Death Visits the Zoo
What 10 years of necropsy reports tell us about life and death at the Sequoia Park Zoo
Cover Story
What’s In 10 Years’ Worth of Sequoia Park Zoo Animal Autopsies
“Monty” was not feeling well. The 17-year-old male Pygora goat’s osteoarthritis had stopped responding to medication. In the extreme upper age range for his species, which usually lives to 14, the ram was in otherwise good health, with the veterinarian reporting his skin, heart and urinary system were all normal. But due to his chronic…
Nationwide Morphine Shortage Impacting Local Hospitals
Local healthcare providers have been struggling to supply patients with injectable morphine, according to representatives from St. Joseph, Mad River and Jerold Phelps hospitals. “This is a very multi-faceted topic, not limited to opiates alone,” Terry Lerma, director of pharmacy services at St. Joseph Hospital told the Journal. “Most of the nation has been grappling…
Police Investigate School Threat, Deem it Not Credible
Police investigated a suspicious note found on the Arcata High School Campus yesterday that contained a “threat of violence” but determined it not to be credible. According to an Arcata Police Department press release issued this evening, the note threatened that the unspecified violent act would be carried out tomorrow, May 24. Police and the…
Mass Shooting Drill at Mad River Community Hospital Tonight
Mad River Community Hospital will be conducting a mass shooting drill tonight with the Humboldt State University Police Department, United Indian Health Services and Arcata Fire to test the hospital’s ability to accommodate a sudden influx of patients during an emergency. The drill taking place from 9 to 11 p.m. will include around 25 “victims,”…
Fourth Update: Two McKinleyville Women Killed in 101 Crash
FOURTH UPDATE: In a press release, the California Highway Patrol has identified the two McKinleyville women killed in yesterday’s crash as 46-year-old Terra Smith, who CHP identified as the driver, and 64-year-old Andra Cooper, her passenger. THIRD UPDATE: The California Highway Patrol reports that two unidentified McKinleyville women were killed in this afternoon’s collision on…
Music Tonight: Wednesday, May 23
Siren’s Song hosts a Hip Hop and Ladies Comedy Night at 9 p.m. ($5). The unusual assemblage features local DJs, rappers and female comedians in a likely fun mash-up. Full disclosure, I have a pig in this poke — my insanely talented middle brother Ian will be spitting his spoken-word rap stylings under the moniker…
Business Owner Doxxed Over Utility Box Art Spat
In the week since she stood before the Eureka City Council to lament the brightly painted utility box out in front of her business, Molly Green has received a lot of backlash, some from thousands of miles away. The rift began when Green showed up at her business near Fifth and G streets in Eureka…
Music Tonight: Tuesday, May 22
Why is my pulse elevated, my pupils dilated and my body hair erect? Because OG punk/thrash masters D.R.I. — Dirty Rotten Imbeciles — are playing the Arcata Vet’s Hall tonight at 7 p.m. ($20/$15 advance). And although I have listened to them since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, I have yet to see the…
The Crown: Rutabaga Style
Like the rest of the world, we put our worries aside for a few brief hours of royal watching — the dresses, the headwear, the pageantry! We refer, of course, to the annual Rutabaga Ball on Saturday, May 19 at the Arcata Community Center. Once again, the queens assembled to judge a competition of wit,…
Remembering Curley Tait, Ferndale Legend
Friends and family gathered at Belotti Hall in Ferndale May 20 to celebrate the life of Robert “Curley” Tait, a former model and Chicago blues nightclub owner who for much of his life was well known and well loved for his restaurant, Curley’s Bar and Grill, which served California-style favorites for 16 years in Ferndale.…
Want to Vote in June? Register by the Stroke of Midnight
Monday, May 21, is the last day to register to vote in California’s June 5 primary election, which will see residents in the Fourth and Fifth Districts marking their choice for supervisor, the first contested judgeship in decades and an unusually dynamic battle for auditor-controller — not to mention several unchallenged races along with candidates…
Music Tonight: Monday, May 21
So a band from Athens, Georgia, named itself Eureka California and is playing the Miniplex tonight at 8:30 p.m. (price TBA). A dip into its discography didn’t reveal the duo’s reason for such an oddly specific local name but I enjoyed the 7-inch Wigwam. Arcata California’s Super Senior and Blood Honey provide local support.
