California Report: Eureka Is One of ‘Most Dangerous and Drug-Addicted Communities’ in the State

 

The California Report logo

Today’s California Report took a look at Eureka which they called both a “small town” and one of “most dangerous and drug-addicted communities” in the state. Above is a recording or listen to it on their site.

John Sepulvado interviews a man addicted to meth and the Humboldt County Sheriff Billy Honsal.

Sepulvado ends the piece with…”Not everything is dreary here…There are lots of great people, good eats, and, of course, some of the most majestic natural wonders you will ever lay your eyes on.”

There will be more stories coming from Humboldt on the California Report.

 

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Cops kill at will but work reluctantly
Guest
Cops kill at will but work reluctantly
6 years ago

Yes it’s pretty dangerous when police shoot citizens in the back and/or when they’re still too young to vote etc.

the misadventures of bunjee
Guest
the misadventures of bunjee
6 years ago

And there it is…..the first trolltastic post of the thread. You mad bro?

BBAU
Guest
5 years ago

The cops here do a great job and a hard job. They’ve given us a lot of breaks. They don’t bother us. If you are employed with a car and dabble, they hope you stop don’t want to f you. They mind their own business. If you are some a hole-a big one- then that’s what it takes and its your problem not theirs.

Owl
Guest
Owl
6 years ago

so who or what is the California Report and why should we believe them?

Veterans Friend
Guest
Veterans Friend
6 years ago
Reply to  Owl

It is on KHSU mornings & evenings. Produced by KQED in the bay area. Has pretty good & comprehensive stories on California issues.
Today’s was most interesting in that there was a long spiel by our corrupt Sheriff. I recommend listening😁☠

Dr Mad
Guest
Dr Mad
6 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

What is NPR?

Mike Sernersky
Guest
Mike Sernersky
6 years ago
Reply to  Dr Mad

The same radio network who fired Juan Williams due to the fact he was Fox News token Democrat

Melissa Welch
Guest
Melissa Welch
1 year ago
Reply to  Dr Mad

Is that a joke question? [edit]..National Public Radio. It’s the most popular radio station in the country.

Steve
Guest
Steve
6 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

All you lefties make sure to tune in and by all means drink the cool aid!

Cranky Old Lady
Guest
Cranky Old Lady
6 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Thank you Kym. These folks who trust these fake news sites worry me. To totally inject politics into the thread, a populace who isn’t informed can’t maintain our democracy. It infuriates me when our alleged leaders denigrate the media and for such a small but vocal segment of the nation to agree is appalling. It just underscores the ignorance that hangs like a toxic cloud over us all.

Your mom
Guest
Your mom
6 years ago
Reply to  Steve

Says the guy who gobbles up Fox “News” like it’s candy.

J. Worthingham Fatback
Guest
J. Worthingham Fatback
6 years ago
Reply to  Steve

and you righties play with young kids, ie, your heros, Roy Moore, DJ “Golden Showers” Trump et al!

Guest
Guest
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  Steve

Oh, you must mean drink the stupid Kool-Aid that is served to all conservatives. Tastes great and you don’t have to worry bout that thinking stuff!!

J. Worthingham Fatback
Guest
J. Worthingham Fatback
6 years ago

Cops kill at will blah blah blah, and the rest of whomever gives a shit: For 10 years or more, some of us have remained steady in demanding that the local law enforcement groups kick the fucking scum out of the way, to the curb, and into prison, but the yokels vote in prop 47, 45, and every other wimp-ass bill that allows, even promotes these bastards from all over the country and even further to move in, get welfare checks mailed to a PO Box, and pillage the area.
Well, its your party and you can cry if you want to, but there are two ways to go.
1) spend the next 5-10 years locking these turnstile shitheads up for LONG sentences, and if needed, set up tent camps like the Arizona fool, or,
2) give it to ’em and let ’em rip rob and kill each other for 5-10 years, then move back, sweep up the place, burn the remains, and start enjoying like in the North Country again. (I’d wait until services like Doctors, hospital staffers and a safe enough environment to entice visitors to again try a trip via the coast are reinstalled)!
I took the latter, and damn, it feels nice to wake up with my garden hose still there!

wurking stiff
Guest
wurking stiff
6 years ago

You should move!
We won’t miss your whining.
Serious problems don’t get solved by whining or bankrupting ourselves with a blanket policy of over incarceration. That is what got us into the mess we found ourselves in when the state was nearly belly up financially.
And, I agree there needs to be a better way than what we are doing now, but the previous way did not work either!
Doubtless, there is a rational way between locking everybody up forever and letting every violator to run free.
And attempting to “ship” them away is illegal also.

The legend
Guest
The legend
6 years ago

Obviosly there aware of the sh*t the eureka police do regularly, killing at will, sheriff dept killing and stealing ftom dead folks, good lord what has happen to us to sit back and let them do this

(Not that) Guest
Guest
(Not that) Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  The legend

Right? How in the world is FJ still mayor after his disgusting behavior!!!??

Steve
Guest
Steve
6 years ago
Reply to  The legend

Only in your California…

Workadayguy
Guest
Workadayguy
6 years ago

Good, shine a light on the blighted metropolis in the Far North. The truth hurts. Any out of area potential home buyers or the much valued EcoTourists will bring this series up on a search of the community. Property values will be affected. Why not rename it ‘Squiresville’ and be done with it. Sad situation here California, beware.

(Not that) Guest
Guest
(Not that) Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  Workadayguy

Haha that’s what I call the Harris and California corner complete with many exhibiting the Squiresville shuffle resultant from pants sitting at the mid thigh level.

