The $50 Million Henhouse
With bond money to spend, Eureka City Schools is using controversial and legally questionable contracts. Who’s watching?
Cover Story
The $50 Million Henhouse
John Fullerton was skeptical, and not without reason. He’d been serving on the Eureka City Schools Board of Education for about a decade when the subject of getting another school bond on the ballot began gaining some traction. Fullerton, a local certified public accountant, was a newly elected board member when voters approved a $32.5…
3rd UPDATE: Hit-and-Run Leaves Pedestrian Dead on 101; Road Deaths on Record Pace
3rd UPDATE: The California Highway Patrol announced this afternoon that the suspect in a fatal hit-and-run collision that occurred Sept. 1 on U.S. Highway 101 has turned herself in. According to the CHP, 18-year-old Carley Kathryn Palsson surrendered to police Friday night. See the full press release copied below. 2nd UPDATE: The California Highway Patrol…
An Old Town Arrest
First, a familiar sound. A shopping cart rattling against the sidewalk. It’s a late summer evening, and the neon lights of the old Ritz building at the corner of Third and F have just come on, superfluous for now as the sky is still pale blue and full of peach light. Then, a second sound.…
UPDATE: Eureka City Council Tables Controversial Ordinances
UPDATE: Following hours of impassioned debate, the Eureka City Council moved last night to table a controversial ordinance regarding the storage of personal belongings on city property. Public comment on the ordinance lasted for hours, stretching the meeting until 11 p.m. Several dozen people also gathered outside City Hall prior to the meeting to protest…
Hoopa Man Dies After Weekend Crash
An 82-year-old Hoopa man injured in a Sunday car crash has died, the California Highway Patrol announced today. Christopher F. Colgrove reportedly drove his Lexus sedan head-on into an oncoming pickup truck on State Route 299, east of East Fork Bridge, shortly before noon Sunday. No update was provided as to the condition of the…
Bagel Attraction
Who needs dark clubs and city streets when you can shoot your music video here in Humboldt? Not KSHMR and Bassjackers ft. Sirah. That’s right, it’s ft. someone, so you know it’s legit. Spinnin’ Records describes the song “Memories” thusly: “As the chords sway you away, the electro drop and fetching vocals by SIRAH do…
HumBug: Yellowjackets
Once, while recovering from shoulder surgery, I heard my wife scream from the backyard. Arm immobilized with a brace, I stumbled outside. She was under attack from dozens of yellowjackets. Before I could get her away from them she had accumulated nine stings. The scars she got from accidentally disturbing a nest in the ground…
Medical Pot Bills Near Legislator Vote
The first substantial regulation in 20 years of medical marijuana in California is headed to a vote in the next couple weeks. As reported in the Week in Weed, staff members for state Sen. Mike McGuire and assemblymen Jim Wood and Rob Bonta were scrambling early this week to get final amendments into their legislation…
What a Day That Was
A camera follows a pair of white sneakers as they walk across a black floor. The sounds of whistles and cheers off camera grow louder. The sneakers stop at a microphone. A man’s voice cuts through the din. “Hi. I’ve got a tape I wanna play.” A boombox is lowered to the floor. A finger…
Supreme Court Denies School Contract Case
The California Supreme Court has denied a Fresno school district’s request to review an appellate court ruling that was strongly critical of its use of no-bid contracts — a ruling that school contractors across the state fear may set a legal precedent that leaves them on the hook to repay millions of dollars in past…
Wild Wild Life
Don’t wanna be owl by yourself Friday night? No worries, mate. There’s a big ol’ barn party in Bayside and you’re invited. Barntini – martinis in the barn – the annual fundraiser for the Jacoby Creek Land Trust and the Humboldt Wildlife Care Center is set to raise the roof this Friday, Aug. 28 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the Kokte…
The Real You
Reviews AMERICAN ULTRA. Here’s a stupid thing I did, an illustration of my occasional inability to get even simple things right. Having glanced cursorily at show-times and decided I had it all figured out, I sauntered casually down to the movie house to see American Ultra on a weekend afternoon, a full 25 minutes after…
Eat the Weeds!
