Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: Good evening and welcome to the local news. Today is Monday, November 24th, and I'm Nat Cardos reporting for KMUD. In tonight's news, cows cause multiple accidents on Highway 101 Sunday morning.
Cal Fire graduates record number of company officers for 2025 and local publisher Backcountry Press wins National Outdoor Book award. So stay tuned. Those stories and more. Coming up.
[00:00:42] Speaker C: Redwood Community Radio acknowledges that its transmitter sites are located on the unceded territory of the Sinkyon, Wailaki, Wiat, Wilcote and Kato people. We honor ancestors past, present and emerging, and acknowledge the ongoing cultural, spiritual and physical connection these tribes have to this region.
[00:01:03] Speaker B: In the early hours of Sunday, November 23, at approximately 3:51am Reports of different vehicles colliding with cows on Highway 101 near mile marker 84 south of Leggett were made. According to the California Highway Patrol traffic information page, cows had wandered into the road earlier in the evening and were wrangled off by a citizen. Later, at approximately 3:12am another report was made of cows wandering back into the roadway. K1 News spoke to Chris Zepeta, public information officer with California Highway Patrol, Garberville, for more information on the incident.
[00:01:35] Speaker D: Yeah, so basically on 1122, 25, officers were dispatched to some cows that were in the road. Then the cows are no longer in the road. They were wrangled off the road by a citizen on 11:23 in the a.m. so around 3:12 in the morning, we were called again to a set of cows. This time they were all the way down by Laytonville, 12 miles north of. So our units responded. The cows were removed again from the roadway.
And after that, later on that same morning, a vehicle had crashed with one of the cows. It was an suv. The cow ended up in the southbound lane after the collision was, you know, the scene had stabilized.
And immediately after that, a Toyota pickup hit the already deceased cow in the road, causing a second collision.
And after that we contacted the drivers, removed the cow from the road.
There was only two collisions and later we were notified of a semi had also struck a cow in the road, which would be the same deceased cow.
[00:02:51] Speaker B: One patient had minor injuries and all people involved declined medical transport. That morning, a brand inspector was brought out from Fortuna to find the owner of the cattle.
[00:03:01] Speaker D: So currently we had a brand inspector come out. There was no, he was unable to locate the the brand on the cows, but both ears were cut. And so currently investigating who they think.
[00:03:15] Speaker B: It might be, once again, no serious injuries were reported, but there was extensive vehicle damage and The CHP log indicates that there was an extended response involving law enforcement, medical units, Caltrans, multiple tow companies and livestock authorities. As of approximately 8:45am the roadway was fully cleared.
Last Friday, November 21, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the graduation of Cal Fire company officer class 2514 from the Ione Training Center. This graduation marks a milestone for Cal Fire as it's the biggest graduating class They've had at 650 new company officers trained all throughout 2025. KMN News spoke to Jason Belenghi, public information officer for Cal Fire for, for more information.
[00:04:03] Speaker D: Basically, where we are, we are a training center and the company officers are actual firefighters. Graduating from company officer academy gives the firefighters more leadership skills so that they can become, helps them move up in rank in their, in their careers to become like a captain, they become an engineer. So like, that's the kind of like leadership skills that they learn here at the academy. So as the older firefighters are retiring and moving out of leadership roles, this gives the younger firefighter generation to move into those roles as firefighters are retiring.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: When training firefighters for Cal Fire, they focus on leadership skills, equipment usage, how to assess emergency situations and more. Company officers specifically are the first line supervisor and leader of a fire engine or hand crew. To get this kind of certification, trainees must meet a combination of experience and education requirements in an intensive 10 week program.
[00:04:58] Speaker D: So, like handling incidents, so they command a certain situation, they get to order what kind of equipment is needed at an incident. So if there's say, a fire they can order how many engines need to be there, how much water they need to put that fire out, they'll assess the situation and then they also are in charge of their crew. So if you're in a fire engine, there's usually four guys in there. There's the company officer, an engineer, which is the driver, and then two firefighters. Well, it teaches them leadership skills that they can take into the field. They're able to assist situations easier so that they know what kind of resources are needed for those type of incidents so they're not wasting time or resources or people. And then they'll be able to get the incident under control before it gets too out of control.
