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San Francisco Chronicle
3 days ago
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
This California city relies on a highway that's sliding into the ocean. Fixing it will cost $2 billion
One of California's most expensive infrastructure projects is inching forward in a tiny city on the north coast, where landslides have long battered the main highway. The road in question is Last Chance Grade, a cliff-hugging stretch of U.S. 101 that links Eureka to Crescent City. Winding three miles through a redwood forest that overlooks the Pacific Ocean, the thoroughfare is beautiful and cursed. Ground tremors and winter storms send rocks tumbling from adjacent slopes, burying large sections of pavement and forcing closures. Parts of the overhang are steadily crumbling into the sea. After years of patch jobs and careful monitoring, Caltrans landed on a solution: A 6,000-foot tunnel that would bypass the landslide area, at a cost of $2.1 billion. If built, it would be the longest tunnel in state history, a bedrock lifeline for a relatively isolated place. Political leaders still aren't sure where they'll find all that money. But they see no other option. 'We're really racing against time,' said Democratic Congressman Jared Huffman, who represents a coastal span from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border. He considers Last Chance Grade the district's highest transportation priority — more urgent, even, than flood-endangered Highway 37 in the North Bay. 'Last Chance Grade is on the verge of falling into the ocean on any given day,' Huffman said, emphasizing the road's fragility, and its importance. It's an interstate artery that links Del Norte County not only to neighboring Humboldt, but to the rest of the outside world. About 6,000 vehicles travel the route daily, ranging from commuters to truckers to day-trippers. Big rigs rumble along the unsteady terrain, shipping goods from the Bay Area or Humboldt to Crescent City. The most perilous section forms a continental edge, bordered by state and national parks and the ancestral territories of multiple indigenous tribes. Caltrans has maintained the grade for years with a string of 'multimillion dollar band-aid' fixes that require squeezing the highway to one lane, Huffman noted. Neither the congressman nor the state's transportation agency think the rinse-and-repeat cycle of road repair is sustainable. And an indefinite shutdown of Last Chance Grade would paralyze the region. 'Our milk is hauled on that road every day,' said Kate Walker, an employee of Rumiano Cheese company in Crescent City, which relies on milk from 19 organic dairies, 16 of them south in Humboldt County. When the grade closes, the dairy trucks have a much longer journey, through Willow Creek and up Interstate 5 to Grants Pass. That trip can take 'hours and hours,' Walker said. Mulling the geological predicament of Last Chance Grade, Caltrans engineers have proposed many solutions, including bridges, culverts, smaller tunnels and different realignments of the road. Last year, the agency settled on a plan for the mile-long tunnel, which evidently had the most buy-in from lawmakers, local tribes, environmentalists and every other stakeholder. Building consensus was only the first step; the project is now undergoing environmental reviews as lawmakers try to rally funding. So far, Caltrans has set aside $275 million for design and engineering, with construction scheduled to begin in 2030. It's 'hugely consequential that we've gotten this far,' said Gregory Burns of the lobbying firm Thorn Run Partners, delivering a report to the Del Norte Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. Burns is the county's advocate in Washington D.C. Despite the progress, Burns conceded, 'there is a roughly $2.1 billion delta that we're going to have to deal with' between now and the project's completion in 2039. Del Norte County Supervisor Darrin Short hopes the federal government might swoop in to fill the $2 billion gap. That's happened at least once before in California. Federal emergency relief funds largely paid for the twin tunnels at Devil's Slide near Pacifica, where Highway 1 curves atop steep, eroding bluffs. The tunnels, which opened in 2013, were named for Peninsula Congressman Tom Lantos, who helped secure the money. Devil's Slide might be the most fitting analogue for the just-as-ominously-named Last Chance, despite a vast difference in project cost. The multibillion-dollar price tag for Last Chance Grade is more than quadruple the $439 million spent on the Tom Lantos bores, which also started as a big-swing idea that needed a lot of political backing — the citizen groups who saw it through became known as 'tunnelistas.' Undoubtedly, Del Norte County officials are grappling with a bigger financial drama, complicated, experts say, by inflation, rising construction costs and the remoteness of the location. Any colossal project like this one 'almost invariably requires multiple revenue streams,' said John Goodwin, a spokesperson for the Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission. In some past cases, like the replacement of the Bay Bridge eastern span, project planners combined federal, state and local funding sources. Ongoing maintenance and repairs for the Bay Bridge are paid for with incremental toll increases, which could be a model for Last Chance, albeit a daunting one. If each of the 6,000 vehicles that cross the grade daily were to pay $1, it would take 959 years to cover the estimated $2.1 billion construction cost. Huffman rejects the toll idea, citing the rural poverty in Humboldt and Del Norte counties. Instead, he's gambling on a federal mega grant program for 'inherently huge and expensive' transportation infrastructure. He and others acknowledge the challenges ahead. Costs only escalate over time, and their tunnel plan must pass through multiple presidential administrations. Short, the county supervisor, is relentlessly optimistic about the future of Last Chance. Raised in Crescent City, he's driven along the grade 'regularly' for years, and has more than one unsettling story. Decades ago, he said, his grandparents had to gingerly maneuver around a piece of road that had 'fallen away' from the three mile stretch. Had they been less attentive, he surmised, they might have fallen to the surf below. 'We're going to be groundbreaking (on Last Chance) by the end of this decade, and I think we can all feel it,' Short said, referring to the anxiety and long-shot faith among Crescent City's 6,000 residents. 'We're just hoping the state and the federal government can come together.'
