Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:07] 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 funding behind our local Cannabis Enforcement by Air, a car crash in Redway, positive news on the MP18 fire, a home fire in Phillipsville, and changes to conduct policy for the Humboldt Supervisors.
But first, some local alerts and updates. This is KMUD News.
Starting off in Benbow, There was a small wildfire today in the Benbow area on the 200 block of Blue Rock Road. First reported around 2:40pm the fire grew to 5 acres and localized evacuations were requested. However, by 4:09pm Forward, progress of the fire had been stopped and thanks to efforts from local firefighters and Cal Fire, a huge thank you to all involved. It is unconfirmed at this time if a structure was lost in the flames From Humboldt county the Humboldt County Department of Public Works will be conducting a culvert replacement on Cannibal Island Road at the intersection of John Held Road in lolita on Tuesday, August 25th. Work will take place from 7am to 5pm Travelers are to expect 15 minute delays and are asked to drive slowly. Follow all traffic control devices and road signs in the project area. If you have any concerns or questions regarding this project, please call 707-445-7421.
Next from the Eureka Police Department on August 19th at approximately 2:40pm an officer with the Eureka Police Department arrested a 42 year old Eureka resident, Mark Coppola, following an investigation into the suspected sale of controlled substances from a vehicle parked at a local McDonald's. The officer was conducting proactive patrol when he observed a subject seated in the driver's seat of a vehicle under circumstances that indicated the subject may have been engaged in the sale of controlled substances from the vehicle. The officer conducted a vehicle investigation and observed drug paraphernalia in plain view. The driver was removed from the vehicle and detained while officers continued their investigation.
Officers then conducted a search of the vehicle.
During the search they located a large quantity of suspected fentanyl packaged for sale in approximately 25 to 30 individually packaged baggies.
Officers also located a functioning digital scale, Pan O records and additional drug paraphernalia consistent with the suspected possession and distribution of controlled substances.
The suspect was arrested and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges including possession for sale, transportation or distribution and a total of 26.33 grams of fentanyl was seized.
And up next our main stories. This is KMUD News.
A car went down a ravine this Morning near Redway. KMUD News reports at around 9:30 this morning, Thursday, August 20th, a car on Redwood Drive north of Redway plummeted into a ravine and rolled over. Traffic was briefly stopped in the area and while the vehicle was totaled, no serious injuries were reported.
Here's Redway Fire Chief Seth Ayers with a summary at the scene of the accident.
[00:03:58] Speaker C: We were dispatched today for a traffic accident on Redwood Drive. It was reported that a vehicle was off the roadway with one patient self extracted. We showed up on scene myself. 5800 our unit 5846 also engine cal fire 1251.
We did patient assessment. Garberville one came in, assessed the patient. They transported themselves to Garberville Phelps Hospital and right now we're doing traffic control to recover. Get the vehicle off the roadway and we'll be released here shortly.
[00:04:27] Speaker B: KMUD News also spoke with the driver Dylan, who is a Redway resident and described how the crash initially occurred on scene.
Dylan was not the patient taken to the Garberville hospital.
[00:04:39] Speaker C: So I was coming down the bluff hill here and I was changing my song from Spotify and as I looked up from my phone there was an animal in the road. So I swerved to the opposite side and my back end caught and it just threw me up over the other edge so it just sent me off the cliff here.
[00:04:56] Speaker B: According to the Canadian Wildlife Road Sharing Resource center, quote drivers hitting other vehicles losing control of their own vehicle when they swerve to avoid collisions with animals cause more collisions then collisions with wildlife. Instead if a large animal is on the road and directly in the path of the driver, the best course of action is to drive straight and firmly apply the brakes and attempt to graze the animal.
This is a good reminder to pay attention on our local roads. Avoid looking at your phone and other devices when driving.
Also do not swerve when an animal is in the middle of the roadway.
California law only allows hands free phone usage while driving and you are not allowed to hold your phone to change music according to California vehicle code.
Reporting for kmud, I'm April Lewis.
We have positive news to report on the MP18 fire camo news reports.
We have very positive news relating to the Milepost 18 fire in Hoopa Valley which is now 7,445 acres but with 60% containment. We spoke with MP18 Public Information Officer Jill Peters to learn more.
[00:06:19] Speaker D: We are at 60% containment right now.
The fire is total, has a total acreage of 7,292.
We have the whole western perimeter and south perimeter are black.
And that black is also wrapping around on the northwestern perimeter.
