Healthy Rural Communities Regional Forum

The Public Health Branch of the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services presents the:

Healthy Rural Communities Regional Forum

8:30 am - 4:00 pm
September 16, 2010
Fortuna River Lodge, Fortuna, CA

The Arcata Police Department has started an incentive program to encourage kids to wear helmets. Kids "caught" wearing helmets have been awarded gift certificates donated by local businesses.

http://kiem-tv.com/node/799

Unlike young children teenage independence is commensurate with the responsibilities of active transportation and the High School commute maybe the proverbial low hanging fruit for effective active transportation to school efforts. Green Wheels has been collaborating with the Humboldt County Public Health Branch and the Kinesiology Department at Humboldt State University in a ten-month study with the help of funds from the Humboldt Community for Activity and Nutrition. The purpose of this study was to assess the attitudes and behaviors teens have about transportation to school and to understand the decision making process for school transportation. We studied three High Schools with distinct built environments (Eureka High School (EHS)-urban, McKinleyville High School (MHS)-suburban, Hoopa Valley High School (HHS)-rural), which dovetails with the recent expansion of the Safe Routes to School programs, which now include K-12. The results of this study provide insight into which programs and infrastructure improvements might work here in our Humboldt County Communities. As you can see from the graph below chauffeur culture is a significant barrier to getting our teens active. Click the graph to read the report.

Come out this Friday at 5:30pm starting from the Arcata Plaza for a fun, relaxing bike ride around town before Arts Arcata.  We'll finish at City Hall for the Bike Art exhibit installed for May Bike Month.  Bring a bike, helmet, and friends!

The fun group from the last Arts Alive bike ride (photo by Jason Barnes).

Eureka Bike to Work Day

Thanks to Rob Christensen for this post:

Update on the 101
The 101 Eureka-Arcata Improvement Project is probably the largest transportation infrastructure investment planned for the Humboldt Bay region over the next decade.  The scale of this highway project, which includes a new highway interchange at Indianola Cutoff will influence the way we travel between and within Eureka and Arcata for decades and will affect the availability of funding for other street improvements.