E&E News
22-07-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
Top House Democrat seeks answers on Grand Canyon fire
The top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee is asking President Donald Trump how his administration initially responded to a still-burning wildfire in Grand Canyon National Park. In a letter Monday addressed to Trump, Rep. Jared Huffman, a Democrat from California, said political appointees like Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins are ultimately responsible for how the Dragon Bravo Fire was managed. 'As you have insisted in many, many other cases, the ultimate responsibility for policy decisions lies with you and your appointees, not with career civil servants,' Huffman wrote to the president. Advertisement 'Yet incredibly, we have not heard anything from you, or from Secretaries Burgum and Rollins about this massive fire and the destruction it has wrought [on] one of America's most iconic national parks.'
Axios
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Axios
"I hate it": Redistricting arms race gives lawmakers heartburn
House members are watching with growing discomfort as Democrats in California and other blue states consider joining Texas Republicans in pursuing mid-decade redistricting to gain an advantage in the 2026 midterms. Why it matters: It threatens, as one Democratic lawmaker put it, a "race to the bottom" that will encourage both sides to test the limits of gerrymandering and further fan the partisan flames engulfing the country. But with President Trump bearing down on Texas Republicans to change their maps and California Democrats wanting to respond in political self-defense, members of both parties feel they have little choice. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) told Axios of his state's possible redistricting: "How I feel is terribly conflicted. I hate it. I really worry about a race to the bottom on something that I consider pretty despicable." "But I understand why the governor and others are considering it. The only reason it would even be possible is what Texas and others are doing just stinks so badly that it's pissing people in California off." State of play: Texas Republicans began a special session Monday, which Gov. Greg Abbott said would include an attempt to redraw the state's U.S. House districts. Redistricting is normally only done after the decennial census — most recently in 2020 — or in response to a court order. However, Trump has put pressure on Republicans to undertake the unusual effort in the hopes of creating as many as five new GOP-leaning seats. Republicans in Ohio are also looking to redraw districts to try to unseat several Democrats. In response, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has threatened to try to revisit his state's districts to create more Democratic-leaning seats. What we're hearing: Democrats may not stop at California, and are eyeing other blue states, including New York, New Jersey, Minnesota and Washington, senior House Democrats told Axios. Democrats are "definitely looking into what's going on and trying to level the playing field," said one House Democrat. "It's crazy what's happening in Texas." House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told reporters Thursday: "It's all options on the table at this moment." Even though California has a constitutionally mandated independent redistricting commission, several House Democrats from the state told Axios they are confident Newsom could find a legal pathway. What they're saying: While lawmakers have largely stuck by their parties' plans as a necessary evil in an increasingly existential political environment, others expressed trepidation at the escalating brinksmanship. "We're only supposed to be redistricting every 10 years," said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.). "At some point, the partisanship gets too much. ... I just think it goes too far." A House Democrat from California, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Axios: "It's a difficult conversation, because we're literally doing it to gerrymander — everything that we stood against, and the reason we created the independent redistricting commission." "If we do it," the lawmaker added, "let's be very upfront and transparent about it. Don't leave it to an independent commission. Everybody knows what we're doing." Yes, but: Other relative moderates in both parties said they are more than comfortable with mid-decade redistricting, pointing to the other side's actions as justification. "It's not only Texas," Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), whose own seat could be threatened by the redistricting plan, said, noting Newsom's comments. Gonzales added that Trump is a "political genius" and that "if we can pull off squeezing five more seats out of Texas, that's a game changer." Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) said if Republicans are "going to stoop to midterm redistricting to politically advantage the party, I think it's certainly something that should be on the table." The bottom line: Even Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), an arch-centrist who represents the reddest district of any House Democrat, declined to condemn potential redistricting in California — but he did warn Republicans against what is known as a dummymander.
