Convicted child molestor John Beideman was expected to be paroled in August 2026. Looks like he has been released early. There is no record for him in the CDCR inmate locator.
I saw John Beideman in the Target parking lot with a woman today at 11:08 a.m. He was walking out as I was walking to the store. He was a few feet away but looked at me and kept walking. Unless he has a doppelganger I am not aware of; it is Carpathian.
Convicted murderer Jake Combs waived preliminary hearing in his 2025 case today. Arraignment on information is on 7/24. That is a week before sentencing is scheduled in his homicide case for Trevor Earley.
After another continuance on May 1, I just stopped adding updates to the previous post.
She was scheduled to be sentenced at 10 a.m. today. Sentencing was continued to July 22.
In my June 21 post, I wrote, "I have to wait so long for minutes and documents from Humboldt courts that by the time I get to update these cases, it is not only exhausting for me but the public."
I am not the only one dealing with this, attorneys do daily. Humboldt Superior Court Assistant Presiding Judge Timothy Canning deals with it daily. The civil department is always behind and it is getting worse. One reason for court minutes is that the clerks are filling in multiple courtrooms but most of them do get the minutes done in 3 or 4 days. Where the backlog has been constant is documents scanned into e court or even put in the file. Short staffing was not always the case. It is management and Humboldt Superior Court's refusal to allow electronic filing and have an online portal.
On Monday, there was a hearing in CV2600683 Redwood Oil vs Humboldt County Board of Supervisors et al on the contempt motion filed Redwood Oil and Jacksons Food Stores Inc. alleging the County of Humboldt et has violated the preliminary injunction issued by Humboldt Judge Canning.
The first amended writ finally added and I have been checking regularly since 6/19 and mentioned it in previous coverage.
The County of Humboldt filed a demurrer on 7/6. It is not in e court and there is no future date. I am still waiting to hear from Humboldt Superior Court Assistant Operations Manager Scott Anderson about why there are no arraignment dates for criminal cases, two specific complaints filed by the DA on 7/10. I had to call the DA today to get dates. The date in one case is still not in e court.
I like to do live reporting. I follow court cases regularly. I have explained many times that following 30 to 40 cases a day and having to check on minutes for days and multiple continuances a week not making money is not going to continue. I have asked people to subscribe for one on one updates and to support my reporting. I am now spending more time doing what does not get me frustrated and helps pay my bills. For all the daily content you see here, there is information only my advertisers and subscribers get. I can see that people are losing interest because no one wants to read about endless continuances and nothing significant happening.
I don't need the court minutes or the document to tell you that the County of Humboldt is arrogant, anti business and is wasting time in this lawsuit. I did a post on the Tort Reform Coalition that First District Supervisor Rex Bohn sponsored as an agenda item for yesterday's meeting.
Of course, no other local media covered that agenda item. Most of them have nothing about yesterday's BOS meeting. Those that did have perfunctory coverage.
Colusa Superior Court Presiding Judge Jeffrey Thompson is my favorite Humboldt Visiting Judge.
Can we keep Judge Thompson here for a while?
What a difference a judge makes. Yesterday, two nuisance repeat offenders got the reality check they needed.
Yesterday, Conflict Counsel waited almost two weeks to file the petition for mental health diversion and did it in the a.m. on the day of the jury trial. Deputy District Attorney Brandon Boozari waw correct to object. Judge Kaleb Cockrum should not have granted Deputy Conflict Counsel David Nims last minute continuance. Readiness Conference is scheduled for 8/10; jury trial on 8/31.
Another bad ruling by Judge Cockrum that is anti public safety, disrespectful to two law enforcement agencies and the alleged victims.
Yesterday's Case Management Conference hearing in the City of Eureka vs Dick Leroy Henderson was dismissed without prejudice on February 6, 2026.
I have reached out to City of Eureka attorney, Mr. Robert Black to see if he can comment. attention
City of Eureka Deputy City Attorney Gregory Holtz has been handling this matter. He responded to my inquiry. "Hi John,The City dismissed the receivership case in February due to a technical defect in the capacity in which the defendant was sued. The City resolved the issue, then filed a new receivership case last week regarding the same property against the same defendant in a slightly different capacity."
I took this photo at 9:05 a.m. The back of Kent Sawatzky's head is not the reason for this post. He is the one in the Rex Bohn campaign shirt.
Kent speaks on every single item he can for the full three minutes at every meeting.
Before the Supervisors address this today, this item from staff from the Planning and Building Department has some people pissed off; including me.
The following concerns and questions from tax paying, business owners and community members should be answered by Building and Planning Director John Ford and every single Board of Supervisor.
