The Case of the Missing $5 Million
Who is profiting off the skilled nursing monopoly, and why it ‘feels like we’re being extorted’
Cover Story
The Case of the Missing $5 Million
David Brodsky wanted to know why his mother wasn’t eating. “Mom kept telling me, ‘I’m hungry,'” Brodsky says. It wasn’t easy to take care of his mother, Marie White, from halfway across the country. Brodsky has a business to run in Texas, renting trailers to oil rig workers. White, 85, was in pretty good health…
State: Sample Ballot on California Props in the Mail
If you haven’t received a sample ballot of the statewide propositions yet, a representative in the California Secretary of State’s Office says not to worry — it’s in the mail. “The mailing of the Voter Information Guide concluded over the weekend, so voters should keep an eye on their mailboxes this week,” press secretary Sam…
‘Not the Norm’: HSU Students, Faculty Speak out on Racism
The words that ignited anger and displeasure among students and staff at Humboldt State University came from their president. “Racism is not the norm on our campus,” Lisa Rossbacher wrote in an email two weeks ago concerning race issues on campus. But according to students, HSU is anything but the norm. The University Senate held…
From Pulp Mill Ashes, Redwood Marine Terminal II Rises
The buildings stand mostly empty and the work is far from done, but mood inside the Redwood Marine Terminal II last Friday was jubilant nonetheless. At long last, the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District threw a grand opening party for the out-of-service pulp mill it bought for $1 back in August of 2013.…
Eureka City Council to Discuss Butane Ordinance, New Homeless Sleeping Area
Two explosive topics are slated to come before the Eureka City Council this evening. City staff has recommended the council adopt an ordinance restricting butane sales within city limits. Butane is often used to make hash or honey oil with sometimes dangerous results, as makeshift laboratories in residential homes have been known to explode. In…
Flooding Possible With High Tides and Storm Surge
The worst of the storm that hit Humboldt County with a one-two punch is over but there is a chance of coastal flooding in low-lying areas of King Salmon and Arcata this afternoon when the storm surge and high tides meet up. According to the National Weather Service, tides are expected to peak between 8.5…
Arcata Neighborhood Concerns Focus of Meeting
Arcata residents expressed frustration at the changing character of their neighborhoods and what they perceive as an increased boldness in the crimes being committed on local streets during a Thursday night meeting with city officials that was spurred by a brazen attack last month on a young girl walking to school. While the focus was…
Aid Worker Kidnapped in Niger Reportedly from McKinleyville
2nd UPDATE: In a statement sent to the Journal, North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman indicated he’s working with the State Department to facilitate kidnaped missionary Jeff Woodke’s safe return home. “My thoughts are with Jeff Woodke and his loved ones during this extremely trying time,” Huffman said of the 55-year-old McKinlyville man who was abducted…
Salud!
How you feeling? LatinoNet’s 10th annual Spanish language health fair, Festejando Nuestra Salud/Celebrating Our Health, takes place Sunday, Oct. 16 at Redwood Acres Fairgrounds from noon to 4 p.m. (free). Presented by The Latino Community Providers’ Network, an organization working to improve the quality of life for Spanish-speaking families of the North Coast, the fair…
Taco Trucks on Every Corner
Can we get back to that campaign promise/threat? It sounds fantastic. It beats a “chicken in every pot,” which leaves you to come up with side dishes. No, life with tacos always in honking distance sounds far better. El Pueblo Market (3600 Broadway, Eureka) has recently extended its empire of pan dulce and chicharones, rolling…
Court Cracks Down on Skipping Jury Duty
If you are among the estimated 75 percent of Humboldt County residents who have been ignoring a jury summons, the Superior Court may come a calling to let you know your time is up. According to a press release sent out by the court this week, jury services staff have resorted to phoning service skippers…
Lightning Strikes
It’s a dark and stormy night … what better time to work on your 99-word Flash Fiction Issue entry? You never know, you could even end up with a book, like frequent flash contributor Neil Tarpey, whose collection of extremely short stories, Flashes of Lightning, comes out in just a few weeks. He writes that…
Dark Comedy
Creepy clowns are getting a lot of press these days. Some scarier than others — or more orange. It seems there’s a lot more scare with these jesters and not enough laughter. But what if there’s just the right balance of fright and delight? Lucky for us, the trained and talented clowns of the Dell’Arte…
Yes on P
To P or not to P? Our nation was founded upon the critical principle of representative government. The truest form of the ideal “democracy” can be found in the representative nature of our jury system, our county Board of Supervisors, our state Legislature and the United States Senate. Why should the city of Eureka be…
Vote Allison
Editor: In this year’s Eureka City Council race, we have a choice between John Fullerton — a former Republican committee chair whose most vocal supporters are plucked straight from the ranks of local Republican party leadership – and Austin Allison, a forward-thinking healthcare professional whose progressive ideals will bring a refreshing and much-needed breath of…
Unopposed
When the filing period to run for three open seats on the Blue Lake City Council closed in August, only one candidate had stepped forward. It was, Blue Lake City Clerk April Sousa says, an unusual position for the bucolic hamlet. While uncontested races there are not infrequent, not having enough candidates is something new.…
