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Local News 07 02 25 · KMUD News

• 0:00
  Foreign Good evening and welcome to the local news. Today is Wednesday, July 2nd. I'm Nat Cardos reporting for KMUD. In tonight's news update on lightning sparks fires across six rivers. More in today's weather forecast. Humboldt's supportive housing project makes changes, gets approval and the Neyland shooting leaves one in serious condition. Stay tuned. News on those stories and more coming right up.
• 0:43
  Yesterday's storm produced only about three lightning strikes across the north coast, in contrast to the 282 strikes recorded on Monday night. K Mutts Jordan Panjalinin reports Firefighters on the Six Rivers National Forest are continuing to respond to lightning fires from thunderstorms Monday and Tuesday with both ground and aerial resources patrolling. Yesterday's storm only resulted in approximately three lightning strikes over the north coast. This is in conjunction with the 282 lightning strikes from Monday night. At this time there are eight confirmed lightning fires on two ranger districts, the largest being less than an acre. No structures are threatened and fire behavior on all of the fires is reported as low and creeping. For the Gasket Ranger District, the Goose fire is approximately 0.5 acres and is located northeast of the Klamath near Red Mountain Road. Forest Service resources included. One engine and the fire is contained and firefighters will continue to mop up. Goose 2 Fire is approximately 0.1 acre located east of Rocky Saddle. Currently one Forest Service engine on scene with handline in place. Fire is in patrol status. Goose 3 fire discovered late Monday, approximately 0.33 acres located near Goose Fire and Goose 2 Fire Forest Services on scene with one engine, Goose 4 fire discovered late Monday approximately 0.10 acres located near Goose Fire and Goose Two Fire Forest Service resources on scene with one engine.
• 2:13
  The Goose Middle fire was discovered also late Monday and is approximately 0.10 acres located near the Goose Fire and Goose to Fire Forest Service repel crew on scene. Fire line held overnight and firefighters are continuing to mop up. The Myrtle fire is approximately 0.1 acre with ground resources on scene. The fire is located northeast of Crescent City on Low Divide Road near Forest Route near the top of the ridge. Forest fire is controlled and in patrol status.
• 2:43
  As for the Broken Fire, it is 0.5 acres located northeast of the Klamath near the east fork of Goose Creek. Forest Service is there and a 20 person hand crew and one engine on scene.
• 2:55
  As for the Orleans and Yukonam Ranger District, the Woolly Fire is currently unknown as to its size and the fire was reported in the Marble Mountain Wilderness near the Black Mountain Trailhead. Aircraft patrolled the area and were unable to locate. However, aircraft will continue to patrol to help firefighters focus on lightning fire response. Area residents and visitors are asked to be careful with anything that can spark a wildfire and to help prevent additional fires. The public can also report suspected wildfires by calling 911. There are no weather watches or advisories over the Six Rivers National Forest, and today the forecast is calling for summer. Like temperatures, drier conditions and light winds hold over lightning. Fires can smolder for days and even weeks following a thunderstorm. It can take several days of dry and warm weather for these fires to become visible. Firefighters will continue to monitor conditions and respond to lightning fires as they are discovered in the coming days. KMUD will continue to report as we get more information.
• 3:52
  Reporting for kmud, I'm Jordan Panjalian.
• 3:56
  A Humboldt county supportive housing project is cleared for development after responding to neighborhood concerns. Daniel Mintz reports.
• 4:03
  The We Are up supportive housing project in McKinleyville has addressed the concerns of a group of neighbors who filed an appeal to regaining approval from the Humboldt County Planning Commission.
• 4:15
  The project, a 70 unit mix of integrated housing, communal buildings and open space, got the enthusiastic support of the Commission at a June 26 hearing with no public opposition.
• 4:28
  An initial hearing last July included comments from neighbors on noise and traffic concerns. The commission approved permits for the project and that action was appealed.
• 4:40
  The project's team made changes in response, including moving a special events site away from nearby residences and changing a main access route, and resubmitted the application.