HumBug: Aphid Cows and Ladybugs
I recently wrote about spittlebugs and how their larval form covers themselves with a bubblebath of processed plant sap for protection. At the end of their last larval stage (instar) they climb out of the slimy soup, shed their skin one last time and emerge as a stout looking version of their leafhopper cousins. As adults…
Music Tonight: Sunday, May 20
Metal is on the menu tonight at the Siren’s Song at 6:30 p.m. for those suffering from twee-fatigue or iron deficiencies (price TBA). Join Yreka’s thrash masters Chains of Belmont — that has to be a Castlevania reference, right? — with Shasta Lake City’s Bullet Lobotomy and local metal mavens Muppet Hunter and Unholy Orifice…
Amid Kelp and Abalone Die-offs, State Raises Urchin Limits
The California Fish and Game Commission adopted emergency regulations this week aimed at reducing purple sea urchin populations off the North Coast. The urchin populations have exploded in recent years, part of what marine biologists call a “perfect storm” of factors contributing to the collapse of northern California kelp forests and the widespread starvation of…
Yaass, Kouign-amann
A few years ago, the kouign-amann (pronounced “queen ahmahn”) stumped the contestants on The Great British Baking Show, causing a dramatic series of light frowns and polite head scratching. The origami-folded bun with the buttery flakiness of a croissant and anchored by a caramelized sugar bottom that calls to mind the crunch of crème brûlée was a…
Music Tonight: Saturday, May 19
Rock ‘n’ roll’s afoot in Eureka and Arcata at 8 p.m. I used to call two simultaneous shows I wanted to see at different venues “slingshot shows,” which made sense to me at the time. Anyway, slingshot your way across the bay and back to catch what you can of these two if you have…
Hive Mind
Bee lovers, gather your swarm and wing it to Bee Fest 2018. Saturday, May 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Adorni Recreation Center ($1 suggested donation but all are welcome). Brought to you by the Humboldt County Beekeepers Association and E.C.O. Eureka, this all-things-bees, if-you-please, festival is honey-packed with workshops, presentations, booths,…
Hedwig Postponed Due to Injury
It looks like the 20-odd stitches Hedwig and the Angry Inch star Morgan Cox got last week haven’t quite healed up enough to go on with the show. During last Saturday’s performance at North Coast Repertory Theatre, a staged struggle over a bottle went awry when the bottle accidentally slipped from actor Jo Kuzelka’s grip…
Amid Allegations he Violated Environmental Laws, a Planning Commissioner Resigns
Humboldt County Planning Commissioner Kevin McKenny has resigned his post after revelations that he has been cited for violating state and federal environmental laws, according to reports in the Lost Coast Outpost and the Times-Standard. The alleged violations took place on a property McKenny owns in Eureka and he conceded in an interview with the…
Music Tonight: Friday, May 18
Jazz bassist Nate Zwerdling, classical cellist Jesse Alm and folk fiddler Rosalnd Parducci meet up Voltron-style at the Sanctuary at 7:30 p.m. to form The Bowlicks for fun covers spanning the jazz, blues and standards world with help from vocalist Hannah Rosencrans. ($5-$20 sliding scale). Meanwhile, at the Arkley Center, The Eureka Symphony Orchestra closes…
Booty Call
Here on the North Coast, we love our crabs. We named our summer collegiate baseball team after them and have a festival every year celebrating them. However, this year, due to an unstable crab market and unpredictable wintry weather, the Eureka Crab Celebration has been shelved and a new event has taken its place. Bounty…
Music Tonight: Thursday, May 17
There’s raw vinyl in Eureka for the starved polymer gourmand. Phatsy Kline’s features Marjo Lak spinning black gold on her decks at 7 p.m. for the weekly Laidback Lounge and over at Siren’s Song at 8 p.m., the 33 and a third Thursday brings old skool sounds curated by DJs Goldylocks and Fade. As always,…
Vote Sundberg!
