Cover Story
Feeling Lucky?
Granted, choosing — or winning — the Best of Humboldt isn’t a game of chance. But we do feel a little blessed flipping through the list of winners and perusing the bounty of our county. No better reminder to go out and enjoy some of these local gems and mark a few new ones off…
Best of – Food and Drink
Best Farmers Market VendorFocaccia by the PietrinisWhen in Rome … make a colorful Roman hand gesture in disappointment, for the Pietrini brothers Fulvio (who does the baking) and Flavio are somehow in Humboldt instead, at the Old Town Farmers Market selling their marvelous focaccia at the stall with the rainbow lettering. The $5 squares of…
Best of – Arts, Entertainment & Recreation
Best Night Club and Best Place to Shake Your BootyThe BasementLots of night clubs are cool. But walking into The Basement and taking a seat with a swanky cocktail or mocktail, surrounded by polished wood and good lighting, makes you feel a little cooler, too. Which might contribute to one’s confidence at booty shaking. The…
Best of – Retail
Retail Antique Store 4th Street Mercantile215 Fourth St., Eureka 4thstreetmercantile.com Appliance Store Poletski’s Appliance Center510 Harris St., Eureka(707) 445-3138 poletskis.com Bicycle Shop Revolution Bicycles2811 F St., Eureka (707) 443-98611593 G St., Arcata (707) 822-2562revolutionbicycle.com Bookstore Booklegger402 Second St., Eureka(707) 445-1344 Find us on Facebook Car Lot for New Cars Mid-City Motor World4800 N U.S. Highway…
Best of – Services
Best FloristPocket of PosiesThis pocket-sized shop holds big things — you’d be forgiven for zipping past it on Broadway, but you’d miss out. Not only are there the requisite beautiful blooms and fragrant wreaths, but I once went in last minute to order a corsage for a young lady whose aesthetic was sort of intergalactic…
Best of – Cannabis
Best Local Cannabis ProductSpace GemWhen you had to fly next to the weird man-spreader who took the armrest and breathed on you from takeoff to landing, who from Humboldt had your back? Space Gems. Maybe it was the tiniest little nibble of Sleepy Fig to calm your nerves or a sour rainbow of fruity drops…
Best of – Weddings
Best Outdoor Wedding VenueMitchell GroveFormerly Arrington Apples, the orchard amid redwoods is secluded and lovely, and close enough to town not to require long drives or camping. So we get why Mitchell Grove is a favorite for al fresco nuptials. The vibe, according to the owners, is “DIY-ish,” allowing couples and their entourages to do…
Best of – Bonus
Best Local Radio StationKMUDLet’s hear it for Redwood Community Radio and the folks who support it. KMUD DJs are spinning every conceivable genre from reggae to gospel and covering topics from literature to ecology. Tune in for national news, your local city council meetings and updates on helicopters in the hills. Sounds like Humboldt’s Best…
‘We Have to Speak the Truth’
On Saturday, more than 70 protesters gathered in front of the Humboldt County Courthouse in support of Gilberto “Rudy” Jimenez Gonzalez, 52-year-old Eureka resident detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Wyoming on July 15. Jimenez Gonzalez has lived in the United States for more than 30 years with his wife Luz Moreno…
Lazarus and Co.
Last Sunday, I found myself with my arms spread against the wood-paneled base of the chromatic brass battlements of the pipe organ at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka, my left ear pressed against the wood, while the tubes roared out beautiful sounds after the morning mass. I am not necessarily endorsing this behavior — I…
Sunny Side of the Hills
It’s hard not to like The Sound of Music. Rogers and Hammerstein’s instantly recognizable score has inundated popular culture with its catchy melodies and lighthearted joy since its Broadway debut in 1959 and become a musical theater repertoire juggernaut after its 1965 movie debut. Sometimes tunes like “My Favorite Things,” “Do-Re-Mi,” “Climb Every Mountain” and…
Best of Crabs Season 2026
The 82nd Humboldt Crabs season is in the book, and as the sun sets on another amazing summer, it is time to give out my annual team awards as part of the Best of Humboldt issue. The Crabbies gave fans one last week to show up and cheer for their boys, going undefeated, highlighted by…
Revisiting the Whorf Hypothesis, Part 1
“The Hopi language is seen to contain no words, grammatical forms, construction or expressions that refer directly to what we call ‘time,’ or to past, present or future.”— Benjamin Lee Whorf Early in this column’s existence, I took a rather superficial look at what’s come to be known as the Whorf Hypothesis (“The Whorf Hypothesis,”…
In On the Joke
THE DINK. Awash as we are in a new wave of underdog sports comedies, usually centered on has-beens or never-weres, it should come as no surprise that Pickleball should have shuffled into the crosshairs. The newfound passion of a generation, what was once a middle-school time-filler has become, in this age of idleness and catastrophe,…
‘Shout-out’
Editor: At a time when all the news about government seems so bleak, this is a shout-out to an organization that demonstrated efficient and empathetic service. That organization is: Eureka DMV! I recently had two occasions where I needed to go the DMV. The first was having to remove my late husband’s name from my…
Corrections
A photo caption in last week’s cover story (“Folk in the Fresh Air,” July 30, 2026), misidentified bass player Christopher Lange Brannon. The Journal regrets the error. Due to receiving outdated information from Eureka Main Street, the wrong listings for Arts Alive ran in the July 30 edition. The Journal regrets the error.
All of my picturesStored securely Where everyoneWill never notice Forever, As data centersSprout endlessly Consuming energyBeyond all needs. — Kirk Gothier
