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Local News 05 19 26 · KMUD News

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  Speaker A: Foreign.
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  Speaker B: Welcome to the KMUD News. I'm your news director, April Lewis, and I'm glad to be with you for this broadcast. On this episode, we'll have in depth coverage of mud stock, KMUD's annual block party, and part one of two of a story from our friends at KPFA on Ecuador's role in deadly US Boat strikes across the Caribbean and Pacific. But first, a rundown of today's top stories and headlines. This is KMUD News, Starting off with Cannabis news from the California Department of Cannabis Control. The Department of Cannabis Control, also known as the dcc, is providing notice to the public of its intent to revise existing regulations to allow licensees to to make modifications to their license designations in order to apply for registration with the U.S. drug Enforcement Administration. The move comes as a direct response to federal changes, including moving Cannabis to Schedule 3 instead of Schedule 1. This rulemaking action would implement changes to the Department's licensing process to allow for existing licensees who who hold a license with both medicinal and adult use designation to be issued separate medicinal and adult use licenses. The proposed regulations would develop a process that would facilitate the issuance of these license in an expedited manner. The proposed regulations would also allow existing licensees to have the separate licenses issued to a different legal entity from the entity holding the existing license, so long as certain requirements are met. You can send comments to the DCC about this proposed rule change, reference the rulemaking topic modifications to A and M designation in the email subject line and send an email to public commentannabis.ca.gov Camewood News has reached out to the DCC directly for comment on this rule change. We'll let you know if we get a response. Our understanding is that the rule change allowing fully separated medicinal and adult use licensing allows better compliance with new federal regulations, which are only valid for medical marijuana and not existing recreational sales systems. It could potentially allow cannabis growers and businesses throughout the Emerald Triangle to register directly with the dea, potentially opening a door to legal sales across different states and marketplaces. The DEA has indicated it will offer registration to many types of cannabis businesses. It had previously only been available for medical dispensaries. For medical marijuana dispensaries, the deadline to register with The DEA is June 26, with registration info on the DEA's website at mmapplication. That's two M's, then the word application.diversion.dea.gov In Mendocino County, May is Foster Care Awareness Month, a time to challenge common misconceptions about foster care and recognize the people who step in to support children, youth and families navigating the child welfare system. Resource and adoptive parent Jason Hanover understands that this work requires consistency, accountability and a willingness to show up, especially when situations are complex. In 2016, he became licensed to care for three relative children between the ages of nine and 15. He hadn't planned on becoming a parent, but as he puts it, quote, what began as an obligation became a privilege. Four years later, Jason was asked to take in four siblings who otherwise could have been separated or placed outside the region. At the time, he was already parenting a four year old son. He agreed to the emergency placement and renewed his license. During that case, Jason worked closely with both the children and their parents towards reunification. Like many families involved in child welfare, the parents were struggling with addiction. Jason recalls a turning point during a child and family team meeting. Quote, dad kept asking what he needed to do. I told him directly he needed to get sober. Over the next several months, Jason stayed engaged with the family and ultimately advocated in court for reunification. Eight months after placement, the children returned home. Today, that family is stable, pursuing higher education, purchasing a home, and raising their children in a safe environment. That experience influenced Jason's own path. He shifted his focus from criminal justice to social work and is now preparing to graduate from Chico State University with a Bachelor of Social Work with plans to continue on to a master's program. Since then, Jason has continued fostering and has adopted five children with another adoption anticipated this year. His experience includes caring for a teen parent and her baby, supporting a transgender youth, and providing respite care. He emphasizes that foster care is not just about temporary placement. It's about supporting families and advocating for reunification whenever possible. Quote at the end of the day, parents miss their kids. Respect and clear communication matter. Sometimes families don't feel like they have a voice. For