Jeremy T. Ringfield's Blog, page 8

Horoscopes Sept. 21, 2025: Bill Murray, set high standards and expectations

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Alfonso Ribeiro, 54; Nancy Travis, 64; Bill Murray, 75; Stephen King, 78.

Happy Birthday: Set high standards and expectations. Walk away from demands that are too compromising and follow the path that addresses what’s essential to you and your advancement. Keep negativity and combative situations at a distance. Your strength comes from believing in yourself and taking matters into your own hands. You can achieve plenty this year if you put your intelligence to the test and do what’s best for you. Your numbers are 6, 14, 23, 26, 35, 39, 42.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Direct your energy wisely. Get your facts straight before you make accusations. Overreacting, taking on too much or making unrealistic promises will lead to trouble. Look inward, evaluate yourself and consider what you can do to be your very best. Today is about personal growth, self-improvement and doing something noteworthy with your excessive energy. 3 stars

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Pay more homage to who you are, how you present yourself and what you have to offer. Get out, market your attributes and charm those you encounter on your mission to explore new possibilities. Engaging in social activities or events will broaden your sense of self-worth and bring you into contact with someone of interest. 3 stars

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Size up situations, and make your mark. Take the initiative, and make the most of yourself. Speak from the heart, and you’ll dazzle those you want to get to know better. Distance yourself from negativity and those who drag you down. Prepare to make a lifestyle change that is uplifting and helps you return to peak performance. 5 stars

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Reconfigure your schedule to ensure your day runs smoothly. Don’t expect everyone to agree with you or to prioritize you. Avoid getting into senseless debates. Paying attention to how you feel, look and what you learn that will lead to self-improvement. Leave nothing to chance when dealing with rules, regulations or institutions. 4 stars

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Engage in talks that help you get answers. Attend a reunion, lecture or trade show that enables you to connect the dots. Once you feel confident that you have your information straight and your connections in place, you’ll be able to make moves that lead to peace of mind. 3 stars

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Trust your instincts and follow through. Connect with like-minded people who can contribute to your plans. Be open to suggestions and ready to utilize your talents, skills and desires to bring your dreams to life. Forward thinking and physical action will carry you to the finish line. Distance yourself from unhealthy situations. 3 stars

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Charm, intelligence and following through with your plans will lead to lifestyle changes. New opportunities for growth and advancement are available, and interviews for new positions are within reach. Embrace today with vim and vigor, and you’ll make progress. Don’t let insecurity lead to unnecessary physical changes; you’re perfect just the way you are. 3 stars

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Be a role model, play by the rules, do your best and help those falling behind. Travel, reunions or educational pursuits will be intense, but the rewards will be well worth any struggle you encounter along the way. Smile brightly, and refuse to let anyone coax you into a heated debate. Choose peace over discord. 4 stars

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Initiate change, and move forward. Evaluate your situation, and incorporate activities that bring you the most joy into your everyday routine. An innovative approach to marketing what you can offer will set you apart from any competition you encounter. It’s your time to shine. Dismiss negativity and replace it with a can-do attitude. 2 stars

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Let your heart guide you. Listen, be patient and precise, and press forward with issues that require your attention. Show concern, but don’t pay for other people’s mistakes. An open and honest discussion will help resolve problems and ease your mind. Avoid spontaneous acts when research and accuracy are necessary. Concentrate on your health, well-being and prosperity. 5 stars

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Put your energy behind your quest for success. Invest time and effort into getting ahead. Upgrade your skills and qualifications to stay current with developments in your sector, which may lead to reevaluating how you utilize your attributes or leverage your knowledge into something new and exciting. Embrace change instead of fearing what’s next. 3 stars

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Draw on those you know can help you out or introduce you to someone who can. Show enthusiasm and dedication, and you’ll attract interest and suggestions that’ll help you move forward. Refrain from making a premature change. Time is on your side, and observation and listening to others will help you make better choices. 3 stars

Birthday Baby: You are productive, appealing and resourceful. You are possessive and heartfelt.

1 star: Avoid conflicts; work behind the scenes.
2 stars: You can accomplish, but don’t rely on others.
3 stars: Focus and you’ll reach your goals.
4 stars: Aim high; start new projects.
5 stars: Nothing can stop you; go for gold.

Visit Eugenialast.com, or join Eugenia on Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn.

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High School football: Statement win for undefeated Stevenson

PEBBLE BEACH — Seldom are non-league games circled on a calendar. Most games in Week 4 don’t offer a playoff-type feel, or are fueled by a moment from the past from two teams that don’t have much of a rivalry.

If there was any animosity built up from last year after accusations were made about tactics, Stevenson sent a message early with its offense, then turned to its defense to make a statement.

“We believe SLV had this game circled because of how that game ended last year,” Stevenson coach Kyle Cassamas said. “I think we delivered a message today.”

Welcoming back 12 players to the field, who were late arrivals, the Pirates are one of six teams still undefeated in the Pacific Coast Athletic League after Saturday’s 34-6 win over San Lorenzo Valley in Pebble Beach.

“I think last year the atmosphere we walked into was a lot to be a part of,” Cassamas said. “It left a bad taste in our mouths. But I felt SLV was all class today.”

Cassamas was making reference to the Pirates 24-14 win over the Cougars, which clinched the Santa Lucia Division title. After the game, the seventh-year coach had to defend himself and his team over accusations of dirty play.

“I don’t coach like that,” said Cassamas, who celebrated the birth of his third child 48 hours earlier. “I felt an olive branch was extended today after the game by SLV.”

The Pirates (3-0) have moved to the Mission Division South this fall, while San Lorenzo Valley (2-1) has become a member of the Mission Division North.

“I think for us, it’s a week-to-week kind of process,” Cassamas said. “How can we keep our standard and keep improving between ourselves. We have the talent to take care of business any week. Can we hold each other to that standard?”

Getting 12 players back — who decided a week into the season to return to the football team — in uniform for the first time certainly improves the Pirates depth, as 29 players suited up.

“Having them back allows us to move people around,” Cassamas said. “A lot of them were returning players. We’re getting them back up to speed. The bye week helped. We can put them in positions to be successful.”

Cassamas, the only football coach at Stevenson to win two league titles, put together a defensive game plan that held the Cougars to just six points, turning to defensive lineman Cody Thacher and Zryan Morgan to create havoc up front.

San Lorenzo Valley came into the game averaging 40.5 points a game, while the Pirates were averaging 42.5 points through their first two games.

“Zryan helped control the line of scrimmage,” Cassamas said. “That made it easier for the linebackers to identify the plays. And our secondary got some good work in. Having Reggie (Bell) back there was a plus.”

An offense, engineered by offensive coordinator and former Canadian Football League receiver Maurice Mann, continues to pile up yards and points, as Stevenson scored on four of its first five possessions.

For as dominant as the passing attack has looked, it was tailback Tono Borgamini that set the tone with a 53-yard touchdown run on the Pirates first offensive possession — one of two touchdowns for the senior.

