Cover Story
Water’s for Fighting
When’s the last time you visited the Trinity River? Late spring, when the bathtub rings begin to appear on rocks near Kimtu, when crisp, warm air and cold, fast flows combine to beckon swimmers? Late August, when the canyon walls are bleached, baked and orange-hued from overhead wildfire smoke? Winter, when the water pours into…
From the Hum: Soul Vision Sunday (I Don’t Know What That Means)
Saqi Now, perhaps all the bluegrass, alt country and punk rock happening all weekend long left you cold. “Where,” you ask, “Where is my genre-bending force of sound using vocal harmony, traditional instrumentation, roots music, lyrical prowess and diverse artistic collaborations to defy cultural clichés and ignite musical rebellion? Where?!” Don’t despair! Because tonight, Rising…
From The Hum: Boys Vs. Girls
The Lost Luvs When I gave a listen to Portland’s The Good Sons’ “Stab in the Back,” I thought, Ramones. The track “Fuck it All Away” slows things down, as if a heroin-laden Jim Morrison had been added to the mix. I like this kinda stuff, especially when it’s happening in the corner of the…
From The Hum: Humboldt Hills Hoedown Today (VIDEO)
The Dirt Floor Band Today, the Mateel Community Center once again celebrates bluegrass, country and American roots music with the ninth annual Humboldt Hills Hoedown. Featuring the ever-popular Hot Buttered Rum along with country music icon Lacy J Dalton, plus the fantastically gritty Hillstomp, the always stimulating Rooster McClintock, the delightfully talented Striped Pig String…
From the Hum: Jazz-Folk-Amazing Meklit Hadero
Tonight at the Arcata Playhouse, a run of high quality shows continues with Bay Area jazz/folk singer and guitar player Meklit Hadero. The Ethiopian-born Hadero grew up in the U.S., attended Yale, then became a musical sensation with the release of her 2010 debut On a Day Like. Meklit has served as an artist-in-residence at…
Rural Road Rage Part II
Harvest season is about to hit full tilt, so I have to ask: what is it about hauling a trailer full of illegal green stuff that makes you inland outlaws want to drive so fast? There are so many switchbacks between here and the highway that your crop is whipping around on the back of…
From The Hum: All You Wanted to Know About String Thing 5 But Were Afraid to Ask
Well, there went summer, Humboldt! And now we turn to fall, heralded by the rain’s return, balmy south winds quickening the pulse and the twang of stringed instruments calling to you like sirens to Odysseus’ sailors. Yes, it’s that time again. Time for String Thing 5, happening Friday night at the Arcata Theatre Lounge. Here…
Rural Road Rage Part I
If you’re on your way out to the hills with an ice chest full of groceries and you get stuck behind one of those big ol’ RVs with quippy names (The Voyage, The View, Wanderer) that insists on taking in every falling leaf and majestic redwood at 10 mph under the speed limit without pulling…
UPDATE: Canceled! Eureka Looks to Ban Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
UPDATE: Scratch all that. Eureka City Councilmember Linda Atkins just called to let us know that the meeting is indeed canceled, as had been rumored and (we were told) debunked earlier today. What the heck is going on? “Hiccups and miscommunications and things,” Atkins said. Criminy. Who’s running this city? Original post: With less than two…
HSU President Rollin Richmond To Retire After This School Year
He sent the announcement out via email this morning. Dear Campus Community: I write to inform you that I have decided to retire at the end of this academic year. I have enjoyed my years serving you and believe that we have made real progress at the university over my years of leadership, despite the…
Times-Standard Announces New Publisher
Eureka’s “paper of record” has a new publisher. On Oct. 1, Paula Patton will make the jump from Marysville, where she published the daily newspaper The Appeal-Democrat and three weekly newspapers serving the Central Valley north of Sacramento. Read the full announcement here.
