Cover Story
‘FOUND: Dreadlock’
A recent post on Humboldt County Craigslist captures a certain Arcata mentality so perfectly, it’s as if a whole subcommunity has been projected through a mystical necklace crystal and channeled into the cold binary world of the Internet. “FOUND: Dreadlock (Arcata Marsh),” reads the title. Click and you get the following story: “I was walking…
Scary Snake Story – UPDATED with a photo
Last Saturday afternoon, up at her uncle’s place in Kneeland, 8-year-old Marley Bones (pronounced “Bo-NEZ”) was engaged in a favorite pastime — trying to catch small wriggling wildlife — when something caught her. It was brief — a quick, sharp fang-jab on the knuckle of her right pointing finger. “Marley’s just an adventurer,” said her…
Locals Ready to Celebrate Prop 8 Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue its ruling on California’s Prop. 8 any day now, and a group of locals — anticipating an overturn of California’s 2008 voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage — is planning to party. Eureka resident Susan McGee, a member of the Humboldt Equality Coalition, said that people will gather…
Ruling issued in McKee lawsuit
Sohum developer Bob McKee has been ordered to pay $200,000 in fines to Humboldt County in the culmination of a costly 11-year lawsuit over McKee’s purchase and division of Tooby Ranch near Garberville. The ruling, filed Friday by Humboldt County Judge Dale Reinholtsen, calls for McKee to pay fines for violating the Williamson Act, which…
Harbor District CEO: Forget Trains, We Need a Public Dock
When it comes to planning for the future, Humboldt Bay Harbor District CEO Jack Crider is focusing on achievable near-term goals while casting a skeptical eye toward the resurgence of rail service. He recently announced that the district is paying $19,500 for a financial pre-feasibility study that will analyze the potential of restoring rail service…
Second Local Case of Hepatitis A Linked to Recalled Berries
A second person has now been hospitalized in Humboldt County with Hepatitis A from frozen berries sold at Costco. Anyone who has eaten Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend in the last two weeks is urged to get a Hepatitis A vaccination. The full press release from the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services…
Fire hits Hoopa Forest Industries
A fire has destroyed part of the Hoopa Valley Tribe’s timber facility, including its administrative building and repair shop and some oil drums, equipment and vehicles (among them a water tender and vehicles containing diesel used to refuel bulldozers, saws and other logging equipment). The fire started yesterday afternoon in “light, flashy fields” of dry…
Harbor Commissioner Aaron Newman Arrested for Alleged Perjury
Aaron Newman, a Humboldt Bay Harbor District commissioner, prominent commercial fisherman and lifelong local, was arrested on Saturday by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for allegedly falsifying applications for the taking of wildlife. As first reported by the Lost Coast Outpost, Newman was booked into the Humboldt County jail on felony perjury charges.…
Birds Overhead, Birds Underground
Techniques for Landing was riveting on Friday night, merging spoken word with an eclectic soundtrack, movement above our heads and on the floor, and a lighting design that included shadow play. Leslie Castellano’s aerial dance theater piece is based around a myth written and recited by the cast, about birds that built tunnels under the…
Time to Hang Up the Old Dredge?
It looks like gold mining in California’s rivers is about to get a little harder. The Department of Fish and Wildlife is asking the state to close a loophole in a 2009 ban on suction dredge mining.Fish lovers and gold bugs have been at odds for years. The moratorium, scheduled until 2016, was issued to…
Nurses and St. Joe’s near accord on contract
After months of negotiations punctuated by heavy picketing, nurses at three St. Joseph Health System hospitals – in Eureka, Petaluma and Apple Valley — have tentatively settled on a new collective bargaining agreement. In Eureka, one of the nurses’ main complaints was that reductions in support staff had resulted in other nurses feeling overworked and…
Laboring for Interns
Editor: In regards to the story about unpaid internships (“Intern Unrest,” May 30), I wanted to make very clear what my understanding of the law is. Please note, I am not a lawyer but I have studied the details of the law. Unpaid internships are legal for nonprofit and government employers as well as schools.…
Oysters, Beer and Cash
When organizers of Arcata’s Oyster Festival announced they would charge a $10 admission fee this year, people went bonkers. “Elitism!” was the cry du jour. Organizers and supporters pleaded for calm, saying the fee would curtail the festival’s rowdiness and right Arcata Main Street’s listing finances. The ruckus has mostly subsided, but “are you going…
What’s Wrong with Septic?
