Artists Without Galleries
What happens to Humboldt’s art scene when its venues disappear?
Cover Story
Artists without Galleries
Frowny-face graffiti sprouted all over Eureka and Arcata last month. The message was a buzzkill, but anyone could admire the economy of the streamlined bummer emoticon: two vertical slashes of spray paint over a judgmental upside-down banana curve. The effect was striking — suddenly the city thronged with this silent chorus of bad attitude, so…
KHSU Dismantling Rebuked, KEET Board to Discuss Possible Radio Venture
The recent turmoil at KHSU and the possibility of exploring a radio endeavor will be one of the discussion topics at KEET’s Board of Directors meeting Thursday but no decisions are slated to be made at this point, according to station Executive Director David Gordon. Meanwhile, the Humboldt State University Department of Journalism and the…
North Coast Night Lights: Musings at Moonstone Cave
We stood in the mouth of the cavern, looking out through a great broken crack in the blackness into the night as if through a window into another world. It fired our imaginations, conjuring mysteries in the night. What is it about caves that stirs us so inside? My thoughts wandered and stories began to…
‘This is Heartbreaking:’ Vigil Commemorates Second Anniversary of Lawson’s Killing
Encircled by more than 100 people at the center of the Arcata Plaza during a candlelight vigil on the second anniversary of her son’s death, Charmaine Lawson took the microphone and fell silent. She took off her red hat with “Josiah” embroidered across the back, doubled over and wept until a friend embraced her. She…
HumBug: Bugs Between the Raindrops
Despite the dreary weather, life must go on. Eager to get along with their lives, our local insects show up even for the brief patches of sunshine that occasionally grace my back yard. Mostly disdained by the local honeybees, oxalis, dandelions and English daisies draw a crowd. Aside from the digger bees mentioned last week, there…
‘We Were Blindsided:’ Crab Fishing Closure Could Mean Millions in Losses
At the April 9 Humboldt County Board of Supervisors meeting, the security check-in station resembled a metropolitan airport with a long line of people stretched out the courthouse doors and halfway down the stairs to Fifth Street. All seats in the chamber were filled, the space between the chairs and the wall was filled with…
KHSU Protesters at the Arcata Farmers Market
More than 100 protestors gathered on the Arcata Plaza on Saturday morning to share their frustrations, sadness and anger about Humboldt State University’s decision on Thursday to cut the community programming volunteers and most of the staff at KHSU-FM. (The remaining two staff members David Reed and Natalya Estrada have since resigned, as well.) The…
Last Employee Leaves KHSU
KHSU’s Morning Host Natalya Estrada submitted her resignation to the university today, leaving the public radio station without a single employee just two days after the administration announced an across-the-board “reorganizing” that included laying off most of the staff and “indefinitely suspending” community-based programming. Her departure follows that of David Reed — Humboldt State’s appointed…
Release of Sex Offender to Garberville Denied
Multiple media outlets are reporting that Judge John Feeney today denied the placement of a man deemed by the courts to be a sexually violent predator for the second time in less than a year, this time to Garberville. However, according to a Times-Standard article, Feeney did agree with his attorney’s argument that Joshua Cooley…
Reed Steps Down at KHSU
David Reed, one of two KHSU employees who were left with jobs after a sweeping shakeup at the university radio station yesterday, has resigned. In a Facebook post, Reed said that he stepped down as of 7:30 a.m. and he had “declined the offer to be KHSU’s acting director, an appointment that was made without…
North Coast Night Lights: Reflections From Trinidad
I opened the camera’s shutter and waited. It was already high tide, and I didn’t expect any waves to reach me. When I had arrived half an hour earlier I’d set up where the small waves coming in across Trinidad Harbor lapped nearly at my feet. I’d taken a few photographs from there, but the…
HSU Announces Staff Eliminations, Major Changes at KHSU
Humboldt State University today announced major changes and the elimination of seven positions at its public radio station KHSU, including General Manager Peter Fretwell, whose tenure was fraught with controversy after the sudden firing of longtime program and operations director Katie Whiteside in May. Along with the staff reductions, which the university release states will…
A ‘Dark Day’ at KHSU
The first sign arrived yesterday afternoon, when KHSU staff members received an email from Craig Wruck informing them there would be a mandatory meeting for all paid staff today at 9 a.m. “I apologize for the extremely short notice, but this is an important meeting,” Wruck wrote. When staff arrived for the meeting this morning…
‘I Remained Invisible’
Editor: This is an open letter to all who organize events, such as Transgender Day of Visibility, and other trans and queer events, locally (“#WeWillNotBeErassed,” Nov. 29, shared on the Journal’s Facebook page March 31 for Trans Day of Visibility). Please consider folks with accessibility issues when arranging these events. Specifically, at the Transgender Day…
‘Disrespectful’
Editor: A cartoon in your edition on March 28 appeared to mock Jesus or someone exalted for Catholics, such as a saint. That is, at best, disrespectful. Although I am a follower of Lord Buddha, it is a serious thing to mock what many people consider sacred. You should not do that. Lama Nyugu, Eureka…
Sad Days in the First District
It’s been a rough couple of weeks for voters in Humboldt County’s First District. First, they watched as challenger Allen McCloskey’s campaign to unseat two-term incumbent Rex Bohn in next year’s election imploded in spectacular fashion. The Lost Coast Outpost’s Ryan Burns published an investigative report April 2 detailing an assortment of allegations of dishonesty…
