Comment Archives: stories: Letters+Opinion

Re: “I'm Still Worried

Judy??? How about the courtesy of a response to my suggestion you do a NCJ article about our Heartlands Lifeline Inter-Tribal Lottery Project that my Bear River tribal partner Don Brenard and I have been organizing, the Project we talk with 2nd District Supervisor Estelle Fennell about frequently and that Humboldt Harbor Commissioner Richard Marks knows of and that KMUD will be doing another Heartlands Show about, while you, you play politics with community news. It's a chance to redeem yourself if you can rise above petty politics and not do another hit piece but report a really good economic development project that will benefit a tremendous number of people and save human lives in the bargain. Please be honorable to the community and finally give us some recognition for 19 years of effort that we've put into this Project.

1 like, 1 dislike
Posted by Stephen1 on 03/16/2014 at 6:10 AM

Re: “I'm Still Worried

Judy, did you post as the Humboldt Hun there?

Really, you just need to report community projects, even ones your political slant can't deny are for the great benefit of our community.

1 like, 1 dislike
Posted by Stephen1 on 03/15/2014 at 2:11 PM

Re: “I'm Still Worried

I had a real sinking feeling when I read the HumCPR insert. The article on page 6, "Your "path" is Still Included: Some Clarity on Trails" exposes their true concerns: that the goal is unfunded; and that it has the potential to harm property owners." The text charges Mark Lovelace with a "county wide media blitz" designed to "incite his base." I don't know Mark, and I'm not sure what his "base" is. I read the Times-Standard, the NCJ, I listen to local radio, watch local TV news, and if there was a media blitz, it did not get published in any of those venues. Where's the blitz?

Further, I found the article arrogant and condescending. Oh, don't worry, you still have your little "path." Having a goal of a county-wide trail system is very different from encouraging parks and trails and recreation. This is like telling your teenage son, "I encourage you to keep your room clean and orderly at all times" vs. "I am setting a goal for you to keep you room clean and orderly at all times. Here are the criteria and the steps toward that goal. Here are the rewards for completion. Here's what will happen if you don't' meet that goal."

Two points were raised in support of the language change that removed the goal.

The first reason, HumCPR claims to be aware of "several counties ... claiming eminent domain to build trails on private lands ... based on open space elements." Playing on fear, throwing out threats, invoking the "big bad government" which will take over your land and ruin your life. Who's inciting a base? A quick Google search shows one or two cases, maybe, both of which seemed way more complicated than the simple "government takeover" scenario implied by HumCPR. I also found many ads for lawyers, so it seems eminent domain is not something to take lightly, by either side. And I seem to recall a couple of local cases, both involving, not trails, but the highway.

The second reason, the goal is unfunded. Well duh. You don't fund a goal before you set it. You set goals first, then you plan the steps to implement. You break down your big goal into many little sub-goals, and you farm those out to various stakeholders and interest groups, or staff, or what! hey! LOCAL BUSINESSES THAT CREATE LOCAL JOBS!!

Sorry for the caps, I could not help myself. But, talk about shoot yourself in the foot. Destroy something that has the potential to improve the county, improve the quality of life for people, create jobs, encourage travelers and would-be residents, even relocating small businesses. Create community, get local participation, improve health, and many other benefits. For what? What could possible be gained that would be worth throwing all that away?

5 likes, 1 dislike
Posted by Ruth Moon on 03/15/2014 at 10:34 AM

Re: “I'm Still Worried

Stephen Lewis out of Humboldt County

1 like, 1 dislike
Posted by Humboldt Hunny on 03/15/2014 at 10:03 AM

Re: “I'm Still Worried

I'm sure Judy has much more political attack plans for HumCPR so not to worry Expose. That's what Humboldt entertainment news offers Judy and her little Gang of pols, a chance to piggy-back on Humboldt people's interest in arts and entertainment in order to promote the Proggie anti-working class pro-Yuppie elitist political agenda that thrives on creating needless social wars pitting one side of the community against the other. Sells copies as Yellow Journalism found out a couple of centuries ago. Paint one side all black, the other all white, and promote the social war that divides instead of unites our community. But it does sell magazines...