[00:05:52] Speaker B: All Cal Fire training facilities were at full capacity. And to accommodate the growing number of trainees, the Atwater Training center in Merced county was opened in July of this year. Additional facilities are in Reading and Riverside.
[00:06:03] Speaker D: It was a challenge at first because we only had three training centers. So with the fourth training center opening up in Atwater to help streamline more classes. Like at the Ion Training center we have three battalions which teach three three separate classes. Compared to like reading where they only have one battalion and they can only teach one class. With Atwater opening up, which is a bigger facility there they have I believe three battalions as well and so they're able to train three more other classes basically on top of that. And then Riverside only has one battalion which only teaches one class.
[00:06:37] Speaker B: The ten week program starts with a four week firefighter academy followed by a six week company officer academy. To learn more about Cal Fire's training centers, the website is fire.ca.gov whatwedofireprotectiontrainingcenter.
Backcountry Press, a local independent book publisher, was awarded a National Outdoor Book Award for California A Field Guide to the Native Species. Gabriel Zucker reports.
[00:07:09] Speaker C: Backcountry Press, a Humboldt based independent publisher focused on exploring natural history, ecology and the western landscape, announced that their book, California A Field Guide to the Native Species, had been awarded the 2025 National Outdoor Book Award in the Nature Guides category. This field guide was co authored by Cal Poly San Luis Obispos botany professor Matt Ritter and Michael Kaufman, an educator, author and ecologist based in Neyland, California. According to the National Outdoor Book Award website, the field guide won because, quote, california is blessed with a great variety of landforms and scenic vistas, but it would be nothing without its trees. Matt Ritter and Michael Kaufman's new guide is the perfect vehicle to learn about and identify California trees. It colors all of the 95 native species and does so in a thoughtful, organized way. Sections in the book are color coded, getting you quickly to the two main groupings, conifer or flowering trees. Each tree includes three to four photos, a location map and identification details. Great design, good information and just the right size for a pack. California trees does the job and does it well, kaufman said. The idea for the book came about when his co writer Matt Ritter brought up the idea to do a book on California trees. The reasoning was that this had not been since 1923 by Willie Jepson.
[00:08:22] Speaker E: A few things have changed. Taxonomy's changed. Our understanding of what trees are actually in California and how they're related has changed. So we ran with it.
[00:08:30] Speaker C: Ritter brought his expertise of Southern California trees, while Kaufman brought his expertise of Northern California forests. To take on this big goal. Ritter's graduates soon generated new, updated distribution maps using modern data. With the data and the knowledge to attack this idea, the writing came quickly and naturally. It only took about a year for the writing and the layout to come together.
[00:08:49] Speaker E: It's one of the quicker books that I've done, to be honest with you. So that was kind of cool to have, you know, just the past history and relationship that we both had with trees and to really have the vision ahead of time and then bring it to fruition.
[00:09:02] Speaker C: Each species gets a single page, except for the more iconic trees like the coast redwoods and the giant sequoia, which took up two pages. The authors wanted to create something that nature lovers could slip into a backpack and use it in the field. This book also includes a checklist challenging readers to find all 95 species, as well as recommend unique places to visit around California. This includes Redwood national and state parks, Joshua tree, Sequoia and Kings Canyon. For Kaufman, the bigger goal was simple. Get people outside and interacting and understand the human relationship with trees.
