20 Years at the Playhouse

July 23, 2026 / Vol. XXXVII / No. 30

Cover Story

20 Years at the Playhouse

On Monday afternoon at the Creamery Building, Jacqueline Dandeneau stands with her thumbs tucked in purple overalls, grinning as David Ferney explains the Flynn Creek Circus’ Russian swing act to Vicki Ozaki of Humboldt Taiko. Ferney spreads his hands, pantomiming the “boat” the acrobats stand on, rocking higher and higher — to the mounting rhythm…

The Definition of Harm

A coalition of conservation groups, including the Arcata-based Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), is suing to block the Trump administration’s move to strip longstanding habitat protections for imperiled wildlife from the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  For more than 50 years, the word “harm” has been delineated to mean not just directly hurting or killing a listed…

Bold as Love

This month has been, for me, a period of increasing despair and detachment from the news at large, both at home and globally. It’s all so bad. And while I enjoyed the spirit of Spain beating Argentina in the FIFA finals, the whole spectacle itself felt like a stupider version of the 1936 Summer Olympics…

What’s Good: The Brunch Club

Brunch is the most social of meals, built for leisure and stretching out the day. It may be the most challenging to eat alone, though I’ve done it happily. (When you focus on your French toast completely, it’s a different experience, and eavesdropping on the next table is juicier after a night out.)  Now that…

Trinidad Art Night

This town-wide walk includes a variety of art exhibits, live music, artist receptions, face painting, skate ramps, pop-up sales and oyster, cider or wine tastings. Call (707) 834-2479 or visit trinidadartnight.com. Forbes & Associates presents Sarah Corliss, produced by Westhaven Center for the Arts. *Event times may vary.   THE LIGHTHOUSE GRILL 355 Main St.Members’…

Crabs on the Brink

Baseball can be fickle, exhilarating and heartbreaking. When we last left our beloved Crabs, they were on a roll and onto top of the conference, with a daunting and trying road trip in front of them. That road trip would be the worst-case scenario for the hometown heroes. Facing two of their toughest opponents in…

A Wild and Wooly Night at the Rodeo

The Fortuna Rodeo’s Full Throttle Friday, as photographer Mark Larson discovered this week, is a very different vibe from old-fashioned riding and roping. Things start off low to the ground with Mutton Busting, in which youngsters take a traditional one-handed rodeo ride on a sheep.  The introduction of motors and wheels amps things up significantly,…

The Purloined Letter 

“The fish is the last to see the water.” — Anthropologist Ruth Benedict Our lives are filled with obvious phenomena that sit right in front of our noses (sometimes literally), yet we often miss seeing them at all. I call it Purloined LetterSyndrome, after Edgar Allen Poe’s 1845 short story of that name.  Synopsis: If…

Homecoming Surprises

THE INVITE was titillatingly teased (for what felt like years) as a sex comedy of manners, a will-they-or-won’t-they about two couples of a certain age circling each other in an apartment brought uncomfortably close by erotic tension. And while it certainly is that, one of the many pleasant surprises it holds — and a testament…

Happy Murder

As the wind begins the crows emergeready to play tag, chortle, caw . . .  make that special sound only they can make, take flight over rocky shoals into ocean misttheir numbers increase as day descends  upon the dense pines that line the graveyard   of our tiny coastal town Great swaths of green leafy boughs  breathe and billowas corvid come…


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