“It’s not a healthy place for people to be,” says Erin Powers-Taylor, after receiving word that a man living in the PalCo Marsh has fallen ill, and that several wounds on his arms have abscessed again. Powers-Taylor has volunteered as part of the group Friends of the Marsh for almost a year, working with homeless […]
Linda Stansberry
Linda Stansberry was a staff writer of the North Coast Journal from 2015 to 2018. She is a frequent contributor the the Journal and our other publications.
Posted inNews
Numbers from the PalCo Marsh Cleanup
The Eureka Police Department has released some information from the May 2 and 3 cleanup of the PalCo Marsh, in which over one hundred homeless people were displaced and/or rehoused. According to the press release, more than 60 tons of trash were collected in the two-day operation. Dozens of sharps containers, used to safely store […]
Posted inNews
Evictions Ongoing in PalCo Marsh
There were more reporters, police and clergy than homeless people in the PalCo Marsh this morning as the City of Eureka made a final sweep of the area, forcibly evicting those remaining in the camps. As of 7:30 a.m. at least half of the residents remained, according to accounts, despite repeated warnings over the last […]
Posted inNews
A Morning Emergency in the Palco Marsh
It’s quiet. Despite its reputation as a chaotic place, the PalCo Marsh, also known as the Devil’s Playground, often is. A few dogs, tied in front of tents, bark. The motor of a fishing boat on the bay can be heard just out of sight behind the trees. Eureka City Councilmember Kim Bergel walks with […]
Posted inNews
March of the Conifers
Length isn’t everything. The Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) grows fast, quickly outsizing stands of Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana), California black oak (Quercus kelloggii) and Canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis). But although they may be taller, these feral Christmas trees are relative infants next to their Querci neighbors, which reach a peak size of between […]
Posted inNews
TL;DR: Five Themes to Up-cycle from the Green Issue
Did you throw away too much time this week? No worries, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a recycled version of this week’s Green Issue, and five reasons why Humboldt County is a great place to go Zero Waste. Reason #1: We’re Welcoming Zero Waste, one of the more recent philosophies to come out of the […]
Posted inNews
Fortuna Set to Adopt New Panhandling Ordinance
Citing a spike in aggressive panhandling within city limits, the Fortuna City Council is preparing to adopt an ordinance prohibiting “aggressive and intrusive solicitation.” City staff presented a version of the ordinance on Monday, and a second reading and adoption of the ordinance is scheduled for May 2. Under the ordinance “… approaching or following […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Creature Feature
It’s difficult, if not impossible, to retain affection for a character after he uses the word “indubitably,” as a punchline. But if the writers and directors of Batboy: The Musical can cram pointy-eared creatures of the night, inter-species orgies, papier-mâché cow heads, questions of moral relativity and sentience versus soul into a play inspired by […]
Posted inNews
No Crap
Our culture thrives on stuff. Stuff to buy, stuff to eat, stuff to put in our windowsills to express our preference for one kind of stuff over a different kind of stuff. Most of that stuff comes wrapped in other stuff, and most of it — around 251 million tons of it, according to the […]
Posted inNews
Express Shipping
It’s shortly before noon on April 18 and, in a vacant lot at the corner of Third and Commercial streets in Eureka, a homeless man is splayed out between two shipping containers, fast asleep, his maroon jacket acting as a pillow to keep his head off the gravel. Five days earlier, one of Humboldt’s heaviest […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Farmers Marketing
Fertilizer magnates have had a presence in Humboldt County for more than a decade, but other industries ancillary to The Industry are also beginning to bud and flower. Creatives and brand managers are also carving out a niche in the open space between societal acceptance and federal endorsement, finding new and clever ways to sell […]
Posted inNews
Shipping Container Homeless Village: Happening. Probably.
A bed, three meals a day and a door that locks: Small luxuries, but still more than many have. This is what the new partnership between the Betty Kwan Chinn Homeless Foundation and the Humboldt Coalition for Property Rights is promising for at least 40 of the currently homeless people living behind the Bayshore Mall, […]