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California museum returns massacre remains to Wiyot Tribe

The most vulnerable members of the Wiyot Tribe were asleep the morning of Feb. 26, 1860, when a band of white men slipped into their Northern California villages under darkness and slaughtered them.

Many of the children, women and elderly slain in what became known as the Indian Island Massacre had their eternal rest disturbed when their graves were later dug up and their skeletons and the artifacts buried with them were placed in a museum.

After nearly 70 years of separation from their tribe, the remains of at least 20 of those believed to have been killed have been returned home.

The bones of the Wiyot were recovered in 1953 after being discovered near where a jetty was constructed outside the city of Eureka, 225 miles north of San Francisco…

Bill to block North Coast coal train project clears state Senate

Bill now headed to Assembly

Senate Bill 307 is on track for approval after clearing the state Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support Monday.

The bill, introduced by state Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), would block a proposal to restore the defunct North Coast railroad in an attempt to export coal overseas from Montana, Utah and Wyoming through the Port of Humboldt Bay by prohibiting the use of state funds for any new bulk coal terminal project within Humboldt County.

Earlier this month, the Eureka City Council unanimously passed an ordinance banning the transportation of coal on city property.

“Clearly, our council is not a proponent of bringing coal to the harbor,” said Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery. “They made it very clear through a resolution that they don’t want coal handled on city-owned property because of the environmental and potential health effects of that.”

Slattery underscored the city’s support for the proposed Great Redwood Trail and further development of the Waterfront Trail.

“Our elected officials are very much proponents of railbanking and we’re waiting for that to happen so we can extend our waterfront trails,” he said. “That’s been supported by our council since the beginning and we hope that the other state legislators are proponents of it.”

Crucial Antarctic Glacier Likely to Collapse Much Earlier than Expected

Scientists, speaking at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in New Orleans this month, reported that a critical section of the keystone Antarctic glacier, Thwaites Glacier, will likely collapse in the next five to ten years. The research, led by Erin Pettit of Oregon State University, predicts that the Thwaites ice shelf will break apart within the next decade because of startling increases in surface fractures and rifts.

Thwaites Glacier is one the largest Antarctic glaciers, comparable to the size of Great Britain or Florida. Meltwater from Thwaites alone is responsible for 4% of global sea level rise, leading it to receive a great deal of scientific attention in recent years.

The nickname ‘Antarctica’s doomsday glacier’ is given to Thwaites because if the ice shelf collapses, the glacier and the enormous volumes of ice upstream that funnel into the glacier will no longer be restrained from accelerating into the ocean. “It is the potential long-term effect on the rest of the grounded ice sheet that we need to consider,” explains Anne Le Brocq, a senior lecturer in physical geography at the University of Exeter. If the entire glacier were to melt then global sea levels would rise by 65 centimeters, or about two feet. If Thwaites Glacier, and other critical neighboring glaciers such as Pine Island Glacier, cannot hold back the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which holds the equivalent of 3.3 meters (10.8 feet) in sea level, then it could affect coastlines across the world.

Eureka City Council advances coal transportation ban

The Eureka City Council returned once again to its previously discussed coal transportation and storage ordinance following amendments to the bill, ultimately approving the amended item’s introduction by an unanimous vote at this week’s regular meeting.

The new version grants the council the right to appeal any exemption requests granted by the city manager for the transport of coal in city-owned lands. The new appeal section of the bill also extends the category of people who can file an appeal to a city manager’s decision, including the public and individual members of the city council.

Public comment throughout the proposed ordinance’s time on the council floor has largely supported the item. This Tuesday’s meeting was not an exception.

“Thank the council and your staff for bringing this ordinance forward, clarifying the appeal issue and hopefully, passing it this evening. Thank you for your efforts and keeping our citizens and our environment clean and healthy,” said Karen Underwood of the Humboldt Trail Council.

Nordic Aquafarms releases draft EIR for public review

Humboldt County released the draft environmental impact report (EIR) for Nordic Aquafarms’ proposed onshore fish farm on Samoa Peninsula Monday.

The behemoth report, which is roughly 1,800 pages long, found no areas in which the proposed farm would have a significant impact on the local environment. The minimal impact of some of the farm’s operations will have mitigating strategies in place, according to the document.

The Humboldt County Planning and Building Department released a mitigated negative declaration for the project in April, but after public feedback calling for a deeper, more in-depth report, Nordic Aquafarms initiated an EIR.

Jennifer Kalt, director of Humboldt Baykeeper, a local environmental advocacy group, previously advocated for a full environmental impact report, rather than a mitigated negative declaration. She said she had not finished reading the enormous report when the Times-Standard reached out Monday, but that she was glad it happened.

“It’s great that they did it. It’s hopefully going to be a much more thorough analysis than the initial study and I’m excited to read what changes they’ve made in their analysis because they did a more thorough job,” Kalt said.

The public comment period will end on Feb. 18, 2022. Comments may be submitted to the Humboldt County Planning and Building Department at 3015 H Street in Eureka or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..