Stevenson turned to its bag of tricks in the second quarter when Finn Mink tossed a backwards pass to Derek Diniz, who turned and found a wide-open Caden Olson for a touchdown.

Olson, who caught three touchdown passes, was on the receiving end of a 50-yard scoring strike from Mink just before halftime to stake the Pirates to a 24-6 lead, a lead that extended by 10 in the second half.

About the only thing that didn’t go right for Stevenson, who visits Monte Vista on Friday, was that it failed on four conversation attempts in the first half.

“I think we do a good job of identifying what the other team likes to do and take that away as much as possible,” Cassamas said. “The offense is in a good rhythm. The coaches and students were locked in.”

North Salinas 49, Carmel 26: Inserting a freshman at quarterback was out of necessity. The moment for Jayen Gutierrez, though, clearly was not too big.

The left-handed quarterback — all 5-feet-7 and 150 pounds of him — tossed three touchdown passes as the Vikings ended a losing streak to Carmel that dates back 2008.

“We didn’t have a plan for him to jump in,” North Salinas coach Ben Ceralde said. “It was more to work him in. He’s been calm and a great leader in practice. The kids are buying into him.”

It’s hard to argue with the results as the Vikings erupted for a season high in points in sending defending state Division 5AA champ Carmel to its second straight Gabilan Division loss.

“I think we improved in a lot of areas,” insisted Carmel coach Golden Anderson. “We ran the ball better. We were a little more in concert on the offensive line. We were good in spurts. We just kind of wore down in the second half and made mistakes.”

After going 15-0 last year and winning a league, section and state title, the Padres, along with North Salinas, were bumped to the Gabilan Division to create a nine-team division.

“To be clear, we don’t make the decision on what division we play in,” Anderson said. “That decision was made for us. We’re still the same-sized school with a closed district. We have not had to play at this level, which is a significant step up.”

The Padres lost 10 starters to graduation, three of which are playing Division I football this year. Just one player that started at a skilled position last year has returned in Stanford-bound pitcher Matt Maxon, who rushed for three touchdowns.

While North Salinas had made two straight playoff appearances out of the Mission Division South, it got shoved into the Gabilan Division despite not winning a league title in the last decade.

“We know we’re the underdogs,” Ceralde said. “No one expected much from us coming from the Gabilan. We’re the ninth team in the Gabilan. And we’re going to play it like that. The only ones who believe are the ones within. That’s all that matters.”

North Salinas, who normally plays its home games at Rabobank, moved the game to its campus, which Ceralde felt created an adrenaline rush and a spark among his players.

“There is nothing like playing on campus,” Ceralde said. “Walking in and out of your own locker room. Having a field to call home on campus is something we’ve never really had the luxury of. We’re hoping our last two home games will be on campus.”

With lights on the horizon, the goal is for North Salinas to eventually move all its games to campus. Dating back to 2021, it is 3-0 on campus.

Gutierrez opened the game with a confidence-building drive, climaxed when he connected with Xander Gonzalez on an 7-yard touchdown pass. His 41-yard scoring strike to Romeo Williams staked the Vikings to a 27-21 halftime lead.

“We’re going to have low moments,” Ceralde said. “How do we bounce back. We tried to stay evenly keeled. The kids believe we could win this game. We believed that last week. There’s a lot of confidence. But there are a lot of things we have to work on.”

The Vikings physicality began to wear down Carmel in the second half, outscoring them 22-6 in the second half as Williams caught his second touchdown pass, while Canelo Gonzalez accounted for two touchdowns.

“We have to clean things up defensively,” Anderson said. “That’s our job as coaches. You can’t work on every facet of your game. You work on what you feel needs the most attention and hope they retain stuff. A lot of guys are learning on the job.”

A turnover in the second half killed one drive for Carmel, while it failed to convert on two four-and-short situations. In two league games, it has given up 98 points.

“I’m happy that we’re competing,” Ceralde said. “We’re behind the eight ball. The joy of being a coach is trying to figure out how to make things work.”

Pacific Grove 39, St. Francis, Watsonville 23: Beyond the concerns of playing a Saturday afternoon game on the road against an undefeated team, stopping St. Francis’ run game was an emphasis at practice all week for the Breakers.

Instead, it was Pacific Grove’s running game that dictated the tempo, piling up over 400 yards — 335 on the ground in improving to 3-0 for the third straight season.

“The first two games were disappointing from the offensive side of the ball,” Pacific Grove coach Jeff Gray said. “We felt like our defense had carried us in the first two games.”

Which it had, allowing just 14 points in wins over Seaside and Greenfield — two teams that are currently winless on the season. St. Francis came in undefeated, erupting for 43 points in a win over Greenfield.

“We’ve had some trouble in defending the run,” said Gray, who started last fall 5-1 and the previous year 6-0. “We thought it would be a big challenge.”

Of course, when your own running game is getting a 218-yard rushing effort from Garrett Kuska and is controlling the clock with time-consuming drives, possessions were limited for the Sharks.

Kuska’s career night also included three rushing touchdowns, while sophomore Northrop Kirk added 100 yards on the ground with two touchdowns.

“The offensive line opened some holes,” Gray said. “Our quarterback was untouched. From a leadership standpoint, I thought Ersi stepped up in a big way.”

Gray was speaking about quarterback Ersi Kullolli, who was inserted into the position after a season-ending injury before the year started to Brody Edmonds.

Kullolli has been efficient when called upon to put the ball in the air, connecting with Abram Lopez for his third touchdown pass of the young season.

Kirk put together another big defensive effort for the Breakers, while Isaac Sanchez and Ryder Gamecho were menaces up front in limiting St. Francis to its lowest point total of the season.

“The bye week gave us two weeks to prepare for a really good team,” said Gray, whose squad visits Watsonville next Friday. “It got some of our guys off the injury block. We had two really good weeks of practice.”

Trinity 58, BASIS Independent 0: The Warriors are off to their best start in 12 years in 8-man football, improving to 3-0 with their second straight game of producing 50 or more points.

Having already equaled last year’s entire win total, Trinity has outscored its last two opponents 108-6.

Daniel Dirkes tossed a pair of touchdown passes and rushed for three for the Warriors, with Eli Robertson accounting for 138 yards in total offense and three touchdowns

Robertson finished with 89 yards on the ground and two touchdowns, and added an interception and fumble recovery on defense for Trinity, who forced five fumbles.

Brady Ramones caught one touchdown pass and deflected three passes, while Seth Ramones scored his first touchdown for the Warriors, who will visit Kings Christian on Friday.

Marina 29, Pajaro Valley 27: Deangelo Reynolds’ tackle for a loss on a two-point conversion attempt with 59 seconds left enabled the Mariners to remain undefeated on the season and on their magical new field.