Blue dog
Guest
Blue dog
6 years ago

Turn the jail into a rehab center jail and build a new state of the art mental health facility with a bond repaid with the county cannabis tax money. The community along with our leaders need to turn around this downward spiral. Are we becoming complacent to how bad the drug addiction, crime and homelessness is around us?

the misadventures of bunjee
Guest
the misadventures of bunjee
6 years ago
Reply to  Blue dog

That will never happen. Seen the latest budget forcast for Eureka and Humboldt? $400 million and 30% of it is gone to “overhead”, pensions and debt payments before anyone else sees a dime. And they’re in the red for the foreseeable future without huge cuts or tax hikes. Mental health facilities are down on the list of needs, and that’s unfortunate.

Antichrist
Guest
Antichrist
6 years ago

Hard to agree when people complain about having to fund pensions, as those people worked those jobs with their pensions included as part of their pay. To me it is no differant than being told you are working for 20 an hour and when you get your paycheck it is only 10. Those folks upheld their end of the labor contract in good faith. Alot of those jobs requored great personal sacerfice , such as working on christmas or other holidays instead of spending them with their families, or placing their lives in danger . To complain about having to pay for the work they did under the agreements of their employment, is a nonstarter imo

ugh
Guest
ugh
6 years ago

Wow im sorry for you and the people you are around, the majority of people I’ve known here for the past 26 years are great.
There are huge drug problems everywhere and actually the “dustbowl” states have incredibly high addiction rates, mainly meth.
Maine has the worst heroin problem in the country.
The bay area has tons of addicts, they’re just on the pills like most teens/young adults instead of the “street drugs”

If you’re referring to alcohol addicts then I would certainly agree but I doubt that’s what you mean.
Alcohol by far is the worst drug out there, second only to white sugar.

I ❤️ Eureka
Guest
I ❤️ Eureka
6 years ago

Eureka is a city with so much potential but the county supervisors nor the city officials have done one thing to entice jobs here, especially tech jobs. Eureka is a hidden jewel where it still is an affordable place to live surrounded by natural beauty. We need an influx of younger people in government in Humboldt, ones who have their finger on the pulse to steer the fair city by the bay in the right direction. It sad that the supervisors have wasted so much time on the legalization issue as the real future has passed us by.
P.S. Of course we need more outreach/detox programs to help ones afflicted with addiction. Addicts don’t want to be addicts but it’s not easy to overcome fear and admit you need help.

DELUSIONAL LIBERAL
Guest
DELUSIONAL LIBERAL
6 years ago

GOVERNMENT IS THE PROBLEM! No more government employees if you want to change this area do it yourself

Jaekelopterus
Guest
Jaekelopterus
6 years ago

Wow, that’s a really good idea. We’ll let the free market deal with unemployment and the crank epidemic, two things the free market can’t get enough of.

jeffersonian
Guest
jeffersonian
6 years ago

eureka was a hidden jewel. now it is a permanently tarnished,drug-ridden, overcrowded, poverty-stricken,delapidated, crime-ridden mess governed by a council that has a bandaid mentality,promotes drugs and has millions of dollars in unfunded pension liability for its overpaid employees.

Finest
Guest
Finest
6 years ago
Reply to  jeffersonian

Um… Do you have any inclination what eureka or the whole north coast has always been.. loggers, fisherman.. think about how crass the 1800 and early 1900 and beyond were? This is the land of outlaws.. and you gotta get used to it.

local observer
Guest
local observer
6 years ago
Reply to  jeffersonian

yet the problem solely falls on not educating your kids. it has already been determined that this is true for the entire West which has been labeled an epidemic of drug addicted homeless.

Anon Forrest
Guest
Anon Forrest
6 years ago
Reply to  local observer

I totally agree; the education of our children (or the lack of it) is indeed at the heart of our problems.

For me, the education of my child was too important to leave to chance. I home-schooled my daughter until high school, although I barely made it through high school myself. I did it to make certain that her values, heart and self-awareness were firmly in place before introducing her to the “greater” society. She graduated from the college of her choice (debt-free) on scholarships and part-time jobs, Cum Laude, and now teaches Teachers her skills.

The only surprise she had in attending that first day of public education was this: “Mom, the other kids treat the teachers like adversaries.” Socialization is only as good as the social context it occupies. Or, “Sleep with dogs, get fleas.”

local observer
Guest
local observer
6 years ago
Reply to  Anon Forrest

that’s why homework might be done away with. it makes you fear and then hate. I still have frustration dreams related to it and I haven’t had any since 1992 when I graduated college.

Asha
Guest
Asha
5 years ago
Reply to  Anon Forrest

Hello, I’m interested in what you had to say as we are planning on moving to Eureka in a month! (Husband got transferred) I have two girls 6 month old and a 3 year old. We are coming from the bay area. What was it like homeschooling?

The Truth
Guest
The Truth
6 years ago
Reply to  jeffersonian

Spend a little time learning the history of Humboldt County. We are not an inherently peaceable or likable people. We got our land by stealing it from the Indians and we killed as many of them as we could because we didn’t like to be reminded of our culpability. We drove the Blacks and Chinese out of our communities. Tar and feathers were an effective deterrent. We tried to do the same with Unions.

We are not a nice people. It took years for us to accept the Portuguese and Italians and the Irish. We live at the edge of America, not because it is beautiful but because it is further away from that which we do not like. We are a lot like Alaska. We used to be called America’s last frontier before Alaska was accepted as a state.

We almost killed the Redwoods and would have if the environmentalists had not stepped in. We killed the major Salmon runs in the Eel, Van Duzen, Mad, Klamath, Mattole and Trinity rivers. We have destroyed almost all of the other local fisheries and polluted our bays and rivers and oceans. We are a blight on the world. We have raised children so fucked up that even we don’t like them. And because of our own stupidity and ignorance and greed, the world will probably squash us in the mayhem caused by global warming.

Shel
Guest
Shel
6 years ago

Affordable? What’s your definition of ‘affordable’?

Vanessa
Guest
Vanessa
6 years ago

Thanks Betty Chin

Thinking allowed
Guest
Thinking allowed
6 years ago

God, we’re a sad bunch of whiny fools. Drug addiction, lack of employment, poverty, social devastation. All those things are self inflicted. They are not a disease or a natural phenomenon or an Act of God. They could change within a generation if we chose not to acquiese to those who spread ugliness around them by the handfuls. The only thing missing is the will to value the good above the bad.

