A little before 3:30 A.M. this morning, State Route 200 which connects 299 to Hwy 101 north of Arcata experienced a slide.  Four trees and mud partially blocked the route.  Three of the four lanes were closed. Caltrans has most of the slide removed to the roadside at this point but take care.

Photo of the band from High Grade Allstars website

UPDATE 4:50 P.M. 1/25: Here is a booking photo of Billy Norbury arrested January 14th for public intoxication of alcohol.

Mendocino reggae artist Jamal Andrews, age 30, died of a gunshot wound late last night, January 24th.  Andrews was a member of High Grade Allstars.  The band had played at Reggae Rising and had Humboldt as well as Mendocino friends and fans. The suspect is Billy Norbury, age 33 and a neighbor of Andrews.

Below is a track, “Smoke Weed Every Day,” from the band’s album.

Smoke Weed Every Day

Mendocino County Sheriff Press Release:

On 1-24-2012 at approximately 2157 the Mendocino County Sheriffs Office received a 911 telephone call regarding a shooting incident in the 1700 Block of Road B in Redwood Valley,CA.

Mendocino County Sheriffs Deputies along with Redwood Valley Fire and other medical personnel responded to the location and found the victim outside of his residence had succumbed to a gunshot injury at the hands of another.

Deputies spoke with the victim’s girlfriend and learned that a possible suspect had fled towards his residence on an atv.

Mendocino County Sheriffs Deputies learned the suspect lived in close proximity of the victim.

Deputies proceeded to the possible suspect’s residence to contact him regarding the incident. During their contact at his residence, they observed in plain sight items that appeared to link the suspect directly to the shooting incident.

The suspect was placed under arrest and booked into the Mendocino County Jail on the listed charge.

Mendocino County Sheriffs Detectives arrived at the scene and are currently conducting further investigation into the incident.

A forensic autopsy will be conducted in the coming days and further information will be released as it develops.

Update from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

After the theft occurred from the museum, staff and deputies immediately began notifying pawn shops, and various organizations about the stolen property and its description. At approximately 11:45 a.m. Eureka Police was notified by Heritage Antiques in Eureka that someone was at the business attempting to sell Native American Hats which matched the description of the stolen hats. Eureka Police responded and detained two subjects until the Sheriff’s Office could arrive on scene. The investigating deputy interviewed the two detained men and determined that one of the men, Carter Daniels, 30 years old of Eureka was in possession of the stolen Native American Hats. Daniels was arrested for possession of stolen property. He was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility; his bail is set at $25,000.00. The officers recovered seven of the eleven missing hats. The hats are estimated to be over 100 years old and were made by the Yurok and Hoopa Tribes.

Follow-up is still being conducted on this case, and deputies are attempting to locate the remaining four stolen hats. Additional charges and arrests are posssible. Anyone with information for the Sheriffs Office regarding this case or criminal related activity is encouraged to call the Sheriffs Office at 707-445-7251 or the Sheriffs Office Crime Tip
line 707-268-2539.

Photo of ziptie by reader

Yesterday, both Humboldt and Mendocino Boards of Supervisors blinked in the face of Federal push back.  According to the Times Standard (read the whole article here,)

Staff with the [Humboldt] county counsel’s office said the moratorium is the safest legal course of action in an atmosphere where it’s still unclear whether cities and counties can regulate medical marijuana dispensaries. Deputy County Counsel Davina Smith said all eyes are now on the California Supreme Court, which agreed last week to review whether federal law pre-empts local jurisdictions.

Pack versus Superior Court of Los Angeles is the case referred to by Smith. There are several issues involved in that case but one is that Long Beach “required dispensaries to have their cannabis tested, which mean that it mandated them to break federal law.” {Tip of the hat to Michael Myer whose comments on this blog I quoted}) According to the Times Standard again,

Smith said a decision is expected within the next 12 to 18 months. In the meantime, she said, the county is vulnerable to legal action.

