‘A Symbolic Gesture’
The Earth flag’s ascension in Arcata raises unprecedented legal and constitutional questions
Cover Story
‘A Symbolic Gesture’
On the morning of Dec. 16, the Earth flag was raised to the top of city-owned flagpoles in Arcata, above the United States and California flags, respectively. The unprecedented arrangement came after the Arcata City Council voted unanimously in closed session the night before to uphold a voter-approved initiative dictating the new placement but with…
Music Tonight: Wednesday, April 12
Indubious is a Bend, Oregon-based reggae band whose sound is full of the kind of echo-y, sonic noise that saves the genre from boring repetition. The group is centered around the Burton brothers, Evton and Skip, who were both born with the potentially fatal condition of cystic fibrosis but build a fine musical career. They’ll…
Comedy Tonight: Tuesday, April 11
Savage Henry Comedy Club presents Shaved Pits, a dog-friendly comedy revue hosted by Nando Molina and Jason Merritt, who both encourage an audience of well- behaved pups and people at 9 p.m. ($10).
Godwit Days Kicks Off This Week
It’s April, and in these wildlife friendly parts, that means it’s time to go birdin’. The annual Godwit Days Spring Migration Bird Festival takes flight April 13-16 in spots around the county with many of the festival activities happening at the Arcata Community Center. This year’s in-person festival offers multiple field trips each day, keynote…
Music Tonight: Monday, April 10
Mondays are usually quiet around these parts but that’s not so in Blue Lake, where the Logger Bar throws a regular Rockers Reggae Night from 7 to 9 p.m. It’s free to get in and you should expect OG Jamaican tunes pumping out of the sound system to augment your drinking enjoyment.
Music Tonight: Sunday, April 9
Hallelujah, hallelujah, he is risen. For those of you celebrating in any fashion today, I have two disparate gigs for you, and you can personally decide which among the two is more holy or blasphemous. Over at the Siren’s Song Tavern at 6 p.m., you can enjoy some old school, punk, power-violence and d-beat tunes…
Music Tonight: Saturday, April 8
Two very different gigs in Arcata tonight, both of which will be total burners for the fans of their respective genres. Cal Poly Humboldt’s Fulkerson Hall is the setting for a classical guitar duet of technical ecstasy, with local professor Jennifer Trowbridge teaming up with world-renowned six-string samurai David Tanenbaum for a recital of good…
Hoppin’ Easter Happenings
Time to scramble for eggs, yolks. I mean, folks. Where can the kiddos search for coveted colored and candy eggs and maybe spy the Easter Bunny himself? In Eureka, the City of Eureka Community Services Department presents its annual Easter Adventure, happening Saturday, April 8, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Sequoia Park (free).…
Music Tonight: Friday, April 7
Another type of heavy show is going down at the Siren’s Song tonight at 8 p.m., one that features an artier style of screaming noise. Shively’s Blackplate, one of my favorite bands in this wild county, is sharing the stage with two groups that I have only heard online, Cardboard and Monkey Business. However, I…
CA Indian Big Time & Social Gathering at Cal Poly Humboldt
The CA Indian Big Time & Social Gathering, happening Saturday, April 8, from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the West Gym at Cal Poly Humboldt is a free event where the public has a rare opportunity to see aspects of the diverse and rich cultures of California’s first peoples. At the event, Indigenous people…
Music Tonight: Thursday, April 6
Heavy, heavy, heavy show tonight at 7 p.m. at Siren’s Song Tavern. If you like the extreme end of metal, you’ll love the sets by Narc from Sacramento, Washington State’s Burial Rites and local chuggers and grinders Psyop Victim (whom I have given my stamp of approval to in columns past), and Grug. For this…
Social Security Conflict: California Child Welfare Agencies Under Fire for Pocketing Foster Kids’ Benefits
In December 2019, a month after her son’s death, Patricia Baca contacted the federal government to provide for her surviving grandchildren. The twins, just 3 at the time, had lived a difficult first few years of life. San Diego County had removed them from their parents’ custody that year due to allegations of drug and…
Is Spring About to be Sprung? Warmer Temps May Be Around the Corner
Are you beginning to feel like this winter weather will never end? Well, there’s a reason for that, according to the Eureka office of the National Weather Service, which reports that last month was the second coldest March since 1887, “looking at the average high and low temperature for every day of the month.” NWS…
Photos: Perilous Plungers Hit the Bay for 30K
Plungers braved the bay in this year’s 22nd annual Perilous Plunge fundraiser for the Redwood Discovery Museum. Thanks to the rain, plungers were pre-soaked during the event’s opening parade led by the Marching Lumberjacks. Sierra Moore, a guest specialist at the Redwood Discovery Museum, was excited to see the community come together to support the…
Music Tonight: Monday, April 3
