Cover Story
Best of Humboldt 2023
We’re face-painting, wave-starting fans of Humboldt County to begin with. But the Best of Humboldt issue is where we get to wave our foam fingers and cheer for the home team’s stars: the people, places, businesses and more nominated and voted No. 1 by you, our readers. It’s tough out there on the field, so…
Music Tonight: Friday, Aug. 11
Johnny and the Corsants is a young band that emerged victorious in the latest iteration of Arcata High School’s Battle of the Bands. Tonight, the group will be taking a victory lap in the form of a live, all-ages show at Humbrews. I can’t find a ticket price for this 7 p.m. gig, so I’m…
Music Tonight: Thursday, Aug. 10
The Sanctuary is a place that deserves a bit more attention from the public, as it has a good reputation for putting on shows that really don’t happen anywhere else. Take this evening’s entertainment at 6 p.m.: Hernan Rostan is an Argentine tango pianist who has been playing music since early childhood and will be…
Cirque Italia Returns to the Bayshore Mall with Family Show
Missed the circus at the Bayshore Mall the last time it rolled into town? Here’s your chance to experience the magic under the Big Top again as Cirque Italia presents Water Circus, a family-friendly pirate adventure, happening Aug. 10-14, with showtimes at 1:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (check website for details) in the…
Harbor District to Talk Labor Agreement Amid Request for Delay
When the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation Commission convenes Thursday at Eureka’s Wharfinger Building, it will face two large and related agenda items. First, it will consider authorizing staff to submit a U.S. Department of Transportation mega grant application hoped to total in the hundreds of millions of dollars to go toward construction of the…
Music Tonight: Tuesday, Aug. 8
What was at a time thought to be a once-off flight of fancy has now become a recurring 2023 motif over at Savage Henry Comedy Club. I am, of course, referring to the Open Mark, a diverse open mic event hosted by — who else — comedian Mark Sanders. Participants are encouraged to show up…
Music Tonight: Monday, Aug. 7
Here’s a night of punk in various forms from straight-up to folksy going down at the Siren’s Song Tavern. Local distortion-mongers Dead Drift are hosting a show that includes Connecticut-based folk punker David Coffey Taylor and Irish-flavored local rippers Wyld Banshee Whispers. Just $10 gets you all three bands and everything kicks off at 8…
Music Tonight: Sunday, Aug. 6
Another two-fer recommendation, this time in Eureka. At 2 p.m. at the Shanty, you will find a free matinee gig of two of the rompingest, stompin’-est, mightiest pub rock punk bands in the 707, when The Bow-Legged Buzzards join forces with the boys in The Smashed Glass to blow the lid off the patio. If…
Music Tonight: Saturday, Aug. 5
I have two festivals to recommend today, each on either end of our county’s share of the 101. First up on the northside at 3 p.m., RampArt Skate Park is home to Bushfest, a metal-palooza full of shredders and screamers, priced at a very reasonable $20 for 13 bands, $15 if you get an early-bird…
Best of Humboldt, Mel Berti and Leon Warmuth
It’s the Best of Humboldt issue and we’re celebrating winners from hot dogs to music shops. We’re also looking back on the lives and contributions of a couple of notable locals who’ve died in the last weeks: Mel Berti and Leon Warmuth. And we’ve got summer music and scary movies to recommend. Hit subscribe for…
Northcoast Regional Land Trust’s Summer Celebration this Saturday
