Firings fuel immigration debate in Humboldt County

By Susan Ferriss - sferriss@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, June 27, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1

ARCATA - In Humboldt County, where references to buds often mean marijuana, Lane DeVries runs a successful cut-flower operation, one of the biggest in the United States.

….{snip}….
Agents sent a letter to DeVries, alerting him to the 283 discrepancies.

The message between the lines: The Sun Valley Floral Farms employees could be illegal immigrants, and DeVries would be held accountable.

So on June 9, he gathered workers from among the vast complex of greenhouses and announced that he would dismiss 283 of them.

….{snip}….

“It was his own decision,” she said of DeVries’ move to fire his workers.

In Humboldt County, Sun Valley workers represent about 20 percent of the seasonal farm labor work force, county officials estimate. And agriculture, they say, generates about 44 percent of local wages.

….{snip}….

DeVries declined to comment, except to say in a statement: “This incident drives home that we must immediately turn our attention to immigration reform.

 

….{snip}….

DeVries, who initially spoke to local media about the firings, told them that he followed all federal hiring laws. He did not say whether he used the E-Verify system, and would not discuss it with The Bee.

Humboldt County Supervisor John Woolley, whose district includes Arcata, acknowledged that employers have unknowingly and knowingly hired illegal immigrants.

 

….{snip}….

Sun Valley has put out an urgent call for part-time summer employees.

“Our region’s economic and workforce development community believes the solution is not penalizing our small businesses for hiring what is often the only labor available for entry-level production jobs, nor is it turning back immigrants,” Woolley and the county’s other supervisors wrote in their letter to Chertoff and their congressional representatives.

“Our nation and community would be better served if legislative energy focuses on funding and programming solutions that could equip native workers with the skills and attitudes to compete with foreign workers, while also providing a path to citizenship for currently undocumented immigrants.”

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1043861.html

Napa and “The Aspen Effect”

Monday, June 30, 2008

By MATT POPE

A populist frustration increasingly finding voice in Napa County is that the wine and hospitality industries are pulling in services and attractions that cater principally to upscale vacationers and tourists, while neglecting any sense of a local living wage and inadvertently threatening the very Ag preserve that those industries depend on through, among other things, jumbo-sized developments and hotel mega-resorts in areas that were once only the purview of B&B’s.  

Napa County has become a textbook example of what Cornell University Economics Professor Robert H. Frank calls “The Aspen Effect” — his term for traffic and other challenges resulting from that small Colorado resort towns’ transformation into a playground for the wealthy.

….{snip}….

An over-arching angst that I hear and read is that is that Napa County is undergoing a “Disney-fication,” becoming a simulacrum of a once-rural area that is quaint for tourists but not livable for locals or the people who work here.

….{snip}….

http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2008/06/30/opinion/matt_pope/doc48655d4316b43966493572.txt

Hospitals to drop local blood bank

St. Joseph Health System to allow SF blood bank to supply blood to Santa Rosa, Petaluma hospitals

By Martin Espinoza
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at 5:10 a.m.

MARK ARONOFF / The Press Democrat

Samples of blood await testing for viruses, including HIV and hepatitis, at the Blood Bank of the Redwoods earlier this year.

….{snip}….

On Monday afternoon, St. Joseph Health System announced it had awarded the San Francisco center a contract to supply blood to Santa Rosa Memorial and Petaluma Valley hospitals.

The move ends a 60-year relationship between St. Joseph and Blood Bank of the Redwoods

….{snip}….

Blood Bank of the Redwoods President and CEO Cathy Bryan blasted St. Joseph’s decision and said she feared a new competitive environment would cause confusion and discourage possible blood donors.

St. Joseph officials said their decision to go with Blood Centers of the Pacific is aimed at reducing costs at the Santa Rosa and Petaluma hospitals, where the “per patient adjusted” cost for blood was a little more than $25, compared with $15 to $20 at its nearest hospitals in Napa and Eureka.

….{snip}….

 

The nonprofit Blood Centers of the Pacific, an affiliate of the giant Arizona-based Blood Systems, serves 40 hospitals in Northern California, including medical centers in Napa, Willits, Clearlake and Ukiah.

….{snip}….