Judy, you're silent again about my proposal for you to redeem yourself in the eyes of the objective god of good community news reporting.

1 like, 4 dislikes
Posted by Stephen1 on 03/15/2014 at 9:38 AM

Re: “I'm Still Worried

Someone at the Journal could make a prime story dissecting the new HumCPR newsletter. It states there's an evil campaign looking to wipe out rural living. What they fail to mention is that HumCPR is doing all the campaigning and it's for the sake of building new infrastructure on otherwise forested land. People can live on TPZ's, just not build subdivisions of McMansions on them. And rightfully so. The wording of the GPU sets the language for future exploitation of undeveloped land. The especially scary irony is that HumCPR's newsletter is about the importance of water, tugging at so many heartstrings. This is the same HumCPR that struck wording mandating greater buffers around water sources. The same HumCPR that wants to allow thousands of new wells to be drilled in the forest. It's disgusting.

6 likes, 1 dislike
Posted by Expose HumCPR on 03/15/2014 at 8:58 AM

Re: “I'm Still Worried

We're all worried! Our county's political climate is dangerous for the health of our community.

2 likes, 1 dislike
Posted by Tall Trees on 03/15/2014 at 7:34 AM

Re: “I'm Still Worried

How about you correcting your community news watch biases and finally doing a story on our Heartlands Project, something you refused to do before and please, no alzheimer's as you cannot show us the NCJ article about us even though most community leaders have known about Heartlands for years. Had several KMUD shows and another one coming up yet your NCJ remains silent, no interest in one of the most radical economic recovery projects ever to come into Humboldt County.

1 like, 2 dislikes
Posted by Stephen1 on 03/14/2014 at 9:02 PM

Re: “I'm Still Worried

No. I don't.
My email is if you want to discuss.

Posted by judyhodgson on 03/14/2014 at 7:09 PM

Re: “I'm Still Worried

Such the political hypocrite, Judy! Don't you remember all those years you refused to publish any of my letters to the editor warning Humboldt County about the dangers of unregulated homestead subdivision development? You sided then, as the political animal instead of the environmentally aware person, with EPIC, EF!, Humboldt Watershed Council, all those enviro players who were leading everyone down the primerose path of public headline hunting with big protests and lawsuits that only diverted people's attention away from the real problem--unregulated homestead development. Now look at you trot out your heavy guns and pose the righteous environmentalist protecting Humboldt County from unregulated homestead subdivision development, i.e. windsock politics..

1 like, 3 dislikes
Posted by Stephen1 on 03/14/2014 at 2:16 AM

Re: “What's Not To Know

Have any of you ever thought this through before playing political football with the Brown Act? In ANY functioning decision-making group there MUST be a time when decision-makers can discuss the issues WITHOUT public input because that is the ONLY way to get past public political pressure groups, you know, the very kind that enviro and Prog activist love to field into any economic development issue in the community. How else to be able to talk to each other without a screaming audience in your face and emotions running all over place?

Grow up, Proggies and stop playing politics with community decision-makers. If you don't like what they do, vote them out but this continual political sniping wars like Judy does with her gang of clones like Marci and former Ryan plus the staged attacks on Supes or Harbor Commission meetings, the only way to see around them for the public good is to be able to talk to each other--without pressure group influence.

Posted by Stephen1 on 03/10/2014 at 6:54 AM

Re: “What's Not To Know

You know, Marci, you are something else. How you are allowed to be Chair of HSU' Journalism and Mass Communications and hold your job as political attack pitbull for Judy's NCJ rag is something we need to look into. You are violating big time teacher's obligation to NOT drag their personal or PAID political opinions into the classroom and now someone has to monitor your classes to see what you are teaching students.
Here you stand for Yellow Journalism like Judy, both of you trying to ratchet up hate speech and slander against your political opponents and using this NCJ venue to do so. This is you, Marci, doing ad hominen hate speech against a political opponent.



