Ferndale Gothic
She runs the newspaper. He’s the mayor and the freshly ousted fair manager. It’s messy.
Cover Story
Ferndale Gothic
A retired carnival owner spoke first, followed by the food booth guy, who operates Lighthouse Cone and Coral Reef Smoothies. After him came the horse guy and a member of the Western Fairs Association Hall of Fame. They all made impassioned pleas at the lectern. But none was as emotional as Ken Johnston, the…
Not All About The Shark
Just wind, waves, sun and eye-aching blue sky today out at the beach. Slight breeze, biting sharp. Not far from the Bunker Road parking lot, north of the North Jetty, surfer Bill Lydgate had parked his truck on the waveslope. His surfboard jutted out of the back end of the camper, and he was scrubbing…
![C.R. faces the music [now with official P.R.]](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcoastjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/ed-macan-at-the-piano.webp?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1)
C.R. faces the music [now with official P.R.]
There will be a lot less music in the future at College of the Redwoods if the college administration follows through with plans for reductions in class offerings in its music department. Earlier today the Journal received a leaked copy of a memo sent by C.R.’s music department head Ed Macan to C.R. students and…
Pot Permit Ordinance Moseys Along
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors decided yesterday to take its draft medical marijuana outdoor cultivation ordinance to the hills. The proposed ordinance would require outdoor medical pot farms to be registered with the county public health branch and to follow certain rules — or be considered a nuisance. Farms would have to register once…
Block Busters
Those surfers! Another beach disaster was averted the other day after Humboldt Surfrider member Bill Lydgate spread the alarm that one of those giant, shell-encrusted concrete-encased styrofoam blocks — they come from floating docks — had washed ashore and was breaking apart on the beach near Bunker Road on the North Jetty. Wrote Lydgate in…
More Time To Apply For Trinny Council
Well, today was the deadline to apply to serve on the Trinidad City Council. But only one brave citizen has dared put in an application. What, Trinidadians, too good for the city? Scaredypants? Insecure and cowering? Cynical, jaded, reclusive, selfish? Busy?! Anyway, the new deadline is this Friday, March 8, by 9 a.m. Once again,…
Ride For Mello
Bigfoot Bicycle Club is hosting a memorial bicycle ride for John Mello on Sunday, March 10. Mello was killed while riding his bicycle on Highway 101. The ride begins at 10 a.m. at the Arcata Plaza, goes through the Arcata Bottom and over the Mad River on the Hammond Trail Bridge, then continues north, eventually…
Incredible Shrinking Council
But this is no circus trick, not even a political implosion — though the small City of Trinidad has been known to generate some excitement in recent times and years past). It’s just life, intervening. Simply: The five-member Trinidad City Council is down to three members now — Mayor Julie Fulkerson, Mayor Pro-Tem Dwight Miller…
Step Up, Humboldtia
Damned roads. Damned broken railroad. Damned housing plan. Damned permitting process. Damned codes. Damned new ordinances. Damned cuts. Hey, quit complaining — you elected those county supervisors, now tell them what you want them to do. Can’t make it to the courthouse on Tuesdays to weigh in on decisions in person at the board meetings?…
CenterArts Announces Concert Cancelation
Press release from HSU’s CenterArts: CenterArts regrets the cancellation of the Los Lonely Boys concert originally scheduled for Thursday, March 7, 2013 at 8 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre, HSU. Henry Garza, of Texas trio Los Lonely Boys, was admitted to a Los-Angeles area hospital after sustaining injuries from a fall at the Downey…
A New Trail!