those considering becoming resource parents, his advice is straightforward. Do it. Don't be afraid to advocate. Family voices can get lost in the system. Foster care is complex work. It requires commitment, patience and the ability to navigate difficult situations. But as Jason's experience shows, it can create meaningful, lasting outcomes for children and families. If you are interested in learning more about fostering, please contact the county of Mendocino at 707-463-7990. In southern Humboldt, Braceland Vineyards is celebrating the release of the 40th vintage at their annual Memorial Day weekend wine tasting. The event will be held outdoors at the winery in Bryceland on Saturday and Sunday, May 23rd and 24th, from 1 to 5pm along with the wines tasty bites including meats, fresh oysters and cheeses will be served. Gluten free and vegan options are available and the Rose Garden is in bloom. Tasting will feature a full lineup of red and white wines including newly bottled whites and a pet nat made from local Pinot Noir grapes, plus a range of reds including Pinot Noir and several Bordeaux varietal wines, all from Humboldt grown grapes. For more information, contact the winery at 707-923-2429 or email andrewcelyn vineyards. This news director will certainly be there also in Humboldt County College of the Redwoods convened educators, healthcare professionals, students and regional partners on Thursday, May 7 for the Del Norte Healthcare Education and Workforce Summit, a collaborative effort focused on strengthening rural healthcare access and workforce development along California's north coast. The Summit addressed critical challenges facing rural healthcare systems, including workforce shortages, recruitment and retention barriers and limited training capacity. Participants explored solutions designed to expand local healthcare pathways and better align education systems with workforce needs. The event Featured keynote speaker Dr. Carol Christie, Chief Medical Executive at Sutter Coast Hospital. Dr. Christie's work in physician mentorship, residency development and community based education highlights ongoing efforts to build sustainable healthcare pipelines in the region. Panel discussions brought Together Representatives from K12 Education, Higher Education and healthcare organizations including Open Door Community Health and Sutter Health. Conversations focused on expanding dual enrollment opportunities, increasing clinical placement capacity, and supporting students pursuing healthcare careers within their home communities. Additional topics included behavioral health, workforce needs, culturally responsive care, equity and access to services, and the financial pressures facing rural healthcare providers. Participants also examined strategies to address workforce burnout and improve long term retention. Interactive breakout sessions provide an opportunity to identify regional best practices and address barriers to workforce development. Outcomes from these sessions will be synthesized into a formal report to guide future initiatives and partnerships. The Summit was organized through a collaborative effort involving Redwood Coast K16 Collaborative, Humboldt Del Norte Medical Society, SMART Workforce Center, College of the Redwoods, Cal Poly Humboldt, Humboldt County Office of Education and Workforce Partners the event reflects a continued commitment to strengthening cross sector collaboration and building a resilient healthcare workforce for Delano county and surrounding communities. On Monday, May 18, on Mattole Road in southern Humboldt, Thomas Aaron Coe and Trevor Davis Sandstone were arrested by California Fish and Wildlife for illegally taking wildlife, specifically abalone. There are multiple charges against the two men, including unlawful take of wildlife, unlawful possession of wildlife, taking in violation of Fish and Wildlife Code, and unlawful commercial take of abalone in restricted districts. Red abalone has been illegal to remove recreationally since since 2018 in Eureka. Today, May 19th at approximately 11:00am Officers with the Eureka Police department responded to the intersection of Fairfield street and West Henderson street for the report of a traffic collision involving multiple vehicles. Upon arrival, officers located four involved vehicles, including a gold Nissan Altima and a blue BMW sedan. The driver of the Nissan was transported by ambulance to a local hospital with suspected moderate injuries. A passenger in the BMW also sustained minor injuries as a result of the collision. The driver of the BMW was identified as Landon Zachary, 18 years old, of Eureka. Zachary was transported to a local hospital for medical clearance and was later taken into custody for for felony reckless driving causing injury. Video footage showed the BMW failing to stop at the posted stop sign for colliding with the Nissan and two parked vehicles. In total, four vehicles were involved with the collision. At this time, drugs and alcohol do not appear to be a contributing factor. In international news with a Serious Local Connection 2 Humboldt county residents have been abducted by the Israeli government in international waters Two Humboldt county residents, Greg Terry and Silas Beaver, have continued to sail with the Global Samud Flotilla to break the illegal siege on Gaza by the Israeli government in an unrelenting effort to open a maritime humanitarian aid corridor directly to the shores of occupied Palestine. 