Cover Story
‘A Work in Progress’
When Humboldt State University students left campus last spring, a cloud hung over Arcata. It still does. The April 15 stabbing death of HSU sophomore David Josiah Lawson at an off-campus party remains unsolved and many of the feelings unveiled in the aftermath of the killing remain unresolved. Lawson’s death — and the protests, vigils…
Fair Champs
On an unusually hot, sunny day on Sunday in Ferndale at the Humboldt County Fair, the Junior Livestock Auction attracted a large crowd of willing and generous bidders on the well-fed and well-cared-for animals and birds offered for sale by 250 local young 4-H and Future Farmers of America exhibitors. Many individuals and businesses responded…
Arkley Emails Foreshadow Litigation over Tuluwat Island
Twenty days before he went on KINS Radio’s “Talkshop” program and touched off a public firestorm by musing aloud about the city of Eureka’s “giving away” Indian Island to the Wiyot Tribe, Robin P. Arkley II had some questions. A letter dated July 11, sent from Arkley’s company Security National to Eureka City Manager Greg…
Man Sentenced to 52 years to Life in Arcata Shooting
Two months after being convicted by a jury of second degree murder, Billy Joe Giddings, 38, was sentenced today to 52 years to life in prison for the death of Arcata resident Trevor Mark Harrison in a marijuana deal gone wrong. Another defendant, Robert Louis Huntzinger, was acquitted but still faces charges in unrelated cases.…
Federal Jury Hits County with $2.5 Million Wrongful Death Verdict
A federal jury in McKinleyville this afternoon awarded $2.5 million in damages to the family of a man who died at the Humboldt County jail in 2014, finding three correctional officers acted negligently when they failed to properly screen him before putting him in a sobering cell. The jury also found that the county failed…
HumBug: Oregon Bugs
Although my primary reasons for going to Oregon were visiting family and eclipse watching, I did manage to get in a little bug hunting as well. One of the nice things about the hobby is you can do it nearly anywhere outside of Antarctica. Central Oregon’s high desert is a far cry from our coastal…
TL;DR: Why You Need to Join the Conversation in This Week’s Cover Story
Busy week? We get it. So in the event that you haven’t been able to find the time to sit down and dive into last week’s cover package, here’s a brief primer to get you caught up and, hopefully, convince you to take a look at the full story. When Humboldt State University students left…
Music Tonight: Sunday, Aug. 27
The Trinidad Bay Art and Music Festival wraps up today with three concerts at two venues. The first begins at Holy Trinity Church at 11 a.m. with preludes, dances and counterpoint with Peter Kibbe on the cello. Then at 2 p.m. you’ll find soprano Clara Lisle and powerhouse pianist Daniela Mineva at Trinidad Town Hall…
APD Touts Progress, Urges Patience in Lawson Investigation
Arcata Police Chief Tom Chapman is asking for patience as his department continues to investigate the killing of of a Humboldt State University student last April. “It’s frustrating for people that nobody’s in custody and it seems like nothing’s happening, but that’s far from the truth,” Chapman says. “A lot of things have happened in…
Music Tonight: Saturday, Aug. 26
Day two of the Trinidad Bay Art and Music Festival gets underway at 2 p.m. at Trinidad Town Hall with Tales of the Baroque with Trio Seraphim. Four hours later, you’ll find dance music courtesy of the Delta Nationals outside at the Mad River Brewery playing for free. Mon Petit Chou is at Cafe Mokka…
UPDATE: Eureka Fatal Shooting Victim ID’d
UPDATE: The Eureka Police Department has identified the man fatally shot in a residence in the 1300 block of Seventh Street as Frederick William Loftus, 58. PREVIOUS: David Alan Kobak was arrested this evening after the 75-year-old allegedly shot and killed a man at a Eureka house before summoning police to the scene at around…
Humboldt Resident Contracts West Nile Virus
Humboldt County has its first confirmed case of West Nile Virus in four years, but officials believe the risk is minimal because the infected resident contracted the virus while travelling abroad. The resident was asymptomatic and the virus was detected during a routine blood donation screening, according to a press release. West Nile — which…
Thirsty for Hops in Humboldt
Grab some broad-spectrum sunblock, eat a stomach-lining breakfast and buy your designated driver a ticket for Hops in Humboldt on Saturday, Aug. 26 from 1 to 5 p.m. in Fortuna’s Rohner Park ($45, $35 advance, $75 VIP, $10 non-drinkers). If you’ve never been or your memory of the last one is fuzzy, here are some…
Wiyot Day
Celebrate Wiyot culture and sovereignty at Table Bluff Reservation on Saturday, Aug. 26 starting at 3 p.m. (free). Wiyot Day features traditional dances, games, cooking demonstrations, art and craft vendors and more.
Fair Enough
You’re not crazy — the end of summer ritual that is the Humboldt County Fair is starting later than usual this year on Wednesday, Aug. 23, running through Monday, Sept. 4. ($10, $7 seniors 62 and over, $5 kids 6-12, free to kids under 6, free for kids after 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday). Exhibits,…
Barntini!
