Fighting Fire with Fire
A devastating wildfire season highlights the need for prescribed burns
EPD Officer Flown Out of Area for Treatment After Crash
A man on active parole out Bakersfield was arrested today following a high speed chase on U.S. Highway 101 after fleeing Eureka Police Department officers who had responded to reports of a man assaulting a woman at a hotel on the 800 block of West Wabash Avenue. The initial pursuit down Broadway just before 10…
Boys to Men Group Introduces Legacy Library
The Humboldt Independent Practice Association’s Boys to Men group is introducing a new project known as the Boys to Men Group Legacy Library that will be available to all McKinleyville Middle School, McKinleyville High School and Humboldt Court and Community School students. The Boys to Men group was first established in January at McKinleyville Middle…
NCJ Archive: The Journey of Radioman
Editor’s Note: On this Veterans Day, as the nation pauses to honor those who have served this country, here is a November of 2017 story about the journey of Eric Hollenbeck, a Eureka-born Vietnam veteran and co-owner of Blue Ox Millworks and Historic Park with his wife Viviana, whose poems about his experiences during a…
HSU Foundation Purchases Craftsman Mall
The Humboldt State Foundation announced it has purchased the nearby Craftsman Mall site where a real estate development company had previously proposed to build a large housing project known as “The Village,” which was primarily tailored to students. That project, which was met with opposition for local neighbors, eventually went off the drawing board amid…
UPDATING: Suspect in Custody After High Speed Chase on 101
UPDATE: The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office reports this morning’s high speed pursuit on U.S. Highway 101, which started in Eureka and involved a crash that injured two, including an officer, reached 120 mph at points. The sheriff’s office reports the suspect was a wanted felon who was taken into custody after driving over a spike…
Travel, Gatherings Behind Most Recent COVID Cases
Humboldt County’s COVID count stands at 624 after Public Health confirmed four new cases today while a previous case was reassigned to another county. That brings this week’s tally to 19, so far. Last week saw 34 cases, the largest total in a single week since September. There were nine confirmed cases the previous week…
HSU Community on Alert After Attempted Burglary
The Humboldt State University Police Department is advising the HSU community to be on alert after an individual attempted to burglarize a campus residence today. The suspect tried to break into a dorm room through a kitchen window while the resident was at home. The suspect fled in an unknown direction. For more, read the advisory…
Humboldt Still COVID Risk ‘Minimal,’ For Now
The latest data released today under California’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy,” shows Humboldt County will retain its “minimal” COVID risk status for at least one more week. That leaves this part of the North Coast a sort of COVID island surrounded by counties with moderate, substantial and widespread rankings. Humboldt currently has an adjusted…
Crack Your Knuckles: Flash Fiction 2020 is On
Reality, amirite? How about a little fiction — a real little? The annual North Coast Journal Flash Fiction Contest might be just the bite-sized escapism we need. Make your story 99 words or fewer, not including the title, for a chance at small-scale literary fame and seeing your story in the Journal. Email up to…
Humboldt’s COVID Case Spike Continues
Public Health reported 16 new cases have been confirmed since Friday, making a total of 621 for Humboldt County. It’s a continuation of a spike that began last week, when the county saw 34 cases, the largest total in a single week since September. There were nine confirmed cases the previous week and 59 in all…
Students Share Their Shots of Pandemic Life
The Humboldt County Office of Education announced the winners of the Pandemic Photojournalism Contest, which saw more than 40 local students participate. The winners are: College: Tehila Horowitz Grades 9-12: Ari Alter Grades 6-8: Avery Packer Grades 3-5: Amaya Teraoka Grades Preschool-2: Indiana Jensen Special award from Ellis Art: Stella Saba View all of the…
Eureka Police: Old Town Death Appears to be Self-Inflicted
The Eureka Police Department reports that a man who died Nov. 2 after being found with a severe neck wound in Old Town next to a broken wine bottle appears to have somehow injured himself. According to a news release, the EPD investigation indicates the 48-year-old man bought the wine about 30 minutes before he…
Woman Reported Missing Found Dead at Weitchpec Property
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a 44-year-old woman who was found dead Nov. 5 at a property she owns in Weitchpec after deputies searched the area in response to a missing person report. According to a news release, no evidence of foul play was found at the scene. The HCSO…
Newsom’s Pick? Who Might Fill VP-Elect Harris’ Senate Seat?
