Victims:
George Giguere.
Leon Taylor and his wife Beatrice Taylor
Reetpaul Singh Rana
Rosemarie Boyd
Garrett Benson
According to records kept by the Humboldt County Coroner's Office, since 1980, there has been an average of 8.5 homicides per year in the county. That rate has fluctuated over the decades, but does not seem to indicate any particular trend.
The lowest number of homicides in Humboldt County in 28 years is four. That has occurred twice, once in 1998 and again in 2005.
Former county Coroner Frank Jager, newly elected Eureka city councilman, said that ultimately the homicide rate shows little change over the last 28 years.
”It's pretty steady,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “It seems to spike every few years.”
The highest number of homicides happened in 1982, when 22 people were killed at the hands of others.
Humboldt County has a population of 125,518 people, according to the 2000 U.S. census. Jager said given the number of people living in the county, the homicide rate seems high.
Marin County, located in the North San Francisco Bay Area, has an estimated population of 247,289, and the third highest mean personal income in the country. According to California Department of Justice information, in Marin County, between the years of 1997 and 2006, there was an average 2.5 homicides every year.
In neighboring Mendocino County, which in 2000 maintained a population of 86,265, there was an annual average of 5.8 homicides over the same 10-year period.
There are some risks to comparing those different numbers. Although the crimes are reported similarly to the DOJ, the time periods and populations are not the same. Additionally, Eureka Police Chief Garr Nielsen said problems arise when comparing averages of low numbers -- a spike one year can skew the entire average.
Summary: For some time now, a group of concerned citizens in Southern Humboldt have been meeting to help educate and
bring awareness to County officials and members of the public concerning illegal marijuana grows and the
devastating impacts these grows have on the environment; specifically, diesel spills/leaks into drinking water and
streams, as well as potential hazards from wildfires.
Robert Sutherland, Jessie Hill and David Booth, representing the “Concerned Citizens” Group will address the
Board of Supervisors giving background information on the groups activities and offering possible solutions for
consideration such as development of an informational brochure; a fuel tank registration program; and support for
a carbon tax on excessive fuel consumption.
Imagine a grow "...in which plants are bathed in, and thrive under, natural sunlight conditions..."
Better yet "Climate change and mass extinction make growing (pot) indoors, whether on the grid or with a diesel generator, indefensible/ Electricity from fossil fuels (natural gas -LNG, hydro-dams, and coal), or nukes is inefficient, produces greenhouse gases, and its overuse justifies more fuel consumption..."
He says we must grow outdoor pot "...as if our lives depended on it."
Dec. 16, 2008: NASA's five THEMIS spacecraft have discovered a breach in Earth's magnetic field ten times larger than anything previously thought to exist. Solar wind can flow in through the opening to "load up" the magnetosphere for powerful geomagnetic storms. But the breach itself is not the biggest surprise. Researchers are even more amazed at the strange and unexpected way it forms, overturning long-held ideas of space physics....
...The years ahead could be especially lively. Raeder explains: "We're entering Solar Cycle 24. For reasons not fully understood, CMEs in even-numbered solar cycles (like 24) tend to hit Earth with a leading edge that is magnetized north. Such a CME should open a breach and load the magnetosphere with plasma just before the storm gets underway. It's the perfect sequence for a really big event."
Sibeck agrees. "This could result in stronger geomagnetic storms than we have seen in many years."...
Measure J, passed in November with 57 percent of the vote. It prohibits military recruiting of minors within city limits.
Tuesday, City Attorney Sheryl Schaffner announced that the city had received a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice announcing its intent to file a lawsuit challenging the measure.
Arcata's version of the act, Measure F, also garnered a letter of pending legal action from the feds, but Mayor Mark Wheetley said the council has yet to decide whether to defend the act because City Attorney Nancy Diamond is currently out of town.
Within days of receiving the notice of pending legal action, the Eureka City Council opted to defend Measure J, but not at any cost. In fact, Schaffner said the council stipulated that the Schaffner's office will have to fight the case with no additional city resources.
”The city has no legal obligation to defend it, but the council feels an ethical obligation to put up a defense within their abilities out of respect for the 57 percent of the voters in the city that voted for it,” Schaffner said, adding that the case is now likely to dominate her time. “It means other things don't get done, and the council understands that the community will have to understand that too. That's the nature of intense litigation -- you just have to drop whatever else you're doing.”
11/09/2008 - A Merced man was seriously wounded after he was shot outside The Shanty in Eureka late Friday night, and four men were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder shortly afterward....☛ TS Alleged Mongols shooters charged for gang crime
11/11/2008 - A man who was gunned down in the street outside an Old Town bar Friday night had recently been acquitted of a 1986 murder of two young girls in Atwater.☛ TS Four arrests follow shooting outside bar
12/18/2008 B.O. - Members of the Mongols biker gang implicated in the shooting of a suspected Hells Angel in early November have all accepted plea agreements offered by the Humboldt County district attorney.
