Good Food
How can Humboldt build a sustainable system?
Cover Story
Holy Farmer!
The New York Times has called him the “high priest of the pasture.” And the Virginia farmer himself calls what he does “farming as ministry.” But Joel Salatin can’t be an easy holy man to follow. His farm, Polyface (“farm of many faces”), in the Shenandoah Valley, which he runs with his wife and young…
Oops: Tribal Seas Story Suffers Editorial Omission
Readers of today’s North Coast Journal (cover “Species Rising,” March 3) will be puzzled by the first paragraph of an otherwise excellent story by Ryan Burns (“Tribal Seas”) that was rendered incomprehensible when an editing error removed 17 words. Here is the full text of the lede to this excellent summary of an important initiative…
CR Trustees Appoint Dr. Utpal Goswami Acting President
With Marsee out, the CR Board needed a place holder. They acted fast. This just in from Paul DeMark at CR: CR Trustees accept CR President Marsee’s resignation; appoint Dr. Utpal Goswami acting president starting March 2 College of the Redwoods’ Board of Trustees accepted CR President Jeff Marsee’s resignation on Tuesday, March 1 and…
Joel Salatin at Redwood Acres
We featured an interview with farming guru Joel Salatin in last week’s Good Food issue as a prelude to his keynote speech at the North Coast Co-op’s Sustainable Agriculture Expo. Now we bring you the speech itself, with a big thank you to the folks at KMUD and in particular reporter Kerry Reynolds, who recorded…
Locals Nabbed in South Dakota for, well, You Can Probably Guess
Don’t let the city’s name fool ya: Highway Patrol in Rapid City, South Dakota, are sticklers for speeding. And they don’t like marijuana posession much, either — at least not when you’ve (allegedly) got 23.5 pounds of it moving through The Mount Rushmore State in a rental car. Kenneth Jordan, 29, of Ferndale, Scott Mitchell, 32,…
Say (Homemade) Cheese
I have a habit. I have developed it in the past two years and I am not planning to break it in any foreseeable future. Once a week or so, I prepare my working space in the kitchen, sterilize my tools, warm up milk and start a new cheese-making adventure. There are variations on the…
Don’t Forget Clarke
Editor: We at the Clarke Museum enjoyed your article on postcard collecting. Collecting is great and we encourage it. We urge people with collections or even a single card, who may want to see the images enjoyed by the public for many generations, to donate old postcards to the Clarke Historical Museum and, by so…
In the Midst of Life
Most animals, including humans, consist broadly of two parts: (1) genes and (2) everything else. One of these is essentially immortal, the other not. You could be grateful that, hey, one out of two ain’t bad, or — more likely — consider it bad sportsmanship on Nature’s part that she picked the wrong one for…
At What Point?
Editor: I attended the (Feb. 7) rally for keeping the highway through Richardson Grove as it is. It was peaceful and positive until the police used violence causing some in the crowd to react defensively. When the police made their move to clear the room I heard the rapid clicking of tasers and seconds later…
Crazy Life
The Eureka rap duo known as Savage Mentality had never been to the Arcata Playhouse before, but since they have a show coming up there Saturday night, they figured it would be good to get a handle on the space and plan ahead for how they might use it. Terra Stolberg, aka Maniac, was practicing…
Ex-Freelancer
Editor, I’m an ex-freelancer for the North Coast Journal. Up until a few weeks ago, I wrote a column offering advice, comfort and what I hoped were clever observations for and about the financially challenged. In my decade of local media involvement, I’ve never received such consistent and rewarding attention for my work – writing…
Ribald Requiem
In the 1980s Amadeus — both play and movie — caused a sensation. When British playwright Peter Shaffer portrayed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in his 20s as an “obscene child,” and the forgotten composer Antonio Salieri as his murderer — either literally (in the movie) or figuratively (in the play) — many splashy media debates ensued.…
Growing Community
During the recent near-collapse of our economic system we were told: Get out there and buy, buy, buy! But there was a time when our country offered a more holistic remedy to looming scarcity: Get out there and grow. During World War I and World War II, the federal government, along with businesses, civic groups…
Feeling Crabby
Bears just might be smarter than we are. I mean, hibernating — great idea, right? During the lousiest of weather, bears are straight zonked out. Come springtime they wake up skinny, refreshed and ready for action. We fogbound coastal humans, on the other hand, insist on staying conscious through the bleak seasons, with diminishing returns:…
Hear Ye, Hear Ye
This week the Journal spotlights one of the most promising and powerful ideas to have taken root on the North Coast: sustainable agriculture. It’s a multifaceted idea that embodies respect for the land, honest living for the tillers, safe and nutritious food for consumers. The focal point of our coverage is a unique gathering that…
Very Last Asset
Editor: My pseudonym can be Abbey. I’m named after a Beatles song. I’m homeless. So is my partner of six years. We live in a hotel, one known to have weekly rates and low expectations. I did not speak to the Census takers (“Point-in-Time,” Feb. 3). Neither did anyone else I asked at this particular…
Anchors Away!