Another Resource
Editor: Regarding death and grief, Hospice of Humboldt offers free resources including drop-in Grief Support Groups throughout our community (“Triggers and Lifelines,” March 28). Contact Hospice of Humboldt for details: 267-9801 or www.hospiceofhumboldt.org/bereavement. Scott Robbins, Eureka Related Stories
Smoochy Woochy Poochy Headaches
The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department caused quite a stir on Facebook last week with a somewhat confusing post that appeared to offer a warning to cannabis farms. “Believe it or not growing cannabis, aka the devils lettuce, is still illegal in Stanislaus County,” the grammatically challenged post began. “No legal recreational growing permits have been…
Not Funny
Editor: Your April Fools joke wasn’t fucking funny (“Ship of Fools,” March 28)! I can laugh this morning at my myself and my friends but we still wouldn’t buy you or your team a cup of coffee. Neil Young! You could have said Journey or some shit band was playing at the plaza and I’d…
Dressing Up Roasted Cauliflower
Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) is a member of the species Brassica oleracea, which includes a number of familiar vegetables, like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, kale, kohlrabi and broccolo romanesco. Cauliflower is one of few vegetables that I have always liked, even as a vegetable-averse child, even in its most basic version, boiled…
Genocide and Fugly Chairs
Recently, Antiques Roadshow did an appraisal of a Colt Model 1851 pistol that apparently belonged to early Humboldt County settler Seth Kinman. Spoiler alert: It’s supposedly worth $50,000. During the show, the appraiser took the opportunity to wax poetic on the value of the gun because of its known tie to Kinman who is described…
Our Worst Mistake, Part 2
Last week, we looked at anthropologist Jared Diamond’s claim that the Neolithic Revolution, when most hunter-gatherers settled down to become farmers, was “the worst mistake in the history of the human race.” Since Diamond popularized this “revisionist” thesis, sociologists and anthropologists have seized on it to explain everything from the subjugation of women (not generally…
Unsaid
“The only thing of value is the thing you cannot say.” Wittgenstein At King Salmon on that beautiful Sunday, my father-in-law praises the day: the sun walks across the wavetops on Humboldt Bay, three pelicans wing north, cumulonimbus puff themselves up, holding back the land. Looking out across the water to where the jetties nearly…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The Qing Dynasty controlled China from the mid-17th century to the early 20th century. It was the fifth biggest empire in world history. But eventually it faded, as all mighty regimes do. Revolution came in 1911, forcing the last emperor to abdicate and giving birth to the Republic of China. I’m…
Makin’ Records
It’s that time of year again: The only smudge on the calendar when I will blemish my otherwise pure objection to the ugly forces of capitalism and grudgingly endorse a spending holiday. “You there, boy! What day is it today?” (Responding in Dickensian street-urchin voice) “Why sir, it’s Record Store Day!” “Ah, I see, so…
Source Materials
More than three decades in, veteran glass artist and Arcata resident George Bucquet isn’t done with his medium yet. Arcata Artisans Gallery hosts works by Bucquet and Jim Lowry this month, where the former is unveiling a new edition of works in hot cast glass — a technique in which forms are made by pouring…
Arts! Arcata
Arts! Arcata is Arcata Main Street’s monthly celebration of visual and performing arts, held at locations in Arcata. Visit www.arcatamainstreet.com, Arts! Arcata on Facebook, or call 822-4500 for more information. ANGELICA ATELIER 1101 H St. #2 “Stoned Galaxy – A Creative Force,” Marisa Kieselhorst and Abigail Knottingham, mixed media. ALCHEMY DISTILLERY 330 South G St.…
The Ups and Downs of Supernatural Pet Ownership
Reviews PET SEMATARY. I started reading Stephen King, well, probably too young. The phase receded in early-mid adolescence, although I have, as recently as this year, begun to revisit his books at this late stage. I continue to enjoy the force of his imagination, the breadth (perhaps more than the depth) of his storytelling, his…
County Counsel Files Claim Alleging Retaliation
The county of Humboldt’s lead attorney Jeffrey Blanck filed a claim for damages April 4 alleging he was placed on paid administrative leave after raising concerns about an outside law firm’s contract and that the board of supervisors violated open meeting laws by not reporting its action out of closed session. Video of the March…
Thankful for the CCC
Editor: While developers wax eloquent on the notion of building a little piece of Las Vegas along our coastal highway (“Think of the jobs!”), I for one thank our lucky stars for the California Coastal Commission (“Staff Recommends Coastal Commission Object to Trinidad Hotel Project,” April 4). When Proposition 20, the initiative to create the…
‘Abject Failure’
Editor: Over the course of the two years since Josiah Lawson’s tragic killing and the drawn out wait for resolution, it has increasingly seemed that the criminal justice system in Humboldt County really just wants concern over his murder to fade away (“My Conversation With Richard Ehle,” April 4). In the wake of returning no…
In Praise of Jacqui
Editor: Kudos on another great cover illustration (“Looking Upriver,” April 4) on last week’s Journal. As an agent (www.salzmanart.com) for internationally-recognized, award-winning illustrators for more than 35 years, I have consistently been impressed with the art you’ve commissioned by illustrator Jacqui Langeland. Whatever you are paying her, I’m sure it’s not enough! Richard Salzman, Arcata
