If you missed the latest episode of This American Life, the fantastic, award-winning public radio program broadcast locally on KHSU, then you’ve yet to hear reporter Mary Cudddehe’s take on Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman and his ill-fated attempt to bring sanity to medical marijuana regulation. As you may recall, Allman came up with Mendocino […]
Ryan Burns
Ryan Burns worked for the Journal from 2008 to 2013, covering a diverse mix of North Coast subjects, from education, politics and marijuana to human suspension, sex parties and amateur fight contests. He won awards for investigative reporting, feature stories and news coverage.
Posted inNews
Former State Senator Pat Wiggins Dies
Pat Wiggins, who represented the North Coast in the state senate from 2006 to 2010, died this morning, a staffer with the Senate Democrats has confirmed. She was 73. Wiggins served on the Santa Rosa City Council before moving on to the State Assembly, where she represented the 7th District (Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties) […]
Posted inNews
UPDATED: Harbor District Board to Consider Acquiring Pulp Mill for Free at Monday Meeting
Update: It’s a done deal. The board voted unanimously Monday evening, with Commissioner Aaron Newman absent, to acquire the former pulp mill. Next comes lining up some tenants and figuring out what to do with all those nasty pulping liquors. Original post: Negotiations have been going on for months now, but it looks like the […]
Posted inNews
Attorney General Makes Drug Sentencing Slightly Less Insane
In a possible departure from the Obama administration’s drug war reversals and doublespeak, Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that some low-level, nonviolent drug offenders will no longer face long, mandatory minimum sentences in federal prisons. Speaking in front of the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates in San Francisco, Holder was quoted as saying, “Too many […]
Posted inNews
Construction Workers Shorted Nearly a Quarter Million Dollars on Eureka Holiday Inn Project, Says State Labor Commissioner
You’ve probably seen it on your way to Costco — a new Holiday Inn Express going up on the southwest corner of Broadway and West Wabash in Eureka. Well, according to California Labor Commissioner Julie A. Su, the construction workers erecting the hotel have been shortchanged wages totaling $247,681. Su is filing a mechanics’ lien […]
Posted inNews
Video of Bat-Throwing Incident at Humboldt Crabs Game Goes Viral [Updated]
UPDATE, 4:45 p.m.: Humboldt Crabs President Matthew Filar sent us an email earlier defending his player. “Certainly throwing the bat was wrong,” Filar wrote, “but when a pitcher throws a ball at a batter at 92 mph, and the authority figure (the umpire) does nothing, when does the batter have to defend himself. Four pitches? […]
Posted inNews
Woman Kidnapped From Gas Station in Front of Daughters, Says EPD
A mother was kidnapped in front of her teenage daughters by a knife-wielding parolee last night at a Eureka gas station, according to a press release from the Eureka Police Department. The man drove her through town, threatened to kill her and attempted to stab her before she managed to take the knife from him […]
Posted inNews
St. Joe’s Names David O’Brien New President
David O’Brien, MD, a former Eureka family practice physician, has officially been given the job of president of St. Joseph Health — Humboldt County, which includes both St. Joe’s and Redwood Memorial hospitals. In a press release issued yesterday, O’Brien, who received his bachelor’s and medical degrees at U.C. Davis, said he’s happy to be […]
Posted inNews
Arkley Lawyers Threaten Journal With Restraining Order
The letter arrived late last week, printed on the letterhead of Mitchell, Brisso, Delaney & Vrieze, LLP, attorneys at law, and its warning was dire. “The North Coast Journal‘s continued attempts to contact Mr. [Rob] Arkley … border on civil harassment.” Signed by attorney Russell S. Gans, the letter was addressed to Journal Publisher Judy […]
Posted inNews
Michael Johnson Withdraws Candidacy for EPD Chief Job [UPDATED]
UPDATE: City Manager Bill Panos just returned our calls and said that while he can’t comment on specifics, the search for the city’s next police chief “is taking a little longer than we thought. But we’d rather be really thorough in our determination.” So thorough, in fact, that Panos said, “We have in place probably […]
Posted inNews
Power Outage in Eureka
UPDATE: Just after 10 a.m., it came back on. No official word yet on the cause of the outage. The power went out for more than 3,000 PG&E customers in Eureka this morning, It remains out in Old Town, and PG&E officials say it’s expected to be fixed sometime after 10 a.m. So if by […]
Posted inNews
More Pot Busts, More Environmental Damage
On the heels of Wednesday’s discovery of nature-abusing, industrial-scale marijuana grows, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, along with a handful of other agencies, allegedly discovered more environmental crimes at two pot grows yesterday while serving a pair of search warrants. According to a press release, officers found multiple illegal stream diversions, un-permitted grading and buildings, […]