Humboldt County Residents gathered at the Bayside Grange in Bayside on Saturday to discuss a variety of topics ranging from medical marijuana to the impact of marijuana legalization.

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A HIKING TRAIL NEAR A HOSPITAL AND SCHOOL IS CLOSED AFTER TWO UNITED INDIAN HEALTH CARE WORKERS SPOTTED A MOUNTAIN LION. NEWS CHANNEL THREE’S MATT MENDES HAS THE STORY.

Eureka voters got their first chance to evaluate candidates for 4th District Supervisor side-by-side Monday night in a debate hosted by the League of Women Voters and the Healthy Humboldt Coalition. Focus centered mostly on the county General Plan Update.

A few things stand out:

Jeff Leonard likes to hear himself talk.  He made a point to tell the moderator to count on him always having a 30 second rebuttal.  Did he always use one?  No. But he got the chance to talk about how he can always burn up the clock with more blah blah blah.

Leonard touted his rhetoric about “putting Eureka on the map” — a non-issue that was settled in 1853 when Eureka won the spot as Humbolt County seat.  Incumbent Bonnie Neely further disposed of Jeff’s malarkey by pointing out that Eureka is represented by no less than three supervisors on the board — Mark Lovelace represents Harrison up to Harris on the East side, Jimmy Smith represents Cutten, and Bonnie represents Eureka proper.

All three said they support trails, though Virginia Bass recycled recent campaign line about keeping an open mind about a train she doesn’t believe will blow through Eureka any time soon.

Bass gave a nod to her developer base when she said she opposed Inclusionary Zoning, which was adopted by Supervisors last year.  She said the county needs to be “creative” when working with developers.  Leonard also opposes IZ, which Neely supported.

Both Leonard and Bass jumped at the chance to blame Bonnie for the slow progress of the General Plan Update. Yet somehow they’ve both missed numerous opportunities to show up to a county Planning Commission meeting and crack the whip and wave a magic wand.  Neely said the process has been slowed by the inclusion of new elements in the plan and public involvement, but said policies will be adopted this year.

When it comes to legalization of marijuana, Leonard is “not worried about it.”  Bass doesn’t want Humboldt to market the prized herb for tourism, and Neely suggested studies to determine how the county will be impacted.

Access Humboldt will upload the whole debate soon.  This post will be updated with a link.

Opponents of the Marine Life Protection Act have a new blog and a petition that needs to be wrapped up by April 19.

The purpose of the website is to provide “information and conversation space for people who want to prevent the MLPA Initiative from closing all recreational and subsistence fishing, abalone diving, and mussel and seaweed harvest around the mouth of the Mattole and Punta Gorda.”

The petition can be found at these locations:

Petrolia Store
Honeydew Store
The Yellow Rose, Petrolia
Valley Grocery, Ferndale
Valley Lumber, Ferndale
Nielsen Co., Ferndale
R&S Livestock, Ferndale
The Palace, Ferndale
The VI, Ferndale
Grundman’s, Rio Dell
Murrish Market, Hydesville
Shamus T-Bones, Carlotta
Sport & Cycle, Fortuna
Napa Auto, Fortuna
Wildwood Saw Shop, Fortuna
Humboldt Creamery, Fernbridge
Bucksport, Eureka
Pro-Sport Center, Eureka
Humboldt Trade & Pawn, Eureka
Marcelli’s Shootery, Eureka
Mad River Outfitters, Arcata
Ace Hardware, Sunny Brae

Elvia Flores, a freshman at Live Oak High School, was last seen being dropped off at school Monday.

A 14-year-old Sutter County girl was back home with her mother Wednesday night after she was found in Gridley earlier in the day.

Elvia Flores was the subject of an Amber Alert and a widespread search in Sutter County after it was reported that she had been kidnapped Monday from Live Oak High School.

But based on interviews with Flores on Wednesday afternoon, “we don’t feel there was any type of abduction,” said Sutter County sheriff’s Sgt. Glen Mercer.

Sheriff’s officials reported that they received a call from the Gridley Police Department about 2 p.m. Wednesday advising them that a Gridley police officer had spotted Flores walking down an alley in the area of Oak Street and had taken her into custody.

Mercer said Flores and a girl who reported that she and Flores were kidnapped from Live Oak High School on Monday, apparently left the area of their own accord. He said it appears Flores left with the intention of visiting someone.

Flores was dropped off at the high school Monday by her mother. The other girl said that she and Flores had been abducted outside the high school by four or five men.

The girlfriend told deputies about the alleged abduction after the California Highway Patrol found her at a gas station in Orland.

Mercer said sheriff’s investigators are still deciding whether anyone will be charged with a crime.

The real meat of the election season is upon us — it’s debate time.

Candidates for Humboldt County District Attorney are sure to offer fireworks with four candidates running for the job held by Paul Gallegos since 2003.

The first debate will be held Thursday, April 15th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Senior Room of the Arcata Community Center and will air live on Channel 12. The debate will be hosted by the Redwood ACLU and moderated by ACLU chairman Greg Allen.

The second debate starts at 6pm on Friday, April 16 at the Humboldt Area Foundation. Focus will be on animal cruelty cases. More info at the Humboldt Vegetarian Society.

Gallegos, according to his Facebook page, is the “best criminal prosecutor we’ve had in Humboldt County.”  His three challengers think otherwise. Tune in to see who makes the case.  You be the judge.

It’s been said that Southern Humboldt radio station KMUD is the only station in the country to report the location of cops en route to a bust.

During CAMP season, when the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting is in full swing, and caravans of unmarked vehicles are seen heading up a windy SoHum road, for example, KMUD broadcasts the sighting.  The information is usually relayed to the station by the Civil Liberties Monitoring Project.

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman says such announcements put officers at risk, particularly when dealing with drug cartels growing weed in the timberlands and parks.

None of this is new — KMUD and CLMP have been reporting where large caravans of cops are for years.  But now that all things Humboldt marijuana are in the spotlight many aspects of the local culture are getting their 15 minutes.

Here’s the story from the San Francisco Chronicle, with a link to a recent California Report broadcast on the not-so-new news.

A Gasquet man will have the chance to receive the cash value of his
marijuana plants that were destroyed by authorities after a search
warrant was served three years ago on a Crescent City home he owned.