Cover Stories
Railroad!
The current buzz about building a new railroad is nothing new for the North Coast. A century ago, the promotion of rail lines to the north, south and east often filled the headlines on a weekly, or even daily, basis. It was a time when optimism and speculation ran rampant. By December 1909 one…
Some Other Proposed North Coast Railroads
1868: San Francisco and Humboldt Bay Railroad 1895: Oregon, California and Idaho Railroad (Arcata, Red Bluff, Snake River) 1906: California & Inland Empire Railroad (Eureka, Redding) 1907-1915: Portland-San Francisco Railroad Company (Portland, Eugene, Drain, Coos Bay, Trinidad, Eureka, San Francisco) 1912-1915: Great Northern (Bend, Klamath Falls, Requa, Trinidad, Eureka) 1913: Grants Pass and Crescent City…
Choo-choo Fantasies
Inside his carpeted Eureka offices, attorney Bill Barnum stood before a large map of the city and pointed to the upper right corner. “See who the author is?” he asked. The map, a handsome, sepia-colored lithograph, was created in 1938 by J.N. Lentell, a civil engineer and surveyor who first came to Humboldt County in…
Jesus Christ, Chester Cheetah Invited to Wal-Mart Opening Ceremony Mega-Party Extravaganza Festivities
Holy crap! Wal-Mart may have been coy about moving into the Bayshore Mall, but its grand opening is gonna be off the chain! Get ready for a week-long explosion of orgiastic consumer pageantry the likes of which Eureka has never seen. According to an apparently genuine invitation sent to the Journal and other local media outlets, the festivities…
Were You Growing Weed on Landis Court in McKinleyville?
‘Cuz now you’re not. Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriffs Office: On 05-30-2012, approximately 3:00 p.m. the Humboldt County Sheriffs Office Community Response Unit (C.R.U.) , served a Humboldt County Superior Court Search Warrant in the 1200 block of Landis Court, McKinleyville. The C.R.U. was acting on a tip they received on the Sheriff’s…
Lawsuit Challenges Conditions at Pelican Bay
Today, a group of California legal and advocacy groups including the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a federal class action lawsuit on behalf of prisoners at Pelican Bay State Prison. The suit alleges that prolonged confinement in so-called secure housing units (known as “the SHU,” pictured above) amounts to torture, and that, in denying SHU inmates…
Fill in the Blanks
Getting money from people is fun. Filling out disclosure forms about those people is a pain. It’s also a legal necessity, meant to keep things transparent. Political candidates must submit donor disclosure forms, which list donors’ names, addresses and occupations, every few months during the early months of the campaign, and as frequently as every…
Wanna See 2012 Rutabaga Queen Sohotshe Burns Pull a Nail Out of Someones Nose With Her Teeth?
… Of course you do. This was just one of many debaucheries committed on the Rutabaga Queen’s annual Madaket Booze Cruise that rowdily buzzes soaked and exhausted Kinetic Grand Championship racers as they slog their way through Humboldt Bay. Kinetic Queens and Kops and their followers sucked down Bloody Marys and mimosas on a day…
Know Your 2012 Kinetic Sculptures! Photos! Video! Award Winners!
Here it is, Humboldt. Your complete visual wrap to 2012’s Kinetic Grand Championship participants! What a time we had. Kongratulations go out to Melvin for earning the title 2012 Kinetic Grand Champion. Scroll to the way bottom for a komplete list of award winners, as well as some video. See y’all next year. (Click photos…
Kinetic Coup?
In what seems to be a stunning, unprecedented coup d’état, 2007 Rutabaga Queen Emma Breacain, who also serves as Treasurer on the board of directors for Kinetic Universe, will now serve as “this year’s Rutabaga Queen,” according to a report in this morning’s Times-Standard. This last minute shift in the Kinetic power structure comes just…
Caffreymania Peaks
This actually happened. Andy Caffrey, you win. Jay Leno creates another Humboldt celeb. Which begs the question: What has Conan ever done for us? (SOURCE)
Release Me
As we shift into the digital age, where music is exchanged via computers and played on phones and iPods, some say the CD is dead. Not so fast, say independent artists who still see the disc as a viable art form. For example, the reggae-meets-Latin bilingual vocal duo Vidagua is celebrating the release of a…
Hit! Miss!
