eliminated last week - a growing holiday tradition at PALCO – and contemplate his roll at the root of the lay-offs.

We’re twenty years past the junk bonds but Milken’s legacy festers in Humboldt County.

One thing’s for sure this Christmas - Milken deserves a lump of coal in his leotard.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 10:42 PM 30 comments

In a move to permanently restructure The Pacific Lumber Company, freshman CEO George O’Brien notified dozens of workers that today would be their last day on the job. Electricians, foresters, and members of the shipping department are among those whose positions have been eliminated.

Just in time for the holidays!

O’Brien is following in the footsteps of former Palco CEO Robert Manne, who dropped the axe on 140 workers shortly after coming on as company president during the 2001 holiday season. Manne blamed the company’s so-called Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for the lay-offs.

Perhaps the folks at Green Diamond, who are soon to adopt their HCP, should worry.

O’Brien told KMUD news that instead of giving workers 60-day notice, he opted to put them on paid leave for 60 days so they can look for work while receiving their normal salary.

permalink I posted by Heraldo Riviera @ 6:50 PM 24 comments