Crews are slowly burning out the pocket on the southeastern corner and really just wrapping things up.
Getting a lot of black around the whole fire, which is all really great news.
[00:06:58] Speaker B: What are you referring to when you say black?
[00:07:03] Speaker D: Yeah, so like the entire perimeter of the fire, you know, the containment lines around the edge can either on a map be black or red and black, meaning that firefighters have gone through and checked for hot spots and have control of the fire.
And so yeah, we call that black.
[00:07:28] Speaker B: And then any information you might have on total number of folks continuing to work on this as things get wrapped up and possibly any changes in weather that might impact the incident.
[00:07:40] Speaker D: Yeah, the total personnel right now is at 1,837.
And today we've been having high temperatures and today is the day where temperatures are going to start going down. And on Friday we're going to have a cooler system coming in with some cloud potential and possibly some moisture.
[00:08:06] Speaker B: Great news for all involved and we look forward to 100% containment for the milepost 18 fire in Hoopa Valley.
A huge thank you to all personnel and firefighters involved with the successful multi agency response. Reporting for kmud, I'm April Lewis.
An elderly resident was pulled from his Phillipsville home during an active fire situation.
[00:08:37] Speaker E: KMUD news reports early Thursday evening, Phillipsville resident Chris Lefaber was pulled from his burning home by David Glasgow, a man who, according to eyewitness Andrew Van Noort, regularly assists him. According to reporting by redheaded black belt firefighters were dispatched to the scene at approximately 5:46pm after a call reported a structure fire with possible entrapment in the first block of Phil Spill.
Van Noort, who was at the Sawblade building directly across Highway 101 from where the fire occurred, had a clear view of the scene as it all went down.
[00:09:14] Speaker F: I was sitting in front of the old saw blade across the street from the from the fire and I noticed smoke. I heard yelling friend. I ran across the street and the house was pretty much almost fully engulfed at that point. There was fire inside the building that was coming out the front door.
The fellow who lives there had been pulled out of the building by the fellow who helps try and care take for him.
[00:09:45] Speaker E: According to Van Noort, the landlord failed to properly maintain the residence which was a fire trap waiting to happen.
[00:09:52] Speaker F: David, the fellow that was on the property dragged him out of the building and when I got there I ran over and dragged him farther away from the building while because it was the fire was like catching the side of my head on fire pretty much as I was pulling in.
[00:10:10] Speaker E: Van Nort helped on site before returning home to call 91 1. After placing a second call, he went back to the scene where he saw the fire continue to progress rapidly.
[00:10:20] Speaker F: The tree in front of the house was catching on fire. The fire had blown out two of the windows and it was like spreading to the yard.
And yeah, that was right around the time that the power line got melted and dropped to the ground and started another fire.
[00:10:36] Speaker E: Shortly after, first responders from Phillipsville Fire Station arrived, followed by Cal Fire, other local fire agencies, EMTs and PGE Lefaber, a disabled veteran, sustained no injuries according to Van Noort, though he was transported by ground to a nearby hospital.
Though Van Noort reported that the fire seemed to come from within the home, no specific source has been determined at this time. Reporting for Cayma, this is Bridget Karstensen.
[00:11:11] Speaker B: There were some twists and turns as Humboldt County's Board of Supervisors made changes to its Code of Conduct policy.
[00:11:17] Speaker G: Daniel Mintz reports Spurred by recent conduct probes of two Humboldt county supervisors, changes to the way complaints are reviewed have been made.
The most significant of the changes approved at the Aug. 18 Board of Supervisors meeting is the referral of conduct complaints to external legal counsel rather than to an in house committee.
Qualms about how conduct related complaints against supervisors are investigated initially arose last year when a probe into Supervisor Michelle Bushnell's conduct found she had been the aggressor in conflicts with county staff members.
Bushnell objected to the way the investigation was handled and hired well known local attorney Alison Jackson to contest it.
Bushnell was censured by the board with Jackson arguing in a letter that due process was lacking.
Last March, Bushnell was appointed to an ad hoc committee with Supervisor Steve Madrone to review the code of conduct processes and make recommendations for changes.
Approval of them hit an immediate bend with this announcement by County Administrative Officer Alicia Hayes and a response from Bushnell.
[00:12:36] Speaker H: Supervisor Madrona is sick today, but he did share with me yesterday that upon further consideration he is withdrawing his support for the policy in the current form. As a member of the ad hoc who helped to develop this, but he did still feel it was appropriate for the item to move forward and for your board to provide feedback on the content as is presented today.