• 4:52
  Sited at a 17 acre parcel about 400ft from the intersection of Central Avenue and school road in McKinleyville, the project will offer a safe living environment mostly for people with autism and intellectual disabilities and seniors with caregiving services and amenities like a community center, gathering spaces and an orchard. We Are up founder Mary Keene told the commission her work on the project is inspired by her own experiences as a caregiver for members of her family, including her autistic granddaughter. She spoke to the project's need if all of us will need care for a loved one or for ourselves at some point in our lives, wouldn't it be wonderful if that care was affordable and accessible so that caregiving could be a source of comfort and joy rather than stress and financial hardship.
• 5:45
  Our economy is powered by caregivers who are so often unseen, not just an individual or a family issue. It's an economic and social issue.
• 5:56
  Treating it as such could pave the way for solutions that boost economic growth and resilience at all levels of society, keane said. We Are up will create a community within the community, providing job skills and training on site and a place for the community at large to come together.
• 6:15
  There was solid support for the project. During a public comment period, former State Senator and McKinleyville resident Wesley Chesbrough said the project's benefits are numerous.
• 6:25
  This project has all kinds of attributes. It is a great use of the property, it provides housing while at the same time preserving open space. It helps contribute to McKinleyville's further development as a rich, full community, which there's many things the town center efforts, the efforts to build the senior housing project. I think these things are all converging to help make Henleyville evolve in a really wonderful way.
• 6:51
  Also, I'm here as your former state Senator who chaired the Senate Committee on Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health and had a great deal of experience and education learning about the issues around disabilities and worked on, unfortunately not for Humboldt county funding and development of housing for persons with disabilities elsewhere in the state and am very aware of the importance of providing that kind of housing. Support was also voiced by Humboldt's Office of Education, Deputy Superintendent of Schools Colby Smart and Open Door Community Health Center's CEO Tori Starr, a We Are UP board member who linked housing to health and wellness.
• 7:31
  Opendoor serves 60,000 people a year. 13,000 of those are Medicare patients. So we're really engaged with the senior population and every day in our work we see how housing is not just a social issue, it's a health issue.
• 7:48
  Without safe, affordable housing, no individual, regardless of their age or ability, can actually fully support their physical and mental well being.
• 8:00
  That's why I'm here to express our enthusiastic support for the We Are up project.
• 8:06
  This initiative does more than build housing. It builds belonging.
• 8:12
  It is thoughtfully designed, sustainable, intergenerational community where people with disabilities, especially those on the autism spectrum, can live, grow and thrive alongside others, including our rapidly aging senior population.
• 8:32
  The project's revenue model includes special events like fundraisers and weddings, which are limited to no more than 35 per year with a maximum attendance of 400 people for each.
• 8:43
  Conditions of approval include upgrading a traffic signal at Central Avenue and constructing an ADA accessible bus stop.
• 8:52
  The project was unanimously approved with Commissioner Thomas Mulder absent in Eureka. For KMUD News, this is Daniel Metz.
• 9:00
  On Monday, June 30, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office responded to a report of a gunshot victim on Neyland Road, Neyland, leaving one in serious condition. KMUN News spoke with Lt. Jesse Taylor of Humboldt County Sheriff's Office about what happened. Yeah, so on June 30th about 7am Deputies from our patrol division were dispatched to the 8000 block of Neyland Road just outside of the town of Neyland. This was in regards to the report of gunshot victim who was actually being transported from the incident location to meet deputies and medical personnel. Victims sustained the serious gunshot wound still remains in serious condition at a local hospital. When the deputies arrived on scene they contacted a female subject known to the victim. Her name is Ashley Nicole Bartles. B A R T L E S Through the investigation and during her interview it was discovered that she had negligently fired a discharge a firearm striking the victim and based upon this information the Bartles was placed under arrest and booked into the Humboldt County Jail for assault with a firearm and negligent discharge of a firearm. The victim still remains in serious condition in a local hospital and detectives from the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Division are still actively investigating the incident.
