The test fire is about to start in a meadow encircled by woods on the flattest piece of terrain anyone can remember walking here in the Klamath River Basin. Are the hoses charged? Is the pump in the river working? Are all resources staged and in their places? A test fire is a term fire […]
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Picking Up Their Torch
I lay in bed at 3 a.m. unable to sleep, mind on fire with a thousand loose ends from planning another crazy prescribed fire training exchange (TREX) event. My youngest, Rory, nestled beside me looking angelic in the dappled Alameda streetlight. I am not at our Klamath TREX for the first time since its inception […]
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Holiday Gift Guide 2021
Time to spread some joy. Grab your list — don’t forget your mask — and prepare to once again peruse Humboldt County’s bevy of shops. The windows are decorated and the lights are up. You’re bound to see some familiar folks in the aisles and over the counters while you browse, and that’s half the […]
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Preserving a Way of Life
At the confluence of the Klamath and Salmon rivers stands a small mountain known as á›uuyich to the Karuk people, for whom it is the center of the world. Close by is the historic village of Katimiîn, where the Karuk Tribe’s annual world renewal ceremony to restore balance to the universe takes place, and down […]
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‘No Fish Means No Food’
Keeping salmon in her children’s diet is “an entire job,” says Georgiana Gensaw, a Yurok Tribe member and mother of four in Klamath Glen, a community whose only easily accessible food store is a fried chicken shop attached to a gas station a few miles away. The nearest grocery store, Safeway in Crescent City, lies […]
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Civil Grand Jury Reportedly Investigating Auditor-Controller
The Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury is investigating allegations of “deficiencies” and “poor service” in the Auditor-Controller’s Office, Fortuna Union High School District Superintendent Glen Senestraro told his Board of Trustees at its Nov. 10 meeting. The board voted unanimously at its September meeting to send a complaint to the grand jury detailing allegations of […]
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Racing the Rise
Anyone who has ever driven south on U.S. Highway 101 between Arcata and Eureka during a storm at high tide can’t help but notice how close the water comes to the highway. Sea level rise, which scientists assure us is now inevitable, will only make things worse. The only questions are how much worse and […]
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Policing the Police
With little fanfare, the Eureka City Council voted unanimously Nov. 2 to move forward with what, if finalized, will become the most robust police oversight policy in Humboldt County. The council directed staff to issue a request for proposals (RFP) to hire an independent police auditor to work with the city’s re-christened Citizens Accountability Board […]
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Dancing on the Hum Nuke’s Grave is Strictly Prohibited
I’m a busy little atom! I split myself in two! I multiply as many times As I have jobs to do! In summer, winter, spring or fall I’m ready every hour: Just push as switch And watch me zip With light or heat or power. Reddy Kilowatt, a nuclear industry mascot, who first appeared in […]
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‘Bittersweet’
After nearly a quarter-century in policing — the last 16 years in Eureka, with the last four as chief — Eureka Police Chief says he’d been thinking a lot about the need to step back, to focus on family and shift gears. “Originally, I’d planned to wait longer and do it sometime in the next […]
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Minor Scares
Arcata’s Minor Theatre opened way back in 1914, so long ago that’s it never been established if it was the first one in the nation built primarily as a cinema, but it was sure close. It’s never been made clear whether Harry Houdini performed there in the 1920s but the lore is more fun if […]
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Mayoral Misconduct?
The city of Arcata is currently weighing whether and how it investigates allegations against Councilmember Brett Watson, at least some of which were the subject of a closed session meeting earlier this month to discuss the city’s potential exposure to litigation and later prompted a very public rebuke from his colleagues on the dais. “Information […]