Thank you.
So I would like some feedback from the board, Supervisor Madrone and myself, along with outside counsel and Cao worked really hard and diligent on this item and we concluded last Tuesday after our board meeting And Supervisor Madrone was very satisfied, according to his own statement. So this statement that he has made today is a bit of a shock to me.
[00:13:26] Speaker G: Bushnell asked if the board wanted to bump the approvals to next week's meeting.
Supervisor Rex Bone, who was found to have acted in, quote, a disrespectful and aggressive manner toward county employees in an online meeting last year, had some skepticism, saying, I sometimes think this is used as a weapon rather than a learning tool. Bushnell said the changes form a very straightforward policy and supervisors decided to forge on.
The shift to outside counsel avoids suspicion of in house bias. But Supervisor Natalie Arroyo said she's concerned about its cost and, and gave a seemingly far fetched example of a frivolous complaint.
[00:14:09] Speaker A: I don't know if there would be a trigger where they don't contact outside counsel. Like if something doesn't seem within the realm of reason.
And that's a very difficult, like, if someone was like, I was, you know, abducted in a UFO by Supervisor Wilson and I would like to make a complaint about that, that's the type of thing that I would like them to have the discretion to do. Say, we're not going to be paying outside counsel to investigate that. But that's an obviously extreme example. But what if it's more nuanced than that?
[00:14:44] Speaker G: Hayes suggested that outside legal work would be tailored to credibility levels to, quote, limit the cost for the county and to move the process along.
Arroyo's UFO example is actually somewhat based on complaints that have been made.
She said, right now there's someone saying, I'm actively killing kids. I'm obviously not actively killing children. This kind of thing happens all the time.
The complaint against Bone had been filed by Madrone, and Hayes further explained the rationale for hiring outside counsel. In the context of such instances.
[00:15:21] Speaker H: The outside counsel is going to be very reasonable, I think, in making their assertions of whether or not something should move forward or not move forward and whether it should be formal or informal. I can say in my experience, while I feel comfortable making some judgment calls there, I feel that I and the human resources director are very fair in our evaluation process.
That said, I can also say nine times out of 10, you all don't necessarily like the process as it's unfolding.
And so it does put us in a sticky situation. And there, you know, I think we all know there's been times where it's one board member complaining against another, which, in the old words of Phil Smith Haynes, never put yourself between two elected officials. So that can get particularly sticky for us as well.
[00:16:14] Speaker G: Bone had said he doesn't, quote, think we should be targets up here because we're servants of the community.
But as a vote neared, he signaled agreement, saying, we'll see what happens. I'm going to vote for it just so we can move on.
The board minus Madrone unanimously voted to approve the amended policy in Eureka. For KMUD News, this is Daniel Mintz.
[00:16:41] Speaker B: Aerial cannabis enforcement was back in the news this week, but we found more on the funding behind some of the operations. KMUD news reports Helicopters conducting cannabis enforcement operations over southern Humboldt were back in the news this week, albeit with a different helicopter and funding sources.
Many know the Northern California Coalition to safeguard communities, aka the NCCSC, and their helicopter with tail number H487HB, whose operations are funded in great part by by the Howard Buffett Foundation.
As we reported yesterday, recent cannabis enforcement is being conducted with National Guard helicopters, including the call signs Jolly 96 and G72233.
The callsign Jolly 96 helicopter is the Sikorsky HH60 Pavehawk that was over many growing areas of Humboldt county on Monday and Tuesday, including low passes over the Redway area.
We asked Humboldt Sheriff William Honsl about the helicopter activity with National Guard aircraft and he responded today, Thursday, August 20th via email, the Sheriff stated, quote, depending on availability and funding, we utilize the Butte County Sheriff's helicopter funded through NCCSC or Sheriff's Office resources, private helicopter services or California Military Department aircraft funded through mutual aid.
All aircraft fly according to the established flight rules, end quote.
The Sheriff also went on to make overall points about his department's cannabis enforcement operations, stating, quote, illegal cultivators also place our local legally compliant cannabis businesses as at a significant disadvantage.
Those licensed operators have invested substantial time and money to comply with state and local regulations, pay taxes and fees, meet environmental requirements and operate within the law.
They should not have to compete with individuals who deliberately avoid these obligations.
We will continue to use lawful and effective resources, including aviation assets, to protect our community, our environment and legitimate local businesses.
