Cover Story
Bigger, Better Best Of
Welcome to the Best Of Humboldt 2013. We’ve made some changes this year — and more are on the way for 2014. In the past, the Journal’s editorial department was solely in charge of coming up with questions to ask readers. This year the entire staff participated, plus we borrowed ideas from a few of…
Gun Owners Grousing
Were one to judge by the first moments of last night’s presentation on new firearm regulations, Humboldt County gun owners would appear to be an extraordinarily polite set of people. Dozens of them, many wearing mossy oak camo, jammed into Pacific Outfitters in Eureka, sitting in the folding chairs clustered around the stairwell or standing…
Who Won?
The big winner in yesterday’s election appears to have been the sofa, since voter turnout was at 19.74 percent. Another victor was Measure K, which got an 85.16 percent yes vote for to expand the Fieldbrook firehouse, a project that is already underway. If you build it, they will vote. Here are the other winners.…
Estelle Fennell Recovering from Food Poisoning
Second District Supervisor Estelle Fennell is coming out of the hospital today after a particularly nasty bout with E. coli. In a statement released today, Fennell said she’s one of five people in the county who came down with a “virulent E. coli strain” infection, which is not being considered an outbreak by Public Health…
Fawkes & Friends
A group of anonymous protesters in Guy Fawkes masks just politely rang the doorbell at NCJ HQ and handed us a flier that enumerates the ways our government is trampling on our constitutional rights, and damned if it wasn’t the highlight of our day. “We’re not trying to be intimidating with the masks,” explained Zeppelin-shirt…
Arnie Klein Set to Challenge Gallegos in DA Race
His campaign Facebook page has been up for almost two months now, but Arnold “Arnie” Klein is about to make it official: Next Wednesday, after more than four decades practicing law and nearly two years of “retirement,” the 71-year-old attorney will announce his campaign to unseat Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos. Known as a…
Caltrans Worker Hospitalized
A Caltrans worker is in intensive care in a Sonoma County hospital after being hit by a car in McKinleyville yesterday. According to a Caltrans press release, Equipment Operator Edward Holgersen was flagging at the Murray Road overcross at U.S. Highway 101. Holgersen, a father of four, is in stable condition. Drive safe, folks.
Tyson’s Back: Eureka Re-Hires Former City Manager as Temp
Former Eureka City Manager David Tyson, who retired last December after 12 years in the position, has been temporarily rehired to help Interim City Manager Mike Knight. With the abrupt exit of Tyson’s successor, Bill Panos, who resigned on Oct. 4 after less than a year on the job, Knight said Tyson has been brought out of…
The Nation Examines Pot’s Enviro Impacts via Humboldt County
In the special marijuana-themed Nov. 18 issue of The Nation magazine, reporter Seth Zuckerman chronicles the environmental impacts of indoor and outdoor grow operations here in Humboldt County. Quoting locals such as Friends of The Eel River Executive Director Scott Graecen, HSU lecturer Tony Silvaggio and Arcata City Councilman Michael Winkler, Zuckerman describes the scope…
Book It
Tuesday is kind of a big night for book signings. For the politically minded: Bill Ayers is at Northtown Books at 7 p.m. with his new book, Public Enemy: Confessions of an American Dissident. The University of Chicago professor and author of Fugitive Days will read from his latest work, which details the turmoil that…
On Weed
Editor: I welcome your new column on cannabis news — “The Week in Weed” — and would like to point out that it’s not the entire federal government that regards cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug (“The High Court,” Oct. 17). The FDA approved Marinol (a synthetic form of THC, the main active ingredient of…
Lessons from Dan
Editor: Naturally the usual suspects went off on Dan Johnson after his interview (“Meet Dan Johnson,” Oct. 10). They can’t get over the fact of his success. But since the day I’ve read it, that interview has changed my life. First I threw away every dictionary in the house. When my wife asked me to…
Best Cathedral from the Glory Days of Timber
At the height of empire, you’ll always find excess (think Caligula). In 1920, the Pacific Lumber Co.’s industrial empire was at the pinnacle of its wealth and power — and Scotia was its capital city. Between 1920 and 1923, the company town’s corporate benefactor erected the Scotia Inn, the Scotia Hospital, the First National Bank…
Name That Tune
Editor: Franklin Stover may be a member of ASCAP (as am I), but he is giving very bad advice about skirting their licensing requirements (“Mailbox,” Oct. 24). ASCAP was formed in the early 20th century by a small group of rich pop songwriters. For many years it operated like a private club, and even now…
Dogma, “Likes” and Antsy Love
