Cover Story
Past Lives of the Coral Sea
After sitting neglected in a Florida harbor for weeks, home only to some dirty dishes and a feral cat that lived in the engine room, the Coral Sea was wired for video and audio by Florida’s Drug Enforcement Administration. The agency’s undercover informant, a drug smuggler turned snitch, invited his partners and suppliers onto the…
Dinsmore Homesteader’s Artwork Featured at deYoung
From Haight Street to a Humboldt County homestead: It’s a familiar story for many back-to-the-landers who arrived in our region in the late ’60s and early ’70s, fresh from the 1967 Summer of Love. Dottie Simmons, who settled down in Humboldt County in 1968, made her homestead near Dinsmore, raising kids, canning preserves and starting…
Arcata Considers Sanctuary City Status
Officially labeling Arcata a “sanctuary city” or leaving out the phrase but reaffirming by resolution the city’s commitment to “safeguarding the civil rights, safety and dignity” of all its residents — regardless of legal status — are among the options before the council at tonight’s meeting. Former Councilmember Dave Meserve urged the council back in…
Music Tonight – Wednesday, April 5
It’s Pints for Nonprofits/Not-for-profits tonight/afternoon at the Mad River Brewery Tap Room benefiting the Northcoast Environmental Center and they’re bringing the music starting at 4 p.m. with Caveman Dave followed by “members of Thursday Night Bluegrass” and then the Mad River Rounders. It’s all free, but as you know, a buck from every pint sold…
Rockabilly, Blues and Dancing Shoes
The music and dancing started early and went late on Saturday and Sunday this past weekend at the Redwood Coast Music Festival. The musicians and audience members again circled Eureka venues throughout both days. (You can see photos of Thursday and Friday’s festivities here.) My Saturday goals were to watch the dance contests, catch Gino…
Large-Scale Drug Treatment Coming to the MAC?
At long last, a large-scale alcohol and drug treatment facility complete with medical detox services may be coming to Humboldt County. The Eureka City Council is slated tonight to receive a report on a proposal to add drug and alcohol treatment services to its Multiple Assistance Center, which currently serves as a homeless intake center…
Music Tonight – Tuesday, April 4
I guess I’ll just stay with Humboldt Brews now as no one else sent me word about shows tonight. “Melodic visionaries” and beloved Ohio jam rockers The Werks are in town tonight supporting their new record Magic. Expect some rock with a dash of improvisation and small touches of soul while they play some of…
Swingtime
Last weekend the streets of Eureka filled with musicians and audience members who love good music and who love to dance. A packed, repeating schedule of performances of New Orleans jazz, blues, rockabilly and Cajun music by award-winning performers kept them and audience members rotating around venues at the Adorni Center, Morris Graves, the Eureka…
Music Tonight – Monday, April 3
Sticking with Humboldt Brews for a bit, That 1 Guy returns to the stage tonight. You may remember him stopping by a few months back playing that one thing. It looks like a sort of fancy plumbing diagnostic device which can actually generate a whole host of cool sounds. His press release states that he…
Bomb Squad Responding to Suspicious Device Report
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office bomb squad is mobilizing and responding to a report of a suspicious device on F Street near Henderson Center in Eureka. Eureka Police Chief Andrew Mills confirmed the bomb squad was being called in to investigate the suspicious device but few details are currently available about what was found, where…
HumBug: Hitching a Ride
Hoping to attract one of the huge and impressive Ceanothus or Polyphemus moths that live hereabouts, I’ve been running a light trap when it isn’t raining too hard — so far without luck. You never really know what might show up and last night was no exception. Among the expected looper moths, crane flies and…
TL;DR: Adventures on the Coral Sea
Couldn’t read the cover story this week? Don’t sweat it. But if you want the Journal to take you on a voyage of undercover drug operations, diving dogs and shipwrecked treasure aboard the Coral Sea research vessel you should click here. This week we took a deep dive into the rich history of Humboldt State University’s…
Music Tonight – Sunday, April 2
