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Local News 12 23 25 · KMUD News

• 0:05
  Speaker A: Good evening and welcome to the local news. Today is Tuesday, December 23rd. I'm Gabriel Zucker reporting for KMUD. In tonight's news, the National Weather Service issues wind and flood warnings over the next couple of days. Lafayette elementary School in Eureka establishes sister school partnership with Linson Elementary School in Taiwan. Humboldt will lobby state for firefighting funding coverage. Stay tuned. Those stories and more. Coming up.
• 0:34
  Speaker B: Redwood Community Radio acknowledges that its transmitter sites are located on the unceded territory of the Sinkion, Wailaki, Wiat, Wilcote and Kato people. We honor ancestors past, present and emerging and acknowledge the ongoing cultural, spiritual and physical connection that these tribes have to this region.
• 0:54
  Speaker A: For the upcoming week, the National Weather Service has issued two warnings for the Greater Humboldt area. The first warning is a high wind warning between 7pm Tuesday to 10am Wednesday in Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino and Lake counties. There's also wind advisory from 10pm Tuesday to 10am Wednesday in Trinity County. There's also a flood watch warning between 10pm Tuesday night to 10pm Friday. Caveman News talked with Edward Swafford, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service. He gave a rundown of all warnings in Humboldt county and added advice for drivers that out and about when these weather warnings are in effect. He first explained the wind warning due to deepening low.
• 1:31
  Speaker C: We have sort of like an embedded wave systems coming through here. So there's actually multiple events going on to cover the threat. Yeah, we have a high wind warning out for southern Humboldt. It's like 7pm to 8am Wednesday. Now this is due to the deep and low. We've got quite a bit of a pressure differential. So we're going to have some really stout winds. Damaging winds in fact and with the previous accumulation of precip soil conditions are quite saturated. So that increase increases the threat quite a bit exponentially for damped trees, you know. And this, this is a hazard for not not only just stationary objects and people but also, you know, drivers as well. So yeah, 30 to 40 mile an hour sustained winds are expected with gusts up to 70. Strongest winds will be like over the ridges in southern Humboldt, but also Mendocino county and Lake County a similar situation. 30 to 40 sustained with 50 to 70 mile an hour winds. Mindow and Lake, their product, their high wind warning is out from 7pm tonight to 6am Wednesday. Damaging winds are expected to blow down trees. There could be some power outages. Expect that as well. Power lines or so widespread outages are definitely something that could result in this. Del Norton Terry, another humble as well now, the timing for them is a little different, but still within the same ballpark. So this is some coming from the southwest. So the timing is a little earlier for the southern parts of the warning area. But for Del Nor Interior and northern Humboldt Interior, we're looking at like 10pm tonight through 10am Wednesday morning. And yeah, just about the same level of threat as well. 30 to 40 mile an hour sustained, speaking to 70 or so, maybe higher at the ridges. The coastal areas might have a little bit of a lower exposure because of the lower elevation. These winds are going to be higher up. Faster winds are always a little bit higher up. So for the coastal areas, the southerly winds probably sustain around 20 to 30 mile an hour with gusts to 55 or so. And that's Del Norton, northern Humboldt coast. And that time frame will be midnight tonight through 9am Wednesday. Similar threats still apply. Blow down trees, possibly power lines, you know, possibly widespread outages. Trinity County a little bit less. So, I mean, we still have. It's a wind advisory for Trinity county just because the way that this system is moving, it's gonna smash in to the coast a little bit, but not far enough to where say like Trinity is gonna be really hit too hard. But we still have a wind advisory out for Trinity because they do have elevation and everything like that. So they're more exposed at their ridges. But we're still looking at like 10 to 20 mile an hour sustained with gusts to 45 miles an hour or so for drivers.
• 4:30
  Speaker A: Swofford gave a warning to be safe and not be the problem.
