Cover Story
Wild 2.0
For 16 years now, Talia Rose has spent nearly every morning walking a small stretch of the South Fork Eel River from the backyard of the cabin she calls home near the Humboldt-Mendocino county line and photographing what she finds. Primarily self-taught, it’s a passion borne of patience, a deep connection with place and a…
Music Tonight: Wednesday, Feb. 22
The EXIT Theatre presents The Something Different Show at 7 p.m. ($8). From the outside looking in, this appears to be a local variety show of sorts, with multi-instrumentalist and international music curator Oryan Peterson-Jones playing some tunes, Aokay the Clown providing some capering circus and antics, Rachel Sanders performing a belly dance, and former…
Music Tonight: Tuesday, Feb. 21
Since I’m about 2,500 miles away from any carnival party that I’d be interested in participating in, I am going to cool it on any hope to find a theme for tonight, and rather let you all know that there will be at least one house in the 707 with red beans and rice and…
Music Tonight: Monday, Feb. 20
OK, I’ll cave. I have been saving this one, as it’s a regular recurring affair, for a night when it seems appropriate, and since I missed Metal Mondays last week and there isn’t one this week, I’m going to instead steer you to the Siren Song Tavern’s Paranormal Open Mic at 7 p.m. It’s kind…
Music Tonight: Sunday, Feb. 19
Mandolinist Jacob Jolliff of Yonder Mountain String Band fame, is bring his own Band back to Humco, for a welcome night of folk and bluegrass at the Arcata Playhouse. I expect a lot of stylistic shifts and energy from this drumless quartet, as the group tours on the strength of its formidable self-titled album from…
Music Tonight: Saturday, Feb. 18
I’m going to toss three shows at you, all with different vibes and styles, and let you decide where the wind should carry you. At 6 p.m. over at Wrangletown Cider, Humboldt’s special early jazz age delights Canary and the Vamp will be playing a free two-hour set full of tin pan treasures and gold…
Humboldt Jewish Music and Culture Festival
The fourth annual Humboldt Jewish Music and Culture Festival, a celebration of Yiddish and Sephardic culture, music and cuisine, runs Feb. 18 through Feb. 26, with events happening in person at the Eureka Woman’s Club, Temple Beth El and virtually on Zoom. This year, the headliners are the San Francisco Yiddish Combo, which will be…
Music Tonight: Friday, Feb. 17
Whomp Productions is celebrating its 13th anniversary at the Arcata Theatre Lounge tonight at 9 p.m. ($20, $15 advance). Time flies, as we all know, but it is wild to consider that Humboldt’s premier EDM bump machine has been putting on shows since the first Obama Administration, and while Whomp Wednesdays are no longer extant…
Take a Hike
Get outside and get your blood pumping walking among the giant redwoods in some of the area’s most scenic groves. There are three guided winter walks happening this week. First up, on Friday, February 17, take a guided walk through Founders Grove Loop from 2 to 3 p.m. (free). Meet by the Founders Grove park…
Claire Bent and Citizen Funk at Trinidad Town Hall
The Westhaven Center for the Arts presents its “Funky Bluesy Soul Series” — which alternates every other month with jazz — featuring Claire Bent and Citizen Funk bringing the groove to Trinidad Town Hall, Friday, Feb. 17, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. ($10-$20 sliding). There’s plenty of food and drink to keep you energized while…
Music Tonight: Wednesday, Feb. 15
It’s yet another sci-fi night at the Arcata Theatre Lounge, but because we’re so close to the love holiday, the management is playing a rom-com I hated as a kid: Earth Girls Are Easy. I’d much rather watch the superior Jeff Goldblum/Geena Davis vehicle, David Cronenberg’s The Fly. So go if you like, and maybe…
Snow Reported Across Humboldt, 299 Closed Between Blue Lake and Willow Creek
Caltrans reported just after 9 a.m. that State Route 299 between Blue Lake and Willow Creek is closed due to snow. “We will provide updates as they become available,” Caltrans said in a social media post. Residents in areas across the county, including Kneeland, Hoopa, Blue Lake, parts of Arcata and McKinleyville, Carlotta, Orleans, Freshwater…