Editor: I recently attended a town hall meeting between Supervisor Ryan Sundberg and challenger Steven “SunGnome” Madrone in Willow Creek. I was unimpressed by SunGnome blaming Supervisor Sundberg for the hardships of the small cannabis farmer in Humboldt County. As a stakeholder in the development of our local ordinances, I can say that no single…
Realistic Sex Robots to Save Us All
The Southern Poverty Law Center has categorized “incels,” involuntarily celibate men who share and promote a virulently misogynist and violent ideology, as a male supremacist hate group. Self-proclaimed members of this largely online community escalated to terrorist violence in Isla Vista, California, in 2014 with a mass shooting, and last month in Toronto, Canada, when…
North Coast Left Out of Governor’s Pitch to Crack Down on Illegal Cannabis
It’s no secret Humboldt County has many, many of cannabis farms. It’s also no secret that the vast majority of them — between 80 and 90 percent by most estimates — have taken no steps to come into compliance with state or local laws. Not only does this mean that there are upwards of 10,000…
Ashes
I release you to this body of water. I release you to God. My heart goes with you. Though I will always remember that wherever there is water, you are there. As this water evaporates and becomes clouds, then rain, then rivers… I will remember that in that water, you are there. When I see…
Call Me By Your Band Name
The more creatively named bands featured this week got my wheels spinning down memory lane. Despite a preternatural and seething distrust of all things over and done with, I couldn’t help thinking about some of the uniquely named groups I’ve encountered over the decades. I myself used to front a New Orleans-based punk/psych outfit called…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): According to my assessment of the astrological omens, your duty right now is to be a brave observer and fair-minded intermediary and honest storyteller. Your people need you to help them do the right thing. They require your influence in order to make good decisions. So if you encounter lazy communication,…
The Surprisingly Dramatic Race for Auditor-Controller
Does slow and steady really win the race? Mike Lorig, an accountant with the Department of Health and Human Services and a contender in this year’s auditor-controller election, certainly hopes so. Lorig, who ran for the position unsuccessfully in 2010, hopes to edge out Karen Paz Dominguez, a controversial newcomer to county bureaucracy, for the…
Two Local Attorneys Vie for Humboldt’s First Contested Judgeship in Decades
On June 5, Humboldt County will see its first contested judicial election in 20 years, when voters will choose either Lathe Gill or Lawrence Killoran to fill the seat retiring Judge Dale Reinholtsen has held for 21 years. The election is a crucial one, as judges wield tremendous power over the citizenry of Humboldt County.…
Pyramid Woo
The New Age began, as far as I was concerned, in the spring of 1970. Fresh in the Americas, I was completely captivated by woo — the more some phenomenon seemed ridiculous, the more likely I was to believe it. “Credo quia absurdum,” wrote the Christian apologist Tertullian around 200 A.D. “I believe it because…
Free Gabrielle Union and Melissa McCarthy
Reviews BREAKING IN. For longer than I’d really care to countenance (probably the release of Bring It On in 2000) I’ve found Gabrielle Union to be a consummately compelling actor who should be in major releases with her name above the title. There are vestigial traces of the old weak knees, mild palpitations playground crush…
Hedwig Rocks
As a bridge between the rock, pop and soul music of the 1960s and the explosion of punk in the late 1970s, and the myriad subgenres that followed, there was glam rock. Bigger in its scope and impact in the UK, but by no means limited to across the pond, among its flashy and tuneful…
Vote Gill!
Editor: For those not familiar with Lathe Gill, please refer to the interviews with the Times-Standard as well as the Lost Coast Outpost — you will get a very good sense of who he is and what kind of judge he would make for Humboldt County. I know of him as a representative for the…
Vote Killoran!
Editor: I have worked within the Humboldt County legal community for the past 15 years. During that time, I’ve served twice as president of the Humboldt County Legal Professionals Association (HCLPA). I’ve observed Lawrence Killoran in the courtroom. I’ve talked with and met with his staff many times over the years. In 15 years of…
Vote Burkhart!
Editor: Lots of people are “hooked” in Humboldt. Are we better off than we were four years ago? Virginia Bass will have been in office eight full years at the end of this term. Humboldt County alcohol and other drug-related death rates are on the rise. Dani Burkhart understands the need for teens to get…
Vote Madrone!
Editor: As a 30-year professional forester concerned about the board of supervisors’ policies on forestry, I support Steve Madrone. Steve is a professional in natural resource and forestry issues, starting out as a tree planter and pre-commercial thinning operator, and later as a lead at Redwood Community Action Agency on the Hammond Trail. Steve can…