Humboldt County Administrative Officer Phillip Smith-Hanes said the county is working to make progress on an ordinance that would govern outdoor cultivation of medical marijuana for personal use. Smith-Hanes said the board directed county staff to create an ordinance similar to one used in Mendocino County…. He said both Mendocino and Humboldt counties are now looking at a registration-based ordinance, similar to one used in Tehama County.

”It seems like the Tehama County ordinance would stand up to legal scrutiny,” Smith-Hanes said.

The Mendocino Supervisors decided to back down on the “zip-tie” ordinance yesterday also. According to the Ukiah Daily Journal,

“They were threatening to file an injunction against our ordinance and try to throw it out in court, and also threatening to individually go after county officials who were supporting these laws, which they believed to be in violation of federal law,” 5th District Supervisor Dan Hamburg said after the vote.

Hamburg and 1st District Supervisor Carre Brown supported Nadel’s recommendation, worried that the federal government would withhold money that comes to Mendocino County for its social service and other programs.

The Mendocino meeting had “a steady stream of speakers” urging the Mendocino Board to fight the Federal government.  The UDJ offers details on suggestions by the speakers. The article is well worth the read.

______________________

Hat tip to Emerald Triangle News for Headline idea.

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On 01-25-2012, approximately 5:15 a.m. the Humboldt County Sheriffs Office was notified of an alarm at the Blue Lake Museum, 330 Railroad Avenue, Blue Lake. Deputies were immediately dispatched to the scene. While the deputies were enroute, a citizen called the Sheriff’s Office after hearing the alarm and told the dispatcher they could see someone was inside the museum. Prior to the deputies’ arrival the citizen saw the suspect flee on foot towards Hatchery road. The citizen described the suspect as being dressed all in black.

When the deputies arrived on scene they saw the front door to the museum had been forced in and was damaged. The deputies searched the area for the suspect(s) with no success. With the assistance of museum staff, deputies were able to determine eleven antique female Native American Basket Hats were stolen. These hats range in estimated value from $1,200 to $3,500 dollars each. The glass case in which the hats were stored in was also smashed. The investigation into this case is continuing.

An excellent piece on trimmers who come here from outside the area in the Williamette Week. 

Marijuana is big business in Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity counties, popularly referred to as the Emerald Triangle. A Mendocino County-sponsored report says cannabis accounts for two-thirds of the economy of that county, with economic gains of more than $1 billion annually. 

That’s a tremendous amount of money from three counties with a combined population of approximately 236,000—less than half that of the city of Portland. 

Like any agrarian industry, the Emerald Triangle’s medicinal and illegal growers alike rely on manual labor—a scissor-wielding, seasonal worker army rivaling Aspen’s ski industry.

Read the rest of this excellent piece here.

The Ukiah Daily Journal is reporting that today the Mendocino County supervisors

voted 4-1 to eliminate the county’s medical marijuana permit program Tuesday after more than an hour of public comment.

Third District Supervisor John Pinches dissented, saying the county should repeal its medical marijuana ordinance, County Code 9.31, completely and calling marijuana law “confusing.”

Responding to a threat of legal action from Melinda Haag of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mendocino County Counsel Jeanine Nadel proposed that the Board of Supervisors remove from the ordinance all language referring to a program that allows collectives to grow up to 99 plants per parcel with a permit.

“They were threatening to file an injunction against our ordinance and try to throw it out in court, and also threatening to individually go after county officials who were supporting these laws, which they believed to be in violation of federal law,” 5th District Supervisor Dan Hamburg said after the vote.

Hamburg and 1st District Supervisor Carre Brown supported Nadel’s recommendation, worried that the federal government would withhold money that comes to Mendocino County for its social service and other programs.

Second District Supervisor John McCowen argued that removing the permitting program would boost black market prices for marijuana and make it more readily available to children.

The permitting program allows collectives an exemption to the county’s 25-plant-per-parcel plant limit if they get a permit and follow a set of

rules. Nadel’s revised ordinance returns to the 25-plant limit for all growers.

For more on the story go here.