By Bob Doran / July 16, 7:34 a.m.

Gaia takes on Reggae Phoenix

An announcement sent out yesterday adds a new twist to the operatic saga of Reggae Rising. A new festival is coming to the North Coast next year, not far from the Humboldt/Mendo border, and it’s on the same weekend as Reggae Rising. Looks like Mother Gaia is coming after the Reggae Phoenix.

If you watched the hearing on July 6, where the Planning Commission rejected Tom Dimmick’s request for a permit to run Reggae Rising 2010, his festival along the Eel, you saw a Planning Commission torn by their duty. Dimmick had clearly failed to meet the requirements the Commission set forth: He’d run out of time and money and had not come up with the requisite letters of support from numerous agencies who had to sign off for the festival to move forward. The Commission could not and did not approve his permit for this year.

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reggae / By Bob Doran / July 14, 8:23 p.m.

Reggae News Times Two

- Death of Dancehall Star leads to changes in Reggae on the River line-up

- Reggae Rising “Postponed”

First some sad news: As reported in the  Jamaica Observer, “Godfather of Dancehall” Lincoln “Sugar” Minott died on July 10, at the University Hospital of the West Indies in St Andrew, JA. He was 54 and according to a friend had a history of heart trouble. Minott had just completed a new album. He and and his daughter Fire Pashon were about to embark on an American tour and were booked to perform at Reggae on the River at Benbow this coming Sunday.

The folks at the Mateel sent out this note today:

It is with heavy hearts that we share with you the news of the passing of one of reggae music’s true legends and one of Reggae On The River‘s headlining artists, Sugar Minott. He passed away suddenly in Jamaica on Saturday, July 10, just before he had planned on embarking on a US tour highlighted by a performance at Reggae On The River. This is a great loss for Jamaica and the international reggae community and our hearts go out to all his friends, family, and fans.

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Crime, Indian Country / By Hank Sims / July 9, 2:35 p.m.

Pennisi Tree-Trimmer: ‘I Did The Job I Was Hired To Do’

Tom Head, owner of Coastal Tree Service, called into the Journal this morning to give his side of the illegal clearcut that happened last month on the Trinidad Bluffs, at the top corner of the city-owned archaeological site known as Tsurai Village and directly beneath the home of Trinidad Planning Commissioner Sam Pennisi and his wife, Sharon. (The story of the clearcut was featured in this week’s Journal.)

What did Head have to say? To paraphrase: He charged that Sharon Pennisi was simply lying when she told the Times-Standard that the cutting on the Tsurai site was the result of a “misunderstanding” — in other words, not a matter of her family clearing city trees to improve their view of the ocean but the result of a rogue landscaper doing work he was not hired to do. Head rejected this understanding of events in the most strenuous possible terms.

“I did exactly what she told me to do,” he told the Journal. “I didn’t do anything that they didn’t tell me to do. We were told to cut everything on that hillside down to a certain point.”

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concerts, internet, music / By Ryan Burns / July 7, 1:52 p.m.

The Coolness/Haircut Connection

Have you ever dreamt that gorgeous local folk chanteuse Lila Nelson would write a song just for you? Uh, der. Of course you have, just as you’ve no doubt fantasized about being pals with the cool kids in electro-Martian pop trio The Monster Women — y’know, eating dinner out with ‘em, showing up in the background of a music video, maybe staying up late together on a weeknight to watch Japanese sci-fi movies and make banana/M & M waffles. Oh coolness, you elusive minx.

Or perhaps not so elusive?

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Business, Crime / By Hank Sims / July 7, 12:15 p.m.

Skilled Healthcare Suit: The Background

The T-S today reports that a Humboldt County jury has penalized Skilled Health Care to the tune of over $600 million for health code violations. The for-profit company runs a chain of nursing homes with five local outlets.

Wondering what the fuss was about? Read Journal freelancer Carol Harrison’s disturbing account of Skilled Health Care’s corporate abuse of both its employees and, especially, its patients, from our June 4, 2009 issue. Seriously chlling stuff.

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