[00:09:31] Speaker E: I also feel like, you know, the ability to put a name on something helps to build a relationship with the natural world, which, to be quite honest with you, is lacking these days. You know, it was part of human survival for thousands and thousands of years, time immemorial, some might say, and we're kind of losing that. So this is sort of our ode to the natural world and an ode to the connection. And, you know, trees are similar in us and that, you know, we're sort of a larger size above the ground. Right. You know, obviously, trees grow a little bit taller than people in most cases, but it's something we can walk up to and sort of meet face to face, so to speak. For me, it's about, you know, and this is true for my approach, for the approach that I want my kids to take, for the approach I wanted my students to take, for the approach that I hope that people in general take. But to find something that you're interested in in life, and a lot of people find that difficult. Right? And when you find something you're interested in, you start to look into it more. You develop a passion, you develop a little bit better, I think, direction in life. For me, I was lucky. I had a high school teacher that took me out into the forest and taught me trees and that. And I knew by the time I was 17 that I was in love with trees. So, you know what? My point here is that when you have a nice, concise guide, which I believe California Trees is, it takes people in new direct. And maybe on that one page, you might get to learn some of the ins and outs and intricacies of Satan oak, which is notholithocarpus. Tensofloras and stuff much more common in inland Humboldt, but you can find it mixed in with the redwoods. But let's say you learn to identify that tree and then you start to ask some questions about that tree based on your brief introduction that this book offers. My hope and dream is that, you know, it leads to more questions, it leads to more research, it leads to more maybe acorn harvesting every fall, you know, whatever it is, but just that better connection and again, better relationship to the land and, and hopefully better stewards for this planet and especially this local landscape that we all love.
[00:11:31] Speaker C: After winning the National Outdoor Book Award, Kaufman was hopeful his book would be recognized, but it was still a surprise.
[00:11:37] Speaker E: It's one of these things where I sent it in like seven or eight months ago and sort of forgot about it. And all of a sudden this email popped up in my inbox a week ago and was like, hey, you won the best nature guide for special author book awards. And that felt pretty darn good. So I guess the answer is I hoped and it's kind of expected based on the quality of work that we do, but you're never quite sure how other people are going to view your work. So it was a pleasant surprise.
[00:12:01] Speaker C: California Trees, a field guide to the native species, is available now. With this blend of scientific knowledge and easily understandable explanations, it invites people to take a breath, look around, and rediscover the trees around them. This is Gabriel Zucker with KMUD News.
[00:12:16] Speaker B: Turning to Mendocino, California Coastal Commission alleged unpermitted development and restricted public access on Upper and Lower Beach Road in Manchester. Mendo local news. Elise Cox reports.
[00:12:28] Speaker A: Nine miles south of the coastal hamlet of Elk, there is a road leading to the sea. The Irish Beach Community Club, a voluntary homeowners association for the Irish beach subdivision, has long maintained Upper and Lower Beach Road as an exclusive amenity, touting it as a core feature of the community.
But a recent notice of violation from the California Coastal Commission has forced the club to open the road at least temporarily and maybe forever. The Coastal Commission is alleging unpermitted development and restricted public access. At the heart of this controversy is Mark Rapalje, one of three property owners who received a notice of violation along with the club. Rapple Jay bought his lot 40 years ago with dreams of building a home overlooking the water.
Instead, he found himself blocked by the Coastal Commission, the club, the economy and county permitting regulations.
[00:13:22] Speaker F: We were going to build a house. We made it all the way through the Coastal Commission in Irish beach fighting. This took us about five years.
We went to a building loan closing in a bank in Fort Bragg.
And that happened to be right at the start of the Great Recession.
They jacked up the interest rates, added thousands of dollars in fees, and yanked out the guaranteed mortgage at the end of the building. For us to pay for this, we knew that we had to have it as a vacation rental.
With the economy collapsing, we were worried whether if we did get through this and build it, whether people would actually have money to spend on luxuries as a vacation.
So we just stopped.
[00:14:14] Speaker A: Adding insult to injury were unpermitted activities on his land carried out by the Irish Beach Improvement Club.
[00:14:22] Speaker F: I went to the county when I found that Irish beach was trying to build a retaining wall on my property.
And I had their inspector come out and he looked at it and he took pictures of it, but then informed me that he could not file a complaint or work on it unless there was a complainant. And that is county policy. It's not a rule, it's not a law. It's nothing other than a policy.
