All posts by Aisling Bludworth

Born in Humboldt but raised in Del Norte County, Aisling has been telling stories for as long as she can remember and holding a camera just about as long. She likes to tell the stories of forgotten people, places, and things. Some of her notable visual works include "My Visit to the Loneliest Lighthouse on the West Coast," "Steve Mattson, a Portfolio in Short," and her live play debut "Orick 95555."
Community News

My Experience with the FOIA

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On February 27th of 2023, there was an approximately one square mile spill of oil into Elk Creek adjacent to the Cultural Center in Crescent City. This spill originated from the Sheriff’s Office generator fuel tank which was installed in 1995. The tank spilled approximately 13 gallons into a storm drain where it reached the ocean. The day after the diesel fuel oil appeared on the water, Coast Guard officers were informed of the source of the leak. The Del Norte County Department of Building Maintenance and Parks sent several staff to clean up the sheen from Elk Creek, whilst also cleaning the oil water mixture from a secondary catch basin that tipped the Sheriff’s Office that the tank was leaking. After repairing the faulty line, booms were placed to soak up the remaining diesel coming from the storm drain. With all of the cleanup efforts they could manage complete, the Sheriff’s Office received a Notice of Federal Interest and a warning. 

This full timeline took almost a year to get from the Coast Guard through a Freedom of Information Act request. I requested this information on March 30th. I had the information pertaining to the 13 gallons that spilled into Elk Creek, that booms were placed at the storm drain, that the leak did in fact come from the Sheriff’s Office and there was a large removal tank next to the Sheriff’s Office for some time. Everything else was hidden behind a wall of red-tape and Del Norte secrecy. First I called the local Environmental Health branch, who directed me to the Department of Maintenance, who then redirected me to the Environmental Health branch. I managed to break the circular call structure by asking the Coast Guard.  I was very quickly brushed off however, the Coast Guard told me I needed to fill out a Freedom of Information Act request to get that information. So as a journalist, I did just that. I called back and forth with the Coast Guard for the full year, with my contact at the San Francisco branch equally as perplexed by the red-tape as I was.  

Only after I had voluntarily elected to redact all personal information pertaining to the case from my request by calling a higher-up and stating as much, did  the Coast Guard provide the information I was looking for. The final report leaves a lot to be desired. Above are official pictures from the released documents. Most of the information I sought was within the purview of personal information, and the actual numbers in the report were already  known to me. The only reason I found out about the booms, tank and the source of the leak originally was through an anonymous source who contacted KFUG. The source told us none of the clean up was done with any documenting paperwork on the part of County Maintenance. The Sheriff’s Department, Department of Maintenance, and Coast Guard were willing to sweep this under the rug. This is a symptom of the good old boys club that our local government is known for. If we hadn’t been contacted by someone on the inside, we never would have found out a lot of this information. 

If you need to find out information from a public agency and they’re pushing you aside, here’s how to make a Freedom of Information Act Request. First, see if you can find the information on the public internet, as some things have already been made public for your viewing. Assuming you did not find what you were looking for on the public internet, determine what agency has the information you seek. Each agency handles its own FOIA requests, and having the correct agency in mind gets you one step closer to finding that information. After determining which agency has your information visit foia.gov/#learn-more. This webpage will lead you through the rest of the FOIA request process. There are no immediate fees to make an FOIA request, nor is there any special form that you need to fill out to file the request. Fees may be assessed as the request grows in complexity. When writing your request, be as specific as possible. Good luck out there truth-seekers.

Just For Fun

Orick 95555: Who’s Watching the Watchers

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This is the live recording of Redwood Voice’s Sebastian Monroe, Bryce Evans, Sam Bludworth and Mikey Patton finishing off Fugathon 2023 with a one shot set in Orick, CA using the Hunter the Reckoning 5 RPG system.

Sam Bludworth plays Dick Greene “The Bad Catholic.”
Mikey Patton plays Scott Mathers “The Cop.”
Bryce Evans plays Eric Crowe “The Old Hunter,”
and Sebastian Monroe is the Storyteller.

