Editor: So sorry to read your headline article about the Snafu in Sacto ("California Renovation," July 23). Embedded in the "ideas" for a better day is the Fantasy Wish List of the Liberals: Rework Prop. 13 (something the voters want left alone!); rework the 2/3 majority vote needed (totally disenfrachising the opposition party); raise taxes […]
Letters + Opinion
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Keeping Up the Front
A certain earnestness goes a long way at the Social Services office. When sitting in those plastic chairs, filling out endless forms, surrounded by posters supposed to be motivating, but really rather menacing — "Those who don’t ride the wave are crushed by it" — what one should try to convey is, "I’m a good […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Shipping News
Humboldt County is an insanely political place, but off-year elections are not usually very exciting. You’ve got your school boards and your community services districts — important stuff, but not usually interesting anyone who isn’t immediately affected by the work of such bodies. With rare exception, they generally don’t inspire the countywide heat that your […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Bullets to Spare
Editor: Heidi Walters wrote a wonderful article on reintroducing condors (“Fixing the World,” July 16). The Bucksport employee’s salient remark that a lot of hunters stockpile ammo helps explain their resistance to switching to lead-free bullets. (However, it was startling and distressing that one of the scientists working on the restoration hasn’t yet made the […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
My God
Editor: Surprisingly, I find myself writing my first letter to an editor – not about some hot-button political issue, but regarding the biological “Field Notes” column by Barry Evans in the July 16 issue. This is a well-written article that deals with some very profound philosophies. While I would have to agree with his final […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Grovewashing
Editor: I write to applaud the publication of the cover story “Here, There, and Everywhere” (July 9). The issue of corporate “greenwash” and “localwash” is a relevant topic for the maintenance of community here in Humboldt County. This is not new material for the North Coast Journal, yet it does set a standard for future […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Varieties of Bankruptcy
Recommended reading: Yes, Matt Taibbi‘s post-gonzo style can sometimes grate, but his report in the current issue of Rolling Stone qualifies as a must-read here in Humboldt County. The article is entitled "The Great American Bubble Machine." It’s a short history of the Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs, as told through the great American financial […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Buy Local’s Limits
Editor: On Tuesday, July 7, I did a short, basic piece on some of the buy-local hype on my local blog. The next day a friend called, having read my piece, and said I should check out the Journal. There are two things that weren’t really addressed in the otherwise fine article (“Here, There and […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Cruse: O.K.
Editor: When I read your article about the Film Commission’s YouTube videos I was plenty sore that I hadn’t been notified there were jobs going around (“Rebranding Humboldt,” June 25). I’m a local videographer and have known Mary Cruse for years. I can tell you she is on the level. Even though they didn’t see […]
Posted inNews
CORRECTIONS:
Last week’s story on Lake County medical marijuana martyr Eddy Lepp contained an error concerning Lepp’s federal prison sentence (“Pot Hero,” June 9). The story stated that Lepp’s received the “maximum sentence under the law”; in fact, Judge Marilyn Patel gave Lepp the minimum sentence possible under federal sentencing guidelines. Because of an editing error, […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Can’t Buy Soul
Editor: I think Richard Grabowski’s simplified way of dividing people into those who are for good jobs and those who are against them is nonsense ("Mailbox," July 2). A more accurate characterization of the divide, if there is one, is between people who are willing to sacrifice the things we love about living in Humboldt […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Fool on the Hill
Editor: This just in — "Rebranding Humboldt" (June 25)? Yes, it’s a whiff of Ferndale dairyaire. So 19th century, to try once again to overpower the more relaxing odors of the Mateel ("South to whose north?" the poet namer wrote). Get with the program, dudes. I for one am burnt out on hearing that timber […]