Mailbox

Editor: Good grief!  How blind is this area?  (“Where’s Walmart?” Aug. 11) The mall tore the businesses in Old Town apart!  Target and K-Marts are barely filling their parking lots, and now you bring in Walmart?  Walmart doesn’t pay the business taxes other big-box stores pay to the cities who welcome them. Walmart discriminates against […]

Editor: Kudos to Judy Hodgson for “Our Word” (Aug. 4). One of many reasons I keep renewing my subscription to the Journal. Several months ago Bill Israel was mentioned in an article (“Rove’s Brain,” May 5).  I was fortunate to meet him and his then wife Claudia in the late 1970s and didn’t know where he […]

Machine Minds   Editor: I regularly enjoy Barry Evans’ Field Notes. His column in the August 4th Journal entitled “The Turing Test,” however, only describes the initial step.  I recently published my second novel, Project Divine Wind, which features the Turing Test in several perspectives, including from the machine’s point of view.  In the novel the main character, Attorney […]

Editor: Thumb to Mouth? (Mailbox, July 28) When I first read of the controversy over the proposed goat dairy, my response was, “Well there they go again. Shame on those NIMBY’s!” Then I read further.  Seventy goats per acre isn’t your usual dairy.  The risk to nearby residents may not be as great as the […]

Editor: While Zach St. George’s July 28 article, “It’s Good to Be President,” gave a reasonably sound overview of the controversial issue of high executive pay throughout the 23-campus California State University system, it glossed over a unique aspect of Humboldt State’s organizational culture. More often than not, staff members represented by the California State […]

Editor:  As a local “zumbaista” I was pleased to see your article (“Joyous Zumba,” July 21.) on the incandescent Marla Joy. I loved the lively and apt comparison of a zumba class with a margarita. It’s true — zumba is a better high — and good for you, what a deal!  The accompanying photo montage […]

Editor: I would like to thank Ryan Burns (“The Goat Test,” July 28) for trying to shed light on the Cypress Grove debate in a reasonable tone. There is, however, one thing always missing from the discussions: Cypress Grove did not seek public input from the surrounding community until the day before escrow was slated […]

Editor:  Although I am happy to hear that so many people had the opportunity to take a close-up look at gray whales, I was otherwise appalled by what I read in your article, “Whales in a River” (July 28). All this jet-skiing, fire hosing, noise-making, etc. sounds to me way too much like a bunch […]

Editor:  As a candidate for the U.S. Congress who has lived on the coast in Marin County for the last 13 years, I can relate to concerns about redistricting (“Drawing it Out,” July 21). The powers-that-be are drawing new lines, and we’ll have to deal with the consequences. I went through many years of adult […]

Editor:  As a long time Humboldt county resident from 1950-71 (Crannell, Samoa, Arcata, Eureka) I’d like to add my 0.02 cents worth on the Walmart issue (“Walmart, Jesus and Books without Borders,” July 21).  I now live in Lebanon, Ore., and their store here has done nothing but harm to this struggling community.  They had […]

Editor: It was great to read that your staff writer Stephanie Silvia has found a Zumba class she is excited about. (“Joyous Zumba,” July 21) As a teacher of two out of the 60 Zumba classes that are being taught within a 25 mile radius of Arcata, I always love to see that Zumba Fitness […]

Editor: After reading “Blog Jammin’ ” in the July 21 issue of your paper (“Walmart, Jesus and Books Without Borders”), I was reminded by Ryan Burns, in his footnote, of what the Humboldt County Ad Hoc Committee on Big Box Development, a group appointed by the Board of Supervisors at that time, had to say […]