‘Loss’
Mad River Hospital’s birth center to close, igniting layered concerns about a healthcare system in ‘crisis’ By Thadeus Greenson
Cover Story
‘Loss’
When Mad River Community Hospital recently announced it plans to suspend labor and delivery services in October, the news was met in the local community with a mixture of shock and grief as word spread via social media. “Literally so sad to see this go,” one local mother posted. “My birthing experience there and the…
Paul Lee “Louie” Louis Bowie May 7, 1996-August 23, 2024
It is with heavy hearts we announce the passing of Paul Lee “Louie” Louis Bowie. Louie passed away peacefully on Aug. 23 at St. Joseph’s Hospital at the young age of 28 surrounded by family and loved ones. Louie was born May 7, 1996, at Eureka General Hospital, to Lorrie Sue Nix-Sauers, and Edward “Gus”…
Debbie Dalton Oliveria October 1959 – August 2024
Deb has so many friends and she has touched hearts of children and families in this community. She loved her career as Head Start Preschool and Toddler school Teacher. Deb was joyful, funny, sincere and dedicated. She was a “rock hound” and dug for fossils and minerals. She enjoyed music festivals and Earth’s beauty. Farewell…
Janet Cynthia (Hay) West: 1947-2024
Janet Cynthia (Hay) West was born on March 1, 1947, in Eureka. She was part of the fifth generation born in Humboldt County. On Aug. 8, 2024, the angels called her to her heavenly home. She was 77. She entered through the pearly gates and is walking on streets of gold with her family and…
Margaret Patricia Huffines February 27, 1946 – June 25, 2024
“Meg” was one of seven children borne by Margaret P. Atkins in Greensboro, North Carolina. Preceded in death by her mother, father Garland Huffines, stepfather “Papa” Sam Atkins, sister Anne Harris, brother Ray Huffines, and her husband and soulmate David Carlson, Meg is survived by daughter Phaedra O’Connor, sons Damion Sharpe and Simon Carlson, grandchildren…
Music Tonight: Thursday, Sept. 5
Usually when people refer to elephants, they tend to be talking about the one in the room, an unspoken problem that everyone can see but no one wants to talk about. The list of suspects shortens when there is at least one married couple present. Throw all of that away and freshen your expectations because…
Music Tonight: Wednesday, Sept. 4
Do you love Beyoncé? Then run, don’t walk to the Miniplex at 8 p.m., where this week’s iteration of Big Mood, the weekly hump day queer-dance-a-thon is celebrating all things regarding the true queen of pop. No cover tonight, and you can catch $2 PBR drafts all night long to refill your juices.
Sea Lion Dies in Klopp Lake, Ending Unusual Excursion
My wife and I enjoy walking the trails at the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary, looking at and photographing the usual wildlife, but last Sunday, Aug. 25, around 10 a.m. at low tide, we saw something unusual. It appeared to be a stranded dead adult California sea lion lying covered in mud on the tidal…
Comedy Tonight: Tuesday, Sept. 3
Savage Henry Comedy Club has finally come up with something I can heartily endorse: Nationalist-based phrenology aimed at our neighbors to the north. The game is simple, two teams are shown pictures of people, and those teams have to decide Are They Canadian? As half a Canuck myself, who has lived there and who would…
Music Tonight: Monday, Sept. 2
Everyone is Dirty is an Oakland collective of musicians who throw a new banana in the juggling act of dance and depression that defines the group’s chosen genre of post-punk. Those hooks and melodic lines are often created by violin, which seems novel enough to me for a gander, but the pot has really been…
Music Tonight: Saturday, Aug. 31
The Sanctuary has been the place for well-curated celebrations of some of the true jazz greats of our country. Tonight is one such event, and I suggest you Take the A-Train to J Street by 7 p.m. and pony up the $15-$30 sliding scale door fee to head into a little piece of Birdland. The…
Plaza Grill to Make Way for Havana
After 35 years, Arcata’s Plaza Grill is closing at the end of September. According to a press release from the restaurant, owners Bill Chino and Chris Smith will give the space over to a new California-Cuban restaurant called Havana, owned by Shona Baum and William González Martí. Chino and Smith will lease the space to…
Mad River Hospital’s birth center to close and CCC’s Chili Champs
This week’s episode of the NCJ Preview features tag-team action! As arts & features editor Jennifer Fumiko Cahill and California Local Journalism fellow Kelby McIntosh discuss The Journal cover story ‘Loss’ written by news editor Thadeus Greenson. As well as catching you up on the Humboldt County Fair chili cookoff and other competition hijinks. Watch all this…
Music Tonight: Friday, Aug. 30
Great local sound makers Shiny Eyes will be teaming up with Kit and Mike from a similarly synthy starship called Elegant Humanoid for a dance with the devices under the pale moonlight. Filling out the bill is E. Ray Béchard who you might remember from last Friday’s gig at the Miniplex. This is going to…