[00:14:56] Speaker A: Rapple J said he was told that as the property owner, he would have to be the complainant, effectively filing against himself and then sue the Irish Beach Improvement Club and small Claims court.
This led him to investigate further.
[00:15:10] Speaker F: I requested a freedom of information for all the three lots that are along the beach road, and you have to do those by parcel number.
I did the search and it came back that there was no permit ever in 50 years.
[00:15:27] Speaker A: This discovery prompted Rapaljay to contact the California Coastal Commission where he spoke with Josh Levine, the North coast enforcement officer.
[00:15:36] Speaker F: He let me know that he had found out about this Irish beach situation about six years before that Irish beach had lost a lot of their beach due to raising sea levels and larger tides.
And they got a beautiful beach down there. There's a lot of driftwood and stuff there.
And so they wanted to be able to reclaim the beach, some of the beach and spend some money to do that.
And they did borings and they had to work with the Coastal commission on this. So Josh came out there and he says, isn't this beach supposed to be public?
[00:16:16] Speaker A: The question of public access is central to the Coastal Commission's violation notice.
Rapple J's deed describes the road on his property as private.
[00:16:25] Speaker F: That is what the deed to my property says, that there is no coastal access.
[00:16:33] Speaker A: But the Coastal commission is asserting that public access is required. The notice of violation, dated October 23, 2025, cites the Irish Beach Improvement Club, Rapple J. And two other property owners for undertaking development without a coastal development program permit.
Violations include the placement of an electric gate and signage blocking public access.
Penalties add up quickly with up to $30,000 per violation and up to $11,250 per day for restricting public access.
For Mark Rapalje, the ongoing dispute has taken a toll on his long held dream.
[00:17:11] Speaker F: We want to sell our land and to have less interaction with the Irish beach board and let someone else have this property to enjoy.
[00:17:23] Speaker A: The notice of violation states that, quote, violations run with the land and each individual property owner is also liable for violations on their property.
This means that any resolution with the Coastal Commission, including potential fines or mitigation, could transfer to a new owner.
[00:17:40] Speaker F: Any of the things I would owe would be transferred to the new owner.
[00:17:47] Speaker A: Despite the personal cost, Rapalje says he is glad the commission is cracking down on unpermitted development.
[00:17:53] Speaker F: I don't like that people break the laws and destroying the environment and that's what they're doing with the creek. Every time they blacktop, there's chunks of blacktop going into the creek.
They're removing vegetation along there and that's included in this thing.
[00:18:11] Speaker A: Emily Thorne is president of Irish Beach Improvement Club's board of directors. She declined to comment ahead of a club meeting. She informed members in a private Facebook group that the organization is, quote, fully prepared to address these matters in a timely and cooperative manner.
Reporting for Caymun News and Mendo local public Media, I'm Elise Cox.
[00:18:33] Speaker B: In national news, Trump administration proposed new oil drilling off coasts of California and Florida for first time in decades. KPFA's Lauren Schmidt reports.
[00:18:43] Speaker G: The proposal drew swift opposition from Governor Gavin Newsom and other California leaders.
In response, U.S. senator Alex Padilla of California, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and North Bay Representative Jared Huffman, the ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, held an emergency virtual press call with other Democrats to respond to the plan, denouncing what they call a sweeping giveaway to Big Oil.
[00:19:15] Speaker E: We're here because President Trump just put out what we believe is an asinine pro polluter plan to open up our coast. Offshore drilling. This is not just a little bit offshore drilling. This is the entire California coast, every inch of Alaska, even the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Despite pushback from Florida's Republican senators basically everywhere. Big Oil has been salivating to drill for decades. But shockingly, not Mar a lago.
That is what we're talking about here today.
[00:19:50] Speaker G: Congressman Huffman says California has been fighting offshore drilling proposals for at least three decades, including during Trump's first term in office.
Senator Padilla says Californians have already lived through the consequences of drilling.
[00:20:07] Speaker F: We're not going to stand for it. Californians know all too well the history of the 1969 oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, which led to Earth Day as we know it today. Not just in California, not just around the country, but around the world.