• 10:18
  No, that's kind of where we're at. Like I said, detectives are still following up on leads. It's an active investigation and you know, once information becomes available, we will be releasing it in the future.
• 10:32
  Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office at 707-445-7251 or the Sheriff's Office Crime Tip Line at 707-268-2539.
• 10:50
  Turning to Mendocino Ocean Wave Quilters community projects go beyond their annual quilt show and quilt walk. Michelle Blackwell reports.
• 11:00
  Hello, I'm Michelle Blackwell reporting from the Mendocino Coast. Ocean Wave Quilters draws hundreds of people to its annual quilt show at the end of June each year. The variety of styles, from traditional to modern to art and everything in between, is one good reason to take a few hours to look at the exhibition. The work and thought that goes into these pieces is unimaginable to a non sewer like myself, but this Ocean Wave Quilters do so much more. I interviewed Paula Pearlstein, who chairs the Quilt show committee about the organization's community focus. We're at the Fort Bragg Quilt show with the Ocean Wave Quilters Chair, Paula Pearlstein. Paula, let's first talk a little bit about Ocean Wave Quilters and some of the things that you as an organization do for the community.
• 11:43
  Ocean Wave Quilters is 501C3 and our mission statement is to educate about quilting and we have quite a few projects that members can choose to be involved in. One is our warm welcome project where we make a quilt for each baby born in Fort Bragg, which is just really a nice thing for the parents. We do Dress a Girl, which we make some simple little sundresses for the Dress a Girl program, and it's sent to foreign countries where possibly a girl doesn't attend school because she doesn't have anything to wear. We also have community pet beds, where we donate pet beds to different rescues. We also do cat curtains they found at our Humane Society. When a cat comes in that to have a little curtain you can pull across the front of their cage so they feel safer, then the cat acclimates better and becomes more adoptable. We make hundreds of pillowcases to give to Project Sanctuary for Foster Children, different agencies around town. And we make them in bright colors and a lot of juvenile prints. So it's really kind of a special gift for the children. And we also do community quilts. We do chaplain quilts that are given out at the hospital. We do quilts for the infusion center. Someone who's receiving chemotherapy or another kind of infusion, they get very cold. So a warm quilt is very welcome. How many people are in your organization that participate in all of these programs? So we have about 70 guild members in Ocean Wave Quilters. Not everybody does everything. They kind of pick and choose. I can think of a few members who make two baby quilts a month. We give a lot of those out. Other people that do chaplain quilts and infusion quilts, and they make one of those a month. Some people sew pillowcases. Some people, their thing is to make pet beds. And the reason we got started on pet beds is I read an article about how much fabric goes into landfills, and I went, oh, we need to do something about that. So quilters now save any scraps they have, and we stuff them into pet beds that we make and sew the end up, and it lets a pet have something soft, and we don't have the fabric going into landfills. According to the US EPA, as of 2018, 11.3 million tons of textiles went into landfills in the United States alone, most of which was discarded clothing. When you started these projects, you just kind of keep adding new projects each year and increase the amount of work that all of you do. Yeah, we, you know, we have a large range of skills, and so we try and have enough projects that when people pick and choose, there's something that would interest pretty much everybody. And so your quilt show that you put on every year, how long does it take to set that up? Oh, my goodness. There is a lot of Work involved in setting up the quilt show. We have some wonderful volunteers from the guild. It wouldn't be possible without them. It just physically setting it up takes two days. And then weeks before that, we have prep work. People turn their entries in. We put them in different categories.
• 15:09
  We have a judge come and judge the quilts, and then we have to separate them out into other categories of how they're hung. So it takes a lot of pre planning. And then we have two days and we just do it.
