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Local News 06 23 26 · KMUD News

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  Speaker A: Foreign.
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  Speaker B: Welcome to the KMED News. I'm your news Director April Lewis and I'm glad to be with you for this broadcast. In this episode we have stories on the renaming of the Honeydew Bridge and significant service cuts being considered by the Redwood Coast Transit Authority. But first, some local headlines and alerts. This is KMUD News. Starting off with local Cannabis news, we want to let listeners know that the California Department of Cannabis Control, also known as the dcc, is hosting an in person listening session at the Meteill center on Wednesday, June 24th at 3:00pm Participants will also be able to ask questions of the DCC directly. In this time of flux in the cannabis marketplace, we highly encourage all growers to attend. Again, the DCC's in person public meeting at the Mattiel center in Redway to discuss future regulatory changes in the cannabis marketplace will be on Wednesday, June 24th at 3pm we highly encourage the entire community to attend to meet and ask questions of our cannabis regulators directly
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  Speaker C: from
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  Speaker B: the Office of Congressman Jared Huffman Today Congressman Jared Huffman announced news that the national oceanic and Atmospheric administration has allocated $21.3 million in fishery disaster funding, including for the Klamath River Fall Chinook salmon fishery. The funding is part of a broader $123.6 million nationwide fishery disaster relief package and will provide critical support to fishermen, tribes, seafood processors, small businesses and coastal communities that have suffered devastating economic losses following California's 2023 and 2024 salmon fishery disasters. Next from the Humboldt Sheriff's Department on Miranda's Rescue the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office, in collaboration with the Humboldt County District Attorney's Office, California Attorney General's Office, California Department of Justice, United States Department of Agriculture and Federal Bureau of Investigation is actively conducting a search warrant operation and follow up investigation at Miranda's rescue located at 1603 Sandy Prairie Road in Fortuna. On April 22, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office received credible information regarding allegations of felony animal abuse, animal cruelty, fraud and conspiracy associated with Miranda's Rescue. Due to the serious nature and complexity of the allegations, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Division was assigned as the lead investigative unit. A search warrant was obtained and authorized for Miranda's rescue, including the residence and business property. On May 1, at approximately 6:30pm Investigators served the search warrant and seized evidence related to the investigation. Since that time, investigators have interviewed dozens of animal shelters throughout California as well as some shelters outside of the state. Investigators have also interviewed witnesses and victims and have received hundreds of tips through phone calls and emails through the investigation, it has been determined that hundreds of dogs were transferred or turned over to Miranda's rescue by private citizens and and animal shelters. A significant number of those animals have not been accounted for based on the large number of animals that remain unaccounted for. Investigators served a second search warrant at Miranda's Rescue today, June 23 at 8am the warrant authorizes the excavation of the property in an effort to locate additional deceased animals believed to be buried on site. Sheriff's investigators have been working collaboratively with the FBI, the California Department of Justice, the United States Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the California Attorney General's Office and the United States Attorney Office for the Northern District of California. This is an active animal cruelty, fraud and theft investigation. Members of the Cal Poly Humboldt Anthropology Department, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and private forensic veterinarians are assisting with the excavation operation. Multiple vehicles and heavy equipment along with hand digging crews were reported at the site today with 731 animals still unaccounted for. It's unclear exactly how long the excavation operation will last, with Sheriff Hansel stating the effort may take several weeks. At this time, Shannon Miranda has still not been charged with any crimes in Redway the Redway Community Services District has announced its new Customer Assistance program created to help qualified residential water customers with their monthly water bills. Approved applicants may receive a $15 monthly credit on their water bill, subject to eligibility and available annual program funding. The program is limited to approximately 27 participants per calendar year and applications will be reviewed on a first come, first served basis. Customers may qualify by showing current enrollment in an approved assistance program such as care, or by meeting household income guidelines based on the current California alternative rates for energy income limits. For more information, you can contact the Redway CSD at 707-923-3101, extension 3 or redwaycsdmail.com Some wildfire