You know that feeling you get when people around you suddenly start talking about you in the third person, as if you were not there. As if you did not exist. “Excuse me, I am standing right here; talk to me,” or some such phrase is what I use to reaffirm my existence and to […]
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Posted inLetters + Opinion
Farm to Flame
California’s Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act regulates marijuana plants more like painkillers than agriculture, requiring every plant in the state to have a unique identification number tagged to it. New laws require a “track and trace” system to monitor all plant material using these IDs, from the ground to final sale, by 2018. Now, […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Grangers, the Time is Now
In “The State of the Grange” (Jan. 3), Linda Stansberry detailed the delicate state of health in which an organization at the bedrock of American democracy finds itself. Civil war is the worst kind of catastrophe, and why the National Grange started rejecting parts of itself after 150 years is baffling. But the case isn’t […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
My Friend Antonio
As I age, I read the local obituaries more often to see if any of my friends or former colleagues have died. I am sure I am not the only senior who has developed this informative yet morbid habit. I have noticed the obits have a style, a form and, moreover, describe in peaceful, glowing […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Humboldt’s Information Ecosystem
The communication systems that keep us connected are a complex network of networks. As folks on the North Coast know, when part of that system breaks down — as has happened twice in recent months — the consequences aren’t always easy to predict or understand. But we also know that issues arising from unavailable or […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
What’s Right in Humboldt?
There has been a lot of attention paid lately to all that’s wrong in our isolated little community — the high crime rate, the struggling economy and more. But amid all that’s wrong, we also do some things right, and feeding people seems to be one of them. I recently took a tour of the […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
What Is Wrong With Our Community?
The events leading up to becoming homeless are always traumatic and often related to violence in one’s childhood. About 90 percent of homeless women and about 50 percent of homeless men have been rape or incest victims, often as children, and often repeatedly. This, and other instances childhood violence, result in early onset post-traumatic stress […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Wiyot Tribe Responds to “Murder in Arcata”
The Wiyot Tribe has been particularly blessed to work with a large number of extraordinary professional historians, archaeologists and other cultural resource professionals who live and work in Wiyot country. It is well known that the relationship between the Wiyot Tribe and the surrounding communities that have emerged over the past 165 years has rarely […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Why are Firefighters Endangering Us?
Make no mistake, I like our firefighters. But something wrong and dangerous is going on. It needs to change, and I’m ragging on our supervisors. I’ve talked to several chiefs. They agree 70 to 90 percent of rural structure fires are marijuana grow-related. We’re talking diesel and electrical. Amateur wiring jobs and sloppy generators with […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
We Can Do Better
Linda Stansberry should be commended for writing the article “Can Humboldt County Solve Addiction?” (Sept. 24). It is one of the most informative, relevant and insightful investigative pieces the Journal has printed in the last decade and should be mandatory reading for our local policy makers. It is a detailed description of a network of […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
The Golden Rule Recalled to Life
On June 20, a gray afternoon, a crowd gathered on the bank of Zerlang and Zerlang Boat Yard in Samoa to witness the launching of the Golden Rule. Out on Humboldt Bay, kayaks and yachts drifted around, waiting to accompany her across the water. The mood was excited but somber. Most present were old enough […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Once More around the Track
Red Smith, the famous New York sports columnist, described the directions to the historic Saratoga Race Course in upper state New York this way: “Take the 87 north from New York City, drive past Albany, turn right on Union Avenue, and go back 100 years.” The Humboldt County Fairgrounds in Ferndale may not have the […]