Cover Story
Flash Fiction 2022
Every year, the Journal’s 99-word Flash Fiction Contest gives us a peek into the imaginations of Humboldt writers. There are compact epics, comedies of error, mournful memories, budding (and withering) romances, existential dread, villains, heroes, crimes and spirits. Along with yours truly, our judges once again include retired children’s librarian JoAnn Bauer, poet and College…
Music Tonight: Wednesday, Dec. 14
Richards’ Goat, home of the Miniplex, has been putting on something this month that has caught my eye. Every Wednesday evening, starting at 5 p.m., you will find a mini-expo by a local artisan whose goodies will be on display where the bands usually set up their merch on show nights. Tonight’s featured creator is…
Music Tonight: Tuesday, Dec. 13
The Outer Space is hosting a DIY indie music free-for-all tonight and those of you in that community should prick up your ears at this one. Brooklyn-by-way-of-Kansas-City singer-songwriter Scout Gillett is the touring headliner, supported by Parisian- Humboldt transplant Brisa Roché, and local wonderman Ryan Spencer, who will perform with members of Blood Hunny and…
Music Tonight: Monday, Dec. 12
Poet and author Eileen Myles will be doing a reading at Northtown Books this evening at 6 p.m. The source of their oratory is their Grove Press anthology “Pathetic Literature,” which examines works of pathos by unknown authors as well as bigger bangers like Franz Kafka and Gwendolyn Brooks. Would you like to hear a…
Get Cozy with A Celtic Christmas
Looking for something to spark your Christmas spirit this year? CenterArts has just the ’ting for you. Spend an evening in the setting of a remote Irish farmhouse, gathering ’round the fire for traditional Irish Christmas carols, dancing and stories with master storyteller Tomáseen Foley and his band of merrymakers in A Celtic Christmas on…
Music Tonight: Saturday, Dec. 10
For 15 years, the No Good Redwood Ramblers have been tossing around their own special brand of stomping folk and bluegrass for the assembled people of the county. However, all good things must come to an end and I am told this gig at Humbrews tonight at 9 p.m. is likely the band’s last, as…
Music Tonight: Friday, Dec.9
Every so often there’s a band that I find myself writing about repeatedly that simply occupies its own territory in the landscape of our culture. One of those lurching mutants that scuttles around the margins of society with enough force to overcome its oddness and allow it to exist as a rolling juggernaut. Well, tonight…
Holiday Parades Set to Roll
Humboldt, you don’t have to put on the red (and green) lights, but when you do, it’s a beautiful thing! This weekend, folks, bundle up, grab your cocoa and kids, and get ready to holler, “Happy holidays!” to the passing cars, trucks, trailers and boats all lit up for Christmas. First up, it’s the Al…
Arcata Playhouse Holiday Show Opens Next Week
Sidelined for its original opening weekend (Dec. 9-11) by that dastardly virus, Arcata Playhouse’s holiday show, The Ballad of Flint Westward and the Five Who Made Their Way, added an extra date to its original second weekend run and opens now on Thursday, Dec. 15 and runs through Sunday, Dec. 18. The Thursday, Friday and…
Music Tonight: Thursday, Dec. 8
The Outer Space is putting on a live music and drag show hosted by Thrash & Recycling. This all-ages event is a masks-required affair and, while the door charge is a sliding scale $5-$20, no one will be turned away for a lack of lucre. Oh, and the whole shebang kicks off at 7:30 p.m.
Public Health Reports Another COVID Death
Humboldt County Public Health reported today that the county has confirmed one new COVID-19 death, a resident in their 70s, since its last report Nov. 30. Nine new hospitalizations were reported and, according to a state database, 18 people are currently hospitalized with the virus locally, including two receiving intensive care. The death reported today…
Bids for Humboldt’s Two Offshore Wind Lease Sites Hit $331M
The two lease sites for the development of wind farms off the Humboldt County coast went for $331.5 million in yesterday’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management auction, the first ever held for areas on the West Coast. The highest bidders were RWE Offshore Wind Holdings at $157.7 million for 63,338 acres and California North Floating,…
Snow, Rain, Wind Set to Start Hitting Humboldt
Enjoy the sun while it lasts. Up to 7 inches of snow is expected, mostly above 2,500 feet, in the interior areas of Humboldt County starting Thursday, prompting the Eureka office of the National Weather Service to issue a winter weather advisory that will be in effect from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. “Travel could…
Big Island Kine on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives
Guy Fieri fans and poké enthusiasts, you’ll want to tune in for this week’s episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, when the Humboldt-raised host features local food truck Big Island Kine. The episode “Burgers, Bowls and Bangers” airs Friday, Dec. 9, at 6 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 10, Saturday, Dec. 24. “Guy Fieri pops into a…
New Blood, Big Oil: California Legislature Starts Special Session
California regulators would cap the profit margin for oil refiners and could fine companies that exceed that limit under a proposal announced Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the latest escalation in his battle with the oil industry over a summer of record gas prices. Newsom unveiled the measure, which does not yet include key details…
