Cover Story
By the Breach
Even from the car, skimming fast south on Highway 101 in late December as the dusk sky streaked orange, you could tell something was different about Stone Lagoon, shimmering there behind a flickering screen of trees. It was breached! The smooth, silvery oval surface had grown a narrow, turbulent funnel that cut through the…
Watch the First Episode of ‘Weed Country’ and Tell Us How They Screwed Up
In case you slept through the inaugural “Weed Wednesday,” below you can watch the entirety of the first episode of the Discovery Channel’s “Weed Country” which chronicles the battles between marijuana growers and law enforcement in the Emerald Triangle. Woot. (Note: “Weed Wednesday” ended up being 50 percent less weedy than initially scheduled. The debut…
The Yurok Casino Is ON
The Yurok Tribe’s special election closed yesterday evening and the unofficial results are in: There will be a new casino in Klamath. Yurok Tribe members voted 61 percent to 39 percent in favor of a proposal by the tribal council to take $9.6 million of a $27.5 million settlement from the United States government and…
Congressman. On the Bay.
“You can learn a lot about this community by spending a couple of hours on Humboldt Bay,” said Congressman Jared Huffman, who is here in Humboldt County for a quick President’s Week visit. After meeting this morning with Humboldt State University President Rollin Richmond and others at the college, he took a tour of Humboldt…
Parking Lot Monitors
This was nothing new. All the cars parked under the row of big Leyland cypresses that divide the parking lot at First and D streets were kersplatted in white drips and blops. And the pavement all around these bombed cars was, as usual, devastated. Whitewashed. Just like every day before this. Oh, maybe it was…
Hit-and-Run Suspect Almost-Nab
The person of interest in the investigation of a hit-and-run that killed a young Orleans man earlier this month came within inches of turning himself in today up at the Salmon River Outpost in Somes Bar. Sean Forrest Hawk, 27, of Orleans, has been a fugitive since Feb. 10 when a Ford pickup he’s alleged…
Don’t Drive Over The Fire Hose, Eejits
Nobody died in the house fire on T-Bone Lane (near Indianola) early this morning, which Humboldt Bay Firefighters doused within 10 minutes after they began attack. But, dangit, somebody — a firefighter-somebody, or two or three or more — could have been seriously injured because of all the dingdongs driving over the fire hose (pinching…
Abortion Prayers Unfazed By This Morning’s Hail Storm
Early Tuesday morning, as cold and hail sucker punched Humboldt, Eureka City Councilman Lance Madsen sat alone in a camping chair on the sidewalk, hunkered down under an umbrella with plastic covering his legs, attempting not to freeze. He is one of those who have pledged to be a peaceful, sign-wielding presence on the side…
“White Pride” Enthusiast Arrested For Punching Girls in the Face on the Ferndale River Bar
Plus two other arrests. Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office: (Left to right: Doug Flowers, Curtis Flowers, Chris Hanly) On 02-17-2013, approximately 1:00 a.m. the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office received 911 call from a citizen who reported three males were at a large party in the area of East Ferry Road, Ferndale and…
One Broadway Eyesore Down …
… oh, we’ll diplomatically go with “a few” more to go. The image above shows the rubbly remains of the ol’ “Action News 6” building on the corner of Broadway and Wabash being loaded onto a truck for haul — the building sat vacant for years and has been a frequent squatter magnet. OK, which…
Distinguishing Characteristics
Distinguishing Characteristics
Struggling to Save Seals
Mork slides out of the pool, barks sharply and sails across his pen on all four flippers. The feisty northern fur seal pup bares sharp teeth and hisses at a camera — and the humans standing outside his pen. “He’s got a tremendous amount of attitude,” says Dennis Wood, founder of the Northcoast Marine…
A Standup Kai
Will uses the roadmap written by the internet’s latest sensation to achieve greatness.
