Cover Story
Acre by Acre
Tasha McKee is standing on a jut of land, her gray-brown hair falling out from underneath a tri-color knit beanie. She’s speaking loudly so she can be heard over the babbling of Van Arken Creek, which stretches out in front of her about 15 feet down a steep slope, meandering under Pacific yew, Douglas fir,…
More Brrrr in the Forecast This Week
That really cold weather thing is not over yet. The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for Thursday, 4 a.m. to 4 p.m., for interior areas of Humboldt County above 2,000 feet, including Berry Summit. Snow accumulation of 3 to 4 inches is possible, according to the advisory, creating hazardous travel conditions.…
Music Tonight: Wednesday, Feb. 21
No Age, a Los Angeles punk outfit on Drag City Records, plays the Outer Space tonight at 7 p.m. ($10). “Dream punk” tour buddies Flesh World from San Francisco, featuring members from Brilliant Colors and Limp Wrist, sit mid-lineup, while Arcata’s own punk darling Grocery Outlit provide a little local flavor. This should be a…
Arcata Council to Consider McKinley’s Fate
The Arcata City Council is set Wednesday to consider the fate of President William McKinley’s statue with a series of potential options ranging from taking down the 1906 tribute to putting the issue before voters. Momentum has been building in recent months to remove the bronze, the first major work by renowned Armenian sculptor Haig…
Fixing a Broken System
The Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services and Sheriff’s Office have agreed to a series of overhauls after a California Attorney General’s Office investigation found serious lapses in the local child abuse reporting system. Under the stipulated judgement accepted by a judge last week, DHHS’ Child Welfare Services and the sheriff’s office are…
Music Tonight: Tuesday, Feb. 20
Local group Dogbone styles itself as a group of musicians playing what they call “feral jazz.” What does that actually mean? I honestly have no idea but if you are curious to find out, head down to the Mad River Brewery in sunny Blue Lake at 6 p.m. to find out for yourself for free.
Snow Today, Freezing Temperatures Tonight
If you woke up to snow or hail on the ground, you’re not alone. Humboldt residents from Piercy to Willow Creek saw their fair share of the white stuff, with snow even dusting the ground at sea level, according to the Eureka office of the National Weather Service. “We even had snow down at the…
Music Tonight: Monday, Feb. 19
Jazz bassist and composer Ben Allison returns for an 8 p.m. show at the Sanctuary after a long decade away from Arcata ($15). He brings with him his backing band Think Free in support of his latest album of self-composed tunes Layers of the City. The church-y ambience of The Sanctuary should provide a nice…
UPDATED: Hoopa Man Held on Suspicion of Murdering Sister
UPDATE: The victim has been identified as Angel Aubrey, 33. Aubrey is the sister of Antone Aubrey, who was arrested in connection with the murder. Previously: Officers from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and Hoopa Tribal Police Department responded to a disturbance call yesterday afternoon behind the Hoopa Gas Station. According to a Humboldt County Sheriff’s press…
Music Tonight: Sunday, Feb. 18
It’s a wine and jazz matinee at Morris Graves Museum today at 3 p.m. A mere $5 gets you in the door to hear Jerry Moore on piano supporting Doug Arrington’s vocal stylings during which time you can sip local wines and schmooze in the circular galleries of our own little art house. After the…
One Billion Rising and Rising
More than 100 Arcata Elementary School and Sunny Brae Middle School students sang and danced to “Home We’ll Go” at the sixth annual One Billion Rising event on the Arcata Plaza on Friday afternoon. “We’re making a statement through dance to rise, resist and unite to make change happen so our homes and workplaces are…
Music Tonight: Saturday, Feb. 17
Kaptain Kirk’s Kosmic Koncoction is a one-man band noted for playing fun covers of a wide variety of pop and rock songs. He opens the evening of free music at The Logger Bar tonight at 9 p.m. before relinquishing the stage to the live debut performance of The Stallions, a local cover band in the…
The Spirit of Mike Lee
It started out as a cold and gray Arcata afternoon. Rain was sprinkling down lightly as I walked into The Jam at 1 p.m. for a memorial “getdown” for cellist Mike Lee, who’d tragically drowned on the last weekend of January while surfing off the coast of Morocco. The stage was set for an ensemble…
Ferndale Firemen’s Games
Ferndale’s volunteer firefighters invite you to watch the pros with a hose compete in old-fashioned firefighting techniques, including bucket brigade, quick dressing and hose coupling during the annual Firemen’s Games on Sunday, Feb. 18 from noon to 3 p.m. on Ferndale’s Main Street (free).