An “acoustic power trio” comprised of mandolinist John Reischman, guitarist Scott Nygaard and bassist Sharon Gilchrist steeped in the bluegrass and folk genres plays tonight. Two of these three are Grammy winners but I won’t mention which as to not embarrass the third on the off chance they read this column. But now you know…
Arched Enemies
Kids today. Do they even know how to wage a public feud? Because honey. Back in the day, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford deployed withering shade and brutal barbs that put today’s Hollywood beef to shame. Only imagine if they’d had Twitter. If you didn’t get enough on cable TV, the Humboldt County Library film…
Date (and Bacon) Night
We initially missed the bar tucked away in the back of the Diver Bar and Grill (2830 F St., Eureka) and despite the name and the diving helmet logo, it’s not a seafood place. But given our current socio-political climate, is this really the biggest shock you’ve had lately? Shake it off. Finally inside after…
Almost 50 Guns Surrendered in Eureka Buy Back
The Eureka Police Department took almost 50 guns off the streets last weekend in a two-day buy back program that gave people a chance to surrender their firearms, no questions asked. Capt. Steve Watson said a total of 48 guns — 26 handguns, 12 shotguns and 10 rifles — were turned in during the event,…
Music Tonight – Saturday, April 1
The Yokels are providing the rockabilly soul soundtrack to your beer drinking this evening at 6 p.m. at the Mad River Brewery in Blue Lake for free. If you’re not too tipsy after this one, you can catch locals Diggin’ Dirt wrapping up their album release tour at The Jam around 9 p.m. They’ve been…
Music Tonight – Friday, March 31
Not to be confused with another local band with a similar name — no cease and desist letters have been sent out from what I know — Orick’s Redwood Ramblers are coming down south to the Mad River Brewery at 6 p.m. to play their classic country tunes for you. Again, this one’s free, but…
Havana Nights
For its 11th annual fundraiser, Trinidad School Education Foundation hosts Havana Nights on Saturday, April 1 from 5 p.m. to midnight. It’s an evening full of dancing, music, auctions and “a mouth-watering Cuban menu” at Trinidad Town Hall ($50).
Home Sweet Beer
Get your taste buds hoppin’ and enjoy some homegrown brews at the Humboldt Homebrew Festival this Saturday, April 1 from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Arcata Community Center. Taste over 90 homebrewed creations, paired with Blackberry Bramble BBQ and live local music. It’s a time to remember (if you don’t get too buzzed from…
Music Tonight – Thursday, March 30
Some swing jazz is on the menu this evening at the Mad River Brewery Tasting Room at 6 p.m. for free with regulars Fred & Jr. Don’t bother asking if they’re related (they’re not). For something a bit more rockin’, head down to the Redwood Curtain Brewery in Arcata for some rock/blues from locals The…
Honoring California Native Americans
Check out California native dances and songs and, meet tribal leaders from all over the state and learn about tribal diversity at the California Big Time and Social Gathering this weekend. The annual event by Humboldt State students in the Native American Center for Academic Excellence is in its 10th year. Its purpose is to…
Rebel Craft Rumble
Get ready to ruuuummmmbbblllle! The Arcata Playhouse brings you four teams locked in a fierce competition of creative critical problem solving in the Rebel Craft Rumble going down on Saturday, April 1 at 6 p.m. Tickets are $20 to see the live art competition, where the winner is named Ultimate Supreme Craft Master.
Red Handed
The Eureka Police Department has a new weapon in its arsenal to combat serial shoplifters: The threat of jail time. Dogged by complaints that, due to realignment and a crowded jail, shoplifters are often just booked and immediately released to offend again, EPD announced last week that it will work with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s…
I am the Dammed Klamath River
I am trapped because a dam is in the way. I go nowhere because a dam is in the way. I am not free because a dam is in the way. I have been dammed for a long time. I know the way of the current. I know the way of the salmon. I know…
Counterpoint
Almost on cue, the Drug and Alcohol Dependence journal has published a groundbreaking study indicating that states with medical marijuana programs are seeing substantially lower rates of opioid addiction and overdose. The study, set to be published in the April edition of the journal, is grabbing headlines just weeks after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions…
It’s Nothing. Really.
