‘Beacons of Hope’
Humboldt State’s Project Rebound builds a prison-to-college pipeline
HumCo Records Three More COVID Deaths, Including First of Fully Vaccinated Person
Three more Humboldt County residents have died of COVID-19, including one in their 20s and the county’s first fatality in a “breakthrough” case in a fully vaccinated individual in their 70s, Public Health reported today. “As with any vaccine, breakthrough cases do occur. Most are mild,” Health Officer Ian Hoffman said in a press release,…
Public Health Confirms 114 New COVID Cases, Two New Hospitalizations
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 114 new cases today — making 216 so far this week — while reporting two new hospitalizations. Today’s cases — which confirmed after laboratories processed 677 samples with a test-positivity rate of 16.8 percent — come after the county confirmed 362 new cases last week amid an ongoing surge fueled…
Fire Updates: Weather Aids Suppression Efforts
Heavy smoke largely blanketed the handful of fires burning to Humboldt County’s east yesterday, reducing fire activity and aiding firefighting efforts. Crews reported progress — from increased containment to the implementation of community safety plans — on all four fires, to varying degrees. A total of 3,654 people have been deployed from various agencies to…
Free N-95 Masks for Local Businesses and Nonprofits
With the increasing COVID-19 case numbers, spread of the highly contagious Delta variant and new masking regulations, the Arcata Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) has found itself once again donating 200,000 N-95 masks to local businesses and nonprofits throughout the county. “We did this a year ago. This is not where we hoped to be right…
HumCo Reports Another COVID Death, 102 New Cases as Pfizer Vaccine Gets Full FDA Approval
A 62nd Humboldt County resident has died of COVID-19, Public Health reported today, while announcing it had confirmed 102 new cases of the virus and four new hospitalizations since Friday. News of Humboldt County’s 62 COVID death — this one of someone in their 60s — comes just hours after the Food and Drug Administration…
Hospitals Stretched as Humboldt’s COVID-19 Surge Continues
Humboldt County continues to see a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations fueled by the more contagious Delta variant, leading to “many critically ill” patients being flown out the area for treatment and the postponement of vital but non-emergency surgeries, according to an update from Health Officer Ian Hoffman. In his written report to the…
Fire Updates: McFarland Containment Advances as McCash Fire Grows
A handful of fires burning east of Humboldt continue to spread, although some containment efforts have made progress in the McFarland Fire and River Complex fire. State Route 299 is still closed in Trinity County with no timetable for reopening and State Route 36 is closed from the junction at State Route 3 to Bowman Road,…
NCJ Preview: A Beacon of Hope and a Community’s Center
As Humboldt State University prepares to start a new semester, we look at its Project Rebound, which supports formerly incarcerated students on campus, as well as the inspiring stories of its founder and students. And we discuss the big things happening at the Jefferson Community Center in Eureka, which the Westside Community Improvement Association has…
Humboldt Judge Rescinds Release of Convicted Sex Offender
A Humboldt County Superior Court judge issued a ruling last week striking his December of 2016 order for the conditional release of a local man who’s been designated as a Sexually Violent Predator. According to a Humboldt District Attorney’s Office news release, Judge John Feeney’s Aug. 13 ruling was based not only on the inability…
Two More HumCo Residents Die of COVID, 91 New Cases Reported
Two more Humboldt County residents have died of COVID-19, Public Health announced today, while confirming 91 new cases of the virus and seven new hospitalizations. Both of the residents who died were in their 60s, according to Public Health, which also reported that one of the new hospitalizations is of a resident between the ages…
Fire Updates: New Evacuation Warnings, Forest Closures as Spread Continues
A handful of fires burning east of Humboldt spread aggressively yesterday, pushed by winds and dry fuel loads, and continue to bring air quality and travel impacts as far west as the coast, with State Route 299 still closed in Trinity County and no timetable for reopening and State Route 36 closed from the junction…
Redwood Burl Poacher Sentenced to Community Service, Probation, Banned from Park
An Orick man is now banned from stepping foot into Redwood National and State Parks as part of his sentencing today after pleading guilty last month to poaching burl from old growth redwoods at the protected site. He also received two years probation, a $1,200 fine and 400 hours of community service. Derek Alwin Hughes’…
Record-breaking COVID Hospitalizations Hit 6 Counties, Including Humboldt
