Cover Story
Enter the Papaya Lounge
Among the creators of the bawdy, wildly funny Papaya Lounge cabaret, now in its sixth season of local sell-out shows, one was so shy as a youngster that her family had to face away from her as she crooned “Don’t Cry Out Loud.” Another began as a competitive gymnast and dramatic Bible verse reader. The…
Thomas Maxwell Kohler
Thomas Maxwell Kohler, 87 years old, of Rio Dell, California, died after a brief illness on Jan. 17, 2025 in Eureka, California, with his wife by his side. Tom grew up in Petaluma, California. The son of Maxwell and Mary Kohler, he was in the U.S. Navy Reserve Seabees (“We Build, We Fight”) for eight…
Evelyn Joyce (Throop) Adams
Evelyn Joyce Adams passed away peacefully at Sequoia Springs Assisted Living surrounded by family. She was born in Maricopa, California, and was the youngest and last surviving child of Lewis and Lucia (Bowlden) Throop. She grew up in the Taft/Maricopa area attending local schools until her senior year. She graduated in 1951 from Technical High…
Music Tonight: Wednesday, Feb. 5
Steve Poltz is a unique case study of the type of musician who found a way to forge a livelihood with his art right before the industry cratered into the rare mega-wealth and mass poverty model that is currently destroying the soul of American music. Coming up from the SoCal indie music scene of the…
Three Killed in Arcata Complex Fire
Three people died in a fire at a multi-unit housing complex on Chestnut Place in Arcata last night. According to a release from the Arcata Fire District, crews from multiple agencies were dispatched to the 2500 block around 11:15 p.m. after receiving initial reports indicating people might be trapped inside. “Arcata Fire and Arcata Police…
Music Today: Sunday, Feb. 2
The Eureka Woman’s Club is hosting a fundraiser for our fabulous Eureka Symphony today at 3 p.m. ($30). The group is made up of local stars, with conductor (and former brilliant and suffering remedial music teacher of the half-cocked punk dipshit writing these words) Carol Jacobson on cello, local piano whizz John Chernoff and Eureka…
Music Tonight: Saturday, Feb. 1
Being raised by hippies who met in a cult — not the horrible kind, but still — I have generally avoided getting too invested in pagan holidays and astrology in favor of my own more traditional religious practices that I won’t elaborate on here for a variety of reasons, one of which is a desire…
Hearing on St. Joe’s Abortion Case Set
A hearing on Providence St. Joseph Hospital’s request to dismiss large portions of a lawsuit the California Attorney General’s Office filed last year alleging the Catholic-based provider violated state laws by denying a local woman emergency abortion care is set for Feb. 14 in Humboldt County Superior Court. In filings this week, the AG’s Office…
Music Tonight: Friday, Jan. 31
Master violinist Andrew Finn Magill has taken the time he lived and played in Brazil and created Canto, Violino!, a trio which slithers and pulses between the funnels of choro music, the early fusion ancestor of samba, jazz, and bossa nova. The rest of the group are world class musicians, with Brazilian percussionist Clarice Cast…
Music Tonight: Thursday, Jan. 30
Let January slip away with some vocal jazz courtesy of the Claire Bent Quintet. I’ve always enjoyed Ms. Bent’s versatile voice and her choice of a top backing band, which, last I checked (forgive me if I’m wrong) includes her dad Jim on drums. He once helped me with some upholstery for my guitar pedal…
‘Disinformation’
Editor: Your “Sanctuary in the Storm” and “Arcata Earth Flag Measure back in Court” (Jan. 23) are related by a common journalistic tactic, disinformation. The flag article goes to great lengths to examine the relationship of free speech, local, state and federal laws and the order of supremacy of those laws. The issue of pure…
‘Our Best Option’
Editor: I find myself replying once again to a letter concerning Kimberly Wear’s excellent article on the barred owl invasion and management strategy (“Combating the Barred Owl Invasion,” Oct. 10). Constance Lynn’s letter (Mailbox, Jan. 16) is quite thoughtful, in that she points out that other factors are at play in endangering spotted owls and…
‘Permanent Damage’
Editor: A proposal from the federal government to industrialize the ocean along the Central Coast and Humboldt coastline with hundreds of 1,000-foot-tall, floating wind turbines would set a precedent that ocean industrialization is acceptable, destroy the character of the coastline and kill ocean wildlife (“The Top 10 Stories of 2024, Dec. 26). We’ve already seen…