Marina, who has a bye next week before opening Santa Lucia Division play at Rancho San Juan, is 3-0 for just the second time in the program’s 15-year existence. It has never started a season 4-0.

“I told the kids celebrate this win tonight,” Marina coach JD Dennis said. “The last time we were 3-0, it was our best season. But the team that beat us and ruined our undefeated season was Rancho. Whose next on the schedule? Rancho.”

Marina has never beaten Rancho San Juan, falling 47-0 in 2022 and 20-7 in 2023.

All three wins have come on the Mariners sparkling new turf field and stadium, where packed houses have created an electric atmosphere.

“Pajaro Valley traveled well,” Dennis said. “Their side was loud. It was a good environment. It was electric. The kids are feeding off this. One of our kids yelled ‘We have to play better. We have the city behind us’.”

Marina and the Grizzlies (2-1), who agreed to play a non-league game despite being in the same division, will meet again at the end of the Santa Lucia Division season, this time in Pajaro Valley.

Marcel Covita accounted for three rushing touchdowns for Marina, while Chris Juarez added a touchdown. Adriano Guzman’s field goal in the third quarter turned out to be the difference in the game.

Archie Williams 42, Seaside 21: Despite exceeding their point total from the previous three games combined, the Spartans will go into league play winless after falling to Archie Williams of San Anselmo.

Seaside will look for a new lease on life on Friday, when it opens Santa Lucia Division play, hosting Gonzales.

The Spartans (0-4) took their first lead of the season in the first quarter when Peter Manikham got into the end zone for a brief 7-0 lead.

Archie Williams (2-2) answered with 35 unanswered points before second-half touchdowns from Josiah Escort and Elijah Romero provided momentum for Seaside heading into its league opener.

 

Pro Soccer: Gnaulati’s goal earns Union a draw with New Mexico

SEASIDE — Through all the changes in the front office in what has turned into a disappointing season, it’s clear Monterey Bay FC is still fighting.

With its playoff hopes diminishing with each match, the Union still have a heartbeat after playing New Mexico United to a 1-1 draw Saturday at Cardinale Stadium.

Earlier in the week, it was announced that president Mike DiGiulio was stepping down, while Mike Sheehan was appointed as the organization’s chief executive officer.

With four matches left in the regular season, the Union still sit at the bottom of the United Soccer League Championship’s Western Conference with 25 points — six points out of the eighth and final playoff spot.

Winless since July 11, the tie stretched Monterey Bay FC’s winless streak to 10 matches — one off the club record of 11 set last year during a second-half collapse that saw the franchise change coaches.

With just two wins in their last 20 matches on the pitch after a  4-1-2 start, the Union are in danger of finishing with a worst record than the previous season for the fourth straight year.

The Union (6-13-7), who have failed to score in 12 matches this year, produced the game’s first goal when Xavi Gnaulati took a pass from Tarik Scott and kicked it in with his left foot 48 minutes into the match.

New Mexico, however, took two potential points away from Monterey Bay FC in the 87th minute when former Union forward Luther Archimède took a pass from Thomas Amang and headed it through the net to tie the match.

Goalie Nico Campuzano put together another strong performance between the pipes for Monterey Bay FC. The netminder leads the USL in saves this season with 78.

Earlier this year, the Union fell 1-0 on the road to New Mexico United, who sits firmly in fifth place in the Western Conference.

Three of the Union’s final four matches are at Cardinale Stadium, where the franchise is 5-4-3 this season. Two of their final four opponents are headed to the playoffs.

Eldridge records first hit, RBIs but SF Giants can’t protect lead in loss to Dodgers

LOS ANGELES — A week ago exactly, the Giants scored four runs in the first against Clayton Kershaw in what ended up being his final start at Oracle Park. On Tuesday in Phoenix, the Giants scored four runs in the first. On Saturday in Los Angeles, the Giants scored four runs in the first — three being the product of Bryce Eldridge’s first career hit.

For the third time in the last eight days, the Giants (76-79) began a ballgame with a crooked number. For the third time in the last eight days, the Giants watched an early lead slip away and ended a day in defeat, the latest being a 7-5 loss as the Dodgers hit four homers.

Despite the defeat, Eldridge will always have the memory of collecting his first hit at Dodger Stadium as part of the historic rivalry.

“It feels that much more important being here,” said Eldridge, who also drew a walk, of getting his first hit against the Dodgers. “This is one of the places I grew up dreaming of playing in.”

The moment was all the more special for Eldridge given that his mother, Beth, and her twin sister, Alison, were celebrating their birthdays. Eldridge told his mom that he wanted to do something special for her birthday, that something special being a three-run double that stunned Chavez Ravine.

Along with Eldridge’s first hit, Beth received another birthday gift: a Matt Chapman foul ball in the fifth inning.

“She said someone was trying to wrestle her for it and she kind of whacked her hand out of the way,” Eldridge said. “She’s feisty. She gets what she wants.”

Eldridge, 20, hadn’t been rewarded for the hard contact he made in his first three games in the majors. In his third career plate appearance, he smashed a 409-foot, 105.9-mph line drive that got caught. During the first game of this series, his 102.4 mph line drive found a glove. In his 11th plate appearance, Eldridge finally earned a batting average.

The Giants loaded the bases in the top of the first against Tyler Glasnow on a pair of singles from Heliot Ramos and Willy Adames, as well as a walk drawn by Matt Chapman. That brought Eldridge to the plate with an opportunity to make his first mark on the rivalry.

Glasnow challenged Eldridge with a 96.5 mph sinker; Eldridge let the heater travel and sent it off the base of the left-field wall. Ramos scored easily, as did Adames. Chapman, with the help of a bobble and bad throw by left fielder Michael Conforto, scored from first. Eldridge, himself, scored several batters later when Drew Gilbert drew a bases-loaded walk.

With the double, Eldridge (20 years, 335 days) became the youngest Giants player with multiple RBIs in a game since Jack Clark (20 years, 307 days) on Sept. 12, 1976.

“I’ve been hitting the ball hard, I’ve ben doing the right things. I think I wanted it to be like that: had to really earn it,” Eldridge said. “I wouldn’t want it any other way than in a big spot like that and here off a guy who’s got a lot of success in the league — and on my mom and my aunt’s birthday.”

Following that four-run first inning, the Dodgers proceeded to score the next seven runs en route to handing the Giants their seventh loss in their last eight games. With seven games remaining, San Francisco is four games back of the New York Mets for the third and final NL wild card spot.

Max Muncy hit a two-run homer off Kai-Wei Teng in the first, then Los Angeles tied the game in the fourth on a solo homer by Michael Conforto and an RBI single by Freddie Freeman. Tommy Edman’s fifth-inning solo blast gave the Dodgers the lead; Shohei Ohtani’s solo blast and Teoscar Hernández’s RBI single in the sixth provided insurance.

