It seems like Humboldt County might be running out of golden watches, like one can’t turn a corner without bumping into another official who’s on the way out. After all, a pair of sheriff’s office stalwarts — lieutenants Steve Knight and Dave Morey — recently rode off into the sunset, and County Counsel Wendy Chaitin […]
Heidi Walters
Heidi Walters worked as a staff writer at the North Coast Journal from 2005 to 2015.
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Ho Ho Heave Ho
Your dear old Christmas tree wants to go back to the good green earth it came from. Come, compost! Come, energy! So get on it, before Valentine’s Day smooches in to mock you and your tree. You can drop your tree off for recycling at one of the places listed below, or call for curbside pickup. […]
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Long-Time Weather Boss Retires
After 36 years with the National Weather Service — 20 of those as the meteorologist in charge at the Eureka Weather Forecast Office on Woodley Island — Nancy Dean has retired. Her last day was today. “She’s been a great boss,” said Troy Nicolini on the phone this afternoon. “I feel really thankful. … I’ve […]
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The Top 10 Stories of 2014
The year began with a tragedy that fueled Humboldt County’s ongoing debate about crime, drug abuse, mental health care and homelessness. (This week’s cover image was drawn by Joel Mielke as a response to Father Eric Freed’s New Year’s Day killing.) A local music promoter began a long recovery from a devastating injury, an incident […]
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Relief in Samoa
There’s a bright new beacon of hope out on the Samoa Peninsula, which we figure dune lovers and gotta-go antsy foot-hoppers can’t help but appreciate. Yes, it’s a public portable toilet, rented for $80 a month from B&B by the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District for the benefit of those frequenting the wilds […]
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Get Your Crime Map
Your neighbors are talking about it — how So-and-So’s garage was broken into and What’s-His-Name’s car up the street was finagled open and the Christmas goodies on the backseat lifted. Seems as if burglaries and such are happening up and down the danged block these days. Or are these just rumors … ? There is […]
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A Home With Help
This January, Pacific Builders will begin construction on the 32-unit Arcata Bay Crossing, a residence for people who need special assistance and, in many cases, face homelessness. The $4.5 to $5.7 million “green,” solar-arrayed project — to be funded by grants and loans — is a joint project of Housing Humboldt, Rural Communities Housing Development […]
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The H Factor
My quest was simple: Find the smartest person in Humboldt. Well, OK, actually it was a troublesome task. Almost as impossible as finding Bigfoot — except at least our smarties leave bona fide droppings around, indications of their intelligence for a keen person to pick up and stuff in her hunting cap. My plan, too, […]
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Friendlyish
Those nice people up at Humboldt State University are giddy over being voted the 12th friendliest college in the whole dang nation (in a survey by Niche.com). ’Course, they’ve got nothing on those Cougars in Provo (the No. 1 friendliest) nor Cougar brethren in Rexburg, and apparently no Lumberjack could hope to out-smile a good many […]
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Birds! Count ’em
You see this little bird? Just chillin’ with her gull thangs? She counts and so do they. Yes, we’re in the midst of the 115th Christmas Bird Count, and birding teams throughout the Western Hemisphere and Antarctica are venturing out to count all the birds they see within a designated sphere. Locally, a couple of […]
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Our Man and the Father of the Nuclear Navy
Tonight — very late tonight — on PBS, you can watch the premiere of a film about Admiral Hyman G. Rickover — you know, the fella who built the first nuclear submarine, first nuclear aircraft carrier and first commercial nuclear power plant. Why? Because you’ll learn about a complex, brilliant, controversial person considered instrumental in ending […]