The California Department of Public Health is warning not to eat recreationally-harvested clams, mussels or other bivalves in Humboldt and Del Norte counties, saying that high levels of domoic acid have been detected in samples of these species. Consumption can cause illness and death. However, it is still safe to eat commercially harvested shellfish, which […]
Environment / Natural Resources
Posted inNews
Connecting Freshmen to the Klamath
A small group of Humboldt State University’s largest-ever freshman class got a VIP-worthy introduction to the county last week through one of the North Coast’s most important resources: the Klamath River. More than 60 students cut their summer breaks short to head up to Arcata early this year as part of an experimental new program […]
Posted inNews
Wolves Incoming
Wolves are recolonizing California at a much quicker rate than anticipated, say officials from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. A game camera recently captured pictures of a pack of gray wolves in southeastern Siskiyou County. Karen Kovacs, the wildlife program manager who has been monitoring the movement of wolves along the Oregon border […]
Posted inNews
Humboldt Bay Radioactivists
Tucked near King Salmon, the Humboldt Bay nuclear power plant’s been shut down since 1976. It is part way to burial but, like rust, it will never sleep. In a PG&E-sponsored Aug. 19 “open house” in Eureka, utility staffers were supposed to update the community on the nuke plant’s progress toward decommissioning. The event left […]
Posted inNews
Feds Launch Klamath Investigation
As if enough hard feelings didn’t exist over Klamath River water rights, the Office of Special Counsel, the federal agency in charge of researching claims put forth by whistleblowers, has directed the Interior Department to determine if millions of dollars meant for environmental restoration were instead used to benefit farming and ranching interests. A press […]
Posted inNews
County Rainfall Totals at a Glance
As the water year creeps to a close, on the heels of Humboldt’s third driest year on record, it seems a good time to dust off the Journal’s rainfall chart to take stock of where we stand. Humboldt’s 2014-2015 water year (July 1 through June 30) has been wetter than the past couple, filling Ruth […]
Posted inNews
Seventh Drowning Death of 2015: Don’t Assume a Shallow River is a Safe River
The May 27 drowning death of Brian H. Hone in the Trinity River was the seventh such incident in 2015. Hone, 27, was overcome by the swift current immediately after jumping in, according to the accounts of his two friends. They attempted to rescue Hone but were also overwhelmed and struggled to make it back […]
Posted inNews
Who Bombed Judi Bari? 25 Years Later, We May Find an Answer
Twenty-five years after a bomb exploded on an Oakland freeway, shocking the environmental community, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is mulling launching a criminal investigation. Capt. Gregory Van Patten said police have received some “new information” related to the May 24, 1990 bombing of Earth First activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney, and are reviewing […]
Posted inNews
“Let It Burn”: Enviros Push for Return to Traditional Klamath Forest Management
Controversy over a proposed salvage logging operation in Klamath National Forest seems poised to leverage the National Forest Service into restoring historic stewardship rights to the Karuk tribe. Environmental groups have accused the NFS of “fast-tracking” the Westside Fire Recovery Project, which was proposed in October 2014 as a response to massive summer wildfires across […]
Posted inNews
Dramatic Rescue on the Lost Coast Trail
Emergency crews from almost a dozen agencies worked through Saturday night and into Sunday morning to rescue a hiker from a remote area of the Lost Coast Trail, near Shelter Cove. The crews battled an incoming tide, darkness and heavy fog to get the hiker — who’d been critically injured in a fall — to […]
Posted inNews
Drowning Marks Humboldt’s Fifth of 2015
The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office has identified the man who drowned while swimming near Trinidad’s Agate State Beach on Friday Thursday afternoon as 34-year-old Brad Lee Senatore, of Fairfield. It’s the fifth drowning death recorded so far this year in Humboldt County, which typically averages five or six annually. An experienced diver, Senatore went for a […]
Posted inNews
Scenes from a Sweep: Images from behind the Bayshore Mall and a look at what’s next
The Eureka Police Department led a multi-agency effort Wednesday to remove what Chief Andrew Mills called a “criminal element that has infiltrated” the network of homeless camps near the railroad tracks behind the Bayshore Mall. Dubbed Operation Safe Trails, the full-day sweep of the encampments involved more than 50 officers from at least seven agencies, […]