As far as the offense, the Giants had Glasnow on the ropes after making him throw 43 pitches in the first, but they couldn’t manufacture any offense against Glasnow over the next four innings. Instead of getting to Los Angeles’ bullpen early, Glasnow rebounded to toss five innings before handing the baton to his relievers.

Following Glasnow’s departure, Rafael Devers’ solo homer in the seventh, his 32nd home run of the season, was the extent of San Francisco’s offense. It was a much-needed swing for Devers, who entered the game batting .169 in September.

“We were on him early,” said manager Bob Melvin. “He’s a pretty good pitcher. Then he got into a rhythm and ended up going five innings, which you wouldn’t have expected after the first.”

For Teng, this marked his latest start that was equal parts promising and uneven. The good: he struck out six batters over three innings. The bad: he walked two batters. The ugly: he plunked three batters. Over 29 2/3 innings this season, Teng has totaled 39 strikeouts but 25 combined walks and hit-by-pitches.

Teng’s first inning perfectly encapsulated his duality. The 26-year-old rookie right-hander began his night by striking out Ohtani and Mookie Betts swinging. Teng then got into an 0-2 count against Freddie Freeman but plunked him in the foot with a breaking ball. Muncy, the next batter, clubbed a two-run shot.

“It’s just kind of been the way his season has gone,” said manager Bob Melvin. “He strikes out Ohtani and Betts then loses his command a little bit. He’s a young pitcher that, at times, maybe doesn’t have his stuff consistently throughout the game.”

College football: Growing pains continue in Panthers loss to Feather River

QUINCY — Eight hours on a bus is a long time to reflect on a humbling loss — where thoughts of changing the course of direction in a program struggling for an identity are inescapable.

Art Berlanga did not need to look at film on the ride home Saturday to identify what he believes has crippled Hartnell College in its last three football games. Self-inflicted wounds are starting during the week.

“We’ll have a great day of practice, followed by a mediocre day,” the first year Hartnell coach said.  “You can’t beat teams when you are not consistent during the week. It’s a process of understanding how to prepare. That’s what we’re learning right now.”

For the second straight week, the Panthers ran into one of the highest scoring teams in the state, as Feather River erupted for a 62-12 win.

In the last two weeks, Hartnell has faced the highest scoring team in the state in Los Medanos, who erupted for 54 points on them, and Feather River, who is averaging 48 points a game.

“Our preparation stays the same,” Berlanga said. “We just have to get better at what we are doing. It remains to be seen what it will look like during the week. I think most of them get it. No one is enjoying this.”

Hired in mid-June, Berlanga assembled a roster of nearly 60 kids within a span of four weeks, most of whom are fresh out of high school.

“I see a lot of great things,” Berlanga said. “It was a two-possession game at the half. Our inexperience at this level creeps up. We are making a lot of mistakes. It’s more what we’re doing to ourselves.”

During their three-game skid, the Panthers (1-3) have been outscored 105-54. Most of the damage has come in the second half, where they have given up 86 points.

“It was a two-possession game at the half,” Berlanga said. “It was the same thing two weeks ago. We haven’t put together two solid halves. These teams are supposed to beat us. But not in this manner. We should be a lot more competitive.”

Berlanga hopes to use the team’s final non-conference game next Saturday against winless Contra Costa at Rabobank as a final tune-up prior to the start of the American Golden Coast Conference season.

“We’ve shown flashes that we can play with these teams,” Berlanga said. “The mistakes are correctable. But they’re coming in big spots. They are self-inflicted wounds. When you don’t match up size-wise, you can’t make those mistakes.”

For the second time in three weeks, Berlanga felt the Panthers had momentum going into the half when Adam Shaffer connected with Adrian Perez for a touchdown, cutting the deficit to 28-12.

The 3-1 Golden Eagles, who were dropped to the American Division this fall, responded by outscoring Hartnell 34-0 in the second half.

Shaffer finished with 173 passing yards and two touchdowns for the Panthers, with Monte Buckner and Marquise McDougal each catching three passes for a combined 98 yards.

Dominic Chaidez continues to have a solid first half of the season for Hartnell with seven tackles, while 30-year-old Michael Hatten recorded a sack.

‘He looks pretty hitterish’: SF Giants’ Eldridge showing promising signs despite being hitless

LOS ANGELES — Bryce Eldridge, less than a week into his major-league career, remains in search of his first hit. That milestone, among others, should come in due time. While still batting .000, Eldridge has shown small glimpses of the promise that made him one of baseball’s top prospects.

“His at-bats have been good,” said manager Bob Melvin of the Giants’ top prospect. “We’d love for him to get his first hit and get that out of the way, but he has not looked overmatched.”

Eldridge has struck out in five of his 10 plate appearances entering Friday, his only time reaching base so far being a walk in Wednesday’s win against the Diamondbacks. Of the four times he’s put the ball in play, he’s generated exit velocities of 105.9 mph, 105.2 mph, 102.4 mph and 99.0 mph. Baseball Savant categorizes balls in play at 95 mph or faster as hard hit.

Eldridge won’t continue to post an average exit velocity of 103.1 mph — Oneil Cruz leads the league at 95.7 mph — but it’s been a peek at Eldridge’s elite raw power. To look at a much larger sample, Eldridge posted elite batted-ball data with Triple-A Sacramento, where he was in the 95th percentile or better in barrel rate (95th), average exit velocity (97th) and hard-hit rate (98th) per Prospect Savant.

In his third career plate appearance, Eldridge inside-outed a four-seam fastball from the Diamondbacks’ Taylor Rashi.  At 407 feet, Eldridge’s line drive would’ve been a home run in 23 of 30 ballparks. Unfortunately for Eldridge, he was playing in one of the seven stadiums where it wouldn’t clear the fences. Arizona center fielder Jorge Barrosa tracked it down, and Eldridge’s search for his first hit continued.

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There was also Thursday, when Eldridge had his first plate appearance against a left-handed pitcher when he stepped to the plate to face the Dodgers’ Jack Dreyer. With the count at 2-2, Dreyer elevated a slider that Eldridge smashed — right into the awaiting glove of right fielder Teoscar Hernández.

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Equally as impressive as those small displays of pop has been Eldridge’s ability to resist pitches out of the zone.

Eldridge’s first two at-bats in the majors came against right-hander Zac Gallen, a one-time All-Star with an assortment of secondaries. Gallen’s plan against Eldridge was simple: spam him with changeups. Gallen did get Eldridge to whiff on three pitches, but the rookie had some impressive takes on borderline changeups that just missed the zone.

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“I think that’s a good start facing a guy like him,” Eldridge said after his major-league debut. “I had fun. He had a good plan against me, and it as fun to get to face him and I felt like I belonged. I feel like I competed and did my best.”

Said Melvin after Eldridge’s debut: “Too bad he didn’t get the one hit there but certainly he didn’t look like he was overmatched. Didn’t look nervous. I’m sure there were some nerves there, but he looks pretty hitterish at the plate.”

