Cover Stories
Committee to Study Something
At the end of six hours of testimony with nary a break for lunch Wednesday, the North Coast Railroad Authority board voted 6-0 to form a committee to study — something — just not what the Humboldt County Supervisors and State Assemblyman Wes Chesbro had requested. The “ask” from Humboldt leaders was to form a…
Gasoline Kings
Not just any city gets name-dropped in press releases from AAA. No, to earn a mention from the American Automobile Association your best bet is to have extremely high or extremely low gas prices. And when it comes to high prices, no city shines quite like Eureka. AAA, the collection of regional auto clubs known…
Betsy Lambert Out at KIEM Channel 3
Betsy Lambert, the controversial, viral-video-producing news director for KIEM “News Channel 3,” has been shown the door. From her Facebook page: To all my loyal viewers and supporters. I no longer work for KIEM. My contract ran out and the general manager decided to not renew. I want to thank all of you for your…
No Crime Here, Jury Says
In the first trial test of a new law, a Humboldt County jury decided this morning that the three people who lit candles outside the county courthouse after 9:30 p.m. did nothing illegal. The verdict comes despite the county’s attempt to ban most people from being on courthouse grounds between 9:30 p.m. and 6 a.m.…
HCSO Seeks Missing Eureka Teen
UPDATE 7/12 9:00 a.m. She came home. Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office: Missing juvenile Donnaya Bell, 16 years safely returned home to her residence on her own on 07-11-12. She was a voluntary missing juvenile. Original post. Press Release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office: On 07-10-2012, approximately 9:30 a.m. the Humboldt…
Shell Out
Well, looks like that pretty ridge view is safe from those nasty turbines now. This from Shell: Shell exits Bear River Ridge Wind Project We would like to inform you that Shell WindEnergy Inc. has decided to exit the Bear River Wind Project due to unfavorable market conditions and issues pertaining to the transportation logistics.…
Jury Ponders … And Ponders
A jury is taking plenty of time thinking about a new law — specifically about whether it should convict three people accused of defying county limits on courthouse protests. Jurors went home at midday Tuesday with no verdict, and now have deliberated for longer than it took to try the three, who stood with lighted…
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Caltrans Claims Victory in Richardson Grove Decision [Updated]
UPDATE #2: Natalynne DeLapp, development director for the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), said in a phone interview that the petitioners are disappointed in this ruling, though she stressed that the case is not over. (See the “reporting and monitoring order” referenced below.) More significantly, DeLapp said, is that the project remains on hold pending…
Your Weekend Humboldt Homework: Take Pictures
Before the bell rings, can we have your attention, HumCo? Just want to make quadruply sure the NCJ’s impending little photo contest/exercise is adequately hyped before the weekend when your eyes wander away from your beloved/retina-mangling computer screens. So! Remember tomorrow on 7/7 at 7:07 — a.m. or p.m., your choice — snap us a little…
Puckett!