Daily Mail
11-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Skull found on California beach three decades ago connected to missing teacher
A human skull discovered on a California beach in 1993 has been identified as belonging to a beloved schoolteacher who vanished without a trace in 1987. The decades-old case breakthrough came after advanced DNA testing matched the skull to 48-year-old Kay Josephine Medin through a sample provided by her daughter. The identification was made possible by the forensic genealogy firm Othram, which specializes in solving cold cases using DNA analysis, KRCR reported. 'This week, Josephine Medin's loved ones got the answers they've needed for 32 years since her disappearance. I hope this discovery helps them find peace and closure,' US Representative Jared Huffman wrote on X. Medin, a teacher at Hyampom School, was last seen on August 3, 1987, when her husband, Nickolas Medin, returned home from a work trip to find her missing. Her purse and other 'personal property' were found at the residence, suggesting she had intended to return. However, despite extensive searches by local volunteers in the rugged terrain surrounding their home, there was no sign of the missing schoolteacher. Several months later, in November 1987, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) received an anonymous package containing some of Medin's skeletal remains. The package also included an anonymous letter directing investigators to additional remains near Ammon Ridge Road in eastern Humboldt County - about 45 miles from her home. In February of 1993, the Fortuna Police Department contacted the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office to report the discovery of a woman's partial human skull found on the beach near Trinidad Head - about 100 miles from Medin's home. Pictured: Trinidad Beach in Humboldt County, California The remains were positively identified through dental records, but the cause of her death remained undetermined and no suspects were arrested. A death certificate was later issued for Medin in 1988, however, she remained listed as a missing person as there was not a complete body recovery. Years later, in February of 1993, the Fortuna Police Department contacted the HCSO to report the discovery of a woman's partial human skull found on the beach near Trinidad Head - about 100 miles from Medin's home. The mysterious skull however remained unidentified until recent DNA testing confirmed its identity. The circumstances of how the beloved teacher's remains were dispersed over such a wide area remain unclear, and her death has since been considered a homicide. Authorities have stated that Medin's husband, who reported her missing, is not considered a suspect, as he died in 2018. The case was only reopened after Huffman secured federal funding to help clear a backlog of unidentified remains cases. Using these funds, the HCSO submitted the mysterious skull to Othram's lab in The Woodlands, Texas, to determine if DNA testing could yield new information. Several months later, Othram provided investigators with new leads, including the possible identity of the skull's owner. The discovery led to a follow-up investigation and the identification of a potential relative. The California Department of Justice compared the relative's DNA to the profile developed from the skull, confirming it belonged to Kay Josephine Medin - also known as Kay Adams at the time she was reported missing in 1987, according to Investigators continue to seek answers in the hopes of uncovering the truth behind Medin's disappearance and death. Anyone with information is urged to contact Humboldt County Investigator Mike Fridley at 707-441-3024.
Boston Globe
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
How did the House spend this morning? Changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Representative Jared Huffman, a California Democrat, called the bill 'deeply unserious' multiple times throughout the more than hour long debate. 'This majority keeps replacing science with slogans, governance with grievance, and policy making with cheap performance art,' Huffman said. 'The truth is, this bill won't fix a single problem. It does absolutely nothing to help the Gulf Coast. It won't create a single job. It's not going to fix our climate crisis. It's just dumb. The only thing this bill will do is waste time and your taxpayer dollars to stroke the ego of a guy who Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up While Greene and Republican Representative Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, championed the bill on the House floor, Fox News reported, Still, Advertisement Greene defended the bill on the House floor as an important step to building up American pride. At one point, she compared renaming the gulf to the pride a parent takes in naming their child. Advertisement 'Names matter, and the Democrats know that parents take a lot of time when they think about what to name a child that they're happy to welcome in the world, because they have pride,' she said. 'As we rename the gulf, the Gulf of America, we are also taking pride in those waters.' Greene, at one point, falsely asserted that the United States owns the gulf. 'This is such an important thing to do for the American people,' she said. 'They deserve pride in the waters that we own.' In reality, the American, Mexican, and Cuban governments each Rep. Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, started his debate time with an attempt at humor. 'Live from Washington DC, this is Saturday Night Live!' he said, in a riff on the famous opening of the sketch comedy show. 'You can't make this up. ...Republicans think this juvenile legislation is the best use of this house's time. This is the only thing we're doing today, folks. What a sick joke.' Julian E.J. Sorapuru can be reached at
