Cover Story
Curtis Otto Was a Painter
Only a handful of painted scrap panels leaned against the steps and shrubs outside Curtis Otto’s orange stucco house on Eureka’s E Street. The crowd of oil paintings that cluttered the artist’s front yard was gone, but stepping through the unlocked front door you had to work your way around and over the canvases stacked…
Remembering HSU Journalism Prof Maclyn McClary
“Forgive us our trespasses; here are our press passes.” Reporter, editor, professor and wisecrack Maclyn McClary, who was a force of journalistic muster on the North Coast and beyond, died Oct. 31. He was 78. McClary had a long newspapering career, and spent 45 years teaching eager would-be reporters at Humboldt State University up until…
Two Recent Vehicle Fatalities Bring Humboldt’s 2015 Road Deaths to 27
A fatal crash on Saturday and another yesterday morning bring the year’s total road deaths up to 27. As reported in our September cover story, Humboldt County has one of the highest rates of vehicle fatalities in the nation and this year is on pace to break previous records for road deaths. Saturday’s crash occurred as…
UPDATE: Eureka Council approves body cam purchase
UPDATE: The Eureka City Council voted unanimously last night to allocate $60,000 to purchase body-worn cameras for its police department. Prior to last night’s vote, Eureka Police Department Capt. Brian Stephens briefed the council on the departments’ proposal, as well as the rough outline of a draft policy the department is working on to govern…
Drowning Deaths for 2015 at Seven Year High
Aaron Coffelt, a 44-year-old Rio Dell man who was pulled from the Eel River near his home last Thursday, was the county’s 12th drowning of 2015. That’s the most drowning deaths recorded in at least seven years, eclipsing the 10 reported in 2013. Meteorologist Troy Nicolini of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said…
HSU Students Protest on Behalf of Profs
The Humboldt State University Student Labor Union, a week-old organization, mobilized students to rally in solidarity with the California Faculty Association this afternoon. The rally drew several hundred students to the HSU quad, where they and faculty members spoke about how budget issues have impacted the education of HSU students. The rally mirrored another held…
Sauced at Breakfast
The sprouting crop of man buns around the room at the Woodrose Café (911 Redwood Drive, Garberville) might lead you to worry about trendiness encroaching on your breakfast, but fear not. A copy of Sunset Magazine’s Eating up the West Coast, into which the house recipe for cheese sauce found its way, is propped up…
Gathering of Tribes
A large crowd gathered at Redwood Acres in Eureka on Saturday to attend the 35th annual Northwest Intertribal Gathering and Elders Dinner. Elders were served a free traditional dinner of salmon or turkey and later were honored with a gifting ceremony. Native and non-native veterans were invited to the front of the performance arena and…
HSU Prez Calls for Unity, Understanding in Wake of Reported Racial Assault
Humboldt State University President Lisa Rossbacher sent a campus wide email today denouncing a racially motivated assault against two students that reportedly occurred last Friday night in downtown Arcata. Rossbacher’s letter states that two black female students were in the downtown area when two unidentified white men in a truck threw a beer bottle at…
Gather, Honor, Thank
November is a month for community and family gatherings, honoring ancestors and giving thanks for the bounty of life. It is also American Indian Heritage month, so it’s a perfect time to come together and break fry bread with your neighbor at the Northwest Intertribal Gathering and Elders Dinner at Redwood Acres Fairgrounds on Saturday,…
Planning Commission Continues to Slog Through Marijuana Land Use Ordinance
The Humboldt County Planning Commission is in the throes of its third meeting this week to address a proposed outdoor medical marijuana cultivation ordinance. In the course of four meetings in the last eight days, commissioners have heard hours of public comment and talked in depth with county counsel and planning staff in the commission’s…
Final Election Tally: Higgins Hangs On
With the final votes tallied, it looks like Patrick Higgins will retain his seat on the Humboldt County Harbor, Recreation and Conservation Commission. The Humboldt County Elections Office released its post-election update report this afternoon, and it shows that Higgins has built on his 12-vote Election Night lead, and now sits 81 votes ahead of…
County Nabs $20 Million for New Transitional Jail Facility
Humboldt County Sheriff Mike Downey announced yesterday that the state has approved a $20 million funding request to build a multi-use addition onto the county jail that officials hope will revolutionize offender rehabilitation locally. The funding will be matched with $1.5 million from the county to build a three-story structure on the gravel lot adjacent…
Top o’ the Hops
We’re a hearty folk here in Humboldt and we like to get our beer on. And with good reason: We’ve got some of the best breweries/brew masters in the state, and our Lumbersexuals — er, regular Joes — look good with suds in their ‘staches. We also love pitching in as a community to help…
On the Road Again
We’re lucky here in Humboldt. Not only do we have a wealth of talented local musicians, but we also find ourselves roughly smack dab between San Francisco and Portland. We’ve got much more going for ourselves than some podunk town outside of Los Banos on the I-5, so we can forgive touring bands for seeing…
Sweetening Wintertime
It happens every year. Summer is over and I am despondent. It’s not that I don’t like fall. Our fall season is glorious: from golden light to fog-free days to abundant produce, fall has a lot to say for itself. The problem is days are getting shorter and shorter — though, as my husband keeps…
Full Speed Ahead?