OK, so it’s been out there ready to tromple along for some time now. But tomorrow – Saturday, March 2 – is the grand opening for the 1.5 mile multiple-use trail through the wildlife sanctuary along the Elk River. It’s called the Hikshari Trail – a Wiyot name for the place.…
Eureka Man Found Dead, Suicide Suspected
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office: On 03-01-2013, approximately 12:15 p.m. the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office was notified by a citizen that they located a male, believed to be missing person Jeffrey Panutsos in the woods near Redwood Fields, deceased. Deputies responded to the scene and the Humboldt County Coroners Office was notified.…
Natural History Museum to Relocate
A video store dies, and a natural history museum gets a new home. Three and a half years after budget cuts forced HSU to briefly close its Natural History Museum at G and 13th streets in Arcata, the university is partnering with Redwood Capital Bank to relocate the museum in a new space — across…
manila, february
light winter rain ticks through bay laurel. concealed, i watch ducks where does the bright edge of this grey misted morning enter the page? the paper glows and the black ink shimmers — some duckweed still green after the cold snap clings to the bank of the slough that drains to the bay. too hazy…
A Dumboldt Tradition
Humboldt spectacle seekers, if you’re dreading another horrendous “weak”end, well, let us confirm your fears. For ’tis the return of the Almost Annual Pun-off taking place Saturday, March 2, at 8 p.m. at the Arcata Theatre Lounge. For 22 years, this annual event has admirably found ways to make lame humor benefit local nonprofits. This year’s…
Arts Alive! March 2013
First Saturday Night Arts Alive! Opening receptions for artists, exhibits, and/or performances March. 2, 6-9 p.m. Call Eureka Main Street at 707-442-9054, for more information or go to www.eurekamainstreet.org. 1. EUREKA INN 518 Seventh St. Live music. 2. HUMBOLDT ARTS COUNCIL at the Morris Graves Museum of Art 636 F St. Performance Rotunda: Music by Julian Lang;…
Fortuna’s First Friday March 2013
Downtown Fortuna’s First Friday, March. 1, 5-8 p.m. features local artists and musicians. Further information at fortunadowntown@sbcglobal.net. BARTOW’S JEWELERS 651 12TH St. Watercolors by Greg Parks. CUDDLY BEAR 751 10TH St. Music by Bill McBride EEL RIVER BREWING COMPANY 1777 Alamar Way. Jewelry by Stephanie Hahner. FORTUNA ART & OLD THINGS 1026 Main…
The Bully Pulpit
If you worship the goddess and end up in prison, you may not need to worry much longer. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals just took a case that will decide if members of the Wiccan faith have the right to a taxpayer-paid chaplain in California prisons. This story in the Times-Standard caught my eye,…
The Irish Are Coming
Saint Patrick’s Day is still a few weeks off, but the related Irish invasion has already begun. Those who enjoy the music of the green isle have a couple of opportunities to hear some fine traditional Celtic tunes this week. First up is a Humboldt Folklife show Thursday at the Arcata Playhouse with Story…
Good Cops Aren’t Afraid of Cameras
When I last taught news writing, I asked the class to read about a bust in a drug-plagued San Francisco hotel. In their police report, officers wrote that they had knocked and announced their presence before entering. But a videotape showed they had just barged in. For beginning journalists, it was a lesson in skepticism.…
Group Democracy
Editor: In response to Ryan Burns’ article (“Groupthink,” Feb. 7), I share his concern about supervisors who get their support from “developers.” It has been less than two months since Estelle got on the Board of Supervisors — and the sky has not fallen. We have lived past this apocalypse, and I am not seeing…
Zen and Fine Art Photography
William S. “Bill” Pierson thinks big. The photography exhibition he’s hanging in Eureka’s Piante Gallery is a collection of large prints, each one 2 by 3 feet, all new work. The show’s title, “Visions of the Universe,” is as expansive as the print size. Pierson is marking 40 years in photography, most of that…
Aliens Defeat Seniors
Reviews DARK SKIES. I can ruin a horror movie for pretty much anyone. I’ll sit next to you, basking in my jaded glory, ripping apart every delicately laid tidbit of foreshadowing. Years of sitting through formulaic spine-tinglers have left me numb to most attempts at thrills and chills. But every once in a great…
Weary No More
In October 2001, Humboldt native Mario Matteoli and his friend and bandmate Brian Salvi left Eureka for the bright lights of Austin, Texas. They’d played locally in a rock ‘n’ roll band known variously as The Jacksons and The Jackson Brothers. “We decided to move somewhere and form a country band,” said Mario, calling…
Car Windows
Car Windows
The Suchness of Brussels Sprouts
When people see me eating, they often think I am on a diet. And maybe I am, depending on the meaning one ascribes to the word. I am in a permanent state of alertness, of mindfulness when it comes to elemental flavors, an attitude that is reflected in my minimalist style of cooking. I don’t…
Puh-leeze, Academy
Will’s Academy Awards suspicions are confirmed!
Happy New Year!
Blame the Visigoths. If those scruffy barbarians hadn’t had the gall to revolt in Gaul at the end of 154 BCE, we’d probably be celebrating New Year’s on March 1. The story is a bit more involved than that, though. Our calendar is a much-modified version of one supposedly invented by Romulus, legendary founder…
Untamed Beast
The last time Sallie Ford and her Portland-based band The Sound Outside performed locally (opening for Wanda Jackson at HSU’s Depot), I asked Ford about the new material she was recording. “Well,” she said, “we’ve been listening to The Cramps a lot lately.” The bespectacled singer-songwriter also professed admiration for Partisan label mate John…