Given Eldridge’s offensive profile, there will likely always be a fair amount of strikeouts and whiffs in his game. Over 1,082 games in the minors, Eldridge had a strikeout rate of 27.1 percent, partially the product of an equally high whiff rate. With Triple-A Sacramento, Eldridge had a whiff rate of 33.7 percent per Prospect Savant, placing him in the 21st percentile.

Strikeout rates and whiff rates generally remain consistent throughout a player’s career. With rare exceptions, a high strikeout/whiff player rarely evolves into a low strikeout/whiff player. But if Eldridge consistently taps into his power, the Giants will be able to live with the swings and misses.

“There’s probably going to be some swing and miss but he’s also going to make some really loud contact as well,” said president of baseball operations Buster Posey, who began his career going 2-for-17.

The majority of Eldridge’s plate appearances for the remainder of the season will be against right-handers, not left-handers. All three of Eldridge’s starts have been at designated hitter — Melvin said Eldridge could get a look at first base soon — on days where a right-handed pitcher started.

When left-hander Anthony Banda entered for the eighth inning on Thursday, Melvin substituted Eldridge for Wilmer Flores. When Clayton Kershaw made the final regular season start of career on Friday, Eldridge was relegated to watching from the first-base dugout instead of testing himself against the future Hall of Famer.

Eldridge struggled against lefties in the minors last season, posting a .211/.272/.316 slash line with three home runs over 114 at-bats. This season, by contrast, Eldridge had a .267/.327/.489 line with four home runs over 90 at-bats against left-handers in the minors.

Melvin said Flores, who has a career .787 OPS against left-handers, is going to play against lefties for now. Next season, Eldridge will likely get far more opportunities to face same-sided pitchers.

The sample is incredibly small, but Eldridge has shown himself capable of holding his own against major-league pitching. Over the next week, he’ll have his opportunities to show himself capable of damaging major-league pitching.

Worth noting

Trevor McDonald will start for the Giants on Sunday.Carson Whisenhunt (back strain) could pitch during the Giants’ final homestand of the season after pitching 1 2/3 innings on Tuesday in a rehab start.

State of Homelessness: Amid optimism, Vallejo homelessness increases

The state of homelessness in Vallejo in 2025 got off to a tragic start when James Oakley, 58, was crushed to death as he lay on a mattress during a city-run cleanup on Christmas Eve 2024, just a week before the new year began.

Oakley’s death, increasing numbers of homeless citizens and a dearth of resources for them make for a pessimistic outlook going forward, though a long-delayed shelter opened in June and at least one advocate has expressed optimism for the future.

Homelessness increased 50 percent in Vallejo between 2022 and 2024, according to Solano County’s 2024 Point in Time homeless count, with 682 people experiencing homelessness in Vallejo in 2024. Homelessness grew 6 percent in the Bay Area in 2024 and 18 percent in the country.

Every Vallejo resident — housed or unhoused — is affected by homelessness, whether barely surviving in an encampment, vehicle or tent, or housed and dealing with the secondary effects of litter, debris, garbage and human waste on the sidewalk, drug deals, shootings and fires at encampments.

James Oakley (Courtesy Photo)

While Oakley’s death was the nadir, there was one clearly positive development. The long-delayed and much-anticipated 125-bed Navigation Center homeless shelter opened in June after many delays.

“It takes a village … It took 10 years, three mayors, and six different city councils,” said Vallejo City Councilmember J.R. Matulac, addressing the standing-room-only crowd gathered in the facility’s spacious outdoor garden at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The facility at 1937 Broadway has wraparound services including case management, employment assistance and health care for those living there.

“This is one of the great things we can tout about positivity in Vallejo moving forward,” Matulac said. Not only are there 125 beds, but the facility will be able to service up to 200 individuals, he said. According to homeless advocates, the shelter was close to full by September.

Less clear is the future of the city’s Broadway Project, a 47-unit North Vallejo permanent housing project for people chronically experiencing homelessness.

From left, Matt Kennedy, Design Manager with Cerletti and Kennedy Design-Build, Taryn Sandulyak, Executive Director, Firm Foundation and Heather Chicoine, Senior Project Manager with Firm Foundation, look out one of the floor-to-ceiling windows that pour light into the hallways from both ends of the four-story Broadway Project facility. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)

Originally budgeted at $9 million, the Broadway Project cost ballooned to $27 million, with $558,000 in overruns. It has been plagued with delays, variously scheduled to open in 2023, 2024 and the first quarter of 2025. A former mayor deemed the project “a financial catastrophe.”

The structure was finally completed in the spring. Natalie Peterson, assistant to Vallejo’s city manager, predicted earlier this year that tenants might be able to move in as early as mid-April. In May, Peterson said that the first tenants could move in as soon as mid-June.

However, by the end of August. no one had moved in and in September, the estimate was revised to October as the “current goal.” The city council in August approved $643,000 in Opioid Litigation Funds and allotted additional opioid monies to avoid delay in moving people into the facility, but it is still empty, and concerns have arisen about the delay.

Another important factor going forward is the leaf blower effect — also known as Whac-A-Mole, or rotational homelessness. Whatever it’s called, when a homeless encampment is removed without anywhere else for the inhabitants to go, they move to a different location in the city, creating another encampment — even more traumatized, often having lost vital documents in the move and less able to break out of homelessness.

Vallejo Police Officers standby as a city worker rakes trash into a tractor bucket during a cleanup of the encampment area across from the JFK Library on Wednesday. The Vallejo Homeless Union was able to file claims for 90% of the unhoused living in the Georgia Street encampment to prevent the City of Vallejo from clearing tents and temporary homes from the area. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)

This widely reported phenomenon, noted in media outlets including the Los Angeles Times in stories dating back at least as far as 2018, has been apparent in city after city across the Bay Area and the country for years.

A June Whac-A-Mole in Vallejo is an example.

“We’ve had a lot more activity up and down the street after the people on 5th Street got cleared out,” resident and business owner Kathy O’Hare, whose Obtainium Works art studio is on Pennsylvania Street in south Vallejo, told the Times-Herald in September.

There already were a few RVs on the street before an encampment on Fifth Street was removed in June, but “that’s when we got the worst of the mess here,” said O’Hare, who owns the studio with her husband Shannon O’Hare.

“There’s human waste, dog waste, drug dealing. Sometimes there will be a group of people standing in the street waiting to make a drug deal,” Shannon O’Hare said. “Sadly, when they get free food from the various food services they dump half of the material on the street and that becomes fodder for the rats.”

Dogs occupy the sidewalk, forcing people to walk in the street, risking a collision, Kathy O’Hare said.

“And then you have the people who have piles of tires and bicycles and use it as ad hoc storage for items — cans of gasoline, generators, oil, all sorts of hazardous materials,” Shannon O’Hare said.

Obtainium Works, located at 510 Pennsylvania St., is a group of tinkerers and artists who create art cars and other contraptions from repurposed materials, often referred to as “obtainium.” The group holds an open studio on Sunday afternoon. However, the encampment is driving away business from the artist’s studio events, the O’Hares said.

