Freeing Aaron Bjorkstrand
Arrested at 15 and incarcerated for 26 years, a McKinleyville man works to start anew By Thadeus Greenson
Cover Story
Freeing Aaron Bjorkstrand
It’s July 23 and Aaron Bjorkstrand is dressed in a jail jumpsuit, on his way through a long hallway that connects the jail to the Humboldt County Courthouse. When transferred to the jail six months earlier, Bjorkstrand says he immediately noticed it had changed over the years. “When I was there, it was still new,”…
Ronald “Duke” Lee Costa
On July 13, at home in Fieldbrook, the world lost one of the biggest-hearted people we all knew. Ron, mostly known to all as Duke, was the oldest of the five Costa boys. He was born to Fred and Joan Costa (Clark) in Arcata on May 13, 1953. In his last days, Duke was surrounded…
Mark Alan Whitman: 1953-2024
Mark Alan Whitman, son of Ethen Miles Whitman and Carolyn Bylerly Whitman, passed away Aug. 10 at his home in Burnt Ranch, California, at the age of 71. Mark was born in Spokane, Washington, on Jan. 20, 1953. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister Karis Marie Yerton. He is survived…
Eureka City Schools to Talk Jacobs, Grand Jury Response
The California Highway Patrol appears to be back at the table, negotiating to purchase 8.3 acres of the former Jacobs Middle School campus from Eureka City Schools. A closed session item for the board to conference with Superintendent Gary Storts, the district’s negotiator, concerning price and terms of payment of a potential deal with CHP,…
Medical Debt Wouldn’t Hurt Credit Under California Bill
Medical debt weighs heavily on the lives of millions of Californians. It can ding their credit scores and hurt their chances of landing a rental or securing a home mortgage. Earlier this year, the Biden administration announced a proposal to stop medical debt from showing up on credit reports. That proposed rule is under consideration…
Opera Alley Bistro Closes
Opera Alley Bistro, which opened in December of 2020 and won the Journal’s Best of Humboldt Best New Restaurant in 2021, has closed. Co-owner Kyall Widmier, who also runs the Madrone Taphouse across the parking lot, declined to comment on the closure beyond that plans for the space are still up in the air. The…
Music Tonight: Sunday, Aug. 25
Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka presents the final concert in its Sundays at 4 series, and this one looks like a real firecracker. The Scotia Band will be bringing its considerable numbers to play a program chock full of the works of American bandleaders and composers from Broadway to the movies. We’re talking Leonard Bernstein,…
Music Tonight: Saturday, Aug. 24
Jamaica needs no introduction regarding its history of creating incredible musicians and changing the face of music in the world forever. So when one of those musicians comes through town, it’s worth taking notice, especially if they happen to be acclaimed in their home island. Etana is one such act, a singer whose body of…
Arcata to Get Wild Hare Tavern
The darkened windows of the Jam may not be dark for too much longer. Her purchase of the business from owner Mike Munson is still pending, but longtime bartender Angela Robershotte has plans to open Wild Hare Tavern in the plaza-adjacent spot. Robershotte is keeping the specifics of the menu mum for now, but says…
Music Tonight: Friday, Aug. 23
Joshua Tree seems to produce more than a few musicians whose main thing involves creating vistas of sound to fill the great and beautiful hot nothing out there in the desert country. This Lonesome Paradise is one such sonic narrative act, run by a fellow named E. Ray Béchard, whose voice rolls over stretches of…
NCJ Preview: Freeing Aaron Bjorkstrand, City Manager Merritt Perry and more…
On this week’s episode of the NCJ Preview, Arts and Features Editor Jennifer Fumiko Cahill discusses News Editor Thadeus Greenson’s cover story, “Freeing Aaron Bjorkstrand,” and #tradwife content on social media. California Local Journalism fellow Kelby McIntosh is also on hand to talk about the new Arcata City Manager Merritt Perry. Read all this and…
Trog Wife
Like so many women struggling to find a simpler life in our frantic modern society, I perused the #tradwife content on social media, lulled by visions of gathering eggs in a calico dress and push-up bra while my unseen husband figures out how we should vote. But building a life based on black-and-white sit-coms of…
Back On Board with Alien: Romulus
ALIEN: ROMULUS. Large as aliens (lower case) continue to loom over our collective curiosity and paranoia — even governments are getting in on the party now — these visitors, real or imagined, tend toward one of two primary species (genera?) suggested by movies and literature. There are, of course, the little gray ones of Whitley…
‘Vindicates’
Editor: “Regrettably Deficient,” the title of Thadeus Greenson’s article in the Aug. 1 NCJ taken from the report by the OIR Group, the independent Eureka police oversight group, regarding the Cal Poly Humboldt’s administration’s heavy-handed response to the students who wanted Cal Poly to divest from involvement with Israel as it carries out what the…
‘Very Informative’
Editor: Thank you for a very informative editorial about the “complicated, convoluted story” about the property exchange agreement reached with Eureka City Schools (“VTY, Not Rob Arkley,” Aug. 15). I especially liked the article’s lead: “We were taught long ago that if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, chances are pretty…
‘Convenience’
Editor: To understand Rob Arkley’s sincerity in all things parking lot related one need only consider his position (“Inadvertent Disclosure,” July 25). Arkley sees the loss of city-owned parking lots in order to build more housing might so inconvenience his employees that, rather than subject them to the risk of walking a few blocks, he…
‘Pretend Warfare’
Editor: As a retired pilot, I have an interest in aircraft technology, and I also appreciate the historical value of the military relics which made up the greater part of the Rumble Over the Redwoods air show (Calendar, Aug. 8). So, I have no issue with air shows in general, despite their presumably huge carbon…
Gratitude
To know even in my darkest hours that the condors are flying and the dams are coming down. Donna Wildearth
Merritt Perry Begins Tenure as Arcata’s City Manager
Merritt Perry became Arcata’s new city manager this week, moving north after a six-year tenure holding the same position in Fortuna. Perry has been praised by Arcata city councilmembers for projects he completed in Fortuna and his past city work in Arcata. The Arcata City Council approved Perry’s hire at its July 17 meeting, picking…
Shadowplay
It’s fair season again, which means that late August is here a lot quicker than most of us would like. For ongoing health reasons, I haven’t been able to enjoy any swimming in our rivers, so I have pushed aside my dreams of repatriating myself with the cool, running substance of life, gliding instead over…
Summer in a Condiment
I hope you are relishing tomatoes in all their glorious varieties, from sun-sweetened cherry tomatoes to larger, juicy heirloom ones. Every year, I imagine the arrival of tomato season as a northward migration. I ate the first tomatoes in mid-April during a visit to Los Osos, in San Luis Obispo County. There is a lovely…
Ask Miss Birding Manners
Whether you’re new to birding or have been around the mudflats a few times, navigating the unspoken nuances of birding etiquette is probably something you’ve had to learn on the wing. If only there were a resource to guide you toward more courteous interactions with the birds you seek — and the humans you meet…