54 vessels and over 500 participants from 45 countries departed from the Turkish port of Marmaris on May 14, 2026. In the early hours of Monday, May 18, 250 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza in international waters, the Israeli military surrounded the flotilla and began boarding boats and abducting participants for the second time since the flotilla set sail from Barcelona, Spain in April. At this time, over 300 delegates have been abducted from 38 flotilla vessels and news outlets report they are being taken to a prison in the Israeli port of Ashdod. Both Humboldt residents currently sailing, Silas Beaver and Greg Terry are are among those abducted and according to late breaking news from major outlets from today, May 19, the last ships remaining in the flotilla have been intercepted. There were over 50 ships originally destined for Gaza to break a naval blockade and deliver aid. We'll keep in touch with the flotilla and we'll give you an update once we get more information. Lastly, in news we just learned about right before this newscast, there is unexpected road work and major traffic delays while traveling between Garberville and Redway, according to Humboldt County Road Works. Previously planned work on Redwood Drive had to be moved up about four weeks due to a scheduling change by a contractor. This led to the county needing to do prep work far earlier than expected. Due to this change, usual notice was not provided to the community. Motorists are being urged to account for extra time and if possible, it may be better to go the long way from Garberville to redway using Highway 101. Drivers should also expect delays on nearby and connected roads on the Bluff's route. But once this is finished, we should have a brand new road surface on Redwood Drive between Redway and Garberville. And now to our main stories. This is KMUD News. We begin tonight with our coverage of mud stock, KMUD's annual block party, which was this past Saturday, May 16. KMUD News reports mudstock KMUD's annual block party was a huge success this year. We saw hundreds of people pour by our studios in Redway for an afternoon and evening of entertainment, food, drinks, crafts, record sales and just generally good vibes. It was wonderful to see those of you that attended. The Block party is made possible by Kemud's wonderful staff and volunteers who pour endless hours into making the event possible. It's also due to our generous underwriters for the event like Gippo Ale Mill, Humboldt Distillery, the Humboldt Creative Alliance Inc. People and Daisy's Supply Camo News collected audio from folks behind the event and we're going to share some of the Block Party vibe and experience with you. We'll start with Chestine Anderson, a longtime KMUD volunteer who helped share items with volunteers from the collection of Mark Sternfield who had to move out of the area due to health issues. The items range from beautiful crystals to crafts, candle holders, minerals and art of all kinds from a wide variety of cultures. Here's Chastine on Mark's collection. Mark Sternfield was an underwriting representative for KMUD in the 90s and he was so enthused about his participation at KMUD when he became incapacitated and had to go into a care home, he offered everything in his house to the KMUD volunteers. So over the course of the last year and a half, I've been clearing out the house and here's all his treasures. He collected an immense amount of interesting and peculiar and fascinating and everything. Next we'll hear about some of the Block party vibes from two longtime KMUD DJs, Wild Ginger and Eddie Barker. We'll start with Ginger, who is helping run KMUD's famous CD and vinyl sale, followed by Eddie hey, it's Wild Ginger.
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  Speaker C: Here I am at the KMUD Block Party. Mud Stock is in session. I sure hope to see a bunch of people out here today making donations to celebrate. A great pause. Keep K. Mudd alive. And this is our birthday, 39th birthday. I believe next year will be our 40th. And we're open to suggestions if you want to know. You want to help us pick the music next year, come talk to me. We want to talk about it. What makes KMUD great and what can we do next year to make it even better? Love you guys. Have a great day.
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  Speaker B: All right. This block party is about friends and family and togetherness and just reveling in each other's company and friendship. Volunteers are of crucial importance to events like Mud Stock. And you'll hear from two of our event volunteers who help set up and run the bar for the event. First from Sydney, who is also one of KMUD's interns, and then from Chelsea Sproul, who is a constant help at the station.