Music Tonight: Wednesday, Dec. 7
Hawaii’s Jake Shimabukuro is about as close as one can get to complete mastery of the island’s famously understated instrument, the ukulele. In his hands, the diminutive, four-stringed campfire and beach accessory becomes a thing of wonder, as his fingers pick and strum away at chord voicings and melodic passages that seem out of this…
Going, Going, Gone: Feds Hold First-Ever Auction for California Offshore Wind Leases
Federal officials today will auction off leases for 583 square miles of ocean waters off California that could lead to the nation’s first massive floating wind farms. The auction — the first on the West Coast — includes five sites in deep ocean waters about 20 miles off Morro Bay and Humboldt County. The leases…
Photos: Tubas, Chocolate and a Flaming Octopus
For many, it’s not officially the holiday season in Humboldt County until you’ve attended one of the all-brass TubaChristmas performances, which have been led locally by Fred Tempas since 1988. So we headed out early Saturday afternoon to near the gazebo in Old Town in Eureka for the 33rd annual concert and Christmas carols sing-along…
Humboldt County Fair General Manager Resigns
Rich Silacci, general manager of the Humboldt County Fair Association, announced to the HCFA Executive Committee last night that he has submitted his resignation letter to board President Andy Titus. Silacci began work at the job Jan. 3 and will officially exit the position Jan. 31. In his remarks to the committee, Silacci underscored that…
Music Tonight: Tuesday, Dec. 6
Now is as good a time as ever to remind you of Word Humboldt’s excellent and ongoing open mic at Northtown Coffee at 6 p.m. You really do get the entire range of what’s possible out there, from the truly sublime to the edge of cringe, and the cost is nothing but your time, an…
One Killed in Eureka Fire
One person died in an early-morning fire on Meyers Avenue in Eureka today, according to Humboldt Bay Fire. According to a press release, three engines, a ladder truck and two deputy chiefs were dispatched to a report of a fire in a residential structure with an occupant possibly trapped inside at about 2:40 a.m. The…
Bob’s Footlong’s Comeback
After 72 years in business, Bob’s Footlong, beloved hot dog haunt of teens and truckers alike, shut its doors November of 2021. But like the chili stains on a shirtfront, it seems it wasn’t gone for good. Jessica and Daniel Milich have bought the business, are now, keys in hand, hiring staff and readying to…
Music Tonight: Monday, Dec. 5
Los Angeles’ Goon has been around for less than a decade but in that time has built a unique, nocturnal sound around a line-up that includes a member of indie rock minimalist masters Spoon. The sound, like the name Goon, seems so catchy and obvious I’m surprised it hadn’t been snatched up already: Thoughtful songs built…
Music Today: Sunday, Dec. 4
The Cal Poly Humboldt Wind Ensemble is putting on a matinee performance at Fulkerson Hall today at 2 p.m. ($10 general, $5 children, free for students). The program will be heavy on American composers, and will include pieces by Aaron Copeland, John Barnes Chance, William Schuman and others. I like a good wind ensemble, beyond…
NCJ Preview: Flash Fiction, Title IX Update and Street Luge
Title IX, Cal Poly Humboldt, street luge, Ryan Farmer, flash fiction
Music Tonight: Saturday, Dec. 3
The Eureka Symphony is presenting its Winter Festival program at the Arkley Center for the Performing Arts tonight (and last night) at 8 p.m. I’m always happy to juice up the Symphony’s performances and this one looks like a real corker, with pieces by Rimsky- Korsakov, Prokofiev, Samuel Taylor-Coleridge and more. There will even be…
New Election Report Shows Same Results
The Humboldt County Elections Office released its fourth post-election report today, which changes some numbers but leaves the results where we left off last week. That includes Measure M’s come from behind win to have the Earth flag fly at the top of city-owned flag poles in Arcata, which now stands at 52 percent of…
El Pulpo Magnifico to Light Up Arts Alive
Bring your sunglasses to Arts Alive Saturday, Dec. 3, as local artist and Burning Man regular Duane Flatmo will be firing up El Pulpo Magnifico, recently touring heir to the retired legendary kinetic sculpture El Pulpo Mecanico. The enormous mechanical octopus will brandish its flaming tentacles from 6 to 9 p.m. at the foot of E Street,…
Music Tonight: Friday, Dec. 2
For the last three decades and over the course of nine records, the Young Dubliners have been committed to producing a sound that marries traditional Irish folk tunes with contemporary rock. The result is a career with solid cult-status, and a fairly loyal and enthusiastic fanbase, won over by constant touring in the pre-COVID world.…
Humboldt County Correctional Facility’s Inmate Holiday Art Contest
2022 marks the fifth year for the Humboldt County Correctional Facility’s (HCCF) Inmate Holiday Art Contest. Inmates in HCCF dorms are given art materials and are asked to work together to paint a holiday scene. Inmates that create the winning painting receive a special Christmas movie and popcorn. The voting ballot is here at inmateart.northcoastjournal.com.…
‘Tridemic’ Threatening Local Hospital Capacity
