Birders of America
How generations of obsessive, list-making bird fanciers may help save the planet
Cover Story
Birders of America
A phalanx of violet-green swallows advances slowly across the pond; each snow-bellied, arrowhead-shaped bird hovers inches above the surface and pushes, bucking, into the stiff wind. And each follows the pattern: soar, then dip and water-flick — gotcha! Dart up, flashing a glitter-green nape and water droplets, with beakful of insect — which wrongly had…
Bayshore Mall: Bust
Cuchumatán.Bayshore Mall: Bust: General Growth Properties, owner of the Bayshore Mall, filed for bankruptcy this
Offshore Oil Live Webcast
success.Offshore Oil Live Webcast: The Department of the Interior’s San Francisco hearings on offshore drilling today has a live Webcast. Find it at the
Find Your NPR Name
year.Find Your NPR Name: If I had gone into radio, I would today be known as Hrank
Mad As Heck
It’s a sunny, but blustery April 15th in Humboldt County. Somewhere between 200-300 protesters have gathered in front of the Eureka Courthouse to join in the Nationwide Tax Day Tea Party. Today, the Board of Directors of the Humboldt Taxpayers League has invited people in our community to come out on Tax Day ’09 and…
New Blow for NCRA
New Blow for NCRA: Via Capdiamont: The California Attorney General’s office is threatening to block the North Coast Railroad’s plan to reopen service on the south end of the line until the authority fully complies with its 1999 agreement to clean up environmental problems the length of the line. The railroad was planning to reopen…
CSU: In The Turlet
CSU: In The Turlet: This Wall Street Journal article on the California State University system’s dismal financial state was the subject of a moments-ago e-mail blast from HSU President Rollin Richmond. He notes: “Obviously, this isn’t the kind of attention we hope to get from the national media. But when the Wall Street Journal runs…
Eureka/Arcata Recruiting Initiatives on DN!
Leggett. This morning’s Democracy Now! has a very brief segment on the citizens’ initiatives passed by Eureka and Arcata last November that ban military recruiters from targeting minors in those cities. The segment features former Arcata City Councilmember Dave Meserve, who spearheaded the local campaign.
Continuation
Percussionist, drummer and composer Alex Cline offers one of the most dynamic and challenging releases to come out so far this year with Continuation, his first recording as a bandleader since 2001’s The Constant Flame. Simple definitions seem inadequate in attempting describe Cline’s compositions — contemporary, orchestral, jazz, Eastern, avant-garde. All of these influences and…
Forecast: The Consequences of Climate Change
There are plenty of books on the climate crisis, but a readable one is rare enough to fetch a Nobel Peace Prize. Though solutions depend on specific and possibly boring knowledge and actions, political and public support requires general understanding and passionate attention. This book by an astute and acute journalist is that rarity –…
Please No Touching
It is right and proper to let no…
Cut from the Headlines
Smoke blackens the sky. Men with guns point them at men without. Those who can flee, do — but most lie dead or captured. "Occupation" is one of a series of large woodcut prints depicting the Iraq war as filtered through American media, currently hanging at Humboldt State’s First Street Gallery. Sandow Birk’s work expands…
Bring on the Bacon
Was there a dirtier word in politics this past year than "earmarks"? (Scrabble rules — "Bush" doesn’t qualify.) During the 2008 presidential campaign the term was used indignantly to describe the sneakiest, most sinister money-grabbing device employed by greedy politicians — a loophole sin on par with golden parachutes. Counter-arguments — that earmarks represent a…
Age of Eisenberg
Previews The film that could quite possibly be the greatest feature that Disney has ever created comes to our theaters this Friday. Yes, Hannah Montana The Movie, has officially made it to our neck of the woods. Miley Cyrus stars as teen queen Hannah Montana, whose alter ego, Miley Cyrus, gets bummed about Hannah’s popularity…
Records Are In
Remember records? You know, those flat plastic discs that hold music in their grooves? You might think, in this digital age, that records are dead. And what with the rise of the iPod and cell phones that play music, with even CDs becoming a thing of the past, not to mention music sales moving online,…
Sweet Irony
The ham-handedness (-headedness?) of the opposition to Caltrans’ proposed realignment of Highway 101 through Richardson Grove, the stand of big trees at the south end of the county, has been previously noted in this space (see "Town Dandy," March 13). In essence, Caltrans proposes a minor tweak to the highway’s path that would allow industry-standard-sized…
Arts! Arcata
Arcata Artisans 883 H St. (13) Wine served to benefit Breast Health Project; Jim Lowry, photographs; Seth Simpson, pottery works; Terri Tinkham, woven works. Arcata City Hall* 736 F St. (34) Leslie Howabauten, ink and watercolor. Arcata Exchange 813 H St. (17) Wine served to benefit Arcata House; Michael Van Devender, photographs; music by Humboldt…
Growing Concerns
Editor: I enjoyed Ryan Burns’ article “When Weed is Legal” (April 2) and I don’t have a problem with marijuana. In fact, I feel the government’s efforts to protect me has actually placed my family in a more dangerous situation. My concern is that J. D. wired 9,000 watts of lighting by himself. He admits…
Economy in Words
Editor: Just a note of appreciation for the Jennifer Savage article “Get Less Poor!” (March 26) – very moving, should be posted to the politicos of our nation. Very seldom do you read such accurate, timely and beneficial advice. It’s frustrating to me not to be able to expand my comments, but I know excellence…
Sharp or Flat?
Editor: I was overjoyed to see Joseph Byrd’s piece on the Jazz Festival (“Regarding Local Festivals,” April 2). The quality of our local Blues and Jazz festivals has been going downhill since Glenn Maxon has taken over the helm. He has eliminated local bands from both. Our Blues Fest was the best, with two stages…
Rich and Creamy
Rich and Creamy Editor: Marcy Burstiner’s praise for The Ferndale Enterprise’s coverage of the Humboldt Creamery story was well deserved (“Media Maven,” April 2). I enjoy reading Ms. Burstiner’s column and appreciate her insights. She only read the Enterprise’s stories because the editor had put them online, which is unfortunate since it is through subscriptions…
The Seder Crusader
The first December I lived in Trinidad, I went into the local post office to buy stamps. The postmaster informed me that he had run out of the Hanukkah stamps displayed in the case. Now, if there had never been Hanukkah stamps offered in this distant outpost, I would have understood … but to run…
Lactose-tolerance: Evolution in Action
Next time you’re standing in front of the dairy section at the Co-op deciding whether to buy two percent or whole milk, you might think about how adult milk-drinkers are in the minority. Most of the world’s non-infant population is lactose-intolerant, while a minority of us have a mutant gene that allows us to ingest…