Community News

Fires Rage Across Northwest California

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Thunder and lightning swept across the coast on Tuesday, lighting off 23 confirmed wildfires in the Six Rivers National Forest. 150 lightning strikes were recorded prior to the burning fires,  With 11 active fires in Del Norte County as of time of writing, we are clearly not exempt from the destructive power of the recent lightning storms.

For further fire locations visit: https://protect.genasys.com/hazards/531b9f1b-1b36-4b91-8e63-2aada4881deb?z=10.211232925338251&latlon=41.83500450952613%2C-123.87100200433008

The largest incident is the Holiday fire which is spanning 528 acres burning approximately two miles south of the Oregon border near Rockland. The remaining 10 active fires are under 10 acres each at this time. The Kelly Fire is approximately 1 mile south of Patricks Creek on the south side of Highway 199 and is 90 acres wide. Caution is advised while driving through the area as the fire is visible from the road. Highway 199 from mile marker 16 to Idlewild has been closed due to the fires, with an evacuation notice for all residing in the Little Jones Creek area effective immediately. A red flag warning is in effect for the Gasquet, Willow Creek, Orleans, and Mad River areas. A red flag warning is a weather designation that could cause higher fire activity in the area, with weather phenomenon including low humidity, higher temperatures, and wind gusting across the forest.

Wider shot from parking lot
From the parking lot
Shoulder of 199
Just past Hiouchi
Pictures of the growing Kelly Fire near Patrick’s Creek

Efforts to stop the fires are currently ongoing with methods to stop the fires including a full suppression strategy utilizing rapid and aggressive starting attack operations. You may hear helicopters overhead today more frequently than usual, as air attack is being used to perform reconnaissance on the fires and the forest area. Some of which have been dispatched all the way from Fresno. Keep an eye on the sky and an ear to the ground about any evacuations from the Department of Emergency Services and the Sheriff’s Office.

Air support dispatched from Fresno
Opinion

“Rockin the Redwoods” Cancelled

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An event in the making was smothered while taking its first steps last Saturday, as a ranger from the US Forest Service tamped down the Rockin the Redwoods concert before it even got underway. Citing concerns of fire safety and the need for a special use permit, the several day set up for the event turned out to be all for naught.

The stage for the 9 local bands set to play that night.

The show’s Instagram profile made its first post on July 5th, promoting a lineup of 9 local artists from various genres. Since then, the event had created its own merchandise and had a guerilla stage set up in the hills on Old Gasquet Toll Road. 15 people were at the site helping to set up decorations and the security border when the ranger stopped by to squash the show, having arrived just after the local band Radio Rice finished their sound check. 

The event’s flyer

Several people had been drinking up to this point, creating an unsafe environment for the return trip down the mountain, with several large trailers needing to be moved as quickly as possible out of the area. The road itself was a sketchy climb, with many saying “I hope I don’t crash on my way back down.”

Overall, this cancellation of the Rockin the Redwoods event seems to be a symptom of local law enforcement having little to do but stamp out youth counterculture when and wherever they can.

Community News

Diesel Leak into Elk Creek’s Source Identified

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In between the Crescent City Cultural Center and the Hmong Point of Honor there is a culvert. For the past month there has been diesel fuel leaking from the culvert into Elk Creek. Rick Beal, a local who feeds the stray cats in the area noticed the smell of the diesel coming from the creek. He called up and down local agencies getting little answer. He did however contact the Coast Guard who ended up putting absorbent booms at the end of the Culvert to stem the flow of diesel until they could find the source. After coordinating with the County and the City, the agencies found and secured the source of the spill into Elk Creek. According to Andrew Cistner from the Humboldt Coast Guard Station, the source was a failed hose and it released approximately 13 gallons of diesel into the culvert, with potential pockets of further runoff expected. The Coast Guard has eyes on the situation daily, to move the booms back into position. The Coast Guard conducted an investigation into the source, and Andrew declined to speak to who is responsible for the failed hos, stating we would need to file a Freedom of Information Act request to gather that information.