Another Monday night, another installment of Metal Mondays over at Savage Henry Comedy Club. Tonight’s offering is full of talent, including Greybush, Racket, Sadistic Hallucinations, and Malicious Algorithm at 7p.m. ($10). Those last two sound like something that would happen in the Meta-verse, am I right folks? The Meta-verse … I’ll be here all week,…
Linda Davidson Steele Clark (Cozyris): 1938-2022
On Dec. 21, 2022, Linda Davidson Steele Clark left this auditorium, and traveled to the next stage. Linda was born in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 28, 1938, to parents Trevor Arnett Steele and Helen Davidson Steele. She passed away Dec. 21, 2022, in Eureka, California. Linda is survived by her husband Terry L. Clark of…
NCJ Preview: Flag Flap, Plays and Windy/Motor City Pizza
This week we’re talking about Arcata’s Measure M, which adds an Earth flag atop the national flag. But does the environmental gesture conflict with state and federal law? We’ve also got two local theatre productions, Radium Girls and Sister Act up for review. And if you’re craving pizza, we’ve got the story on Detroit and…
Forest Moon Festival to Celebrate Return of the Jedi’s 40th
We sense something … a presence we have not felt since the premiere of Return of the Jedi in 1983. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Star Wars sequel featuring the moon of Endor, filmed locally in Del Norte and Humboldt counties, the Humboldt-Del Norte Film Commission is putting on its inaugural Forest Moon…
‘I Was a Hostage’: McKinleyville’s Jeff Woodke Talks About His Six Years Held by Al-Qaeda in Africa
In his own words, McKinleyville’s Jeffrey Woodke was held captive “a long time.” “Six years, five months, five days and 12 hours, give or take a few minutes, I was hostage,” he told a handful of reporters this afternoon in the Fireplace Room of Arcata First Baptist Church during a brief press conference, offering his…
Perilous Plunge this Saturday!
Because we all aren’t entirely wet yet (thanks, Mother Nature), it’s time again for the Perilous Plunge, Redwood Discovery Museum’s wet and wild fundraiser that sees volunteers dressed in silly, imaginative and hilarious costumes jump into the bay to raise money for the museum. Catch the splashy fun Saturday, April 1, starting at 10 a.m.…
Dumplings and Tea at the Carwash
Even in a rainy month, Auto Spa in McKinleyville still sees a little traffic since the bright blue Auntie Hao’s truck is parked out front Thursday through Saturday (1642 Holly Drive). The trim menu of Chinese crepes, dumplings, fried noodles and tea stands out amid bumper-to-bumper taco and sandwich trucks, and it’s likely the only…
Croatian Weekend with John Morovich
The Humboldt Folk Dancers invite the public to a Croatian Weekend with John Morovich, an instructor and performer from Seattle, who will be teaching traditional music and dance workshops for everyone, at all levels, with and without dance partners. The weekend’s event kicks off with a Welcome Potluck and Introduction at 6 p.m. at Mad…
Music Tonight: Friday, March 31
It’s local fella “Redwood” Larry Goldberg’s 70th birthday and, in celebration, there will be a benefit concert at Humbrews tonight at 7:30 p.m. Music will be provided by Dead tribute band Miracle Show and Beatles cover band Savoy Truffle. It’s a $20 suggested donation, which will go to the World Central Kitchen and its efforts…
Briceland Man Arrested on Child Pornography Allegations
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a 28-year-old Briceland man on suspicion of manufacturing child pornography and believes there may be additional unidentified victims in the case. After a year-long investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse and internet crimes against children, deputies arrested Sebastion Hockett while serving a search warrant at his home…
Arrivederci, La Trattoria
After 21 years, Jim Becker and Patricia Cambianica, husband and wife owners of La Trattoria in Sunny Brae, are bidding farewell, shuttering the little restaurant after service Saturday, April 1. “We’ve been doing this for 21 years,” says Becker over the phone. In that time, La Trattoria has built a loyal following with its traditional,…
Cirque Italia’s Paranormal Cirque II in Eureka this Weekend
Step right up, folks and prepare to be dazzled, entertained and perhaps terrified by Cirque Italia’s Paranormal Cirque II, happening March 30-April 3 at the Bayshore Mall ($20-$60). This adrenaline-filled spectacle combines theater, circus and cabaret for mature audiences only (guests under 18 require accompanying parent or guardian). It’s acrobats, illusionists, freaks, mysterious creatures under…
Supporting Libraries
Editor: As efforts continue to spread across our country to ban books and restrict by age the ability of children to select books at public and school libraries, The League of Women Voters of Humboldt County (LWVHC), of which I’m co-president, in its Library Facilities Position affirms its support for “improved library facilities in the…
Lawsuit Alleges Humboldt, California Unfairly Denied Foster Care Benefits
A recently filed lawsuit accuses Humboldt County and the state’s Department of Social Services of unfairly denying Native American youth access to extended foster care benefits, designed as a lifeline for young adults ages 18, 19 and 20 who’ve been raised in government care. The plaintiffs include tribal citizen and former foster youth Madison Fisher,…
The Many Rites of Spring