Stop accepting bad behaviour as the norm
Guest
Stop accepting bad behaviour as the norm
6 years ago

Well said thinking person!

Jaekelopterus
Guest
Jaekelopterus
6 years ago

Poverty, drugs abuse and unemployment are all desired and sought after by the rich. They drive the cost of labor down and make labor organization more difficult. This problem is nation wide. We need a new New Deal.

Guest
Guest
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  Jaekelopterus

Sure. That idea certainly has the advantage of blaming someone else. Unlimited immigration is the tool the rich like to drive down wages. In that they have a good friend in the Democrats and liberals. When those two find common cause with each other, doom is assured.

DELUSIONAL LIBERAL
Guest
DELUSIONAL LIBERAL
6 years ago

O I know lets keep it so bad that the State will want to divide north/south CA to be rid of us then we can start to rebuild our broken communities from the liberal progressive agenda that created the problem to begin with.

Antichrist
Guest
Antichrist
6 years ago

One has to wonder just who the califorina report is, and where they get their funding. Are they political nutural or what agenda do they have .

Thinking allowed
Guest
Thinking allowed
6 years ago
Reply to  Antichrist

NPR I think.

guestagain
Guest
guestagain
6 years ago

KQED. Radio “Magazine”. they do interesting stories from all over the state. Not NPR funded, though carried on local public radios across California. generally good stories. I think you probably wouldn’t be too hard pressed to call it “liberally biased”, but i’ve heard really well balanced stories out of it. Was pretty bummed to hear the Eureka story, but outside perspective is good.

Jaekelopterus
Guest
Jaekelopterus
6 years ago
Reply to  Antichrist

Everything from listeners to the Koch Brothers and big pharma. Its all over the map.

Cabin in the woods
Guest
Cabin in the woods
6 years ago

Time for citizens to step up to the plate & take their communities back. The police don’t give a shit about your safety or property.

I live on McFarlan St. in Eureka. Greenbelt out behind my house w/ a trail/service road that goes to Zane Jr. High soccer field.

Since our dumbshit city officials decided it was it the communities best interest to uproot the entire homeless population of Eureka & disperse them throughout the county, this aforementioned trail has become a new campground/ slithering ground for dirtbags.

Someone has been starting fires behind Zane several times throughout this summer & as recently as 3-4 weeks ago.

Several of my neighbors & I walk the trail that eventually connects w/ the dog park behind the old General Hospital. Recently my neighbors cleaned an entire cigar box full of used syringes off of Zane property near the soccer field. I have also seen cooked can bottoms, tinfoil & sooty spoons along trails edge & Harrison St. while walking my dog. I’ve walked this same path daily for 20 years & it was never like this…………….

Back to the fire a few week back… Some of my neighbors observed people camping in the exact location prior to the last fire at Zane. Police were called. Police came & talked to the illegal campers who had moved to a new location & denied any connection to the fire. No arrests were made. No shits given.
So at this point in time Zane has also been contacted about the illegal camping & they do nothing except tell you to notify the police. No shits given.

One morning my neighbors told me the same people were now camping on my back lot. They could see them using their cell phones at night.
I called the police on a Saturday morning to let them know that I wasn’t going to tolerate a potential arsonist camping on my lot & their dispatchers response was “I’ll notify POPS & they’ll check it out on Monday.” As you could imagine, this enraged me. I let the dispatcher know that I was going to remove them from my property IMMEDIATELY, w/ whatever force necessary. She advised against this & was a really nasty snoot.

I went down to my back lot & the raccoons had spread my unwanted guests garbage all over the place during the night.
The two were sprawled out w/ their belonging all over my lot. One male & one female. Female was incredibly dope sick. She wasn’t in any shape to go anywhere. I asked if she needed medical attention & she said she didn’t. I then told them they had a half an hour to pack up their belongings & be gone by the time I came back.

I went back in an hour & they were still there, on the nod, so I woke them up. This time the little scrawny guy started asking who owned the property & who I was & blah, blah. I stopped him dead in his sentence & reassured him that I was in fact ‘The last person that he wanted to fuck with at that moment, on that day’.
I repeated my previous demand that they needed to be off my lot, w/ all of the garbage cleaned up by the time I came back.

Fortunately for them, they listened. To my surprise, they were cleaning up camp & the guy was looking for the quickest way to get his dope sick girlfriend away from me.
They moved down the trail a couple hundred yards & made camp behind someone else’s house.

By this time the neighborhood watch on facebook was buzzing w/ the info & the careless campers were eventually driven out of our neighborhood only to settle down in the woods behind your houses in your neighborhoods.

Soccer moms should think twice before letting their kids play on Zane’s lower field.

Richard
Guest
Richard
6 years ago

This is what happens when you eliminate shame and punishment for antisocial behavior. The barbarians take over. It is so obvious yet so few people these days will acknowledge it.

Jaekelopterus
Guest
Jaekelopterus
6 years ago
Reply to  Richard

Shame is not going to make a mentally ill homeless person not mentally ill or homeless any more.

Guest
Guest
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  Jaekelopterus

Neither is a rousing chorus of blaming everyone you dislike. Try participating yourself.

El Cid
Guest
El Cid
6 years ago

This is getting out of control! Two days ago, I witnessed a woman walking down West Grant St, checking out garbage cans. She looked up and down the street, and then checked the front door of a house. Finding it locked, she tried the gate to the back yard and entered. I notified a neighbor, and he went into the yard and escorted her out. A friend in Fieldbrook got his front window smashed a couple of days ago, and all his tools were stolen. That is his only way of making a living. A sheriff vehicle showed up to take a report. The sign on the truck said “Community Service Officer”, and the a bumper sticker said “Funded by Measure Z Tax Dollars.” Nice guy, but he offered no solution or even an investigation. He is basicly a “Shoulder to cry on!” Does anyone actually feel safer with a “Community Service Officer” taking your reports? We keep voting for better roads and community safety, and we get neither. Time for a change!

