There’s not much to see on a gray Friday in Alderpoint, the ground still damp from mid-February rains. As you descend into the blink-and-you-missed it town, a ruddy sign points you to the decently-stocked general store, which sits next to a one-pump gas station. Apart from some loose dogs — intimidating at first, but ultimately […]
Grant Scott-Goforth
Grant Scott-Goforth was an assistant editor and staff writer for The Journal from 2013 to 2017.
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Pot POW
“I lived in Humboldt County. I grew marijuana. And I sold pot.” So went Brett McFarland’s recent confession in the Journal office last week, days before he would be sentenced to five years in federal prison on marijuana charges. McFarland pleaded guilty Feb. 24 to conspiring to distribute marijuana he grew between 2008 and 2011, […]
Posted inNews
Law Enforcement Responds to Jail Policy Concerns
In a meeting organized by local interfaith church leaders, a panel of Humboldt County’s top law enforcement officers addressed concerns this afternoon about the Humboldt County jail’s release policy. Marketed as a general community safety discussion, the meeting arose out of criticism of the jail’s policy to release inmates detained for being drunk in public […]
Posted inNews
Sheriff, Eureka Chief to Talk Late-Night Jail Release Policy
The county’s top law enforcement officers and church leaders will meet Wednesday, Feb. 26 to discuss the Humboldt County jail’s policy of releasing inmates late at night, when few services are available to them. The jail’s policy came into question after the high-profile killing of Father Eric Freed and was addressed in the Journal’s cover […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Canned
Reviews ROBOCOP. Slick, not too long, a little bit of fun — RoboCop hits a few notes right, but never gets better than its visuals. That the ’80s version remains satirically relevant (and endearing) makes the remake even more hollow. Alex Murphy, a Detroit cop is set up and nearly killed by his coworkers when […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
High Finance
Bye-bye bedrolls, buried coffee cans, hollow shaving cream bottles, shoe inserts — proceeds from marijuana can now be deposited in banks, according to recently loosened rules from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Financial Crimes Network. Federal laws previously prevented banks from knowingly doing business with drug dealers. Perhaps feeling icy gazes from the […]
Posted inNews
Dry Times
Despite a recent little burst of rain, Humboldt County is deep in the throes of drought. Things aren’t looking up. Here, this and last year’s precipitation at Woodley Island show just how dire things are when compared with the 30-year average — the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s standard of measure. Experts are comparing this […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Suds and Buds
A little tiff is sprouting between the folks at Humboldt Made and the Humboldt Brewing Co. (see Thadeus Greenson’s blog post here). Seems the local group dedicated to branding Humboldt’s wholesome (read: junk food) exports doesn’t like the fact that a corporate mega-brewer from South Carolina is shilling its recently purchased Humboldt Brewing Co. Hemp Ale with […]
Posted inNews
Court *Might* Start Charging for Records and Other Services
Be prepared to pony up for court records. When the Journal went into the court records office last week, an employee warned, somewhat admonishingly, that asking for a criminal case file without a case number would cost $15 in the future. “That’s new,” we thought. For years, court records employees have seemed happy to look […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Hardball
Here’s a question of local perception about pot, which simply doesn’t engender the same vitriol as other drugs around here: Do “upstanding” locals grow and use marijuana because it’s less serious, or do we consider it less serious because more “upstanding” locals grow and use it? A prominent community member arrested last year on cultivation […]
Posted inNews
UPDATE(S): Deal Struck in Crabs Manager Marijuana Case
SECOND UPDATE: A press release on the Crabs website says Nutter had been considering leaving the team for two years, and made the decision now to be with his family. From the release: Nutter explained that after a discussion with his family, he decided after 23 years with the Crabs organization that this was a […]
Posted inNews
Pedestrian Killed by Car IDed
80-year-old Eureka resident Robert Mitchell died Tuesday afternoon after being struck by a truck while trying to cross Broadway on foot. Coroner Dave Parris said it appears that Mitchell was at fault in the accident, and was crossing outside of a crosswalk, though the crash is still under investigation. EPD Traffic Officer Gary Whitmer said […]