Cover Story
For Rent
TRINIDAD — Born and raised in Trinidad, Dan Cox remembers what his tiny coastal “fishing village” used to be. “I’m the guy who wants to have more young families with kids in this town,” says the 63-year-old commercial crab fisherman. “You know there used to be seven Little League teams in Trinidad? That’s how many…
HSU Students Killed the Cup
Humboldt State University recently placed in the top rankings in a national waste reduction program called Kill the Cup, in which zero waste enthusiasts encouraged people on campus to ditch their single-use cups for nifty logo-bedecked reusable mugs. The Jacks got in on it, as well as staff and faculty. The campus Waste Reduction and…
On the Heels of Blackouts, AT&T Promises Upgrades
It looks like the North Coast’s AT&T customers will be entering the modern era of telecommunications reliability. Next year. In a letter sent to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors today, the company said it’s “upgrading the North Coast network to significantly increase the network’s protection against outages or service disruptions caused by fiber damage.”…
Littlefield Mistrial Overturned, Guilty Verdicts Stand
If convicted child molester Timothy Floyd Littlefield wants a new trial, he has to find more evidence of juror misconduct, the California First District Court of Appeals ruled today. Littlefield, who was convicted of 11 child molestation charges in September 2013, was granted a mistrial by Humboldt County Superior Court Judge John Feeney, who ruled…
Eleventh Hour Interims Appointed to County’s Helm
The egress of two major county employees has prompted the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors to fill their seats with interim appointments. Cheryl Dillingham will step in as county administrative officer, taking the place of Phillip Smith-Hanes, who resigned this morning to take a position in Kansas. Dillingham has served as assistant CAO since 2012.…
A Fine Mess
Trinidad’s reputation as “a drinking town with a fishing problem” means it’s also a town that needs a solid recovery breakfast. Lucky the place is small enough that the Trinidad Bay Eatery (607 Parker St.) is only a short stumble away. A plate of fluffy cut-out buttermilk biscuits split and blanketed with white bacon gravy…
CR Scholarship to Honor Fortuna High Grad Killed in Umpqua College Shooting
College of the Redwoods is asking the community to donate to a scholarship fund in honor of Fortuna High grad Jason Dale Johnson, who was killed in the Umpqua Community College shooting in Oregon on Oct. 1. Johnson had recently completed a six-month treatment program and, as part of a “new way of life, clean…
Going Back to Kansas, County CAO Set to Resign
It looks like Humboldt County Chief Administrative Officer Phillip Smith-Hanes will be moving on after six years as the county’s chief staffer. Smith-Hanes told the Journal this morning that he has accepted a CAO position in Ellis County, Kansas. If the board of commissioners approves his contract, as expected, at its meeting tonight, Smith-Hanes said…
HumBug: It’s a Bug’s Life
I should explain I am using the word “Bug” in the generic sense … any small creepy crawly critter born with more than four legs. There is another technical definition for the word: a member of the insect order Hemiptera. The “true bugs” are generally shield shaped, with front wings about half the size of…
City Revisits Plan for Sanctioned Homeless Camp
The Eureka City Council agenda for Tues. Dec. 15 went out yesterday replete with a vintage item: discussing the feasibility of a temporary sanctioned homeless camp. Within an hour, it was yoinked back via an emailed retraction, with the note that the item would be back on the table at the Jan. 5 meeting, when…
Rain Streak Continues as Humboldt Hits Monthly Rainfall Averages
Cozy up for the weekend, ‘cuz there’s another storm rolling in on the tail of our latest one, which dumped inches of rain on the North Coast and caused power outages (directly) and AT&T outages (indirectly) over the last couple days. Eureka is also in its 12th consecutive day of rainfall, the longest streak since…
AT&T, PG&E Outages Hit Countywide
Storm conditions have contributed to both a loss of communication and loss of power across Humboldt County as rain, hail and wind continue to batter the coast. According to the county Public Information Officer Sean Quincey, CalTrans crews were clearing a culvert between Fortuna and Rio Dell yesterday morning in preparation for last night’s storm…
Bright Lights, Big Rigs
Layer up, fill the thermos with hot cocoa and figure out the nighttime photo option on your phone. It’s time for the light-covered convoys of many colors to come rolling through Humboldt. Is this the year you blow the kids’ minds by taking them to all three free events? Grinch, it might be. Warm up…