BATTLESHIP. I put a lot of energy into trying to hate Battleship, even before the first trailer premiered. I railed against the absurdity of a board game adaptation, demanding Hollywood explain this flimsy, gratuitous attempt to capitalize on the childhoods of all Americans. Have they run out of books to adapt? Dreck to sequelize? Is…
Likin’ Lovelace
Editor: Along with Journal publisher Judy Hodgson, I support Mark Lovelace for re-election as our 3rd District County Supervisor. During his first term Mark has supported jobs and resources in forestry, fishing and agriculture while protecting the environment. He achieves this balance by a thorough understanding of the issues and the needs of the community as…
The Fightin’ 1st
Editor: Your bully pulpit should awaken folks to the political Rex Bohn, who will sell his influence to the highest bidder. Rex’s supporters are virulent developers with a vision of Humboldt that relies heavily on corporate shenanigans. Control of the political process, from Eureka City Council to the Board of Supervisors is another step in…
And for Congress …
Editor: I agree with Judy Hodgson’s “Bully Pulpit” that Assemblyman Jared Huffman will be one of the two contenders in November. I also believe that Jared is the right person to send to Congress as our representative. Given the complexity of issues and congressional polarity, Jared brings experience and sound judgment to the table along…
Fear Fun
It is no secret that Los Angeles has been a breeding ground for fantasy and tragedy, creating the mythos of the “beautiful loser” character, treading water amid industry, delusion and artificial props, all spread across a vast desert landscape. Author Nathaniel West captured the sense of desolation past the hues of Hollywood in his slim,…
Park Jobs Matter
Editor: It wearies me that people like Susan Nolan (“Parks and Offices,” Mailbox, May 10) feel the need to malign public sector employees. Maybe I am hypersensitive because I am a veteran who later gained employment with the state and then the federal government, or because I remain so naïve as to think that stewarding…
Open City
This novel set in 2006 is narrated by Julius who, like the author, was born in Nigeria but lives in New York City. We never learn Julius’ last name, but other information comes our way. His Nigerian father died when Julius was a boy. He is estranged from his German mother. His maternal grandmother to…
Dog Do’s N Don’t’s
Editor: As president of Friends of the Arcata Marsh (FOAM), I’d like to thank Ryan Burns for writing about the importance (and legality) of keeping one’s dog leashed at the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary (“Doggy Days,” May 17). In fact, FOAM felt so strongly about the issue that we applied for and obtained a…
In the Moon’s Shadow
After writing and teaching about total solar eclipses for many years, I finally saw one on July 11, 1991, and was, as they say where I come from, gobstruck. The flight to our viewing spot, a remote beach in Baja California, Mexico, was an experience in itself. Four of us squeezed into a Cessna 172…
Ernie Bushmiller’s Arcata
Ernie Bushmiller’s Arcata
Undeterred Will
Will chides Andrew for lack of attention to detail and makes plans for his inevitable victory.
We’re Not Stenographers
The North Coast Journal does slow journalism. (That’s not my coinage, but I love the image.) Like slow food, slow journalism is nurtured along, given some time, given some thought. Slow journalists seek out the highest quality ingredients — facts, not spin — and we arrange our words carefully, for maximum reading enjoyment, like a…
Scapes
The first time I ate garlic flowers was for breakfast on a train from Beijing to Ulan Bator, Mongolia. The dining car didn’t have a menu. You sat down and they brought you food. I went there as soon as the train left the station, and was happy to find it open. A server delivered…
New
The chick knocks (tap-a-tap-a-tap tap) with its tiny…
Pick Clendenen
Editor: Thank you for the informative and timely article about the upcoming election for the county supervisors (“District Soup,” May 10). After reading it, we wanted to share our view. We have known Clif for over 30 years, in many roles — as a devoted family man, a successful business owner in a fluctuating economy,…
Early Deadlines
Because of the Memorial Day holiday, letters for next week’s Journal are due by 11:30 a.m. on Friday, May 25. (Election letters, in this last edition before the vote, cannot exceed 250 words.)
Gloriously Kinetic
The last Monday in May is coming up, which means it’s time to celebrate Memorial Day, an American holiday honoring our military veterans. There will be flags and parades all over and, in Indianapolis, a 500-mile auto race that’s been held for more than 100 years. Here in Humboldt we have another, quite different race…
