A ‘Good’ Year
Officials predict a busy fire season. What does this mean for the men and women who make their money from the flames?
Cover Story
A ‘Good’ Year
Speculation is stock-in-trade during fire season. Rumors don’t spread, exactly, but grow apace with the high grass watered by late spring rains. The state of the season is monitored with the same weather eye of a lookout watching the horizon for lightning strikes. As they did last year, hotshots check their gear, contractors gas up…
THREE DAYS LEFT: Photo Contest! Style, Humboldt Style
Hey readers — every year we ask you to whip out your smart phone, pack up your DSLR or dust off that old 35mm camera to frame and snap some photos that scream “Humboldt.” That time has come again, and this year we’re asking you to go out (or in) and capture Humboldt’s best styles.…
UPDATE: The Dogs Are Alright, Eureka City Budget Passed
UPDATE: Suzie Owsley is going through old files at the Problem Oriented Policing office in Eureka, organizing for whoever steps in once she and the rest of the team move on. Owsley is one of eight police services officers with the Eureka Police Department whose position was eliminated in sweeping budget cuts passed by the…
Center Yourselves … the 2015-2016 Center Arts Lineup is Here
All right, kids. The wait is over. Center Arts just announced its 2015-2016 lineup and the offerings are good and plenty. From the Waifs to Weird Al to the Chieftains to Cooder (Ry), the good folks at Humboldt State University have done it again. There are Martinis of the Pink persuasion and Kids on Milk…
Motion to Dismiss Filed in SoHum Murder Case
One of the men accused of killing and robbing a San Francisco man in Southern Humboldt seven years ago is asking a federal judge to dismiss the case against him, arguing that repeated delays have violated his rights and his ability to mount a defense. Ryan Carroll has been behind bars since his January 2010…
Five Lessons from the Redwood Run
1. It’s not what it used to be. This according to veteran biker Craig “Sundog” Barnette, who pulled a sour face at the paltry array of bikes in front of the bars in Garberville. “There used to be hogs up and down this street. Now it’s a ghost town.” Nonetheless, local bartenders said they made…
HumBug: The Sister and the Admiral
Out in my back yard I saw a butterfly flying low, straight and fast, too fast to identify perfectly. It landed half way up a redwood tree and proceeded to open and close its wings, displaying its striking markings, still too far away to identify perfectly. That’s because there are two species of similar size,…
Body Cameras Go Live in Rio Dell; EPD Eyeing Launch by End of Year
If you find yourself being stopped by a cop in Rio Dell, remember to smile and maybe even fix your hair: You’ll be on camera. After ironing out a few technical kinks, Rio Dell Police Chief Graham Hill and each of his four officers are now outfitted with body cameras to wear in the field.…
Tonight’s Setlist #2: In Which We Honor the Freeing of Arcata Feet
Gather ’round, children and transplants, and let us tell you of the dark days of yesteryear, 2001 to 2003 to be precise, when the fair city of Arcata was under siege by a police chief who dreamed of creating his very own Bomont — a town where dancing was outlawed and live music was a…
Tonight’s Setlist #1: Brisa Roché, Paris Darling, Arcata
Expect emotional and startling jazz standards from the 1930s to 1950s interpreted by singer Brisa Roché with Steve Smith on piano and Baron Wolfe on bass. Roché was born in Arcata and raised by an artist mother and adventurer father. She left home with her guitar at 16 to bask in the glory days of…
Huffman Makes it Rain on Pulp Mill
North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman secured a $155,000 federal economic development grant for the Samoa Pulp Mill, according to an announcement released Wednesday. The grant is expected to help the Harbor District (which is hard at work on other bayside development as well) plan future uses for the mill. From the congressman: WASHINGTON—Congressman Jared Huffman today…
Tonight’s Setlist: Rose Armin-Hoiland, Coming Home to Fly Away
Rose Armin-Hoiland presents “Gotta Have a Song” — her first show in Arcata since relocating to Oakland in 2012 — at the Arcata Playhouse. Born and raised in Arcata, Armin-Hoiland sang before she talked and began performing in choirs and musical theatre shortly thereafter. As a teenager, she formed a jazz trio with high school…
Measure Z Payouts Include Airport Tree Cutting, After All
The aviation division’s gonna get some of that sweet, sweet Measure Z cashola. In its Tuesday meeting, the Board of Supervisors bypassed the Measure Z Committee’s recommendations and awarded the division, a branch of county public works, nearly $80,000 for tree trimming. The aviation division requested the funds in order to remain in compliance with…
The Art of Wine
When the world seems to shine like you’ve had too much wine, that’s Fortuna. The Rotary Club of Fortuna has been pairing wine and art lovers with some of the best on the vine and canvas for more than two decades. The popular Art & Wine in the Park, a fundraiser for the club’s community projects, has been crushing…
Magic Shoes
Take a break from Anna and Elsa at the Arkley Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, June 13 at 3:30 p.m. when Trinity Ballet Academy performs Sleeping Beauty ($18, $12 kids 11 and under). Adora Stebbins and Jonathan Wisan dance the parts of the happy couple under Greta Leverett’s direction. Emily Denny saves the…
Are you Experienced? ™
