Episode Transcript
[00:00:06] Speaker A: Good evening and welcome to the local news.
Today is Thursday, July 3rd. I'm Sigur-Björn reporting for Kmart.
The upcoming Fourth of July celebrations will largely dominate today's newscast.
There is advice from professionals on how to protect pets and sensitive children during the shenanigans, a reminder from Cal Fire to not start ablaze, and a rundown of the major events in the area during the festivities.
On a serious note, we'll bring you a word from our station manager, Kara Randolph, because given everything that is happening, KMUD's very existence is under real threat.
Additionally, we have a report on how funding cuts affecting seniors could have far reaching consequences.
So stay tuned. News on those stories and Ray Hamill's sports report coming right up.
We start with the fireworks because of course we do.
The big show on Eureka's Waterfront starts at 10pm tomorrow night over in Benbow in southern Humboldt. There will be fireworks from dusk, though the event itself starts at 5pm when the Littlebits food truck starts serving up tacos, sandwiches and Smashburgers. Admission to the event is $20 per car. There are no details on how much they'll charge you if you rock up on a bike.
Meanwhile, the city of Fortuna is stealing a march on everyone else by holding its fireworks extravaganza tonight. KristinE Alexandria has the details in Fortuna.
[00:02:07] Speaker B: The Independence Day festivities kick off tonight Thursday, setting the stage for a spectacular celebration.
This family friendly festival runs from 5:30pm to 10:30pm at Fortuna's Newburgh Park.
There will be activities for kids, fireworks, a variety of food and craft vendors, and no wait. Barbecue hosted by Smoking Joe's Barbecue.
Kids can enjoy 15 bounce houses, clowns with balloon animals and potato sack races.
A huge dance party will start at 8:30pm featuring a light show by DX3 Productions.
Then at around 10pm Pyro Spectacular will present a fireworks show.
Everyone is encouraged to bring their own chairs and blankets or you can sit in the bleachers.
This early celebration of Independence Day is going on right now in Fortuna.
[00:03:02] Speaker A: It could be that the fourth of July is your favorite holiday, but maybe it's not.
Maybe you just don't like that day.
And the reason could be that you have a pet who just doesn't get the homage we pay on that day to the rocket's red glare.
Pets and fireworks don't mix. It has been reported that about 80% of pets have some sort of a reaction to fireworks and as Shannon Westman.
[00:03:31] Speaker C: Points out, and that's usually not a good reaction.
[00:03:34] Speaker A: Westman is A registered veterinary technician at the Arcata Animal Hospital who has seen her fair share of pets traumatized by fireworks. If you have a pet who is adversely affected by the noises that come with the 4th of July celebrations, there are ways you can help.
[00:03:51] Speaker C: There are many different ways to help protect your pet during the 4th of July.
My biggest piece of advice to anybody out there is to bring your pet inside.
The next thing would be to make sure that they have proper identification on. So a collar with a tag that has the pet's name as well as a working phone number.
And once you bring them inside, I also like to recommend if you're able to create a safe space for them. So whether that's inside of a crate that they're used to, if they like to hang out on your bed and watch tv, if they like to hang out on the couch, somewhere that they're safe and comfortable is going to be a great place to start using sound barriers. If you usually have a fan on, some type of white noise, soft music or even your voice in a calm, collected manner can be comforting to them.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: If this advice is not cutting it, there is always medication.
[00:04:49] Speaker C: So medication is absolutely a viable option.
Talking to your veterinarian about some prescription calming medications is a great idea. There are a variety of prescription medications.
[00:05:06] Speaker A: If the day before the fireworks show starts is too late to get a hold of your vet, there are some over the counter options available.
[00:05:14] Speaker C: If you're into more holistic options, there are things like pheromone diffusers that you can use, calming chews and or supplements such as Soliloquin Chews or Composure Chews. Even melatonin is something you can get. I do recommend getting the proper dosages from your veterinarian though.
[00:05:37] Speaker A: Other ways to support your four legged family member include feeding and exercising them before the unnerving explosions start.
[00:05:45] Speaker C: You can walk them before the fireworks begin, you can feed them before the fireworks begin. So that way if you need to walk them, you have time to do that before the fireworks show starts. And then also if they are inside the house and you are having them in that safe space that we talked about, distraction with toys, favorite treats or playtime is good as well.
[00:06:08] Speaker A: When it comes to fireworks, who does Westman think gets more skittish? Cats or dogs?
