‘Overwhelmingly White’
Amid diversity concerns, the Eureka Women’s March comes to a crossroads
Cover Story
‘Overwhelmingly White’
From the outside looking in, the announcement came like the explosive crack of a falling tree limb after its center gives way, under too much pressure to bear its weight. On Dec. 28, the eight to 10 people organizing this year’s Eureka Women’s March sent out a short press release announcing they would not be…
Grove of Titans Preservation Project Makes $1M Goal
There will be no more Grove of Titans treasure hunts for hikers seeking the ultimate selfie as Save the Redwoods League reached its fundraising goal of $1 million. The old growth redwood grove located in the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, which was only “discovered” two decades ago, gained an almost cult-like status in certain…
North Coast Night Lights: A Bit of Whimsy
It’s not for everyone to take the world seriously all of the time, though some people probably need to, at least a little bit. But I don’t think I’m one of them. I surmise folks like that need people like me to keep things in balance, so this week I am taking creative license to…
SECOND UPDATE: Incoming Storm Brings Flood Watch, Wind/High Surf Advisories
SECOND UPDATE: A Small Stream Flood Advisory was issued just before 5 p.m. today for Southern Humboldt, which is in effect until 7:15 p.m. Small Stream Flood Advisory issued for Southern Humboldt County effective now until 7:15pm this evening. https://t.co/AkqsXuRKWz pic.twitter.com/Gl5ojggU2q — NWS Eureka (@NWSEureka) January 17, 2019 UPDATE: The county has pushed back its…
Music Tonight: Wednesday, Jan. 9
Hey, maybe strap this on for size: Richards’ Goat has a trivia night at 8 p.m. that I have been hearing quite a lot of good things about from my more competitive friends on the specialized information circuit. It’s only a two-drink minimum and every sitcom memory I have suggests that trivia nights are full…
Dozens Gather at Vigil for Josiah Lawson, Urge Action From DA
Red and white roses surrounded a photo of David Josiah Lawson on the front steps of the Humboldt County Courthouse this evening as people gathered to voice their concerns, frustrations and support for the slain Humboldt State University student. “My heart is filled with rage and sadness,” Renee Saucedo, a supporter, told the crowd of…
Orick Woman Killed in Big Lagoon Crash
A 56-year-old Orick woman was killed this afternoon when an SUV she was traveling in veered off U.S. Highway 101 north of Big Lagoon and overturned several times near the water’s edge, causing her to be ejected from the vehicle. According to the California Highway Patrol, a 26-year-old woman, Tina Josephine Siders, and her 1-year-old…
UPDATE: Coroner’s Office IDs Woman Killed in Fall Near Wedding Rock
UPDATE: The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office has positively identified the woman killed in a fall near Trinidad’s Wedding Rock as 33-year-old Bianca Brzezinski of Arcata, a release states. PREVIOUS: The body of a 33-year-old Arcata woman who went missing a little after 6 p.m. yesterday was found around noon near Wedding Rock in Patrick’s Point…
Rescuers Face ‘Treacherous Terrain’ in Recovery Effort at Wedding Rock
The effort to recover the body of a 33-year-old Arcata woman who went missing Sunday night near Wedding Rock in Patrick’s Point State Park took most of Monday and included dozens of people. “Ground search crews and a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter began searching for the hiker again on January 14 at 8 a.m.,” the…
Music Tonight: Tuesday, Jan. 8
Tristan Norton tunes up the guitars over at Phatsy Kline’s tonight at 8 p.m. to deliver a free set of carefully chosen pieces by the fine likes of John Fahey, John Coltrane, Hank Williams, Blind Willie Johnson and more. If playing older music is more your taste, hit up the Logger Bar at the same…
Humboldt Loses Two Community Pillars Over the Weekend
Two pillars of Humboldt County community — J Warren Hockaday and Tony Smithers — died this weekend. Hockaday, a consummate newsman who left the media and public relations world behind to run the Greater Eureka Chamber of Commerce for 14 years before returning to television for a turn, was remembered by friends as a “true…
Music Tonight: Monday, Jan. 7
