Episode Transcript
[00:00:15] Good evening and welcome to the local news. Today is Friday, November 21st. I'm Gabriel Zucker reporting for KMUD. In tonight's news, protesters gather outside of Eureka Courthouse against US Involvement in Venezuela. Eureka. Eureka recognizes food need and takes action on it. And Ray Hamill with Sports Report.
[00:00:34] Stay tuned. Those stories and more. Coming up.
[00:00:42] Redwood Community Radio acknowledges that its transmitter sites are located on the unceded territory of the Sinkhayon, Wailaki, Wiat, Wilkot and Kato people. We honor ancestors past, present, present and emerging, and acknowledge the ongoing cultural, spiritual and physical connection that these tribes have to this region.
[00:01:04] Yesterday, the Humboldt Anti War Committee held a protest outside of the Eureka courthouse against the Trump administration's bombing of boats suspected of being drug smugglers and military buildup outside of Venezuela. Nat Cardos reports.
[00:01:17] Yesterday, November 21, a protest was held outside of the Eureka courthouse organized by the Humble Anti War Committee to protest United States involvement with Venezuela.
[00:01:26] Since early September, the US Military has killed dozens of people in strikes targeting small vessels in waters off of South America. The Trump administration stated that the deadly attacks are combating drug smuggling and has since prompted questions from lawmakers around the legality of using lethal force and what actual supporting evidence the Pentagon has confirming that the individuals on the boats are connected to drug trafficking. The US Also has been building military presence in the Caribbean Sea, specifically off of Venezuela this summer, stating it was needed to counter drug trade. Following a long history of protesting US Involvement in war, citizens of Humboldt county came out to make their voices heard about the issue. Cayman News spoke to protester Jarrett Whitlow about what brought him out. Specifically, it's not surprising. If you look at our history in this hemisphere, it's been go back to James Monroe where he said, this is our neighborhood. Europe can't interfere. Part he left out was because that's our job. We've been going all over the Caribbean, all over South America, blowing up what we want for the last 90 years. Even before World War II, FDR rolled up in Haiti and said, oh yeah, we're gonna roll this whole place over. Look at the banana republics. It's our little capitalist playground. It's been for a long time. And it's no coincidence that we're gearing up for another war to take more resources from somebody else. As soon as all of this domestic turmoil is going on, they have to distract you out there any way they can. And if they can do it by accruing more capital, more raw resources, they are bound by economic determinism to go out there and Take more markets by force if they can.
[00:02:52] Protesters seem frustrated with these actions abroad, while domestically, US Citizens have been struggling to pay bills, afford groceries, and afford health care. The One Big Beautiful Bill act, which was signed into law by Trump earlier this year on July 4, included cuts to Medicaid of almost $1 trillion over the next 10 years, which, according to the Congressional Budget Office estimates, could mean that 11.8 million Americans could lose their health insurance once it takes effect.
[00:03:16] Further, groceries have been steadily increasing in price. For example, the price of ground beef has risen by 51% since February of 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Kmart News spoke to Rick Toledo, one of the organizers of the protests, with the Humble Anti War Committee, for more about this frustration.
