Cover Stories
Who Haunts the Stairways of the Historic Eagle House?
Have you been in an old house or historic building and heard footsteps on the stairs? You hear the distinct creak of footfalls on each step and you’re certain that some living person must be there. And then … . You see no one. Maybe you even realize you’re alone in the house. Or, at…
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…
Public Health Confirms 24 New COVID-19 Cases, Children 5 and Up Cleared for Vaccinations
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 24 new COVID-19 cases today, with no new hospitalizations or deaths reported. Earlier today, the county released a set of benchmarks that will have to be reached before local mask mandates are lifted. Read more here. The county reported yesterday that an advisory panel for the Centers for Disease Control…
Health Officers Set Benchmarks for Lifting Mask Mandates
Humboldt County Health Officer Ian Hoffman and his Del Norte counterpart announced today the beginning of a loosening of COVID-19 masking requirements, with the outdoor masking mandated slated to be lifted Nov. 8, while the health officials outlined the benchmarks needed for the full lifting of the local masking order. The move comes with the…
Young Children Can Receive COVID Vaccines Soon. Here’s What You Need to Know
California will begin vaccinating young children as soon as today, with the state expecting to receive more than a million doses of COVID-19 vaccine during the first week. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week authorized Pfizer’s vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 for emergency use. On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control…
Public Health Reports Five New COVID-19 Hospitalization, Vaccine Authorized for Children 5 and Older
Humboldt County Public Health reported five new COVID-19 hospitalizations today, while also confirming six new cases of the virus — though five previously reported cases were removed from the county’s tall. The new hospitalizations included a resident in their 30s, another in their 40s, two in their 60s and one over the age of 80,…
Pedestrian Struck on 101 Identified
The CHP today identified the pedestrian killed just after 2 a.m. Monday after being hit by a car while walking in the lanes of U.S. Highway 101 north of Fernbridge as Greg Campbell. He was 50. Campbell, a resident of Sausalito, died at the scene. Impairment by the driver is not considered to be a…
Countdown to Cal Poly Humboldt
Plans are moving forward for a rebranded Humboldt State University, with President Tom Jackson, Jr. presenting the California State University Board of Trustees on Nov. 9 with a formal request to change the name to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt — or Cal Poly Humboldt, for short. The proposal before the trustees is part of…
A Bright Spot on the Hill
Under a cloudless sky, a five-piece Mexican band played to the side of the parking lot at the Oct. 9 grand opening of Taqueria Tecoman (2003 Eich Road, Eureka). The speakers were cranked high enough to cause ripples in your horchata. After nearly three decades of working in restaurants from Rita’s to Chapalas to Jalisco’s, owner…
Cal State Races to Boost Graduation Rate and Cut Early Ds and Fs
With the pandemic threatening to undercut graduation rates, Cal State is pushing to re-enroll lost students and reduce early Ds and Fs that can drive students to drop out. After her freshman year at San Francisco State was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, Marissa Ledesma fled from the campus vowing never to return. It…
Public Health: Four More COVID-19 Deaths, 61 New Cases
Four more Humboldt County residents have died of COVID-19, Public Health reported today, while announcing it had confirmed 61 new cases of the virus and three new hospitalizations since Friday’s report. The new cases were reported after laboratories processed 403 samples with a test-positivity rate of 15.1 percent. After recording a test-positivity rate of 10.1 percent…
High COVID Case Counts Being Reported by Schools, Youth Sports, Businesses in the Greater Fortuna Area
A group of ZIP codes encompassing parts of Fortuna, Carlotta, Rio Dell, Scotia and Hydesville are showing an “unusually high number” COVID-19 cases being reported by schools, youth sports leagues and businesses over the last few weeks, according to Humboldt County Public Health. The specific ZIP codes that have had 60 percent more cases than…
NCJ Preview: Mayoral Exit Questions, Hauntings and Spooky Times
This week we’re sharing what we do and don’t know about Arcata Mayor Brett Watson’s exit from the position, as well as the questions surrounding his departure. And in the spirit of the season, we’ve got tales of local hauntings, spooky cinema and graveyard walks. We’re also looking at how El Pueblo Market Panaderia bakes…
Phillip ‘Phil’ Michael Arnot: 1937-2021
Philip Michael Arnot was born on March 10, 1937, in Los Angeles California to Maynard “Jocko” and Lucille Arnot. He lived in Glendale until 1944 when his parents moved Phil and his older brother James D. Arnot to Eureka. Jocko wanted the family to experience living on a farm like he had growing up in…
HumCo Records Two More COVID-19 Deaths
Two more Humboldt County residents have died of COVID-19, Public Health reported today, while confirming 28 new cases of the virus. No new hospitalizations were reported. The new cases were reported after laboratories processed 331 samples with a test-positivity rate of 8.5 percent. After recording a test-positivity rate of 10.1 percent in July — the highest…