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  Speaker C: KMUD bar was awesome. It was honestly a lot more setup than I thought, but it was fun.
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  Speaker B: Setup.
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  Speaker C: Yeah, it was like a very fun time.
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  Speaker D: Time.
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  Speaker C: Mixing all the drinks and making our little syrups and everything and the gold and the glitter and everything in the drinks. So cute. Very witchy time yesterday and now we're.
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  Speaker B: Now we're very professional with our bar
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  Speaker C: set up and yeah, it's so nice
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  Speaker B: to be here and see the like, see everyone come out and see like the labor pay off and it's just fun.
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  Speaker D: Yes,
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  Speaker B: KUD as a radio station would simply not be on the air without the wonderful work of our radio engineers, the vast majority of whom are volunteers. Many of our engineers were present at the event, including regular Monday night engineer Javier Rodriguez. Hey, KMUD family. Javier here. Monday night engineer 5 to 8 chi talks with Tony. Remember to embrace the woo here at the block party and may your chi flow smoothly as you exit your house and make your way down to the block party today. Blessed day. A fun time was had by all. And it's worth mentioning Dennis Marr and Rob Gage, our program and technical directors who made every band and our radio feed of the event sound fantastic. KMUN News also wants to highlight the hard work and long hours of Christy Augustine, a our three headed traffic underwriting and development coordinator. We simply do not have a title large enough to describe all that she does for the station. At a time when our staffing is limited. Christy is truly our expert event planner. And her expert planning with limited resources made Mudstock a success far beyond expectations. Many remarked that it was KMUD's best attended block party in years. If you want to keep events like Mudstock, KMUD's annual block party on the calendar, we highly suggest you start a membership with our station to keep the vibes going. Donation info is on our website@kmud.org or give us a call at 707-923-2513. Reporting for KMUD, I'm April Lewis. Next story from our partners at KPFA on Ecuador's involvement with US Boat strikes.
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  Speaker D: The last time Roxana Mero heard from her husband Carlos was January 19th. Calling from sea on an emergency line, he said an American aircraft, two drones and a blue patrol ship had been circling La Fiorela, the Ecuadorian fishing boat he captained. The presence of military and drones worried him, given a wave of US Military airstrikes across the Pacific and Caribbean had indiscriminately killed about 170 seafarers. That number has since grown to 190. The local coast guard had also inspected the vessel only hours before and found nothing clearing them. The next day, fishing in the Pacific, the boat went up in flames. Eight fishermen aboard have not been seen since. Two surviving eyewitnesses, both of them crew members, who happened to be out on a nearby raft at the time of the incident and managed to return back to shore alive, describe seeing La Fiorella engulfed in smoke. They told Maria, the wife of another fisherman, the same account Roxana's husband had told her
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  Speaker E: the day before. A US Patrol ship and two drones were roaming the area. But since they were just fishing, they said, we aren't doing anything wrong. But the next day, in the afternoon, the patrol ship and two drones returned, and that's when the survivors said they saw the boat exploded.
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  Speaker D: She agreed to speak to us on the condition of anonymity. The eyewitnesses claimed they'd been threatened by officials not to speak to the press or go on record about what happened.
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  Speaker E: They were terrified they would do something to them, because think about it. They were the only ones who survived. What happened? If they gave a statement, they might kill them, something like that. That's what they were afraid of, because after all, a poor person cannot go up against the Port Authority, for example, because obviously the Port Authority is going to win the case. So that's why they refrain from saying anything.