[00:03:32] Yeah, I mean, right now, you know, one of the big things is the government shutdown, SNAP benefits being threatened. I mean, really thankful that that lawsuit was able to get something to people. But that's not enough. It already wasn't enough. It and now you're taking away even more. We have less than ever. You know, people need health care, they need education. People need security in their food and their housing, and all of those things are threatened. And things are getting so much worse. The economy is declining, and now they want to start a war for oil in the midst of all of this, while billionaires are just counting the money, while very few have all of this wealth, we see the majority of people suffering and know the majority of people don't want war. We don't want that. We want to be taken care of. We want to have good lives. And yeah, I, I just think that it's a huge problem. One of the groups at the protests were the Humble chapter of the Raging Grannies. The Raging Grannies are an activist organization that was founded in 1987 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The Humble chapter performs at protests often, including the no Kings protest that occurred earlier this year in October. A few days ago we were singing about food. Yeah. Yeah. So it just depends. It just depends on, you know, whatever the. There are lots of causes. Is the Venezuela stuff a distraction from the Epstein staff and the Social Security cutting and whatnot, or is that the. The distraction from the war? I mean, everything's wrong. There's always plenty of money. They seem to be able always to find plenty of money for weapons and never for people and food and health and taking care of them and children and education and, and the world taking the environment. Right. Let's. Let's drill for oil instead of protecting the planet. Another group at the protest is there every Thursday at the flagpole from 4:30pm to 5:30pm Veterans for Peace, Humble Bay Chapter 56, while they weren't in attendance specifically for the Venezuela protest, they are against war altogether anywhere. Chapter 56 has been doing anti war vigils outside of the Eureka courthouse every Thursday for 22 years and have been active in protesting a variety of war related issues. KMA News spoke to Peter Aronson, a member of the Humboldt Bay chapter of Veterans for Peace. For more information I would like to share with your listening audience that we veterans for Peace are here every once a week, every week at the flagpole. Vigilant. Been here for 22 years and we have a variety of things. It's not limited to Venezuela, but it's another war for oil, presumably with the murder of of the ships that are leaving that are unsubstantiated crimes. And now our president wants to take military on the ground, if not already there. So there's plenty to protest. And over the years we've watched this is 101, this is a main corridor in front of the courthouse. And we've watched it go from only progressives and hippies and a lot of flips off birds and stuff like that in the early years to now.
[00:06:32] Across the spectrum of people of the United States, there's a slice of that and no more birds. We haven't had that in years. And bus drivers, truck drivers. It's been interesting to watch the change in our population and our sentiment about war and about what's going on with our tax dollars in the name of us.
[00:06:58] So pick a card, any card. This is just one protest in a long history of protesting war in Humboldt county, which makes for a unique experience in political activism. Toledo elaborates more on this culture of protest in Humboldt. You know, I think that Humboldt is a really special place. You know, whenever we put out the call, the people answer. People care here. People care to become more educated. Even if they don't understand an issue. They don't want to see oppression happening on their tax dollars and they don't want to be a part of that. I think by and large the people of Humboldt have a very radical history. Whether it was during, you know, the logging of the forests, you know, and the attacks on indigenous peoples, whether it was during the Vietnam movement on campus here at Humboldt, I think that there's just a long history of it. The anarchist movement here has been very strong and really fought for progressive issues. And I just think there's this long proud history and I'm honored to be a part of it. And I'm glad to see see that it's still alive and strong. You know, we just put out a call and people are already answering. You know, it just, it shows where the community is at. And I think even during the Palestine movement, we put out the call and the people showed up in force. You know, I also organized with STS on campus and during everything that happened with the Siemens hall protest, the community showed up and they made sure that people had supplies and were taken care of and supported the protesters. And I just, I think that's really powerful and inspirational for me personally. This is Nat Cardos reporting for KMUN News.
[00:08:24] Federal changes are affecting food assistance programs and the city of Eureka is taking steps to address the issue. Daniel Mintz reports.
[00:08:32] Recognizing significant need for food assistance, the city of Eureka is spending money on it and pursuing the idea of operating a grocery store.
[00:08:42] Challenges to and actions on providing food assistance were discussed and taken at the November 18th Eureka City Council meeting.
[00:08:52] The council voted to provide funding to the Food for People Food bank and the St. Vincent DePaul free meal facility, doubling the amount listed on the agenda item. Each organization was slated to receive $7,500, but at the suggestion of council member Leslie Castellano, the amount was raised to $15,000 each.
[00:09:17] There was talk of getting other local governments to do the same, and council member Katie Moulton declared what she described as a challenge. I challenge.
