On Sept. 12, storm Daniel overwhelmed two neglected dams in Libya. The flood washed away entire neighborhoods in the coastal city of Derna, killing thousands. Experts warned just last year that lack of maintenance risked failure of the dams, built in the 1970s to allow the development they destroyed. But storm Daniel brought more rain […]
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Posted inLetters + Opinion
California Says No to Privatizing Medicare
On Sept. 7 an unheralded piece of legislation passed 30-6 to put California unequivocally on the side of protecting traditional Medicare. Assembly Joint Resolution 4 requests President Biden to eliminate Wall Street profiteering from Medicare via a new program, ACO REACH. REACH is an invention by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) that […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Field Note for Sam
Editor’s note: Sam Armanino, a 2017 graduate of Humboldt State University and former intern, videographer and photographer at the Journal, was killed Aug. 31 in a mountain biking/trail clearing accident near Lake Tahoe. He was 28. A celebration of Sam’s life will be held Sept. 23 at South Lake Tahoe Brewing Co. Skiing before walking. […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Hope
Each day, it seems, we are made aware of startling new crises in our environment — Mesopotamia’s Fertile Crescent, the “Cradle of Civilization,” has turned, ironically, to dust; the oceans’ depths are garbage dumps; the discovery that nano plastics are truly everywhere, found even in meconium — a newborn baby’s first bowel movement. Each new […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Pension Debt is Devouring Local Services
In the face of the ongoing climate crisis, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors recently voted to urge the State of California to divest CalPERS, the State’s retirement system, from fossil fuel companies to reduce emissions. There is another area of impact regarding California’s retirement system that needs to be addressed: its very significant and […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
A Heretic Reflects on Spiritual Compassion
Last month, I happened on an article in the Times-Standard headlined “Pastor Cites Violent Tale” and written by Sage Alexander. The article was about Tyrel Bramwell, the controversial anti-gay pastor of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Ferndale. The article referenced a monthly periodical produced by Bramwell called the Ferndale Fortitude, so I decided to look […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
AutoXpo Was Awesome; It was Also a Symbol of Our Impending Doom
Entering Fortuna’s Main Street from the north during a car-free event, the hustle and bustle is noticeably transformed to a family-friendly ambience with couples, kids, friends and all combinations of humanity. But last weekend’s car-free status contained a loophole allowing entry for more senior automobilus petrolius to the much anticipated Fortuna Redwood AutoXpo. Saturday, the […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Foul Ball
If you’re a baseball fan (not a sports fan, a baseball fan) imagine trying to explain to your 10-year-old self that you should be happy because Major League Baseball figured out a way to guarantee you could spend less time at the ballpark. You’d give yourself the finger and speed away on your Schwinn (probably […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
CA Taxpayers on the Hook
The Klamath River begins in Oregon, draining the eastern slope of the Cascade Mountains, and slices through the northwestern corner of California before flowing into the Pacific Ocean. The Colorado River begins in Colorado, at the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains, before meandering southwesterly and emptying into Mexico’s Sea of Cortez — if there’s […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
‘The Damage is Real’
On April 19, my work site had a lockdown drill during the afternoon portion of the day. Schools have a minimum of two lockdown drills a year, in addition to monthly fire drills and less frequent earthquake drills. Drills have extremely loud alarms and flashing lights. It is very negatively stimulating. Many of my students […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Earth Day: How Will California Protect Humboldt Bay from Worst Sea Level Rise on the West Coast?
I may not be able to get home in 20 years – not because I’ve left the area, but because the roads to my house may be underwater. I live just a mile from the edge of Humboldt Bay in Northern California, the location of the most rapid sea level rise along the West Coast. […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Hop on a Bike
A middle-aged woman who said she had never ridden a bike in her life, climbed onto the saddle of a bicycle bolted to a stationary stand, curious to try pedaling to power the amplified PA system. The watt meter surged and she smiled. The scene was a Bike Rodeo organized last summer by the Arcata […]