Hospitals in six rural California counties — all in remote, northern parts of the state — are now treating more COVID-19 patients than ever, breaking records by exceeding their winter surges. Driven by sharp spikes in infections and low vaccination rates, COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Del Norte, Tuolumne, Lake, Humboldt, Nevada and Mendocino counties have…
Public Health Confirms 53 New COVID-19 Cases, Five New Hospitalizations
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 53 new COVID-19 cases today — making 271 so far this week — and five new hospitalizations, including one of a resident in their 30s. Today’s cases — which were confirmed after laboratories processed 508 samples with a test-positivity rate of 10.4 percent — come after the county confirmed 471…
Newsom Recall Election: How to Cast Your Vote (with Video)
To keep Gov. Gavin Newsom or not to keep Gov. Newsom? That is the question. Upset by the progressive governor’s policies, his handling of the pandemic and his infamous maskless dinner at the French Laundry, about 12 percent of the number of Californians who voted in the last election for governor signed petitions to force…
Fire Updates: McCash Fire Grows, Evacuation Orders and Warnings Issued
A handful of fires burning east of Humboldt spread aggressively yesterday, pushed by winds and dry fuel loads, and continue to bring air quality and travel impacts as far west as the coast, with State Route 299 still closed in Trinity County and no timetable for reopening and State Route 36 closed from the junction…
George Agis Cozyris: 1937 to 2020
In loving memory of our dear father, George Agis Cozyris, who passed away one year ago today. Dad, there not enough words to express how often you are thought of, how much you are missed, how deeply you are loved. There is not a day that goes by that we don’t think of you, talk…
‘Beacons of Hope’
About the last thing on Tony Wallin’s mind when he arrived at Humboldt State University in 2018 was becoming one of the mainsprings behind a new club — let alone a new campus program — for students whose lives had been irreparably changed by their experiences with the criminal justice system, students like him. He…
CRV Buyback Returning to Humboldt
Get ready to finally have a chance to redeem your California Refund Value deposits, Humboldt. Hambro Recycling of Crescent City is opening a CRV buyback center in Arcata in the next few months. “We’ve been looking at [opening a CRV buyback center] for a while. You know, there wasn’t really any movement in Humboldt. We’ve…
The Jefferson Community Center is Turning Up the Heat
It’s a sunny Friday afternoon at the Jefferson Community Center in Eureka when the kids begin their afternoon harvesting. The garden beds bear a bountiful display of summer produce: kale, chard, snap peas, tomatoes and artichokes, all adorned in vibrant leaves. Raspberry and blackberry brambles crawl up the sides of the fence adjacent to the…
To Choke
I watched a home high school sectional basketball game years ago against a very athletic team from the Bay Area. The game came down to the final minute and one of their athletes was called for a hard foul to put one of our stars at the free throw line to shoot two free throws,…
Wind Cuts Short Epic Tuna Bite
And what an epic bite it was! The onslaught began last Thursday out of Crescent City and didn’t let up until Sunday, when the ocean turned sporty. Fish were caught out of Shelter Cove but the best bite was near Crescent City. Boats leaving Eureka headed northwest to the area off of the mouth of…
A Pig, an Eagle and a Paranoid Thriller
RIDE THE EAGLE. I did not, do not, probably will not watch the series New Girl. Nothing against it, it just isn’t likely to happen. As such, I know series co-star Jake Johnson primarily from his run of slightly off-kilter, almost on the mainstream radar independent movies, especially the great work he’s done with writer-director Joe…
‘Appalled’
Editor: I am appalled that during a special meeting Aug. 9, the Humboldt County Fair Association Board of Directors opted to hold a county fair in the face of a major health emergency (“Hops in Humboldt Cancels Amid Rising COVID Cases; Fair Still Moving Forward,” posted Aug. 10). The Delta variant pandemic is worse than…
A Costly Choice
Editor: Thank you for the excellent cover story detailing the illness and hospitalization of a “Covid refusenik” (“I Wish I Had Been Vaccinated,” Aug. 12). The cover photo alone is a strong statement about the personal price Mr. Weltsch had to pay. There is one question I wish had been asked of Mr. Weltsch: how…
Ranch Land
This is an old ranch entrance on Kneeland Road. The grassy upland meadows make up the spine of Humboldt County. A third of the county’s land is occupied by ranches and many utilize this difficult agricultural land for cattle grazing. Some 100 years ago, the primary livestock on these upland meadows was sheep. The grazing…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): A blogger who calls herself TheSaddestChorusGirlInTheWorld writes, “Having sex with someone is a big deal and involves a ton of vulnerability. And I think it’s troubling and gross and unhealthy and, yes, dangerous that we pretend otherwise and encourage people to ‘be mature’ by compartmentalizing or completely eliminating their deeper emotions…