[00:09:29] I declare a challenge. The city of Eureka is going to find a way to help put food in people's mouths. I hope that the city of Arcata, the city of Fortuna, the county of Humboldt, the unincorporated area of McKinleyville, the city of Lolita, the city of Ferndale, the city of Trinidad, the city of Rio del. Who am I forgetting?
[00:09:50] Every Hoopa. Thank you. I hope that every city, county and tribal government in our immediate area finds a way to match this or make it better.
[00:10:03] We have a really supportive community and we can help make sure that people in our family don't go hungry. Also at the meeting, a Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week proclamation was approved.
[00:10:16] The proclamation notes a worrying degree of local food insecurity.
[00:10:23] Food for People treasurer Ashley Deal talked about the need for food assistance and the increasing challenges to meeting it in our region. The need for hunger assistance is significant.
[00:10:36] Food For People serves 21,000 people in our county every month, nearly twice as many as we served five years ago.
[00:10:43] This has been challenging this year for food banks and people experiencing food insecurity. With federal cuts and disruptions to hunger relief programs. This work has gotten more challenging recently.
[00:10:56] We've just seen what it looks like when the food security safety net breaks down. And in the days following the announcements of delayed SNAP benefits, Food Food for People saw an immediate 40% increase in people seeking our assistance.
[00:11:10] Many of them were scared not knowing how they'd feed their family.
[00:11:13] While that emergency has passed, looking ahead, we anticipate an additional strain. Several policy changes will soon significantly change how Supplemental Nutrition Assistance programs are administrated and who is eligible. These shifts will place new burdens on states and communities and and ultimately reduce access for many people who currently rely on food assistance.
[00:11:36] Later in the meeting, City Manager Miles Slattery gave an update on a proposal that's part of the City Council's strategic visioning platform, providing food access in underserved areas by operating a city owned grocery store.
[00:11:52] He said the former Rite Aid site in the Henderson center neighborhood isn't available due to a deed restriction, but the effort will continue as discussed in this exchange between Slattery and Moulton. There has been discussion in the community. They haven't come into staff to do a development review or anything like that, but there is discussion that there's going to be a proposal for a market down in Old Town adjacent to the Ramones down in Old Town. We haven't received any development plans for that or anything yet, but there has been people in the community discussing that that is potentially going to happen, but staff will continue to look at areas and try and concentrate on area where there is there is a deficit of it. But just wanted to provide that update to council that that's the situation with the Rite Aid property.
[00:12:47] Council Member Moulton, Just a quick comment. I wanted to say that I appreciate the fact that staff will continue to look for areas where there is defic that we're going to be adding a lot of density into Eureka in the next several years and folks are going to need affordable food, hopefully within walking distance in Eureka. For KMUD News, this is Daniel Mintz.
[00:13:11] The Fortuna Huskies scored 22 unanswered points in the second half to defeat Petaluma. For this story and more, here's Ray Hamill with the Sports report.