The newly opened Navigation Center is filling up and the city’s Blue Oak Landing Project, a 74-unit permanent supportive housing project with wrap-around services at 2118 Sacramento St., has been fully occupied since June 2023 — meaning beds are largely unavailable for people evicted from encampments in Vallejo.

The authors of a study at Los Angeles County encampments from 2021-2022 published by the National Institutes of Health concluded, “Sweeps should be discontinued as they harm the capacity of unhoused people to improve their well-being.”

The death of James Oakley prompted a stunned city council to pause encampment removals in March for two weeks, only to be met with public outcry against the decision. The council voted to resume removals at its April 1 council meeting.

At the meeting, the council voted unanimously to approve several recommendations for evaluating how city staff conduct encampment removals, including how people are notified and how to manage the removals to protect people’s safety and belongings, in the interests of conducting more humane removals.

The council also recommended creating a homeless outreach team.

Longtime advocate Jose Carrizales said he is maintaining an optimistic outlook for the future.

Jeff Glough gets a free haircut from Kareem Hickman, from Liberty Church, during Dignity Day at the Solano Dream Center on Saturday in Vallejo. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)

He mentioned Vallejo agencies he said are doing good for people experiencing homelessness, helping to ease the problem.

“I would consider the nonprofit agencies and the citizens of Vallejo who out of their own good graces provide food,” Carrizales said. “I will give a big shoutout to the United Way Bay Area.”

He said United Way in Solano County is partnering with nonprofits including Fighting Back Partnership to help those who are at risk of becoming homeless.

“The provide financial assistance and they are having great success,” the homeless advocate said.

Vallejo Together is providing food and hygiene kits via a mobile team. They go out twice a month, Carrizales said.

Looking to the future, the advocate said despite the obstacles, he is determined to be optimistic.

In order to find an effective way to address homelessness, “what we have to do is collaboratively build relationships with agencies — inform the general public, ‘this is the number you call for help,’” the advocate said.

According to Carrizales, that is the big missing piece in homelessness, not only in Vallejo but the country.

“We all must work together, sit at the table, set aside the anger, the ideologies, and figure out a way to help,” Carrizales said. “Include those with lived experience as well as those with medical degrees and those who have studied the issue for years, use best practices and find what works in our city.”

State of Homelessness: Affordable housing still issue for Vacaville homeless

Homelessness in Vacaville is reaching critical levels, with both community advocates and local service providers raising concerns about a system stretched to its limits amid rising housing costs, inadequate shelter space, and fragmented public services.

Ashley Banta, Executive Director of Opportunity House, the city’s largest homelessness outreach nonprofit, said homelessness in Vacaville has increased “tremendously” over the past year. Her organization, which provides shelter for about 100 residents annually as well as street outreach, aftercare, and youth-focused programs, has seen a dramatic spike in calls from people experiencing homelessness for the first time.

“We’ve seen a huge increase, largely due to the rising cost of living and the severe lack of affordable housing,” Banta said. “Solano County is also above the state average for first-time homelessness.”

Mercedes Miller looks for a cute outfit in the long aisles of clothing at the newly reopened Opportunity House thrift shop in Vacaville on Peabody Road. (Chris Riley/The Reporter)

While Mayor John Carli called for increased collaboration on homelessness at the Sept. 9 Vacaville City Council meeting, Banta said that partnerships already exist between her organization, the county, and the faith-based community.

“The truth is that we are working together,” she said, “but we need more than that. We need affordable housing.”

Cash assistance programs — even as low as $500 per month — can help prevent eviction, Banta noted. Opportunity House administers such funds, but the demand is overwhelming.

“The need is outgrowing what we are doing,” she said, “but that doesn’t mean that we aren’t making strides.”

Among recent victories, she pointed to the establishment of the Community Action Partnership (CAP) Solano Joint Powers Authority (JPA), a more unified countywide approach to homelessness services. The creation of a $4 million rental assistance fund and the opening of the Vallejo Navigation Center have also marked significant progress.

Still, Banta warned that federal cuts to social safety net programs are worsening the situation. “Without an increase in wages, working families are going to start falling through the cracks,” she said.

Data Underscores Growing Crisis

The 2024 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, conducted in January by CAP Solano JPA and the Housing First Solano Continuum of Care, recorded 1,725 people homeless in Solano County — a 46.3% increase from the last full unsheltered count in 2022.

The PIT Count is a one-night census required biennially by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, meaning no unsheltered count was conducted in 2025. Still, local advocates insist the number is likely even higher today.

In Vacaville, Opportunity House and the Vacaville Solano Services Corporation together provided 17,854 bed nights and 55,434 meals to over 400 residents last year. Nearly 38.1% of those served were under 18, largely due to a partnership with Vacaville Unified School District to support homeless students.

Key challenges faced by clients include substance use (26.2%), developmental disabilities (11.7%), domestic violence (18.7%), and mental health struggles (29%). Still, nearly 49% of program exits lead to permanent housing, and 36% lead to temporary solutions.

Grassroots Support Fills the Gaps

For nearly a decade, longtime Vacaville residents Gail and Skip Thomson have operated A Hand Up, a nonprofit providing direct outreach to the city’s unhoused. What began in 2017 with Gail delivering five meals per week near the 99¢ Store on Peabody Road has evolved into a full-time effort serving hundreds.

Skip and Gil Thompson hand off meals to Lacie and her friend, Brenden, near the Vacaville Library. (Chris Riley/The Reporter)

“It grew,” Gail Thomson said. “Once they knew they could trust me, they told me about others — where they were, how to find them.” Today, the Thomsons estimate that around 300 individuals in Vacaville are homeless — including those living in cars, on the street, or couch-surfing.

“Not everyone is getting served because the need is so great,” she said. “And you absolutely can’t arrest your way out of it.”

That statement mirrors the findings of a Solano County civil grand jury report released this year, which critiqued the Vacaville and Fairfield Police Departments for lacking coordination with social service agencies. While acknowledging the efforts of Vacaville’s Community Response Unit, the report found major “coordination gaps” and called for joint training, better communication, and public education to clarify legal boundaries around homelessness enforcement.

The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson — allowing cities to enforce camping bans even when no shelter is available — may increase law enforcement encounters with unhoused residents. Yet, the grand jury noted, police are often unequipped to address root causes such as mental illness, addiction, and housing instability.

A Community Response in Motion

To foster better collaboration, the Thomsons recently revived the Vacaville Homeless Roundtable, a monthly gathering of nonprofits, agencies, and residents now hosted by A Hand Up on the third Wednesday of each month.

Operating under the Solano Community Foundation, A Hand Up is uniquely positioned to meet urgent, highly specific needs — whether that means repairing a vehicle that doubles as someone’s home or replacing lost identification necessary for employment.