Music Tonight: Friday, Feb. 16
Humbrews is having a night of funk and hip hop as Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli founder Chali 2na returns to Arcata at 9:30 p.m. to spit rhymes in his distinctive baritone. Local funk heavies Object Heavy provide support. $20/ $18 advance. At the same hour over on G Street, there’s a trifecta of dance music…
Wiyot Tribe Votes to Remove McKinley Statue
Referring to U.S. President William McKinley’s legacy of annexing indigenous lands within the continental United States and Hawaii, the Wiyot Tribe sent out a press release today in support of removing the McKinley statue from the Arcata Plaza. According to the release, the Wiyot Tribal Council voted unanimously Feb. 12 to support its removal, as…
Whodunnit Dinner
North Coast private dicks and dolls, don your detective hats and help solve a mystery when the Clarke Museum hosts a dinner theater fundraiser, Murder in the Museum, this Saturday, Feb. 17 at 5 p.m. at Bayside Community Hall ($55, $50 museum members). Valentine’s Day just wrapped but for those for whom it wasn’t disastrous…
Agreement Reached in Attorney General’s HumCo Child Abuse Reporting Inquiry
A Humboldt County Superior Court judge has accepted a stipulated judgement negotiated between the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services, the Sheriff’s Office and the California Attorney General stemming from the AG’s civil investigation into whether the county was in compliance with the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, the county announced…
The Heartbreaker’s Ball
No Valentine? No problem. Stop dragging your heart around and swagger over to Synapsis Nova for the kind of drag your heart likes when Spectrum Presents: The Heartbreaker’s Ball, Friday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. ($5 suggested donation, no one turned away for lack of funds). It’s an all-ages drag show at 9 p.m. and…
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
We’re a month and change into legalized recreational weed and it would be safe to say that things feel a tad … unstable. The county planning department is up to its ears in permit approvals, the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors are still tinkering with the permit and tax process, the cities of Arcata…
Not Another Winter to Wonder
I am one of the coordinators of the extreme weather shelter group in Southern Humboldt. Last year was our first year of sheltering. We opened the doors in alternating churches 17 times in an unusually wet and cold winter. We supplied sleeping bags, mats, clothing, hygiene supplies and food each time we sheltered. The same…
Sweet and Savory New Year Dumplings
Gong hei fat choi, or congratulations and be prosperous, is one way to wish everyone a happy Chinese New Year. Food is another. When it comes to Chinese New Year feasts, there are so many dishes to prepare, like fresh fish, chicken, goose, roast pork belly, noodles and so on. Dumplings are a must for…
A Little Sentimental
This was a week of contrasts for me, many of them bittersweet. While I appreciated the sunshine on my face all week, I don’t relish wearing T-shirts in February. We need our winter rain and snow, and sunny days in midwinter do not auger well for the new year. I don’t want to have another…
Book Club Emergency Meeting
Everybody comfortable? Anyone need a cushion or a refill? OK. I’ve called this book club meeting tonight to discuss some tension that’s arisen since we embarked on this new inclusive reading list. I’ll just say it: Some of you have questioned whether Todd is a racist and, if so, whether we should continue meeting at…
river otter gambler
just another river otter gambler like the kind you find along the avenue my eyes were bright, as you can imagine and i was just a little otter too yeah i was just a little otter too just another river otter gambler dreaming of my favorite stew like the kind my otter mother always made…
Show Us the Money
Sometimes it pays to be the incumbent. That definitely appears to be the case in the races for two seats on the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, in which incumbents Ryan Sundberg and Virginia Bass have jumped out to almost ten-fold fundraising leads over their opponents. The two races — which so far have five…
HumBug: Home Again
Returning from a two week vacation near Olympia, Washington, where I saw practically no bugs at all, I was greeted with a large millipede and a spider at my front door. It’s good to be home. Spring, I find, is springing all around. Judging by daffodil blooms here in Humboldt County, we’re about two weeks…
‘Enough Excuses’
Editor: My goodness. What has happened to Humboldt State University? How can anyone blame leadership of 10 to 30 years ago for the current enrollment and budget crisis? The scuttlebutt is that there are many administrative/management positions on campus that are vacant or filled with interim appointments. Without effective, competent administrators, who is responsible to…
Don’t Boo, Call
Editor: I sympathize with the feelings Cheri Ward expressed in her letter (Mailbox, Feb. 1) — empowered by the Women’s March, discouraged by sexism (and racism and classism and …) and angry. So many of us are struggling with that difficult combination of feelings. The most effective solution I’ve found is going to the Power…
Off Limits
Editor: The Trump Administration released a draft plan to open up coastal waters to oil drilling from along the Atlantic region, the Gulf of Mexico, Pacific Region and off the coast of Alaska (“Interior Releases Draft Plan to Open North Coast Waters to Oil Drilling,” posted online Jan. 4). This means us, folks, and points…
Clarification
A story in the Feb. 1, 2018 edition of the North Coast Journal headlined “The Humboldt 35” contained potentially unclear information. Todd Matthews created the initial National Missing and Unidentified Persons database, which is a program of the National Institute of Justice. Matthews continues to serve as the program’s director. The Journal regrets any confusion.…
Bugs on (and Under) Wheels
Spiders in a car What do you do when you’re driving and a spider runs across the inside of your windshield? Like any good entomological photographer, I pulled over at a safe place and took its picture, of course. Done with the photo shoot, I herded it onto an envelope and ushered it outside. Really,…
Fifty Shades Freed is for Masochists
Reviews FIFTY SHADES FREED. It’s been a very long seven years since E.L. James morphed fan-fiction erotica into a three-book, three-movie deal. Since then, the edginess has dulled and the Steele dossier has stolen the thunder of any scandalous stories of kink from the love life of Anastasia Steele. It’s not only real life that…
Music Tonight: Thursday, Feb. 15
The Jam presents a YAMS (Your Arts & Music Syndicate) curated pint night with a debut album release party for new dance rock band The Apollo Era at 9:30 p.m. with support provided by local power trio Blacksage Runners and the trippy pop spin of Paradise Inc. ($5).
Crawl of the Wild
It’s not your regular, run-of-the-mill rage. Your “I can’t get this ever-loving packing envelope open” rage. No, this rage is primal. And it’s coming straight for us. The Primal Rage North Coast Premiere slashes its way to the Eureka Theater this Friday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. ($10). Described as “a Hollywood-produced Bigfoot horror movie…
Jurassic Tours at Redwood Acres
Since we basically live on the Jurassic Park set, let’s meet the residents. Jurassic Tours takes over Redwood Acres with its massive animatronic dinosaurs and virtual reality experience on Saturday, Feb. 17 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 18 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Monday, Feb. 19 from 10 a.m. to…