• 4:33
  Speaker C: Travel will be difficult. I mean, people are gonna have to pay attention to the hazards that first responders and municipalities are putting out as well to not endanger themselves, but also did not take resources away from other emergencies. You know, this is something we have to think about other than just, you know, whether someone can make it through, you know, a flooded. Not. You have to think about now you're taking resources away from, you know, another emergency possibly that somebody might be in.
• 5:02
  Speaker A: So he then explained the locations with flood and snow warnings and what a wide area flood watch is as far.
• 5:08
  Speaker C: As the flooding goes. So rushing river near Hopland. We do have a flood watch out for that. And that's from this evening to Wednesday morning. Now at 15ft, we start seeing impacts. Highway 175 start. Yeah, start showing some impacts. Flooding or croplands and. But recently speaking with the rfc, it seems like a little bit less of a threat forecast. As far as the stage goes. Looks like we might not meet 15ft, we might come under it a few feet, you know, because we. We're going to have different pulses of rain coming through. So even the rainfall totals, you know, after they, you know, collect, accumulate, and drain through the watersheds, this is how it affects how the river level rises. So it looks like we're backing off a little bit maybe on whether or not it's going to turn into a warning or anything. But I think at this point, yeah, we're going to leave the watch in place. So the flood watch still going on for the Russian river near Hopland. There is a wide area flood watch for all counties that's through Friday evening. So that's a watch. There's a flood watch pretty much for all of the cwa, all of the warning areas through Friday. So, you know, you're urban. Urban areas, urban flooding, small creeks and streams, you know, all of that is possible, but major stem flooding, we're not really seeing that at this time. But definitely pay attention to weather alerts.
• 6:41
  Speaker A: Swofford finished the interview saying that the National Weather Service is able to take incoming calls and are happy to give needed information for travelers during the holidays. The number to call is 707-443-6484 or visit their website weather.govEKA on December 11th, Humboldt County Office of Education held a ceremony over zoom officially establishing a sister school partnership with Lafayette Elementary School in Eureka and Linson elementary School in Taiwan. Nat Cardos reports.
• 7:13
  Speaker B: A little over a week ago, on December 11th, the Humboldt County Office of Education held a ceremonial signing over zoom with dignitaries of Eureka City Schools, Lafayette Elementary School, Linson Elementary School, and Taiwan's Ministry of Education to officially formalize a sister school partnership between the two elementary schools. The new partnership holds the goal of connecting their students and educating them from different cultures. KMAN News spoke with Quincy Brownfield, principal of Lafayette Elementary School in Eureka, for more information about how this came to be.
• 7:43
  Speaker D: So Humboldt County Office of Education provides an opportunity for local educators to get involved in a program called Global Classroom Connect and Colby Smart. The deputy superintendent at HCoE has some connections over in Taiwan. And so they've been doing this program for a few years. And I had a teacher from my school, third grade teacher Nick Williams went with a group of educators this last summer to Taiwan. And while he was there, he just felt like an incredible connection with the school where he was visiting. And he decided to look further into becoming a sister school with Linson Elementary. And so they began that process back in August. And then it took a little bit of time for us to get it off the ground. But we were able to successfully sign the MOU with Linson Elementary a few weeks ago.
• 8:34
  Speaker B: The ceremony was held in the evening for Eureka residents and mourning for those in Taiwan and featured performances from students, remarks from staff, and wrapped up with the signing of the memorandum of understanding mou.
• 8:46
  Speaker D: Oh, it was amazing. So we did it on a Wednesday evening and it was Thursday morning in Taiwan. And what they did was we had a zoom call at Humboldt County Office of Education and it was myself and Nick Williams, the third grade teacher. We also had Jennifer Johnson, assistant superintendent for Eureka City Schools, along with Colby Smart from HCOE and Stacy Young from HCOE as well. And then on the Taiwan side of things, they had a few different representatives there as well. The principal of Linson elementary was present along with the Chinese city government education department representative was there and they had a few children come out and they did two performances for us with their recorder ensemble, which was amazing. And then we each said some remarks just like what we were hoping to get out of the exchange with our sister school. And then we formally signed the MOU and wrapped it up.