A Little Variety Courtesy of Arcata Playhouse
Take a break from the fireplace channel and head out for some vintage Vaudeville entertainment. Tune in for the Bigfoot Lodge Holiday Radio Hour at the Arcata Playhouse at 8 p.m. from Friday, Dec. 11 through Sunday, Dec. 13 ($12; $10 seniors, veterans and members; $8 kids 12 and under). Some heavy hitters are signed…
Hearth Warming
Louisa May Alcott’s iconic 1860s-era novel Little Women may seem an unlikely choice for a musical, but one person’s impossible task is another’s irresistible challenge. Much in the vein of the admonition that one chooses to go to the moon not because it is easy, but because it is hard, Alcott’s oft-adapted künstlerroman found its…
Winter Walk
Out on the coastal trail the grey air is December brisk. Strangers greet each other “Good morning!” full-throated and gust-blown in the ante meridiem freshness. Dark, scudding clouds promise the yearned-for deliverance of rain. Leaves ferment on the asphalt, blanketed with pine needles and miniature cones the size of elves. Edging the trail are fervent…
Holiday 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.facebook.com/artsarcata for more information or call 822-4500. December’s Arts! Arcata holiday celebration features free horse-drawn carriage rides from Arcata Main Street, Arcata’s antique fire truck with live music on board, visits with Santa and Mrs.…
Power Surge for County Electricity Plan
Don’t like Pacific Gas & Electric Co.? Then you might be relieved to hear your town and Humboldt County are working fast to give you the opportunity to have a local electricity provider. Last week, the Redwood Coast Energy Authority formally invited an alternative provider to take over for PG&E’s electricity. A “request for proposals”…
‘Poison Pills’
With the deadline for action looming, Oregon Congressman Greg Walden released a draft of long- and eagerly anticipated Klamath legislation on Dec. 3. But the proposal hit with a resounding thud as it was decried by stakeholders and Walden’s congressional colleagues alike. Legislation is desperately needed to salvage the historic 2010 Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement,…
Tipping Point?
Here’s my take on guns: I get hunters. The hunter-gatherer gene in our DNA may have faded a bit with so many city dwellers who believe chickens come into this world plucked, washed and wrapped in plastic. But that gene has not disappeared. And living in a rural county like Humboldt for 45 years —…
A ‘Perverted Scheme’
County supervisors approved a voluntary registration program this week that could give local growers seeking state permits a leg up. New state medical marijuana laws, expected to go into effect in 2018, will create 17 different types of licenses for cannabis businesses. As an apparent stimulus to get applications rolling in, the legislation says that…
Wormspotting
Editor: My whole family was intrigued by Anthony Westkamper’s Humbug article mentioning glow worms (“Coming Back and Slipping Away,” Nov. 26). We had no idea something so cool lives here! Over 20 years ago on a visit to Texas we saw fireflies for the first time, and I still remember how amazing they are. We…
Bad News is Good
Editor: Some of my fellow readers of this great publication have voiced their objections to your coverage of the darker side of life in Humboldt County (“Mailbox,” Nov. 5). We have problems in Humboldt County and if we are going to make this a better place, we have to acknowledge problems like homelessness, corruption and…
Full House
This month, the brain trust behind the 2-year-old Arcata arts collective/alternative space/social experiment known as the Sanctuary debuts its 2015 Card Show, which brings together unique sets of playing cards created by 12 mostly local visual artists. Its Friday opening is the latest renewal of a card-themed event series initiated in Eureka about 15 years…
Energize
There’s something about those couple of weeks leading up the end of the year, when it seems like half the people you pass on the sidewalk are stressed — holiday shopping and finals will do that to a person — and the other half are excited for Santa, family time and a break from school.…
Berries with Bounce
A warm scone is comforting when the temperature dips and the sky is more gray than not. It gets even better when the scone has fresh cranberries and chocolate. During cranberry season, I sub the fresh version for the dried or jellied kind in my recipes because nothing can compare to the bright, tart berries.…
Baddest Santa
Reviews KRAMPUS. As hard-bitten a misanthrope as I may seem, I am actually a raging secular humanist (loathe as I am to adopt that over-used and thus ever-less meaningful phrase). I’ve worked directly with people long enough to have become jaded, bitter, generally disillusioned. In my heart of hearts, though, I secretly assume positive intent,…