We make no apology for aggressively addressing illegal marijuana cultivation in Humboldt county, end quote Hansel's overall viewpoints on cannabis enforcement are well known, but it is interesting that he is so adamant on expressing viewpoints on the current California cannabis marketplace, especially viewpoints that are on the economics of the cannabis marketplace.
Last week, Cayman News obtained redacted documents through an information request detailing overall Northern California Coalition to Safeguard Communities funding.
Honsel's role as the organization's president in that funding and line items specific to Humboldt County. In a letter dated August 15th of 2025, the Howard Buffett foundation congratulated William Honsl and the NCCSC on funding being awarded.
The letter states in part, the Howard G. Buffett foundation will provide the Northern California Coalition to Safeguard Communities with a wire transfer in the amount of $2,902,671.23.
This funding is restricted for the approved year four project to support multidisciplinary efforts to address human trafficking and environmental damage associated with transnational criminal organizations described in the project proposal and budget submitted to the Howard Buffett Foundation.
The foundation further approves the reallocation of $428,753.77 in unexpended funds from year three for the NCCSC Acquitas and Waymakers. The wire transfer and reallocation of Year three unexpended funds brings the total amount of approved funding to $3,331,425.
It is important to note that the wire transfer mentioned is to the NCCSC as a whole and its president, William Honsl, and not funding solely for operations in Humboldt County.
Funding directly to the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department for the past fiscal year was detailed in a letter from the NCCSC to the Humboldt County Sheriff's office dated August 1st of 2025.
The letter shows $531,611 of approved funding for a grant cycle running from August 1st of 2025 to July 31st of 2026.
Line items detailed in the letter seem fairly straightforward for a law enforcement grant with items like paying for a program coordinator, evidence technician, travel expenses, and Cellebrite, which is a forensic software.
More interesting is the funding detailed in interim and final annual NCCSC reports we received for 2025 and part of 2026.
Budget summaries provided in the documents are revealing but also contradictory in some cases.
In the March 2025 interim report, contracted services account for over $1.2 million of total spending, while in the September 2025 final reports that total appears to have shifted greatly.
In the detailed budget Summary section of the 2025 Final Report it shows expenses for consultants, which was not the case for the interim report.
However, the chart is not labeled, but under consultants it shows a potential final total of $1,031,282.64 and a total of $143,322 for contracted services, a large discrepancy in terms of how accounting was listed in both reports.
We wanted to know more about the services and consultants contracted by the NCCSC along with financial accounting and immediately emailed the organization questions. When we received the 2025 and 2026 reports, Summer Hanson, public information officer for the NCCSC, quickly replied to our questions stating received, I will get back to you as soon as I can. End quote. However, despite multiple follow up attempts over eight days, KMUD News could not get an answer from the NCCSC on funding for consultants and contracted services.
We hope to eventually get a reply.
The NCCSC did respond this week to questions about cannabis enforcement with National Guard helicopters by the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department and stated no involvement with funding those operations.
The NCCSC report documents have large amounts of redaction, but there were a few interesting sections that were still visible.
The Northern California Coalition to Safeguard Communities claims much of their involvement in cannabis enforcement is related to concerns about human trafficking. The March 2026 NCCSC interim report reads in part, over the past six months, several unanticipated challenges have emerged that have influenced outreach, engagement and service delivery. EFF during this reporting period, potential labor trafficking victims have declined resources and assistance despite openly acknowledging having no drinkable water, limited food, no transportation and no cell service.
This situation highlights the complexity of victim identification and the powerful role of fear, coercion, dependency and trauma bonding.
We've asked the NCCSC multiple times to offer any stories or criminal charges related to human trafficking that was during operations they support, but haven't been given any examples in return.
Cannabis enforcement in Humboldt county remains a complicated web and it is interesting that the county sheriff is so directly involved in helping fund millions of dollars in cannabis enforcement efforts across multiple counties in our region.
Many government agencies at all levels, including the military, along with private funding sources, are directly involved in local cannabis enforcement activity.
Sheriff Honsl's wide involvement in cannabis enforcement, from being county sheriff to president of the nccsc to even lobbying on cannabis issues for other states, is unique.
It is also not fully understood why the current approach to cannabis enforcement by air is considered essential despite aggravating many residents and what safety benefits helicopter enforcement has brought to Humboldt County.
Reporting for kmud, I'm April Lewis.
That's all for our news broadcast. 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 and our Assistant Director Bridget Carstensen.
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I'm April Lewis. Stay tuned.
[00:27:36] Speaker A: In.
