Busy week? We’ll help you catch up on the basics of this week’s cover story, “Rio Dell’s Hash Lab Murder Case,” which takes a deep dive into hash lab explosion that rocked Rio Dell in November and spawned murder charges against all involved. You should really read the whole story here, but this will give […]
Crime
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County Warns Employees Personal Info May Have Been Compromised
The county of Humboldt just sent a letter to all of its more than 2,000 employees, warning that their personal information — including driver’s license numbers, social security numbers and bank routing information — may have been compromised. According to the letter, it’s unclear how many county employees this affects. In the letter, which is […]
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TL;DR Drunk in Public
Didn’t have time to read this week’s cover story? We get it. Summer just disappeared in a blink and now it’s time to get ready for one of those famous rainy Humboldt winters. If you’d rather spend the weekend winterizing the house than catching up on current events, we put together a quiz from week’s […]
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Police Chief on Shooting: Suspect Was Wanted, Officer Lucky to be Alive
Twenty-six-year-old Ervin Eugene Sweat Jr. was wanted on a pair of warrants and facing imminent arrest when he stepped out of a Ford truck and opened fire on police officers, initiating the gunfire exchange that killed him, Arcata Police Chief Tom Chapman said at a press conference this afternoon. According to Chapman, Sweat fired at […]
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TL;DR: What You Need to Know About the $2.5 Million Verdict Against the County
Busy week? We’ll help you catch up on the basics of this week’s cover story, which touches on Humboldt County’s jail, homelessness, drug addiction and mental illness. Read the full story here before you dive into a Facebook comments debate. This week the Journal took a deep dive into the recent $2.5 federal court verdict against […]
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Arcata Police, Witnesses Describe How a Fight Erupted into Gunfire
Officers were approaching a parked car that they believed contained a man suspected of brandishing a firearm early this morning, when a 26-year-old man exited the vehicle and allegedly fired at least two shots at them, hitting a Humboldt State University officer in the leg and prompting the officers to return fire, fatally wounding the […]
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Officer Wounded, Suspect Killed in Arcata Plaza Shooting
A shootout in front of bar row on the Arcata Plaza around 2 a.m. left a Humboldt State University police officer wounded and a suspect dead. The officer’s injuries are considered serious but not life threatening. According to an Arcata Police Department press release, an APD officer was with the UPD officer investigating a report […]
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Man Sentenced to 52 years to Life in Arcata Shooting
Two months after being convicted by a jury of second degree murder, Billy Joe Giddings, 38, was sentenced today to 52 years to life in prison for the death of Arcata resident Trevor Mark Harrison in a marijuana deal gone wrong. Another defendant, Robert Louis Huntzinger, was acquitted but still faces charges in unrelated cases. […]
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APD Touts Progress, Urges Patience in Lawson Investigation
Arcata Police Chief Tom Chapman is asking for patience as his department continues to investigate the killing of of a Humboldt State University student last April. “It’s frustrating for people that nobody’s in custody and it seems like nothing’s happening, but that’s far from the truth,” Chapman says. “A lot of things have happened in […]
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UPDATE: Eureka Fatal Shooting Victim ID’d
UPDATE: The Eureka Police Department has identified the man fatally shot in a residence in the 1300 block of Seventh Street as Frederick William Loftus, 58. PREVIOUS: David Alan Kobak was arrested this evening after the 75-year-old allegedly shot and killed a man at a Eureka house before summoning police to the scene at around […]
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UPDATED: Another Assault on Jail Staff
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office reports that at around 8:35 p.m. on Saturday an inmate housed in a maximum security unit of the county jail assaulted a correctional deputy and two nurses during a routine medical visit. Taume DeMarco, 42, was initially booked into the facility Aug. 9 by the Fortuna Police Department on charges […]
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Sheriff Says Recent Guard Attack Part of Growing Trend
Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal held a press conference this morning to share details about a Wednesday evening assault on a correctional deputy at the county jail and to call for more state resources in response to a surge in similar attacks since the 2013 passage of Assembly Bill 109. According to Honsal, the attack […]