Toast the fine work of Jacoby Creek Land Trust, Humboldt Wildlife Care Center and Bird Ally X at Barntini! On Friday, Aug. 25 at 5:30 p.m. at Kokte Ranche and Nature Preserve ($35, $30 advance). There’ll be a schmancy taco bar, beer, wine and cider, and tunes from the Vanishing Pints, Belles of the Levee…
Recruit Then Retain
When Alexander Enyedi arrived in town from Western Michigan in January of 2016 to take over as Humboldt State University’s new provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, his United Airlines flight from San Francisco touched down after dark in a driving rain. He’d mailed some of his possessions out ahead of him, and they…
Bring Me the Numbers
Data is a lovely thing. Many is the evening I’ve passed in the Journal office, whistling over a warm, freshly-printed batch of documents, a fistful of various-colored highlighters, Post-It notes and paperclips standing by to help me weave raw numbers into sturdy prose. There’s something so satisfying about finding a cache of information that backs…
A Restoration Prayer
As I walked into the Arcata Police Department, I was immediately aware of the posters on every wall of David Josiah Lawson. His smiling brown eyes and kind face reawakened the unanswered questions that I’ve had the privilege of placing in a dusty corner of my brain all summer, covered in white skin and blond…
Reunion
I am in a state of panic, deep-cleaning the refrigerator. I have also vacuumed the garage and deadheaded every petunia on the property. In a text this morning, I told my friend Peri that attending tonight’s high school reunion felt like opening a grave. Later, while obsessively cobwebbing the upstairs windows, I think it’s not…
Hum Plate Round-up
Welcome to the Neighborhood Let us pause to appreciate the neighborhood taco truck. True, the trucks parked beside your favorite watering holes are doing the Lord’s work, putting tasty, blessedly absorbent food in our bellies when most we need it. But get caught up in yard work past lunch or come home from work to…
The Power of a Simple Song
As summer slips away from us, many of us parents are now thankfully transitioning back into school mode where we can unload our kids for five to six hours a day, five days a week. The days of juggling work schedules to get kiddos to camp on time and pleading with family members to look…
The Boys are Back
Reviews THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD. For those who would have assumed — not unreasonably — that the buddy action comedy had become a relic, a memory of two and half decades past, here is this. It’s doubtful it will spur a resurgence of that erstwhile genre, enjoyable and disposable as it may have been. But The…
Science. It Works, etc.
No stranger to controversy, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins (The Selfish Gene) invited it in spades during an appearance at Oxford University in February of 2013. Asked for evidence that scientific theory was valid, he responded, “[Science] works! Planes fly. Cars drive. Computers compute. If you base medicine on science, you cure people. If you base…
Where We Left Off
The faces of Humboldt State University are changing and that’s a good thing. For everyone. It’s almost impossible to overstate HSU’s impact on Humboldt County. First, there are the raw numbers — it employs some 1,500 people, paying them around $100 million in annual wages. Of its roughly 8,500 students, 15 percent are local, meaning…
#IsThisUs?
Editor: In your powerful piece on Charlottesville (“#ThisIsAbsolutelyUs,” Aug. 17), authors Cahill and Greenson remind us that slavery and the massacre of native peoples in North America date back to the 1600s. Additionally, Jewish refugees arrived in that century: descendants of 200,000 Spanish and Portuguese Jews, driven from their homes in 1492. Unsettled for generations,…
Silent Gratitude
Editor, Thank you, Andy Powell (“In Defense of Silence,” Aug. 17)! I love rock ‘n’ roll and I like it loud. I’ve lived out here for 40 years with over half of them a few hundred feet from (some say) one of the best swimming holes on the Salmon River. Actually, I’m so close that…
‘Unsung Heroes’
Editor: I want to thank Thadeus Greenson for another fine piece of investigative journalism on the stench surrounding the public defender’s office (“‘Nibs’ and ‘The Taz,'” Aug. 10). It is been my privilege to work with any number of fine attorneys over the course of my career as a psychologist, most of them intelligent, well-trained,…
Corrections
The photo featured in “Seeds and Surfing,” in the Aug. 10, 2017 edition of the North Coast Journal was mistakenly credited to the wrong photographer. Evan Moore took the photo and the image is courtesy of CannaGraphics and The Humboldt Seed Co. Additionally, the editorial headlined “#ThisIsAbsolutelyUs” in the Aug. 17, 2017 edition included a pair…
Bright Lights, Small Town
Growing up in Humboldt County, there was nothing more exciting than the day my parents would announce that we were going to the Fair. They would bundle us kids into the car and make the rambling trek to Ferndale. As we crossed the bridge and headed into the summer fog, I would wait for that…
Paula Poundstone Takes the Stage
Take a break from hot takes and treat yourself to veteran comedian and cat lady Paula Poundstone’s odd takes. The Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me panelist brings her stand up to the Van Duzer Theatre on Saturday, Aug. 26 at 8 p.m. ($49). Don’t worry — there won’t be a quiz.
