Your Doorstep…Where Electiona are Won
It may be dangerous, unpleasant and exhausting, but campaigning door-to-door is a must in Humboldt
Cover Story
Your Doorstep … Where Elections Are Won
Barking dogs, furious constituents, awkward moments and blisters. Door-to-door campaigning through the streets of Humboldt County can be a pain. But what happens on your doorstep and thousands of others like it can also be the difference between winning and losing. And the interactions there — whether caustic or pleasant — can help forge candidates,…
EPIC Finds a New Director
The venerable (and not-always-loved) Environmental Protection Information Center is undergoing a “restructuring” that includes the departure of executive director Gary Graham Hughes. Natalynne DeLapp, who has been with EPIC since 2008, most recently as the organization’s development director, will take over the executive director position June 15. She said the change in leadership was a…
Kneeland Man Taps Eccentric, Powerhouse Lawyer for Murder Defense
After months of telling a federal court he intended to plead guilty to charges that he murdered one of the workers tending his marijuana farm, a Kneeland man has reconsidered and appears ready to take his case to trial. Mikal Xylon Wilde, 32, was indicted federally March 1, 2012 on six counts, including murder in…
Dry May Worsens Water Woes
With the water year coming to a close at the end of the month, local rainfall totals have just barely eclipsed half the 30-year average. As our recent spate of sunny, cloudless days will attest, Humboldt County remains very much in a drought. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s station at Woodley Island recorded just…
McKinleyville on Parade
McKinleyvillians grabbed their lawn chairs, blankets and tailgates Saturday and headed down to Central Avenue to catch the annual Pony Express Days Parade. Surprisingly short on ponies (only one by this reporter’s count), the parade made up for it with a plethora of horses, floats, fire trucks, dancing children and grown men driving very small…
Tonight’s Setlist: Sunday’s Darlings
LAM! LAM!, the one-woman performance art project of Pink Flag guitarist Betsy Shane, incorporates thoughtful subjects with cheeky dance styling. Her energetic live performances encourage — warning! — audience participation. LAM! LAM!’s latest EP, Caliban, explores nautical themes and the trouble that lurks beneath even the most idyllic of seascapes. Show up with your subconscious…
Tonight’s Setlist: Nostalgia Trips
The mellow week gives way to an utterly reverbalicious gig at the Alibi with the 1960s garage pop of local girl group The Lost Luvs, who join L.A./Seattle act Prophets of Addiction, mascara glam rockers extraordinaire. If you’ve been looking for the next Guns N’ Roses with a splash of 45 Grave, Prophets of Addiction…
Some Cheese With That Wine
All of Humboldt is beautiful this time of year, but there’s no denying the brilliance of the sunshine in Southern Humboldt. These late spring days feel like full-blown summertime in SoHum. Take advantage of the perfect picnic weather on both days this weekend. On Saturday, June 7, Loleta’s Chamber of Commerce presents the Loleta Community…
Toe-ing the Line
This weekend’s selection of ballet performances is bound to keep you on your toes (see what I did there?). Two local ballet academies, Trillium Dance Studio and North Coast Dance, are putting their best feet forward and presenting their spring productions. Luckily, both productions run through the entire weekend, so catch both shows and take…
Easy Being Green
There’s no shortage of green metaphors in Humboldt County. There’s the easy go-to of our “green economy,” our pride in the greenery of our gigantic redwoods forests and then there’s our commitment to promoting an eco-friendly, green lifestyle. Get started on that last one this weekend. The Sustainable Living Expo (free) is Plan it Green’s…
But I Play One On TV
Editor: As one of only three local television commercial producers still working for the television stations creating “something quick and stupid” for an onslaught of local businesses week in and week out for the past 30 years, I take umbrage to college professor Montel Vanderhorck’s insinuation, “that’s how they kind of keep the small guy…
Mayor Jager’s Merry Massage Brigade
During the recent flap over prison realignment, local police departments welcomed the added workload like it was the Ebola virus. Tire tread on the Crown Victorias was wearing dangerously thin, they pleaded. Run them down any further, law enforcement brass warned, and 9-1-1 could go AWOL. And so it goes with unfunded enforcement mandates issued…
The Election’s Over, Where Does The Money Go?