[00:13:20] At least one of the three HDL football teams still alive in this year's North Coast Section playoffs is guaranteed to play in one of next week's championship games. Games. The only question is which one? Hello and welcome to this week's KMUD News Sports Report. I'm Ray hamel with humboldt sports.com we'll recap all of last weekend's NCS playoff action and look ahead to this week's matchups in just a moment as we take a look at all of the big local sports stories of the week, including why it was an historic week for the Cal Poly Humboldt women's soccer team, Some high school soccer news, some cross country news, some the latest on all of the local college basketball teams, including Wyatt, has been an impressive start to the season for the College of the Redwoods women and news of a big change for a local iconic club. But first up, the NCS football playoffs kicked off last weekend and it was a good start for three of the four HDNL teams to qualify. On Friday night. The Fortuna Huskies broke open a tight game with 22 unanswered points in the second half on the way to a 4223 win over Petaluma. Quarterback Will Shaw and Running Mako Lemon each ran in for two touchdowns in the win for the number four seeds in the Division 6 bracket, with Shaw also completing a TD pass to Tyson Evano, also in the Division 6 bracket. On Saturday afternoon, the top seeded St. Bernard's Crusaders pulled away in the second half of their game against number 8 San Rafael on the way to a 4220 win. Senior Tyler Heinrichs made the switch to running back for the game and the move paid immediate dividends with with Heinrichs running in for four touchdowns. Fortuna and St. Bernards will now face off in this weekend's tournament semifinals at Crusader Field in a rivalry that has thrilled local fans with some epic encounters in recent years. This will be the third meeting between these two Big Four rivals this season with each school posting a home win over the other on the way to sharing the conference championship. The game will take place on Saturday at 1pm with the winner advancing to next week's section championship game. Also in the NCS playoffs this past weekend, the Ferndale Wildcats continued to roll with a dominating 5414 win over Arroyo in the Division 5 bracket. The Cats scored touchdowns on four of their five first half offensive possessions to end the game as a contest early and they carried a 340 lead into the break before stretching the advantage to 54 points in the third quarter. Prescott Langer scored three first half touchdowns for the home team, including a 90 yard pick six. The Wildcats, who are seated number two in the bracket, improved to 110 on the year and will host number three Silesian in Saturday's semifinal with kickoff set for 1pm The South Fork Cubs were also in action last weekend but lost their eight player Division 2 game against Cornerstone Christian by a score of 5222 to end their season.
[00:16:18] Some of the Mendocino county schools also kicked off the NCS postseason last weekend.
[00:16:24] In Division 3, number 5 Siege UKHA defeated number 4 Antioch 26 to 15 and will now play number 1 Vintage in semifinal action on Friday night, while in Division 7, number 3 Willets shut out number 6 Redwood Christian 260 to set up a semifinal showdown at number 2 Piedmont on Friday night. In the eight player Division 2 bracket, number 4 Potter Valley fell 3620 to number 1 L.C. allen.
[00:16:52] Elsewhere in local sports this week, it was an historic week for the Cal Poly Humboldt women's soccer team. Last Friday the Jacks defeated Cal Poly Pomona 10 in their conference tournament semifinal to reach a first ever CC2A championship game and two days later they completed an impressive run through the conference tournament with a 10 win over Chico State in the final, claiming a first ever conference tournament championship and they succeeded with some stellar defense, shutting out all three of their postseason opponents. The tournament win also clinched the place in this year's NCAA Division 2 playoffs, setting up a rematch against Cal Poly Pomona in the opening round this weekend. This will be the Jacks second NCAA tournament appearance in program history and its first since 1996. Also in local soccer this past weekend the Arcada Tigers reached a first ever NCS championship game but lost to top seed Head Royce in Oakland by a score of 30 in HTNL Cross Country Eureka's Claire Gast and Arcata's Evan Poston were both crowned league champions after big wins for both juniors at last weekend's league championships which were held at the Arcada Marsh. The league title is the second straight for Gast who dominated the field over the 5K course and won by a minute and a half. The boys race was much closer with Poston edging Fortuna's Juan Ornales by just two seconds for his first league title. The Arcata boys and Fortuna girls were crowned team champions. In local college basketball, the College of the Redwoods women continued their impressive start to the new season with a thrilling victory over the number 22 team in the state on Saturday. Mia Hugendorn nailed a three pointer with just two seconds remaining in the game to secure a 60:59 win over Santa Ana. With the win, the CR women improved to 4:1 on the season.
[00:18:43] Also in action over the weekend, the CR men split a pair of games, defeating Hartnell 8148 and losing to Cabrillo 7963 Redwoods is now 3 2. Both Cal Poly Humboldt teams were also in action. The men lost two games in San Rafael, falling 8371 to Western Washington and 8961 to Dominican. The Humboldt women lost two games at home, falling 82 to 75 to Northwest Nazarene and 73 to 66 to Central Washington. And rounding out a busy week in local sports, the Humble Crabs announced last week that former player and assistant coach Jeff Giacomini has been named the new team manager after longtime manager Robin Guyver recently stepped away to spend more time with his family. And that's this week's KMUD News Sports Report. Until next time, I'm Ray Hamel with humboldtsports.com Turning to Mendocino Fort Bragg launches California's first wave power desalination buoy to combat water scarcity Mendo Local News Elise Cox reports.