The victory of Joe Biden and California’s junior senator, Kamala Harris in the 2020 presidential race brings to a close one of the most protracted post-Election Day waiting games in modern political history. It also opens up a relatively rare thing in the Golden State: the prospect of an open Senate seat. For career-minded Democrats,…
Cooler, Wetter Weather Stops Growth of Slater Fire
After a devastating fire season, some good news emerged this morning with the announcement from the U.S. Forest Service that no additional updates would be issued for the Slater-Devil fires, as ‘cooler and wetter weather has stopped any growth’ for the Slater fire and no growth has been detected in the Devil fire for days. As…
Pride Flag Vandalized at Eureka Church
Sometime overnight Thursday or early Friday morning, the brightly colored rainbow flag at the United Congregational Christian Church at 900 Hodgson Street in Eureka was slashed nearly in two. “It has been torn mostly down the middle and there was another attempted scoring several inches to the left of that,” explained Rev. Cindi Knox, the…
Blue Lake Rancheria Closes Casino Restaurant After Employee Tests Positive for COVID-19
Yesterday afternoon, the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe announced that it was “choosing to shut down its restaurants at the Blue Lake Casino after a food and beverage employee tested positive for COVID-19.” On Nov. 3, the tribe began offering free tests for tribal communities as well as all employees who are working for the tribe’s…
First Post-Election Report Narrows Fennell’s Lead in Second District
The Humboldt County Elections Office released its first post-election report this afternoon, adding almost 5,000 ballots to the last tallies released Wednesday morning. The new ballots further narrowed incumbent Second District Supervisor Estelle Fennell’s Election Night lead in a close runoff. She now holds a 197-vote advantage over challenger Michelle Bushnell, having taken 51 percent…
What the Failure of Prop. 25 Means for Racial Justice in California
Proposition 25 would have made California the first state to end cash bail by allowing each county to use an algorithm to assess a person’s flight risk or likelihood of reoffending while awaiting trial. Supporters pitched the referendum as the Legislature’s best plan for advancing racial justice by upending a system that preys on communities…
COVID-19 Cases Surpass 600 in Humboldt as Week’s Spike Continues
Public Health reported today that the countywide COVID-19 case count has surpassed 600 as this week’s case spike continued, with six new cases confirmed today, making 34 this week. That’s the most cases reported locally in a single week since the 35 reported the week ending Sept. 18. Nine cases were reported last week, and…
County Jail Transfers 30 Inmates to Prison with COVID-19 Restrictions Eased
Thirty Humboldt County jail inmates sentenced to prison terms during the COVID-19 pandemic, some who had been waiting in limbo for months, have now been sent to state prisons, Sheriff William Honsal reported to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. Honsal said the state prison system, which has been plagued by COVID-19 outbreaks and worked…
CR Class Helping Repair Home Damaged in Horrific Crash
College of the Redwoods carpentry students and some industry partners are repairing the home of Bob Beland, who was killed in his bed last year when a drunk driver crashed into his home. In the first project of CR’s new CT-15 Carpentry Techniques and Existing Buildings course taught by Jennifer Taylor, the students are repairing…
NCJ Preview: Election Night, a Run on Guns and to Bar or Not to Bar
Tuesday’s election is a waiting game for Humboldt, too. We’ll talk about why and how the national election, as well as COVID and recent protests have fueled a boom in local gun sales. And now that bars are open, we’ll look at what they have to change to comply with safety restrictions and what your…
Humboldt Closing In On 600 COVID Cases
Humboldt County Public Health reported seven new COVID-19 cases today, which makes 28 since Friday. Last week saw a total of nine cases. With the recent spike, County Health Officer Teresa Frankovich urged residents to get tested as soon as possible if they are showing symptoms as well be tested regularly without symptoms. “To be…
High Surf Advisory Issued for the North Coast
The National Weather Service Eureka has issued a high surf advisory along the North Coast as waves of up to 23 feet are expected tomorrow afternoon and evening. The NWS Eureka is urging beachgoers to use extra caution near the surf zone. High surf of up to 23 feet is expected along the beaches of…
Commercial Structure Fire in Arcata