Hey McGuinty! My sister and I have been rebuilding a friendship after a falling out. Recently we’ve been talking more and connecting on Facebook. She is amazing and I love her! Lately I’ve noticed lots of “extreme” posts that shocked me. I can see where she is coming from, but it made me think that…
All Hallow’s Eve
Back before the Romans went and conquered most of the known world, simple Celtic/pagan folk were camping out in little villages in Western Europe. Every year on the 31st of October, as daylight hours became scarce, they celebrated the New Year in a party that made Coachella look like a Sunday come-to-Jesus meeting. They sang and…
Food & Drink 2013
Editor’s Note: Runners up are listed only if they garnered 50 percent or more of the winner’s total votes. Best Bar to Take a Date WINNER: The Speakeasy RUNNERS UP: Plaza Grill, Siren’s Song Tavern Best Dive Bar WINNER: Shanty RUNNER UP: Alibi Best Happy Hour WINNER: Mad River Brewery RUNNER UP: Shanty Best Sports…
Contemporary Traditions
In the angled October light of his Orleans home, Brian Tripp slips a simple hitch knot over the leg of his latest woodpecker sculpture and raises it to just above eye level. Like many of Tripp’s sculptures, the bird is a deceptively simple assembly of branches, shaved redwood fragments, matte-black acrylic paint and carefully selected…
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation 2013
Editor’s Note: Runners up are listed only if they garnered 50 percent or more of the winner’s total votes. Best Live-Music Venue WINNER: Arcata Theatre Lounge RUNNERS UP: Humboldt Brews, Arcata Playhouse Best Place to Shoot Pool WINNER: Toby & Jack’s RUNNERS UP: The Logger Bar, Rose’s Billiards Best Karaoke WINNER: Blue Lake Casino Wave…
Buggin’
Yes, eating insects is disgusting. Not the actual eating part — I had some fried grasshoppers in Laos that were, well, sublime is not an overstatement. But I didn’t have to cook them. Cooking insects is a whole other barrel of fish, to mix metaphors. But the brave new world of entomophagy is all the…
Services & Stuff 2013
Editor’s Note: Runners up are listed only if they garnered 50 percent or more of the winner’s total votes. Best Clothing Store, Men or Women WINNER: Belle Starr RUNNERS UP: Ross Dress 4 Less, Hot Knots, Willow and Rags Best Children’s Clothing Store WINNER: Recycled Youth RUNNERS UP: The Rocking Horse, Sassafrass Best Shoe Store…
Surfing with Sharks
If you want to learn to surf, you’ll find ideal conditions at Shelter Cove. The small, predictable, mellow waves that meet the crescent sweep of the cove are perfect for beginners, according to longtime surfer John Dowd. Since I’d never surfed before, it seemed like a great place to start. But first, surf conditions: You…
Bonus Round! 2013
Ah, the “bonus” category. Let us be very clear: Bonus does not imply “non-essential.” Rather, these are the things that get at the very essence of a truly Humboldt experience. We think you voters did a pretty good job capturing that in your replies — with a couple of gauche exceptions. (Wedding Rock. Really?) Without…
Welcome to the Real World (Maybe)
T he City Council in Monza, the northern Italian city known for its Formula 1 Grand Prix, is barring pet owners from keeping their goldfish in bowls. … The measure’s sponsor said, “A fish kept in a bowl has a distorted view of reality and suffers because of this.” — New York Times, 2004. Commenting…
Bears Repeating
Annette Graebner is reinforcing the French doors in her Honeydew home with plywood. Last January she returned from town to find the refrigerator ripped open, kitchen cabinets torn apart and broken glass covering the floor. An urban dweller would suspect a burglar. Graebner knew right away that it was a bear. “After I cleaned up…
Risky Stunts
Reviews THE COUNSELOR. Cormac McCarthy will go down as one of America’s immortal literary voices. But that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a great screenwriter. Case in point: this new venture with director Ridley Scott. Sure, it’s got McCarthy trademarks in spades. But his tendencies toward misanthropy, deceptively simple prose (at least in his later work),…
Stalk Market
On my trip to New York last week I was reminded of two seemingly obvious facts. First, you shouldn’t fly in and out of our recently rechristened “California [Fogbound] Redwood Coast — Humboldt County [Crapshoot] Airport” unless you have a day to spare on either end of your trip. And second, marijuana is everywhere. Like…
The Great Deer Roundup
The hunger of deer is no greater than the fury of gardeners who seek to thwart the peaceful vegetarians. Just ask the Humboldt Botanical Garden’s deer wranglers, sturdy volunteers who scrambled up steep ravines, picked off bloodsucking ticks and nursed pokes and scratches from blackberry brambles in the great deer round up of 2005. While…
Best Use of Your Laundry Money
In the alcove of your neighborhood restaurant, the apse of your favorite bar, there’s often one of Humboldt’s overlooked treasures. Pinball tables — “Machines!” argues a colleague, who smugly points out that “pinball machine” garners 1.45 million results in a Google search, while “pinball table” yields a mere 169,000. “Almost 10 to one,” he boasts.…
First Saturday Night Arts Alive!