The Humboldt County Planning Commission embarked on its journey to review the latest proposed medical marijuana ordinance recently with a marathon meeting that saw dozens of public comments. The county is hustling to push through the ordinance, which dictates which land use zones will be allowed to host marijuana grows. Looming overhead is a March…
Inner Circle
In the book She Sang Me a Good Luck Song: the California Indian Photographs of Dugan Aguilar, the photographer documents people, places and rituals of the California Indian community. His photographs are featured in an exhibition of the same name at Humboldt State University’s Goudi’ni Native American Arts Gallery in Arcata this month. Aguilar was…
Arts! Arcata
Arts! Arcata is Arcata Main Street’s monthly celebration of visual and performing arts, held at more than 30 participating locations in Arcata. Visit www.artsarcata.com or call (707) 822-4500 for more information. ARCATA ARTISANS 883 H St. Joyce Jonté, paintings, Natalie DiCostanzo, clay art. ARCATA EXCHANGE 813 H St. Carla Newton, mixed media. Music by Pure…
Emotional Bonding
Reviews SPECTRE. The things I like about these late-era Bond movies, I will continue to like: Daniel Craig’s physically dominant, slightly sadistic take on the character — like a revolver in a Tom Ford suit; the emphasis on visual style and cinematic technique, here highlighted by returning director Sam Mendes (Skyfall) and director of photography…
The More Things Change
Editor: This is a request to keep a sharp eye on the hiring, by our Board of Supervisors, of the new Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) Director. The current director receives close to $250,000 in yearly salary/benefits and controls $150 million of our county’s $300 million total budget. With this amount of our…
Once Bitton …
Editor: I was disturbed by the Nov. 5 review of Going to St. Ives (“The Meaning of Motherhood and the Price of Favors”). In the first place, there was no reason to divulge the main point of the plot, but on reflection I can see why Pat Bitton did that: The reviewer must have a…
Simpler Seed Saving?
Editor: Thanks to Heather Jo Flores for educating us about seed saving (“Seed Saving Made Simple,” Oct. 22). I have a tip to make it even simpler. I have been saving seeds for 40 years and have developed the easiest way possible to do the “wet processing” mentioned in the article. There is no soaking,…
Funding Hunt Begins for McKinleyville Community Forest
A partnership between a land trust, a timber company and a community services district is seeking to conserve thousands of acres of timberlands and establish a new community forest adjacent to McKinleyville. The area between McKinleyville and Fieldbrook has long been considered an important greenbelt that should be shielded from development. All of a sudden,…
A Place to Go
“We didn’t want this to be a polarizing thing in the community,” says Robert Froelich. Yet the idea of a public restroom in Garberville has become — and has long been — exactly that. Froelich is a member of the Garberville-Redway Public Restroom Working Group (GRPRWG), which has met every month for the past three…
Naked
one lone brown leaf soft as lint falls to the foot of the naked elm the trees still cloaked in their colored coats shiver in the mist with impatient anticipation
