I grew up at the base of Fort Humboldt, in the cul-de-sac right across the street. As a child, I played over every inch of that land, including the boggy area at the bottom of the bluff. We would lay boards down into the blackberry thickets, moving forward until we were in the center of […]
Views
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Not Another Winter to Wonder
I am one of the coordinators of the extreme weather shelter group in Southern Humboldt. Last year was our first year of sheltering. We opened the doors in alternating churches 17 times in an unusually wet and cold winter. We supplied sleeping bags, mats, clothing, hygiene supplies and food each time we sheltered. The same […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Healthcare Access is a Human Right
Jim Wood, our state assemblymember, in his Dec. 28 Views column, “Setting the Record Straight,” attempts to discredit California Senate Bill 562 and its supporters. Wood cites many disingenuous facts. S.B. 562 is the single payer, Medicare for all bill that has been shelved in our state Assembly by corporate Democrats without needed work or […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
‘The Jury Heard It All’
I read Thadeus Greenson’s Dec. 2 posting on the Borges defendants’ motions for judgment and/or a new trial (“County Swaps Attorneys, Challenges $2.5 Million Wrongful Death Verdict”). I waited until the plaintiff’s formal replies were filed with the court and can now comment on these new developments. I am Daren Borges’ stepfather and attended the […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Physicians for Single Payer
Our current profit-driven health care system is closing physician practices and burning out doctors. The average American physician spends nearly nine hours a week wrangling with insurance companies and the average medical practice spends $72,000 per doctor per year just dealing with insurers. That’s why a majority of Humboldt physicians support a single payer health […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Trinidad, Do the Right Thing
Editor’s note: The following is the text of a speech given at a vigil at Tsurai and the memorial to people who lost their lives at sea, in Trinidad, California, Dec. 31, 2017, seeking to halt the relocation of the Trinidad Memorial Lighthouse. First I want to acknowledge that we are standing on land that […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Setting the Record Straight
There is a small and very vocal group who continue to criticize and mischaracterize my position on Senate Bill 562, The Healthy California Act, which advocates for a single-payer healthcare system (“Healthcare for All,” Nov. 30, “Mailbox,” Dec. 7 and 14). They have used a technique of boiling this very significant and complex issue into […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
The Plaque, The Statue, The General and 1984
The historical plaque recognizing the Jacoby Building in Arcata uses about 65 words in four sentences to inform visitors when it was built and by whom, when he sold it and a few of the functions it served over time. One of those sentences reads: “From 1858 through 1864 it served periodically as a refuge […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Views: Why the RNC is Supporting Roy Moore
The Republican Party has no choice but to support Roy Moore for U.S. Senate in Alabama to keep the small majority it has. The whole purpose of a political party is to keep its members in the majority so it should come as no surprise that the GOP is supporting Moore. The accusations against Moore […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Healthcare for All
On Nov. 19, the Humboldt Progressive Democrats voted to admonish state Assemblyman Jim Wood for failing to “take steps to move forward” Senate Bill 562, the single-payer, universal healthcare bill for California that is currently stalled in the Assembly Rules Committee by order of Speaker Anthony Rendon. Wood has supported this suspension even while insisting […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Democracy Needs Diverse Local Media
Diversity, competition and localism are the necessary conditions for media to serve democracy — so they are protected under U.S. communications law. But where there is a profit to be made or special interest power to consolidate, these basic conditions are at risk. People must be diligent to ensure liberty and justice for all. Consolidated […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
I Passed Notes
I believe that the Journal has raised a couple very important points in its lawsuit and accompanying editorial (“Stop Passing Notes!,” Nov. 2). The first involves the transmittal of otherwise personal communication during an official’s “public” working hours. On this subject I believe the Journal is incorrect in its assertion that these communications are disclosable […]