Tomorrow evening the Eureka City Council will meet to discuss two items related to the city’s homeless: the feasibility of a temporary, sanctioned camp and whether or not the city should declare a shelter crisis. City Manager Greg Sparks said a site has been identified as a potential temporary camp, a city-owned parking lot at […]
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.
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How to Ditch Your Pills in Humboldt
… the short answer is, you can’t. Not if they’re opiates, or another controlled substance. Despite a growing local and national epidemic of prescription pill abuse, stringent guidelines from the Drug Enforcement Administration have made it nearly impossible for those in Humboldt who want to dispose of their leftover medications to do the right thing. […]
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The Top 10 Stories of 2015
By most measures, 2015 was a rough year on the North Coast. We saw soaring numbers of traffic fatalities, suicides, drownings and homicides, including a pair of officer-involved shootings. Several years of drought left our hills primed for a summer of inland fires and dried creeks, putting added pressure on dwindling salmon runs. And the […]
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Albuquerque or Auburn? Eureka City Council Considers Different Models to Address Panhandling
At the Dec. 15 Eureka City Council meeting, City Manager Greg Sparks presented research on an idea from Albuquerque, New Mexico: employing panhandlers to participate in city beautification projects. In 2015, Albuquerque put $50,000 toward providing panhandlers with transportation to and from work and a midday meal before then connecting them with services such as […]
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Happy Boxing Day! Here’s How to De-Fest Your Home
Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, you’ve outlived your usefulness! Below are all the places in Humboldt County where you can drop off that gaudy fir corpse that is now shedding pieces of itself on your tinsel-strewn floor. Thanks to Humboldt Waste Management Authority for the head’s up. Most of these disposal areas are free […]
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Rain, Rain, Here to Stay
Merry Christmas from Mother Nature! We are at 126 percent of normal rainfall for the year, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association meteorologist Bob Ruehl. The normal amount of rainfall, measured from Oct. 1 through Dec. 21, is 13.53 inches. This year, NOAA measured 17.59 inches. December alone has brought 11.53 inches, three inches […]
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MediCal Expansion May Bring Better Addiction Treatment to Humboldt
Drug and alcohol related fatalities comprised 20 percent of all Humboldt County deaths over the last three years, but the number of those seeking help often exceeds the amount of treatment available. A change in the state’s MediCal program may change that, opening up access to treatment for many low-income residents. A key component of the […]
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HSU Students Killed the Cup
Humboldt State University recently placed in the top rankings in a national waste reduction program called Kill the Cup, in which zero waste enthusiasts encouraged people on campus to ditch their single-use cups for nifty logo-bedecked reusable mugs. The Jacks got in on it, as well as staff and faculty. The campus Waste Reduction and […]
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Changing Tides
“This was a weird year for the ocean,” says Dave Bitts. The 40-year veteran of the local fishing industry and president of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations is docked at Woodley Island. He sits at the Marina Café nursing a cup of coffee and talking with some other fish folk about the weather. […]
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Eleventh Hour Interims Appointed to County’s Helm
The egress of two major county employees has prompted the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors to fill their seats with interim appointments. Cheryl Dillingham will step in as county administrative officer, taking the place of Phillip Smith-Hanes, who resigned this morning to take a position in Kansas. Dillingham has served as assistant CAO since 2012. […]
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City Revisits Plan for Sanctioned Homeless Camp
The Eureka City Council agenda for Tues. Dec. 15 went out yesterday replete with a vintage item: discussing the feasibility of a temporary sanctioned homeless camp. Within an hour, it was yoinked back via an emailed retraction, with the note that the item would be back on the table at the Jan. 5 meeting, when […]
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AT&T, PG&E Outages Hit Countywide
Storm conditions have contributed to both a loss of communication and loss of power across Humboldt County as rain, hail and wind continue to batter the coast. According to the county Public Information Officer Sean Quincey, CalTrans crews were clearing a culvert between Fortuna and Rio Dell yesterday morning in preparation for last night’s storm […]