research News from the University of California One of the strongest predictors of wildfire fatalities may be the number of roads coming out of a community, according to a new study from scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara and UC Cooperative Extension. Their research reveals that a surprisingly specific number of roads separates high risk communities from safer ones during a wildfire. Significant six, to be precise. Publishing and Proceedings of the National Academy of sciences researchers at UCSB's National center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis and the Bren School of Environmental Science compiled the most extensive georeference wildfire fatality data set to date, covering 342 deaths across the United States from 2008 to to 2024. Scientists found the fatalities dropped sharply as communities gained more outward road access, but only up to about six exits. Beyond that point, additional roads offer little further protection. While having more than six exits doesn't guarantee safety. The pattern is visible in some of the country's most devastating fire in the 2018 campfire, 66 of 86 total fatalities occurred in paradise in Butte County, a town without six outward roads that offer limited functional redundancy as fire and gridlock converged. Also in Butte County, 13 people were killed in Berry Creek, a community that only had two exits during the 2020 North Complex Fire. In 2023, 102 people died in Lahaina, Hawaii, a town with just four exit routes. To assess the scale of the problem nationally, the research team combined egress Data for every US community under 50,000 residents with wildfire hazard maps and census population counts. Their findings are striking. 17.7 million people live in communities below the critical 6 exit threshold. 2 and a half million of those people live in communities that also face high wildfire hazards. 528 communities have no major road exits at all, spread across 41 states. High risk hotspots exist not only in the west but also in Oklahoma, Florida and Hawaii, states not typically central to national wildfire policy. The researchers emphasize that road building alone is not a complete solution. Steep terrain, ecological constraints and cost make new roads impractical in many places. They point instead to three complementary expanding egress infrastructure where feasible improving early warning systems and evacuation behavior and investing in preplanned shelter in place options like temporary refuge areas for when evacuation fails. Moving on to news from the Great Redwood Trail Authority. Following the approval of its master plan in March, the Great Redwood Trail Agency Board of Directors has announced the first round of $12.4 million in climate bond funding for priority trail segments in Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties. The Great Red Trail Agency's $50 million bond award falls within the climate bond's $695 million allocated to parks and outdoor spaces. Senate Bill 105, Section 94030 specifies uses for the protection, restoration and enhancement of natural resource values of the state park system and for projects to expand recreational opportunities and public access to state and public park non motorized trails.
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  Speaker A: Prop.
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  Speaker B: 4 resources dedicated to the Great Redwood Trail will fund trail design and construction and tribal cultural resource preservation through recommendations from the Tribal Advisory Committee launching later this year and environmental restoration in the remote, ecologically and culturally sensitive Eel River Canyon funding includes $1.5 million to the Mendocino Land Trust's work on the Willits to Longvale Trail segment, $922,000 to the city of Fortuna for work on the State Route 36 to Fernbridge trail segment and $10 million for trail planning, design and construction directly administered by the Great Redwood Trail Authority in Mendocino, Trinity and Humboldt counties. Guided by the master plan's tier one priorities, the $10 million Great Redwood Trail Authority administered portion of construction will deploy through trail design and development across eight segments, five moving from design to potential construction and another three to become shovel ready for future construction. With additional funding sources, it will also fund strategic land acquisition and tribal cultural resource preservation. The Tier 1 Great Redwood Trail segments fall across a range of readiness states from in early scoping and planning to in advanced planning and getting ready for permitting, final design and finally construction and next Our main stories this is KMUD News. The Honeydew Bridge replacement project has brought the structure into the modern transportation age, and Humboldt county supervisors have named it after two historic figures. Daniel Mintz reports The new bridge over
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  Speaker D: the Mattol river in Honeydew is being named after what the county describes as two pioneering ranchers, one a former supervisor in the county's early days and the other the former owner of the Honeydew store. At its June 16 meeting, the board of Supervisors approved the naming of the replacement bridge and reflected on the two men being honored. Both are viewed as pioneers of the county's early transportation infrastructure and commerce, as explained here by Deputy Director of Public Works Hank Seaman.