HOGRANCH
Guest
HOGRANCH
6 years ago

YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW. LIVE BY THE SWORD DIE BY THE SWORD.
KEEP ON PUFFIN!

John Ripper
Guest
John Ripper
6 years ago

Would it be possible to round up and export all of the druggies, losers and degenerates? They could be taken so far away, they would never return — New Jersey; West Virgina; Florida, wherever. It would require enough buses to carry all of them, plus enough food for the trip. 3 cops for each bus; one to drive, one to keep guard and the other resting. Probably all of this would be illegal but who is going to complain? Is some drugged out loser going to file a lawsuit because he was given a free ride to Newark or Detroit? Give each bum $100 or so to start a new life in their new location.

Jack Tripper
Guest
Jack Tripper
6 years ago
Reply to  John Ripper

Hmm… Sounds like what SF used to do. Until they got caught sending their shit up north. Sounds good tho…

Anon Forrest
Guest
Anon Forrest
6 years ago
Reply to  Jack Tripper

“Ovens?????” This poster needs to be taken out.

Jack Tripper
Guest
Jack Tripper
6 years ago
Reply to  John Ripper

Round up? Export? Your ‘stache is really cool…

John Ripper
Guest
John Ripper
6 years ago
Reply to  Jack Tripper

You can laugh all you want but Hitler was far from all bad. Remember, history is written by the victors.

Jaekelopterus
Guest
Jaekelopterus
6 years ago
Reply to  John Ripper

[edit] The “improvements” Hitler made to Germany were based on unsustainable military aggression, unbelievable luck, violent suppression of labor and mass murder. The country only lasted a decade before it was comletely destroyed. Even the North Korean Kim family has a better record running a country.

Cops kill at will but work reluctantly
Guest
Cops kill at will but work reluctantly
6 years ago
Reply to  John Ripper

You don’t think jersey has their own disenfranchised? Shall we take theirs in an equal exchange?
Why do we not see that homeless numbers exploded after the 2008 vacuuming of our economy by the bankers? Why do we not see that the economy is the problem, and homelessness and the hopelessness that goes with it are symptoms of the problem?????
The tax plan that just passed will vacuum what’s left of the middle class away while we continue to blame the poorest and the weakest among us. Put them in jail so we don’t have to face off with the truth.

spam
Guest
spam
6 years ago

ding ding ding ding!

This.

Guest
Guest
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  John Ripper

The county did that for many years. It was called Greyhound therapy. In typical conservative fashion, it was another stupid idea that was expensive. It costs money to buy the ticket and the biggest problem is that the road runs both ways. So, all communities do is switch problems, not solve them. All harsh solutions do is make for more dead people and don’t forget, most liberals have guns and know how to shoot too.

Mike
Guest
Mike
6 years ago

What I can’t believe is that people are trying to argue this! Yeah who does this “California report” think they are stating the obvious? Oh and yeah, the police overstepped their authority so eureka can’t be a drug infested s***hole. Haha!

Rusty
Guest
Rusty
6 years ago
Reply to  Mike

Totally up voting Mike, the truth hurts.

tetanus
Guest
tetanus
6 years ago
Reply to  Rusty

Man, I hope you can up vote a whole bunch!

LabeledaNazi
Guest
LabeledaNazi
6 years ago

Ahhhhh duh!?

Tall Trees
Guest
Tall Trees
6 years ago

I missed this one, thanks tons!!!

Thinking allowed
Guest
Thinking allowed
6 years ago

What can be said about a population that calls pot ‘medicine’ and not a drug. As if ‘medicine’ should be considered something other than a drug anyway. I guess it’s magic.

local observer
Guest
local observer
6 years ago

but this is about meth and heroin and unemployment and genetics.

Thinking allowed
Guest
Thinking allowed
6 years ago
Reply to  local observer

And drifting down of personal standards. There may be a genetic tendency to be more easily addicted but there is no genetic tendency (that will not be an insult) to not go there in the first place. That is what using any drug does. Alcohol, pot, pills. It’s so easy that when more is wanted, and the last one did not kill you, another drug is available. I think people should fear aspirin. And that is not altogether being facetious.

At least I hope there is no all consuming genetic tendency to start taking drugs because that would fatal for our society.

local observer
Guest
local observer
6 years ago

I was referring to mental illness, its genetic. this entire show took place on 4th Street in Eureka. I am in old town everyday. when you blame weed on this you just sound ignorant or a former CAMP participant. these people have nothing but drugs.

Guest
Guest
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  local observer

Hardly anyone was born in their current homeless state. There is a reason for different results, even in the same family.

Apparently you have had little to do with a wide assortment of mentally ill people. But I can tell you they generally exhibit the same tendencies as the public at large despite their issues. There are the courageous and the cowardly, the intelligent and the sgupid, the hateful and the kind, the hard working and those who only work hard at avoiding work. Exactly the same characteristics when the time is taken to listen past the eccentric thoughts.

You should practice what you preach (constantly) with the posters here before you lecture anyone. Picking out one word and assigning your own blinkered thoughts to berate someone on what you kean the person to say.

Go back. Read carefully and understand before whizzing off. Hold off judging until you have actually understood what was said. Then ask questions if you find you can’t make sense of it before ripping people.

onrust8
Guest
onrust8
6 years ago

If you watch any TV at all, you will notice that every 4th ad is an advertisement for some kind of prescription drug.

minsheng
Guest
minsheng
6 years ago

Although WHO is not technically a “population” of people, they certainly are populated by medical professionals. They (I imagine) would respectfully disagree with your diatribe.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5175825/Medical-marijuana-NO-public-health-risks-declares.html

Education is the key to limiting drug use/abuse, improving job opportunities for those not going to college, and we MUST build new schools rather than more prisons. The Board of Supervisors (not just the current one) has failed this community for decades — since the decline of the fishing and timber industries. They (collectively) lacked vision, lacked the ability to think outside the box (which is Humboldt County), and as one other poster posited, this county should have sought tech companies decades ago, the Supes should have encouraged HSU to adopt more computer language degrees, other tech degrees (network infrastructure, network management), and now application development and artificial intelligence. Change the name of the mascot @ HSU from the Lumberjacks to The Geeks. Too little, too late, but still not too late to change. Start electing people who have built shit rather than those who just talk shit.