Take a moment to ponder your relationship with the wild plants in your garden. Chickweed, thistle, pigweed, plantain. Cleavers, lemon balm, nettle. These not only provide forage for insects, birds, and animals, they also provide food for you. Most of the common vegetables we enjoy in our salads, such as lettuce, carrots, parsley and mustard,…
The Reluctant Cyclist
Part 2 Number of miles ridden: 31.2 (roundtrip) Time traveled: 2 hours: 57 minutes Number of Confederate flags sighted: 3 Number of times actively feared for life: 0 This wasn’t a work commute, but a “fun” ride to the Humboldt County Cornhole Association’s annual tournament. I mention it to show that a) I am not…
American River Haiku
Dusty, brambled banks Sycamore-lined, cobweb-laced, Cradle snowmelt mass.
Humboldt’s Homeless Students
When the Humboldt Housing and Homeless Coalition released its Point In Time Count last month, one large demographic was left out: homeless students. The Humboldt County Office of Education (HCOE) estimated the number of homeless children in the public school system at 1,058 for the 2013-2014 school year – 5.8 percent of the total public…
This is a Love Letter
Like a lot of you, I’m a sucker for a good story and enjoy being filled in on topical issues by smart people, which means listening to podcasts on long drives is my usual go-to. But last week, while traveling home from San Francisco, I instead put on a (very extensive) playlist of familiar songs…
Not Your Gram’s Home Ec
Home economics calls to mind retro images of a bespectacled, elderly matron teaching teenage girls learning how to hard-boil eggs. Today, Americans are fascinated with food and cooking has been become a national pastime. Add to the recipe growing concern over nutrition and obesity among teenagers, and it’s clear teaching cooking in public high school…
Paddleboards and Privilege
In another portent of the gentrification of marijuana, cannabis activists have tapped into the fitness industrial complex to create the 420 Games, a series of sporting events that claims it is “destigmatizing millions of responsible, positive cannabis users through athletic achievement.” In mid-August, several hundred runners lined up to run a 4.20 (yes, math whiz,…
No Middle Ground
Editor: Now there’s a lead article that’s truly worthy of the Journal’s place in the community (“Free and Afraid,” Aug. 20). Well written, well researched, revealing and critical (in both senses of the word). Thank you. Mr. Stonebarger seems quite cognizant of his own fragile mental health — and the possible consequences for himself and…
Rail Gazing
Editor: Read Jen Savage’s “Reluctant Cyclist” article (Aug. 20) with interest. I live in the Arcata “bottoms” not far from Samoa Boulevard and have had occasion to ride the routes she accurately described. Whenever I drive along Samoa Boulevard I always see the possibility of a safe, separate route to Manila for hikers and cyclists,…
Pot Shards
Editor: I am not surprised that a leading attorney for Humboldt’s marijuana industry would want to deflect criticism of the marijuana industry (“Cannabis Crossroads,” Aug. 6). However, Ed Denson’s Aug. 20 letter presents a confused and misleading argument. First, he misrepresents what I actually said, when he refers to me “citing the small amount of…
Bank Bust
Editor: Lumping Banks and Credit unions together for your “Best Of” awards selections is, in my opinion, neither fair nor appropriate (Aug. 13). It would be akin to combining best Martini with best Bloody Mary or best IPA with best local beer. Granted, banks and credit unions are very similar, however there is one distinction…
Me-OW
Editor: I am a cat owner and do not like what Ken Burton has to say (“Not So Cute,” Aug. 20). Specifically, he says that the migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal to allow a cat to kill a native bird. Allow being the operative word here. My neighbors have a huge bird feeding…
First Class
Photographer Leon Villagomez shot some high-style higher education looks on the first day of classes at Humboldt State University on Monday, Aug. 24.
Rebel Rouser
Editor: Marcy’s right about the inadvisability of changing old place names to suit new sensibilities. But what started her off was the current anti-Confederacy fad. (“Names,” July 30.) I tend to see it as hate speech versus free speech. I favor free speech, but then I’m not the target of the hate speech. On the…
Startin’ Statins?
Today’s subject, let’s call him Patient B, is a 72-year-old Caucasian male presenting no symptoms (non-smoker, no medications, not diabetic, no history of cardiovascular problems, elevated but “well-controlled-for-his-age” blood pressure, doing moderate daily exercise). He’s trying to decide whether to take daily statins to lower his cholesterol count, which breaks down to: total 231 (standard…