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  Speaker E: So the first nomination was for George Hindley. He was born in 1846 and died in 1914. George and his wife Margaret moved to the Mattol in 1866 and they established the ranch that became the Hindley ranch in 1872 and George went on to be elected Humboldt County Supervisor five times and he served a total of 17 years and one of his priorities was advocating for for improving the county transportation infrastructure and he was one of the driving forces for the project to create Fern Bridge across the Lower eel River. In 1911 we also received a nomination for Vernon Edward Shinn, born 1920, he died 1967. Vernon was a rancher in the Mattol Valley, lived his life there except for serving in the US Navy during World War II and he was wounded in service. Vernon Edwards Shinn was active in local and state wool growers and cattlemen's associations, the Matule Grange, and also served on the Upper Matul School Board. Vernon Edward Shinn was Owner of the Honeydew store for a while. And that store remains in the Shinn family and is really a community hub.
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  Speaker D: Seaman said the original Honeydew bridge was built in 1920 as a single lane truss bridge with what he described as a very unique camelback truss design. It had historic value and Seaman said it was also very much a visual landmark for the area. But the bridge needed to be replaced because it didn't meet modern safety standards. Built with federal funding, the new bridge is a 386 foot long, two lane structure with shoulders. During a public comment period, Robert Shinn, Vernon Shin's son and the current owner of the Honeydew store, thanked the county for the new bridge and talked about the connections between the past and now.
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  Speaker F: First of all, thanks for the new bridge. It's cleaned things up, made it a little safer, a lot quieter. Don't have to listen to the planks rattling. The Shins and the Hindley have been friends for well over 100 years. We continue that today. And you know, they sold us water rights or we wouldn't have a store there. Probably overcharged us by a dollar, I think. Anyway, just thanks for the board for doing that and considering my dad and Mr. Heinle for this. Yeah, there's not many that contributed that much to the valley. We tried to today and I continue to run the store.
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  Speaker D: Lisa Heinle was at the meeting with her husband Lawrence and other members of the family. She talks about George Hindley's significance to the county.
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  Speaker G: As an early settler in the valley and a founder of our sixth generation. Family ranch supervisor George Hindley was by historical documentation a hard working, honest and dedicated family man and public servant. More specifically, his role as extensive landowner, businessman and recognized leader for both the Mattole Valley and Humboldt County. Family patriarch George Hanley left the gold rush in the Trinity county town of Weaverville and embarked on a journey that would forever change not only the life of he and his family, but also the generations ahead of him. He and his family of 13 homesteaded the family ranch where he raised livestock and tended orchards with the perseverance that only a rancher could know. In 1885, George Heinley would be elected the county supervisor. And then again in 1900, he was reelected and continued his incumbency until his unexpected death on March 14, 1914 at the age of 67. Many believe that George Hindley's greatest accomplishments supervisors was overseeing the construction of Fernbridge in 1911. His obituary states, quote, Mr. Hindley worked hard for the construction of the big concrete bridge over Eel river and after it was built, he was often referred to as the father of the bridge.
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  Speaker D: Supervisor Rex Bone highlighted the importance of the naming and of the bridge itself. He said, I think the big part of this is how many people supported both people and respect both people. And he added, now we've got a great bridge that actually takes us into modern times. In Eureka For KMUD News, this is Daniel Mintz.
