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November 9, 2000
Willow Creek left out? Thumb through your new phone book and you may get the eerie feeling that something is ... missing. Like three whole towns. The 2000-2001 Pacific Bell directory for Humboldt County is missing the towns of Hoopa, Orleans and Willow Creek. The towns are normally part of the "additional communities" section located at the back of the white pages, along with Orick, Whitethorn, Alderpoint, Garberville, Ferndale and Petrolia. It's not Pacific Bell's fault, said Andrea Hine, a spokesperson for Pacific Bell Directory -- a separate company that puts together phone books for Pac Bell -- in a telephone interview from San Francisco. Hine said that those communities are served by another phone company, GTE. This year GTE was late getting the white pages to Pacific Bell, which then was late delivering them to Pacific Bell Directory. The end result? "They could not be provided in time for inclusion in this year's directory." A call to GTE revealed that one can order a directory for the missing towns from them by ordering the Weaverville directory -- for $25.49. Call the Directory Distribution Center at 1-800-888-8448.
Steelhead decision 'arbitrary' Environmental and fisherman's advocacy groups won an old battle in court last week. Federal Judge Susan Illston ruled Oct. 27 in San Francisco that the justification used by federal regulators for keeping steelhead off the list of threatened species was "arbitrary and capricious." At issue was a decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service not to list Klamath Mountain Province steelhead as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The Klamath Mountain Province, an area defined by NMFS, covers watersheds north from Redwood Creek to the Rogue River in Oregon. Steelhead are already listed as threatened on the North Coast, which runs from Redwood Creek south to the Russian River. A coalition of sportfishers and environmentalists, including Arcata's Northcoast Environmental Center, sued NMFS in September 1995 to require them to list steelhead. In March 1998, NMFS officially decided not to list the fish as threatened, based on promises by the governments of California and Oregon to implement tough conservation measures. Tim McKay, NEC executive director, said that those measures, which were to include tougher forest practice rules, were never put in place. "There are long overdue changes in the forest practice rules," he said. He also pointed to dams on the Klamath as damaging fish populations and making a threatened status appropriate. But the ruling does not mean that NMFS must list the fish as threatened, said Irma Lagomarsino, regional director at the NMFS Arcata office. "The judge did not tell us to list steelhead. She told us to reconsider our choice. It was only because of our reliance on state conservation measures that our decision was considered arbitrary and capricious. "Theoretically, we could come back with the same decision with a different justification," Lagomarsino said. She pointed out that the agency could choose any level of protection for the species it deemed appropriate -- from granting it endangered status, which would result in extremely stringent regulations, to keeping it off any protection list. NMFS has until March 31 to make a decision.
Sunny Brae inspection allowed
Sunny Brae residents concerned about a planned timber harvest on land in the hills above the Arcata neighborhood scored a victory Oct. 30. Sierra Pacific, which owns the land, announced that it would allow a geologist hired by the Sunnybrae-Arcata Neighborhood Alliance to inspect the site. Residents are concerned that timber harvesting activities could adversely affect their property by causing flooding, landslides or erosion. "I'd like to think they recognize the validity of our concerns," said SANA spokesperson Mark Lovelace, but what may have motivated the timber company was the pending lawsuit. "If we had lost here in Humboldt, we would have taken it to the court of appeals," Lovelace said -- and a decision could set a precedent, forcing timber companies to allow inspections in similar cases across the state. Sierra Pacific has maintained that its timber harvest plan has been sufficiently examined by experts from its own staff, and state and federal regulatory agencies. SANA's concern was that "none of those agencies have as part of their charter a mandate to protect private property adjacent to the plan," Lovelace said. Lovelace said SANA is different from other groups fighting timber companies because it respects Sierra Pacific's right to harvest timber. "To be fair, I don't think anyone in our group wants to see this [timber harvest] happen, but we recognize this is their right. This is what their land is for." (Sierra Pacific did not return calls for this report.)
