When Cal Poly Humboldt President Tom Jackson Jr. announced his resignation last month, some were surprised at the news he would be retreating to a tenured professor position at the university. But the so-called “retreat rights” allowing him to leave administration and become one of the institution’s highest paid professors were written into the terms […]
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‘Profound Concern’
Editor’s note: Be forewarned that this story includes antisemitic threats, hate speech and slurs. A former Humboldt County planning commissioner is expressing growing distress at the way authorities are handling the case of a 33-year-old Arcata man who allegedly made violent, antisemitic threats against him, his family and Jews in general. Lee Ulansey, a local […]
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Huffman Talks Project 2025
Over the course of about 25 minutes on July 11, North Coast Congressmember Jared Huffman walked the North Coast Journal through what he sees as an increasingly large and urgent part of his job: efforts to warn voters about Project 2025, a conservative roadmap designed to guide the transition to another Trump presidency. The 900-page […]
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Humboldt Lines Up for Free Care
It’s 6:30 a.m. on July 12 and more than 100 people are lined up below the Carson Mansion on Eureka’s First Street, waiting for the Adorni Center to open at 7. Some are bundled in jackets, while others are draped in blankets. Many sit in lawn chairs they’d brought from home, prepared to wait, while […]
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2024 California Ballot Measures: What You Need to Know
Much is expected of the California voter. In any given election year, we may be asked to dust off our labor lawyer hats, brush up on oil and gas regulations, reacquaint ourselves with decades of tax policy, or analyze infrastructure funding. We may have to weigh the moral pros and cons of capital punishment, marriage equality or pig protection and — over and over again — oversee all things dialysis clinic. This November, […]
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The Tax Men Cometh
If you live in Humboldt County, you’ll likely see a local tax measure on your November ballot. Maybe two. Facing stagnant revenues and steadily rising costs, the cities of Arcata and Fortuna have moved forward with putting sales tax measures on the November ballot, following in the footsteps of the other five cities in the […]
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The Jury Is In
California’s civil grand jury system is enshrined in the state constitution, which requires a group of citizens be impaneled annually in all 58 of its counties to watch over local governments. The system is as old as the state itself and unique across the country. In Humboldt County, it also hangs in the balance, with […]
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Nonprofit Brings Free Dental, Medical Clinic to Humboldt
Tom Lewis has been a dentist for more than 50 years and has seen countless patients, but that one still stands out in his mind. The man in his mid-40s showed up first thing in the morning at the clinic in Sacramento with his two teenage daughters. A contractor and single father, the man said […]
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Court Rejects Zoellner Appeal
The United States’ Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling finding Arcata police had probable cause to arrest Kyle Zoellner on suspicion of murdering David Josiah Lawson, rejecting Zoellner’s claim for damages against the city. The unanimous ruling filed June 25 rejects all five of Zoellner’s legal arguments, upholding the October […]
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Fire Alarm
It’s a sunny Monday morning and Humboldt Bay Fire Chief Sean Robertson and Fire Capt. Brandon Harlander are sitting in a nondescript conference room at the department’s main station on C Street, talking to the Journal as a part of a media outreach campaign to spread the word about what they’re describing as a “staffing […]
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Change of Plea Hearing Set in Fair Embezzlement Case
U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer has scheduled a change of plea hearing for the Humboldt County Fair Association’s former bookkeeper, signaling she may be nearing a plea agreement to resolve the wire fraud charges facing her. Nina Tafarella, who was indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 11 and faces five counts of […]
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Grand Jury: Eureka Schools Acted ‘Hastily,’ Without Due Diligence
After investigating Eureka City Schools’ decision to offload its former Jacobs Middle School site in a property exchange agreement with a mystery developer, the Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury has issued a report criticizing the district for a lack of transparency and due diligence. “The Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury concludes that the Eureka City […]