The Dan Johnson issue is over a year old and both you and Judy are still at the guy's throat after thoroughly smearing him all over your rag for months last year. It's sickening that you are an HSU Chairperson and propels me to contact HSU to find out how they allow paid Journalism teacher to work for political rags smearing local people's names. We'll find out if you are breaking California teacher rules about engaging in political work for pay while teaching students.

Posted by Stephen1 on 03/08/2014 at 2:19 PM

Re: “What's Not To Know

down here in texas we have an open meetings act people get put away for doing behind the door stuff maybe y'all need some teeth into a proposition NO> ??? throw a few sneaks in jail and never hold office again???

Posted by slufoot on 03/07/2014 at 1:56 PM

Re: “Monday, March 10, 1:30 p.m. — Enough!

Another wonderful column by you, Ms. Hodgson, you tell it like it is. Ulansey is driving the bus, as you said, or is at least busting his butt to do so. He will just keep hammering away at what he wants to see happen and now and again Morris steps in and parrots what Ulansey has said. I'm so glad you discussed the "may" and "shall" issue. Many trail advocates don't seem to know that there is much more at stake here than trails. There is also the issue of buffer zones being reduced to a joke, although hopefully state and fed law will step in on that.
Small point: I believe it is Planning staff that will have the nasty job of going over the GP to ensure consistency. If it were the commissioners we would be in bigger trouble than we already are because they would make wholesale changes in the name of consistency.

4 likes, 1 dislike
Posted by Sylvia De Rooy on 03/06/2014 at 11:50 AM

Re: “GPU Fumin'

Private interests put people into office who then appoint those same people with private interests to modify prior governmental decisions to benefit their interests. Is this not clear? We have institutionalized corruption in County politics.

Posted by John Filce on 03/05/2014 at 2:37 PM

Re: “What's Not To Know

so you got the info for this column, including the supposed name of the committee, from the minutes and the op-ed by the Harbor Working Group, which is not part of the committee...ok.

Posted by McKinleyvillan1 on 03/02/2014 at 7:41 PM

Re: “GPU Fumin'

Can we afford trailsWe can't afford not too have trails--
Donations of materials and source of labor from all those
area students should make trails a project for young and
old of Humboldt to use and support

1 like, 0 dislikes
Posted by jean doran1 on 03/01/2014 at 6:51 PM

Re: “What's Not To Know

A joint committee performing a task?

From the CA Attorney General's Brown Act pamphlet:
When a legislative body designates less than a quorum of its members that does not constitute a standing committee to meet with representatives of another legislative body to exchange information and report back to their respective bodies, a meeting between the representatives would be exempt from the Act. ...However, if a legislative body designates less than a quorum of its members to meet with representatives of another legislative body to perform a task, such as the making of a recommendation, an advisory committee consisting of the representatives from both bodies would be created. Such a committee would be subject to the open meeting and notice provisions of the Act. (Joiner v. City of Sebastopol (1981) 125 Cal.App.3d 799, 805.)

last paragraph, page 5 at…
(FYI--pamphlet is in places, Table of contents and intro at…

1 like, 0 dislikes
Posted by Janelle Egger1 on 02/28/2014 at 7:25 PM

Re: “What's Not To Know

This is entirely in keeping with the stealth takeover of the Board of Supervisors. Of course, if you know the names and you know who backs them, you will know what the agenda is.

Posted by terence marlow1 on 02/28/2014 at 11:48 AM

Re: “What's Not To Know

If you like Brown act violations, go to a Harbor District meeting. Its scary how much goes on behind closed doors around there. Oh yea, guess who is heading the new AHHA committee, yup Mike Wilson.

Posted by MONTE on 02/28/2014 at 9:21 AM

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