Money’s influence on elections will never cease to be contentious. Often, campaigns are strapped for cash, particularly in the last days of an election. But other times, a campaign’s fundraising has been so effective that there’s leftover money on the Wednesday after the vote. Where does that unspent money go? California law restricts what money…
Bongress
Congress decided recently that the Drug Enforcement Administration and federal prosecutors should not go after medical marijuana organizations where they’re legal under state law. The House of Representatives voted May 29 in favor of an amendment that marijuana advocates say will end federal raids on dispensaries in California and other states. Under fear of federal…
Bass All But Re-Elected
Virginia Bass’ election party started off with bravado, as one of her advisors declared victory based on the early vote-by-mail returns in her bid to retain her 4th District supervisor seat. Bass herself was outwardly hesitant. As the evening progressed, votes cast for challenger Chris Kerrigan at the polls narrowed Bass’ initially commanding lead. But…
An Historic Win
Maggie Fleming just made history. Decisively. Fleming, long considered by many to be the frontrunner in the race to become Humboldt County’s next district attorney, charged out to an early lead with the first Election Day results and never looked back, ultimately taking a whopping 61 percent of the vote to become the first woman…
Sundberg Easily Takes 5th
Incumbent Ryan Sundberg has kept his seat as 5th District Supervisor, taking 61 percent of the vote to fend off challenger Sharon Latour. It’s not surprising. After barely securing his first term in a hotly contested race, Sundberg came back this time as not just the locally-grown guy with friends and family peppering the district,…
Legendary Letdowns
Reviews A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST. Writer/director/actor/producer/song-and-dance man Seth MacFarlane, after winning at primetime cartoons, had a surprise hit with his movie debut Ted (2012). This put him in the rare and enviable position of doing whatever he wanted for his sophomore effort, with very little oversight from his studio bosses. Therein…
The Bane of Batteries
Right by the checkout counter of my local drugstore is a display of “heavy duty” zinc-carbon batteries. Nothing remarkable about that, you say. They were around when you were a kid, right? Actually, they were around when your grandparents were kids, having been patented in 1886 and manufactured commercially 12 years later by the forerunner…
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. 2. HUMBOLDT ARTS COUNCIL at the Morris Graves Museum of Art 636…
Rounding the bass
Ah, baseball! What could be more feel-good than sitting in the stands, cheering on the Humboldt Crabs, seeing all the folks you only see in the summertime, wondering if the drunk hecklers behind you are going to spill beer down your back, right there at the Arcata Ball Park, where cowboys and hippies find common…
First Friday Fortuna Arts Night
The Fortuna Downtown Business Association invites you to a fun-filled night of art, music, refreshments and merchant specials on the first Friday of every month. Enter to win $50 in Fortuna Bucks by picking up a “Passport to Downtown” at a participating business and getting get it stamped at 10 more. BODY WORKS FITNESS CENTER…
Trinidad Art Night
Upper Trinidad Saunder’s Park (start of Patricks Point Drive) -“Spin Jam” at 6 p.m., fire dancing by Circus of the Elements at 8:45 p.m. Trinidad Museum 400 Janis Court “The Trinidad Lighthouse 1871-present.” Harp music by Howdy Emmerson. Trinidad Trading Company 460 Main St. Artist TBA. Saunder’s Plaza East Kids fun time table. Music by The Canary and the Vamp, wild banshee flapper…
Dressed to Grill
I’m not an established Grill Person. I don’t watch shows or buy cookbooks about grilling. That said, I am even less of a Washing Pans Person, so when I received a spanking-new Broil Mate, I was overjoyed. Can we just all mentally insert a blurb about how lovely and appropriate grilling is in summer months?…
Wisteria
Wisteria’s blooming above the gate with heavy blossoms borne by every shoot and it begins to bend beneath the weight of lavender racemes that hang like fruit. Its wrist-thick vines grip tight the posts and swell within the grape-stake fence gaps, an embrace of many years that’s shaped the vine to fill the narrow gaps…
Leave the Birds Out of This
Editor: I appreciated the informative article on biologist Ron LeValley (“A Birder Takes a Fall,” May 29). However, I must question your choice of headline and characterization of him as “a birder and environmentalist who knowingly and systematically circumvented federal and tribal governments.” Ron’s legal problems stemmed from his work as a professional consulting biologist…
Breakdancing With the Spirits
A relative once told painter Sheldon Skillie that if he listened closely to the language, songs and dances of his Native American Haida culture, he would see them reflected in their visual art forms as well. He followed that advice, imbuing the lines of his paintings with the movements of his language. While Skillie’s confident,…
Not So Miserable
Editor: Broadway be damned. The talent pool here in the greater Eureka area is stupendous. This coming from a former New York theatre snob. I have seen “Les Miserables” almost a dozen times including New York and Europe and broadcast orchestrations and in three languages. After experiencing tonight the current production at North Coast Repertory…
The June To-Do List
Though it hardly feels like summer, the half-crazed look of freedom in the eyes of students, college and otherwise, tells a different story. In the garden, the detritus of spring is ready to be cleared away and dead-headed, while summer’s bounty is emerging in the form of early strawberries, artichokes and even a few raspberries.…
