Cover Story
Busted
Fortuna Mayor Doug Strehl hates taxes. So does Humboldt County Board of Supervisors Chair Rex Bohn. Strehl’s worked on Fortuna’s Main Street since he was 15 years old and has run Strehl’s Family Shoe and Repair for more than 30 years. A Humboldt County native, Bohn worked in private industry for 50 years before joining…
Protesters: ‘Fish Need Water’
More than 100 people gathered in front of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Sacramento office Tuesday to demand that the bureau release additional water into the Trinity River, and by turn the Klamath, to prevent what they see as an imminent large-scale fish kill similar to that of 2002, when more than 50,000 salmon died…
Algae Toxins in the Trinity
These may be the dog days of summer, but ol’ Rex and Rusty better be careful about what rivers and lagoons they go jumping in to celebrate: The poor dogs don’t want to encounter toxic blue-green algae, which can thrive in the low flows and warm water conditions we’re seeing now on local rivers including…
We (keg) Stand Corrected
With all of the excitement surrounding the upcoming 11th Annual Hops in Humboldt, we made some mistakes that made their way into print in the Aug. 20 issue. You, our readers deserve the truth, so let’s set the record straight. For starters, entry to the festival is $45 at the gate, not $40. What’s five…
PO’d about the Eureka P.O.? There’s a Town Hall for That.
Congressman Jared Huffman is hosting a town hall meeting this Friday, Aug. 22, at 4 p.m. at the Wharfinger Building (1 Marina Way) in Eureka to talk about the feds’ plans to close the Eureka Customer Service Mail Processing Center and send our missives instead to Medford, Oregon, to be sorted. Says the news release…
Best Ever? HSU Alum Retires, Takes Football Coaching Job
Did you know a Humboldt State University alum recently hung up his cleats a five-time champion regarded as the best quarterback in his league’s history? No? Well, that’s probably because the league in question is the somewhat obscure Indoor Football League. Chris Dixon, an Oakland native who led the Lumberjacks to an 8-12 record in…
The Shortest Distance Between Two Points…
A pair of Arcata streets is slated for improvements over the next several months — a move the city hopes will encourage cyclists to access the city’s busy downtown. T he plan is relatively straightforward, excepting one lopsided detour. The so-called bike boulevard will stretch east-west along the length of 10th Street (including the one…
Tonight’s Setlist: Friday: Jams, Punks, Finncore
If you want to get out of town — end-of-summer fling? — the Trinity River Jamboree offers three days of music with more than 35 bands, plus a Silent Disco Dance DJ Party and tons of other festival fun. See www.trinityjam.com for the full line-up and all the info you could want. Speaking of not-Humboldt,…
Eatin’, Drinkin’ & Learnin’
Kids are like tiny sponges, soaking in all the info, knowledge and knock-knock jokes they can get their wee hands on. Sure, when they’re at school they’re learning all sorts of useful stuff: geography, reading, cursive. (Can you believe they still teach cursive?!) But their afternoons and weekends are wide open for brain soakage and…
Tonight’s Setlist: Eagles, Bats, Italian Goth
Starting right now, you’ve got your Boys of Summer Eagles tribute band, part of the Eureka Summer Concert Series happening at the C Street Market Square. It’s free! Then at 7 p.m., this week’s Italian-bands-in-Humboldt experience begins with The Spiritual Bat, a goth-rock band from Frosinone, Italy, at the Ink Annex. Joining them, Portland’s psychedelic…
Pot Regulation Bill Goes up in Smoke
A bill seeking to create a regulatory framework for California’s multi-billion dollar medical marijuana industry died quietly in an Assembly committee today, the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting. Hailed by supporters as an attempt to bring order to the current void of state regulations and vilified by opponents as a brain child of narcotics officers…
To Bridgeville and Beyond!
