Ends Meet
Has California’s ban on horse slaughter tightened the screws on Humboldt’s equine economy?
Cover Story
Ends Meet
"Animals are my passion. Animals are my life … Animals are my reason for being," Jennifer Raymond told me as we stood in the shade of an outbuilding at the Mad River Stables in Arcata at the tail end of the recent heat wave. Raymond founded the Humboldt Spay/Neuter Network and her enthusiasm for animals…
Will the dams come down?
A recent AP story reports that the U.S. government and PacifiCorp are involved in talks that may eventually lead to a plan for dam removal on the Klamath River: PacifiCorp, the federal government and the states of Oregon and California are in talks over how to resolve a proposal to remove four hydroelectric dams on…
NCJ Exclusive: ICE in Sun Valley
Sun Valley Floral Farms let go of 283 undocumented workers today after receiving a letter from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last week indicating that the employees — from flower pickers to management-level staff — were not eligible for employment in the United States. Sun Valley President and CEO Lane DeVries met with his entire…
Humboldt County sold, coming to Humboldt County
This from the director of the film Humboldt County , filmed in part here in Humboldt: WE SOLD “HUMBOLDT COUNTY.” We’ve been holding onto the news until it was official and the deal was signed and the contracts were printed – and now it is. “HUMBOLDT COUNTY” WILL BE COMING TO THEATERS THIS FALL!!!!!!!!!! We’re…
Grapes Crushed
Eureka’s John Barry crash-landed a Cessna into a Sonoma County vineyard last night, according to KTVU. He was not hurt, but some vines sustained damage. The station says that he ran out of fuel. Was this year’s vintage a casualty of the energy crisis?
Just Married
Arriving at the Arcata Farmers’ Market on graduation Saturday, I must confess that my thoughts were not directed at cheering students, but at cheerful strawberries. I had a feeling they would be there and my feeling was correct. I believe the look in my eyes must have been particularly spirited, prompting the smiling young woman…
Salmon River Race
For many paddlers, running stout whitewater sometimes just isn’t enough. To make it really interesting, they need to party all night, dress up like pirates and superheroes, then race each other down the stout whitewater. A few weeks ago I competed in a superheros versus pirates themed race down the Salmon River, which flows into…
Sex and the Charlie
Previews Happily, we are getting one film on Friday, June 6, that is not a summer blockbuster: Then She Found Me, directed by and starring the talented Helen Hunt. Based on the novel by popular writer Elinor Lipman, this directing debut features Hunt as a 39-year-old woman who hears her biological clock ticking very loudly…
Polarized
If you wish to see submerged rocks ahead, or creatures in a tide pool, you need to wear Polaroid sunglasses. Their ability to reduce glare is a consequence of some very interesting physics. I will demonstrate, for example, that when you see light reflected from a surface, that light did not simply bounce off the…
Sea of Links
I don’t know Christopher Smead and Erin Miller but I know a lot about them. Miller graduated from Fortuna Union High in 2001 and now works at NetFlix. She married Christopher Smead last June and he works at Logitech in Fremont. They live in San Jose with their cat named Crumb. They didn’t invite me…
Some Excellent Funky Beats
funk — noun Origin mid-18th cent. (first recorded as slang at Oxford University in Oxford, England perhaps from funk in the slang sense (tobacco smoke) or from obsolete Flemish fonck: "disturbance, agitation." a style of popular dance music of U.S. black origin, based on elements of blues and soul and having a strong rhythm that…
The Hot Tempers vs. The Cold Hearts
Roller derby, May 28 at Redwood Acres. It was girl-powered mayhem in the heart of Eureka. Inside Redwood Acres Fairgrounds, hundreds of ballistic screaming roller derby fans filled the bleachers, floors and walls on both sides of the brightly lit auditorium-turned roller rink. Dirty hippies, rednecks, chuckling groups of young guys, suave punk-rockers, polite looking…
The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama
By Pico Iyer. Knopf. At the center of today’s conflicts and aspirations, the Dalai Lama stands as an embodiment in proxy for his stolen and decimated nation (China began to invade in 1949), but also an example of nonviolence and reconciliation. From humble village origins to a state of virtual divine rule as a child,…
For Emma, Forever Ago
Album by Bon Iver. Jagjaguwar. It is the stuff of folklore how songwriter Justin Vernon (under the name of "Bon Iver") created and produced his sparkling solo debut, For Emma, Forever Ago. After spending several years in North Carolina with the band DeYarmond Edison, Vernon returned to his native home in Eau Claire, Wisc. He…
Torrent of Bits
Last week we noted that the paranoid and paranoia-inducing machinery of Humboldt County politics seemed to have mellowed this cycle. Where were all the shady front groups? Where was the dirty money? Where were the outlandish rumors and whisper campaigns? Did the election even happen? Just as we were starting to suspect it was all…
First Saturday Night Arts Alive!
First Saturday Night Arts Alive!is presented by Eureka Main Street and US Bank. Opening receptions for artists, exhibits and/or performances are held the first Saturday of each month. Phone 707-442-9054, for more information or to have an exhibit/performance included. 1: ST. INNOCENT ORTHODOX CHURCH 939 F St. Patron Saints: Their Images and Stories, icons of…
Sanskrit Comes to Ashland
With clouds of incense rising above them, the large cast in colorful costumes is arrayed in a circle. They sit on cushions and stand under lanterns, chanting and singing in a golden light. The opening of The Clay Cart, now in repertory at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, promises an exotic experience from ancient…
Election Results
Note: full Humboldt County results from the Nov. 4 2008 election can be found here. It was one of the longest election nights in recent memory. And after the clock turned 12, two out of the three main races on the Humboldt County ballot were still up in the air. At press time —…
