News Blog

UPDATE: Pedestrian Killed in Last Week's Crash ID'd

By Thadeus Greenson on May 28, 2024 at 5:26PM

UPDATE: The Humboldt County Corner's Office has identified the 66-year-old pedestrian killed May 22 as Eureka resident David Sprague, according to a news release from the Eureka Police Department.

Judge Kreis 'Censured and Barred' in Agreement to Close Ethics Case

By Thadeus Greenson on May 28, 2024 at 3:53PM

In addition to failing to disclose friendships and other relationships with litigants in his courtroom, Kreis admits in the stipulation to being discourteous and making inappropriate comments to litigants and attorneys, and to grabbing or slapping a woman’s buttocks after she’d explicitly told him not to one night in November of 2018. “Sexual misconduct severely undermines public esteem or the integrity of the judiciary,” the stipulation reads.

Students and community members gather outside Siemens Hall amid a standoff between police and protesters occupying the building on April 22.

Cal Poly Readying to Turn Protest Police Reports Over to DA

By Thadeus Greenson on May 21, 2024 at 5:04PM

The university is in the process of re-opening the campus, having started with a “soft opening” May 13 that allowed employees whose work necessitates it to come to campus, with a full re-opening scheduled for May 28, when summer instruction will begin. Student disciplinary procedures related to the protests, meanwhile, remain ongoing.

The Gaza demonstration at Cal Poly Humboldt and the blockade in front of the main entrance to Siemens Hall on April 23.

Cal Poly Humboldt Protester Featured on New York Times Podcast

By Thadeus Greenson on May 17, 2024 at 2:50PM

A Cal Poly Humboldt student was among three people interviewed on today’s edition of the New York Times podcast The Daily, which discusses the pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have gripped college campuses across the nation. The episode, which includes some nuanced discussion of the protests, their inspiration and how they are viewed by students of various backgrounds, features three students, including 25-year-old CPH early child development student Jasmine Jolly, Mustafa Yowell, a student of Palestinian descent at University of Texas at Austin, and Elisha Baker, a Jewish student at Columbia University.

Sheriff's Office IDs Deputy Who Shot Suspect

By Thadeus Greenson on May 13, 2024 at 4:28PM

The Humboldt County Sheriff's Office has identified the deputy who fatally shot a shooting suspect last month as Lt. Conan Moore, who remains on paid administrative leave. According to the Sheriff's Office, Moore was responding to the scene of the report that a 75-year-old woman had been shot in Cutten and arrived to find Kevin Jeffrey Burks, who matched the suspect description, fleeing the scene.

Cal Poly Humboldt graduate Violet Zoe Becerra waves to the crowd while receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree at Blue Lake Casino.

CPH Graduation at the Courthouse and the Casino

By Jasmin Shirazian on May 12, 2024 at 5:30PM

Cal Poly Humboldt graduating senior Angel Barker wasn’t expecting to receive her diploma at a casino. “My high school graduation was a drive-thru in the parking lot because it was in 2020 at the beginning of COVID-19,” Barker said.

Man Shot by Deputy Last Month Dies

By Thadeus Greenson on May 8, 2024 at 7:00AM

Kevin Jeffrey Burks, the 32-year-old man shot by a Humboldt County Sheriff's deputy on April 25 in Cutten, died Friday, May 3, the Sheriff's Office announced today. Burks, who is alleged to have shot and injured a 75-year-old woman on Fern Street before police were called to the scene, was transported to a local hospital for treatment from the scene.

A speaker addresses the Cal Poly Humboldt University Senate.

CPH University Senate Calls for Independent Investigation into Protest Response

By Thadeus Greenson on May 7, 2024 at 8:39PM

Both resolutions passed at a special, standing-room-only meeting that saw more than two hours devoted to the Senate hearing input from dozens of students, faculty and staff, as well as a handful of community members, about the protests and administration response that have deeply divided campus. While voices cracked, raised and faltered with emotion, senators largely sat silent and listened in what was the first organized forum allowing campus leadership to hear directly from the community it governs since hundreds of police officers descended on campus April 30, arresting 32 people — including 13 students and one professor — while clearing the protests that had occupied the heart of campus for more than a week.

A protester places signs around Siemens Hall.

Faculty Association Condemns Clearing of Campus; Lawmakers Call for Healing

By Thadeus Greenson on April 30, 2024 at 3:57PM

CFA Humboldt Condemns the arrest of students and faculty in response to Solidarity with Palestine protest on Cal Poly Humboldt CampusThe Cal Poly Humboldt Chapter of the California Faculty Association (CFA), a labor union that represents teaching, counseling, library, and coaching faculty of the California State University System, condemn last night’s actions of Cal Poly Humboldt (CPH) Administration as yet another dangerous escalation of their response to a peaceful campus demonstration. Just after 9:30pm, Monday, April 29th, a multi-agency force of law enforcement descended on campus.

Large Police Operation Clears Cal Poly Humboldt Campus; No Injuries Reported

By Thadeus Greenson on April 30, 2024 at 7:32AM

Before dawn this morning, more than 100 police officers from agencies throughout the state descended on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus to systematically clear it of pro-Palestinian protesters, some of whom had occupied a portion of campus for more than a week. A university press release issued this morning said the police action was necessary to "restore order" on the campus, which the administration had closed until May 10, and to "eliminate the threat of violence and criminal behavior."

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