Editor: As usual Ryan Burns shows his bias against the effort supervisors are making to write a GPU that includes all the people in Humboldt County (North Coast Journal News Blog, May 30, see also page 13). It’s sad that he is opposed to an open democratic process. His latest tirade includes an attack on…
Black Mountain College: Experiment in Art
That mid-20th century artistic innovations happened in New York, Paris and San Francisco is no surprise, but rural North Carolina? It’s all but forgotten now, but for 23 years many of those who defined American arts came to an isolated YMCA camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains to teach, learn, collaborate and create. Black Mountain…
Saw Safely
Editor: The image of Colin Billings (“Humboldt at Work,” May 23), wearing his “Humboldt” cap backward and biting his Stihl into a fir tree, may have made a fine winning photo, but it is perhaps more useful as a poster illustrating how not to run a chainsaw: no helmet, no eye protection, no gloves, no…
The awful thing about ants
They truck across my kitchen counter. Bathroom sink and floor. Occupy my home and breech parameters. The spray poison reeks And fails And I surrender.They find sustenance in the discards Hidden under my kitchen sink. And when a lone explorer climbs my walls or traverses my coffee table I marvel at the tiny feet. And…
Maven’s Miscues and Merits
Editor: In re: Marcy Burstiner’s Media Maven column (“Hum-CPRA,” May 23): So I’m a perfessor of this, ‘kay? So I’m sitting and Richard Salzman sits down next to me! And I’m so like, you know, right? But he’s all “Excuse me?” So whatever. But that’s what I mean about, you know, evil people? Who do…
Fever for All Ages
While the music, arts and greater Humboldt community wait for the return of Bob Doran, the Hum’s true host, the NCJ has asked for a bit of help. To that end, here are some of the week’s shows most worth your effort and hard-earned cash. Think of the children! First off, let’s talk Fever Charm…
Noodles, Prayers and Lawsuits
Editor: Eureka City Council likes religion and prayers in their public meetings (“Tough on Prayer?” Jan. 31), but others don’t. Elizabeth Alves (McKinleyville Press, May 1) suggested that if government is involved, then any religion should have the equal right to give the invocation at these public meetings, not just those selected by the city. She…
Infinity and Beyond
The concept of “infinity” has bothered and challenged philosophers for thousands of years, but the first really modern attempt at understanding it was made by the mathematician-astronomer-philosopher Galileo Galilei in his final book Two New Sciences (1638). The “Father of Modern Science” attributes our problems with infinity to the limitations of our brains, anticipating Emmanuel…
Dubious About Span Plan
Editor: The Humboldt County Department of Public Works has completed a preliminary environmental study (PES) which has been approved by Caltrans along with mention of further requirements for “the Jacoby Creek Bridge replacement project” (“Bridging the Divide,” May 9). I’ve always been aware of general bureaucratic processes required for interagency requests, grants and the like. But I…
Meet the County’s New Values
On Monday afternoon, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors gave themselves a new compass. This instrument is designed to help them navigate the treacherous waters of the general plan update, a complex voyage through highly contentious policy decisions. The primary destination is an updated general plan, the document that governs land use decisions in Humboldt…
Bay [T]rail Update No. 6
Publisher note: If I had my reporter’s hat on, I could tell you a lot of behind-the-scenes drama and painfully slow progress on the Bay Trail, the link in the California Coastal Trail between Eureka and Arcata. But I can’t. I’m a Bay [T]rail Advocate — one of the lobbyists. From the beginning of my…
Five Things to Know Before You Launch Into Summer
1. Summer on the coast means fog (freaky weather patterns notwithstanding). Out here at the ocean, the seasons go like this: rainy, windy, foggy, glorious. Right now we’re heading into “June gloom,” which means by July, those of us ensconced on the coast will be climbing the walls — or more likely into our cars…
Trinidad Art Nights
Trinidad’s first Friday art nights are back. More information available from www.TrinidadArtNights.com. 1. Ocean Grove 480 Patricks Point Dr. Afterparty! DISCO TRINIDAD! returns, DJ Knutz and WRYE (Phantom Wave) team up for a mix of funky disco gems and disco-infused electronica. 9 p.m. Admission $5. 2. Trinidad Trading Company 460 Main St. Music by Clouds…
Fortuna’s First Friday Arts Night
Find art, music and fun in downtown Fortuna on the first Friday of every month. 1. BARTOW’S JEWELERS 651 12th St. Greg Beth Gin, multi-talented artist in watercolor, oil, pastels, color pencils and textiles. 3. EEL RIVER BREWING COMPANY 1777 Alamar Way Featuring Ashley Menza of Ashley Menza Designs. Menza will display her sparkly treasures…
Hey Look, It’s Us!
Previews AFTER EARTH. Friends who attended last Thursday’s premiere warned me that this might be the worst movie of the year. I didn’t find it quite that bad — not really any damn good, either, but certainly not the worst. Having missed last week’s gala event at the Broadway Cinema, I was able to meet…
Arcata Council Says OK to Oyster Fest Fences and Fees
It’s a go. The Arcata City Council gave the thumbs up tonight for fencing around the Arcata Plaza for this month’s Oyster Festival, which will cost $10 for adults to enter. Mayor Shane Brinton was the only councilmember to vote against the fence, saying blocking off and charging to enter the plaza was “inappropriate.” “I…