Bills from our two state representatives lurched forward in the last couple weeks. Assemblyman Jim Wood’s “Marijuana Watershed Protection Act,” which would task water boards with developing marijuana cultivation regulations, was passed by the Assembly and now moves to the Senate. It was the first medical marijuana related bill to leave its house this year,…
A Little Risk
Talking about art is hazardous. We might be imprecise or get bogged down in biographical minutia or jargon. Talking about surfing is worse. Every surf article published since the 1960s suggests something like Fight Club: you don’t talk about where you surf, lest you betray other initiates. And anyway, surfing’s a transcendent experience, the stoke…
Second Friday Arts! Arcata
For more information visit artsarcata.com or call Arcata Main Street at 822-4500. ARCATA ARTISANS 883 H St. Mimi LaPlant, paintings; Diane Sonderegger, ceramics. ARCATA EXCHANGE 813 H St. Jay Brown, mixed media. Wine service by the Breast Health Project; announcement of the BHP’s annual vacation giveaways. BUBBLES 1031 H St. Music by Clean Livin’. FATBOL…
Climate Change 101
Confusion reigns around the terms “global warming” and “climate change.” I often see gleeful blog comments from climate-change deniers to the effect of, Scientists are so unsure of global warming that they’re now calling it “climate change.” Here’s a little clarification. Climate change refers to long-term change in Earth’s climate, which has multiple effects. One…
Broads and Bros
Reviews SPY. When Bridesmaids (2011) dropped and blew up I, like everyone else, applauded its success. In hindsight, though, there was and is something disingenuous, something backhanded about much of the praise lavished on it. It seems to me that many viewers, particularly those with, shall we say less refined comic taste, liked the movie…
On Confessions
Editor: Regarding your June 4 article on the murder of Reetpaul Singh Rana (“‘Innocent People Don’t Want Attorneys'”): For a criminal justice system based on laws, you have to embrace those laws or get them changed. The Supreme Court has affirmed the rights to remain silent, have effective legal counsel and be innocent until proven…
A Different Tuna
Editor: In regards to the Fish Festival article (“Trinidad Fish Festival Evolves to Keep from Floundering,” June 4), paragraph five, “It was a rare sunny day in Trinidad. …” Anyone who thinks sunny days are rare in Trinidad has not spent any time here the last couple years. Mike Wood, Trinidad
Tweaking a Recipe
Editor: Although Genevieve Schmidt is an excellent landscaper, I disagree with several of the statements in the well written and humorous “Recipe for Popularity” (June 4). I have been propagating and growing alstroemerias for 29 years; in general, they all need good to great drainage and thus are not “tolerant of damp soil.” Deer often…
We Need Facts
Editor: Tony Platt’s story, “Homicide by Police” (May 14) states that Freddie Gray in Baltimore was beaten to death. Nowhere have I heard this was a beating death. I am sure something happened there, what is needed is reporters to “report” the facts. If Mr. Platt knows this was a beating death, he needs to…
Hyper-pension
Editor: This is a joke, right? Thadeus Greenson’s “Reckoning Day” (May 7) was a joke, right? Greg Sparks, the city manager, “broke the news” that the city budget is short $2 million. Our city department heads just found this out? Wasn’t Measure Q supposed to fix our city police/fire departments? Don’t get me wrong, all…
Eyes on Woodley Island
As Eureka continues to re-envision its waterfront, making incremental improvements, a power player is emerging: The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District. An often quiet elected body, the district rose into the public spotlight several times in the last few years when it took ownership of the Samoa Pulp Mill, spurring a cleanup of…
Six Continents in Eight Blocks
Whether in their natural ecosystems, on old estates or in botanical gardens, the value of being in the presence of trees has been recognized for centuries. This, I believe, helps explain why so many varieties are distributed around the globe. Many of the trees seen in and around urban areas are strictly ornamental, trees that…
Slow Motion Collapse
Slow Motion Collapse Near the Mad River Bridge, enormous, leaning, roof slanting to weeds, the gray red hay-barn yearns toward level; slow-motion catastrophe slipping down like years. Nearby, pickups loll in tall grass, as blind to its wreck as children playing on a crumbling bluff. When we drive by we’re on watch. Has the crisis…
In the Beginning
This week brings us the goodness of two women who launched from Arcata to find smashing success elsewhere, and are returning to play hometown shows; plus, an anniversary of A-town’s delivery from a Footloose-like existence. Read on… Friday Local girl returns #1 Rose Armin-Hoiland presents “Gotta Have a Song” — her first show in Arcata…
Glamorous Berries
Even when I’m feeling fed up with food (not actual cooking, which I find simultaneously contemplative and entertaining, but with all the books and blogs and the smothering tide of information about the potential ethical and dietary consequences of what we eat), I always enjoy the beginning of summer fruit season. And for periods such…
Funny in Fortuna
Hey, wanna hear something funny? Then hurry up and get a ticket. The Redwood Comedy Festival is splitting sides again in Fortuna on Friday, June 12 and Saturday, June 13 ($5 door Friday, $25 door Saturday, $30 two-day pass, $175 two-day VIP table for four with wine). Some 48 comedians from around the country are…