How to Write a Sentence and How to Read One
“Surely mankind’s greatest invention is the sentence,” asserts Irish writer John Banville, and he’ll get no argument from me. For writers trying to orchestrate the elements of a novel, story, screenplay, report, memoir or other form, it’s good advice as well as good practice to remember the prime importance of the first construction: the sentence.…
Unusual and Amazing Fruit
If your idea of mixing drinking and gardening goes beyond dropping a homegrown cherry in your Manhattan, this is the list for you. They might be a little harder to track down, but there’s still time to get them in the ground. Don’t expect much the first year: These are long-term investments. Black Currant.…
The Loleta Tunnel
I’m told that the toughest part of the annual Memorial Day weekend Kinetic Grand Championship is the Eel River Drive hill up from Hookton Road heading toward Loleta. That’s where the route crosses over Table Bluff, a 300-foot high sandstone ridge separating the Eel River valley from Humboldt Bay. If those hardy racers find…
To Capture the Fleeting
If you were a bird, you would be a pileated woodpecker: rare and striking, red feathers glowing, poking in the rotten wood for bugs. If you were a snake, you would be a rubber boa: beautiful and harmless, docile in my hands. If you were mine, I would love you more than dragonflies…
McKinleyville Art Night
Friday, Feb. 15, 6-8 p.m. a community celebration of art, music, food and fun on the third Friday of each month. For more information, contact coordinator Taffy Stockton at 707-834-6460 www.mckinleyvilleartsnight.com. 1. ARCATA-EUREKA AIRPORT 3561 Boeing Ave. Long term exhibit sponsored by the Headwaters Fund currently features work by eight female Humboldt County artists: Regina Case, Natalie Craig, Joan Gold,…
A model inn
Editor: I moved to Caspar in 1985. My house was across the street from the Caspar (“R.I.P. Caspar Inn,” Feb. 7). When the wind was right, I could hear the music rockin’ out across the night. I could walk to the Caspar, the neon shimmering through the fog as my beacon — and I must…
Picking on pickers
Editor: With yet another cartoon picking on trash pickers who frequent the alleys of Eureka, I can’t help but wonder if Mr. Mielke has a bit of an obsession about his trash (“Recycling Eureka Style,” Feb. 7). His premise: Eureka residents put out trash which is then picked by those who take “things of…
Sorry, old man
Editor: Thanks to Bob Doran for his feature article on Humboldt County’s luthiers. I’ve been proud of these guys for years. They are well-known internationally, and it’s good to see them get some recognition on their home turf. As the owner of a Eureka music store from 1976-1999, I’ve known Mark Platin, Steve Helgeson,…
Money Makes Music
Editor: There’s no coincidence Humboldt’s luthiers are thriving (“Making Wood Sing,” Feb. 7). Music for generations has been indelibly integrated in Arcata School District’s curriculum. Thanks to Arcata’s voters and the passage of the District’s revenue measures, music and art programs are here to stay and getting stronger. Without a child’s appreciation and understanding…
Get Some, HumCo!
Well, HumCo, the bad news is that the calendar gods have screwed you over again: Valentine’s Day is one of a string of recent holidays that refuses to conveniently fall on a weekend. The good news is there is still plenty of out-and-about fore-foreplay to be had. Make a reservation if necessary and get your…
Wrapping V-Week
In contrast to Valentine’s Day, a great day for greeting cards manufacturers and chocolate makers for sure, we have V-Day. Started in 1998 by a group of women including The Vagina Monologues playwright Eve Ensler, the now worldwide organization/movement looks to raise awareness and ultimately end sexualized violence against women and girls. Locally for the…
Soderbergh Scores
SIDE EFFECTS. Steven Soderbergh seems intent on retirement. He has said this will be his penultimate movie (there’s Behind the Candelabra, a Liberace biopic, in the works for HBO). Pity; lately he’s been traversing eccentricity and accessibility with aplomb, producing some of the best work of his almost inestimable career. For some reason his last…
Pioneers
Does the electric banjo held by Leftover Salmon’s Andy Thorn look familiar? It was made here in Humboldt by Ian Davidson from Absynth Quintet, a “gypsy jamgrass” group inspired by Leftover’s groundbreaking “poly-ethnic Cajun slamgrass.” Salmon guitarist and founder Vince Herman laughed at the suggestion that his band pioneered a new sound. He pointed to…