DELUSIONAL LIBERAL
Guest
DELUSIONAL LIBERAL
6 years ago
Reply to  minsheng

Dear Missheng information: It has been apparent to me that the education system is liberal indoctrination I realized that years ago the liberal professor had not a clue how to go out and fight for a living in the real world I have been a successful business owner now for years!!

Cranky Old Lady
Guest
Cranky Old Lady
6 years ago

So because of this (erroneous) belief, you wish to deny education to others because you believe they MIGHT be exposed to progressive ideas?

The notion might startle you, but people go to college to learn and to explore other ideas. Then, like you did, they hopefully become informed enough to make decisions about their own pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. That you would deny and/or belittle this ability to others speaks volumes about you and none of it nice.

DELUSIONAL LIBERAL
Guest
DELUSIONAL LIBERAL
6 years ago

I never said anything like that? I was referring to the thought of praising the education system and if you don’t participate they say your will fail. I have a good friend who achieved his BA all the way to the top and he has never really had a job: lot of good it did him, and he still owes $40,000 in college loans

Crime stopper
Guest
Crime stopper
6 years ago

let’m overdose and we’ll pick’m like garbage in the morning. After a week, no one will be a problem.

DELUSIONAL LIBERAL
Guest
DELUSIONAL LIBERAL
6 years ago

Control the homeless by encouraging them to form a Union then have a Rep to control the group then the outcasts can be controlled better. Everyone has to answer to someone why don’t the homeless? They have rights they are people they just can’t be shipped away or disappear but they have to be responsible to someone

HOGRANCH
Guest
HOGRANCH
6 years ago

WITH A UNION SOMEBODY WILL HAVE TO PAY DUES, MAYBE A SECRET BENEFACTOR WILL STEP FORWARD. BUT ORGANIZATION IS A GOOD IDEA. international association of homeless folks. hey they need something.

DELUSIONAL LIBERAL
Guest
DELUSIONAL LIBERAL
6 years ago
Reply to  HOGRANCH

Maybe George Soros but hopefully not

Finest
Guest
Finest
6 years ago

Get John Hardin to do it

Cranky Old Lady
Guest
Cranky Old Lady
6 years ago
Reply to  Finest

Oh please, NO. Hardin is bad enough in G-ville; let’s not encourage him to expand his nonsense north.

G-MAS
Guest
G-MAS
6 years ago

This city,county need to pay more attention to our real problems. Not put in parklets,trails,etc,etc. I knew we were bad,but to actually hear it from another source that’s a whole different thing

Jim Clark
Guest
Jim Clark
6 years ago

Is it just coincidence that the beginning of the green rush happened about the same time as the drug addiction problem in Eureka swelled?

(Not that) Guest
Guest
(Not that) Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  Jim Clark

The thing people just can’t accept around here is even if weed is harmless and should certainly be legal, not just for “medicine,” but for use by adults to relax like people are allowed to with alcohol and tobacco, and that’s how I feel, you can’t separate it from our drug problem. Yes you can argue the problem is the black market but the product being sold on that market is, overwhelmingly, weed. All the easy money and free time leads many to harder drug use, and many go off the rails and end up in old town, walking distance from their new “job,” social services and BC’s free meals. I’ve watched countless joint smoking hippies transform into asshole Humboldt Hollywood types who buy coke by the pound for personal use and threaten their girlfriends to not leave because they “know too much.” How delusional is that!? You’re all not Mr.Big Shot, you just grow weed, one of the easiest plants to grow, hence the name “weed.” If I have to listen to one more guy at a party talk about how awesome their $300 a bottle hormone laced nutrient grown schwag is, I think I’ll puke. The back to landers who started this were totally different, they had worked real jobs first, they understood the work it takes normal people to make, say, $30K in a year. They knew how to live well off a reasonable amount of weed money and didn’t trash their properties; they started businesses and were involved in the community way more. Now it’s just about money and luxury and non-stop indulgence. Guess what? That mentality leads to people wanting to be wasted 24/7, party never stops! I hope legalization weeds out (pun intended) those people. The easy money days are gone, accept it and leave so the rest of us with boots on the ground, working and paying taxes (all of them not just the select ones your accountant suggests for you as a “poker player,” amazing how many pros there are around here) can get to work trying to clean up the mess this prohibition, and the institutional tolerance and exploitation of it, has caused. Maybe if we take back our town I can just grow my own, free from worry of theft by packs of roaming tweekers, and enjoy it after I come home from a hard day’s work for average pay, proud and tired but still with enough energy left over to give back. I’m personally working on more ways to give back to my town, what are you doing for Eureka besides bitching here? I encourage all of you to find a positive way to enhance, not just take, from our area. What can you do?

Livin' Easy
Guest
Livin' Easy
6 years ago

The ‘good ‘ol boys’ group who run this county don’t want to admit it is time to catch up with the rest of the world. They want to keep the ‘old ‘Humboldt where everything was nice and peaceful, and we had our local shops and atmosphere. ; and problems didn’t exist. They continue to turn their heads and ignore all the problems that are now here. Our local law enforcement is lost as to what to do, and there are no officials at the top who care to find the answers. They don’t care about the seniors that live alone and cannot protect themselves; and they sure don’t care about making the streets safe. It is so wrong that most of our elected officials, from the President to small city mayors, care more about being a politician than caring about the country, states, towns and people they represent.