[00:06:15] Speaker C: I don't think there is necessarily a difference in species. I think it's more animal individual.
So you could have a cat that's extremely terrified or a cat that's not so terrified.
Unfortunately, cats are more oftentimes left outdoors, so they are More oftentimes, the ones that end up go missing and or are affected in one way or another by the fireworks. So if you're able to bring your cat inside, even for the night of 4th of July, that's very helpful.
And then I would say people most oftentimes want to bring their dog to a fireworks show, and that's generally not the best idea.
[00:06:56] Speaker A: Westman offers a cautionary tale from her own life.
[00:07:00] Speaker C: I actually tried to bring my dog to a fireworks show in Hawaii a long time ago, before I worked in the veterinary field, and he did not like it. I ended up carrying him and rushing him back to the house, and I thought I was all good because he had on a nice secure halter. He was able to get out of that. So it just really wasn't a good idea. So number one piece of advice would be don't take them to a fireworks show.
Number two, if you feel that you absolutely must make sure they have proper identification on.
And I would recommend using what I call the double leash system.
So oftentimes, even if you have a halter on them, they can wiggle out of that. So have a halter and a leash around their collar as well.
So you have two different types of leashes on them in case they're able to get out of one, you have the other one as a backup.
[00:07:53] Speaker A: That was Shannon Westman, a registered veterinary technician at the Arcata Animal Hospital in Arcata.
It's not only animals who struggle with those loud jarring noises and bright colors flashing in the sky. Some people, children especially, can also be sensitive to them. People who land somewhere on the neurodivergence spectrum, such as those diagnosed with autism, can have a hard time on the 4th of July. To gain a better insight into this, we spoke to physician Carrie Griffin at the Center for New Growth in Arcata. Griffin is also a somatic psychotherapist experienced in treating people who have difficulty adapting to abrupt changes in their environment.
[00:08:40] Speaker D: So neurodivergence is a term or neurodiversity is a term that has really been gaining in popularity. And it's an umbrella term that refers to a lot of different diagnoses.
Neurodivergence as a big term just means my brain processes things in a different way.
Sometimes that can show up as a diagnosis or a clinical expression of autism, but there are sensory processing disorders. ADD and ADHD are also forms of neurodivergence.
Autism itself means that there are often sensory integration difficulties. There may be intellectual processing difficulties, but not necessarily.
There may be some form of what, what might seem like social difficulties. And what we're really talking about as we connect things like neurodivergence and autism to fireworks is we're talking about sensory processing difficulties. We're talking about the fact that loud noises, bright colors, if you're actually going someplace public, being around large groups of people, the sensory input of that is so much.
So if you have a nervous system that works a little differently, but that maybe has an internal dial that's turned up a little bit higher towards hypervigilance, towards having senses that are extra sensitive, so hearing is amplified for you 10 times what you're taking in through 80% of how we use our senses is through our eyes and our visual stimuli. If you're taking in a lot of input, it can overwhelm the nervous system, leading to, in children, leading to tantrums, leading to aggressive, violent kind of fits.
[00:10:20] Speaker A: Still, kids will be kids. And despite whatever challenges they are facing, they still might want to go and see the fireworks for themselves. And there is a way to make that happen as long as precautions are taken.
[00:10:35] Speaker D: One of the tricks, especially for children, but also for adults, is noise canceling headphones or earplugs. So if you really, really want to bring them to the event, when you're at the event, have, have things like those noise canceling headphones, have a weighted blanket, maybe sunglasses or a hat with a brim, doing something to decrease the input from sound and from sight, and then doing something to increase other forms of soothing stimuli for the senses.
The other thing is, before you even get to the event, if you are thinking about taking children who have some neurodivergence, really prepare them beforehand. So, so talk about what fireworks are like. Consider watching videos of fireworks online.
Set the expectation and also let them know beforehand that anything they experience is okay. It's okay if it's difficult for them and really let them know that if it's too hard, it's okay to leave.
Maybe you find a place to watch fireworks that's more on the periphery, that's not so close to the center of the action.
You could also let your child, depending on their age, really choose the spot that feels like it's going to be best for them and for their nervous.
[00:11:45] Speaker A: That was Carrie Griffith, a physician at the center for New Growth in Arcata.
So you got your pet safely tucked away at home listening to mood music, and your kid is wearing sunglasses and headphones at the periphery of the fireworks show. What else do you need to keep in mind? Oh yes, don't set anything on fire.