1. Is this report the best use of Planning and Building staff time?
2. Just because something has been brought up in certain public conversations and there is public suspicion but it is not reality is what Planning and Building staff waste time on and put it on the agenda for the Supervisors to discuss to waste more time when there are other pressing issues facing the County of Humboldt?
3. The anti- Amazon NIMBY crowd failed to get enough signatures to get their initiative on the November ballot. That means not everyone in Humboldt thinks like them.
4. Who decided "some uses may be considered incompatible with the values of Humboldt County?"
Did staff go out and interview every single resident and citizen of Humboldt County and ask them if these uses were incompatible with their values?
This sounds like a group of activists who didn't get what they wanted and convinced Planning and Building staff to put an item on the agenda.
Certain people with their views do not get to impose their will and use County staff and time for personal agendas. If staff did this on their own, I suggest they resign and go join an activist organization. Let someone who understands that taxpayers pay staff to work on permits and code violations which is the job of this department and not to engage in activism on the county and taxpayer dime.
First the anti Miranda Rescue crowd decides they get to dictate and demand what HCSO and the DA should do. Now the anti job, anti corporate, anti growth patchouli activists want to impose their will on another County department.
After watching the meeting, it is clear that some of the Supervisors were involved somehow before this item made it to the agenda. I know from past political involvement, this happens and both parties engage in it and it is not limited to Humboldt. To what extent and when we will never find out because no one is privy and can prove informal conversations. Director Ford looked uncomfortable and was very cautious in his responses.
2:32 p.m. Of course Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo and Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson want to discuss a 1983 initiative.
2:36 p.m. Natalie Arroyo correcting it was 1988 and not 1983 and Mike Wilson admitting the correct date and that he went off the wrong date from the staff report is hilarious.
2:40 p.m. Thank you Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell for pointing out the obvious that there is already restricted use and no detention center will be allowed in Mckinleyville Score 1 for common sense 0 for the anti Amazon crowd.
2:44 p.m. Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone not even hiding the fact unlike the other two left leaning Supervisors and ready to direct staff word for word. Guess that answers partly why staff time was wasted on activism. Cannot wait for Madrone's term to end.
2:50 p.m. Shocking NOT, Humboldt LAFCO public member Elaine Weinreb is against detention centers, data centers. Her previous writing in North Coast Journal shows her obvious views. Another Mckinleyville resident.
3 p.m. Kent changed his shirt.
How many of these commenters wanting moratoriums and bans are from the anti Amazon crowd? So far everyone commenting is white hair, old, activists you see at the Humboldt "No Kings" protests.
3:29 p.m. Steve Madrone thinks 41 unverified signatures on a petition and 37 emails with only a handful of people speaking on this County = wasting Planning and Building time. It is obvious that three of the Supervisors, all with openly left views are behind this and how they will vote.
3:38 p.m. Thank you again, Supervisor Bushnell for making some of the points I made and about the hindrance to economic growth and that there is an already a process in place.
3:48 p.m. Supervisor Bushnell abstained; First District Supervisor Rex Bohn voted no. As I predicted, three Supervisors voted yes.
Orluck posted bond and I have been checking to see if charges were filed regularly. The DA filed charges on 7/10. There is no arraignment date yet in e court. The clerk had no information and Humboldt Superior Court Assistant Operations Manager never got back to me.
The DA was able to give me the date of 7/23 on 7/15.
Orluck is charged with 5 felonies and one misdemeanor including domestic violence, false imprisonment and forcible oral copulation.
No other local media has reported on this case. Will RHBB cover it given Kym Kemp connections?
As you can see from the charges and detailed complaint which I did not crop where it says merged HCSO case.
Took the photos at 9:10. This in the alley between 4th and 5th near I streets. Eureka Police Department is still searching the vehicle.
9:25 The vehicle is being towed.One EPD police services truck and two EPD vehicles.
EPD Police Operations Analyst Rachel Sollom told me, "It was related to a non-injury traffic collision. No arrests made."
The Justice Department announced today that Ziheng “Tony” Fang was arrested on a federal charge of false information and hoaxes. Fang made an initial appearance on July 10, 2026 in federal court in San Jose.
According to the allegations in a criminal complaint and court documents filed on July 9, 2026, Fang, 30, of San Jose, wrote a hateful and threatening message placed in a plastic cover sheet taped to the bathroom wall of a men’s restroom on the campus of San Jose State University (SJSU). Fang is a graduate student at SJSU, pursuing his Master’s Degree in Data Science.
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| (Photo I took of Curt at a protest) |
People get divorced. Including people who work at the Courthouse. It is not news and I do not cover family law unless there is a criminal case or some other newsworthy angle.
