College In Revolt
CR employees say their president is a tyrannical bully. Now they’re fighting back.
Cover Story
College in Revolt
College of the Redwoods President/Superintendent Jeff Marsee makes $222,602 per year, plus a benefits package worth another $11,432. That salary places him in the top 20 percent of community college presidents in the state, according to the Association of California Community College Administrators. He gets 16 paid holidays, 20 vacation days and 10 days of…
Care for a Menu?
We in the North Coast Journal editorial department don’t have much to do with the production of our annual Menu of Menus restaurant directory. We just use the living Hell out of it like everyone else. Good news! The 2010 edition is just about to hit the streets, and it’s an 88-page behemoth. This is,…
The Anti-Neely Campaign Finance Reform Rally
Twenty-five people or so came out for Chris Crawford’s anti-Bonnie Neely rally at the Humboldt County Courthouse today. The signs were worded sharply: “Bonnie’s Bought & Paid For.” “Had Enough Humboldt County?” “The 4th District Deserves Better.” “Neely and the Political Machine.” “For The People or For The Money?” There’s no doubt that Supervisor Neely,…
Downey Endorsed by Neighboring Sheriffs
Humboldt County sheriff candidate (and current undersheriff) Mike Downey has nabbed endorsements from his neighboring colleagues –Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman and Del Norte County Sheriff Dean Wilson. This according to a press release issued today from the Downey camp. Downey has also been endorsed by his current boss, retiring H.C. Sheriff Gary Philp. In…
Humboldt Ranks in [Fake] Google Fiber Poll
UPDATE: Thanks to cyber-savvy reader Josh Mohland for pointing out this “Mega Challenge” site is a fugazi. In non-scamming circles, the deadline for responses to Google’s fiber bonanza has passed. Google’s “Mega Challenge for selected U.S. communities to battle for the title of Most Deserving City for Google fiber” — a nationwide contest in which…
An Anger So Quiet That It’s Damn Near Mute
A letter to the editor in this morning’s Times-Standard caught the eyes of many around Humboldt County today. Entitled “A quiet anger” and appearing under the byline of Eugene Womack of Myers Flat, it is a pure and somewhat startling blast of teabag rage. The “quiet anger,” according to the letter, is the fury of the…
The Blue Helichopper
Citizens of Eureka! Approximately one million of you reported a blue helicopter suspiciously circling your fair town “about 20 times” earlier today. You demand answers, and we sort of have them. It’s a bit vague, still, but the basic story seems to be this: The helicopter belongs to the California Highway Patrol. It was sent…
Your Daily Bong Hit Of News
The Anderson Valley Advertiser’s Tim Stelloh sends along a promotional video from a Willits crew attempting to compensate for their substandard Mendo product by serving up a healthy dose of cheesecake. You’re trying too hard, guys! (Side note: Stelloh follows up last fall’s epic tale of dope, guns and Republican blood lust in the coming…
Around the Blogosphere
Kathy Srabian makes an excellent point vis a vis the Marina Center in the Humboldt Herald this morning: Home Depot, the chain that is supposed to anchor the development, is in a state of contraction, not expansion.”The ‘Marina Center has become synonymous with ‘Home Depot,'” Srabian writes, after laying out a raft of research that…
Cockburn on Legalization
Alexander Cockburn — Petrolia resident, Nation columnist and pinch-hitting Town Dandy — this week takes a trip down memory lane, reliving 30 years of Humboldt County marijuana economy and culture. If you’re a subscriber, you can see that Cockburn is skeptical of the Journal’s “somewhat silly” recent thoughts on how to salvage a bit of post-legalization trade for…
Your Mail May Be Late
Thanks to reader “JS” for the best-yet illustration of just what a shitty day it is today.