Firefighters responding to the report of a fire on the wall of a business at 105 Alder Grove Road in Arcata off Highway 299 at 10:26 a.m. found smoke coming from a commercial structure at a mill located there. According to Arcata Fire Battalion Chief Sean Campbell, the fire had been extinguished by employees of…
‘Utter Idiocy’
Editor: With regard to the article “Protest Song” (Oct. 29), I’m finding it extremely difficult to feel sorry for the foul-mouthed Mr. Pegg. It was an act of utter idiocy to purchase the tavern with full knowledge that he would most likely not be able to operate as a live performance venue until the pandemic is…
‘Anything but ACE’
Editor: I want to congratulate the Journal on two superb recent articles, “Reaching for Resilience” (Oct. 1) and “Erasure” (Oct. 29). Traumatic childhood experiences were the main subject in the first article and figured heavily in the second, and both articles were eye-openers for me. This is a very serious problem and deserves to be dealt with in…
Evolution’s Co-Discoverer
July 1 should be the day on which we celebrate the theory of evolution. That’s when, in 1858, this revolutionary idea was presented to the world — at least to the august Linnean Society of London — in the form of writings by Charles Darwin and a paper by Alfred Russel Wallace. We don’t because,…
Downpour
A shower of starlings Splash into the feeder Overspilling upon the ground Invisible against the black soil Until they burst like a geyser Perceptible for but a moment Swimming the currents of night Evaporating among the clouds Reigning over us all
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries poet Charles Baudelaire championed the privilege and luxury of changing one’s mind. He thought it was natural and healthy to always keep evolving beyond one’s previous beliefs and attitudes, even if that meant one might seem inconsistent or irrational. “It is lamentable,” he once proclaimed, “that, among the Rights of…
Fighting Fire with Fire
Eric Darragh and Will Harling raced from Orleans in the small fire engine as soon as the word came early on Sept. 8 of a wildfire that had exploded above Happy Camp and was destroying everything in its down-slope path. They soon met Scot Steinbring, the Orleans-based fire management officer for the Karuk Tribe. It…
Trigger Warning
There’s been a months-long rush on firearms in Humboldt County as consumers — from first-time buyers to lifelong enthusiasts — are driven to local gun shops by anxieties over the COVID-19 pandemic, the racial justice protests that gripped the nation (as well as the backlash against them) and, more recently, Election Day and the civil…
Left Out
It began with Johana Perez’s husband. He came home on a Friday night in June with a fever and not feeling well but they thought it was just a cold. Then it hit her two kids, their great-grandmother and finally Perez, who has asthma. The novel coronavirus had entered their home and taken over. “It…
Pouring in a Pandemic
Even in Humboldt County’s enviable seat in the yellow/minimal risk zone of California COVID-19 safety tiers, reopening bars doesn’t mean we’re back to body shots and plaza crawls. (Maybe we shouldn’t bring back body shots.) Some of the things we miss about bars — the crowd, shouting over the music, huddling together over drinks —…
Swimming with Otters at Big Lagoon
Blue skies, eagles, osprey, otters — those are the attractions that compel Humboldt caterer Lauren Sarabia to drive up to Big Lagoon and swim three mornings a week. Although as a kid she played in pools in Los Angeles, she didn’t become an open water swimmer until five years ago, when a friend invited her…
Rough Seas Predicted for Saturday’s Sport Crab Opener
The always-popular recreational Dungeness crab season is expected to open statewide this Saturday, Nov. 7. The season’s first traps can legally be deployed at 12:01 a.m. that morning. Anglers, weather permitting, will get their first peek into the number of crabs on the sea floor as the quality and domoic acid testing has already begun.…
Gothic Horror for the Hoi Polloi
I’ve been thinking a lot about Guy Fieri. I recently listened to an interview he did with Dan Pashman, host of The Sporkful podcast, in which they boiled the state of the nation down to a “Donkey Sauce/aioli cultural divide.” They’re the same thing, Donkey Sauce and aioli, according to Fieri himself — who also…
My Hope
On Tuesday, four years ago this week, I finished a column for that week’s paper and settled in to watch the election results. By 10:15 p.m. I was doing a rewrite with a wine glass at my elbow. This might surprise many readers but my original column was not a happy dance about Hillary’s victory.…