The Outer Space has a good one going on tonight at 7 p.m. when Sarchasm makes the drive up from the Bay Area to bang the gong in the temple of alt-punk (sliding scale $6-20). Daniel. (yes, with a period at the end that forces Google docs to capitalize the next word and I am…
American Pickers Wants to See Your Junk
How’s that KonMari purge going? While you’re folding your clothes into little squares, you may be wondering what to do with the road signs, vintage car parts and random advertising ephemera you’ve got stacked to the rafters in your garage. If you’ve got the right kind of stash, Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz from the…
UPDATE: Eureka Mulls Changing Course on Tourism Spending; Visitors Bureau Warns of Dire Consequences
UPDATE: In the wake of the death of Tony Smithers, the Eureka City Council today pulled an agenda item scheduled for Tuesday’s meeting to consider withdrawing its $370,000 contribution to the Eureka-Humboldt Visitors Bureau. PREVIOUS: The city of Eureka is considering drastically changing its approach to attracting tourists — and their dollars — to the…
HumBug: Earwigs
I have not been a big fan of earwigs ever since they ate the ceanothus moth I was trying to rear. Reading a bit about them, I found they indeed have some interesting and worthwhile features. The most common variety around here is the European earwig (Forficula auricularia). We called them “pincer bugs” when I…
Music Tonight: Sunday, Jan. 6
Eteraz is a relentless and brilliant hardcore act from Olympia and Seattle up in the northernmost state in our Pacific Northwest triad. With an expansive d-beat and reverb sound and lyrics in English and Farsi, there is nothing but a new and glorious mutant in this band. RampArt is the host tonight at 8 p.m.…
Search Suspended for Missing Canadian Hiker
The search for a missing Canadian hiker was suspended this afternoon after four days of what the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office described as “intensive searching by crews from eight different agencies” that was hampered by “bad weather, high tides and large surf.” Rick Raymond Eastep of Ontario sent a text earlier this week reporting that…
Armageddon it Wrong
Are you the kind of sci-fi/action film fan that goes along with the whole suspension-of-disbelief thrill ride or do the maddening missteps of science/tech/logic elicit a passionate “Come on!” from you? Your friends may roll their eyes but we get it. If you’re curious whether some harebrained Hollywood theory could actually work, there are experts…
Music Tonight: Saturday, Jan. 5
I am old fashioned in my wrestling tastes, having formed and left all of my aesthetics back in the late 1980s when I was a very small child and therefore at the peak of my development as far as appreciation of the sport goes. Hulk Hogan ruled over a menagerie filled with the likes of…
Last Skate: Photos from the Ferndale Ice Rink
Last weekend the Humboldt County Fairgrounds hosted the final days of this year’s ice skating. Young and old turned out to figure eight, glide and cling to the walls in the temporary rink set up in Belotti Hall while lights twinkled overhead and music played. A power outage put a damper on the festivities for…
Major Pot Bust Yields 1 Arrest, More Expected
One person was arrested and more are expected after the Drug Enforcement Unit of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office found a “substantial indoor” cannabis grow and several hash labs at a property on the 900 block of Vance Avenue Thursday. The unit served a search warrant at the site and reported finding nearly 1,000 growing…
UPDATED: Donors Needed: Blood Bank Issues Critical Call for O Positive
UPDATE: The Northern California Community Blood Bank will be open on Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon for donations. PREVIOUS: The Northern California Community Blood Bank is putting out a critical call for O Positive donors after the organization’s supply was depleted today. There are two drives going on today from 1 to 6 p.m.…
Find Yourself in the California Legislature — Or Not
There are (still) more white men named James or Jim in the California Legislature than African-American and Asian-American women combined. Throw in some white Robs, Bobs and Roberts, and you have a pretty sizable “JimBob” caucus with a membership larger than the number of Republican women, openly gay or lesbian legislators, or women from any…
Music Tonight: Friday, Jan. 4