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  Speaker B: After already cutting down on its summer bus schedule, the Redwood Coast Transit Authority is considering more significant service cuts. KMUD News reports the Redwood Coast Transit Authority, which operates a bus service linking Eureka and Crescent City along with local routes in Del Norte county, is continuing to face a budget crisis. As previously reported, the Redwood Coast Transit Authority opted to not expand its service as expected for the summ season. However, this has not been enough to fix serious budgetary issues and the Transit Authority is now looking at further and far more significant cuts to its regular services. Here's audio from the Monday, June 22 Redwood Coast Transit Authority meeting Starting off with an explanation of the Transit Authority's current budgetary issues, we talked about at
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  Speaker A: our last meeting that we're facing a tough budget season this year because our operating funds are pretty stagnant and unfortunately our operating costs have been rising rapidly the last few years. So while our operating dollars have risen some, they certainly haven't kept pace with the costs. We deferred our summer expansion, so we didn't do that. That usually starts right after Memorial Day. So that's already, you know, saved the agency some money in the first month that we've been running that. But then we wanted to looking at the budget, that's not going to be enough by itself to make a significant dent in our structural deficit, which is in the range of 2 to $300,000 per year.
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  Speaker B: A variety of proposals were floated at the Redwood Coast Transit Authority meeting, including weekend and holiday service reductions for Crescent City routes that could begin this fall.
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  Speaker A: These are things I think we should consider for in the fall for implementation this fall. Reduced span on our Saturday and holiday service Currently we run Saturdays and holidays from 8 to 5 on the local routes. The Route 20 still has its 6am to 8:30pm span, so that's a different creature. But so this would be reducing the Crescent city locals to 10 to 4, so that would save three daily hours per day and it's 56 approximate days per year with the Saturdays and the holidays combined.
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  Speaker B: More significant cuts to the Redwood Coast Transit Authority's services are also being considered, including cutting down on the Hours of bus services on weekdays.
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  Speaker A: Second option is for weekdays. It would reduce the late afternoon span on routes 1 and 3 in the 5 o' clock hour. So they would end at 5 instead of 6. Right now both those routes do one trip during the 5 o' clock hour. So one does a partial and one does a full. So that would save 3/4 of an hour per day at 249 days a year because it's a weekday, a weekday impact. So that saves a little bit more than the first option. It's like 12,500. Then a third one that's very similar, it goes kind of goes hand in hand with the second one we just talked about would be to reduce the Route 4 trip at 5:30. So the last trip would then end at 5pm and the 4:30 trip would run, but the 5:30 trip would not. That currently seems to average about four riders or so an hour. So it's not a. It's not totally unproductive, but it's lower than earlier in the day and that would save us another half an hour a day or $8,300 per year.
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  Speaker B: The most significant service cut proposal from the June 22 Redwood Coast Transit Authority meeting would result in large scale cuts to bus service between Crescent City and Klamath, making the bus service nearly unusable for bus riders in the Klamath area. The Redwood Coast Transit Authority is also considering cutting its weekend and holiday service entirely.
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  Speaker A: The first one would be we run a short trip from Crescent City to Klamath in the evening at like 6pm and that one produces about five riders or so per trip. And if it's not there, getting home from Crescent City to Klamath is going to be tougher because they'll have to leave earlier in the afternoon. So it would hurt folks that come into Crescent City and that use Redwood Coast Transit to get here from Klamath. So that would save an hour and a quarter per day, 312 days a year because that's a six day a week route. So that's $26,000 range of savings there. But that would, it would make the service harder for folks in Klamath and Klamath and Glen to use because they would have to catch the late morning trip up that gets up here about 1pm and then they'd have to get out about 3. They'd only have a two hour window or so to do their errands in time. So it makes the service harder to use for sure. The next one's a big one. To eliminate all of our Saturday and holiday service. This would include Route 20. So that would be 32 hours a day times 56. So that would be savings over 100,000, 120,530 is what that calculates out to. But that would be a, you know, that's a huge hit. That would really impact folks. It's something we should definitely keep on the table, though, because it's right now Curry Public Transit, who we meet during weekdays up in Smith river for time transfers four times a day, they're not running due to budget problems. They're not running on Saturdays anymore either.