Come out to the Freshwater Farms Summer Celebration on Saturday, Aug. 5 at 5 p.m. at Freshwater Farms Reserve ($30, $25 advance, kids under 10 are free but must be registered). The Northcoast Regional Land Trust’s fifth annual benefit concert will have an old-fashioned cake walk, kids’ activities by Kids in the Hive, food and…
Gina Francine Bryant Parrish: 1956-2023
Gina Francine Bryant Parrish was born on October 10, 1956, in Eureka, CA to Meredith and Irene Bryant and passed peacefully from this life on July 22, 2023 in Fortuna, CA after an 18- month long battle with cancer. She was surrounded by her family. The oldest (and only girl) of 3 children, Gina grew…
EPD Investigating Stabbing Death
The Eureka Police Department is investigating the stabbing death of a woman in the 100 block of W Sonoma Street yesterday evening. Police responded to a 911 call there at 6:37 p.m. reporting a woman was in a fight with the male friend of her roommate. The arrived to find both the woman and man…
Zoo’s Yearling Bears are Branching Out (With Video)
Two yearling black bears that arrived at the Sequoia Park Zoo in May after being orphaned in the wild are now roaming beyond the enclosure area they occupied during a standard quarantine period and will become more easily visible to visitors. “Noni and Tule are showing themselves to be naturally curious, playful, and highly motivated…
Folklife Strums On
Many of Humboldt County’s finest local musicians could be found at this year’s Humboldt Folklife Festival. The week-long lineup of offerings by local musicians started with the new Folk School Day on Sunday in Blue Lake, with free classes on bluegrass guitar, banjo, mandolin, percussion, songwriting and singing. The traditional Songwriter Showcase on Tuesday featured…
Best of Retail & Services
Best Music Store Wildwood Music Co. Wildwood Music, Arcata’s hometown music store since 1974, is housed in a cozy spot on I Street, with a colorful mural painted on its outside wall, sharing the stretch of road with two other iconic Arcata businesses, the North Coast Co-op and Los Bagels. Inside is a musician’s paradise…
Quillback Rockfish Off the Menu Starting Aug. 7
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife projects the combined recreational and commercial take of quillback rockfish will exceed the harvest limits specified in federal regulation for 2023 is prohibiting retention of the fish statewide in both the recreational and commercial fisheries effective Aug. 7. From the CDFW July 28 announcement: “The 2021 stock assessment…
Best of Weddings
Weddings Bachelor Party Location Moonstone Beach Trinidad Formerly Merryman’s Beach House 122 Moonstone Beach Road, Trinidad (707) 616-7102 moonstone-beach.com Bachelorette Party Location Moonstone Beach Trinidad Formerly Merryman’s Beach House 122 Moonstone Beach Road, Trinidad (707) 616-7102 moonstone-beach.com Couples Therapist Kimberly Hall 3798 Janes Road, Suite 20, Arcata (707) 825-4963 Divorce Lawyer Jeffrey Monsell 381 Bayside…
Talk to Me Makes Contact
TALK TO ME. Australia, home to venomous brown snakes, saltwater crocodiles and a snail that can evidently kill you with a tiny harpoon-like tooth, is scary enough. Perhaps the steady baseline of adrenaline that comes from living in a country where a very large spider might casually drop out of your curtains makes scaring audiences…
Best of Cannabis
Best Cultivator & Best Local Cannabis Farm Jason Gellman, Ridgeline Farms Jason Gellman had no idea his Ridgeline Farms had won Best Local Cannabis Farm, or that he’d won Best Cultivator. Not only did he not campaign for the honors, but he didn’t even know Ridgeline was a finalist until the Journal called. Nonetheless, he…
Best of Bonus!