Love Them Apples
Editor: It is always a sad farewell to goodness when apple season ends. I’m talking about real apples, the kind that have histories and flavor nuances, like the super tasty Waltana apple highlighted in the article about what grows best in these parts (“Planting Apple Trees on the North Coast,” Jan. 23). The specimens that are…
Guns, Germs and Steel, Part 1: Lethal Diseases
“Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we Black people had little cargo of our own?” — Yali, a Papua New Guinean politician, in conversation with Jared Diamond. “Cargo” here refers to inventions and manufactured goods. When Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of…
Ruh Roh
Apostolic, you flock, even frolic to your diabolic, vitriolic Moloch but end up melancholic No compensation, small consolation in predation, as elevation by subjugation changes not your destination Can’t go far because your lodestar’s the Death Star, your god a wannabe czar, leaving you as the dog who caught the car Garrett Snedaker
Lazy Calm
By the time you read this, we might be headed into another week of shifting rains drowning the recent glow of sunshine in clouds and downpours. Fine by me; I’ve always been the type to comment on the weather rather than complain about it. Credit that to spending most of my life in places where…
‘Complex Tradeoffs’
Five conservation groups, including the Arcata-based Environmental Protection Information Center, recently joined in the legal defense of a controversial U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan to protect the endangered northern spotted owl by killing thousands of invasive owls impeding their survival in designated areas, including parts of the North Coast. On Jan. 21, a Washington…
First Saturday Night Arts Alive
Join us for the First Saturday Night Arts Alive event presented by Eureka Main Street. Experience the vibrant atmosphere as galleries, museums, theaters, bars and restaurants extend their hours for your enjoyment. 4TH STREET MERCANTILE 215 Fourth St. Various artists. ART CENTER FRAME SHOP 616 Second St. Sandra Henry, Sara Starr, Lynne Bryan and Judy…
PresenceMakes Itself Known
PRESENCE. I wouldn’t want to testify to it, but I would be willing to bet Steven Soderbergh has made more movies after falsely — but probably sincerely, at the time — announcing his retirement from that very pursuit than before. Just as I can’t say exactly when he issued that dire dictum, I would not…
In the Interest of Full Disclosure
I trend a bit old school in my views of media ethics and reporting. I’m registered to vote without party preference, and I’ve never once put a campaign sign in my yard or donated to a candidate or ballot measure. Generally, I believe anything that so much as creates the appearance of a conflict of…
‘Spend and Spend’
Editor: If you cared about our national debt, you shouldn’t have voted for Trump (Mailbox, Jan. 16). Trump will spend and spend — after which a trillion dollar debt will seem to be a drop in the bucket. Pamela Markovich, Rio Dell
‘No Help Here’
Editor: Candidate Trump promised the American public he was going to improve their lives after President Biden’s supposedly disastrous administration, so how has he helped so far? Before the inauguration, he and Melania each created “meme-coins.” It’s estimated this has increased the Trumps’ net worth by billions, so no help here. Among his first executive…
‘Sounds Third-worldly’
Editor: First off, standing/applauding the 70 to 80 percent of our country who believe we were heading in the wrong direction and voted overwhelmingly for change. Along with Kamala’s wipeout and that of the corporate/cable media, the DNC and identity politics/DEI/progressiveness suffered severe losses to the citizen’s common sense. Because of the disaster from day…
‘Deeply Un-American’
Editor: The fear and suffering we are inflicting on our immigrant neighbors and friends is unjust and unconscionable (“Sanctuary in the Storm,” Jan. 23). Imagine having someone come to your door or workplace and suddenly not knowing when or if you’ll ever see your home and loved ones again? Home is more than a building…
Yeo Appreciation
Editor: I appreciate the weekly column by Collin Yeo (Setlist). His columns often have me scrambling for the dictionary, and I don’t necessarily subscribe to his polemics-driven political leanings. No question he does an excellent job covering the Humboldt music scene and I look forward to his weekly article in the NCJ. John Dillon, Eureka Related…