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  Speaker B: As revenues across businesses, government agencies and transit operations have fallen in our region, many services have been impacted. The Redwood Coast Transit Authority faces a stark reality that they may not be able to provide many of their essential bus services going forward at a time of economic uncertainty. No matter which of these recommendations the Redwood Coast Transit Authority decides on, it will negatively impact some riders. Reporting for kmud, I'm April Lewis. One of the nation's oldest cannabis advocacy organizations, Normal says it's considering legal action against Northern California Kaiser, claiming several patients have been denied medications due to their cannabis use, even though state policy says this is against the law. KPFA's Sydney Fishman reports Kaiser patients have
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  Speaker H: reported being denied medication because of positive cannabis tests, which is a violation of state law. Called Assembly Bill 1954, the law was passed in 2022 and prevents discrimination against patients who use cannabis for medicinal reasons. Victor Pinot, a Kaiser patient, is one of those people. Victor struggles with attention deficit hyperactive disorder, or adhd, and has used cannabis for years to help manage symptoms of ADHD and other mental health challenges. Despite AB 1954 stating that doctors must evaluate patients on a case by case basis before determining whether cannabis may interfere with a specific treatment. Victor says that doctors at Kaiser's have told him they are bound by a policy that prevents them from prescribing certain medications when cannabis is found in a
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  Speaker C: patient's blood test personally, these doctors have, you know, their own perspectives on cannabis. They're so clamped down by the Kaiser policies, they can't even exercise their own right to be doctors.
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  Speaker H: In a statement, Kaiser said, quote, treatment decisions are made on a case by case basis based on each patient's clinical needs and overall health. This may include consideration of potential safety risks associated with combining substances, as cannabis and opioids can have additive effects. Our clinicians follow current clinical practices and applicable California law and requirements. More broadly, our approach is designed to balance effective pain management with the known risks associated with long term opioid use, unquote. But according to Ellen Komp, deputy director of the California chapter of Normal, Kaiser has created blanket policies that deny medications if a patient uses cannabis more than a couple times a week. She says these policies are enforced for both opioid and ADHD medications.
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  Speaker C: We continue to get complaints again, almost all of them about Kaiser doctors telling patients, no, I can't prescribe this for you because you're using cannabis.
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  Speaker H: In a second statement, Kaiser also said, quote, kaiser Permanente's approach to ADHD care is grounded in patient safety and and individualized clinical judgment. Kaiser Permanente policies that impact the prescription of controlled medications, including stimulants, call for clinicians to base their decisions on each patient's medical history, symptoms and overall health, including substance use. Comp also says that while California Normal successfully passed this antidiscrimination law, ensuring that it is implemented is a much more, more difficult task.
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  Speaker C: We've reached out to Kaiser. We've tried to tell them, you know, this is the law. You need to be following it. I send patients in with copies of the law and doctors say, you know, their hands are tied. Implementing a law takes a lot more work. You know, we don't just pass laws, we work to implement them. And this has been a very long process to try to get this one implemented.
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  Speaker H: Cal Normal says they are considering legal action against Kaiser. But first, the organization is seeking more reports from patients who say they have been denied medication due to cannabis use. Patients who wish to share their experiences can contact the organization@ellenanormal.org For KPFA news, I'm Sydney Fishman.
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  Speaker B: That's all for our news broadcasts. Thanks for listening. Thanks to our rotation of broadcast engineers, Dennis Marr, Katie Phillips, Bianna Federico, Michael McCaskill, Larry Lashley, and Javier Rodriguez. Also, thanks to our reporter for this broadcast, Daniel Mintz. KMOD News is now on streaming platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can download our stories and newscasts for offline listening. You can also follow us on social mediamudnew News, including Facebook and Instagram. Do you have issues important to you that deserve more attention? Are there 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 Incorporated is funded by Press Forward, the national movement to strengthen communities by reinvigorating local news. Learn more at PressForward News News. Railway Community Radio acknowledges that its transmitter sites are located in the unceded territory of the Sinkion, Wailock, Wyatt, Wilcott and Kato people. We honor ancestors past, present and emerging and acknowledge the ongoing cultural, spiritual and physical connection that these tribes have to the region. I'm April Lewis. Stay tuned.