[00:20:22] Speaker G: In 1969, an offshore well near Santa Barbara suffered a blowout, triggering one of the largest oil spills in United States waters. The consequences were so catastrophic, it helped to spark the modern environmental movement. It also led to new environmental protection laws that the Trump administration is currently seeking to roll back.
Most of California's remaining offshore drilling operations are in the state's 24th congressional district in the Central coast, covering Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties, a region represented by Congressman Salud Carbajal, where.
[00:21:04] Speaker F: 21 of the 27 oil platforms exist.
[00:21:10] Speaker G: He says his district has been ground zero for California's oil development.
[00:21:16] Speaker F: Many of you might remember the devastating impacts of the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill and the 2015 Refugio oil spill, where oil went into the ocean, both of which left oil slick beaches, piles of dead marine wildlife, and costly, a costly cleanup bill. Well, I'm here to tell you with a loud voice, with my colleagues, our coast is not for sale. The Central coast rejects new offshore oil drilling. We reject prioritizing big oil business interests over the people's interests. We reject Trump's executive overreach in our state's environmental policy.
[00:21:56] Speaker G: Trump's new plan also calls for drilling off the Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico.
[00:22:02] Speaker A: Florida is a special place, but it is a fragile place and our way of life depends upon clean water.
[00:22:10] Speaker G: That was Congresswoman Kathy Castor, who represents the Tampa Bay region of Florida.
[00:22:16] Speaker A: We feel betrayed. Drilling off of the coast of Florida is way too risky and it is a slap in the face after the damage done by the BP Deepwater Horizon blowout in 2010. We're still recovering from that economic and environmental damage. We've really gone through the wringer with hurricanes Ian, Helene and Milton, just to name a few.
[00:22:39] Speaker G: And now this studies, including a recent analysis from the World Weather Attribution Group, show that hurricanes are becoming more intense due to emissions from the oil and gas industry.
However, the president describes climate change as, quote, the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.
Megan Biven with True Transition, an oil and gas public policy collaborative, shared an inside look at the risks.
[00:23:11] Speaker A: I come as the ghost of Christmas Future, a Louisianan who used to work for the Department of Interior, where I helped plan oil and gas lease sales. The Gulf is littered with this no longer producing rust because there aren't enough cops on the beach. And the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement cops that exist do not have the tools to escalate enforcement. It is also because the threshold to bid on American offshore oil and gas is very low. The two requirements include an American corporate address and a pulse in no particular order, before we venture into new American frontiers, I think it's fair to demonstrate competent management of the existing heart of the OCS in the Gulf of America.
[00:23:48] Speaker F: America.
[00:23:50] Speaker G: And with House Republicans so far unwilling to condemn the proposal, Associated Press reporter Matt Brown posed this question, so if.
[00:24:00] Speaker E: I could just follow up to that, does that mean that defeating it is not going to happen through Congress?
[00:24:05] Speaker F: In other words, that it's going to.
[00:24:07] Speaker E: Have to be through lawsuits or maybe the administration?
It'll happen when we take back the House of Representatives in the Senate in a little over a year.
[00:24:17] Speaker G: California has not seen any federal leases since the mid-1980s, although drilling from existing platforms continue.
Senator Padilla and Congressman Huffman recently led more than 100 lawmakers in urging President Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Bergman to immediately halt any plans to open new leases.
They've also introduced the West Coast Ocean Protection act, which would permanently ban new oil and gas leases off the coast of California, Oregon and Washington. For KPFA News, I'm Lauren Schmidt.
[00:24:55] Speaker B: In National Native News, Antonia Gonzalez reads today's headlines.
[00:24:59] Speaker A: This is National Native News. I'm Antonia Gonzalez. This year, five Native Americans were among 29 people named Bush Fellows. The Bush Fellowship provides up to $150,000 over two years for the fellows to build on their leadership skills. In the second of five profiles, Brian Bull of Buffalo's Fire highlights what a South Dakota university administrator wants to accomplish.