Health care boss in the box
The purchase of General Hospital by its largest competitor, St. Joseph, has created "a lot of rumor and concern in the community," said Dr. Scott Sattler, host of the cable access show "Doc in the Box." In an attempt to find answers to some of the questions, Sattler will be interviewing St. Joseph CEO Mike Purvis on his show Nov. 12 at 8 p.m. "The best way to deal with the issues is through access," Sattler said. He noted that Purvis has had access to the public through newspaper articles (including the Journal's "One on one with St. Joe CEO" Oct. 19) and through paid advertisements, but the community had not yet had direct access to Purvis with its questions. Sattler plans to devote the last 40 minutes of the program to questions from the viewing audience. "Doc in the Box" airs on cable channel 12, Arcata's public access, educational and government television. Call 826-3169 for details.
New New Age mag debuts
A new publication based in Eureka is the fulfillment of a dream for two women. The glossy quarterly, "Continuum Magazine -- Many Paths, One Voice" is subtitled "a magazine of higher consciousness." It contains articles on channeling, lightwork, holistic health, angels, past lives and political issues. Anna B'nai is Continuum's editor. Devra Ann Jacobs is the magazine's ad designer and director of marketing. "Anna actually had a dream about the magazine about six years ago," said Jacobs. "Around the same time I was living in Arizona and I was told by a channeler, `You are going to own a magazine. You are going to bring words to the Earth that will help heal the planet.' At the time I was a barber. I laughed at him and said, `OK.'" The women met over the phone four and a half years ago when Jacobs called a psychic hotline on her birthday. "I am a psychic myself and I had a lot of friends who were psychics. Normally I wouldn't call a psychic hotline -- I didn't believe in those things. I was one of those self-righteous psychics who believed that real psychics didn't work on those lines. But for some reason I had this urge to call a psychic line. When I called, the lady who answered said, `Write down this number and call me back.' That's how we met. She said she had been waiting for me to call, she had a pre-thought that I was going to pop up in her life," Jacobs said. While they never met face to face, the two women became "phone friends" and talked off and on for years about their respective spiritual journeys and the need for a source of information that covered more than one spiritual path. Three months ago they decided to create an all-inclusive spiritual magazine. B'nai quit her job in Minnesota, sold her house and most of her possessions and moved to Eureka. The women put the word out to a number of spiritual websites that they were looking for material for a magazine. They quickly found themselves swamped with articles from around the world, enough material for a 160-page magazine. Jacobs convince B'nai they would have to keep it to 80 pages for the first issue. "We started off planning on a little local thing, but it went international within five weeks," Jacobs said. "We've been contacted by bookstores in Australia, England and Canada asking how they can get the magazine. We have printed 10,000 copies and will be printing 20,000 total." The magazine is available at some area bookstores or from its website www.continuum-magazine.com.
Teaching the teachers
If teachers are responsible for giving your kids the education they need to survive in today's world, who is responsible for teaching them how? If your children are lucky, someone like Humboldt State University education Professor Ann Diver-Stamnes. Diver-Stamnes has been named California's Teacher Educator of the year by the Credential Counselors and Analysts of California, an organization that includes the University of California, California State University, private colleges, and county offices of education. Diver-Stamnes has worked in high schools in suburban Southern California, rural Oregon and the Watts section of Los Angeles. She writes, administers mentoring programs, holds workshops and teaches at HSU.
Mussel quarantine ends
The annual mussel quarantine, imposed by the Humboldt County Department of Public Health, was lifted Oct. 31. The quarantine is put in place to protect the public against paralytic shellfish poisoning, a danger every summer. Results of routine testing show that the mussels are again safe to eat. For more information, call 445-6215.