Following a trend seen across the state, region and country, local hospitals are nearly at capacity amid a surge in respiratory illnesses that’s being dubbed a “tridemic” or “tripledemic” by some. “With the circulation of multiple respiratory illnesses, such as RSV, influenza and COVID-19, we, like the rest of Northern California, are experiencing a significant increase…
By the Numbers: California’s Mild 2022 Wildfire Season
As California emerges from its “peak” wildfire season, the state has managed to avoid its recent plague of catastrophic wildfires. So far in 2022, the fewest acres have burned since 2019. State Emergency Services Director Mark Ghilarducci said California had “a bit of luck” with weather this summer. Although enduring yet another drought year, much…
Rain Should Provide Last Shot at Late-Fall Kings
The rains that fell in early November were a godsend for our late-fall salmon runs. The increased flows allowed some of the salmon milling in the estuaries and lower sections of the rivers to get to their spawning grounds. But just as quickly as the rain fell, it stopped. Now, nearly a month later, additional…
Young and Hungry
ARMAGEDDON TIME. James Gray does not live in the popular consciousness the way many of our cinematic luminaries — themselves refugees from an ongoing extinction-level event — do. This is likely as much due to geographical bias within the industry as to Gray’s refusal to cater to the whims of that industry, transitory culture or,…
No Place for Profit
Editor: What’s to be said of an individual or individuals who fail to take responsibility for the consequences of their greed and thirst for power? What’s to be said of a community that’s exposed to that fallout and fails to change the dynamic that promotes it? The article, “Profit and Pain” (Nov. 17), on the…
Anything But Safe’
Editor: PG&E’s Humboldt Bay reactor operated for nearly 13 years from August of 1963 to July of 1976 (“44 Feet,” Sept. 15). While PG&E was claiming nuclear power at Humboldt Bay was “safe, clean and economical,” Science Magazine called PG&E’s nuclear facility “one of the dirtiest nuclear power plants in the nation” in its June…
An ‘Easy’ Solution
Editor: So, three mass shootings in as many days (“We Will Not Hide,” Nov. 24). I am musing on this as I struggle to open my bottle of Vitamin B Complex, sealed with plastic around the cap and then — surprise! — another seal under the cap with an “easy tab.” Easy? Really? I may…
Eureka’s Street Railways
The good old days in Eureka, I’ve heard, were the 1920s and 1930s, when a family could enjoy a Sunday excursion by streetcar from Old Town to Sequoia Park. There, they could enjoy a picnic next to the duck pond before riding home, rattling down the tracks on long summer evenings. Eureka’s streetcars had been…
Hummer
There once was a sweet rufous hummer Who came to my feeder all summer He twisted and twirled His bright colors swirled Now it’s winter- he’s gone What a bummer! Jean Munsee
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Journalist Hadley Freeman interviewed Aries actor William Shatner when he was 90. She was surprised to find that the man who played Star Trek’s Captain Kirk looked 30 years younger than his actual age. “How do you account for your robustness?” she asked him. “I ride a lot of horses, and…
Lead Ammo Used in Elk Poaching Endangered Condors
Authorities are investigating a mid-November poaching incident in Redwood National and State Parks that left two Roosevelt elk dead and put the region’s recently released California condor flock at-risk due to the lead-tainted carcasses left behind. Not only is it illegal to hunt in the interlacing span of protected coastline, old growth forests and prairies…
CSU’s Title IX Audit Comes to Humboldt
With Cal Poly Humboldt at what its local California Faculty Association chapter president called a “breaking point” over its handling of sexual harassment and assault complaints, a pair of attorneys are slated to come to campus next week as a part of the California State University’s audit of its Title IX system. The attorneys —…
November Rain
Sixteenth century English poet Thomas Tusser, writing in his book on rural life in Tudor England, Five Hundreth Pointes of Good Husbandrie, gave us perhaps the first written version of the adage “April showers bring May flowers.” Sitting here late at night at the end of the month, listening to the rain come down on…
What’s Good: Patino’s and Humboldt Bay Burgers
Patino’s Quesabirria Slam Dunk The quesabirria taco has Mexican food enthusiasts happily in its grip, all of us grinning orange oil-slicked smiles now that the Tijuana specialty has made it this far north. But while dunking your way through an order of the crispy, gooey, beef tacos with a side of deep red consommé goes…
First Saturday Night Arts Alive
Eureka Main Street presents First Saturday Night Arts Alive on Dec. 3 from 6 to 9 p.m. Our galleries, museums, theaters, bars and restaurants are open late for your enjoyment. ART CENTER SPACE 620 Second St. “Rockin Chiefs Chair & Heavy Metal Copperworks. Rock On!” Scott Hemphill, acrylic painting, drawing, sculpture, mixed media, copper, steel,…
Ryan Farmer’s Need for Speed
On Nov. 11, 29-year-old Ferndale resident Ryan Farmer won their second street luge world championship at the 2022 World Skate Games in Argentina as a member of the U.S. Downhill Skate Team. Traveling down winding roads at breakneck speed while lying on a platform on wheels, Farmer is now officially the best in the world…