The birth of the modern world, the fresh and terrible 20th century, is a tough date to pin down, but an argument can be made, culturally at least, that the natal fluids ran red and voluminous in Paris on May 29, 1913, when Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring debuted to an audience that was so…
What’s Good
Dumplings and Tea at the Carwash Even in a rainy month, Auto Spa in McKinleyville still sees a little traffic since the bright blue Auntie Hao’s truck is parked out front Thursday through Saturday (1642 Holly Drive). The trim menu of Chinese crepes, dumplings, fried noodles and tea stands out amid bumper-to-bumper taco and sandwich…
First Saturday Night Arts Alive
Eureka Main Street presents First Saturday Night Arts Alive on April 1 from 6 to 9 p.m. Galleries, museums, theaters, bars and restaurants are open late for your enjoyment. ART CENTER FRAME SHOP 616 Second St. Lauren Lester, watercolor landscapes and portraits. ART CENTER SPACE 620 Second St. Features more than 75 local artists. BELLE…
An Invitation from All-Alpha Pack Coaching
Being an Alpha male was simpler when early Homo sapiens man threw on an animal skin, grabbed a cool club and hunted for survival. He had one skin, maybe like, two. And women responded to him — the hot ones who’d already developed two distinct eyebrows. The modern world is complicated. With limitless options, can…
Radium Girls Make Their Case
The first decades of the American 20th century were filled with contradiction. In some rural corners, medicine shows hawked cold remedies that were a quarter alcohol and hair tonics that contained frightening levels of lead. Meanwhile, the U.S. at large was in thrall to the burgeoning scientific breakthroughs at the tail end of the industrial…
Working Through Sister Act at FRT
Being stuffed into folding chairs in the wheelchair section affirmed the mistake of not confirming my seat for Sister Act: The Musical at Ferndale Repertory Theatre. Turns out the early ’90s nostalgia for the Whoopie Goldberg movie is leaving tickets scarce. This is not the movie though. In fact, key musical numbers like “My God”…
Without an Exclusive Second Week, Fair Racing Faces Competition
Horseracing at the 2023 Humboldt County Fair will once again overlap with races at Golden Gate Fields for the second week of the fair after four out of five California Horse Racing Board commissioners voted to keep the status quo. Jim Morgan, special counsel to the Humboldt County Fair, and others consider the competition for…
Steelhead Season Ending Like It Began, Wet
It’s looking like this year’s winter is refusing to end, but unfortunately, the winter steelhead season will. Enough rain has fallen over the past few days to keep the majority of the coastal rivers high and off-color, essentially washing away the last week of steelhead season. As of Wednesday, all of the coastal rivers, already…
Long Live Wick
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4. Having revealed that I had been to see this at one of the earliest available showings — with the Editor and an intermediary, but that’s another story — I was asked by a friend where I would rank it in the Wick canon. I replied without hesitation, that it is No.…
The Covered Bridges of Humboldt County
If you’ve flown anywhere in the last few years, you probably — unwittingly — walked through a covered bridge, what airlines call a “jetbridge,” the moveable corridor that links the terminal with the plane. We don’t usually think of a jetbridge as a covered bridge, of course — that’s reserved for those lovely single-lane timber…
It’s Time to Buckle Up
buckle up (verb) Definition: 1) To fasten a seatbelt; 2) to prepare oneself for something exciting or intense. slang Prepare for what is about to happen, such as danger, excitement, trouble, etc. Much attention has been focused lately on housing challenges for future increased numbers of Cal Poly Humboldt students, thanks to the students’ recent…
Fern Bridge
Sky becomes a hovercraft of doom and I’m thinking, ‘now what?’ as I sit in the queue waiting to cross this quake-damaged bridge, shaken even more by the string of events that followed, reminding us of everything nature has to throw at us, leaving the bridge open to one-way traffic only, each determined repair challenged…
‘Enough!’
Editor: I have watched that beautiful tree on Second Street, the prettiest in Eureka, for years. It’s (er, it was) on the bay side just before the Carson Mansion. I noted its roots pressing against the curb, but never said anything, knowing the city of Eureka’s homicidal attitude towards its few remaining trees. Oh, I know.…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Sometimes, I give you suggestions that may, if you carry them out, jostle your routines and fluster your allies. But after trying out the new approaches for a short time, you may chicken out and revert to old habits. That’s understandable! It can be difficult to change your life. Here’s an…
Transparency Lacking in Arcata Gateway Plan
Editor: Lack of transparency in government was last week’s NCJ cover article, with examples from all over the United States (“The Foilies,” March 23). But we don’t have to go far to uncover transparency issues. We can look right here at Arcata’s Gateway Plan. Fourteen months ago at open house meetings we expressed our viewpoints.…