Bonus! Bathroom Inn at 2nd & C 124 C St., Eureka (707) 444-3344 historiceaglehouse.com Building Wherein to Find a Ghost Historic Eagle House 124 C St., Eureka (707) 444-3344 historiceaglehouse.com Hangout for Seniors Healy Senior Center 456 Briceland Road, Redway (707) 923-2399 healyseniorcenter.org Local Activist Betty Chinn 133 Seventh St., Eureka (707) 407-3833 bettychinn.org Local…
Re: The Wind
Editor: Elaine Weinreb’s “Port of Entry” article (July 27) gave a great overview of the challenges to constructing a wind farm manufacturing hub on Humboldt bay. This project, and the related off-shore wind farm could have far reaching impacts to Humboldt Bay. The article reports on the many challenges and impacts that were debated at…
Councilmember, Firefighter, Volunteer Mel Berti Dies at 84
Mel Berti, a born and raised Fortunan who dedicated much of his life to the betterment of the Friendly City, compiling a decades-long record of public service in the process, died July 22. He was 84. Known equally as the longtime and beloved butcher at Hoby’s Market in Scotia, the 28-year Fortuna council member, the…
‘A Fantasy World’
Editor: I attended AutoXpo in Fortuna although I am not a fan of 21st century “Retro Kar Kulture” (“AutoXpo Was Awesome; It Was Also a Symbol of Our Impending Doom,” July 27). Most were garishly modified, cut, slashed, chromed and glazed over with flashy paint. In an effort to memorialize the past, many car enthusiasts…
Leon Warmuth Remembered: ‘To Know Him Was to Love Him’
Leon Warmuth, who in 1952 boarded a bus to Eureka with just $50 in hand and all his belongings packed into a cardboard suitcase and went on to build a thriving business and become the Eureka Chamber of Commerce’s president, died July 20, surrounded by friends and family. He was 90. The city of Eureka…
It’s Science
Editor: I was delighted to see Simona Carini’s well-written article (“Forest Bathing in the Redwoods”), also known as Shinrin-yoku, in the June 15 issue. She did an excellent job of “describing the indescribable.” A skillful wordsmith, she captured the sensory experience … sight, touch, sound, smell … of what it is to be silently immersed…
The Best of the Rest
A quick congratulations are in order for everyone and everywhere that won a coveted Best of Humboldt award in this issue. We are all of us winners for getting to live in a place as packed with the sort of folks who make up our artistic population. Keep it up, please. I did want to…
Best of Food and Drink
Best Restaurant Server Mimi Kyoko Wagner at Tomo Japanese Restaurant Mimi Kyoko Wagner laughs and wipes the start of a tear from corners of her eyes, careful not to smudge her cat-eye liner. “I love Tomo. I love our food, I love how busy we get,” she says, adding, “It’s a beautiful dance that we do here.…
First Saturday Night Arts Alive
Our galleries, museums, theaters, bars and restaurants are open late. Presented by Eureka Main Street. ART CENTER FRAME SHOP 616 Second St. Lauren Lester, watercolor landscapes and portraits. ART CENTER SPACE 620 Second St. More than 75 local artists. BELLE STARR CLOTHING 405 Second St. Permanent Jewelry pop-up, Adore and Joy, jewelry. BLUE OX BOUTIQUE…
Correction
A story in the July 27, 2023, edition of the North Coast Journal headlined “Willow Creek Pharmacy Closes” contained inaccurate information. Patients of Open Door’s Willow Creek Community Health Center can have their prescriptions filled through Open Door Rx, which allows them to be picked up at the Willow Creek facility during normal business hours…
Summer Puzzles
Every year at this time, I check what I’ve dumped into my “puzzles” folder over the past 12 months. Hope you enjoy them as much as you enjoy the one or two hours when the sun shines here in coastal Humboldt. I think it’s called “summer.” The first is about as counterintuitive as any puzzle…
Best of Arts & Entertainment
Best Local Celebrity Sara Bareilles If we’re being real, Ferndale-grown celebrity chef Guy Fieri seemed poised to make a run here. After all, his spikey haired mug is plastered across a billboard on the Las Vegas Strip, his flagship show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives turned 15, he’d launched a new show (Guy’s Game Night) and…
Answers to Summer Puzzles
Surviving the Toss: Either the two tosses come up the same (two heads or two tails) or different (one head, one tail). So one of them, say Alice, always says that Bob’s toss will be the same as hers, e.g. she sees heads and guesses that Bob will get heads. Bob does the opposite, e.g.…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Emotions are not inconvenient distractions from reason and logic. They are key to the rigorous functioning of our rational minds. Neurologist Antonio Damasio proved this conclusively in his book Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. The French philosopher’s famous formula—”I think, therefore I am”—offers an inadequate suggestion about how…
