Wild Horses Survive in the Desert by Digging Wells. That story and more on H2O Radio’s weekly news report about water.

Headlines:

Barrels found off the coast of California expose what has long been suspected—industries have treated the ocean as a cheap alternative to landfills.

Herds of wild horses and donkeys roam deserts and dig wells to get water to benefit themselves and other species.

Container ships are piled high with boxes that mostly stay on board even in rough seas, but it turns out, some are falling off.

The waste that comes from corn—stalks, leaves, and husks—can be used to clean water.

Wasps—not the gangsters of the insect world they're made out to be.

This Week in Water for May 2, 2021

Humboldt county lied again, they are in fact coming for resident's unpermitted homes. The Code Enforcement Unit (CEU) plans to bulldoze several homes because they are unpermitted, starting with the almost 40 year old intentional commune in Trinidad, called Yeehaw. Yes, the same community The CEU has tried to eradicate for decades unsuccessfully. Yes, the same community where a mother and child, holding bunny rabbits, were held up at gunpoint by the CEU in 2008, leading to disarmament of the department.

Apparently the county feels it is less of a nuisance to make 7 families homeless than to allow them to live peacefully in affordable housing. But I disagree, I think having a bulldozer show up in your front yard to demolish your home and garden is an actual “nuisance” and “threat to the health, safety and wellness of our community” including the environment. 

For decades the owner, Charlie Garth, has provided affordable housing in the land of absentee property owners, high rents, vacation rentals and air b&bs. YeeHaw is a food forest, with countless maypoles and stunning gathering spaces for reading, music, games, art and education. It features at least 4 organic food gardens, yurts, bunnies, goats, bee-keeping, and also about 10 “ingenious architectural” structures made of upcycled materials, and currently provide housing for several families. The county claims these sustainability created homes are a nuisance because they are unpermitted, all while the county refuses to process Charlie’s owner builder permit, that he applied and paid for 13 years ago. 

I spoke with Charlie extensively this week. I am featuring him on the next Monday Morning Magazine show on kmud Aug 12 from 7-9am (kmud.org), alongside Attorney Eugene Denson, Earth first legend Jack Nounnan and more to dive into the details.

In this sneak-peak, unedited interview I speak with one of Charlie’s “neighbors,” as he calls them, Claire Terra. Claire is the owner of Terra Farms, a small organic family farm in Arcata working to keep our community sustainability fed and healthy. In the interview she speaks about how grateful she is to have affordable housing and discusses what it’s like to live at YeeHaw.

Claire explains, “Its an amazing place to have your child grow up; we walk in the forest, we have a flock of hens, we eat berries every morning and [my daughter] loves to watch the baby apples grow. I just hope and pray she will get to eat the apples again this year...I dont know where we’ll go if [the county] follows through on their bulldozer threat.”

Later Claire mentioned the county’s abatement notice featured five year old images of YeeHaw that were not reflective of current conditions. Claire adds “if you're really going to bulldoze a legacy of affordable, peaceful living--- I mean don't do it, but if you must--- at least cite accurate information.”  

The county is threatening to demolish their homestead and about 12 other structures in late August/Early September. (Yes, the county didn’t give a set date for demolition of their homes because that's how they role at the CEU).

But of course YeeHaw, in standard fashion is creatively standing up to the injustice and holding an ongoing, “Give Them their Permit,” blockade, BBQ and carnival starting in late August. 

If you’ve had enough of the CEU abatement program please join us for the festivities! Property Rights Advocates, human rights advocates, housing advocates, farmers, homesteaders, lovers of peace and freedom, let us come together again to finally put a stop to this inhumanity. I hope to see all at Yeehaw in Trinidad starting late August 2021!

Stay tuned to "The Rights Organization (Defund Code Enforcement)" Facebook page for more information.

Interview from July 28, 2021. Image of Charlie Garth at the "Club house," one of many structures set to be bulldozed

Claire Speaks About HumCo. Code Enforcment's Planned Demolition of Intentional Community "YeeHaw"

Humboldt Asians & Pacific Islanders in Solidarity (HAPI) presents the first-ever “Exploring Our Roots Arts Festival”, with performances by touring and local artists whose music, poetry, film and dance illuminate and reflect the histories, culture, and stories of Pan-Asian and BIPOC people. All events are at the Arcata Playhouse, 1251 9th Street, Arcata, CA. 

Hear all about the events from HAPI organizer Terry Uyeki, as well as songs and words of performers: Julian Saporiti of No-No Boy , Aileen Espiritu of the Color Coded Symphony, and Mignon Geli of Soul-A-Mente, in this KMUD Public Affairs interview...

The festival kicks off on Friday, June 23, 6:30 P.M. with a performance by Hiroya Tsukamoto, followed by No-No Boy, aka Nashville-born songwriter Julian Saporiti, who was inspired from his family’s history living through the Vietnam War as well as many other stories of Asian American experience.

On Saturday, June 24, Dr. Saporiti will present a 90-minute workshop on “Transforming History into Art”. From 12 noon -2:30 P.M. there will be free performances by local performing artists, featuring the Bear River Youth Tribal Council Singers, Humboldt Taiko, Soul-A-Mente, Lansana Kouyate, Lorenza Simmons and Jenny Villaseñor, ‘prayer-formers’ Bamidele and RA MHTP, Rachel Noel, Humboldt County Lao Dancers, Rebekka Lopez, Odalys Ramirez, and more!

At 3:00 PM. folk music artist and singer-songwriter Aireene Espiritu will carry listeners through familiar and unfamiliar songs and sounds from around the world via a “Color-Coded Symphony: Our Town,” an experience with local musicians from diverse ethnic backgrounds. 

At 6:00 P.M., Arcata native filmmaker Chisato Hughes will present the Humboldt premiere of their short documentary, “Many Moons,” about Chinese immigrant Charlie Moon, the fabled “last Chinese Man of Humboldt County” after the purging of its Chinese community in 1885 – and his descendants, known as the Moons, whose families touch all local native tribes in the area. After the screening, there will be a Q&A with the film’s director about filming with the help of Yurok, Hupa, and local Asian American residents, and with Sheila Moon, who will talk about the legacy of her great great-great-great-great grandfather Charlie Moon.

The festival is cosponsored by Humboldt Area Foundation and Wild Rivers Community Foundation, Playhouse Arts, and the Humboldt Folklife Society. HAPI is seeking business underwriters and volunteers to help with mounting this first-ever multicultural arts festival in Arcata. Interested persons can contact festival organizers at hapi.humboldt@gmail.com or go to www.hapihumboldt.org for more information. Tickets are available: https://www.playhousearts.org/events/exploring-our-roots-arts-festival/
Food trucks and refreshments will be available throughout the festival.

HAPI builds and empowers our community by amplifying diverse voices and perspectives for a more engaged and inclusive future. HAPI is a DreamMaker Project of the Ink People Center for the Arts, a community-based, grassroots, artists-run, arts and culture not-for-profit organization. Join HAPI in celebrating family, cultural, and community roots, and Asian, Pacific Islander, and BIPOC heritage, as expressed through the performing arts! Just go to www.hapihumboldt.org for more information

First-Ever Exploring Our Roots Arts Festival Coming to Arcata

Hard Pills

KMUD Redwood Community Radio Public Affairs features the Institute for Sustainable Forestry, Voices - our weekly Poetry show, KMUD exclusives with dedicated Hosts, and live Public Affairs specials!

First-Ever Exploring Our Roots Arts Festival Coming to Arcata

KMUD Public Affairs

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