The nonprofit also hosts the annual Vacaville Homeless Person Memorial every December. At the most recent ceremony, Gail honored 10 people who died on the streets in 2024.

“Each of them were brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, sons or daughters,” she said. “I hope when you hear their names you will think of them and remember that these are 10 actual people who lived on the streets here.”

Looking Ahead

As fall approaches, the Thomsons are preparing for another challenging winter. Gail spoke recently at the Vacaville Soroptimist meeting explaining the needs for those living on the street and advocating for more help in the way of housing but also court needs. Often, she said, the homeless will be cited but without transportation they have no way to get to the courthouses in Fairfield or Vallejo and so bench warrants stack up. A Zoom court would help, she said, adding that she is pitching the idea as a way for the homeless to take care of such citations.

Meanwhile, advocates like Banta and Thomson agree: progress is being made, but it’s not enough to keep pace with the crisis.

“We’ve got to stop working in silos,” Banta said. “And we’ve got to start building housing. Everything else depends on that.”

State of homelessness | ‘No new housing money’: Lack of federal funds hamstring efforts

Editor’s note: Today marks our fifth annual “State Of Homelessness” edition. This joint project involving nine Northern California Medianews Group newspapers began following a conference call among the editors in 2021.

Across Humboldt County, providers of homeless services are weathering headwinds, some dire, in 2025. They’re nonetheless doing important and often lifesaving work dealing with a homeless population that has continued to increase statewide despite efforts at the state and local levels.

1,573 homeless individuals were counted on the night of Jan. 22, 2024, during the most recent point-in-time count in Humboldt County. In June of this year, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors allocated just over $4.6 million in state Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program funds. Those funds were distributed predominantly to Arcata House Partnership, the city of Eureka and the Redwood Community Action Agency, three of the region’s largest providers of homeless services.

This is just one source of funding for these agencies, however, and at the federal level, service providers say, many sources of funding and programs that support housing assistance and provide for services for homeless people have been cut, leaving shelters impacted and homeless community members — many homeless for the first time — without a way to transition from emergency shelter to stable housing.

Breakdown in the process

Much of the federal support that has been essential for many people transitioning from homelessness to stable housing in Humboldt County in the past has been withdrawn in 2025.

Arcata House Partnership executive director Darlene Spoor says that for her organization, which provides a large portion of the county’s supportive services and housing assistance aimed at moving homeless individuals from emergency shelters to more stable housing situations via vouchers and other means of assistance, a lack of federal funding has all but stopped the process whereby those in crisis can move into permanent subsidized housing.

In Spoor’s assessment, the situation is dire.

“There’s no new housing money coming our way,” Spoor said. “The small amounts that are coming are monies that we wrote for several years ago, in this county, and those monies are at risk. So for me, the question is: how do people get housing? And the answer right now is: there is no way.

“I wish it was different. There’s no affordable housing support. There’s no housing vouchers for people who are low-income. All of those safety nets have been removed.”

Spoor said that AHP has had to make staffing cuts. And where once the nonprofit was able to use vouchers to place many homeless people into permanent housing, now they can only fill a handful of vacated units in facilities like AHP’s 60-unit The Grove complex and the 18-unit Ke-Mey-Ek’ Place (operated in conjunction with the Yurok Indian Housing Authority).

The inside of one of the units at Ke-Mey-Ek’ Place is shown in September 2024. (Sage Alexander/Times-Standard file photo)

Still, Spoor said, AHP still serves 900 people and is providing more meals than it has in past years. She said that the nonprofit will continue to provide excellent service to those that they can, but that it’s difficult to tell community members that they cannot help them. She said that AHP is currently looking for ways to leverage community support and explore programs like an “adopt a senior” program, helping community members who struggle to make ends meet on a fixed income avoid first-time homelessness later in life.

“The money is not there, but for the money that we get and for the support that we get — not just AHP but the whole systems, … the system is doing a fantastic job on very little money,” Spoor said. “And we’re all committed to continuing to do all of the work we can, even given these funding reductions. So it’s not that we’re not doing it, but we can’t do more. We’re continuing to do what we can today.”

A new village

In August, after eight years of effort, the Betty Kwan Chinn Homeless Foundation celebrated the opening of the Bayside Village transitional housing. The 34-unit village, which began accepting residents in June, hosts tenants who have been chronically homeless, most for more than a decade, with one current resident having been without shelter for 35 years.

Conceived in 2017, the village experienced a tragic setback in 2022 when the PG&E-donated trailers that were to be converted to housing were destroyed in a fire. Subsequent difficulties during the pandemic and ensuing inflationary period delayed Bayside Village several years.

The village sits on a city-owned site along the Humboldt Bay Trail. It features amenities such as showers for residents and non-residents, a community room that hosts on-site Narcotics Anonymous meetings, a dining facility, a community garden, shuttle services to St. Vincent De Paul’s Free Meal Dining Facility and the Uplift Eureka Community Resource Center.

Betty Kwan Chinn sits in a housing unit at the Bayside Village Transitional Housing Project in Eureka. The unit, accessible by wheelchair, was being prepared for the first tenant recently. (Sage Alexander/Times-Standard)

Betty Chinn told the Times-Standard that opening the Bayside Village and working with its long-time chronically homeless tenants has been one of the most challenging times in her life — even more challenging than helping to move some 200 residents of the Palco Marsh homeless encampment. Still, she said, the foundation and the community are making progress.

“I think it’s much, much better than three months ago, two months ago,” Chinn said. “I think when they see that we really care, then they change, and also take time to process the change, their environment too, right? They need a time to change … (and) to tell themselves, ‘we are OK; we are changing our lifestyle.’ I’m very encouraged today.”

Chinn is working to bring 40 more tiny home-based transitional housing units to the region in the near future.

The residents of Bayside Village share a kitchen space. (Sage Alexander/Times-Standard)Attempt to ‘criminalize’ homelessness

In January, the city of Eureka began exploring the possibility of overhauling two longstanding but rarely enforced ordinances that prescribe camping in public areas and sleeping on sidewalks. Following a June 2024 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court — City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, which allowed local governments to impose civil and criminal penalties for public camping — city staff saw an opportunity to create a single ordinance that would impose misdemeanor criminal penalties on those found in violation of the law.

That escalation of what had previously been an infraction to a misdemeanor, city staff reasoned, would give the city and its police department an opportunity to move chronically homeless people, characterized as “treatment resistant,” into a criminal diversion program, thereby creating an enforceable path to treatment and housing.

In the ensuing months, though, Eureka City Council found the new ordinance would become a flashpoint. Community members on both sides of the issue came out to voice their opinions en masse. Some came to support what they thought of as necessary and humane extension of the city’s established commitment to community policing and others to oppose what they saw as the criminalization of homelessness along the backdrop of increasingly draconian national politics and sharpening income inequality.

In May, the city council elected not to adopt a new ordinance in a split vote.

