Whose Arcata?
From pot growers and transients to goats and the affluent, a city struggles to find it’s identity
Cover Story
Whose Arcata?
It’s one of those incredible late-summer days in Arcata when the air is so crisp and the sun so brilliant that the plaza looks almost comical, like someone jacked up the color saturation in Photoshop: the royal blue sky, the rainbow umbrella on O’dogs hot dog cart; the flowerbed splotches of magenta foxgloves and frosty…
Blackberry-infused Gin?
Humboldt County may have a boutique distillery in its future. The Blue Lake Rancheria Tribal Council is holding a public hearing Sept. 7 to discuss the possibility of establishing a production facility — called the Spirit Water Distillery — to make gin, vodka and rum. “We’re a long ways from being ready to talk,” said…
Captivatin’ Cultivatin’
Think of outlaws, gardens and Humboldt, and just one plant might pop into your mind. Well, weed that mental image out of your thoughts, and conjure up instead deep yellow black-eyed Susans, dusky purple smoke bushes, and an exotic Australian pine that’s not a pine. Many of the flowers and trees flourishing at the Humboldt…
Kinetic Museum Problem Resolved?
At its heart the press release sent out last week by the Kinetic Universe was a plea for help. “CALLING ALL ANGELS AND ECCENTRIC MILLIONAIRES: SAVE THE KINETIC MUSEUM!” it shouted in its all caps title. The problem laid out by Kinetic Universe President Kati Texas seemed dire: “Despite every effort of fiscal and human…
Help “Eureka California” play Eureka, California! (UPDATE: VICTORY!)
8/31 BIG UPDATE!: After several generous but less than ideal offers to play at non-Eureka venues or in people’s backyards, The Lil’ Red Lion — the-bar-we-all-kinda-knew-they-should-play-at-anyway — has stepped into the hero role. Eureka California will play Monday, Sept. 5 at, you know, the time bands play in bars. Dream realized. 8/26: Attention, local music…
We say Yes – Too
Editor: The North Coast Journal should be commended (“EPIC Changes,” Aug. 18) for including a diversity of voices in the well written story published last week about our organization, the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC). I write to respond to a comment included in the story from a representative of Green Diamond Resource Co. (aka…
Galileo’s Dream
As a fan of his science fiction and near-future fiction (the Mars trilogy, Three Californias, Science in the Capital) I’ve been reluctant to tackle Kim Stanley Robinson’s alternate histories. But I started this, his latest novel, and more than 500 pages later I finished it, wondering what my problem was. Part of my reluctance was…
Great Divide
Editor: It was wonderful to see your two part article on local nursing homes (“Vulnerable,” Aug. 4 and 11), following up on a story which had otherwise become very low profile. I was disappointed by the printed letter in a recent issue pointing out that those who work in nursing homes work hard and are,…
Eleven Eleven
If you look at a map to see Downey, Calif., a suburb just south of Los Angeles, you wouldn’t exactly think the dot was a breeding hub for an eclectic group of musicians who influenced modern music in their approaches. The list includes Brian Wilson, Karen and Richard Carpenter, Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon and brothers…
Still Hatin’ Wal@!&t
Editor: If it is indeed true that Walmart is moving into the mall (“Where’s Walmart,” Aug. 11), then there are several things that our community should be concerned about (aside from the fact that this has been shrouded in secrecy): Walmart employees often have to go on public assistance to supplement the low wages they…
The Spirit of Aloha
“The culture of aloha means many different things. The aloha spirit is bigger and broader than love, than hello or goodbye,” says hula instructor Tatiana Kealoha Robinson, who grew up learning hula from her mother in their halau, or hula school on Oahu. More like a family than a school, a halau is a defining…
Dead Green
Editor: Money only insulates one from LIFE. If HSU’s president (“It’s Good to be President,” July 28) believes making himself deader at the expense of students is right, he’s sick, sick with life, punishing all. Patrick Fealey, Fortuna
Cheese Dreams
OK, let’s get this out of the way first. Comfort food is not always NC (nutritionally correct). The function of comfort food is contained in its name. Put your Euell Gibbons/Michael Pollan hysteria on hold and allow yourself to be comforted by food whose only reason for being is to make you feel better while…
Shades of Ethiopia
Meklit Hadero had been working late the night before she called from her San Francisco home. “If you’re in the middle of writing a song, you can’t let it go until it tells you it’s done with you,” she said. Hidden in that explanation is a hint at how she relates to music — her…
Metric Mix-up
Just a week after the Mars Climate Orbiter was lost in September 1999, NASA figured out that the cause of the fiasco was a mix-up of units. The Lockheed Martin engineering team that built the spacecraft used English units of measurement for a key parameter, while NASA’s operation team employed the metric system. This resulted…
The painter lives in the painting,
the painting lives in the painter In the…
Best What?
Editor: Recently I was casting my vote for your “Best of Humboldt” competition (Aug. 18), and a few oddities caught my eye. “Best Fast Food”…. “Best Big Box Store”…. “Best Corporate Citizen.” I found myself wondering what kind of local would have come up with categories like these. Are we now celebrating the fact that…
Get Educated, Voters! Drink Beer!
Somehow the Academy Awards have escaped my anti-awards show, “art-is-subjective-and-can’t-therefore-be-competitive” curmudgeonity. Why? I don’t know, I guess it seems more probable that Academy voters might have seen all of the films nominated, as opposed to what-do-I-check Grammy voters — I refuse to believe everyone is taking their choice for the un-aired “Best Polka Album” Grammy…
Wanted: Garbage Collector
Almost a year after opening its new power plant in Eureka, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. invited the neighbors in on Saturday to take a look. A more unusual sight, though, was a few hundred yards away behind a cyclone fence: Humboldt County’s very own nuclear waste dump. It’s the resting place for 390 spent…
Tree of Life Takes Chances, One Day probes beginnings
REVIEWS: THE TREE OF LIFE As a writer and director, Terrence Malick has always created off-beat films. Perhaps as a result, they have only been recognized in retrospect for their quality. Days of Heaven (1978) may now be recognized as a landmark film of the 1970s, but it received mixed reviews when it opened and…
Map Quest
Redrawing the jagged, meandering lines that define Humboldt County’s five supervisorial districts is no mean feat. There are a number of complicated criteria — not only the region’s geographic and municipal boundaries but also finicky rules laid down by the state and the feds. These rules say each district should be contiguous (meaning no…
This is Humboldt
(In a show of empathy, this edition of The Hum is dedicated to new/returning college students. The rest of you are welcome to listen in — think of it like auditing a class — but try to keep it down. Word.) Sorry, kids. HSU is back in session this week. The sunless end-of-summer/new semester soul…