More than 12,000 Californians are Getting Cash from Guaranteed Income Experiments
Four years after Stockton conducted a nationally-watched experiment, giving 125 households $500 a month with no strings attached, dozens of programs throughout California are testing the idea of a guaranteed income. CalMatters identified more than 40 similar pilot programs that have run, are operating or are planning to launch around the state. They are sending…
Music Tonight: Tuesday, Feb. 14
If you are one of those lucky ducks with a sweetie and an attendant treacly sense of romance, I suspect you don’t need any advice from me on what you get up to tonight. For the rest of you, here are a couple options, the former being a little more vanilla. Young & Lovely will…
Music Tonight: Monday, Feb. 13
Weird electronic show alert. Hudson Glover, aka Huddy Glo, is an artist who I have reviewed here before, and one whose music is dense, danceable and complex, full of Bill Evans-styled block chords and minimal disco beats. A true auteur in an emerging world of old and new sounds. Chini has also graced these pages…
Stormy (Maybe Snowy?) Start to Valentine’s Day
Don’t be fooled by today’s sunny skies and calm demeanor — some wild weather is on its way. A dry cold front headed this way is forecast to bring gusty winds and a wind advisory is in effect from 1 p.m. Monday to 4 a.m. Tuesday, with 20 to 25 mph winds expected and gusts…
NCJ Preview: Wildlife, Academy of the Redwoods and Restaurant Harassment
This week we’ve got a photo story from wildlife photographer Talia Rose, who documents life on the Eel River, including some wild pigs of late. We’re also talking about former Mayor Susan Seaman’s take on the controversy surrounding Eureka City Schools and the Academy of the Redwoods. Finally, we’re talking about sexual harassment in the…
Virginia Ann Ciszek Felter: 1946-2023
Virginia Ann Ciszek Felter, “Ginny,” was born at Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital and grew up in a Marine family. Most of her youth was in southern California during the surf and car culture days but horses were always her love. She got her first horse as young teen and she and a friend would pack…
Music Tonight: Saturday, Feb. 11
Hopeless Jack & the Psychedeltics are a Portland band helmed by a guy named Jack who likes his blues loud and trippy. San Diego’s oddball duo Moxi & Loon will pad out the bill nicely at the Jam at 8 p.m. ($7). If you stick around until 11:30 p.m. and hand over an extra $5,…
CR to Host Previously Canceled Drag Show
College of the Redwoods has announced it will host the family-friendly “Dragging Through Time” show that had been originally slated to take place at Ferndale’s Old Steeple before venue owners canceled the Lost Coast Pride Fundraiser due to safety concerns. The College of the Redwoods Multicultural & Equity Center is organizing the show as part of…
PG&E: Repairs Set to Begin on Earthquake-Damaged Gas Line in Loleta
Repair work on an underground gas line in Loleta, damaged during the magnitude 6.4 earthquake that shook the region Dec. 20, is expected to begin in mid-February, according to PG&E. Areas in the Eel River Valley — especially Rio Dell — bore the brunt of the powerful temblor. According to the utility’s spokesperson, PG&E has…
Supervisor Bohn Makes Misogynistic Comment at Chamber Event
Amid the fallout from Humboldt County First District Supervisor Rex Bohn’s misogynistic comments while serving as an auctioneer at her organization’s Jan. 27 fundraiser, Eureka Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Nancy Olson said the nonprofit is taking steps to prevent something similar from happening in the future. Bohn’s comment came at the Eureka Chamber…
Love Is
People are complicated creatures with a vast catalog of needs that are often compressed, and therefore barely expressed in the gulf of space between thought and expression. I have considered love a lot over the years, and as someone who tends to translate the world through music and literature, I often get the moment wrong,…
‘We’ve All Got Stories’
The women who wait tables in Humboldt County are teenagers, grandmothers, artists, teachers, musicians and students. But ask any who have been in the industry a few years about sexual harassment and you’ll likely hear what the Journal heard over and over from the women we spoke to: “We’ve all got stories.” Each asked to…