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  Speaker D: The families of the disappeared who did speak out like Mero, were then victims of extortion. More than 90 days after LA Fiorella vanished, Roxana Mero says she's still waiting for the state to send out a search team to find her husband. She tells Pacifica Radio the families live with constant military helicopters circling overhead, but none of them have been used to find her husband. The helicopters are part of ongoing U. S. Ecuadorian joint operations that persist despite more than 60% of Ecuadorians voting to uphold the constitutional ban on foreign military presence in their territories this past November. The ban was originally introduced in 2007, precisely due to the US military sinking fishing boats off the coast of Manta. Under right wing President Daniel Noboa, Ecuador has become a US proxy in the region described as a North American colony by political analyst and former advisor to Ecuador's Secretary of International Relations, Daniel Granja. The FBI even opened its first office on Ecuadorian soil under the pretext of fighting drug trafficking. Since U.S. southern Command officially put boots on the ground last December 2025, multiple cases of civilian torture have been documented. Both the Ecuadorian and American state justify these incidents by labeling victims as drug traffickers. Despite a lack of evidence, it's also a claim families of the missing deny.
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  Speaker E: Go tell the Americans who keep patrolling. I told the port authority, who keeps saying they were drug traffickers. I told the Port authority to come search my house. There's nothing in my house. Sometimes I don't even have anything to eat. I barely have anywhere to live. I don't even have any money for beds. I tell them, come.
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  Speaker D: The military regime, which rules by martial law, has stonewalled all inquiries into the whereabouts of the fishermen. Angelica Lurdes, Mero's son and husband, are among the missing men.
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  Speaker E: They slammed the door in our face.
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  Speaker D: Maria had the same experience. I reached out to Manta's port authority. They hung up after learning the call was from a journalist. The families of the disappeared crew organized protests, vigils and press conferences, pleading with the Ecuadorian state to provide answers on the whereabouts of their sons and husbands. Their cries for help went ignored, that is, until 36 Ecuadorian men from two separate boats washed up on the shores of El Salvador two months later in March, the survivors shared similar details to what Roxana Mero's husband Carlos had described in his final call. Arriving with feet torn open to the bone, suffering 70% vision loss, on the brink of unconsciousness and covered in pellet wounds, both crews alleged an American drone had bombed their boat and that they were taken hostage aboard a US flagged blue patrol ship like the one Carlos spoke of before he disappeared. After allegedly having their devices safe, seized and scrubbed, the men say they were then hooded and held half naked on a scorching metal deck. Starved for multiple days, KPFA spoke with Captain Hernan Flores, one of the 36 survivors.
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  Speaker A: The captain told me. He told me, here come some drones. It didn't take long before one of those drones hit the entire booth. It struck the whole cabin. And one drone came through the cabin one and landed on the deck. It was a drone with three little propellers in the middle. It had a tube. One of the guys was there in the bunk next to me in the cabin. That drone passed by his feet. You could see his bones. His feet were torn open. The flesh was ripped apart. Everything was right there nearby. It hit me here in the back and I started bleeding heavily. At the moment of the explanation explosion, there was also a horrible echo. We grabbed the wounded and immediately left the blue boat. Above us, there was a small aircraft flying and we thought they were going to kill us. There were armed military personnel and they told us, raise your hands, raise your hands. We approached them and as soon as I got up there, they tied my hands, covered my head with a bag. One of those soldiers took me upstairs.
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  Speaker D: Tomorrow we return with part two of this story For KPFA Pacifica Radio, I'm Camila Aldur Des Calarza.
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  Speaker B: That's all for our news broadcast. Thanks for listening. Thanks to our rotation of broadcast engineers Michael McCaskill, Dennis Marr, Katie Phillips, Bianna Frederico, Larry Lashley and Javier Rodriguez. KMUD news is online. You can find us on kmod.org and now streaming on podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can download our stories and newscasts for offline listening. You can also follow us on social mediamudnews, including Facebook and Instagram. Do you have issues important to you that deserve more attention, other stories we're missing or that you're curious about? You can give us a call at 707-923-2605 or send an email to newsema.org Redwood Community Radio, Inc. Is funded by Press Forward, the national movement to strengthen communities by reinvigorating local news. Learn more at PressForward News. Redwood Community Radio acknowledges that its transmitter sites are located in the unceded territory of the Sinkion, Wailaki, Wiat, Wilkut and Kato people. We honor ancestors past, present and emerging and acknowledge the ongoing cultural, spiritual, physical connection that these tribes have to the region. I'm April Lewis. Stay tuned. In.