[00:19:52] Fort Bragg began seeking alternative water supplies after the severe drought in 2021.
[00:19:59] One promising but untested solution was a floating system that uses the ocean's own energy to convert seawater into fresh water.
[00:20:08] Together with Oneka Technologies, the Canadian startup that pioneered the system, the city applied for and was awarded a $1.5 million grant from the California Department of Water Resources for a pilot project that was back in May 2023.
[00:20:25] The permitting process for the system's iceberg buoys took more than two years and included dozens of agencies.
[00:20:32] Finally, last month, the first buoy was unloaded in Fort Bragg in preparation for the pilot, which is expected to start next summer. Onega Technologies CEO and founder Dragan Tutich is hopeful the buoys can form a new kind of freshwater utility. Really, our goal is to make the oceans a sustainable and affordable source of drinking water, and we do it with wave power. So by combining the ocean zone energy and the ocean's own seawater, we combine it to make fresh water for coastal populations.
[00:21:02] Tutic said the idea for the buoys came to him more than 10 years ago while taking a shower in Corsica. Looking at the abundant ocean and abundant seawater in the ocean, why couldn't we just combine the ocean's own wave energy with its own seawater to make fresh water for coastal populations? The technology behind the buoy uses a membrane based reverse osmosis system. It requires no electricity and relies entirely on mechanical action.
[00:21:33] So there's a buoy on the top that floats and an anchor at the surface that is really heavy. In between both there's a rope. And as the buoy pulls on that rope inside the buoy there is Like a bicycle pump.
[00:21:49] So as the buoy pulls on that rope that compresses that cylinder like the bicycle pump, and as the buoy goes down, it sucks in the seawater. It's the first project of its kind in California. Once operational, a single unit is expected to produce about 13,000 US gallons of fresh water per day. But before that, fresh water can flow to shore through an underwater pipe. Oneka has some final commissioning details to attend to and a few more permitting hoops to jump through. It's actually almost ready for deployment. There's some small tweakings, there's all the preparation and planning for the commissioning, including the anchor deployment, pipe deployment, all the other components that we need to plan really precisely and really at that point, just with the proper wetter deployed unit, once we have the permits. One of the biggest environmental concerns with desalination is the discharge of brine.
[00:22:44] But Tucic says the discharge dilutes so rapidly it's actually difficult to measure its environmental impact. So the brine is released right at the buoy, just underneath it and each. So in this case it's a single unit, it has its brain release and just with the modeling, we had a Spanish company specialize in dilution of different chemicals, including brine release. They did the modeling of the brine release for our system and essentially within 10ft it meets the OPA criteria of 200 ppt, which normally the criteria is 100 meter to meet that demand, but in this case it's only within 3 meters that it meets the required dilution. And at the seafloor it is expected to be about diluted 400 times.
[00:23:35] Sensors will monitor the salinity and brine dilution throughout the 12 month pilot project.
[00:23:40] Tijic says interest in the buoys is growing globally. Within California alone, eight different communities have reached out to Anika. They're intrigued and they're facing water scarcity. They want to really diversify their water portfolio. While it doesn't need to fulfill all the water needs, it can definitely be a reliable and resilient source of water instead of just being dependent on natural water supplies. In the past it 18 months we had inquiries from 250 different inquiries from clients. There's a lot of industrial groups, there's resorts, there's municipalities, there's even agricultural, agricultural needs in some locations. So there's really global need and it just keeps on increasing as water scarcity becomes a pressing global issue. Fort Bragg's experience with the desalination buoyancy may offer a path forward for other coastal communities adapting to a changing climate.