• 9:44
  Speaker B: Students at Lafayette are already working towards sending care packages and letters to students at Linson. Recently, students put together a book about local animals that was sent to the sisters school this year.
• 9:55
  Speaker D: What that looks like for us at Lafayette is Nick Williams has been doing quite a bit of work with his students and the students in Taiwan. So they're doing things like sending each other care packages, they're doing projects. For example, they recently made a book about local animals here in Humboldt county. And they made the book and then they worked to translate part of the book into Mandarin. And then they mailed it over to the sister school. They are working to hopefully be able to do some video conferencing soon with that school. We haven't quite worked out the logistics yet because of the time change over there, but I know that they've been exchanging some items via the mail. And we're also going to be doing some stuff around sustainable development goals, which is kind of the foundation of what Taiwan is using for this partnership. And so we're going to be doing some things like around the community that we can link also to these sustainable development goals.
• 10:48
  Speaker B: While this is the first time that Lafayette has entered a sister school partnership like this one, Alice Bernie Elementary School Eureka is already in a sister school partnership with another school in Taiwan.
• 10:57
  Speaker D: You know, I've been at Lafayette about 14 years now, and we have not done anything like this at Lafayette. But I can tell you that, Alice. Bernie, which is another elementary school in Eureka City Schools, is a sister school to another elementary in Taiwan also. So there's actually about 70 partner classrooms are part of the Global Classroom connect right now. And then we have a handful of schools that have entered into the partnership, and we actually have Humboldt county as a sister county with somewhere in Taiwan. Also.
• 11:28
  Speaker B: Partnerships like this are not uncommon for Humboldt. Eureka has a sister city partnership with Kamisu in Japan. Arcata has a city partnership with Kamuapa, Nicaragua, and Crescent City has a sister partnership with Rikuzentakata, Japan. And these kinds of relationships are formed with the goal of cultural exchanges and to further towns and schools educating one another.
• 11:49
  Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, it's just such an amazing opportunity, I think, for not only our schools and our children, but also for our educators. So Humboldt County Office of Education has taken two cohorts of educators over to Taiwan to experience. They went in 2023, and they went in 2025. And then I believe there's been one group that has come over from Taiwan, and I believe we're hoping to get another group to come on over here also. And I think just really growing our understanding and our knowledge of another country, but then also just really tapping into what our students, our learners, can gain from growing their global perspective on things. And, you know, I go into Nick Williams classrooms, and they're. They're practicing Mandarin. They're counting in Mandarin. They're learning how to write it, and just things that we probably wouldn't have exposed our students to if it hadn't been for this partnership. I mean, I know that's kind of a cornerstone of the project, for sure. And they're just really. It provides an understanding that there's more out there than just Humboldt county, you know? Right. And just being able to understand that we have children all across the globe that are doing things in classrooms. And, you know, we're learning how to be collaborative and widen our perspectives. And we want to really work on, like, just increasing that sense of global belonging. And the other cool thing is, you know, we have a lot of different cultures represented at Lafayette Elementary. And so I know Nick is really big on, like, letting the Taiwan children learn about just the different cultures that we have at our school.
• 13:14
  Speaker B: So Global Classroom Connect, the program that this is all happening through, is an exchange program from the California Global Education Project. For more information about the program, the website is calglobaled.org reporting for KMUD, I'm Nat Cardos.
• 13:32
  Speaker A: This year's Humboldt County Fire Chiefs association report quantifies the scale of emergency response and the need to help from the state.
