Photos from the Lost Coast Tattoo Expo
If you heard a buzzing around the Bear River Recreation Center this past weekend, it might have been the Lost Coast Tattoo Expo. More than 40 ink artists showed up to needle folks on site, while a cornhole tournament and a vintage car show went on next door. Photographer Mark McKenna was there to capture…
Mountain Lion Spotted ‘Chilling’ on Bayside Porch
What appears to be an adult mountain lion took a stroll through a Bayside neighborhood this afternoon and even relaxed a bit on one woman’s porch. “We saw it around 2 o’clock,” said Portia Herger, who lives with her housemates off Bayside Road, which she describes as “pretty busy.” “My housemate saw it first and…
Watch Out for Wandering Wildlife in the Roadways
Wildlife is on the move this time of year, which means drivers need to be even more cautious while traveling the region’s rural roads and highways. According to a joint release from Caltrans and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, vehicle-wildlife collisions “typically peak” this time of year, when animals are migrating to their…
Friends Offer Remembrances, Set up Memorial Fund for Local Surfer
Well-known local surfer David “Big Wave Dave” Hargrave died Monday after apparently suffering a medical issue while out on the waves, according to posts from his friends and his daughter. Fellow surfers went to his aid in the water off the North Jetty after he was seen floating face down and the U.S. Coast Guard…
HumBug: Missing Dragonflies
This summer I have been bemoaning the lack of dragonflies along my stretch of Van Duzen River. The number of species is low as is the number of individuals of the few species I’ve seen. They just haven’t been there. My guess is that they, in their incarnation as aquatic larvae, and their prey have…
Pedestrian Killed in Orleans Hit and Run
A pedestrian was killed in a hit-and-run crash on State Route 96 in Orleans shortly before 8 p.m. yesterday. According to the California Highway Patrol, the pedestrian — whose identity is being withheld until family can be notified — was reportedly walking in the middle of the roadway when hit by a black Toyota pickup…
The Real Thing: Poets in Orleans (Video)
As we listened to the three poets spin their webs last weekend in Orleans, it was easy to fall into a trance. I glanced around at the 50 people who filled the room at the Mid Klamath Watershed Council, arranged in its community events incarnation. The poets had all of us hypnotized. The three of…
KEKA Pulls Out of Truckers Parade, Asks Others to Step Up
KEKA has announced the radio station will no longer present the annual Truckers Christmas Parade and is encouraging another business or community organization to take up the mantle. A release states that issues, including rising costs, declining participation and increased liability, led to the “difficult decision.” “While our family has put on the parade for…
North Coast Night Lights: Beauty on the Redwood Highway
I hope my images stoke appreciation for the beauty and wonders around us here on the North Coast of California. Many people never experience so uniquely beautiful a countryside as ours, and too many who live within them forget the treasure they have. They are the unlucky ones. Perhaps my images and stories will help…
Eureka, County Are Parties in Opioid Settlement Agreement
Eureka and Humboldt County are parties to the tentative multi-billion-dollar settlement reached this week in a landmark lawsuit brought by thousands of municipal governments and more than two dozen states against Purdue Pharma, the company that created OxyContin. The settlement — which still needs to be ratified by plaintiffs and approved by the judge —…
Lend A Hand If You Can
It’s been an active week for a news junkie like myself. Johnathan Franzen took a backheel approach to climate change in the pages of the New Yorker and, in doing so, cemented for all time the terminal uselessness of the establishment liberal position on nearly any topic. A brave banjo-wielding man busted the crap out…
‘Do the Right Thing’
Editor: Our community has lost an important resource and friend. The KHSU we are getting now is not the KHSU we as a community grew, supported and loved for more than 50 years (Mailbox, Aug. 22). We as a community volunteered countless hours developing and maintaining quality community based radio. KHSU was a uniquely wonderful…
More Than Imitation
Much inspires us to drink. We lift a glass in celebration or raise one in sympathy. We drink to ease social interactions, to find some liquid courage. We debrief at happy hour, bond at the bar and get giddy at brunch. To meet for a drink is how we do. For those of us whose…
What’s Most Important?
