Mendocino Poet Laureate Devreaux Baker Earns Top Honors, Plans Readings
Devreaux Baker, Mendocino County’s first poet laureate, has received two prestigious awards: the Willie Morris Award for Southern Poetry and the Steve Kowit Poetry Prize.
Baker will travel to Oxford, Mississippi, on April 2 to read her poem Blue Requiem at the Oxford Conference of Books. Later in April, she will visit San Diego to present Body of the Beloved, the poem that earned her the Kowit Prize.
In addition to her individual accolades, Baker is editing Spirit of Place: Mendocino County Women Poets Anthology, a follow-up to a 1999 collection she helped curate. A benefit reading to support the project is scheduled for Feb. 28 at the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah.
Baker’s upcoming readings include appearances in Ukiah, Gualala, and Mendocino throughout March and April.
Cannabis Market Collapse Leaves Humboldt Landowners Struggling
The downturn in California’s cannabis industry has sent property values in Humboldt County plummeting, leaving rural landowners burdened with high taxes on devalued assets.
Once valued in the millions, some properties now sell for as little as 25% of their peak price. Foreclosures and bankruptcies are on the rise, pushing property owners to seek tax relief under Proposition 8, a California law allowing reassessments during market downturns.
However, long processing times have frustrated applicants. Mark Switzer, a Humboldt landowner, says he has waited over a year for his reassessment. Humboldt County Assessor Howard LaHaie disputes the delay but acknowledges staffing shortages have slowed the process.
"We're down a quarter of our staff compared to 18 years ago," LaHaie said. "We're working through a backlog, but reassessments take time."
With the local economy in decline, some property owners speculate the county is stalling reassessments to preserve tax revenue—an allegation LaHaie denies.