Presented by the Humboldt Arts Council and Eureka Main Street. Opening receptions for artists, exhibits and/or performances are held the first Saturday of each month. Phone (707) 442-9054 or go to www.eurekamainstreet.org for more information or to have an exhibit or performance included. A. GALLERY GARAGE Ninth and F streets. “Noche Humanos,” Kelly Myers, artist/writer,…
Gang Intervention
Editor: Thank you, Judy Hodgson, for once again telling it like it is (“Straw-vote Gang of Four,” Oct. 24). I have researched the campaign finances that put the Gang of Four in office and what you say about who/what put them in office is spot on. This is becoming a terrifying scenario for the future…
Fortuna’s First Friday
Find art, music and fun in downtown Fortuna on the first Friday of every month, 6-9 p.m. Call for participants: Artists interested in showing work should contact fortunadowntown@sbcgobal.net. 2. BARTOW’S JEWELERS 651 12th St. A portion of Heart of Hope pendant sales will be donated to the Jewelers for Children Fund to provide assistance to…
The Most Powerful Woman in Eureka
A glimpse of her uniform and cropped gray hair from an office window sends people bolting to their cars. Grown men and women plead with her for mercy. She does not negotiate. There may or may not be a Facebook page devoted to tracking her movements. Parking Enforcement Officer Lynda Punch has been chalking tires…
Doctor Sleep
An ancient band of vampires camouflaged in the trappings of middle America and roving the interstates in search of special children to prey on, a protagonist tortured by alcoholism and past traumas both supernatural and self-inflicted, a little girl wielding an awesome and terrible power — these are the ingredients of Stephen King’s newest novel,…
Vote This Way
Editor: I have known Dana Silvernale, candidate for re-election to the NHUHSD board, for the past 35 years (“Beyond the Scandal,” Oct. 24). Dana and her husband raised three children and are dedicated, involved parents who participate in their children’s education and well-being at the grade school, high school and college levels. That involvement and…
Rail Away
Editor: The Journal has done an excellent job of educating the public about just how dysfunctional, useless and costly the North Coast Railroad Authority is. Your latest piece (“Withering NCRA Indictment,” Oct. 17) is just more confirmation of this rogue agency’s out of control and unmanageable behavior. Okay, we’ve got it. Now we need the…
Prophets of Light
Sturdy obelisk, whited sepulcher, the lighthouse is a model of vertical economy. Gale-astounded by the sea gods, a marooned mariner in its own right, the lighthouse used to console itself as well as the sailor with tallow candles and solid-wick lanterns before Monsieur Fresnel came to the rescue with his array of…
Freakshow
The sideshow takes center stage when the Enigma (also known as that guy who’s, like, covered in jigsaw puzzle tattoos) and his partner Serana Rose visit Synapsis Studio in Eureka on Saturday with their Showdevils act. Ever see a guy drive a nail through his tongue? Would you like to? Then show up at 10…
The Dear Departed
After the costumed bacchanalia of Halloween comes Dia de los Muertos (that’s the Day of the Dead for those of you who took French in high school), a kind of welcome home party for those who’ve passed on. Get a little taste of the tradition at Los Bagels shops this week — check out the…