Guest
Guest
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  Livin' Easy

Same thing said in the ’50’s about them. Them good ole boys must live forever.

kindness helps
Guest
kindness helps
6 years ago

John Ripper, as a fan boy of Hitler,
are you a neo-Nazi?

Guest
Guest
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  kindness helps

He didn’t say that.

Stormy
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Stormy
6 years ago

NPR: Naturally Pathetic Radio. By Socialists. That’s why pervs like Tavis and Garrison hang out on publicy-funded airwaves. Oh right. Not anymore.

I lived in L.A. 1992. I walked home from work at night during the riots. The public radio station down there had black hosts who encouraged the riot live on air. Terrific people.

That’s what you get ripping off the taxpayer so yuppies and county/state retirees can listen to/watch leftwing documentaries and English comedies set in Cornwall.

Truthy
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  Stormy

Stay on point, [edit]

Thinking allowed
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Thinking allowed
6 years ago
Reply to  Truthy

Kym This a perfect opportunity to display that conservatives get equal consideration from a liberal.

Thinking allowed
Guest
Thinking allowed
6 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Maybe I percieve that people espousing liberal causes seem to want to express themselves more in emotional ,direct personal insult. Could be wrong and heaven knows that non liberals engage it too but liberals seem to feel obligated to go there. At least a lot of them have been directed at me.

But then I’m a really sensative soul.

Jaekelopterus
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Jaekelopterus
6 years ago

That’s confirmation bias. There are conservatives in here literally praising Hitler and wanting to “disappear” people. See John Ripper’s post.

Guest
Guest
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  Jaekelopterus

You just assume that nasty remarks are all by conservatives because they disagree with you and you define yourself as a liberal. That’s just defective reading followed by defective logic caused by refusing to take the time to read carefully. You know, just know, instantly that anyone that says something not an affirmation of your own thoughts must certainly be conservative. Although I wonder if you can even give a definition of conservative.

Jaekelopterus
Guest
Jaekelopterus
6 years ago
Reply to  Guest

I just assume when someone says “Hitler was far from bad,” they either mean “I like tiny mustaches” or “I want the Government to kill people I disagree with.” Pretty simple.

shak
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shak
6 years ago
Reply to  Jaekelopterus

Conservatives? LOL. Paid trolls (shills) and FBI agents maybe, but not conservatives.

Guest
Guest
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  Jaekelopterus

Jaekelopterus. Nothing is that simple except when stopping thinking. What he said was “You can laugh all you want but Hitler was far from all bad. ”

I find it hard to worry much about Hitler’s ‘not bad’ parts but before misquoting Ripper in order to make what he said appear worse, work on your own integrity. Ask him what good he saw in Hitler and then argue against that rather than making it up so you can use of other’s arguments.

Jaekelopterus
Guest
Jaekelopterus
6 years ago
Reply to  Guest

What was “not bad” about Hitler?

(Not that) Guest
Guest
(Not that) Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  Stormy

Leave Doc Martin out of this! He just wants to help the many residents who seem to only suffer a fall when health problems arise.

Guest
Guest
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  Stormy

Last time I checked, Stormy, the perve count is about equal on the right and the left. It’s just that the lefties don’t use Bible thumpin’ to justify it.

Guest
Guest
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Sometimes contrariness takes over but yes, lefties do quite a bit of bible thumping themselves. The Pope thumps it ror his own social agenda. Jimmy Carter uses the Bible a lot. The Church of England has rewritten it so it thumps better. The Dalai Lama thumps different books but to similar effect.

Antichrist
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Antichrist
6 years ago

Look the police are not allowed to act for your safety, they are merely there to enforce laws and hand out case numbers. The problem , isnt the police, it is the fact that not all laws are equal nor are they equally enforced. Citizens demand accountaiblity so police end up with quotas. Quotas , equals the need to show cases, it is fat easier to grab the easy ones that are profitable then it is the ones that have countless agencies defending them and their right. Middle class normally are the targets for traffic tickets as they most likey can pay the fines but cant afford to miss a day of work to go to court and fight it. Other pettier crimes are easier to make arrests and get convictions , then say large scale white collar crime, not only does it take far more resources to make a case years on end of man hours, the court case will also strech on and on costing even more dollars to get a conviction. The whole time having to defend against all the political fall out from elected officials having one of their donors arrested.
People screaming and complaining about not wanting this class of person to live near them. Or someone who deals with their problems in a differant way. But seriously , what right do any of you have to tell others how to live their lives ? Replace druggie with, say jew or muslim in your comments and you sound racist . Just because you are old , doesnt entittle you to more protections or attention. You are old , deal with it we all are or will be one day. Stop making excuess for your dislike of others expressing their freedoms differantly than how you think or do. You have no more rights than they do. Zero not one.
Pointing fingers doesnt not excuess your own guilt, not a single person doenst break the law every single day. But people think they are bettet bevause the which laws they break verses which ones someone else breaks ? Makes zero sense. You live in america , the greatest country in the world. It is about freedom,

Thinking allowed
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Thinking allowed
6 years ago
Reply to  Antichrist

Sorry but if allowing differences means having druggies stealing, using my yard as a toilet, leaving needles around, threatening perfect strangers, driving impaired, etc, then tolerance is goes by the way.

Who am I to tell someone that their drug habits are intolerable? The person who cleans up the mess, is hurt in the traffic accident, is made ill by those using the world as their toilet, who pays the druggies’ replpeated hospital bill,ps, etc.

This is real life we’re talking about. Not some drug induced delusion that drugs are in anyway dealing with anything. That is the epitome of not dealing.

Antichrist
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Antichrist
6 years ago

I was stating that , it is on each of us to defend ourselves. There is no such thing as telling the parnets so to speak. If someone is using your property as a toliet, secure it better, if that doesnt work , hire security. If people are stealing from you, in this day and age it is also on you to take measures to stop that from happening. Druggies bums homeless persons. These are all still humans . Whats the differance between, say a druggie stealing a bike that was left out, compared to a large corperate company charging excessive or false fees ? To me it is still stealing , but at least with the druggie you pretty much expect it. And most of the time, the police will beleive you. Have you ever tried to call the police when a company over charges you and refuses to remove the charges ? Guess what , they will laugh at you and tell you to hire a lawyer. Imo druggies are better than white collar crooks because at least you sort of know what you are dealing with.

