A car drives by slowly on the rain-sodden McKinleyville street, the glow of its headlights sliding left to right across the closed curtains. Heavy footsteps sound on the wooden stairs, followed by a knock on the door. The people sitting around the L-shaped couch look up, look at each other, stop talking. Someone jumps up […]
Zach St. George
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Trimmer vs Machine
Meet the TrimPro. It’s the steam drill of the trimming world, but John Henry Trimmer’s only hope of besting it is through finesse, not speed. Protruding handles and bright yellow warning labels break up its sleek, shiny cylindrical body, which rests on four legs. To trim, you simply turn on the machine and put the […]
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Already Occupied
Truth Jackson peered over a yellow sign that read, “We all need to pay our fair share! Tax Wall Street!” The 9-year-old was spending his Saturday standing on the sidewalk in front of the Eureka Courthouse with a crowd of Occupy Eureka protesters. The blond, mohawked kid gave a savage grin to the cars […]
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Rain or Shine
Korbel doesn’t have a church or a school. There aren’t any hotels and or bars, no stores or gas stations. It would be a stretch to call it a town at all — if not for the post office. Korbel is one of seven towns in Humboldt County faced with the prospect of losing their […]
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Shooting Owls
The little white mouse in Lowell Diller’s hand could have jumped. It could have beaten a path up his arm and found refuge in the folds of red flannel. Instead it just stood there on his gloved hand, too tame or too nervous to make a move. Diller’s dogs sat perfectly still, eyes on the […]
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Where’s Walmart?
The Bayshore Mall may soon include the Bayshore Wal. Local union reps and labor experts are dismayed, predicting scenes of post-Walmartalyptic depression and lost jobs. But … Costco, Target and Kmart are already here. Is Walmart really any worse? Researchers can’t say with any certainty. Walmart’s smaller rivals have avoided the legal issues that make […]
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Party On, Fernbridge
From below, on the dusty Eel River floodplain, Fernbridge looks solid but graceful. The bridge is concrete — in concrete’s most statuesque form, with soaring arches and tapered columns. Nearing its 100th birthday, the span is also one of the longest and oldest reinforced concrete bridges still around, local engineers and historians say. This bridge […]
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It’s Good to be President
Humboldt State’s head honcho Rollin C. Richmond is raking it in as one of the highest-paid California State University presidents, despite Humboldt’s near-last position on the enrollment charts. Richmond made $297,870 last year, making him the eighth-highest-paid president in the 23-school CSU system. HSU places 20th in enrollment, with 7,903 students, but Richmond makes more […]
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Still Protesting
Brian Willson’s red polyester biking shorts ended partway up his thighs, revealing knees covered in leopard-print fabric tubes. Below that, matching leopard-print sockets connected to the metal poles where his calves should have been. As Willson spoke, the setting sun shone through the windows of the Mateel Community Center in Redway, illuminating a small circle […]
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Catcalls, petitions and chief still gone
Eureka City Manager Dave Tyson listened on Friday while Mayor Frank Jager announced that the council voted 4-1 to endorse his decision to fire Eureka Police Chief Garr Nielsen. Tyson gave a wan smile and shook hands with a few supporters before heading for the door. The lone vote against his decision, Councilmember Linda Atkins, […]
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The Deep End
Mission: Raise $25 million in the next year in order to build an indoor fitness complex on the Eureka waterfront, complete with an Olympic-sized pool and a gymnasium. Last week the Eureka City Council granted the aptly-titled Mission: Swimpossible nonprofit one year to develop plans and raise funding for the complex, which would be located […]
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The Right to Gather
Rosie Clayburn pulled a yellowish razor clam from her bag and held it up to show the tribal members gathered around her. She wore rubber boots pulled up over her jeans, and the sleeves of her maroon Yurok Tribe sweatshirt were wet and flecked with sand. “I… don’t have a license,” she said nervously. “Good!” […]