• 15:24
  How many injuries did you have this year? 180. And is that pretty typical? Pretty typical? Usually between 160 and 180. Fort Bragg is a fairly small town. I am always amazed at how many people are so proficient and just make beautiful art quilts. Wow. How did we end up with so many talented quilters? You provide classes to quilters as well? We do. We do schoolhouse classes, which is within a meeting. And we have four teachers in four corners. And they're quick little 15 minutes. And you travel around from corner to corner and learn a technique. Basically, we have a lot of knowledge within our guild. We also bring in teachers from out of town to teach a specific technique. What kind of equipment does someone need if they wanted to start quilting? You would start with a sewing machine. And there are really pretty good quality sewing machines out there now for under $200. And then the other stuff is just really nice. Like a rotary cutter will keep you quilting because you don't have to use the scissors and go try and get straight lines. You just zip with a rotary cutter. It's one of the greatest tools ever invented. It changed quilting. Is Ocean Wave part of a larger organization? No. Most guilds operate independently. You know, sometimes we help each other out. Ocean Wave Quilters gives hundreds of quilts away each year in addition to new baby quilts and comfort quilts for cancer patients. They respond to fire emergencies in other parts of the state and provide quilts to Californians who've lost everything and are staying in shelters. Ocean Wave Quilters just completed their 29th annual show. You can see some of the quilts at the Fort Bragg annual Quilt Walk, which starts on Memorial Day and continues through July 4th. Quilts are hung at participating merchants throughout Fort Bragg. Or mark your calendar for the last weekend in June next year. Reporting from the Mendocino coast, I'm Michele Blackwell.
• 17:23
  In state news, environmental group's blast budget trailer bill that weakens California Environmental Quality Act. KPFA's David Hummel reports critics are blasting Governor Gavin Newsom for a New bill Rolling back key environmental regulations by fast tracking SB131 through the legislature, the bill carves out massive exemptions to the California Environmental Quality act, or ceqa, which generally requires an extensive environmental overview of new construction projects. It includes exemptions for massive projects polluting industries, which could include lithium compounds, nuclear and biomaterials, which carry significant risk to local communities.
• 18:09
  Environmental organizations in the CEQA Works Coalition condemned the bill. Asha Sharma, the state policy manager for the Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability, says it's the most disastrous California environmental policy over the last 25 years.
• 18:26
  In a backroom last minute deal, our state leaders have made our entire state budget, which funds critical services like health care and education, dependent on gutting environmental review for resource intensive and polluting industrial projects.
• 18:42
  If the only way this change to state law can be made is by keeping it out of the public eye and condition passage of the entire state budget on the proposed change, then it stands to reason that the people of California do not want this change.
• 18:57
  Newsom had tied the bill to his $320 billion state budget, threatening he would not sign off on the budget without passage of the bill. Advocates called it a disgrace for being rushed through without transparency or public input, calling it a backroom deal.
• 19:15
  Raquel Mason, member of the California Environmental Justice alliance, also says Governor Newsom's ultimatum to veto the budget if SB 131 is not passed is highly undemocratic. The process that the governor and state leaders have taken to put it to a vote is abhorrent and completely undemocratic. The bill was drafted behind closed doors with no public input, no hearings, no times to put, no time to push back against its worst element? Why? Why is our Democratic super majority in California doing it? Why, when environmental justice communities are under attack at the federal gut level, is the Democratic super majority in California putting forth the biggest attack to state's environmental policy in decades? Why do legislators have to advance a bill that is supposed to be good for Californians in this way? If the only way you can make a change to public accountability law is to keep the public eye out of it as long as possible and then tie it to the budget, it's a telltale sign that people don't want it.
• 20:12
  Frances Tinney, staff attorney at the center for Biological Diversity, says the rollback of environmental policies will greenlight the destruction of habitat specific critical to the survival of threatened species. It's really just an incredibly sad day for wildlife and endangered species in California.
• 20:29
  The new bill will make it easier for developers and polluters to advance projects without any effort to mitigate impacts for wildlife.
• 20:38
  CEQA currently requires developers to conduct a thorough, science backed review before a project can be built.