Cranky Old Lady
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Cranky Old Lady
6 years ago
Reply to  Antichrist

When those Jews or Muslims break into my truck and leave their trash all over my property, then I’ll name them. So far, I haven’t seen anyone with a yarmulke or hijab trying to drag their trash-filled stolen shopping cart up my driveway in order to reach their campsite at the water tower. When I do, I’ll revise my assessment, k?

#youtweeka
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#youtweeka
6 years ago

Criminalization will never work and either will give all the funds to one organization!? Neither works!!! The leaders of that City have failed miserably.

James Faulk
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James Faulk
6 years ago

I’m ashamed to be from this area, reading half the comments here. Addiction is a mental disease that can be treated. Half the people on this thread calling for the head of John or Jane Junkie are just as likely alcoholics who drive too fast in school zones after their afternoon scotch. All of them are one unlucky kid leap away from illustrating what it means to be a REAL menace to society.

Who among us doesn’t have a family member or friend who hasn’t been touched by addiction, many of whom ultimately recover? I recovered. People recover everyday. They do it because they try, over and over again. They fail a lot, too. But people don’t give up on them. And for all the people ready to ship them off across the country with $100 in their pocket, imagine it was your kid. From what I can tell, you may just lack any empathetic impulse at all. But let’s try this anyway.

If it was your diabetic kid, and they were suddenly shipping off insulin-starved diabetics who’d been breaking into pharmacies to stave off sickness — Bear with me: addiction is a disease like diabetes, or cancer, or bipolar disorder. You can’t help your craving once you’re exposed — and you had to watch him get shipped off on a bus for being born with a genetic issue that made him sensitive to sugar (rather than alcohol, or opiates, or methamphetamine, etc.) How do you think you would feel?

It certainly makes things complicated, right? Exactly. It’s complicated. Are addicts bad people? No. Do they sometimes commit bad acts under the power of their disease? Absolutely. Should they be punished when they do so? Yes, but they should also get treatment. And merely being a homeless addict on an un-owned lot should NOT be a crime. Find them a place to be, get them treatment, connect them with services.

Let’s consider them human beings we can help, not rats to be exterminated.

Neighborhood watch
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  James Faulk

Yeah well here in Shelter Cove where homes and vehicles are broken into every other week we don’t have so much sympathy for these “ poor “ tweekers . I just bought my first home defense shot gun because of these clowns . It all starts with the decision to try a drug that’s widely known to turn people into pieces of shit . If you do drugs that’s your own damn fault .

onrust8
Guest
onrust8
6 years ago

Most folks can’t relate to cause and effect and if you espouse a view they know nothing about but it disagrees with their own, they call you a libtard or some other insult. Your view of what happened with the economy is absolutely correct. People complain because there are no tech jobs here and that our supervisors haven’t done enough to attract good jobs to the area. Well, where are those new folks going to live? We do not have enough housing for the people we have. Even if there were jobs here, would you want to expose your family to all the social issues that we have? I guess we could take away some of Floyd’s places, knock them down and raise taxes for those of us left to build decent housing.

Humboldt has more than a homeless and drug problem. It’s also has among the highest crime rates, child abuse rates, spousal abuse rates and elderly abuse rates in the state. Drunk and drugged driving are common, so common those rates are among the highest in the state. Police don’t understand yet that they do not have to look for impaired drivers, all they have to do is stop some and my guess is that a third of the time they have an impaired driver.

And this is not new, most of these things with the exception of drug use have been problems since the early 50’s. Smart people leave. The problems we have now, however, are broad-ranging geographically. They go somewhere else where they can get a job, and neighborhoods can be selected for their lack of social problems. It’s hard to find places with decent jobs unless you are highly educated. And many people in the US, decided that education wasn’t all that important and thought it was OK to drop out in the eighth grade and not complete high school.

And locally, dope growing filled a need for those that wanted good paying jobs and weren’t particularly well-educated or who did not want to leave the area. It’s probably why I have to offer $20 an hour for yard work and can’t find someone willing to use a shovel or work more than 3 or 4 hours a day. It’s why many local employers can’t find drug-free employees. It’s why clean urine is offered as a commodity on Craigslist.

And increasingly the jobs that our economy created required educated people and not uneducated people. And we view all of these issues as private problems, rather than public issues. All of our problems would be solved if people just took personal responsibility, oh yeah. There are jobs out there, they just don’t pay like the mills or pulp plants or the now defunct fishing and logging industries. Oh, and minimum wage is not enough to raise a family on or buy a house.

And these kinds of issues are happening in every rural area in these United States. It’s not just Humboldt County. Every county in Northern California, Southern Oregon and rural Western Washington is in the same spot. Idaho, Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio, Kentucky, all of Appalachia, most of the South, etc. are all experiencing these issues. Cranial Rectal Inversion never works. Blaming others does not work. What works is acknowledging the problem and getting together to solve it.

Anon Forrest
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Anon Forrest
6 years ago
Reply to  James Faulk

Amen.

HOGRANCH
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HOGRANCH
6 years ago
Reply to  James Faulk

IN ORDER TO BE TREATED LIKE A HUMAN YOU MUST AT LEAST ACT LIKE A HUMAN. IF YOU ARE INGESTING HOMADE CHEMICALS OR SMOKING THEM, MAYBE YOU SHOULD TAKE A LITTLE SELF RESPONSIBILITY, OR AT LEAST TRY TO CUT BACK ON WHAT IS CHANGING YOUR FRAME OF MIND, AND YOUR LIFESTYLE. THIS IS NO EASY TASK.