Multi-instrumentalists and identical twins Adam and David Moss hail from Brooklyn by way of Peoria, Illinois. Together they make up The Brother Brothers and play a noir style of folk and bluegrass that draws on the twilit chapters of the Great American Songbook. The music is tight and technically advanced, but it’s the feeling, that…
Wood, McGuire Applaud Gov.’s Budget Plan
California Gov. Gavin Newsom released the first budget proposal of his tenure today, proposing a $209 billion spending plan that would increase funding for schools, healthcare programs and the fight against homelessness. The budget proposal — which came in at about $8 billion more than Gov. Jerry Brown’s last spending proposal — also would increase…
‘Substantial Indoor Grow,’ Hash Lab Found in Samoa
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Drug Enforcement Unit found a “substantial indoor cultivation site and multiple butane hash oil (BHO) labs, one of which was active,” while serving a search warrant today in the Samoa area. According to a Facebook post, multiple people have been detained for questioning. See earlier coverage here. The post said…
Sheriff’s Team at Scene of Possible Hash Lab Near Samoa Pulp Mill
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Special Services Team is serving a warrant at 936 Vance Avenue in Samoa near the former headquarters of the old Samoa Pulp Mill. The deputies were at the site before 10:30 this morning. According to scanner traffic, there is a likely hash lab in the building. Scanner traffic also has…
UPDATE: Search on for Missing Canadian Hiking the Lost Coast
UPDATE: The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office identified the missing Canadian hiker as Rick Raymond Eastep of Ontario. The 32 year old apparently sent a text on Monday saying he had been injured but the message was not received until late Wednesday. An extensive ground search by numerous agencies is ongoing. PREVIOUS: As last night’s stormy…
Ready for Your Closeup?
In Sunset Boulevard (1950), Gloria Swanson plays an aging silent film queen, forgotten by Hollywood, who refuses to believe her star has dimmed. Revel in this critically acclaimed masterpiece, also starring William Holden, by director Billy Wilder at Friday Night Noir on Friday, Jan. 11 at 7:30 p.m. at the Eureka Theater ($5). Popcorn, snacks…
Music Tonight: Thursday, Jan. 3
March and the Months gets the band together again as young ingenue March Adstrum takes a vacation break from college to kick out the jams in her hometown with friends and family at the Arcata Playhouse tonight at 8 p.m. ($5-$20 sliding scale). Expect covers and originals all woven together with the fine glossy threads…
The Violet Snail Conspiracy
When it comes to snail appreciation, there are three types of people. Type 1 people display no curiosity about snails and don’t want to learn anything new anyway. Fortunately, these shit-for-brains wouldn’t read this newspaper, so I haven’t offended anyone yet. Type 2 people are snail-curious and may actively seek information about snails but they’ll…
The Aches and Pains of Getting Older
According to the American Association of Retired People, there are 108.7 million folks in the United States over the age of 50. This includes 76.4 million Boomers (born 1946-1964), compared with 49 million Gen Xers and 82 million millennials. Moreover, the number of people 50-plus will continue to grow over the next decade to the…
Hum Plate Roundup
Red sauce for the blues Pity those whose otherwise broadening travels render them unable to enjoy American immigrant iterations of their ancestral cuisines. I think of my old classmate returning from a semester in Rome, heartbroken from an affair and recoiling from the messy red spaghetti and glass shakers of parmesan cheese and red pepper…
‘Pity’
Editor: I am always stirred to pity for the human race when I read an article like “A Special Place” (Dec. 20). How desperately we little people have to struggle to save the last fragments of our once rich, elaborate, creative, imaginative forests! What huge sums we have to scrape together to pay these giant…
Gemini Nights
Who needs an intro in these short, wet and cold days? By the time I get started the sun will have come and gone and we will all be mocked heartily by the massive frozen charioteers who pull the night across the sky at the bored whim of the gods. (Note: I have never actually…
‘Truly Mesmerizing’