• 20:45
  With this change, a developer can skip this review for many types of projects, including polluting industrial projects, even if there's evidence that, say, endangered desert tortoises depend on the site. CEQA has long been targeted by pro industry and Republican voices who argue that the review process slows down housing and development projects. But the new bill is sponsored by top California Democrats, including State Senator Scott Weiner, who says CEQA is troublesome for development.
• 21:14
  The bill faces little opposition under a Democratic supermajority, but some Democrats spoke out during the Senate hearing, like Senator Lola Smallwood, Cuevas is not the enemy that CEQA is utilized by so many communities, particularly vulnerable communities, communities of color, to have an opportunity to interrogate, to vet, to make a determination of how a person project is going to be good for their community. We'll keep them safe, will ensure that there are good jobs and opportunity. So I I I understand the what sounds a bit of frustration with maybe how this has been handled in the past, but also want to be clear that streamlining can't mean abandonment. It can't mean that we're abandoning ceqa. Reporting for Pacifica Radio KPFA News, I'm David Hummel.
• 22:08
  In national news, Federal Appeals courts consider the constitutionality of Trump use of Alien Enemies act to deport Venezuelans KPFA's Dalia Lozier reports.
• 22:20
  On Monday, a federal appeals court considered the constitutionality of President Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. Passed in 1798 as the United States was threatened by war with France, the act gives the president expansive powers to detain and expel members of a hostile foreign nation during declared war or during what it describes as an invasion or a predatory incursion. The Alien Enemies act has been used only three times before, all during wartime. Trump issued the proclamation in March, invoking the law to deport immigrants who he claimed were members of a Venezuelan street gang. Since then, courts across the country have been attempting to decide whether this particular pursuit of one of Trump's central policy goals, to deport scores of immigrants, is rightfully within his power. Lawyer Lee Gelernt argued on behalf of the Venezuelan immigrants, this was a precursor to all out war. And the framework I think tells you everything. This is about alien enemies. And what alien enemies meant is when we are at war with another nation, we can attribute hostilities to every single citizen. That's what this was about, and the government has no response to the fact that this was about Alien Enemies from the start, the Trump administration has sought to use the Alien Enemies act in an unusual way, turning it against Venezuelan men accused of belonging to the street gang Tren de Aragua, which Trump has designated as a foreign terrorist organization. The Trump administration has repeatedly maintained that the men are not mere criminals but are also working with the Venezuelan government and thus that their presence on US Soil is tantamount to an invasion by a hostile foreign country. Drew Ensign, a U.S. deputy Assistant Attorney general, argued in defense of the Trump administration, the Ebon Enemies act has only two relevant prerequisites here, both of which rely solely on the president's findings in the realm of military conduct and foreign affairs affairs where the president is due the utmost deference. The American Civil Liberties Union, which has been representing the immigrants, has said that there is no conclusive evidence that their clients, many of whom have no criminal record, are working for the Venezuelan government. Furthermore, Galler, lawyer for the aclu, pointed out that if President Trump were to be allowed to invoke the Alien Enemies act upon Venezuelans in the United States, that would essentially be declaring that we are at war with Venezuela. The implications of saying we are at war with Venezuela would not only contradict the CIA's testimony in Congress in March that we are not at war, we're not being invaded by Venezuela, but all of the other implications I talked about are saying we're at war with a foreign government. And so I think the government is really trying to have it both ways. A majority of federal courts have agreed with the aclu, deciding that Trump invoked the act unlawfully and that the idea that the Venezuelans pose any real threat to the United States is unrealistic. Two courts, however, have sided with the Trump administration, essentially arguing that the White House should be granted wide latitude in conducting foreign affairs, especially when they concern people deemed to be part of a terrorist organization. Judges from the fifth Circuit Court, which has a reputation as one of the most conservative appeals courts in the country, seem to be inclined to side with President Trump. Judge Andrew Oldham challenged the plaintiff's notion that a president's determination about whether or not we are in an armed conflict can be reviewed by courts. He seemed inclined to give deference to the executive branch and operate under the assumption that we are in fact in an armed conflict. The case is likely to be the first of the challenges to reach the Supreme Court. For KPFA News, I'm Dahlia Loesure.