Arts! Arcata
Celebrate the visual and performing arts in Downtown Arcata during Second Friday Arts! Arcata. We want to welcome all our community members to come out and visit with us for a lively night market of local art displayed in our downtown stores. Thank you for supporting the arts and a vibrant downtown Arcata. More information…
In Defense of Slack
We cut people slack by overlooking their failures to perform how and when we would wish them to. But this article is about communal slack: the allowances that are just out there as part of the fabric of society and the environment. Here are some examples. We kids had the run of our neighborhood in…
Winter Steelhead Remain Elusive
Another week gone by and another week of very poor steelhead catching. As we approach mid-February, I’m no longer certain the fish are just running late. I’m starting to think they aren’t coming. At least in big numbers. We’ve had some excellent water conditions on our coastal rivers this season and that still didn’t do…
You People Brings the Cringe
YOU PEOPLE. There is a cathartic release that comes with watching terrifying movies. The adrenaline, the comforting resolution, the jump scare at the end that allows us to laugh at ourselves a little. Even the lingering dread as you turn the bathroom light on later to brush your teeth is a small, morbid thrill if…
‘Uncomfortable’
Before anyone reflexively talks about political correctness, “cancel culture” or good-natured jokes, let’s consider the facts. On Jan. 27, the Eureka Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual awards gala and fundraiser, drawing more than 200 people, including a host of local business leaders and officials. To this effort, a local restaurant owner donated a dinner…
Eureka Needs to Stand Up to its Playground Bully
Once again, Eureka City Schools (ECS) has created an uproar. This time, it has threatened litigation to wrest control of Academy of the Redwoods, a school that has been operating under the authority of Fortuna Union High School District. There’s no strong reasoning for the sudden interest in the school except that it’s within ECS’…
Whose Values?
Editor: Christine Chapman (Mailbox, Jan. 26), have you ever asked yourself whose tradition you’re basing your family values on? It’s not the Bible, and it certainly isn’t Christ. It’s more likely Queen Victoria than anyone, and the intolerance of the culture keeping your traditions and their values created the counterculture in the first place. This…
‘A Major Faux Pas’
Editor: There is a major faux pas in this week’s NCJ (Feb. 2). On the front page, the headline reads: “Hospitals Are Struggling to Meet Earthquake Saftey Deadline.” Saftey? The word is spelled “safety,” not “saftey.” I spotted this as soon as I found the NCJ on the stand. Come on editor, you can do…
‘Thank You’
Editor: Thank you for this, Brielle (Mailbox, Jan. 26). I am currently homeless in Arcata, and I feel you feeling our pain. Homelessness is a crisis, sometimes for the homeless, but more often than not homelessness is a crisis for the homed. The most dire need is found in the tendency for homelessness to be…
The Loneliness of Death
Loneliness, one dwells in lonely places, one sees lonely places, we feel the slight breeze of a sad glance through the wind, we hear the silent tweet of a mockingjay wondering if he will mock the wrong person. Bang…he lays on the ground. Why must one die, why would you commit corruption, a crime. Bird,…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): During my quest for advice that might be helpful to your love life, I plucked these words of wisdom from author Sam Kean: “Books about relationship talk about how to ‘get’ the love you need, how to ‘keep’ love, and so on. But the right question to ask is, ‘How do…
An Upstream Intervention
Open Door Community Health Centers will be fortifying efforts to help providers regularly screen for adverse childhood experiences and streamline access to support systems for Humboldt and Del Norte County children, thanks to a grant from the California Department of Health Care Services. Specifically, Open Door received a Preventing and Responding to Adverse Childhood Experiences-Associated…