Editor: David Wilson’s breathtaking photographs are a marvelous way to herald a new year (“North Coast Night Lights,” Jan. 3). The truly mesmerizing images capture the wonder that people throughout the ages have experienced when gazing skyward at night. In a place of natural beauty, the epic cascade of Milky Way stars stretching across the…
Nothing New
Editor: I read with interest the Dec. 13 article “The Housing Games.” In the mid-1970s, I coordinated a student survey on Humboldt State University campus for the Humboldt Tenants Union, under the umbrella of HSU student governments. Survey results back then identified pretty much the same issues covered in your recent article. Sherry Skillwoman, Arcata…
Burning Secrets
Reviews In the gradual but somehow instantaneous acceleration of time, wherein it seems to expand and contract with no regard for our pleas and protestations, I have found my movie-nerdiness largely subsumed by what I’m told is “real life.” Going back to the VHS/DVD rental days, I would stage my weekends with a dozen hours…
Priority One
Editor: During this past election, voters were asked what was important to them. Health care, education, living wage jobs, immigration reform, bringing manufacturing jobs back to America, nuclear weapons proliferation, affordable housing, fair trade and homelessness topped our lists (“Top 10,” Dec. 27). One that wasn’t as prevalent but that makes the others pale in…
Art for the Commute
This time of year, as many of us migrate to or from our points of origin, it’s time to consider Arcata’s biggest, newest and most noteworthy piece of public art about the experience of transit: the 256-foot-long, 27-foot-tall painting by Lucas Thornton, “Marvelous Mural of Marbled Murrelets,” sweeping across two sides of the Arcata Bay…
Arts! Arcata
Arts! Arcata is Arcata Main Street’s monthly celebration of visual and performing arts, held at locations in Arcata. Visit www.arcatamainstreet.com, Arts! Arcata on Facebook, or call 707-822-4500 for more information. ARCATA ARTISANS 883 H St. Winter Group Show. Wine pour by the GYN Breast Health Project. BUBBLES 1031 H St. Music by Kathe Lyth. FOODWISE…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Computer-generated special effects used in the 1993 film Jurassic Park may seem modest to us now but at the time they were revolutionary. Inspired by the new possibilities revealed, filmmakers like Stanley Kubrick, George Lucas and Peter Jackson launched new projects they had previously thought to be beyond their ability to…
The Women’s March Traffic Light
Related Stories
Broken
Broken is the black body Broken its name Broken its fine bones, its dark flesh Broken the soul into which we peer (blood pooling, unmoving over whom some badged bully looms) Broken the spirit incarcerated emasculated forgotten Broken the family without this ______: (blank) ever absent: Broken the neighborhood, the barred and shattered windows the…
Hundreds of Federal Employees Shut Down in Humboldt
In one of his first acts with the newly seated House of Representatives, North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman joined his Democrat colleagues in voting to pass two bills to end the federal government shutdown. The votes — one to fund the Department of Homeland Security into February as lawmakers seek out a compromise on President…
New House, Same Story
In one of its first acts, the newly seated House of Representatives introduced bipartisan legislation that would require the federal government to take a hands-off approach to cannabis and let states establish their own laws and programs. “The national consensus on medical marijuana is solid and bipartisan, but our federal drug laws continue to treat…
Radioman Opens
Based on poems by Historic Blue Ox Mill founder Eric Hollenbeck and written by playwright James McManus, Radioman plays Jan. 10-12 and Jan. 17-19 at 8 p.m., with two Sunday matinees on Jan. 13 and 20 at 2 p.m. at Dell’Arte’s Carlo Theatre ($35 opening night reception, $15-$20 rest of run). Directed by Michael Fields…
Rock with March and the Months
March and the Months bring their genre-defying It’s Just a Whim rock show to the Arcata Playhouse on Thursday, Jan. 10 at 8 p.m. ($5-20 sliding scale). Expect high energy from March Adstrum on vocals/guitar/keyboards, Rob Diggins on synth violin/cornet, Joli Einem on electric bass, Fiona Shaughnessy on vocals and Gabe LuBowe on drums.