Editor: I’ve learned here on the North Coast through personal experience that, when it comes to letters to the editor, you can’t know that what you’re reading is what was written. Enough can be edited out by the paper as to have the letter end up saying something completely different than what was intended. Also,…
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, check out the Arts! Arcata event on Facebook and Instagram, or call 707-822-4500 for more information. ALCHEMY DISTILLERY 330 South G St. Free photo strips in the Forget Me Not Photo Booth, adult slushies and…
Don’t Displace Us
Editor: Really, Lost Coast? You want to be found? “Your city. Your voice. This matters.” That’s on a 5-by-8 card I found in my mailbox addressed to Postal Customer Eureka, CA 95502. The card announces that, “The city of Eureka has partnered with Eddy Alexander, a marketing and growth consulting firm, to develop a strategic community…
The (French) Women’s Revolution
The Revolutionists takes a fresh look at the French Revolution through the experiences of four women, three real and one composite. Two are familiar: Queen Marie Antoinette (Kaitlyn Samuel Rosin) and Charlotte Corday (Holly Portman). But chances are you’ve never heard of playwright Olympe de Gouges (Alexandra Blouin) or activist Marianne Angelle (Lakia Solomon), who…
‘Impeach This Monster’
Editor: The Mueller report clearly documented at least 10 instances of obstruction of justice by Trump, yet some of his supporters still try to downplay the obvious criminal behavior of this president (Mailbox, Sept. 5). It is amazing how people still support a president who lies every single time he opens his mouth (more than…
New Baby Names
Naming your baby can be a daunting task. After all, it’s literally how they’ll introduce themselves to the world in person and on résumés. You need something you can coo to an infant, shriek at a teenager and whisper softly as you massage your temple when their offspring are careening around your home during the…
‘A Mirror of America’
Editor: It has occurred to me that, love him or loathe him, Trump is a mirror of America (Mailbox, Sept. 5). Ask any country to describe American tourists and what you hear is not endearing or attractive. Overweight, obnoxious, loud, insulting, bargain-hunting, insolent litterers who asked aloud why the waiters in Germany don’t “talk normal.”…
The Sucker’s Club
Review IT CHAPTER TWO. When I realized I would have to wait two years between It and It Chapter Two, I was disappointed. The first movie, released in 2017, was tone-perfect in how it portrayed the first half of Stephen King’s lengthy novel about childhood friends battling a supernatural clown for the soul of their…
‘Disappointed’
Editor: The “F-bomb” in a headline? I was disappointed to once again see the use of expletives in the NCJ a few weeks back (“Fucking Rich People,” Aug. 29). The review was by Jennifer Fumiko Cahill, a superb writer, but the headline was distracting. Unfortunately, NCJ allows profanity to crop up in articles. I am…
We’ve Come to PreferThey/Them Pronouns
Now and then, the Associated Press, which dictates the grammar and style for most American newspapers, sends us updates on its rules and guidelines. Mostly we follow them. AP Style is why we’re stingy with commas, spell “ax” without an e and abbreviate the words street, avenue and boulevard when used with an exact address.…
Vaper Beware
Shortly before the Journal went to press Sept. 10, news broke that the nation had recorded its sixth death from a mysterious outbreak of lung disease related to vaping or e-cigarette use that has resulted in at least 450 cases spread across 33 states. The rash of illnesses and hospitalizations have vexed health officials and…
Survey Markers and Olympic Medals
Observant walkers strolling down Ninth Street in Eureka between A and L streets may have wondered about the occasional incongruent circular metal discs anchored into the south sidewalk bearing the words “CALIFORNIA DIVISION OF HIGHWAYS,” “HUM-101” and the date 1971. Incongruent because Ninth is outside Caltrans jurisdiction. In fact, the discs are centerline markers of…
A Great Concept But …
Editor: Read with interest the article “Supes Pass Housing Plan” (Aug. 29). Several years ago, we tried to go the “tiny house” route for a family member in Brainard, Minnesota, as Brainard had passed zoning changes allowing tiny homes to be built on substandard lots to help with housing issues. The problem was, we couldn’t…
An Arcata Blessing
A blessing on your contrasts, Arcata– baseball caps and dreadlocks, bicyclists and bikers, Budweiser 12-packs vying to outnumber Downtown Browns. Nuclear free zone where a 100 foot American flag waves beside the lupine-lined highway. Dodge turbo diesel pickups roar past homemade bio-diesel subcompacts. Bless white blossoms drifting to the sidewalk, whiffs of ganga wafting from…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Hi, I’m your sales representative for UnTherapy, a free program designed to provide healing strategies for people who are trying too hard. Forgive me for being blunt, but I think you could benefit from our services. I don’t have space here to reveal all the secrets of UnTherapy, but here’s an…
Welcome to NCJ Burger Week!
Join us in this week-long celebration of the glorious creation known as “the hamburger.” This year, 30 restaurants are participating in the revelry, using everything from duck and lamb to beets and quinoa to offer up mind boggling creations. And the bacon. So much beloved bacon. Thirty burgers in nine days. Can you try them…
Taiko Swings up to Humboldt
Imagine a 1940s dance hall full of swing dancers sporting pin curls and pompadours moving to the big band sound of saxophones, trumpets and trombones. Now imagine the precision of traditional Japanese taiko drumming leading the beat and the dance taking place in the mess hall of a World War II Japanese American internment camp.…
Pole Fight: Fortuna Art Installation Draws Councilmember’s Ire
Fortuna City Councilmember Dean Glaser wanted to be very clear that he didn’t intend to sit passively by and watch the Arcatafication of his city. “There’s two people in the audience. There’s 14,000 people in this city,” Glaser declared at the council’s Aug. 18 meeting. “Where is the support for this monumental idea to put…