Here is KMAT's Nat Cardos with a fire safety report.
[00:12:13] Speaker E: Fourth of July is coming up and.
[00:12:14] Speaker A: The California Department of Forestry and Fire.
[00:12:16] Speaker D: Protection Humboldt Del Norte Unit encourages folks.
[00:12:19] Speaker C: To celebrate safely by using Safe and.
[00:12:21] Speaker A: Sane fireworks or attending a local professional fireworks show. KMUN News spoke with Fire Captain Specialist for Cal Fire Humboldt Del Norte Unit.
[00:12:28] Speaker C: Jordan Kilbury about how else people can celebrate safely.
[00:12:31] Speaker F: So first and foremost, yeah, we want everybody to have a safe and enjoyable holiday. We want them to if they're going to partake in fireworks, we want them to make sure that they're legal in the area, that they're in the locality and make sure that they're they possess the California Safe and Sane symbol on the fireworks themselves. And if they're looking for any information regarding that, they can go to the cal fire website fire.ca.gov under Office of the State Fire Marshal and there's information on that and just be be cognizant that fireworks can start fires. So if they're going to be partaking in firework to make sure that they're doing it in a fire safe environment and be prepared for a fire to be potentially started and have the right means to put that out, maybe they shouldn't be using fireworks in an area where fires could definitely occur, like dry grass, any kind of flammable materials nearby. Always want to have a water source nearby and a shovel or some kind of tool just in case something like that happens over a fire extinguisher.
[00:13:36] Speaker C: For more information about Fireworks safety, visit.
[00:13:38] Speaker A: Readyforwildfire.Org or fire.ca.gov Right now, public media faces potential cuts that could shut down KMUD and dozens and dozens of stations like it across the country.
Here are KMAT's Jordan Panjalinan and station manager Kara Randolph discussing potential risks to public media if the proposed cuts become a reality.
[00:14:05] Speaker G: During the June 25 Wednesday hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee, both Republican and Democratic senators expressed deep reservations about President Donald Trump's plan to claw back more than a billion dollars in already approved federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Many GOP lawmakers, including Senator Susan Collins of Maine, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, said the cuts would harm programming that is more important to them and their constituents. Collins said in quote, there are more targeted approaches to addressing perceived bias in public media than rescinding all of the funding for the Corporation for Public broadcasting, end quote. McConnell said the president's entire rescission process was unnecessarily chaotic and counterproductive.
[00:14:49] Speaker H: Right now, public media faces potential budget cuts that could silence voices like KMUD across the country. But here's the thing. We're not just a radio station. We're your neighbors, covering local school board meetings when no one else will. We're the voice that stays on during emergencies, keeping you saf safe and informed. We're the platform where local musicians get their first airplay, where community issues get real discussion and where your voice actually matters. Unlike corporate media, we don't answer to advertisers or shareholders. We answer to you. That independence is precious and is fragile.
[00:15:21] Speaker G: On June 3, President Trump sent Congress a rescission request, which started a process that gives lawmakers a window of a 45 session day to adopt the cuts by a simple majority vote in both chambers. On June 12, the House narrowly voted to approve the White House's defunding request. Congress had previously approved of the 535 million a year in federal spending for CPB through the end of 2027.
[00:15:46] Speaker H: Your representatives need to hear from you about why public media matters. When you call or write to your congressperson, your senator, your city council, tell them that community radio is essential infrastructure. Tell them we're not just entertainment, we're democracy in action.
[00:16:01] Speaker G: KMUD News will have a 30 minute public affairs special July 8th with KMUD station Manager Kara Randolph and other public media advocates.
[00:16:09] Speaker H: Visit kmud.org for contact information for your representatives or call 707-923-2605 and we'll help you connect. Because when you speak up for public media, you're not just supporting a radio station, you're supporting democracy itself. This is community radio and we need your voice in the halls of power.
[00:16:31] Speaker A: People over 60, already the fastest growing demographic of the homeless population, face further peril due to the looming budget cuts.
Daniel Mintz reports.
[00:16:43] Speaker I: Like other nonprofit groups, Area 1 Agency on Aging is seeing more need for services and increased threat to funding. At its July 1 meeting, Humboldt County's Board of Supervisors fielded an annual presentation on Area 1's services and funding situation. As an era of federal cuts, possibly compounded by state cuts, advances, Area 1 executive director Maggie Craft described the agency's programs including assistance with transportation, health and nutrition, aging in place and legal services.