[00:24:35] Reporting for Caymud News and Mendo Local Public Media, I'm Elise Cox.
[00:24:43] In National Native News, Brian Bull reads today's headlines.
[00:24:47] National Native News, I'm Brian Bull sitting in Frantonia Gonzalez an important report on the missing and murdered Indigenous persons crisis has been removed from the Department of Justice website.
[00:24:58] Many MMIP awareness advocates and officials have questioned its absence, according to Newsweek. U.S. democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada says the not one more report disappeared in February. She was with the Senate committee that introduced the 2020 Not Invisible act, which mandated the report.
[00:25:17] Cortez, Casto and Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska reached out to the Trump administration to have the reports reposted. But Newsweek says they were told the White House took it down to comply with the president's executive order that determined there were only two sexes. Cortes Mastos quoted a Newsweek's coverage as saying she firmly believes this isn't about gender DEI or wokeness, but about keeping tribal communities safe and providing tribal leaders and law enforcement with the tools they need. A Native Hawaiian organization is tasked with taking care of Native Hawaiians across Hawaii and the continental U.S.
[00:25:54] when it comes to the health and well being of Native Hawaiian people. Keopo Rilets, director of policy and strategy at Papa Ola Lakahi, says the organization was created by an act of Congress in the 1980s to address the Native Hawaiian health care system. Rylitz was among the more than 2,500 attendees at the National Congress of American Indians annual convention taking place in Seattle this week. At home, it means making sure that we're supporting our Native Hawaiian healthcare systems.
[00:26:24] It also means that we're supporting community based organizations that are helping to make sure our people are thriving and able to live and thrive in Hawaii. And that also means that they're doing so if they are one of the diaspora Hawaiians. So if they were either born outside of the United States or had to move, we also support community based organizations that are making sure that they're connected to their identity, connected to resources that they need. Because as we know as Native people, if we don't have our culture, if we don't have our language, if we don't have that identity, then the core of our well being is impacted, rylet says. It's important to be at events like NCAI in order to listen and learn from other Native people, she says. It's good to be partners, allies and advocates, pointing to the partnership which helped create the Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvements act done in collaboration with tribes. Health and wellness are among the many issues discussed at the NCEI gathering, which wraps up on Friday.
[00:27:20] And it's not every day you get to see an eagle, let alone two together, alive and up close. As KJZZ's Gabriel Pietrazio reports, it's something visitors of a Phoenix nonprofit recently did while blessing these animals during an annual Native American wildlife celebration earlier this month.
[00:27:40] Robert Mesta with Liberty Wildlife is Pasqua Yaqui and honors eagle, Cisco and Anasazi with a song Song and they're revered for their strength, their intelligence and even their healing and protective powers, things the Phoenix nonprofit is helping guests tap into one November Sunday morning pinch some sacred tobacco, take it to the eagle and say their prayer. And oftentimes the eagles will flap their wings. The feel of the wind of the eagle is like the ultimate experience that lasted for an hour. AGI Molina, who was Pasqua Yaqui, spiritually prepared people, bringing offerings to the birds by burning sage bundles and tapping them with a fan made from feathers, while those being cleansed, bathed in the smoke. When you smudge, it's going to take as long as it's going to take.
[00:28:37] For National Native News, I'm Gabriel Pieterrazio.
[00:28:43] This is National Native News. I'm Brian bull, native voice 1, the Native American Radio Network.
[00:28:56] That's all for tonight's broadcast. Thanks for listening. Thanks to our engineer, Michael McCaskill, and thanks to our reporters, Nat Cardos, Daniel Mintz, Ray Hamel, Elise Cox and Brian Boal. KMUD News is online. You can find us on KMUD now, 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 news.org Redwood Community Radio, Inc. Is funded by Press Forward, the national movement to strengthen communities by reinvigorating local news. Learn more at PressForward News. Reporting for KMUD, I'm Gabriel Zucker.