Book Readings Tonight: Thursday, Aug. 29
I’m usually happy to endorse readings by local writers, especially in this case, when the writer in question is a former NCJ alum. Jim Hight will be discussing and reading from his debut novel Moon Over Humboldt today at two different venues. At 4 p.m. you can find him at the McKinleyville Library, and at…
Woolly Mammoths: The Lady’s Not for Cloning
When I asked self-styled “museum artist” Beth Zaiken if I could use her evocative painting of a mammoth for a story, she was quick to point out that the image I attached was not just a mammoth, it was a woolly mammoth. Turns out, mammoths came in many shapes and sizes, with woolly mammoths particularly celebrated over…
Yolla Bolly Song
How good to rest in mountain light. By tumbling brook and jagged mount. The war torn cities far below Know nothing of a world so right. How good to feel the june-warm sun, The cool caress of mountain breeze, As tired muscles and mind unwind And life’s illusions are undone. How good to watch the…
Eureka City Schools to Talk Jacobs, Grand Jury Response
The California Highway Patrol appears to be back at the table, negotiating to purchase 8.3 acres of the former Jacobs Middle School campus from Eureka City Schools. A closed session item for the board to conference with Superintendent Gary Storts, the district’s negotiator, concerning price and terms of payment of a potential deal with CHP…
L.A. Freeway
I’m dropping a Guy Clark song for this week’s title because a) it’s very good and b) it was brought to my attention by a dear friend and one of the brightest stars in our local music scene. Beverly Twist and I have known each other for years now and I’ve written a lot about…
CCC’s Chili Champs
A drizzly day isn’t great for fair attendance but it does lend itself to sampling steaming cups of chili. Five competing teams that had been cooking under tents by the grandstands ladled out their wares to hardy chili fans who, like the judges gathered behind the Humboldt County Fair offices (myself among them), tasted, compared…
Sasha Lyth’s Place-based Cyanotypes
There is a beautiful Welsh word that resonates with me,” says Sasha Lyth, “Hiraeth means a longing or grief for a place, akin to homesickness, perhaps even for a place that was never your home to begin with.” The Humboldt-based mixed media artist says much of her art revolves around the connection to place and…
Trinidad Art Night
This town-wide walk includes music, artist receptions, face painting, skate ramps, pop-up sales, oyster, cider or wine tastings. Presented by Forbes & Associates: Sarah Corliss, produced by Westhaven Center for the Arts. For more info, call (707) 834-2479 or visit trinidadartnight.com. THE LIGHTHOUSE GRILL 355 Main St. Genise Smith, digital art; Susan Mayclin Stephenson, note…
Red Flags and Surprises
STRANGE DARLING. That a movie like this (not that I can say I’ve ever seen one) should exist, much less be available in theaters in a remote little outpost like ours, speaks to something promising in the business of American movies. Pardon the optimism. I’ve joined my voice to the chorus of lamentation about the…
‘Kudos to All’
Editor: Big shout out to our Humboldt County Supervisors Natalie Arroyo, Rex Bohn, Michelle Bushnell, Steve Madrone and Mike Wilson for bringing Justin Zabel’s brainchild, The Rumble Over the Redwoods air show, successfully to our community (Calendar, Aug. 8). Kudos to all. As this marvelous event unfolded last weekend, many in the horse community were…
‘More Equal Than Others’
Editor: A fair amount of letters submitted decries, in my view and others, the heavy handed response to the protests at Cal Poly and ads supporting said response (Mailbox, Aug. 22). The problem is that most of those mentioned are elected positions. They can be voted out of office. The electorate, without the benefit of our…
‘Too Bad’
Editor: I am really pleased to see your report “Humboldt Cannabis Wins Big at Fair” (Aug. 15). It points to the glory awaiting our county and its rightfully premier industry! Too bad, though, your paper has bypassed the many growers, licensed and not, who pump out of creeks nights and weekends, run big but ignored…
‘Back into the Sunlight’
Editor: Thank you for the epic tale of Aaron Bjorkstrand (“Freeing Aaron Bjorkstrand,” Aug. 22). The lawyers in the Humboldt County Public Defender’s Office are like the heroes of Greek myths who toil endlessly to drag a soul up from the grim kingdom of Hades, back into the sunlight. Both time and space have a…
‘A Lifetime Lesson’
Editor: I give tours at Humboldt Botanical Garden to groups of seniors, families, school summer camp, sorority sisters, horticulture and science societies, visitors from around the world, college students, cruise ship tourists and one 100-year-old lady’s birthday outing with her family (Calendar, Aug. 22). I get many warm appreciative comments at the gate as I…