Housing assistance is provided through the agency's Home Share program, and Kraft said the need for it is acute and increasing.
[00:17:28] Speaker J: Our program, North Coast Home Share, matches people with housing, with people who need housing, and I would say that most of the people that take advantage of this and find a room in A house could not afford housing here otherwise.
And that is getting worse. We know that the fastest growing population of first time homeless people are people over 60 are older adults and most of the and and women are the majority of those. You're seeing more people on the street, more older people on the street.
And again, our Kate House partnership and other services that serve homeless folks are also being targeted and losing money on the federal level.
[00:18:12] Speaker I: Some proposed reductions in Older Americans act funding have been warded off, but Kraft said that quote doesn't mean there won't be cuts.
Of even more concern is the possibility of federal cuts in tandem with state cuts. Kraft said cuts to Medicaid and Medi Cal will have intense consequences and they'll be felt across the board.
[00:18:34] Speaker J: They're making a lot of changes to Medicaid, which is Medi Cal here. The challenge with that for a rural area is we need those Medi Cal dollars to pay for our health care. Not just for people who are on Medi Cal, but they help pay enough of it so that those of us on private insurance or Medicare can also get coverage. Our doctors and all of our professionals are serving all of us. You take out a major funding source in a rural area and you're going to see big changes that impact the rest of us. So that is something that I think we're looking at right now.
Also the CalFresh funding, the federal SNAP funding that is going to devastate our community.
There's a lot of working people here who use food for people. Most, most of people using food for people are children, seniors or working adults.
[00:19:28] Speaker I: The 2024-2025 Area 1 budget is $3.6 million through a combination of federal, state, local and donation funding. Kraft said the 2025-2026 budget is expected to drop to $3 million.
Area 1 services are in addition to a broader range provided through larger pools of funding. She told supervisors there's concern that funding losses will impact services that are beyond the scope of Area 1.
[00:19:59] Speaker J: Our money that we get, we have to do specific things with it. We can't take the nutrition money and go and do something else. Our money is siloed and specific.
We're the icing on the cake and the cake is health care.
It's housing, it's food.
If you damage those things in our communities, which is what we're seeing, you don't need icing anymore if you don't have a cake.
So one of the things we will be watching is how depending on what happens at the state and federal levels. As that cake gets taken away, what leeway do we have to stop giving people icing and maybe give them something more nutritious?
And I'm not saying this to minimize the services we provide. I just showed them to you. They're important services.
But giving people rides to doctors doesn't make sense if they don't have insurance or they don't have a doctor anymore.
[00:20:58] Speaker I: During a public comment session, former Humboldt County Supervisor Virginia Bass said she's the newest member of the California Senior Legislature, which lobbies for senior services.
She encouraged the board and county groups to work on senior issues with organizations that represent counties and rural counties.
Supervisor Mike Wilson echoed that and motioned to direct the county's legislative consultants to send a letter to our membership organizations to voice concern over the potential cuts Kraft described.
The board voted unanimously to do that. The letter will also be sent to state and federal legislative representatives in Eureka For KMUD News, this is Daniel Mentz.
[00:21:43] Speaker A: As we head for home base on this Fourth of July eve newscast, here is Ray Hamel with the sports report.
[00:21:51] Speaker E: The local Little League All Star season is heating up with two more district champions crowned last week and a number of local teams gearing up for the section tournaments, including one that will be hosted here on the North Coast. Hello and welcome to this week's KMWOOD News Sports Report. I'm Ray hamill with humboldt sports.com we'll have lots more on all of the local All Star teams in just a moment as we take a look at all of the big local sports stories of the week, including the latest on the Humble Crabs and some American Legion baseball news. But first up, the local Little League All Star season is building momentum as some of the best young players in Humboldt county paint a bright picture for the future of baseball in the area. The last week a pair of district champions were crowned after dominating runs through their respective tournaments. The District 268 to 10 year olds tournament took place in Fortuna and was hosted by Eel River Little League and the host team took home the championship banner with a big week, winning all three of their games including a 3 to 1 win over rival McKinleyville in the championship round. The team pitching and defense helped set the tone. Eel river opened with a 161 win over Klamath Trinity followed that with a thrilling 8 to 7 walk off win over Redwood Empire to advance to the championship round. Eel Rivers Carter Bess was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in the decisive run in the final inning and things get even better for the district 10 year old champions Eel river not only advances to the section tournament, but the local association will get to host it as well. With the five team tournament opening on Friday of next week, Fireman's park in Ferndale, the host team will enjoy an opening round bye and will begin play on Saturday at 2pm in 11 year old all star action. The District 26 tournament also took place last week and was hosted by Southern Humboldt with Redwood Empire taking home the championship banner. The RE LL players defeated a spirited clamour Trinity team 239 in the final game, capping a dominating 30 run through the tournament. But they had to battle all the way in the decider despite the final lopsided score with the game competitive until late. According to Clamat Trinity coaches, it was the first time their association reached a district championship game since 1989.
