Cover Story
Get to Work
At a little house on Maplewood Drive, the radio is tuned to KRED and a country song swings its way across the windswept, sunny lot in McKinleyville’s newest 32-acre subdivision. Building Trades teacher Dave Enos is in the garage with a clutch of high school students, engrossed in fixing a broken saw. Out back, young…
UPDATE: McKinleyville Wreck Brings Vehicle Fatality Toll Up to 17
UPDATE: The CHP announced that the vehicle found in the Trinity River did not have a body in it as previously believed. From the CHP: On 06/29/2017, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) Humboldt Area continued our investigation into a traffic collision which resulted in a vehicle submerged within the Trinity River off of Highway 96.…
Jury Convicts 1, Acquits Another in Marijuana Deal Shooting
Two years after a 38-year-old Arcata resident was shot to death in what officials say was a marijuana deal gone bad, a jury has found one man guilty of second degree murder but acquitted another on all charges. Billy Joe Giddings was convicted in the death Trevor Mark Harrison, who was shot in his mother’s…
Country Music Singer Tries to Mainstream Humboldt Cannabis
Continuing his now decades-long attempt to strum along to the zeitgeist of popular culture, country music singer Toby Keith recently released a song titled “Wacky Tobaccy,” and, guess what? Yeah, it mentions Humboldt County. “You got your Mexican and Jamaican with those buds of blue/ Humboldt County and Hydroponic too/ Okeechobee Purple from down in…
Eureka Motorcyclist 16th Vehicle Fatality of 2017
A motorcyclist who collided with a car yesterday on Broadway is the 16th roadway fatality of 2017. The biker, a 39-year old man whose name has not yet been released, was riding southbound at around 6:20 p.m. yesterday when he collided with a northbound car near the intersection of Broadway and Sunset Road. The reason for…
Music Tonight: Monday, June 26
Spaghetti western fans should catch Portland’s Roselit Bone. The band is on the road supporting its newest album Blister Steel, which just came out earlier this month. American Standard Time describes their sound as something “like Marty Robbins meets The Cramps, or a Goblin soundtrack to a spaghetti western, ranchero fantasy meets greased up country…
ReZist!
Political comedian/singer-songwriter Roy Zimmerman brings his 90-minute show ReZist to the Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on Tuesday, June 27 at 7:30 p.m. ($20 suggested donation, no one turned away). Hear his humorous take on racism, income inequality, guns, climate change, creationism, same-sex marriage, ignorance, war and greed and other light-hearted stuff.
HumBug: Getting Butterflies
Hurray! The recent warm days have brought out the butterflies. One of my favorite butterflies is the red admiral (Vanessa atalanta). It was pictured on the cover of my first little bug book the, Golden Guide of Insects. That was before the advent of bar codes and ISBN numbers. Unfortunately, it was not common in my…
Music Tonight: Sunday, June 25
Rock is on tap tonight at The Alibi in Arcata from two out-of-town bands. Some ’70s-inspired hard rock will be delivered by Banquet out of San Francisco. They’re joined at around 11 p.m. by Love Gang, who are out from Denver and play psychedelic rock. It’s a $5 cover charge for this rare Sunday Alibi…
Music Tonight: Saturday, June 24
Eel River Brewing Company in Fortuna has a bit of a party going on today with live music starting around 1 p.m. and featuring local bands Lone Star Junction, Kindred Spirits and The Kent Stephenson Band. Music goes until about 7 p.m., I believe, and it (the music) is all free. Vintage Americana fans the…
Putting a Bird Back On It
You may recall that on Dec. 3, 2015, some damn fool(s) wrenched one of the 5 1/2-foot-long aluminum birds off Jack Sewell’s “Following Current Events,” kinetic sculpture at the C Street Market Square. The bird, which sat high up in the 23-foot-tall piece, never was returned. However, after a year of working to secure funding from…
Sheriff’s Office IDs Inmate Who Died in Custody
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has identified the woman who died in custody at around 3 a.m. this morning as Colleen Marie Branch, 36, of Eureka. Branch was in the jail’s medical unit to detox off an undisclosed substance, according to Lt. Mike Fridley. She was discovered by a staff member at around 2:45 a.m.…
Music Tonight: Friday, June 23
If you want to return to MRB this evening, some funky blues is on the bill courtesy of Jenni & David and the Sweet Soul Band, who will also be on at 6 p.m. and for free. Bring the kids along and get them something from the half-pint menu. Left Coast blues musician and guitar…
Summer in the Triangle
Hot town, Summer in the Triangle … it’s Eel River Brewing Co.’s all-day summer kick-off party Saturday, June 24 with live music by Lone Star Junction, Kindred Spirits and the Kent Stephenson Band starting at 1 p.m., plus local artisan vendors, games and activities for all ages, and cold beer for 21 and up (free…
Music Tonight: Thursday, June 22
Not that you ever need an excuse to catch some sunshine and sea air up at the Mad River Brewery Tap Room in Blue Lake, but you’ve got plenty of good options this weekend. Start off by catching locals Blase Bonpane and the Stellar Jays who’ll be starting around 6 p.m. and playing for free.…
Ants on Fire
[iamge-1] What better time than summer to watch a horror movie about invading ants? They’re here. You’re already pissed at them. You want to see them wiped off the face of the earth. We go to the movies for entertainment and catharsis, so get ready to feel good. Grab your bug spray and march to…
Brio Breadworks’ Bakery Open House
Check out mo’ dough risin’ at Brio Breadworks’ Bakery Open House Saturday, June 24 from 1 to 3 p.m. (free). Stop by for production demonstrations and bread tasting as the makers of everybody’s favorite companion to butter and balsamic vinegar take part in the Bread Bakers Guild of America’s Guild-Wide Bakery Open House.