REDDING, Calif.—The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging a Northern California school district's drug testing policy.ACLU sues Calif. school district over drug testing
The ACLU filed a lawsuit that contends Shasta Union High School District's policy violates the state Constitution.
It's forcing students involved in athletics, choir, band, drama and other extracurricular activities to take drug tests. It's an expansion of a policy that has applied to student athletes since 1999.
ACLU attorney Michael Risher says it's unnecessary and that random drug testing without any suspicious behavior violates students' privacy.
The group filed the suit Dec. 5 in Shasta County Superior Court.
Small groups of students have been tested once a month since the policy started in August.
Superintendent Jim Cloney says the policy complies with state law.
Humboldt County Sheriff's Office detectives, with assistance from a multi-agency task force, arrested a man in Shasta County on Thursday night in relation to the Dec. 3 killing of Garrett Benson.
A second man has been arrested today in connection to the murder of 27-year-old Garrett Ryan Benson in his Cutten home.
The Humboldt County Sheriff's Office reported that at 1:45 p.m., detectives arrested Jason Leon Belles, 31, at his home in Redding. Officials said Belles been booked into the Shasta County Jail on charges that include murder, robbery of an inhabited dwelling and conspiracy....
...The Sheriff's Office has confirmed the Cutten robbery was drug related. According to Sheriff's Office information there was a “significant” amount of marijuana growing in the house as well as a large amount of processed marijuana.
Sheriff's Office investigators remain in the Redding area to complete the investigation, the agency reported.
Investigators are asking the public to contact authorities if they recall seeing either Watson or Belles in the Eureka area on Dec. 2nd or 3rd.
Watson has several tattoos on his wrists and hands. A distinctive tattoo on his neck features a 1950s style vintage microphone. He is believed to have been driving a new black Chevrolet pickup truck....
Photo source rapidcityjournal.com
A 27-year-old man who was shot several times inside his Cutten home by an unknown assailant Wednesday night, died from his wounds at a Eureka hospital hours after the incident.
Investigators continue to seek the gunman, who reportedly forced his way into the home of Garrett Ryan Benson on the 5800 block of Walnut Drive shortly after 9 p.m. Wednesday, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office reported....
...According to Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Brenda Godsey, upon entering the residence, investigators found “a large amount of marijuana.” However, Godsey declined to say whether the marijuana was being cultivated, or how much was found.
”We're so early in the investigation that we're not necessarily connecting (the marijuana) as a motive,” she said.
According to Godsey, Sheriff's Office detectives are working with members of the Drug Enforcement Unit and the Department of Justice crime lab in the investigation.
Those investigators remained at the scene, collecting evidence throughout the day Thursday....
A home invasion in Cutten Wednesday night left a 27-year-old man dead and a suspect on the run.
Sheriff Deputies responded to reports of gunshots in the 5800 block of Walnut Drive shortly after 9 p.m. Wednesday, and found the victim with a gunshot wound, according to a department press release. Emergency medical personnel were immediately called and transported the victim to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead at 11:40 p.m., according to the release.
The investigation later revealed that the victim and his girlfriend had been in their residence when they heard a knock on the door around 9 p.m. According to the release, an unknown white male in his 20s, wearing a black sweatshirt and black stocking cap, entered the residence armed with a handgun.
When the suspect attempted to restrain the 27-year-old male, a struggle ensued, eventually resulting in several shots being fired, at least one of which struck the victim. The suspect then fled on foot, according to the release.
The victim's identity is being withheld pending further investigation and the notification of his next of kin.
The suspect is described as a white male adult in his early to mid 20s, who stands about 5 feet 7 inches tall, with a thin build. He is said to be armed with a small silver or gray handgun, according to the release.
Sheriff's Office investigators and evidence technicians, along with members of the Drug Enforcement Unit and the Department of Justice Crime Lab, spent Wednesday night processing the crime scene.
Anyone with information regarding this home invasion homicide is asked to call the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office at 445-7251 and ask for Detective Franco or Sergeant Hanson.
My thoughts and prayers are with the Quigley family and all others that are being victimized because we either can not or will not do something to change the injustice in this community.
Another shining example of the incompetence of our criminal justice system. Another example of the "get out of jail free" cards issued to criminals by a DA who doesn't care about anything except for lying to the public and cashing his pay checks of what is it 13 or 14 THOUSAND DOLLARS A MONTH for doing nothing except for letting dangerous guys out of jail.
