Election Atlas
Visualizing the results of the Nov. 4 election
Cover Story
Election Atlas
For California voters, the two biggest races in the Nov. 4 election were the presidential race and Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Humboldt County voters voted similarly in each of the two races — they chose Barack Obama over John McCain, 62 percent to 34 percent; they voted no on Prop.…
Farewell kiss
You too, can throw a shoe. from the Washington Post : “This is a farewell kiss!” the man, identified as Muntadar al-Zaidi, a reporter with the Cairo-based network Al Baghdadia Television, yelled as he threw the shoes… Zaidi started to yell “Dog, dog!” as he was surrounded by security agents, who tackled him to the…
Hawkish gaze
Juvenile red tail hawk The stare While walking my dog Chuck in the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary yesterday afternoon around 4, we nearly walked smack into this juvenile red tail hawk, which appeared to have a broken wing. It was perched on a fallen branch, staring at first me, then Chuck but not moving…
Historical Blight
Editor: When the Bayshore Mall opened, the existing retail districts, downtown and the Pierson Mall collapsed. Many established local businesses in those places either moved to Bayshore or closed permanently. Storefronts were vacant or occupied by lower-grade tenants for years, a trend still not entirely reversed. Was that urban decay? Will the Marina Center have…
In Praise of Stuff
It used to be such a simple, innocent question: What do you want for Christmas? Tell me and it will save me the trouble of buying the wrong thing. Tell me and you’ll probably get it. It’s a question we’ve heard from our spouses, parents, children, friends — what do you want? And just like…
Upvote
Editor: So Marcy Burstiner thinks her column is no longer useful just because the Eureka Reporter is gone (“Media Maven,” Dec. 4)? Does she think that no one else reads her column? I’m no journalist, but I have gotten a lot of insight from her. If she has more to say, please ask her to…
A Taste of Fall
If I were to give to each season its own smell, fall would get the smell of chestnuts. Not only the better-known smell of roasted chestnuts (called caldarroste in Italian), but also that of boiled chestnuts. A big case of freshly picked chestnuts was one of the items my parents would get during our fall…
Questions All Around
Editor: As a friend of Greg Jennings, I am perplexed by a couple of things since his untimely death (“Ghost Bike,” Dec. 4).First, why no “rumble strips” along Highway 101 or 299? Come on Caltrans, what’s it going take? Second, on my daily commute back to Eureka from work I am amazed at the number…
HUMAN DARK WITH SUGAR
Poet Brenda Shaughnessy is both smart and a smart-ass. With the release of her excellent second collection of poetry, Human Dark With Sugar, she exhibits her deftness in language, wit, sarcasm, poignancy, cleverness and, most importantly, humor. Shaughnessy opens her collection with the piece, "I’m Over the Moon," in which the narrator is confronting, cursing…
Fair Comment
Editor: Whatever “synergy” is, it sure seems to rob the “synergist” of their sense of humor, judging by the don’t-be-mean-to-us tone of the four letters published (“Mailbox,” Nov. 26 and Dec. 4) in response to Emily Hobelmann’s tongue-in-cheek preview of the Synergy Fair (“Synergasm,” Nov. 13). My reading of the original piece is that was…
Planet B-Boy
More nations compete in the breakdancing Battle of the Year than were participants in George Bush’s "coalition of the willing." The global nature of hip hop dancing is well documented by the 2008 film Planet B-Boy. Stunning images of fluid dancing are articulated by some of the most talented artists on the planet. The Battle…
Blitzen Trapper
"Blitzen what?" is the typical response you would get if you asked a handful of people about Blitzen Trapper. The next most common answer might be, "Yeah, I’ve heard of them. They’re pretty good." You would be hard pressed to find a more passionate response. Such was the scene outside of the Red Fox Tavern…
Albino Redwoods
Turns out that my weakness for rum balls is shared by the co-owner of Eureka Books. Scott and I found ourselves standing in front of what I think of as the "Temptation Display" in Ramones. "So what’s the topic of your next Journal piece?" he asked. "Haven’t a clue," I replied, "Any ideas?" "Albino redwoods."…
Canada Geese At Sunset
Autumn colors sweep the hillsidesthat fall away to…
Red Hots
Outlined on the map it looks, says my coworker, like a stretched-out Texas, this tiny precinct of 74 registered voters and an impressive voter turnout this election of nearly 91 percent. Seems fitting, politically, for the Most Conservative Precinct in Humboldt County. 1FB-1’s boundaries encompass the rural rolling hill country in between Loleta and Fortuna.…
True Blues
Well, we might as well get this over with, and let the SunChips® fall where they may: The North Coast Journal’s office, in southwest Arcata, sits smack in the geographical heart of the Most Liberal Precinct in Humboldt County. Wow, that’s like admitting to some sort of media bias. (But, we hasten to soothe, most…
Punished
Previews The major opening Friday, Dec. 12, is the "reinvention" of the 1951 science fiction classic of the same title, The Day the Earth Stood Still. Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) steps into director Robert Wise’s shoes and Keanu Reeves inherits the role of the emissary from another planet with a dire environmental…
Father Yod’s Band
The epic story begins on the Fourth of July, goes to Hollywood, on to Hawaii, expands from there with chapters here and there including a chapter unwritten that takes place in Arcata next Wednesday, Dec. 17, as a proto-psychedelic band called YaHoWha 13 comes to town for a show at Humboldt Brews. On July 4,…
Deck Zero
A couple of weeks ago I got a chance to do my duty for democracy at the Humboldt County Elections Office. I was working a scanner with Kevin Collins — Ettersburg resident, commercial fisherman, old-school frizzy-bearded Humboldt County visionary. Collins was keeping logs, I was operating the computer, Humboldt County Clerk-Recorder Carolyn Crnich and other…
Second Friday 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 for even more information about the event or call 822-4500. 4. Northcoast Environmental Center 1465 G St. Feral Fusion, music and spoken word; Barbara Rohr, oil paintings; music by Dogbone.…
Growth in Loleta
Editor: Your article “Arkley v. Humboldt” (Nov. 26) implies that our companies that own the Loleta area land in question intend to develop it as a subdivision. Had your reporter contacted us before writing the article, he would have learned that we have no intention of doing so. Nevertheless, ascertaining the correct number of legal…
