We live in a media landscape that’s far more complicated than any in human history. Here in Humboldt County — in addition to the litany of national and local newspapers trying to win your attention and provide you information and cable news shows filled with red-in-the-face pundits bending the news of the day to their […]
Editorial
Posted inLetters + Opinion
News from Home
As we gape and cringe at cable news chyrons, push notifications and presidential tweets — sweet mother of Murrow, the tweets — it’s easy to think of national stories as the totality of “the news” and the impacts outlined there as the finite shape of an issue’s reach. But neither is true. When we throw […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
We Are Humboldt — All of Us
We see it overtly in online comments sections, the sentiment that “if they don’t like it here, they should leave.” And we see it subtly in things like the recently minted Facebook page pushing for a public vote on the fate of President McKinley’s statue in the Arcata Plaza, which the city council voted to […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Redemption Stories
As our country and our communities become increasingly polarized, it seems the recognition of humanity is often the first victim. Locally, many among us have become so frustrated with property crime, homelessness and loose needles that we take to online comment boards or stand up at community meetings and the terms just spew out: “addicts,” […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Little Sunshine in Congress, State Legislature
“The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist they may retain control […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Walking Out and Speaking Up
It happened again. While working on this issue focused on student responses to school shootings, there was another one. This time in Maryland, leaving the shooter dead and two others injured, based on preliminary reports. And by the time this issue leaves newsstands a week from now, statistics say the United States will have likely […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Too Many Questions
This is the worst kind of settlement. Don’t get us wrong, we understand the motivations behind it — the need for a city to reduce its liability exposure and protect public money, and the need for a family to move forward after the death of a loved one while making sure they’re not walking away […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Guns Don’t Kill People, Toxic Masculinity Does
My 5-year-old daughter was less than six weeks into kindergarten when she experienced a lockdown for the first time. A cop had initiated a traffic stop nearby and the suspect fled toward campus. As my daughter’s teacher huddled the class in the back corner of the room, having drawn the blinds and locked the doors, […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Ending Gun Violence Takes a Different Kind of Bravery
Let me get right to it: There is never an easy, unemotional time to talk about gun violence. And if we’re serious about saving innocent lives, we’re going to need to make some sacrifices, to be brave. We know the drill. After every mass shooting, we’re reminded not to politicize the wounding and deaths of […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
#StillMissing
#BekahM. #TheBachelor. There. I had to get the hashtags in right off the bat in the hopes someone will actually read this. In case you missed it, the Journal broke a story last week that went viral and wound up re-reported by publications from the New York Times and Vanity Fair to Golf Digest and […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Civility Matters
A few weeks back, we posted a guest opinion piece on our website from the chair of the local Republican Party, John Schutt Jr., weighing in on the special U.S. Senate race in Alabama. We didn’t know what to expect from Schutt when we solicited the piece but we were interested to hear what he […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Don’t Screw This up Again
One could easily argue that former Humboldt County Public Defender David Marcus’ tenure ended much as it began: with a mistake. The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Dec. 5 to accept Marcus’ resignation after nine tumultuous months on the job, during which nearly every employee of his office signed letters questioning his competence […]