• 26:08
  In National Native News, Antonia Gonzalez reads today's headlines.
• 26:13
  This is National Native News. I'm Antonia Gonzalez. With Alaska US Senator Lisa Murkowski's help. Senate Republicans passed a sprawling budget reconciliation bill that contains much of President Trump's domestic policy agenda. Alaska tribes and native organizations have raised concerns about the bill. The Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes recently sent a letter to Alaska's congressional delegation opposing the bill with concerns about clean energy, food security, health care, and lands and forests. In a statement Monday, the Fairbanks Native association said it's deeply troubled by the passage of the spending bill, raising concerns about funding cuts to tribes which provide critical services, including health care and food assistance. Murkowski said it was one of the hardest votes she's ever taken, and she's hoping it will be changed further before Congress sends it to the president's desk. She said she helped improve the bill for Alaska, but she said in an emailed statement, quote, it is not good enough for the rest of our nation, and we all know it, end quote. The bill's passage followed intense negotiations between Murkowski and Senate leaders aimed at retooling the bill to overcome her objections to removing benefits from Alaskans on Medicaid and food assistance. Murkowski said she decided to vote yes because Republicans made adequate changes to rural health care and food assistance. She cited a $50 billion fund for rural hospitals and clinics and added flexibility for Alaska in administering changes to snap. Only three Senate Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the bill. Alaska US Senator Dan Sullivan voted yes. The bill includes new oil lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska. Murkowski has championed those for years. The bill goes to the House, where a different version passed in May without a vote to spare. Any changes would have to be approved again in the Senate.
• 28:01
  The Miccosukee tribe in Florida is opposing the Trump administration's new immigration facility at an airstrip in the Everglades, which the administration calls Alligator. Alcatraz Chairman Talbert Cypress told ABC News that the tribe held a meeting this week regarding the facility, which is located on tribal traditional homelands of Miccosukee and Seminole people. The tribe has been at home in the big cypress for centuries, and what was decided at the meeting was to, you know, examine all avenues that we have to temporary delay this facility. Cypress says the tribe's concerned about any potential environmental impacts and safety concerns for tribal members. Demonstrators have reportedly been in the area opposing the facility as President Trump was given a guided tour on Tuesday. The administration is touting the area for its remote location. And surrounding wildlife as barriers to for people to escape. Native Americans in Washington state face opioid and fentanyl overdose rates four times the national average. Isabelle Charlay has more Leaders are calling for more investment in treatment centers and transitional housing to address the problem. While nationally fentanyl overdoses have declined, Native American fatalities have surged since the pandemic. Representative Deborah Lecanoff is part of the state Tribal Opioid Fentanyl Task Force. During the task force's third annual summit, tribal leaders and state agencies met for three days and heard from community members in recovery from opioid use disorder. Last year, says Lakhanoff, the task force partnered with tribal governments and invested in substance abuse treatment facilities based on a successful model created by the Swinomish. The model that Swinomish created 12 years ago has now been incorporated into over 20 tribally owned substance abuse disorder facilities that are healing all Washingtonians, Lakhanoff says. In the next couple of years, the task force will focus on transitional housing for those recovering from substance abuse, she says. This is a nonpartisan issue and it will take everyone working together to make change. I'm Isabelle Charlay. And I'm Antonia Gonzalez.
• 30:19
  That's all for tonight's broadcast. Thanks for listening. Thanks to our engineer, Larry Lashley, and thanks to our reporters Daniel Mintz, Jordan Pangelinan, Michelle Blackwell, David Hummel, Dalia Loesier, Antonia Gonzalez, Liz Ruskin and Isabel Charle. KMUD News is online, so you can find us@kmud.org and now streaming on most podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify, where you can download our stories and newscasts for offline listening during your rural commute. You can also follow us on social media. If you have questions or suggestions, you can give us a call at 707-923-2605 or send an email to news@kmud.org Reporting for KMUD, I'm Nat Cardos.