The last of about eight stately eucalyptus trees flanking the Del Norte Street edge of Eureka High's Albee Stadium came down earlier today. Mid-morning, as rare warm sunshine streamed down, a tree cutter dangled high among the boughs of the final tree, sawing carefully then repositioning to saw again.

Each separated  limb dropped with a resounding clunk onto the coned-off sidewalk. The air smelled like menthol, and alongside the track the rest of the felled giants lay side by side. 



Bruce Young, the City of Eureka's public works director, says that Eureka High's maintenance director had alerted the city that the trees would be coming down.
"The trees had reached a maturity level where they are at a high risk of failure," Young said by phone this afternoon. "A couple of big branches fell during football games. So the school determined they should take the trees down."