Cover Story
Sara Bareilles Comes Home
In “Saint Honesty,” for which Sara Bareilles won a Grammy for Best American Roots Performance in 2019, she sings the praises of rain on one’s face, of it coming in through the windows: “How wild it was to find it/ to finally feel the climate/ instead of only staying dry and warm.” And when she…
Public Health Reports HumCo’s 158th COVID Death
Humboldt County Public Health reported today that the county has confirmed another COVID-19 death, a resident in their 70s, since its last report Sept. 21. Three new hospitalizations were also reported and, according to a state database, four people are currently hospitalized with the virus locally. The death reported today is Humboldt County’s 158th since…
Yurok Tribe, State Parks Pen Historic Agreement for Cultural Access
The Yurok Tribe and California State Parks signed an historic agreement today that removes barriers to allow tribal members to engage in traditional cultural practices, including the gathering of plants and minerals, on park lands in their ancestral territory. The Global Memorandum of Understanding and Traditional Tribal Gathering Agreement also outlines areas for future agreements,…
NCJ Burger Week Ends Sunday!
These unique burger specials will be gone in a flash! NCJ Burger Week ends Sunday, Oct. 2. Grab one while you still can at restaurants from Trinidad to Redway. See all the burgers in our e-edition below or at ncjburgerweek.com. And enter to win our Burger Week Selfie Contest! Related Stories
Governor Signs Contentious Nursing Home Licensing Bill that Splintered Advocates
A controversial bill aimed at fixing aspects of California’s broken nursing home licensing system was signed Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who faced dueling pressure from advocates who typically are aligned. In approving Assembly Bill 1502, the governor had no comment about his decision. The bill was drafted to address serious problems with the state’s…
Four in a Row: California Drought Likely to Continue
As California’s 2022 water year ends this week, the parched state is bracing for another dry year — its fourth in a row. So far, in California’s recorded history, six previous droughts have lasted four or more years, two of them in the past 35 years. Despite some rain in September, weather watchers expect a…
Effort to Remove Bongio from Services District Presidency Fails
A Humboldt Community Services District director’s effort to strip fellow Director Alan Bongio of his board presidency due to racist and offensive comments Bongio made at a recent Humboldt County Planning Commission meeting failed without a vote tonight. Director Michael Hansen, who requested the agenda item be brought forward, made a motion to have the…
Newsom Signs Abortion Protections into Law
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of 12 bills Tuesday, establishing some of the strongest abortion protections in the nation — a direct reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn federal abortion guarantees earlier this year. Collectively, the new laws aim to improve access and protect patients and clinicians by strengthening privacy…
New Schneider Permit Problems Prompt Query Into Planning Staff’s Handling of Project
Amid revelations last week that local developer Travis Schneider’s family home is twice the permitted size, it was also discovered that Schneider brought in 10 times the amount of fill dirt allowable for the project under its coastal development permit, county Planning Director John Ford confirmed to the Journal. The latest in what is now…
Reparations Task Force: State Could Owe Black Californians Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars
California’s task force on reparations has begun putting dollar figures to potential compensation for the various forms of racial discrimination, generational pain and suffering Black Americans experienced in the state. The rough estimates by economic consultants may mean that hundreds of thousands of dollars could be due to Black Californians who are descendants of enslaved…
‘Mandela’ Bill Would Limit Solitary Confinement in California Prisons and Jails
In solitary confinement, a former California inmate recalled, there were two kinds of people: One kind would read books in their cells, exercise and do and re-do crossword puzzles. The other kind would scream and curse, refuse to dress and throw their feces at the walls. The goal in solitary confinement, he said, was to…