Antichrist
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Antichrist
6 years ago
Reply to  HOGRANCH

Just what is human about calling for everyone who doesnt fit in to what your idea of how people should act , do live etc be shipped off , set to jail or killed ? Those are not human actions , those are actuons of greed and a attuide that you somehow have a larger right to live your life the way you want to than others. That you are so much more entittled to your peace then they are to the same freedoms you yourself demand. Yet the ones whos freedoms you wish to trample do not have feelings of taking your rights. They just want to live their lifes how they wish and to be left alone.

Guest
Guest
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  James Faulk

Good post. A person who thinks and has a heart.

Guest
Guest
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  James Faulk

I know one man who, at age 27, had 35 inpatient addiction treatment stays. Treatment of an addict who does not want to remain clean but only is sorry about the results of his actions is not effective. Is there any criteria for spending public resources?

I just wish that every social agenda had a specific goal and accounted for its success or failure. Then it would not be a battle of anecdotes that are not useful.

My belief is that there are a few who succeed at a relatively early. Some keep at it until they kill themselves. Most finally address their issues around age 50 or so after they can clearly see their health issues are close to killing them. They get scared enough to deal with it.

J. Worthingham Fatback
Guest
J. Worthingham Fatback
6 years ago

Moving out of Eureka/Humboldt was the smartest thing I have ever done. It feels like someone just paid for your early release from a life of wanting to shoot the next thief that wanders into your garage (knowing that you will either have to go to prison, or move anyway) to seeing a clear and non-drizzling sunrise in a place where the FBI crime index is way less than HALF that of Eureka.
Use this trick to pick a city and compare it to Eureka. Think Eureka is pretty good? Lets compare it to El Monte – (S/E LA) a city KNOWN to be a city with a lot of criminal/gang activity… Eureka folks live in a bubble with very little info from outside of the area. A lot of places are much easier to live in. I tried it, and really like it!

http://www.bestplaces.net/crime/?city1=50623042&city2=50622230

You can enter any city you want to compare to Eureka. Try it….Learn something!

Poster formerly known as Matt
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Poster formerly known as Matt
6 years ago

There is a nation-wide homeless crisis and a national opioid epidemic. Nothing going on here is specifically different than anywhere else in the country.

shak
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shak
6 years ago
Robash141
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Robash141
6 years ago

Capitalism is a failing system, the symptoms are just more acute in places like Eureka..

Neighborhood watch
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  Robash141

Oh brother , it’s the best system we’ve got commie

Guest
Guest
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  Robash141

Yup. It keeps failing, picking itself up and start running again. Other systems are not so resilient. They deteriorate into the worst inhumanity because those darn human beings keep trying to better themselves. Ideology is poor comfort when you are trapped by other’s incompetence.

Drone pollinators inc.
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Drone pollinators inc.
6 years ago

Ah the perfect article for Danny boy and Loco. Truth hurts!

Yo mama
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Yo mama
6 years ago

This city is a dump, crap hole. I believe every bit of the report. I come from a large city that is 27 miles away from an even larger city, and this landfill is worse than either of those cities. Eureka is a waste or space, infested with the cockroaches of society.

Guest
Guest
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  Yo mama

Yet you are here?

Brian Baku
Guest
Brian Baku
6 years ago

Kym & James. Thank you both for your reasonable and coherent comments. I have lived in Eureka 51 of my 61 years on the planet. I graduated from Eureka High in 1974, have owned three businesses here and currently work downtown at the corner of Commercial and Second. I own a home two blocks from Cooper gulch.

I remember when the article came out in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1974 describing the renegade pot growers who were setting booby traps at their grows.

I believe if you check the murder stats you will find that the homicide rate per capita was greater back in the early 1970s when timber was king.

I am a sustaining member of KHSU and like Kym listen to the CA Report daily. I can’t fault John Supovada for his story on Eureka but I can say that statistics do not tell the whole story of a place. I am proud to live in Humboldt and would like to see others take a little more pride in the community. Cheers

Brandon perry
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Brandon perry
6 years ago

And the government wins again! Everybody at each other’s throats

69 roadrunner
Guest
6 years ago

Kym i wished i felt the way you do .i used to ,but in some small ways i do .born here ,and I will die here .I have a suggestion turn the Kmart into a auxiliary jail / mental institution that would be good use for the building.

Drone pollinators inc.
Guest
Drone pollinators inc.
6 years ago

Kym I wish we all felt the way you do. Born and raised there but wonder what my relatives are still doing there. Oh yeah forgot, closed behind locked gates only coming out to purchase gas and food. What a life.

Rubicon
Guest
Rubicon
5 years ago

With all of this talk, what has been said?

Geoffrey E. Harris
Guest
Geoffrey E. Harris
2 years ago

There are some additional issues besides the large numbers of crazy, criminal, drug-addicted wandering wastrels who roam the dingy streets. Note that medical care is nearly inaccessible and often over-priced. The government is one of the weakest in the United states, characterized by indifference, and inaction. This is a great place for speed and opioid dealers to set up shop and they have. There is a very obvious opioid connection running up the 101 from Tenderloin etc SF to 4th, 5th, and Broadway in Eureka. McKinleyville especially is known for meth.

Geoffrey E. Harris
Guest
Geoffrey E. Harris
2 years ago

Eureka is a dump as it combines the limited services of a small town with the vice and degeneracy of some of the worst big city ghettos. Humboldt County as a whole is like this as is most of the settlements of the US these days actually.

Geoffrey Edwin Harris
Guest
Geoffrey Edwin Harris
1 year ago

Ok. Well the area has the social decay of a big city ghetto combined with the paucity of opportunities of a rural area. The weather is moderate and the scenery good in terms of geography, flora, and fauna. For the most part the people are greatly inferior, isolated losers. The place is full of wandering homeless criminal vagrants, lunatics, drug addicts, insanity, poverty, and squalor. In fact nw Ca in general is like that, particularly Humboldt County.