• 13:39
  Speaker E: Daniel Mintz reports 2024 saw more than 18,000 calls for service from Humboldt county fire departments. And the Board of Supervisors wants to work with the county's Fire Chiefs association to get the state to expand its fire service areas. The association's annual report was presented by Telegraph Ridge Fire Chief Tanner spies at the December 16th supervisors meeting. Spies is a member of the Collaborative Fire Services Planning Team, and he said the data in the ANN report allows strategic planning and operational decisions to be made from measured reality and struggles with funding is one of the realities of local firefighting and emergency response. The recently passed Measure O ballot measure will help the county address roads funding with the Measure Z public safety tax continuing to contribute to firefighting needs. Asked about what the needs are, Spies said Measure Z funding requests will be based on firefighting data. Well, I think in general this kind of gets back to us collecting these metrics and trying to coordinate together as a larger region. I can tell you that we are working hard to have a proactive and positive vision of how to make Humboldt County Fire Services the best it can be. Make it, you know, something that we can all be proud of. So, yes, if I'm sure everyone of us could stand here and give an enormous list of what we could use that money to do, but I can also say that we will have a consistent consolidated plan for whatever support we can get. There was discussion about local departments responses to areas of state jurisdiction such as Route 299 and Highway 101. The funding scenarios related to the state and the county were discussed in this exchange between Spies and Supervisor Michelle Bushnell. We have worked on starting the process of considering legislative action on this, and that is something that we're going to continue to look into and develop to try to find whatever funding we can get. And in the case that it could potentially come from the state, try to get what funding we can.
• 15:56
  Speaker D: Thank you for the clarification to finish. I just really appreciate the departments in the District and in Humboldt county in general. All of you guys, you are responsible for a gap where Cal Fire is not there and you know, it's very difficult. Also you respond to your friends and families and that is not taken unnoticed by this board or by me.
• 16:18
  Speaker E: Especially.
• 16:19
  Speaker D: The funding is not a lot. There's not a lot of funding. The $3 million, $2 million that you get from Measure Z doesn't make up what you need and it always is. How do we say Split this and who's most important. So that's also not a great feeling that you all have to make and choose where that funding goes and which department gets it.
• 16:39
  Speaker E: Supervisor Rex Bone represents the board on the rural county representatives of California and said the organization is working on a proposal for giving tax credits to emergency response volunteers. According to the report, the county has 574 volunteer firefighters and over 100,000 hours of total volunteer time was given in 2024. Board Chair Mike Wilson noted the importance of planning efforts and funding.
• 17:10
  Speaker A: I'm also appreciative. We hadn't talked about it, but in terms of, like, the efforts around consolidation, I want to say a shout out that I think that's really important so that we can reduce administrative burdens on everybody, especially some people's wives and other family members that have to administer for all the fun things that people are doing and the important work, of course. And then I'm all down with the legislative efforts. And I think more and more we should be dealing with that more and more around, you know, getting the timber lands and timber companies in the districts around, you know, getting the reimbursements around the highways. And I. This is the first time I've heard about this volunteer tax credit potential as well. So make sure to engage us. We have. I know you guys have your lobbyists with your organizations in Sacramento, met them, good people, but the more the merrier. And so please engage us.
• 17:59
  Speaker E: The report says that in 2024, county departments responded to 238 structure fires, 369 vegetation fires, and 629 vehicle accidents. There were 9463 medical emergency responses in Eureka. For KMUD news, this is Daniel Mentz.
• 18:24
  Speaker A: Turning to Mendocino County, a tragic drowning becomes a reminder of the best of us. Elise Cox reports.
• 18:31
  Speaker F: Monday was a beautiful day, a pause between storms. The kind of day that pulls people out of their houses and down to the water's edge. A group of friends went to Macaraker State park, up the coast from Fort Bragg. The air was clear, the ocean restless but dazzling. There was a feeling of relief that follows pounding rain and wind, a sense that the worst had passed. Then they saw the wave and the woman on the rock. She was swept into the sea. They did not stop to think or wait for instructions. They ran into the water. Others on the beach were calling for help. The friends swam out through the cold into the surge. Against a strong undertow about 50 yards, they pulled the woman back to shore. Later, Steve Orsi, chief of the Fort Bragg fire Department said no one took their names. What happened yesterday?
• 19:29
  Speaker C: We got a call for somebody getting.