NCJ Preview: Burgers, Bareilles, Building Barriers and Bongio
NCJ Burger Week is upon us and we’re scanning the menu to see what’s flipping around the county. We’ll get into the free concert Humboldt native Sara Bareilles is playing in Eureka and how her roots have influenced her life and career. Down in Fortuna and Rio Dell, plans for new housing and other construction…
NorCal Pet Rescue Fundraiser this Sunday at Bigfoot Taproom
Aww … Bigfoot & Paws, with a name like that, how can you pick any other event to attend this Sunday? Hightail it to the Bigfoot Taproom in McKinleyville Sunday, Sept. 25 from 1 to 6 p.m. for this fundraising event for NorCal Pet Rescue, a local nonprofit, volunteer-based animal rescue. Enjoy an afternoon of…
A Fine Time for Wine
In the northern part of the county, the Art and Wine Festival is happening Saturday, Sept. 24 from 11 a.m.to 4 p.m. at Fieldbrook Winery (free entry). It, too, is a fundraiser — this time for the Fieldbrook Educational Foundation, and you can almost smell what the ’Brook is cooking from here. Park across the…
Yurok Tribal Leaders Attend Feather Alert Bill Signing
Yurok tribal leaders joined Gov. Gavin Newsom and Assemblymember James C. Ramos at today’s signing of the Feather Alert bill, which will allow for the quick dissemination of information when an Indigenous individual is reported missing under “unexplained or suspicious circumstances.” The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples crisis only gained real attention outside of Native…
Planning Director: Developer’s Home is More than Double Permitted Size
It appears Travis Schneider’s problems may have just doubled in size. The local developer’s efforts to get a permit and permit amendments necessary to lift a county stop work order and resume construction of his family home on Walker Point Road south of the Indianola Cutoff have already been complicated by concerns over the permitted…
How ‘Bout Them Apples?
A Sip of Summer: Hard Cider Festival actually takes place a few days into fall, but that’s neither here nor there. The point is, it’s a festive afternoon sipping sweet and tart adult beverages in the park while listening to live music, eating great grub, playing games and browsing the wares of local artists and…
Will Women Rule in the 2022 California Election?
A gift or a curse? For Angelique Ashby, running as a “women’s advocate” in a heated state Senate race in Sacramento might be a little of both. Her competitor, Dave Jones, a fellow Democrat, went to court to block Ashby from using that as her ballot designation under her name, arguing that it wasn’t her…
‘To the Highest Bidder’
Editor: It is revealing that ordinary western Ukrainians know as little about the history which led to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as we do (“Uniting for Ukraine,” Sept. 8). There is no recognition of the Reagan and GHW Bush administrations’ solemn promises not to move “one inch further east.” The Clinton administration broke this promise…
William Carson and his Mansion
“[The Carson Mansion] will stand as a monument to a life of unexampled energy and honest integrity. — Humboldt Gazette, April 25, 1887. It’s hard to find anyone who had a bad word to say about William Carson on record, other than his usual uncomplimentary label — “lumber baron” — and the fact that he…
An ‘Example of Misinformation’
Editor: Miss Gustin’s letter regarding Torgensen’s cartoon about vaccines was an excellent example of misinformation (Mailbox, Sept. 15.). She started with something true: Vaccines don’t necessarily keep people from getting COVID. Then she went on to imply that we, the public, had been lied to about that. And she used emotionally charge statements like, “publicly…
Tuna Water Still Sitting off Eureka
It’s been one heck of a season for albacore tuna off the North Coast, and it looks like it’s not over yet. In a typical year, you get a few shots at the warm water over the course of the summer and into early fall. But this year has seen opportunities every week since the…
‘Great Value to All’
Editor: Let’s talk about the Jacobs Junior High property. The Jacobs property is up for sale. Why? Back in the day, Eureka City Schools had 8,000 students. Now enrollment is less than half of that at 3,600 students. Loss of a lot of families. The city of Eureka puts forth a price limit of $2.8…
Together Again at the North Country Fair