more: http://urlet.com/discussion.kenny

Northern California Lightning Caused Wildfire Summary

Northern California Lightning Series Summary

Northern California Lightning Series Summary Incident Information:
Last Updated:	June 23, 2008 5:30 pm
Date/Time Started:	June 20, 2008 12:00 pm
Administrative Unit:	CAL FIRE Operational Units
County:	Various counties and locations throughout Northern California.
Location:	Various counties and locations throughout Northern California.
Acres Burned:
Containment
Conditions:	Summary of Fires by UnitSiskiyou Unit: All 8 fires have been contained for a total of 10 acres. The Klamath National Forest has the Siskiyou Complex which is near Happy Camp that is 600 acres with no containment. Humboldt-Del Norte Unit: 51 fires for more than 900 acres, with 4 new fires today. The Paradise Fire is Northeast of Shelter Cove and is 600 acres and 5% contained, The Redcrest Fire is 30 acres, the High Fire is in Humboldt Redwood State Park with unknown acreage or containment, the Carson Fire is 40 acres and 50% contained, the Hansen Fire is 2 acres with unknown containment, the Williams Fire is 25 acres and 50% contained, In the BLM Headwaters Forest there are three additional small fires buring. Mendicino Unit: Approx. 131 fires have been reported, buring more than 8,900 acres. Incident Command Team #4 has been assigned to this complex. The Orr Fire is 200 acres and has evacuations of the Orr Springs Resort and 50 homes in the area, the Navarro Fire is 1,400 acres and 5% contained, the Cherry fire is 50 acres and 50% contained, the Foster Fire is 50 acres and 50% contained, the Table Mtn. Fire is 1,000 acres and 5% contained, the Mallo Pass Fire is 800 acres, and the Juan Creek fires (2) are at 100 acres each. There are 8 additional fires at 30 acres each. The Mendocino Fire Information Number is (707) 972-3846.

http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=277

Another Brother Dies Alone

Another victim.  Who is killing homeless people in Humboldt?  Who is stalking homeless people with an aluminum baseball bat? 

We don’t believe Frank Jager.   This could be a natural death like Jager says, or it could be a homicide.  Homeless people don’t seem to have any value for Frank Jager.  Homeless people are not “transients.”

ARE YOU PROUD OF EUREKA?  Violence that targets  the homeless is a hate crime!

http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_9657044

Northern California Wildfire Map

 

 

 

Active Fire Map:  http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/activefiremaps.php?op=maps&rCode=cgb

California Active Fire Map:  http://firecenter.berkeley.edu/cafiremap/gmap_html/gmodis.html

PARTY LIKE IT’S 1999: Bush: Marijuana Laws Up to States

Bush: Marijuana Laws Up to States

By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, October 22, 1999; Page B7 

 

Republican presidential front-runner George W. Bush says he believes individual states should choose whether to ban the use of marijuana for medical purposes, but is stopping short of saying the District should enjoy that privilege.

The Texas governor, who in recent weeks has distanced himself from several positions taken by conservative Republicans in Congress, said that when it came to congressional efforts to ban a medical marijuana law here, he was in Congress’s corner.

Campaigning in Seattle on Saturday, Bush answered questions about medical marijuana laws by saying, “I believe each state can choose that decision as they so choose.”

http://urlet.com/brevity.belarus

And thanks:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/021642.html

Lightning sparks hundreds of wildfires

BY MARY CALLAHAN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Saturday, June 21, 2008 at 10:34 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, June 21, 2008 at 11:16 a.m.

Fire crews are battling hundreds of wildfires across Mendocino and Humboldt counties caused by dry lightning strikes that swept through the area overnight Friday and Saturday morning.

“We’re inundated,” Cal Fire Capt. Pierre Boudreaux said from Howard Forest Station near Willits in Mendocino County, where more than 50 fires were burning Saturday morning.

Hundreds more were being chased in Humboldt County, pushing finite resources to the limit as the rising sun and forecasted triple-digit temperatures threatened to worsen conditions exponentially.

more: http://urlet.com/ext.serious

Chamber of Commerce Compassion in Garberville and Redway

Chamber of Commerce Compassion in Garberville and Redway

GEORGE CLARK RUNNING FOR EUREKA CITY COUNCIL SEAT

GEORGE CLARK, RUNNING FOR EUREKA CITY COUNCIL SEAT, OPENS OLD TOWN HQ

Date: 2008-06-20, 8:59PM PDT

Former Old Town businessman George Clark’s campaign for the 4th Ward City Council seat has established headquarters in Old Town at 322 F Street. Everyone is invited to the Grand Opening next Wednesday, June 25th. It’ll start conveniently after work at 6pm. George will briefly discuss his proposals for standing up for working families, strengthening our neighborhoods, enhancing public safety and the exciting promise of the New Energy Economy. George will take questions about these plans or any other matters of public concern. Light refreshments will be served.

The Campaign HQ is located adjacent to the Kyoto Restaurant that George and his wife Kyoko founded, ran successfully for years, and recently passed on to another local entrepreneur. Those who know George know his community roots run decades deep, he’s been a lifelong public citizen and community activist. George’s passion for the community of Eureka and vision for its future isn’t all that inspire him to step onto the public stage. Supporters across the city have encouraged him to run. Chris Kerrigan, the 4th Ward’s current city councilor, is not only one of George’s earliest supporters, he’s also a senior advisor to the campaign.

George Clark, his wife Kyoko, and his many friends and supporters are excited by the promise of this campaign, which he will bring to every precinct, ward, and neighborhood of the city.

For more information, or to RSVP for the Grand Opening, please call 707-443-3777.

from Humboldt Craigslist

http://humboldt.craigslist.org/pol/727203193.html