I have been aware of the family law case between former City of Eureka deputy attorney Curt Davis and Deputy DA Rebecca Buckley-Stein. Mr. Doug Kaber represents Davis. Ms. Joan Gallegos is Ms. Buckley-Stein's attorney.
There was a time I spoke with Curt Davis. I have done coverage about him as an attorney and other posts of interests and most of my readers do not need context.
I cover Ms. Buckley-Stein regularly as part of my 12 years plus and ongoing coverage of Humboldt courts. I speak with her frequently.
I informed both of them early on that I did see their family law case on calendar and I had no intention of covering their divorce. Curt thanked me and saying he appreciated it and they have children together. Curt says a lot and I don't trust or believe him about anything. Once again, with this latest filing, Curt says one thing and does another.
Based on my coverage, my own interaction with him, I would not recommend him as an attorney. I have had numerous conversations with people about him and my own experience and my opinion of him is very low as a person.
Ms. Buckley-Stein is aware I am doing a post on the latest filing. She never asked me not to write about the case; Curt did.
Humboldt Superior Court Judge April Van Dyke finalized the divorce on 7/10/25. I do read family law documents in cases I do not write about but parties I know or people in Humboldt who are public figures. The Davis Buckley-Stein case is yet another Humboldt family law case where important relevant issues such as child custody are decided but the Humboldt men in certain cases drag the case on unnecessarily over trivial stuff like a car. Not a classic or expensive car but some old, practical non name brand car.
In these cases, the men are nothing. They lost decent women. They are not alphas, they aren't even beta, they can loosely be described as omegas. I'd use another word but Google has a conniption over words that the PC police find offensive.
I have known Mr. Kaber for years. On June 17, 2026, Curt filed a request to remove Mr. Kaber as his attorney. There is a hearing on 7/16/25.
You can read the filing by Curt yourself.
Curt, you have been a lawyer for 8 years. You were terminated from the City of Eureka. You were sanctioned by Humboldt Superior Court Assistant Presiding Judge Timothy Canning. Just because you do not have some disciplinary listing on your State Bar of California profile, it means nothing. What does it have to do with your the document you filed?
Calling yourself the President and CEO of your dinky solo firm is irrelevant.
Trying hard to prove something? Anticipating issues with your credibility?
It is always someone else's fault. Miles, Mr. Robert Black, your ex wife, now you want to allege malpractice against Mr. Kaber?
I believe this accusation as much as your ridiculous claim about Rob Arkley and City of Eureka Manager Miles Slattery which I wrote about in another post.
" I chose not to report on what Davis shared including an outrageous claim Davis made about City of Eureka Manager Miles Slattery and local businessman Rob Arkley allegedly hanging out together. Davis did not provide any evidence and I have known both Miles and Rob for two decades and seen them at social events and observed them out and about in town. While I might have believed that Miles was at a certain place; that is not somewhere Rob Arkley would ever go. Davis' claim was so ridiculous, I had to contain my laughter. I have never shied away from valid news or standing up to power but I will not be used and I am not going to publish claims without evidence. "
"RHBB and Ryan Hutson did not publish Davis' anecdote about Miles and Rob."
Curt, you hardly have any court cases. You can't accept the divorce. You told me you care about your children. Yet, your actions show the opposite. Be a man and move on. Accept responsibility for why you were let go from the City of Eureka and why your marriage ended. Provide for your children and the mother of your children.
I have covered former local attorney Callie Buck and her cases since 2023.
Buck has a 2026 case which was scheduled for jury trial next week and a VOP revocation hearing in a 2025 and 2024 case.
Today, she failed to appear in court for trial confirmation and pre trial. Future dates were vacated. A bench warrant for $5,000 was issued in each case by Colusa Superior Court Presiding Judge Jeffrey Thompson who has been filling in for various Humboldt Superior Court judges this summer. This week he is in Courtroom 2.
You can search the blog for all previous coverage or Google.
Gilbert Lankford arrested by HCSO yesterday for PC 290.018(a) failure to register as a transient sex offender. It is a misdemeanor in California and he was released on O.R.
7/14/26: Today, Lankford's 2025 case is on for arraignment. The 2025 case is on for failure to register.
There is no Rythe Law Group but there is a Ryther Law Group.
One guess who told Ryan Burns about the letter to the County of Humboldt. One guess on who may have threatened legal action against the County of Humboldt regarding Miranda's Rescue.
The request was published and information provided to the requester June 29, 2026. Lost Coast Outpost published the letter and a response from the County of Humboldt but as usual left out some relevant facts. LOCO never bothered to ask Ryther Law Group who the client is but all you have to do is the read the letter. Why is the client's identity a secret?