[00:25:24] Speaker E: John Little is the director of Native Recruitment and alumni engagement at the University of South Dakota. The Standing Rock Sioux tribal member works with many Native students and wants to get more fired up for higher education.
He says. Part of getting many ready is adapting from small Midwestern rural communities to large campuses with many academic offerings. It is a shock factor for a lot of students. Boosting Native enrollment and retention will be a challenge. In a census review shared by the postsecondary National Policy Institute, data showed that nearly 26% of natives age 18 to 24 were enrolled in college, compared to 39% of the overall U.S. population.
Additionally, undergraduate enrollment dropped 40%, while graduate enrollment fell 18%. For native students, Little says he's been lucky to have parents who've supported his academic goals, including a master's degree from EOSD and a PhD from the University of Minnesota. Especially my mom has been really influential in me going to school and has been there every step. Not every student that I work with.
[00:26:26] Speaker B: In South Dakota has that, or maybe.
[00:26:27] Speaker E: They do, but they're first gen, so they just don't know what that looks like. Little says he'll research college fairs and regional programs to develop stronger preparation initiatives for future students. For national Native News, I'm Brian Bull.
[00:26:40] Speaker A: A study aims to shed light on the hidden impacts of domestic violence in Native communities. The Mountain West News Bureau's Daniel Spalding reports on the effort to understand the unrecognized brain injuries many survivors are living with.
[00:26:54] Speaker F: The Urban Indian Health Institute survey aims.
[00:26:57] Speaker E: To find out how common traumatic brain injuries are among Native survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
More than 80% of indigenous women have experienced violence in their lifetime, according to Abigail Echo Hawk, the institute's director. Many survivors of domestic and sexual violence suffer from brain injuries that never get.
[00:27:14] Speaker F: Diagnosed or receive proper care.
[00:27:16] Speaker A: They deserve justice, they deserve safety, and they deserve to get the treatment that they need when they've been impacted by traumatic brain injury.
[00:27:25] Speaker E: The goal of the survey is to.
[00:27:26] Speaker F: Ensure survivors get the right care and.
[00:27:28] Speaker E: Support through programs and policies designed to help them heal. The survey began in October and will remain open through January 2026.
[00:27:36] Speaker F: I'm Daniel Spalding.
[00:27:38] Speaker A: Another Arizona tribe has been picked to keep a newer holiday tradition going by supplying this year's capital Christmas tree. KJZ's Gabriel Pietrazio has more.
[00:27:49] Speaker E: For three years, running under Governor Katie Hobbs, the state has taken bids from tribes beginning with the White Mountain Apache in 2023, then the San Carlos Apache last year. Now the Capitol tree will come from the people of the Tall Pines or Hualapai.
[00:28:05] Speaker D: And I hope no matter who is in the office of the governor, that this holiday spirit of bringing all our communities together continues.
[00:28:14] Speaker E: Wayne Clark is Chairman of the 2, 300 member Hualapai tribe North of Kingman.
[00:28:20] Speaker D: Oddly enough, the one tree that has been selected, it's close to, I want to say about 30ft was not one of the three options, to be honest. Councilman Imus did a quick prayer. He turned to the right and said, that's the tree.
[00:28:35] Speaker E: We all looked, and it was a moment of awe. The tribe will bless the tree before trucking it more than 200 miles to the state capitol from their reservation, hugging the Grand Canyon's West Rim. It will be on display by December 1st.
For National Native News, I'm Gabriel Pietrazio.
[00:28:54] Speaker A: And I'm Antonia Gonzalez.
[00:29:02] Speaker F: Native voice one, the native american radio network.
[00:29:13] Speaker B: That's all for tonight's broadcast. Thanks for listening. Thanks to our engineer, Javier Rodriguez, and thanks to our reporters, Gabriel Zucker, Elise Cox, Lawrence Schmidt, and Antonia Gonzalez. KMUD News is online and you can find us on kmun.org and 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 questions or suggestions, you can give us a call at 707-923-27605 or send an email to news at kmud. 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 Nat Cardos.