‘Undermined’
Local attorney Patrik Griego is arguing that he should be allowed to proceed with his case alleging Humboldt County’s public defender doesn’t meet minimum state qualifications for the job. “By appointing an ineligible individual to serve as public defender, the (Humboldt County Board of Supervisors) undermined the public’s trust in our justice system,” Griego wrote…
About the Fourth Estate
Editor: Mr. Rick Brennan in the June 8 edition (Mailbox) claims that “The press is the enemy of the people…” This view is directly opposed to the founders’ views about a free society, which is why freedom of speech and the press was guaranteed in the First Amendment to the Constitution. A few decades ago,…
What’s that Smell?
Editor: According to a Ryan Burns article posted June 14 on the Lost Coast Outpost, Journal Publisher Judy Hodgson recently spoke to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors and “urged the board to reconsider rules about setbacks from school bus stops.” This was prompted by a neighbor’s plan to site a marijuana project directly across…
‘Scapegoat’
Editor: I have lived in Humboldt County for 37 years and I have known Mr. Blaze Boyle both as a friend and employer for about 20 years (“Masterpiece,” June 8). He is a widely skilled tradesman who has never shown, in all my extensive time associating with him, any belligerent attitudes toward police or anyone…
In Condemnation of MSG
Editor: I am not sure if you had an article about the negatives of MSG but since you are defending it (“In Defense of MSG,” June 15), I would like your readers to be able to make up their own minds. It is not really the MS that is the problem but the G in…
‘Not a Fan’
Editor: So, Judge Greenson, I am not an authentic Warriors fan (“Unpopular Opinions,” June 15). Oh, I watch, I thrill, I despair, I cheer! But no, not “a fan.” Despite watching through all those Biedrins years. And I do recall Chris Webber as a Warrior — but preferred him as a King. Loved those Kings!…
‘Political in Nature’
Editor: Ms. Silbory strikes me as being one of the “ashamed to be white crowd” (“Black Lives and Good Faith,” June 15). In her reference to the Rodney King riots, she fails to mention Reginald Denny, he was the white truck driver who was pulled from his cab and almost beaten to death by a…
This Land Belongs To … Whom?
It’s coming up on the Fourth of July and the MacBurn family has checked into KOALA (Kampground Of American Liberty for All) for their annual State of Jefferson Picnic, courtesy of Dell’Arte International. For generations, the MacBurns have had the campground to themselves — back since their cabin sat on the edge of a toxic…
Wing Men
Clever Orchids Today I was discouraged that there were a lot of people down along “my” stretch of the river. They stir up the bugs, making getting good shots difficult. Sure enough, although I saw several dragonflies, none seemed in the mood to pose, so I walked near the outer edge of the riverbed where…
‘Undermined’
Local attorney Patrik Griego is arguing that he should be allowed to proceed with his case alleging Humboldt County’s public defender doesn’t meet minimum state qualifications for the job. “By appointing an ineligible individual to serve as public defender, the (Humboldt County Board of Supervisors) undermined the public’s trust in our justice system,” Griego wrote…
Break Through
Isn’t it interesting that lately Out of the corner of my mind I sometimes glimpse Our grey cat of thirty no forty No fifty years ago When I start to reach to pet him Without thinking of course he is too quick And slips silkily away But he has visited more than once And I…
For Want and for Need
Summertime is here, and we’re all hoping the living will be easy. To make that possibility that much less certain, my wife and I decided to cut our children off from all electronic devices for the summer. While this may sound like a great idea on paper, it’s a pretty insane 21st century move when…
Girl Trouble
Reviews 47 METERS DOWN. I may have let out an audible groan when the title screen appeared: Johannes Roberts’ 47 Meters Down. If you’ve heard of Johannes Roberts, then you probably have a subscription to Fangoria, and I’m the asshole. While the director has more than a dozen credits to his name, there wasn’t a…
Shelling Out
After nearly four hours on lockdown at Mazzotti’s, judges for the Arcata Bay Oyster Festival handed in our score sheets for head Oystress Rachel Marrella and her team to tally and name the winners. Eight contenders served up raw and cooked oysters, and only four threw their hats in the ring for non-oyster honors. It’s…
A Culture of Civility
Do you have an inalienable right to anonymously spew hate speech in our comments section or anyone else’s? That’s a question that’s been thrown around a lot lately, mostly by anonymous online commenters, in response to a pair of NAACP letters to local news outlets asking them to consider the impact of the comments sections…
Game Changer
With little fanfare, state lawmakers passed a landmark bill last week that will have reverberating impacts on the state’s budding marijuana industry. Attached to the Legislature’s votes on the state budget was a rider that will essentially merge the landmark Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MCRSA) and Proposition 64 into a single regulatory framework…
Fair Share
The Best of Humboldt Fair is back June 22-25 at Redwood Acres Fairgrounds ($12, $5 senior and youth admission, free for military and kids under 6; carnival tickets sold separately). Enjoy the “best of” local local arts, crafts, food and more at the fairgrounds in four buildings and on the racetrack. This year’s fair includes…