• 19:32
  Speaker E: Pulled out of the riptide at McCarricher.
• 19:35
  Speaker C: Who responded? Before we got out there, we were.
• 19:39
  Speaker E: Told that that person was brought to shore by some kids that were bystanding.
• 19:45
  Speaker C: And they seen her having trouble, so they swam out and brought her in.
• 19:50
  Speaker E: And then when we got there, CPR.
• 19:52
  Speaker C: Had been started responsive. So their first initial thing was to jump in and help out with cpr.
• 20:00
  Speaker F: And how long do the medical and fire personnel work on the victim?
• 20:06
  Speaker E: I couldn't be.
• 20:07
  Speaker C: I wasn't at scene, so I don't.
• 20:08
  Speaker E: Know exactly, but I would bet that.
• 20:11
  Speaker C: It was at least a half an hour.
• 20:12
  Speaker F: In the chaos, there was no clipboard, no introductions. No one was looking for credit. The young rescuers did everything they could. So did the fire and medical personnel who arrived soon after. The woman, a white woman in her 70s, could not be revived. Chief Orsi said the rescuers appeared focused on only one helping a stranger. They asked for nothing in return, and then they were gone. We do not know if they were locals or visitors in Fort Bragg for the holiday, but we do know when the ocean took someone, they answered without hesitation. If you are among those who ran into the water on Monday or if you know who they were, we hope you will come forward so the community can thank you. For KMUN news and Mendo local news, I'm Elise Cox.
• 21:06
  Speaker A: In national news, Trump announced a new Trump class battleship as threats Against Venezuela continues. KPFA's Christopher Martinez reports.
• 21:16
  Speaker E: Welcome to Mar a Lago for this exciting announcement of the new Golden Fleet. We're calling it the Golden Fleet that we're building for the United States Navy. President Donald Trump was flanked by top military leaders as he announced the production of new warships. It's part of a golden fleet to modernize the Navy. He described the new ships as 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built. He emphasized the size, speaking of them in much the way he talks about his political speeches. As commander in chief, it's my great honor to announce that I have approved a plan for the Navy to begin the construction of two brand new, very large, largest we've ever built battleships. You know, you used to build the Iowa, the Missouri, the Wisconsin, the Alabama, many others. We had big battleships. These are bigger. He also says the new ships will be armed, in his words, at the highest level. They'll also have hypersonic weapons, many hypersonic weapons, state of the art electric rail guns and even the high powered lasers that you've been starting to read about we have lasers where you aim the laser at a target, it just wipes it out. We're going to have, there'll be the most sophisticated lasers in the world and the most sophisticated laser in the world will be on the battleships that we're building. And he did not leave out the aesthetic appeal of the new ships. The US Navy will lead the design of these ships along with me because I'm a very aesthetic person. Trump says the new ships will also carry nuclear weapons. Navy Secretary John Phelan says the new ships will be a source of pride. We're going to make battle battle groups great again. He calls Trump's idea a good one. The future Trump class battleship, the USS Defiant, will be the largest, deadliest and most versatile and best looking warship anywhere on the world's oceans. He notes that the battleships will carry nuclear weapons. This ship isn't just to swat the arrows, it is going to reach out and kill the archers. And for the first time in generations, we'll have a new leg in America's nuclear deterrence because the Trump class battleship will carry the nuclear armed sea launched cruise missiles. Trump has been talking about rebuilding the Navy for some time, but it's no coincidence. The announcement comes now as Trump is ramping up threats and a military presence around Venezuela. Trump says he'll keep seized Venezuelan tankers and the oil they carry. And he's talking tough about Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. We have a massive armada formed, the biggest we've ever had and by far the biggest we've ever had in South America. He could do whatever he wants. It's all right. Whatever he wants to do, if he wants to do something. If he plays tough, it'll be the last time he's ever able to play tough. Reporting for Pacifica Radio News, kpfa, I'm Christopher Martinez.