Ultimately, however, it was the Redwood Empire players who prevailed the to keep their summer season going. In addition to the championship game victory, Redwood Empire also defeated Eel River 52 in their tournament opener and then got the better of Clamat Trinity 111 in their second game to advance to the championship round. The Redwood Empire All Stars will now head to Chico for their section tournament which gets underway late next week. All of the section winners will advance to the NORCAL State tournaments, which is as far as the 10 year old and 11 year old all Stars can go. And the good news for District 26 teams is that they usually fare very well at the section tournaments in 12 year old all Star action. Meanwhile, Mckinleyville was crowned district Champion after going undefeated in tournament play this week. Playing at Hiller park in McKinleyville, the host team defeated Redwood Empire 32 on a walk off in the championship round on Wednesday night.
The Mack All Stars scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to overturn a two run deficit. They will now advance to the section tournament, but unlike the younger All Stars, they can keep playing all the way to the nationally televised Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania providing they keep winning in Junior league action. Meanwhile, the Mckinleyville All Stars won the district championship last month and the 13 year olds will open play at the section tournament this weekend in Yuba City. This group of talented McKinleyville players have dominated here on the north coast in recent years and they will like their chances of playing for a NORCAL State title after placing as high as second there three years ago. California and Texas are the only two states that award two state championships, with Northern California and Southern California champions crowned annually elsewhere in local sports this week it was another busy week for the Humboldt Crabs over the weekend. The local collegiate summer baseball club won two of three Pacific Empire League games against the Lincoln Potters including a thrilling walk off victory on Saturday night. Playing the Potters for the second straight weekend, the Crabs took the series opener by a score of 1410 in a high scoring showdown. They followed that with a 32 win in 10 innings on 6 Saturday night before dropping the series finale 141 on Sunday.
Having also taken two of three games against the Potters in Lincoln the previous weekend, the Crabs have won four of their six matchups against the league powerhouse to leave themselves well on track to qualify for this year's Pacific Empire League Championship Series.
The Crabs, who also defeated the Marysville Giants 53 in non league action on Tuesday night, will return to league play this weekend when they host the Solano Mudcats at the Arcata Ballpark. The three game series gets underway on Friday afternoon with a special Fourth of July showdown at 2:30pm which is always one of the most popular games of the summer. The two clubs will also play on Saturday night at 6:30 before closing out the series on Sunday afternoon at 12:30. The Crabs will then hit the road for the final time next week when they travel to Medford to play three league games against the Rogues on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. And rounding out a busy week for local baseball, the Humboldt Eagles are on a roll after stretching their winning streak in American Legion ball to five straight games on Sunday. The Eagles entertained Sonoma County Legion at Bellotti Field in Eureka and won both games of a doubleheader by scores of 95 and 142 in five innings. Branson Dobrik and Cooper Olson both had big performances on the way to posting the wins on the mound while Alex Jimenez led the way at the plate in Game 2, finishing 4 for 4 with a Triple A double and five RBIs. The Eagles will continue a busy few weeks when they play at the five day Firecracker Classic Tournament in Fairfield this weekend. The Eagles will also host their annual 19U and 17U tournaments national next week in Eureka with the action getting underway on Thursday.
And that's this week's KMUD News Sports Report. Until next time, I'm Ray Hamill with Humboldtsports.com.
[00:28:40] Speaker A: tTat's all for tonight's broadcast, thanks to our engineer Lisa Music and thanks to our reporters Kristine Alexandria, Nat Cardos, Jordan Pangelinan, Daniel Mintz and Ray Hammill.
My name is Sigur-Björn wishing you a joyful Independence Day.
[00:29:05] Speaker B: KMUD News is online. You can find us on kmud.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 commute. You can also follow us on social media.
If you have questions or suggestions, you can give us a call at 707-923-2605 or send an email to newsemed.org Redwood.
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