The Same Old People and a large number of attendees were happy to be “Together Again” at the 47th annual North Country Fair at the Arcata Plaza on Saturday and Sunday after a two-year pandemic delay. The two-day celebration of the Fall equinox, diversity and community featured the All Species Parade on Saturday and the…
‘Great Writing’
Editor: Once again, thank you for providing us with great writing. Jennifer Savage’s “The Coastal Commission is Not the Enemy” (Sept. 15) is as near perfect as an informative opinion piece can be — clear, well thought out and arranged, and wonderfully readable. She wrote no more and no less than was needed to make…
Wonder of It All
Finally, it hits me Like a Periodic Table Discussion of Relativity, There is no corner Of this endless space Unfit for the living. All sentient beings Care for each other In such strange ways, Where stars explode And galaxies collide. When the sun rises, My grandson smiles Beyond our dreams. Kirk Gothier
Re: ’44 Feet’ Editor:
Re: “44 Feet” by J.A. Savage (Sept. 15): I wish your writer had actually quantified the risks posed by the five dry casks holding spent fuel rods at PG&E’s Buhne Point station. What was PG&E’s response to the concerns raised here? They were asked, right? And, for such an important topic, I could do without…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Even when your courage has a touch of foolhardiness, even when your quest for adventure makes you a bit reckless, you can be resourceful enough to avoid dicey consequences. Maybe more than any other sign of the zodiac, you periodically outfox karma. But in the coming weeks, I will nevertheless counsel…
Supes Censure Embattled Planning Commission Chair
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Sept. 20 to censure Planning Commissioner Alan Bongio and ask him to step down from the position of chair due to his repeated outbursts at the commission’s Aug. 18 meeting that many have condemned as racist and inappropriate. First District Supervisor Rex Bohn made the motion to…
Welcome to NCJ Burger Week 2022!
Join us as we revel in our annual celebration of the hamburger. This year, 24 restaurants are participating in the revelry — using everything from locally-foraged chanterelle gravy to chili garlic pineapple chutney to donut buns — to offer up mind-boggling creations. And the bacon. So much beloved bacon. So many burgers, so little time.…
‘Dire’
Local and state officials are raising concern and demanding answers about PG&E’s professed inability to provide new electric hookups across the southern portions of the county, threatening major economic development from Fortuna down to the Mendocino County border and putting future projects, including a new Garberville hospital, at risk. Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell and…
To the Fall
Here we are, meeting together on the shores of the third season in the northern hemisphere, freshly appointed in our various positions, and shaking off the languorous coma of summertime to gather the power needed to squeeze every drop of warm pleasure out of the encroaching autumn. Our eyes are tuned to the angle of…
What’s Good: Familiar Sandwiches, New Burritos
Sandwiches Past and Present at Grotto You’ve likely had your last dollop of blue-green Chicago relish in Humboldt for a while, as Chicago Dog House has left the building — specifically the one formerly occupied by Deo’s in Henderson Center (428 Grotto St., Eureka). But the spot didn’t remain vacant long. Paula Harris has lately…
Trinidad Arts Night
Venues through town will feature a variety of art and music; activities include a skate park, games and face painting. At the end of the evening, Westhaven Center for the Arts presents a jazz night from 8 to 10 p.m. with RLA and Nicholas Dominic Talvola on trumpet. Dance floor/refreshments available (sliding scale $5-$20). Masks…
NCRT’s Tiny Beautiful Things
Be honest. You read the advice columns. Even if it’s just to be snarky about other people’s problems. Or perhaps you’re secretly hoping the solution to a problem you’ve been sitting on will magically appear under someone else’s name? On that admittedly broad assumption, I’d be surprised if Tiny Beautiful Things, now playing at North…
Hell is Visiting Other People
SALOUM. Precipitation, early dusk and fattening pumpkin spiders can only mean one thing: Fall is here and with it, Spooky Season. My brother already has Halloween decorations up in his lawn, after all. So I was excited to note the release of two buzzy genre movies this week on Shudder, the well-curated, horror-focused streaming service…
