“Honestly, that’s what we’ve got. We’ve got each other.” David Cobb was talking to the Journal about Cooperation Humboldt, the nonprofit he co-founded, and its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But it’s true of all of us. In ways that have never been so plain, community resilience is vital. And it will likely be further […]
Editorial
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Saving Each Other
It’s no stretch to say that we in Humboldt County — and the rest of the country — stand on the precipice, facing the very real threat of widespread death and suffering. New York City is already there. But it’s also no stretch to say — at this moment in Humboldt County, anyway — we […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Together Apart
As of 12:01 a.m. March 20, Humboldt County residents have been ordered to shelter in place, sitting tight at home to protect one another from the spread of COVID-19, the international death toll for which has topped 16,500 and climbs each day. We at the Journal thank each and every one of you taking these […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
This is Very Real
As the full reality of the COVID-19 pandemic washed over California and the United States the weekend of March 14, prompting virtually all Humboldt County schools to shutter indefinitely and Gov. Gavin Newsom to ask all bars, breweries and wineries to do the same, reactions were decidedly mixed. While most Humboldt County residents likely fell […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Cliff, the N-word and Missed Opportunities
At the end of a Feb. 17 interview with the Times-Standard editorial board, First District supervisorial candidate Cliff Berkowitz used the N-word. He didn’t direct it at anyone or tell a racist joke. But in discussing incumbent Rex Bohn’s widely reported racist joke last year, he gave an example of unacceptable behavior for a white […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Justice for Josiah
In our collective years covering crime in Humboldt County, a hard truth we’ve come to realize is that justice is rare — even rarer in a courtroom. The criminal justice system is a misnomer, as the very best it can deliver is protecting the community from a perpetrator while giving them a very limited chance […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
‘Off the Ride’
In so many ways, last week’s cover story (“‘Tarnished’”) should reinforce people’s faith in the Eureka Police Department. The story, based on the internal affairs investigation that sustained allegations of sexual battery and conduct unbecoming against former officer Michael Stelzig, illustrated that EPD did a lot of things right. It took the allegations that were […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
The Time is Now
On this very page, we closed 2018 by noting it would be remembered as the year it became increasingly clear the president of the United States “repeatedly puts personal gain over all else, the rule of law be damned.” As 2019 comes to a close, we’ve seen more than enough to take that a step […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Protect Tsakiyuwit, Deny Terra-Gen’s Wind Farm
Long before there was a company named Terra-Gen, an electrical grid or climate crisis threatening the planet, the Humboldt Bay region was inhabited by Wiyot people — as many as 3,000 of them, by some estimates — who lived in some 20 villages scattered around the bay. It’s where their ancestors lived, and their ancestors’ […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Crossed Lines
Imagine police are responding to a report of a man with a gun. Three officers pull up to find the man standing on a sidewalk. They all exit their patrol cars, raise their firearms, holding the man at gunpoint, and simultaneously begin shouting orders. “Hands up!” says one. “Get down on the ground,” yells another. […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
In the Dark and On Our Own
Well, that new normal sure hit quick, huh? The Public Safety Power Shutoffs, which first swept over Humboldt County with minimal notice when it was thrust into 28 hours of darkness Oct. 8 and Oct. 9, came back with a vengeance less than three weeks later. In an effort to keep its woefully neglected infrastructure […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Following Eureka’s Lead
When researching our Jan. 24 cover story “We’re Coming Home” about the city of Eureka returning Duluwat Island to the Wiyot Tribe 159 years after it was stolen, we came across a beautiful quote in a 1988 Humboldt Historian article about the island and the egret rookery on its western shore. “The egrets, in graceful […]