Fox In The Corn
such a crazy fox see him go into the corn rows see the loveliness of yellow and the silk he tears into pieces shredded into the small into the softness of a world filled with chaos and a brain full of thoughts, hot and wild fill me with this holy desire bring me to this…
Put a Bird on It
Sometimes pictures draw us in for reasons that are hard to explain. The unthinking attraction they induce is sort of like what Liz Lemon on 30 Rock was describing when she said: “I want to go to there.” Ken Burton’s full-frontal photograph of an Anna’s hummingbird is like that. It compels attention, even glimpsed in…
Where the Grass is Always Bluer
A couple of weekends ago I got an unexpected call from my old high school friend Akshay, a man of many of talents. A Harvard-trained dental surgeon, he is also one of the more skilled musicians I’ve met. He’s classically trained, and is as comfortable playing jazz piano as he is on rock guitar. I’ll…
Arts! Arcata
Arts! Arcata is Arcata Main Street’s monthly celebration of visual and performing arts, held at locations in Arcata. Visit www.facebook.com/artsarcata for more information or call 822-4500. ARCATA ARTISANS 883 H St. Jim Lowry, photography, and Natalie DiCostanzo, ceramics. Wine pour benefits the GYN and Breast Health Project. ARCATA EXCHANGE 813 H St. “Figmenta,” Michelle Remy,…
The Americano
As a boy in Sicily, Nick Stellino’s friends called him “Nick Americano,” never Nicolo. He dreamed of visiting America and jumped at the chance to study abroad in 1975. Looking at a map of California, he saw Eureka was a mere finger away from Los Angeles and thought, perfecto. “The first place I arrived in…
‘A Dire Situation’
As your former legislative representatives in Sacramento, we want the community to know how appalled we are by the pending closures of three skilled nursing facilities in Humboldt County. Rockport Management, which manages the five skilled nursing facilities owned by Brius Healthcare Services in Humboldt County, is planning to simultaneously close three facilities in Eureka…
Candelabra Trees
Ten miles south of the Humboldt County line, the insanely steep cliffs of the coastal range mellow into Shady Dell, a half-mile-wide oasis set back from Usal Beach. Unless you’re a hardy backpacker heading south through the 7,800-acre Sinkyone Wilderness State Park, you’re probably going to reach Usal from U.S. Highway 1, on a steep…
A Bridge to ‘Openness, Candor and Healing’
Coming to Eureka from Minneapolis in 1987 was eye-opening for me. My father Nathan brought my family here after accepting a teaching position at Humboldt State University. Minneapolis was very multicultural and my father was on the board for the International Center at the University of Minnesota. The center worked with the State Department to…
The Whole Story
Reviews THE BIRTH OF A NATION can’t be experienced in a vacuum. It was never intended to be. Its marketing has effectively embraced current racial tensions, and the very title of the film is intended to confront its sickeningly racist film-school namefellow. Also necessary to acknowledge are 1999 rape allegations against filmmaker Nate Parker and…
The Cannabis TEA Party
Some local marijuana farmers are feeling as though they’re getting it from all sides. New state and county laws have them jumping through a host of regulatory hoops, filling out paperwork and deeply engaged in the very bureaucracies many had headed to the hills to avoid. And now two tax men cometh at once, with…
Keeping it Simple
Low maintenance, low maintenance, low maintenance. This seems to be the mantra of gardeners today. And given our fast-paced lives, it’s not surprising. Low maintenance can and should be designed into a landscape. Following are some thoughts about what that actually means and how to achieve it. What is Low Maintenance? In the words of…
Black and White
The tension in our nation between the black community and the police is palpable. It feels like one bad incident and cities will burn … again. Recently Elizabeth (Liz) Smith, a member of the Eureka Chapter of the NAACP and Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of the Redwoods, had a cup of…
Ranger Doubt
Editor: While I enjoyed the detailed report that Thadeus Greenson presented in “The Last Days of the Budget Motel,” (Sept. 29) it contained an error so obvious that it should have been easily discernible. Robert Hager is quoted as having a wife who “was a U.S. Army Ranger.” Since the first woman to complete the…
Open Your Eyes!
Editor: Marcy Burstiner’s “Warning: This Column Contains Objectionable Material” (Sept. 29) was the most reasonable piece I’ve read on the “trigger warning” issue in some time, though it is flawed. In spirit of full disclosure, I write horror novels and short stories, many of which I’ve been told should have trigger warnings. To that I…
‘Criminal’
Editor: It is criminal (and I mean that almost literally) what Brius/Rockport is doing (NCJ Daily, Oct. 6). It has to be the biggest scam going and delicate, vulnerable aged residents at these facilities are being held hostage. Staffing problems at skilled nursing facilities have always been an issue. While they are paying into a…
Propped up with Disappointment
Editor: I was disappointed to open last week’s “Props and Measures” article (Oct. 6) to find no mention of Measure S, the Humboldt County cultivation tax on cannabis that is based on square footage and cultivation method, anywhere. This was a missed opportunity for the Journal and the community. Cannabis was featured on your cover…
Yes on V
Editor: Well, here we go again, big money is rolling in from outside sources to defeat an important measure. Millionaires from outside Humboldt are making sure they can get fat off of buying land here and creating mobile home parks where they will be unfettered in their ability to raise rents as high as they…
