Prove Them Wrong
Betty Chinn just keeps moving, carrying an entire community along with her
Cover Story
Prove Them Wrong
It’s easy to forget that it wasn’t always like this for Betty Chinn, that she didn’t always have a gleaming building with her name on it or public officials singing her praises. It’s easy to forget that there were many days in the not-so-distant past — before she was honored by the president of the…
San Diego Homesick Blues
Now and then, you may see a faraway look in the eyes of those of us without Frumboldt stickers on our cars, who hail from elsewhere but were lured here by Humboldt’s verdant charms (or perhaps the charms of a Humboldter). We long for the food of our homelands. You may wave a hand in…
Restraining Order Blocks Budget Motel Evictions
The city of Eureka’s efforts to shutter the Budget Motel on Fourth Street have been put on hold. This afternoon Bradford Floyd, a local attorney representing the Budget Motel’s owner, David Kushwaha, received a temporary restraining order to halt the city’s plans to clear the property tomorrow. On the heels of a recent code inspection…
Lawsuit seeks hefty fines for 5 coastal commissioners
Del Norte County Supervisor Martha McClure is one of five coastal commissioners facing thousands — if not millions — of dollars in fines in a civil lawsuit alleging they failed to “disclose private, ‘ex-parte’ meetings with developers, lobbyists and other individuals” as required by law. The lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court last month…
All Species, All the Time
The Same Old People’s 43rd annual North Country Fair continued on Sunday with a large crowd gathered to watch the All Species Parade. It featured the Arcata Playhouse’s large and small creatures and a wide mix of puppets and other life forms marching twice around the plaza. Attendees also checked out performances by local bands…
A ‘Moral Obligation’: Eureka Celebrates Family Shelter Opening
A host of elected officials and community members turned out Friday to catch a first glimpse of Betty Chinn’s new family shelter, which will be up and running in the next couple of weeks. “I’m here as your congressman, but I’m also here like all of you, as a fan of Betty Chinn,” said North…
Samba and Sunshine
The two-day 43rd annual North Country Fair got off to a bright start on a warm, sunny Saturday on the Arcata Plaza. Organized by the Same Old People since 1974, the zero-waste, family-friendly festival features 170 art and craft vendors, three music and entertainment stages, local food booths and activities for children. Members of Trillium…
HumBug: Uninvited Guests
The black lights of my “light trap” don’t make for a regular trap; the insects are free to come and go as they please. That’s the trick, though — the lights are irresistible. Moths, of course, come by the dozens, but there are others. An opportunistic praying mantis seeks an easy dinner. A burying beetle…
Minor Affair
On Friday night, after a furious round of renovations, the Minor Theatre opened again in Arcata with a black-tie celebration and a night of local independent films. After a decade of corporate ownership, the movie house is in the hands of Josh Neff and partner Merrick McKinlay, who promise a steady schedule of independent, foreign…
No Charges in Fatal June Crash
The Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office has opted not to pursue criminal charges against a 21-year-old woman who lost control of her truck on State Route 299 in June, killing a hitchhiker she’d picked up earlier in the day. The California Highway Patrol arrested Adryan Nicole Pollock, of Eureka, on June 16 at the scene…
The People’s Party
Every third weekend in September, the Arcata Plaza swells as thousands of revelers, families, dancers, artists, musicians, crafters and makers gather for the North Country Fair. This year, the fair falls on Saturday, Sept. 17 and Sunday, Sept. 18, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (free) and promises all the usual fun by The Same…
UPDATE: Court Document Indicates Kitchen was ‘Extremely Intoxicated’
2nd UPDATE: Marcia “Marci” Kitchen pleaded not guilty to both charges facing her this afternoon and denied all special allegations during a brief arraignment. She’s next scheduled to appear in court Sept. 29, with a hearing set Oct. 6 to determine if there is enough evidence to hold her to stand trial in the case.…
House Lights Up
The Minor Theatre, Arcata’s iconic and beloved movie house, is cleaned up, back under local ownership and ready for its close-up. A decade ago, under corporate rule, the Minor shifted to playing the same blockbusters and mainstream films as everywhere else, and a piece of many an arthouse-film-loving Humboldtian died. The Minor had always been…
A Bigger Battle
Editor: Though I thoroughly enjoyed the rabid fox article (“The Battle of Orleans,” Sept. 8) it is unfortunately not the only, or most important, battle playing out in Eastern Humboldt right now. There is currently a public service announcement playing on the radio from the Humboldt County Office of Education. The message is a reminder…
True Ward or Bust
Editor: This November, Eureka voters can establish a True Ward representative democracy in city council elections. Measure P means that only you and your neighbors will choose who represents you on the council. With the present all-at-large system, your economic, ethnic and cultural interests can be overruled by voters elsewhere. This has happened before. With…
Keep the Majority
Editor: Eureka residents elected a progressive majority to the city council for the first time in the city’s history two years ago. Just two short years later, we are at risk of losing that majority and handing our city government back to the good-ole-boy network that has been dominating our city and county government for…
Week in Weed
It looks like medical marijuana businesses will soon be welcome in Eureka. And in the eyes of patients, those in the industry and even some proponents of good governance, it’s about damn time. A divided Eureka City Council recently voted 3-2, with councilmembers Melinda Ciarabellini and Marian Brady dissenting, to move forward with permitting and…
What Will Happen to Ma and Pa?
We decay. It happens slowly — our knuckles swell, our eyes cloud with cataracts, we forget names that we used to speak with love. Or it happens quickly, at the pace of a rogue clot or a reckless driver. For most of us, the day comes when managing our bodies requires the assistance of others.…
The Cooking Ape, Part 2
Last week, I discussed how cooking morphed us from ape to human by increasing the amount of energy we obtain from food, according to anthropologist and primatologist Richard Wrangham. Before cooking was invented, he says, we were essentially apes. After, we were on our way to becoming who we are today, with our comparatively small…
Hero Sum
Reviews SULLY. Clint Eastwood has been directing movies for 45 years now, acting in them (less frequently, of late) for more than 60, and it shows. As much as his reverence/obsession with American heroism can occasionally obscure the fact, he knows how to tell a story on screen. American Sniper (2014) waved the flag a…
Survival of the Fittest?
Charles Darwin almost did not join HMS Beagle’s round-the-world voyage as the official naturalist. Professing a fear of blood, dissection and taxidermy — not to mention never having been to sea — he was an unlikely candidate for the role. But the strength of his quest for scientific knowledge prevailed, thanks to an appreciation of…
Dropping the Bass
Over a quick cup of coffee at Ramone’s recently, I had a chance to sit down and chat music with Humboldt County 4th District Supervisor Virginia Bass. I was curious about her experience with the local music scene and shows she had seen while growing up in Eureka. Although she shyly admitted that she didn’t…
Climate Change
Ascending Allwardt Creek, on slippery stones Our senses sharpened, suddenly we froze: Before us lay a Fisher’s whitened bones All perfectly aligned, from tooth to toes. It curled so naturally, as if asleep — Like little Kurdi, on the Turkish beach; Or Inca princess, bared by glacial creep — This relic too had something it…
Beautiful Beans
Some plants have a lot going for them. Take, for example, scarlet runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus). Their clusters of bright scarlet flowers are quite ornamental, the pods can be consumed as snap beans when young or they can be allowed to mature for fresh shell or dry beans. True, the green pods are not particularly…
