The issue of seismic safety at hospitals is of utmost importance to the future of patients who live in remote areas in California. As the CEO of a rural hospital, I know California’s rural hospitals would love to build new hospitals if they could. The problem is that the seismic legislation was enacted with a […]
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Humboldt County Still Working to Implement Organic Waste System
Humboldt Waste Management Authority, Recology Humboldt and local jurisdictions are working on building the infrastructure needed to collect organic waste from residents’ curbside bins. Still, it will likely be a couple of years before the county as a whole is in full compliance with Senate Bill 1383, the state’s landmark organic waste bill. “Staff anticipates […]
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High Intensity
When the earth began to shake at 2:34 a.m. on Dec. 20, the epicenter was just off the coast of Ferndale. But a combination of factors, including how the rupture traveled inland on an east-north-east trajectory, placed the quake’s bullseye on Rio Dell. Felt as far away as Redding and the Bay Area, the magnitude […]
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Anatomy of an Embezzlement
If you look at any of the various checklists of how to protect an organization from fraud, which you can find through an easy Google search, it’s hard to argue the Humboldt County Fair Association wasn’t a plum target for embezzlement. Did it do thorough background checks for new hires? Nope. Did it have written […]
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While a Constitutional Right, Abortion Access Remains Limited in Humboldt
When someone finds out they’re pregnant at the Open Door Women’s Health Clinic, they’re met with a discussion about options for how — and whether — they want to proceed with their pregnancies. “We ask them, ‘What would you like to do? What’s best for you?’” said Humboldt County gynecologist Kim Ervin, whose been providing […]
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Humboldt’s Grisly History of Illegal Abortions
George Landgren was not a good husband or father. In 1913, he abandoned his wife, Alma, and their two little boys, and headed south. When the local sheriff forced him back to Humboldt County to care for his family, he spent just enough time with them to avoid being charged with desertion — and to […]
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Medi-Cal to Keep More Insurance Plans after Pushback
In a significant course change, the California Department of Health Care Services announced that it has negotiated with five commercial health plans to provide Medi-Cal services in 2024, scratching a two-year-long bidding process for the coveted state contracts. This upends the state’s previous plans of awarding contracts to only three health plans. It means more Medi-Cal […]
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Shaken, Blustered and Drenched
Already shaken entering the New Year, Humboldt County is now also wind-blown and drenched and, in some cases, in the dark. Humboldt County has seen little respite since a magnitude 6.4 earthquake jolted the region Dec. 20, knocking out power to most of the county and battering Eel River Valley communities. A New Year’s Day […]
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‘Still Downhill’
Hopes that shuttering the North Coast’s recreational red abalone season for five years would be enough to reverse the precipitous decline in the mollusk’s population appear to have been overly optimistic. Reopening of the fishery — which seems almost an impossibility any time soon — now depends on a methodical intervention effort to rebuild a […]
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Through Mark Larson’s Lens
In another year we’ll all never forget, 2022 started with the scary omicron surge and ended with a big earthquake. The latter was a reminder that we live near the Triple Junction and now we await this winter’s “Tripledemic” of COVID, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). My wife and I continued to limit face-to-face […]
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Pine Hill Shootings Leave ‘Horrible’ Toll
Editor’s note: Be advised this story contains descriptions of domestic violence that readers may find disturbing. Skip to the bottom for information about local domestic violence services. According to Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal, Russell Albers’ girlfriend had made the decision to leave him and their abusive relationship behind. Speaking to the Journal on Dec. 29, […]
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‘A Lot of Trauma’
Already battered from the magnitude 6.4 earthquake on Dec. 20, the city of Rio Dell suffered “far more significant” damage in the 5.4 quake that rattled Humboldt County on New Year’s Day, according to City Manager Kyle Knopp. “These earthquakes were absolutely scary,” he said. “After the first event, we had a lot of people […]