Similarly to Rick’s experience, we were sent in a circle trying to uncover exactly what happened with the whole diesel incident over several days. From the City, to the County’s Environmental Health Department, then to the Coast Guard, no one seemed to have the full story, or care all too much about letting the public know what happened.

Perhaps the reason for this is that there is still runoff into Elk Creek, seemingly unabated by the present fix. Whether or not this is a large amount of  residual runoff or another source of diesel leakage remains to be seen. Major concerns for local wildlife are on my mind as otters, herons, and other species live in this creek and could be consuming this diesel. 

After several days of getting the runaround from local and federal agencies regarding a fuel leak into Elk Creek, I have received answers regarding its source, and how much was said to have leaked into the creek itself. Speaking with Sheriff Garrett Scott this morning, we have confirmed information from an anonymous source, that the source of the leak was a fuel tank at the Sheriff’s Office. During the recent storms, a fault occurred with the tank causing what the Coast Guard said was 13 gallons of spillage from the tank to the ocean. Sheriff Scott had limited information seeing as this is a County Maintenance matter, but was told that the problem was fixed and that any further runoff would be dealt with by their safety measures. He was told there was less than 10 gallons that spilled into the storm drain, which is contradictory to the Coast Guard’s mention of 13 gallons.

The current safety measure implemented at the source of the leak is a black tank with a hose leading into the storm drain.

We currently have an FOIA filed with the US Coast Guard that is in process. We have also called the Maintenance Department Director Alan Winogradov and left a message. More on this story as it develops, for Redwood Voice Youth Media, I’m Sebastian Monroe.

LGBTQ, Opinion

Del Norte County Board of Supervisors Supports Colonialism Leaving LGBTQ+ Youth Without a Resource Database

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Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors Meeting (ZOOM Recording)

At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Chris Howard pressed Tom Kelem about the proposed fiscal sponsor of an LGBTQ+ Resource Database that the county had prior granted a Mental Health Service Act contract to. This was due to Queer Humboldt (the aforementioned fiscal sponsor) having values that are “anti-racist, anti-colonialist.” Supervisor Howard bombarded Mr. Kelem with questions about what exactly those values meant, expressing concern that they were hypocritical due to the county funding them. This implies that the county government of Del Norte County is pro-settler colonialism, and that threats to colonialist values will not be tolerated.

Kelem responded to the questioning that “he wasn’t there when they made those ideas.” He then defended Queer Humboldt, as they are non-profit organization willing to be the fiscal sponsor for this endeavor, that are also involved in LGBT issues, he stated that “that seemed like a really good fit to me.” Howard would not take this answer however, and then proceeded to seemingly cow the rest of the Board to not second the motion or ask any further questions. This deprives the LGBTQ+ community of Del Norte comprehensive and easy access to mental health services and resources in our area. In an already isolated community, this exacerbates the issue of feeling alone and unable to find help in Del Norte County.

In an article from The Trevor Project published December 15th, 2021 the following statistics are lined out.

  • LGBTQ+ youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers. (Johns et al., 2019; Johns et al., 2020)
  • The Trevor Project estimates that more than 1.8 million LGBTQ youth (13-24) seriously consider suicide each year in the U.S. — and at least one attempts suicide every 45 seconds.
  • The Trevor Project’s 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health found that 45% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth.

The article continues to state many other statistics including how social support and practices supporting LGBTQ+ youth help curb that rate significantly. Supervisor Howard claimed during the April 26th Candidate forum that he is in favor of providing mental health services for our community, and yet when an opportunity arises to do so for an underserved population he strikes it down due to colonialist sentiment. While Supervisor Chris Howard led the questioning, no other Supervisor spoke up in defense of Mr. Kelem or the program. When one does not speak up against acts of prejudice they are no better than the one who has prejudiced.

Supervisor Chris Howard on Mental Health in Del Norte
Videos

The Del Norte Youth Wellness Summit 2022

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On September 23rd, Redwood Voice Youth Media made an appearance at the Youth Wellness Summit in the Cultural Center. Put on by Sources of Strength and other organizations, we learned a bit about what our community has to offer in mental health resources. Here’s a report from Redwood Voice’s Sebastian Monroe:

Produced by Sebastian Monroe