Council to Discuss Police Chief Post in Closed Session as Text Investigation Comes to a Head
The Eureka City Council will meet in closed session Tuesday to discuss how to proceed in the wake of Police Chief Steve Watson’s announced retirement and a case of anticipated litigation. Watson announced Wednesday he would be stepping down from the position he’s held for four years at the end of November. With the department…
Child Care in California Hasn’t Rebounded — Why Many Workers Aren’t Coming Back
For Tonya Muhammad, who runs Lil Critters Family Daycare in Hawthorne, spring of 2020 was, in a word, “horrible.” The early rush on cleaning supplies meant that she and her husband had to criss-cross Los Angeles to find disinfectant, sourcing bottles of Lysol from a dental supply company and aloe vera from a local nursery…
Another Local COVID-19 Death, 13 New Cases
Humboldt County Public Health reported another local resident has died of COVID-19 today, while also confirming 13 new cases of the virus and one new hospitalization. The new cases were reported after laboratories processed 117 samples with a test-positivity rate of 11.1 percent. After recording a test-positivity rate of 10.1 percent in July — the highest…
CalTrans Considers Alternatives to ‘Armoring’ 101 Against Sea Level Rise
As it faces flooding from sea level rise along the U.S. Highway 101 Arcata-Eureka, CalTrans is seriously considering a “living shoreline” instead of throwing riprap up against the tides. In a workshop yesterday, it also seemed clear the agency is going to keep the current road alignment at the edge of Humboldt Bay. Clancy DeSmet,…
Coastal Rivers Full, Smith Best Bet for Salmon
Trying to decipher last week’s rain and river level predictions was not for the faint of heart. But when it was all said and done, all of the North Coast rivers got the flushing they desperately needed. Some rivers, especially to our south, went far beyond what was forecast and eventually hit flood stage. Coastal…
Favorite Spooky Movies that Still Have Bite
Halloween is just days away and if you’re like me, you’re wondering how you’ll pass the evening this year — ears tuned to the front door, bowl of semi-edible candy at the ready, childlike hopes that finally this year more than four children will venture into the dystopian no-man’s-land that lies beyond Lundbar Hills. As…
‘Henching is Alive and Well’
Ms. Cahill’s lament about the difficulty of hiring henchx support is typical of trailing-edge Humboldt business owners (“Nobody Wants to Hench Anymore,” Oct. 21). Rather than adapting to innovation, she blames her difficulties on the “laziness” of others. Henching is alive and well, Ms. Cahill, but poison darts have gone the way of buggy whips. If she would…
Losing California
The Centerville cliffs are eroding into the Pacific Ocean. Over the past 25 years, I have watched this part of the coastline slide into the ocean. The landscape feels like it is straight out of an apocalyptic movie. In fact, in the late 1990s, while attending Humboldt State University, I shot a few student films…
FIRST RAIN for Sylvie
The rains came and you—who have known only a handful of winters— danced on the side of the road arms raised palms open welcoming the glory of it all while I, with more than seventy first rains behind me watched out for traffic and opened my heart to your joy. Carolyn Lehman
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries philosopher Emil Cioran wrote, “When I meet friends or people I know who are going through a difficult period, I usually have this advice for them: ‘Spend 20 minutes in a cemetery, and you’ll see that, though your worry won’t disappear, you’ll almost forget about it and you’ll feel better.'”…
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…
Sweet Offerings
In the little workroom in the back of El Pueblo Market Panaderia (312 Washington St., Eureka), a young man in a flour-dusted apron leans over the worktable to knead a pale yellow dough, putting his weight into it. Engelberto Tejeda, the shop’s owner, reaches over, the sleeves of his crisp, white button down rolled to…
Reimagining the Paint
Last month, during a week of the sort of mid-September sunshine that Humboldt County residents dream of, a bright and colorful attraction took form at the edge of Shay Park in Arcata. Specifically, in the basketball court next to the Twin Parks apartments, a dazzling mural crept over the halfcourt’s cement and up onto the…
Trinidad Art Nights
The last Trinidad Art Nights for the year. As the days get shorter, the event is being held a little earlier. Please follow updated Humboldt County guidelines and wear a mask indoors and at outdoor gatherings. Hosted by Community Arts Trinidad, a DreamMaker Project of the Ink People Center for the Arts. MOONSTONE CROSSING 529…
Dead Blonde
“You found me!” He did not look happy to have found me, which I thought was strange. He was looking for me, wasn’t he? Isn’t that why he was here, in the brushy highway median, with a shovel in one hand and a USB microphone in the other? Wasn’t searching for my body the point…
A Walk with the Departed
Mist floats along the grass, flowing around headstones and disappearing with a swirl as it meets the afternoon sun. Instead of searching for gauzy materializations down long hallways, I stroll local cemeteries for restless spirits. First is lumber magnate William Coleman Carson (1825-1912). If any house should be haunted, it’s his magnificent Victorian, the Carson…
