Exempt from Disclosure
Transparency, confidentiality and the police video Eureka doesn’t want you to see
Cover Story
Exempt from Disclosure
The clip opens with the bright blue sky reflecting off the black hood of a Eureka Police Department patrol car as it pulls to a stop sign at G and Ninth streets. The vehicle idles a moment, its in-car dash camera rolling, catching a dispatch radio call telling all units to be on the lookout…
UPDATE: New National Report on Suicide Rates in Jails
The Bureau of Justice Statistics has released a report on mortality in jails and state prisons. Its findings offer some perspective on the recent spike in suicide attempts at the Humboldt County jail, which saw 12 attempts in the last year, three times the amount of the previous two years.The statistics in the report do…
Bolman to Sue HSU
Jacquelyn Bolman, former director of Humboldt State University’s Indian Natural Resources Science and Engineering Program, has filed suit against the university in Humboldt Superior Court, according to an article in Indian Country Today. Bolman alleges that her free speech, right to due process and civil rights were violated after she was fired in October 2014.…
UPDATE: No Re-election Bid for Supe Lovelace or Harbor Comish Newman
Third District Supervisor Mark Lovelace announced this afternoon that he will not seek re-election in 2016, giving credence to rumors that had been circulating for weeks. It appears he will finish out his term. Several weeks ago Lovelace told the Journal he hadn’t come to a decision yet, and that he hadn’t anticipated making one…
HumBug: Flying Rods
The Van Duzen River provides me with endless things to see, photograph and ponder. In my excursions I have never once been disappointed. A while ago I watched a “hatch” of Mayflies (order Ephemeroptera) flying upstream against the gentle breeze following the river. There were hundreds in view and I could imagine how many there must…
Humboldt Bay Marathon Off and Running!
Today marked the debut of the Humboldt Bay Marathon, the first such event to take place in the area since the early 1970s. Founded by local runner Rich Baker, the marathon kicked off in Eureka (with a half-marathon start in Arcata) and the finish for both involving music, snacks, awards and beer tasting courtesy of…
Protect Your Lungs, Humboldt
Even those of us far away from the fireline have been impacted by the smoke and haze hovering over much of Humboldt County. If you washed layers of ash off of your car last week, consider what that stuff will do to the inside of your lungs! The North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District…
Hotels Hosing Our Heroes?
As fires rage in Mad River, Happy Camp, Gasquet and along State Route 36, state and federal agencies are scrambling to get boots on the ground. Firefighters and support personnel arrive at the local airport every day, to spend the night in Eureka before heading out to the fireline. The problem? Many haven’t been able…
Wags and Swag
Who’s cooler than your dog? Nobody. Maybe you should hang out with more dogs. Break all your stupid human plans, grab the leash and make tracks to Woofstock on Saturday, Aug. 8 in Halvorsen Park for a day of bonding and raising cash for the Sequoia Humane Society. In honor of the event’s 20th anniversary…
Yurok Tribe Swindled of $250K in Casino Push
The Yurok Tribe is alleging that it fell victim to a conman who bilked the tribe of $250,000 as it pushed to finance the opening of its new Redwood Hotel and Casino in 2014. In a letter last month to tribal members, Tribal Chair Thomas O’Rourke Sr. explained that, in an effort to fund staffing…
Staying Alive
Not everybody remembers when John Travolta was John Travolta — lanky, pre-Xenu Travolta with a topiary of a pompadour (watch the hair!) that was all his own. His guileless break-out performance in Saturday Night Fever (1977), along with a Bee Gees soundtrack that makes you question your punk and rock loyalties, is a polyester time…
An August Selection
Is it the dog days of summer now? Or just the slow gathering of the entertainment storm preparing to unleash upon the return of the student crowd? In any case, pickings are a bit slimmer this week, but the possibilities no less varied. Thursday This show is sure to be enjoyable Indiana band Traveling Broke…
Trinidad Arts Night
Shuttle service available with several pick-up and drop-off locations through town. Upper Trinidad SAUNDERS PARK Start of Patricks Point Drive. Aerial Dance performance by Synapsis Troupe with open drum jam. Skate ramps provided by Trinidad Skatepark Alliance. TRINIDAD MUSEUM 400 Janis Court at Patricks Point Drive. “Wish You Were Here,” postcard tour of Humboldt County,…
The Chocolate Factory
The door to Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate’s new digs (4 W. Fourth St., Eureka) is like a wormhole from Fourth Street’s auto repair shops and motels into a hipster lodge. The woody cocoon of a showroom is more J. Crew than Willy Wonka, with a mounted buck and nautical rope in lieu of a river…