• 24:18
  Speaker A: In National Native News, Antonio Gonzalez reads today's headlines.
• 24:23
  Speaker D: This is National Native News. I'm Antonia Gonzalez. A federal jury has ruled against the Grand Gateway Hotel in Rapid City. With just one exception. Retzel Corporation and the Grand Gateway Hotel were found to have discriminated against Native Americans. South Dakota Public Broadcasting. C.J. keane was in the courtroom.
• 24:44
  Speaker A: In total, tens of thousands of dollars of compensatory and punitive damages were awarded to the people denied services at the hotel. Additionally, that discrimination suit means Indian Collective will receive its request of $1 from Retzel. In total, Retzel is now liable for six discrimination claims connected to the events of 2022. Regarding the assault claim against Sunny Red Bear Retzel Corporation was found liable for Connie Yuri's assault against her. Yuri was also convicted in criminal court for that incident. For Nicholas Yuri, the current operator of the Grand Gateway Hotel, his two defamation claims against Indian Collective were thrown out by the jury. The final claim regarding an illegal nuisance was found in favor of the hotel. That nuisance included a light projection displaying a quote eviction notice on the side of the hotel and the months long protest that took place just off of the hotel property. In total, Indian Collective is ordered to pay $812 for that claim. The decision by the jury came after over nine hours of deliberation and represents the end to the three year long legal battle. For national native news, I'm C.J. keen in rapid City.
• 25:56
  Speaker D: Dancing and drumming are essential to Siberian Yupik culture passed down by ancestors. Josie Ungot and Janessa Nunguk are dancers and high school students in the village of gamble on St. Lawrence island in the Bering Sea.
• 26:10
  Speaker F: They talk to their teacher about what the cultural tradition was like in different generations.
• 26:18
  Speaker E: We have Crispit the drumming for some.
• 26:20
  Speaker D: Students in a classroom in Gamble. He's been teaching this Native dance class for over a year now. Bitu has been a teacher for so long, he's welcoming and kind to all of us students. He says dance was much more strict in the past.
• 26:38
  Speaker E: Only dancers to a song was. If it's that composer's daughter or wife, those were the only ones that danced.
• 26:49
  Speaker D: He says he probably wouldn't have been a drummer if he had grown up in the old days because his parents weren't drummers. Bittu tells us back then, women would practice dance moves, but if a dancer made a wrong move, the older woman would throw a shoe at them.
• 27:09
  Speaker E: They had a big pile of shoes. Once, a little wrong move a woman threw at the girl. Bittu tells us a sad experience about.
• 27:21
  Speaker D: Missionaries coming here last century and saying what our people couldn't do, that drumming, dancing, hunting, eating walrus and speaking our language was evil.
• 27:33
  Speaker E: It was instilled deep in their heart that this was evil, that drums and church don't mix.
• 27:44
  Speaker D: Pitu tells us when the young minister started working, they realized it wasn't evil and came and apologized. As the years went by, the tradition slowly became less strict. For about 40 years now, everyone started dancing to any song. High school students Josie and Janessa wrote and produced the story with help from Alaska Public Media health reporter Rachel Cassandra. And I'm Antonia Gonzalez.
• 28:38
  Speaker E: Native voice one, the native american radio network.
• 28:46
  Speaker A: That's all for tonight's broadcast. Thanks for listening thanks to our engineer, Katie Phillips, and thanks to our reporters, Nat Cardos, Daniel Mintz, Elise Cox, Suzanne Potter, Christopher Martinez and Antonio Gonzalez. KMA News is online. You can find us on kma.org nustre streaming on most podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify, where you can download our stories and newscasts for offline listening during your rural commutes. You can also follow us on social media. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can give us a call at 707-923-2605 or send an email to newshema.org Redwood Community Radio, Inc. Is funded by Press Forward national movement to strengthen communities by reinvigorating local news. Learn more at Press Forward News. Reporting for kmud, I'm Gabriel Zuckerberg.