Camels and cowboys
A recent antismoking effort uncovered both good and bad news: Kids are involved in the movement against smoking, but they are also already being regularly exposed to tobacco advertising. The North Coast Tobacco Education Project, a public health project of the St. Joseph Health System, recently held a contest as part of its effort to curb tobacco marketing in retail stores (dubbed "Three feet and below"). Children were asked to design posters that would convince tobacco retailers to think about the consequences of placing tobacco ads at kids' height or near the candy and gum. More than 160 children designed posters, far outstripping the organizers' expectations -- but most of the posters included the cowboys and camels associated with tobacco advertising campaigns. Tobacco education project spokesperson Nick Oritz said in a statement that "the entries suggest ... very young children are being exposed, often accidentally, to images that have a lasting `branding' effect on their young minds."
Students travel to Holland
Four Humboldt State University students will be travelling to The Hague in the Netherlands next week for an unusual cultural experience. Rather than shopping for tulip bulbs and strolling along picturesque canals, they'll be discussing global warming -- with other American students. From Nov. 13 through 24, the Netherlands will host a summit where world leaders will meet to try to hash out differences arising from the Kyoto Protocol. Representing the United States inside the summit will be members of the Clinton administration, including Vice President Al Gore. Outside the summit about 200 U.S. college students, including HSU students Panama Bartholomy, Sera Passalaqua, Teah O'Neill and Mike Roscom, will hold a parallel student summit organized by Greenpeace. Dan Ihara, executive director of the Center for Environmental and Economic Development in Arcata, said the students will try to "hold negotiators at the summit accountable to environmental interests rather than just special interests."
Wine Gala raises big bucks
The first annual College of the Redwoods Autumn Vintage Wine Gala was a smashing success. The auction, held Oct. 28 at the Eureka Inn, raised more than $140,000 for the college. "The gala has been our traditional college fund-raising event and this year's wine auction added a new twist," CR President Casey Crabill said in a statement. The proceeds will help fund a high-tech career center for CR and the community.
Fighting oblivion
John Ross, once a fixture of the North Coast literary scene, returns to Arcata Nov. 12 to for a book signing and reading at Northtown Books celebrating the publication of his latest book, The War Against Oblivion Zapatista Chronicles 1994-2000. Ross has spent most of the last two decades in Latin America reporting on social and political movements. He was among the first to report on the uprising in Chiapas led by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation he calls "the first post-Communist, post-modern guerrillas in Latin America." Ross describes The War Against Oblivion as "an attempt to remember." "It tells of the war against the memory of the past that's being obliterated. It tells of the Indian peoples, of their right to exist and their incredibly long and difficult history. And it gives the details of what has happened in the last six and a half years in the jungles and high lands of Mexico in relation to the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. Unless we put it all down on paper, they're going to say it didn't happen." This is Ross' fifth book on Mexico. Rebellion from the Roots won a 1995 American Book Award. His "political guidebook," In Focus Mexico, came out in 1996. The Annexation of Mexico from the Aztecs to the IMF was published in 1998 and Tonatiuh's People, his "novel of the Mexican cataclysm," was published in 1999. Ross will be at Northtown Books in Arcata from 3-5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12. The bookstore is at 957 H St.
Strom-Martin, Chesbro get `A's
Assemblymember Virginia Strom-Martin has received a grade of 100 percent from the Congress of California Seniors for her voting this legislative session. The organization credited Strom-Martin with advancing the causes of nursing home reform, affordable prescription drugs and better pay for in-home supportive services workers. Strom-Martin not only voted for bills favored by the seniors' congress, she authored one of them. The bill, which aimed to stop scams linked to estate planning, did not pass the Legislature. Strom-Martin has said she will try again next year. "We simply have to do more than we have been doing to address the needs of this growing segment of California's population," Strom-Martin said in a statement. State Sen. Wesley Chesbro, D-Arcata, has received an A+ from Planned Parenthood of California. Chesbro said in a statement "As a pro-choice legislator, I am pleased to have achieved this voting record on legislation which would protect reproductive freedom in this state." Chesbro scored 100 percent on the family-planning organization's criteria. For a list of the bills Chesbro voted for (or against) to achieve the rating, point your web browser to www.ppacca.org.
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