Supes Rejigger Guiding Principles Again
At last night’s general plan update hearing, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors once again tinkered with the language of the update’s guiding principles, largely by blending the original language with new versions drafted in June by 2nd District Supervisor Estelle Fennell. Seven more principles remain to be discussed, and those seven contain some of Fennell’s…
Libation Loses Wine License, Temporarily
Libation — the Arcata Plaza purveyor of wine and beer — got dinged with a suspension by Alcoholic Beverage Control for an Oyster Fest violation, according to a sign on the shop’s door. The suspension, which forced the shop to close, began on Sept. 19 and will continue through Oct. 3. According to a homemade…
Another Courthouse Evacuation
The Humboldt County Courthouse was evacuated this afternoon when smoke and haze filled the basement. A courthouse employee told Journal freelancer Linda Stansberry that the Sheriff’s Office smelled smoke and pulled the fire alarm around 1:15 p.m. The courthouse was evacuated less than a month ago when an elevator shaft filled with smoke. More photos…
Arcata Student Receives Prestigious Invitation to Princeton Symposium
Nicolas Krell, a senior at Arcata’s Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy, was recently invited to be one of just 90 outstanding student artists and scholars from across the country to attend Princeton University’s Creative Arts and Humanities Symposium. The goal of the symposium, which runs September 27-29, is to “reinforce interest in the creative…
Local Girl Does Good: ‘The Wine of Summer’ Victorious in Portugal
Humboldt native and filmmaker Maria Matteoli was already celebrating the inclusion of The Wine of Summer in Portugal’s Douro Film Harvest – she and her crew had flown to Porto to attend the world premiere of the movie they crafted during 2011 in Spain and the streets of Eureka’s Old Town – when things got…
Not Quite From the Hum: Full Moon Fever tonight at the Jam
Full Moon Fever, Jambalaya, live music, Pete Ciotti, Tom Petty, good times
2,000 Plants Nabbed in SoHum Bust
Another week, another stream-threatening, tree-razing, trash-burning grow busted. This one, a couple miles east of South Fork High School, yielded more than 2,000 plants and no arrests. The Sheriff’s Office — joined by Cal Fire, Fish and Wildlife and the Drug Task Force — found unpermitted structures, filled in water courses, grading, illegal burn piles…
Whopping Exotic Animal Parts Theft
Was someone looking to expand their trophy room? The Sheriff’s Office reports that someone broke into the Wildlife Museum in Willow Creek overnight and stole $750,000 worth of dead animal parts. Among the stolen items: two three-foot ivory elephant tusks, a mounted elk head, a bear skin rug and a kangaroo rug. Apparently someone pried…
Supes to Take One Last Look at Guiding Principles
On Monday evening, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors will revisit the highly contentious issue of guiding principles in the (on and on and) ongoing general plan update. Back on June 6, as you may recall, the board voted 4-1 to swap out the existing list of 12 guiding principles, which had been developed through…
Fieri Bomb
A Guy Fieri sighting ranks right up there with a blurry Bigfoot photo up in these parts, and it looks like we’re due for another one in November. A Guy Fieri sighting, that is. The Humboldt Beacon reports that the Food Network host is bringing his sunny smile and dark roots up to his hometown…
Guest Opinion: NEC and Baykeeper Say 101 Plan ‘Reasonably Balanced’
Dan Ehresman of the Northcoast Environmental Center and Jessica Hall of Humboldt Baykeeper were just two of the numerous people who stood before the Coastal Commission last week and urged denial of a federal consistency determination. (The commission went the other way, with a few significant conditions applied.) This week the environmental leaders issued the following joint…
No Sleep Till Brooklyn
Stuffed pizza tends to let you down while doubling your carbs. This is partly because the bubbly exposed cheese doesn’t happen and the sauce stays too wet. The Brooklyn at Paul’s Live from New York (604 F St. Eureka) does not fall into this trap, mainly because it is — shhhh! — not really a…
The Cuckoo’s Calling
By now, you’ve probably heard that Robert Galbraith, the author of The Cuckoo’s Calling, is really J.K. Rowling. Given how recently Rowling’s Harry Potter follow-up, The Casual Vacancy, was released under her real name, it’s strange that she would write under a pseudonym. Or maybe not. Like the story’s cold body, Lula Landry, Rowling knows…
Atlas Imagines
Imagine a weight so light it lifted you like a lantern and every flickering breeze only filled your sails and never extinguished your light. The early evening sighs of the western wind would be a cherished friend; I wonder, would the weight even matter then?
A Good Scare
INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2. So, I’ve been developing a program to scare the shit out of myself. I start by waking up to a sunny day with a head full of last night’s whiskey fumes. I supplement this discomfort with several cups of dangerously hot, coal-black coffee. Then, with my heart rate spiked, my paranoia roaring,…
Slime Questions
“This is exactly what we’re looking for,” exclaims Keith Bouma-Gregson, his arm submerged to the elbow in a gelatinous muck that looks like a combination of snot and the ooze from Ghostbusters. Carefully, he extracts a dark green blob and rolls it between his fingers. “Are you worried about handling it?” someone asks. “Well,” he replies.…
Pot Shots
Editor: In regards to Ryan Burns’ article “Humboldt Growers’ Bad Reputation,” (“The Week in Weed,” Sept. 12) where he simply assumes the recent water thefts are by pot growers because “in rural Humboldt County there could only be one motive.” Were these water thefts ever tracked to pot growers? Hasn’t it been determined a water…