[image-1] Do you remember when it wasn’t creepy for pop stars to sing longingly about underage girls? Me neither. But if you do, and you’re feeling nostalgic, then maybe you should take your Coup de Ville up to Cher-ae-Heights Casino in Trinidad this Saturday and go see Gary Puckett and Union Gap. They’re “one…
On Leadership
There’s a big difference between running for office and actually governing. Or being confirmed as a Supreme Court justice and crafting a thoughtful, independent decision. The latter takes leadership. We witnessed two examples last week, one in Washington, D.C., and one here in Humboldt. In 2010 I wrote in this column what the Health Care…
Beefcake Bravura
Reviews MAGIC MIKE. For better or worse, most of the audience didn’t know or care that this is a Steven Soderbergh movie. They came to see Channing Tatum get naked and were very excited when he did so. Fortunately they didn’t have to wait long, so they got most of the giggling and screaming out…
Candy Camp
When Tammy Rae Scott dropped off her 10-year-old son, Misha, at the Lumberjack basketball day camp for second- through fifth-graders last month at Humboldt State University, it was a frenzied, confusing scene. She asked several coaches for directions. Register Misha here, they told her. Buy his jersey there. Oh, and be sure to sign up…
Shine Like Silver
They call KMUD-FM “Redwood Community Radio” for a reason. All public radio stations are community stations in some sense, but KMUD is different — it’s grassroots, independent public radio in its purest “people-powered” form, with well over 100 volunteers ranging from teenaged deejays to silver-haired hipsters in their 70s who have been on the…
God and the Big Bang
… a universe with no edge in space, no beginning or end in time, and nothing for a Creator to do. Carl Sagan, introduction to A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking Many years ago, a friend asked me if I believed in God. “I don’t think so,” I replied. “Do you believe in…
No to ChurchCare
Editor: I read in your June 21 issue (Blog Jammin’) that St. Joseph Hospital’s gynecologic chief of staff, Dr. Bill Weiderman, has resigned his administrative post in protest of the new policies the Catholic church has imposed. I want to express my gratitude to Dr. Weiderman and to Dr. Kim Ervin and other courageous physicians who have…
Mashed Potato Ice Cream Cones and Beyond
You might have seen the line of townsfolk eagerly clustered around a new booth in the mushrooming food court at the center of the Saturday Farmers’ Market at Arcata Plaza. What is the hub-bub you may have wondered, craning your neck to see over the last person in line. A waffle iron? Ice cream cones?…
And It Only Cost 12 Grand
And It Only Cost 12 Grand
Bronwynne Brent
It came to me by blind luck or coincidence. Either way, it was fortuitous that I found myself in Old Town Eureka on a nearly-abandoned, soggy, gray evening. Having heard the Austin-based singer-songwriter Bronwynne Brent on the radio the day before (she had made an in-studio appearance on KHUM), I was struck by her strong,…
Beachcombing
First a scallop shell for holding in your…
It’s in the Cards
Looking for a good conversation starter? Try this the next time you walk into a crowded room: “I just bought a really cool deck of tarot cards!” People will react — some with interest, some with disdain. Today, just about everyone knows what a tarot deck is. Tarot’s archetypal, iconic imagery and symbolism is ingrained…
From Animal House to Our House: A Love Story
There is only one reason someone writes a book about house renovation: catharsis. Ron Tanner’s memoir, “From Animal House to Our House: A Love Story,” serves just this purpose. Tanner purchased a falling down Victorian in Baltimore in a quest for love and self-redemption. His writing is heart-achingly honest and at times cringe-worthy. Tanner admits to…
Our Democratic Duty
I just found out how insignificant I am. I already knew that living in California meant that my vote in the presidential election was pretty much a foregone conclusion. So no presidential campaign or Superpac would seek to sway it. Depending on which news publication or blog you read, between nine and 11 states are…
UnOccupied
On the last Friday in June, the courthouse lawn in Eureka is dotted with dandelions. Weeds battle lavender and daylilies in a concrete planter, and not a single soul sits on the benches once occupied by Occupy. It’s late morning, and a few of the remaining, sporadic protesters are inside the courthouse, where three are…
Is Old Time The New Black?
The needle drops into the groove and you hear the characteristic snap, crackle and pop as the record spins at 78 revolutions per minute. DJ Country Mouse and his musical counterpart DJ City Mouse, aka Matt ‘n’ Adam from Soul Night, are preparing to switch from old 45s to even older lacquer records to launch…
Organic Corruption
Editor: As a certified organic producer, we at the Tofu Shop follow developments in the world of organics closely. Following up on Bob Doran’s cover story “What’s Organic?” (June 21), I want to share information recently released by the Cornucopia Institute, a nonprofit organics watchdog, about abuses in the national organics system. In its June…
Arcata Bar Reviews
If you want to know where to wet yer whistle in A-town, ask an expert.