Owls and Discourse
Editor: As a local biologist, I read with interest both the article on Phil Detrich ("The Biocrat," March 18) and Felice Pace’s letter ("Good Intentions," March 25) concerning the article and the success — or lack thereof — of conservation efforts of natural resources in the region. I feel compelled to write and comment on…
Easter in Italy
A bit of nostalgia nibbles at me this time of the year: I miss Easter breakfast, a ritual that was part of my life until the end of my teenage years. We always spent the Easter holidays with my aunt Lucia, in my father’s native village, north of Rome. On Easter Sunday, before going to…
Sunny Day
Editor: Upon reading the biased news article “Where is Dr. Fran Day?” (March 18), I noticed that of the two, maybe three, people interviewed, all of the sources had negative feedback concerning their treatment and subsequent lack of re-filled prescriptions. Where was the positive feedback about Dr. Day? I’ve never met with Dr. Day, but…
Doctor Who: The Complete Specials
Though the series continues with a new creative team and a new Doctor in April, these five stories constitute the last year of the new Doctor Who as created by writer-showrunner Russell T. Davies. They’re also the last starring David Tennant, whose four years as the Doctor turned the series into a major hit for…
Initiate
[image-1] Despite the name, The Nels Cline Singers do not have a vocalist. Led by Nels Cline (probably most widely known as Wilco’s guitarist extraordinaire), they are a power trio, though not exactly in the classic sense of the term — a band like Cream, for example. The band fuses elements of rock, funk, jazz…
Arts Alive!
First Saturday Night Arts Alive! Is proudly presented by USBank, with Eureka Main Street and the Humboldt Arts Council Opening receptions for artists, exhibits, and/or performances April 3 6-9 p.m. Phone 707-442-9054, for more information. 1. WORLD CUP 1626 F St. Redwood Coast Montessori School; live music. 2. HUMBOLDT ARTS COUNCIL at the…
(untitled several poems)
Almost spring long lines of Aleutian geese majestically…
Remember Marge & Harold
Newspaper columns are funny things. I think sometimes that journalists only came up with the idea of objectivity because most of us are wimps — we like to avoid confrontation. The easiest way to do that is to withhold an opinion. When you only ask questions and don’t answer them, nothing can ever be your…
Health Care Reform: It’s Personal
I was riveted to the television Sunday, March 21, for live coverage of the final health care debate. I flipped channels at first, but — not wanting to miss a word — settled on C-SPAN. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-WA, was particularly ominous: This legislation will cripple small business and add "oppressive new mandates" that…
Monetize It!
Finally, an open and substantive discussion on how Humboldt can transform its underground economy into a legitimate business! With a legalization initiative firmly on the ballot, there’s no better time to figure out what the Emerald Triangle might look like in the post-legalization environment. I just hope Humboldt’s growers can take some cues from the…
The Drake Plate
The story of the Drake Plate starts with a diary entry from 1579 written by one Francis Pretty, who accompanied Francis Drake on his 1577-1580 voyage around the world. Drake’s ship The Golden Hinde had landed somewhere north of Golden Gate, although the exact location still isn’t known. Pretty wrote: At our departure hence our…
Top-Shelf Polanski
Previews The Last Song is a coming-of-age story based on yet another Nicholas Sparks novel. Miley Cyrus stars as a teen alienated from her father (Greg Kinnear). Rated PG. 107m. Opens Wednesday, March 31 at the Broadway and Mill Creek. Opening Friday: From director Atom Egoyan, Chloe is a thriller about marital mistrust. Catherine (Julianne…
Different
We caught up with David Wang, aka Mochipet, in Miami where he was performing at the 25th annual Winter Music Conference, a big deal in the mushrooming electronica/dance music world. Where does Mochipet fit in? "I’m all over the place actually," he notes before detailing the myriad sub-categories blooming in electro-dance music. "In the beginning…
Notes from the Hustings
Notes from the Hustings Just a couple of follow-ups to last week’s campaign finance roundup extravaganza. First: We received the legal go-ahead to post the entire set of recent campaign finance disclosure forms on the World-Wide Web. Stroll on over to the North Coast Journal Blogthing to check ’em out, if you like. (Print readers…
Waiting for Miley
Last Monday, as intermittent heavy squalls drenched the grassy lowlands and forested hills around Orick, slicked down the town’s main thoroughfare — Highway 101 — and whipped up whitecaps on Redwood Creek as it meandered north of town toward the sea, the Van Genderens, on spring break from Helena, Mt., were just finishing their meal…
Good Riddance
Editor: When Kym Kemp warns us that "an enormous tsunami is poised to drown the economics of this area," she means her neighbors in SoHum will be between scams ("Welcome to Pot City!" March 25). "There isn’t a trade or company that doesn’t receive a goodly portion of its monthly income either directly or indirectly…
Our Buds: Bigger
Editor: Your cover pic made me flash that nothing has changed. The three brochures in her hand — Arcata, Humboldt Bay and a big flat field (Shively?). Northern folks like to paper over that we’re here, we’re real and we’re the ones who brought the marijuana here and made it what it is. Yeah, us…