Cannabis Crossroads
We are at a crossroads in Humboldt County. We can either build on our rare good fortune of living in a place where wild ecosystems still account for most of the land, or we can continue down the well-worn path of developing and fragmenting the remaining unprotected lands. The proposed ordinance put forward by California…
Mission Style
Reviews MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE — ROGUE NATION. As time has gone on, Mission: Impossible has come to feel less and less like its own, distinct franchise than the goofy, virginal younger sibling of the Bond movies. Sure, they still rely a bit more on Rube Goldberg contrivances and now iPad-based hacking, but at the end of…
The Weeds of Law
As Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Marijuana Policy’s 90-plus page report continues to make the rounds, the rave reviews keep piling up. For those who haven’t been paying attention, the Gav spent months filling the commission with diverse stakeholders — including our own former Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos — and…
A Spoonful of Sugar
Beloved classics tend to share common ingredients: relatable stories, charming characters, catchy music — and in this case, a spoonful of sugar. First introduced in 1934 through the books of P.L. Travers and made ever more famous in the 1964 Disney musical when played by Julie Andrews, nanny Mary Poppins has had generations of children…
Fluffy and Fido in the Garden
Anyone with pets knows what integral parts of the family they become, yet Fluffy and Fido’s antics in the landscape — the digging, peeing and damaged plants — can try any gardener’s good nature. Here’s how to create a backyard refuge that all the members of your family can enjoy. Dogs in the garden The…
Well Coupled
Editor: Susan Penn’s article walking through the Ferndale Park felt like I was there with her (“Miles Away,” July 30). She brought the sights and sounds and even some of the smells that enhance our love for Humboldt County to life. She will have no shortage of places to visit and share with us and…
Doomed to Repeat
Editor: The “Names” column (July 30) cautioning against blotting out dark history (Confederate flag, etc.) is a reminder that the past evils we expunge we soon replace. Barely a generation — 21 years — separated the two World Wars. Whatever humankind learned from World War I (the proclaimed “War to End All Wars”), it was…
A Familial Vote
Editor: The Journal article titled “Race Day” (July 30) caught my attention. I live about a mile and a half from the Redwood Acres raceway. Whenever there is racing, the noise is unbearable, even at this distance. They seem to race continuously for hours and the tension this causes chases us from our usually tranquil…
A Pot Proposal
Editor: In regard to the ordinances put forth by California Cannabis Voice Humboldt concerning cannabis cultivation (“Draft Day,” July 2 and “Pot ‘O Money,” July 9), for the most part these ordinances seem very well thought out and deliberated and I commended the CCVH for its efforts. However, there are significant problems with determining taxation…
Bad Form
Editor: Poorly played by the North Coast Journal! You guys should’ve respected the tie and coughed up the tickets for both winners instead of changing the rules at the last minute and being a part of a descent into pettiness (Reggae Contest Facebook posts last week). Lost a lot of respect for you and the…
Reexamining our Relationship
Editor: After reading the NCJ article “Power and Control” (July 16) about the police officer in Rio Dell who has an alleged history of perpetrating domestic violence, it does make one wonder how that wasn’t confronted during the hiring phase. And reading the statistic about the high incidence of domestic violence perpetration among families of…
A Long View of the Klamath
When the Yurok Tribe’s fisheries biologists identified causes that contributed to the 2002 Klamath River Fish Kill, in which upward of 50,000 salmon perished, the conclusion was matter-of-fact: “In this instance, low flow from Iron Gate Dam was a substantial causative factor … It is also the only factor that is controllable by human action.”…
Desperate
On Sunday, July 12, at 2:20 p.m. Cyrus David Cook Jr. left his assigned floor in the general population dormitory at the Humboldt County jail, walked up a flight of stairs, climbed the bars of the 6-foot railing and dove 18 feet to land head first on the concrete floor. Cook, 35, had a history…
Riverbank Music
As I lay down by the river in half shade listening … I cant help but think of them they started as seeds dropped in warm sand by their mothers sprouts of willows and alders roots drawing strength from a slice of big mountain broken down to granules by the mighty river they seem confident…