Bay Trail Update No. 8
“You must be ecstatic,” said my friend as I sat down for lunch last Friday. It was the day after the California Coastal Commission approved Caltrans’ Eureka-Arcata Route 101 Corridor Improvement Project — 13 years in the making. Yes, I am. And so are a few hundred other people I know and — exponentially —…
Have a Laugh
Editor: One of the great riches of living in this section of Humboldt is the incredible richness of the entertainment, even when you want to stay inside. Redwood Curtain and North Coast Rep both give great performances. Redwood Curtain’s latest offering, Becky’s New Car, is hilarious (“Stage Matters,” Sept. 12). There were times last night…
Expensive Weed
Last Thursday, a crew of volunteers was helping the state Department of Fish and Wildlife conduct a marijuana-eradication mission in a remote part of the Sequoia National Forest when Shane Krogen, a 57-year-old volunteer, fell out of a helicopter, dropping 50 feet to his death. Friends described him as a generous and dedicated outdoorsman who…
Start Writing Tickets
Editor: The danger I have personally seen on 101 between Arcata and Eureka is trying to cross and someone coming fast in the passing lane (“Building a Better Corridor,” Sept. 5). With the 50 mph limit, the passing lane, instead of maybe 75 mph, will be pushing 60 mph, a significant improvement. Maybe a third…
Best Foot Forward
The biggest deal in Humboldt this weekend is, of course, the North Country Fair. Be sure to check out the full fair schedule in the calendar. Now, look at your feet. What’s on them shoe-wise? Let’s use that information to figure out what you’re doing Saturday night. Post-apocalpytic folk genius Boots caked with farm dirt?…
Be Nice
Editor: Many thanks for your efforts in publishing and furnishing us with the NCJ, and free yet! Many thanks to your advertisers! But lately the negativity of so many of the contributors is distressing. Grant Scott-Goforth’s article about Fortuna doctor George Jutila was particularly painful (“Blog Jammin’,” Aug. 29). He has been my primary care…
Third Friday McKinleyville Arts Night
A celebration of local art and artists, music, food and fun. McKinleyville Art Night is open for all McKinleyville businesses to display work from local artists on the third Friday of each month. 1 CALIFORNIA REDWOOD COAST-HUMBOLDT COUNTY AIRPORT 3561 Boeing Ave. Works by Robert Benson, Floyd Bettiga, Thomas Klapproth, Jim McVicker, William Pierson, Laura…
Co-op Obtuse
Editor: In the Aug. 8 Journal, I wrote that the Co-op hired a right wing, anti-labor law firm to guide their negotiations with the employees’ Union and to attend all the bargaining sessions (“Mailbox”). I observed that is an unnecessary, adversarial, uncooperative, unfair act — since the union does not bring its lawyer. Recent events…
Pesto Goes Rogue
For years I resisted developments in pesto. A purist, I was suspicious of change and, frankly, hostile towards new-fangled assumptions that the perfection of basil pesto should be tampered with. Even the phrase “basil pesto” still makes me cringe a little; it’s redundant! Alas, relentless onslaughts from Nigella Lawson and Fine Cooking Magazine have beaten…
Correction
The Bay Trail update (Publisher, Sept. 12) in last week’s issue misstated the number of daily car trips on Route 101 between Arcata and Eureka. There are 36,000. The Journal regrets the error.
Polo for the People
At 6:30 on a warm Wednesday evening, the Humboldt Hard Court Bike Polo crew adjusts helmets, tightens shin guards and makes sure mallets and bikes are tuned for friendly competition atop faded tennis courts in Eureka’s Highland Park. Laughter peppers the crew’s pregame safety check, and the setting sun lights up late-summer clouds punch orange…
North Country Therapy
Right now, a small, grumpy and unpleasantly practical cluster of synapses in your brain is thinking about skipping the North Country Fair this year. It’s too crowded, parking is crazy and we have errands to do, it whines. Don’t listen. Your brain is not in possession of all the facts. For one thing, Saturday kicks…
Why I Hate Landscape Fabric
The black death — aka landscape fabric — stifles your soil and looks lousy when it inevitably peeks through. Sometimes I try to be fair and balanced on an issue so I don’t sound like some kind of gardening zealot. Today isn’t one of those times. I think landscape fabric sucks. There, I said it.…
A Funny Thing Happened to Pi …
The history of pi, or π (= 3.1416 …) the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle, is in some (very rough) way the history of mathematics, starting with the empirical age of math. Four thousand years ago, the only way to get a value for π was to physically measure it,…
The Cad, the Roommate and the Great Boss
Hey McGuinty! How can I tell a great boss and organization that I have been offered an amazing job and will be moving to the state Capitol? — Moving On Up Moving On Up! Congrats on being offered a job while still having one! I don’t often suggest playing the lottery, but damn, you might…
Update: Arkley Draws Big Crowd to Talk about Homelessness
Update: All charges against Elise Gerhart have been dismissed and her arrest record expunged based on a Nov. 4 order from Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Marilyn Miles that deemed Gerhart factually innocent in the case. Update: Arrest records posted this morning by the Lost Coast Outpost show that the Eureka Police Department did in…
Come on Down!
Cleveland will be in the house when game show host and improve impresario Drew Carey stands up at the Van Duzer Friday night at 8 p.m. ($45 or $15 for HSU students). In the years since Whose Line is it Anyway? and The Drew Carey Show, he’s trimmed down and lost the high-and-tight, but he’s…
