Local school board president Allen Katz was appointed by Second District Supervisor Harry Pritchard to serve as a director on the county-wide board which administered federal funds for social service programs for the poor. Katz was the second Southern Humboldt resident to be picked to sit on the 15-member board of the Community Action Agency (CAA).
Nella Coker of Benbow was elected to the CAA board in a town hall style election in Garberville the previous November. The CAA was to act as the local arm of the federal government’s Community Services Administration, the agency through which War on Poverty monies were distributed.
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Heavy rains caused the ground to slip and slide under a Southern Humboldt family’s house, leaving a young family homeless and without the financial ability to recover from their loss. The downpour of the past weeks, especially the near-flood conditions, which dumped some 8.5 inches of rain around Garberville over the weekend of Jan. 11-13 precipitated the unstable ground’s slipping out from underneath the house of Steven and Susan Lassey of Twin Trees.
The couple and their baby girl were forced to vacate their two-bedroom home on Jan. 14 when ground began to give way. The redwood-frame house overlooked the Eel River at Twin Trees about four miles south of Garberville and the evacuation was hindered by the lack of access because the driveway had turned into a gully. All of the family’s belongings had to be hand carried to safety by the Red Cross, the Lasseys and several local volunteers. The family had no insurance to cover the loss and an account had been set up for them at the Garberville branch of Bank of America.
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Southern Humboldt’s motels and inns were already solidly booked for the annual Chamber of Commerce Avenue of the Giants Marathon, scheduled for May 4. The local marathon had won a wide reputation among marathon runners as “one of the most beautiful courses in the world.”
The increasing number of registrants for the marathon had the Chamber seeking private homeowners with extra rooms they would be willing to rent for two to four days. Most of the runners spend two to four days in the area and need a place to sleep and shower.
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The sheriff’s office reported two crimes for the week. Someone burglarized the Riverwood Inn in Phillipsville and removed about $512 in coins and meat. A grand theft was reported by Darrell Beasely, also in Phillipsville. Someone made off with about 75 redwood fence posts valued at $262.
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