You can google the law firm if you want and just check the three recent entries under the press and news tab on the firm's site and do a google search into what the firm is working on currently. It should give some insight into the coordinated campaign which includes Humboldt and why HCSO finally did the photo op and investigation. There is a statwide effort by this law firm and Fix Our Shelters. You can also google how Ryther Law Group earns money.
This explains the regional and some national press. It also explains why Mike McGuire and Chris Rogers issued a statement.
This is just one excerpt from one listing from a quick Google search.
https://voiceofoc.org/2026/03/california-animal-shelters-reform/
"Orange County animal shelters were among the roughly 150 California facilities that received a letter from the Fix Our Shelters nonprofit and Ryther Law Group, calling out a slew of alleged unlawful practices and demanding reform.
Cease and desist letters included allegations like animal abandonment, unlawful euthanasia, inadequate conditions and retaliation against rescue partners and other members of the public.
This first round of letters listed a series of allegations without getting too specific toward any individual jurisdiction or shelter.
Representatives from the Sacramento-based Fix Our Shelters nonprofit said they’re working on sending out more detailed letters targeting specific shelters. If shelters don’t take action to comply with state law, nonprofit officials say they will bring legal action against what they consider the most egregious players."
Even Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has incurred the wrath of Ryther Law Group and Expand Animal Rights Now who represent the Stand Up For Pits Foundation.
The lawsuit against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, the City of LA, the LAPD, and Animal Services by animal activists claims the city leaders allegedly failed to protect animals and enforce animal cruelty laws. The Stand Up for Pits Foundation is asking to be reimbursed for over 50,000.
Even before I was aware of this letter, I called it a coordinated witchunt.
The vegan activist lawyer Jill Ryther who is also conveniently the CEO of of Expand Animal Rights Now needs outrage for rage giving, a tactic employed by non profits. For that they need villains. Jill who touts her legal experience does not understand the U.S.constitution. An individual is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
There have been constant leaks and interference with the Miranda Rescue investigation and retaliation by the complaining parties against anyone standing in the way. There are conflicts of interest in the Miranda Rescue investigation. Where is that scrutiny?
No one has a problem with Shannon Miranda being investigated. The problem is the premature letter from Ryther Law Group, the media tour before an investigation is completed and any charges have been filed, the attention seeking reality show by Jenna Moore and Jennifer Raymond and their lackeys, the refusal of rabid, frothing at the mouth haters who won't step aside and allow an investigation to be conducted unhindered and cannot grasp that due process exists in this country.
A cliquey mob with the Humboldt complaining parties involved in animal rescue don't get to tar and feather someone with personal agendas.
If Jill Ryther, Jenna Moore, Jennifer Raymond, Fix Our Shelters and any other party threatening legal action are all about the animals, let them sign a legal document that they will not accept a dime or profit from the Miranda's Rescue investigation by taking over any of Miranda Rescue contracts or animals. They will not profit if a case is filed against Shannon Miranda and should there be a conviction or judgement, they will not take any money. All the money should go into a fund for care, medical expenses and adoption of animals.
From what I have heard, Jenna Moore and Jennifer Raymond have money. Jill Ryther should have money if you believe her bio and do research on lawsuits she won.
If not, their motives are not selfless and it isn't about saving animals.
If you did not read this post, you should in context this one.
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2026/06/todays-hcso-press-conference-has-not.html?m=1#more
Repeat offender, stalking and criminal threats suspect Clayton Miller has four open cases. I have been covering Miller since 2012. Ken Bareilles is his latest court appointed attorney. There have been discussions about a resolution.
Both the People and defense stated their offers on record on 7/9 before the preliminary hearing in Miller's 2025 stalking and criminal threats case. There was no resolution. Miller is charged with 13 counts in that case.
Humboldt Superior Court Presiding Judge Kelly Neel heard testimony from Jane Doe. Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Schaffer provided Jane Doe's rap sheet to defense.
Jane Doe's testimony continued on 7/10.
7/10/26: Jane Doe completes her testimony. HCSO Deputy Johnathan Waxler is the last People's witness. People's exhibits are admitted into evidence.
Defense first witness isMiller
7/13/26: Day 3 Miller completed testimony. Attorneys took a break. I saw Ms. Schaffer and Mr. Bareilles chatting in a conference room near Courtroom 7 around 9:45 a.m. Found out when court resumed, it was to discuss a resolution. Defense offer was rejected by people. Judge Neel held Miller to held to answer to 6 counts: not held to answer 7 counts.
If you don't read me regularly and want details on Miller's 2025 case and his other three 2026 cases and links to previous posts, you can check the May 9, April 30 and March 17 posts.