City Manager Miles Slattery told the Times-Standard that staff had been disappointed with the decision, which he said would have continued the city’s success in addressing homelessness using EPD only when necessary.

“When we do use EPD, they’re very well-trained in de-escalation and addressing homelessness in a compassionate way as opposed to a punitive way,” Slattery said. “… It was not a criminalization effort in any way, shape or form. It was based on years and years, and we’ve been doing this since 2013 …

“The fact that it was construed that we were somehow going to be going out and with the same programming and the same staffing … that have been doing all of these compassionate things for so many years, that we were just all of a sudden going to flip the script and put everybody in jail, was laughable to me.”

Changing behaviors

One of the community members speaking in support of a new camping ordinance was Bryan Hall, executive director of Eureka Rescue Mission. The mission is a faith-based organization that, with more than 160 beds in its men’s shelter and 43 — soon to expand to 70 — in its women and children’s shelter, is the city’s largest emergency shelter provider.

He said that he supported the city’s plan to compel campers into diversion treatment because of his own experiences as a recovering drug addict.

“I was homeless. I was jumping from place to place, basically, and I was a criminal,” Hall said. “I was on meth and I was stealing and I was ruining my life. I was bringing my wife down. My family was torn apart. I was absolutely out of control, and I needed intervention. I needed to be arrested.”

Eureka Rescue Mission Executive Director Bryan Hall Sr. stands outside of the Women and Children’s Shelter in 2022. (Heather Shelton/The Times-Standard)

Hall credits his eventual arrest and placement in a diversion program to saving his and his wife’s lives. Now a grandfather of seven and director of Eureka Rescue Mission for 13 years, Hall says that an approach that houses homeless people without addressing addiction and mental health issues is, in his estimation, doomed to failure.

Statistics bear out that those are problems for large swathes of the city and county’s homeless population. Survey data compiled by CSET, CARE, and Uplift Eureka in 2024 reports that as many as 48% of homeless respondents have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder. And a majority, 59% of respondents, reported suffering from drug or alcohol addiction.

Hall said that he would like to embrace those people that need help — literally and figuratively — and see as many of them as possible get the resources they need to change their behaviors and get help for addiction before a tragic ending.

“It’s not a crime to be homeless. It can happen to any one of us,” Hall said. “We could have an earthquake that drops 90% of the homes in this county, across California, and all of a sudden everybody’s homeless … It’s a matter of what you do to help yourself rebuild your life and not lose hope. And that’s hard, especially in the world we’re living in right now. It’s pretty dark out there.”

Eureka’s collaborative efforts

In Eureka, the city and police department have been working in close collaboration for several years to address the region’s homeless issues.

“We are way beyond any other law enforcement agency or city in Northern California. We are extremely progressive in how we do this,” said EPD Commander Leonard La France. La France said that between the city’s Community Safety Engagement Team (CSET), Crisis Alternative Response Eureka (CARE) and Uplift Eureka, three programs dedicated to addressing homelessness, the city and department have made a concerted effort to understand and address its unhoused community in a way that many other municipalities have not.

Earlier this year, La France received the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Law Enforcement Executive of the Year Award from CIT International, an award that he attributed to the city’s team effort via those programs and to an approach that strikes the appropriate balance of care and accountability.

“We have amazing programs. We have a lot of compassion. We know our homeless very well, and it’s a good relationship,” La France said.

Providing resources

This January, the city celebrated the opening of its Uplift Eureka Community Resource Center at 1111 E Street.

“We’ve, since January, had 1,400 visits to that resource center,” said Jeff Davis, project manager for Uplift and Community Access Project for Eureka. “We’ve helped with 329 housing applications that have been submitted. We’ve worked with dozens and dozens of folks to connect them with job opportunities and resume help. We have a rapid rehousing program; the city has helped around 250 people get … that were experiencing homelessness get into permanent housing and provide them with supportive services.”

“We’re here Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.,” Homeless Services Supervisor Sierra Wood said. “527 people have already stopped by the resource center, everyone from students to seniors. We have hygiene supplies. We have diapers. We have food. We have water. We have Narcan. We have a lot of different things … to provide for those folks free of charge. Then we also have multiple really knowledgeable resource center coordinators and associates that can help guide them … whether they’re looking for an identification card or housing or anything in between.”

Pictured outside the new Uplift Eureka Community Resource Center are, from left, Sierra Wood, homeless services supervisor for CAPE and Uplift Eureka; Marissia Mesquita, resource center associate; Eureka Special Projects Manager Jeff Davis; and Cynthia Bowman, Uplift Eureka Community Resource Center coordinator. (Heather Shelton/The Times-Standard)

Robert Schaulis can be reached at 707-441-0585.

49ers’ transactions indicate Purdy won’t be the backup to Jones against Arizona

SANTA CLARA — The 49ers made moves Saturday that didn’t provide a lot of clarity as to whether Brock Purdy will be suited up for their home opener against the Arizona Cardinals.

Two players were standard weekly practice squad elevations — quarterback Adrian Martinez and wide receiver Malik Turner. The 49ers also placed offensive lineman Spencer Burford on injured reserve, meaning he would miss at least the next four games with a knee injury.

Coach Kyle Shanahan said Friday that if 49ers wanted Purdy to be suited up as the emergency No. 3 quarterback, then Martinez, by league rules would have to be promoted to the 53-man roster as the backup rather than be called up from the practice squad.

Purdy could still in theory be in uniform, but not have the “emergency third quarterback” designation. It’s more likely he’ll be declared inactive with an eye on the 49ers’ Week 4 game against Jacksonville.

“To make (Brock) the emergency, then I believe Martinez can’t be a flex,” Shanahan said “He’s got to be on the active roster, so that’s why a lot more things go into it also.”

With Martinez indeed being flexed, it would mean losing a roster spot on a quarterback in Purdy who Shanahan said was “highly unlikely” to start. And if Purdy were to play, he’d probably be limited in terms of Shanahan’s play-calling and design.

“I think there’s certain things that he could do, maybe certain things he couldn’t,” Shanahan said. “So, we’re trying to decide if he could do that.”

Purdy came out of a season-opening win against Seattle with right turf toe and a left shoulder injury, although he said Friday the shoulder was no longer an issue.

Against New Orleans, Jones was 26 of 39 for 277 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

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Martinez, 25, earned one of three weekly special practice jerseys Friday which are given to scout team players. Martinez simulated Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray during the week while Purdy was a limited participant behind Jones.

Purdy, wide receiver Jauan Jennings (ankle, shoulder) and left guard Connor Colby (groin) were all listed as questionable Friday. It’s conceivable decisions on both won’t be made until Sunday.

Burford’s placement on injured reserve means that at best he would miss the next four games, and at worse he could need surgery and maybe even be out for the season.

“I just know it didn’t go as well as we wanted it to this week, which is why he is out,” Shanahan said. “We’ll see probably after this weekend whether we’ve got to make a longer-term decision with it.”