“Nothing” is about as slippery a concept as you can — or rather can’t — imagine. Try to picture absolutely nothing at all. Is your nothing black, empty, soundless? Sorry, that’s something. Those are all qualities, that is, you’re imagining a something, located, perhaps, in space and time (something!) that happens to be black, empty…
Scone Away from Home
As a 20-year-old, I took a year off from the sunny, politically charged campus of Berkeley to study abroad. Considering myself a quasi-intellectual, I chose a country known for it’s moody skies, great writers and charming pubs. Arriving by ferry across the Celtic Sea, the cobblestone streets of Cork, Ireland, became my home for the…
Motivation
Reviews LIFE. Offered a movie combining a screenplay by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, of Deadpool (2016) and Zombieland (2009), and the direction of Daniel Espinosa (Safe House, 2012), one would not necessarily expect that movie to be dark, scary or at times meditative. Nor could one be faulted for being surprised that that movie,…
Containment Strategy
David Zdrazil’s gnarled, earth-toned vessels stay close to the ground, while Shannon Sullivan’s sleek ceramic discs cluster like tethered balloons on the gallery walls, pushing back against their own intrinsic weightiness. The Eureka-based ceramics artists, who show new work this month at Humboldt State University’s Third Street Gallery, exhibit, live and work together — they…
A Bloody End
The final years of Richard of Gloucester, in which he became Richard III and was crowned king of England, were violent, tumultuous ones. They served as the final chapter of the War of the Roses, a bloody bit of business that spanned about three decades in late 15th century England. William Shakespeare’s Richard III, first…
First Saturday Night Arts Alive!
Presented by Eureka Main Street. Opening receptions for artists, exhibits and performances are held the first Saturday of each month, 6-9 p.m. For more information, phone Eureka Main Street at 442-9054 or go to www.eurekamainstreet.org A TASTE OF BIM 613 Third St. Featuring art by Susan S. ADORNI CENTER 1011 Waterfront Drive Barbara Saul, paintings.…
The Vagaries of Family Survival
One of my favorite purveyors of family accounts was my great aunt Violet’s treasured cousin Ramona. Back in the days of her spritely late 80s (she passed away when she was 97), I would pick her up from her home in Eureka (sometimes with little or no notice) and take her to visit Auntie Vi…
Goodbye, and Thanks
Editor: As president of the Eureka Heritage Society, I can say that we were honored on Feb. 4 to hold our annual meeting at Roy’s Club (“Last Night at Roy’s,” Feb. 23). As a part of the meeting, members of the Fanucchi family — Evo, Ida and Catherine — shared some of their family stories…
Sandbox Rules?
Editor: Does the president think he rules from the sandbox? Time magazine has devoted an issue to the words of President Trump. The cover features the question, “Is Truth Dead?” written in large red letters on a plain black background. Inside the magazine is an extensive interview with President Trump, much of which is a…
No Reception?
Editor: When Thadeus Greenson mentioned in his article (“Slightly Less Awful,” March 23) that there has never been a documented overdose death due to marijuana, it touched on something I’ve wondered about. The psychotropic effect of THC is a receptor-based phenomenon. THC molecules latch onto receptors located on the surfaces of brain cells and then…
Equal Pay Day
Editor: This Tuesday, April 4, is equal pay day. Equal pay day is the day when women’s earnings add up to men’s earnings from the previous year. It may sound like something to celebrate, but it is in reality something that many women do not want to celebrate. Actually, it is something that nobody should…
Yes, Vulnerable
Editor: Regarding “Who Are You Calling Vulnerable?” (Mailbox, March 23), in which a series of questions were posed by the author, pertaining to the “liberal progressive” notion of immigrant inclusion. In his letter, Mr. Damon specifically chose to focus on philosophically irredeemable immigrants who are (1) engaged in crimes that threaten American lives, (2) repeat…
It All Flows Downriver
Editor: The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has thoroughly documented the extensive environmental damage caused by tens of thousands of “cannabis” grows in Humboldt and Mendocino counties. Stream diversion, water pollution by chemical fertilizers, forest canopy loss over creeks caused by “clearing” — all have devastating effects on trout and salmon populations. Ultimately one…
Sweat the Small Stuff
When I check my phone for news updates, all the stories seem like so much noise. I want to shut it all off. There’s the report of something Congress didn’t do. Then there are the stories on Trump’s Twitter response. Then there are the responses to Trump’s tweets. Everyone seems to be shouting at each…
The Godfather
Just like many of you, I can remember exactly where I was when I first heard James Brown. I was a kid riding along in my mother’s car in the morning with the radio on. Her favorite station would play what they called “golden oldies,” which didn’t mean much to me as an 8-year old.…
Redwood Coast Music Festival
Jump in the swing of things with live music all weekend at Redwood Coast Music Festival. On March 30-April 2, get your groove on to some jazz and blues all over the City of Eureka. For special pricing and other information visit www.redwoodjazz.org. Or give them a call at 445-3378.