Two high school seniors from Southern Humboldt spoke out against the U.S. Navy’s plans to create a target practice range off the coast of Humboldt County at a rally in Eureka Saturday. “The animals don’t have voices so we have to speak for them,” 17-year-old Kali Persall of Shelter Cove told 50 activists who gathered…
Pasar las Palomitas de Maíz
Pregunta: Where can lovers of foreign films and/or struggling students in search of much-needed extra credit points both get their fix? Respuesta: At the 13th Annual International Latino Film Festival being held this year Mar. 1-3. This year’s festival — a joint effort by College of the Redwoods Modern Languages Department and the Humboldt State…
Beautiful Body
In a week where radio talker Rush Limbaugh saw fit to note that First Lady Michelle Obama “does not project the image of women that you might see on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue,” perhaps it is appropriate to again begin the conversation on the damaging and distorted American view of what…
Reggae for Bob
Reggae legend Bob Marley’s birthday is Feb. 6, but it’s always been a good excuse for celebrations throughout the month. The big one this week is a People Productions thing Friday at the Arcata Theatre Lounge featuring German reggae star Gentleman plus Jamaican veterans Israel Vibration. Born Tilmann Otto in Osnabrück, Germany, son of a…
Not That Barney
Reviews BARNEY’S VERSION. Based on Canadian author Mordecai Richler’s final novel, published in 1997 (he died in 2001), Barney’s Version is the story of a garrulous, not particularly attractive and often irritating Barney (Paul Giamatti in what is his best role to date) who, unaccountably it would seem, manages to hook up with some very…
James Blake
In 2010 a then 21-year-old James Blake released a series of three EPs in the fringes of the dubstep/wonky scene, dicing modern R&B samples, piano and his own voice into tiny rhythmic shards and sprinkling them around UK bass music’s decaying exoskeleton. With each EP his approach grew more abstract and by the last, Klavierwerk,…
Spare Rights
The Times-Standard headline from March 18, 2010 could have been read two different ways: “Unlawful Panhandling Ordinance Passes Arcata City Council.” Did it mean that the council passed an ordinance banning unlawful panhandling? Or was the ordinance itself against the law? Perhaps inadvertently, the ambiguity of that headline perfectly encapsulated the contentious issues at play…
Strychnine Dandelion
It’s no coincidence that garage rock’s quiet renaissance man, Greg Cartwright, was reared in Memphis, a mythic geographical location where Delta blues, R&B, soul, pop, rockabilly and country collide. It’s evident that a young Cartwright, initially inspired by a small burgeoning early ‘80s Memphis music scene led by Tav Falco & The Panther Burns, soaked…
In Memoriam
A somber congregation in excess of 600 mourners gathered Tuesday morning under the vaulted cathedral ceiling of Eureka’s St. Bernard’s Catholic Church to remember California Highway Patrol Officer Thomas Adams, a 24-year old former Fortuna resident who was killed in a traffic collision near Piercy, just south of the Humboldt County line, a week earlier.…
Our old friends
Our old friends Keep coming back. Harry, the…
Which Way Leans the Tower of Justice?
Editor: With regard to the two Courthouse postcards in your recent article (“Postcard Kings,” Feb. 17): I’m certain that if there were ever a contest, our current Courthouse and jail would win hands-down as the ugliest building in Eureka. It looks to me like something a toddler on acid might have pieced together with Lego…