It’s time to scrape that rust off your flinging skills, alien cosplay-style. Saturday, Aug. 16 is BridgeFest (free) in Bridgeville and the combo street fair and UFO-inspired competition runs all day, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. The inland hamlet will be a cacophony of local bands, vendors, food and ridiculous contests of “skill” and…
Chesbro Explains Lonely ‘No’ Vote
North Coast Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro was one of only two California lawmakers to vote against putting a $7.5 billion water bond before state voters in November that is being hailed as an historic, bi-partisan plan to rescue the drought-parched state from a future of water uncertainty in an era of climate change. Specifically, the plan…
Audio Transatlantic
I write this column early on a Monday morning, Outside Lands Festival grit still embedded in the blisters decorating my feet thanks to a misguided shoe decision. The smell of smoke lingers in my hair from the drive home through Willits and Laytonville, where the Lodge Fire continues to dominate. My contacts need to be taken…
A Midsummer Night’s Stage
When the play calls for an enchanted forest, why try to fake it on a stage, when you can take the stage to the forest? That’s the solution in the Plays in the Park production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, now at Arcata’s Redwood Park. Down the grassy hill from Arcata Community Forest, tucked…
Plum the Depths of Summer
My brother has one of those plum trees that’s positively profligate with fruit. It’s like a woman who just had octuplets — overwhelmed with fecundity. Sitting under that tree, which is sweetly scented and buzzing with gorged flies and reaching up to grab a warm plum that drips if you pinch is the epitome of…
Stoned Love
There were no code words, no shiftiness, no subterfuge, no apologies. I have to give him credit: He was honest from the start. He liked me, I liked him, and he was leaving in three weeks to spend the season in the hills. My heart, which had been thudding along pleasantly, skidded to a stop.…
Fire in the Hills
Usually a popular locale for summer revelers soaking up the music festival scene, Black Oak Ranch north of Laytonville more closely resembles a wartime outpost these days. That’s because the ranch is currently serving as CalFire’s base camp as it battles the Lodge Complex Fire, a persistent wildfire sparked by lightning at about 6:30 a.m.…
Will Not Comply
Sheriff Mike Downey says the jail will continue to release inmates during late night and early morning hours, despite a recent recommendation from the Humboldt County grand jury to halt the practice. The grand jury also suggests that the county jail may be violating state law by not providing inmates arrested at distant locations a…
For Yupik Elders Irene and Vernon Evan
I love hands that are strong That grip the world With firm presence Hands That know the feel of tools With smooth strokes Do common work And make it come alive Blistered, coarse, rough hands Grimy, greasy, creased hands That wash up clean With soap and water And the knowledge Of something done well I…
Even Twistier
Reviews INTO THE STORM. Somewhere around an hour in, I realized it was gut-check time. I’d been sitting there, half-passively, half-dismissively looking at this movie without bothering to make up my mind about it. And in that moment, I struggled to get it done. On paper, there is very little to like: Not only is…
Poetic Props
Editor: We have some very fine poets in Humboldt County. You are doing the community a service by publishing their work. Thank you. Winfield A. Shoemaker, McKinleyville
Us, Them and Stansberry
Editor: A Eureka friend recycles the North Coast Journal to me in Ukiah, usually a collection of several months. Linda Stansberry’s articles (“Rio Dry,” July 31 and “Locals,” July 3) are well written, sensitive, poignant without being judgmental. Linda’s observations reflect on the “big picture” of the drug “culture” impact on humans, neighborhoods and social…
Motivating the Truce?
Editor: Heidi Walters mentions that Humboldt Redwood Co. is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as practicing sustainable forestry which “promotes environmentally sound and socially beneficial” forest management “for future generations” (“Un-entered Forest,” Aug. 7). She didn’t add that they’re up for recertification this month. It wouldn’t do to have a MAXXAM-style bloodbath up on Long…
Now, About Elk River
Editor: Thanks again to Heidi Walters for her fine environmental reporting. “Un-entered Forest,” (Aug. 7) reveals some promising and long overdue developments in local forest management. Humboldt Redwood Co. deserves recognition for its willingness to adapt to changing definitions of watershed health. And for responding to Mattole residents’concerns. But it makes a sad contrast for…
Groom of Doom
Hey McGuinty! I am freaking out! In three weeks I’m getting married and not even the honeymoon sounds good at this point. My lady and I have been together for two years and engaged for six months. I honestly don’t know how I got here. I’m not ready. I’m angry, depressed and feel like a…
Third Friday McKinleyville Arts Night
Join us for our community’s celebration of local art and artists for music, food and fun. You can find more information about the artists and venues and see additional images online at www.mckinleyvilleartsnight.com 1) Eureka-Arcata Airport. View artwork by Humboldt County artists at the long-term exhibit coordinated by the Redwood Art Association. Includes work by…
New at the Zoo
Over the years, I have written about rooting around for mushrooms, long walks around the bay or along the coast, cycling the Avenue of the Giants, tidepooling, ziplining and wrestling bears (OK, I didn’t write that one). But I overlooked something that takes no planning, no preparation and no special skills or knowledge — the…
Fair is Fair
Listen carefully: Can you hear the ’80s metal, the children’s laughter, the PA from the horse track? Combined, these sounds can only mean one thing: It’s time for the Humboldt County Fair ($8, $6, $4). The fair retakes its throne at the Humboldt County Fair Grounds from Thursday, Aug. 14 to Sunday, Aug. 24. That’s…
