Help Wanted
A staffing ‘crisis’ has law enforcement triaging while grasping for answers
Two More HumCo Residents Die of COVID-19
Two more Humboldt County residents have died of COVID-19, Public Health reported today, while confirming 48 new cases of the virus. The county has now recorded 10 COVID-19 deaths to date in October, after 23 in September and 22 in August. The local death toll now stands at 108. The new cases come after laboratories…
How Much Do Wildfires Really Cost California’s Economy?
Not a single structure burned down in the city of South Lake Tahoe. And yet, the threat of the fast approaching Caldor Fire cost surrounding El Dorado County tens of millions of dollars, if not more. In South Lake Tahoe, Domi Chavarria, co-owner of Verde Mexican Rotisserie, felt the devastation of the Caldor Fire even…
Supes Decline Employee Vaccine Mandate, Push Forward With Testing Policy
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously this afternoon to move forward with a policy requiring all county employees who are unvaccinated for COVID-19 to undergo weekly testing for the virus. After hours of discussion and public comment, the board stopped short of passing a vaccine mandate for county employees and instead directed staff…
Public Health Confirms 5 New COVID-19 Cases, One New Hospitalization
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed five new COVID-19 cases today and one new hospitalization. The new cases come after laboratories processed 285 samples with a test-positivity rate of 1.8 percent. After recording a test-positivity rate of 10.1 percent in July — the highest for any month since the pandemic began — the rate in Humboldt County…
770 New Laws Coming to California
You’d be forgiven for not knowing Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the largest expansion of California’s college financial aid system in a generation — he did so during the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants’ first playoff game Friday night. Hours later, it was all over: Newsom signed his final bills on Saturday, a day…
Public Health Confirms Three Hospitalizations and 99 New Cases
Humboldt County Public Health reported 99 new COVID-19 cases with three new hospitalizations, including one person in their 60s and two people in their 70s. The new cases come after laboratories processed 581 samples with a test-positivity rate of 13.01 percent. After recording a test-positivity rate of 10.1 percent in July — the highest for any month…
Richard ‘Rich’ Olson 1939-2021
Richard “Rich” Olson, 81, was born Dec. 20, 1939, in Hettinger North Dakota to Rose Wandler and Wriley Irwin. He passed away peacefully Friday, Oct. 1, 2021, in his Eureka home with his family at his side. Rich and Linda were married in Daglum, North Dakota on Dec. 4, 1960, and moved to Eureka, California…
Sheriff’s Office Investigating Suspicious Death in Blue Lake
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a man found by a trail near Taylor Way and the Mad River Levee in Blue Lake just before 1 p.m. on Sunday. According to a news release, the man’s death is under investigation by Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Division and is considered…
Ethnic Studies Becomes Graduation Requirement for California Students
After a years-long battle reignited in recent months by controversies over misunderstandings of critical race theory, California students will soon be required to take ethnic studies to graduate high school. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 101 into law on Friday afternoon, requiring California high school students to take ethnic studies to graduate, starting with the…
Gusty Winds Expected to Increase Tonight, Last until Tuesday
The Eureka office of the National Weather Service reports that today’s blustery winds are expected to increase tonight and last into Tuesday, with gusts up to 35 mph along the coast and 40 mph across interior ridges in the wake of a dry cold front. “Gusty winds will be capable of blowing unsecured objects around…
NCJ Daily: Law Enforcement Staffing, the Symphony’s Return and Candy Corn Hate
This week, we’re talking about the trouble local law enforcement agencies are having filling their ranks and keeping cops on board. We’ll sort through the myriad reasons and theories for the hiring challenges. Also, it’s been a long time since Setlist columnist Collin Yeo hit a live performance. His story this week both reviews the…
Public Health Reports Four More COVID-19 Deaths
Humboldt County Public Health reported four more COVID-19 deaths today, making eight this week, as well as 35 new cases of the virus and two new hospitalizations. The deaths were of two residents in their 60s, one in their 70s and one over the age of 80, bringing the county’s cumulative pandemic death toll to…
APD Releases Video from Mad River Road Police Shooting
The 35-year-old Eureka man fatally shot by a California Highway Patrol officer last month on Mad River Road fired at least one round at officers before the officer returned fire, video of the incident released today shows. Having followed Charles David Chivrell, who had a pistol holstered on his hip and a briefcase in hand,…
One Loophole Remains in Student COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate
Nevada Joint Union High School District Superintendent Brett McFadden expects the vast majority of his students and staff to abide by the COVID-19 vaccine mandate issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct. 1. But he also expects around 10 of his employees to quit out of personal or political opposition to it. “It’s a really…
Public Health Reports Another COVID Death, 33 New Cases
Another Humboldt County resident has died of COVID-19, Public Health reported today, while confirming 33 new cases of the virus and two new hospitalizations. The death — the fourth reported this week — was of a resident over the age of 80, bringing the county’s cumulative pandemic death toll to 102. The new cases —…
Newsom is Running Out of Time to Sign Bills
T-minus three days. That’s how much time Gov. Gavin Newsom has left to decide the fate of the remaining bills on his desk — and as the deadline draws nearer, the buildup for big-ticket and contentious proposals is getting more intense. The direct impact of Newsom’s decisions was particularly apparent Wednesday, when he signed a…
Chetco Estuary Kicking Out Quality Kings
If you’re looking for an opportunity to catch big, ocean-fresh kings, the Chetco estuary is the place to be. Salmon have been staging in the tidewater since the beginning of September. They’ll be there until rain allows them to make their way upriver. Following last Monday’s rain, which bumped the flows from under 100 cubic…
Back to the Source
THE GUILTY. I’ve long bridled at Hollywood remakes (I suppose we’re calling them reboots now) of recent international movies. For one, the practice speaks to the corporatized murder of imagination that has taken hold in the American cinema industry, whereby original screenplays are, by are large, passed over in favor of pre-existing properties. Secondly, it…
One Second a Year
I imagine Socrates and Plato running into each other in the market. Socrates says, “Hey, wanna join me and the boys tomorrow after lunch in the forum? I feel a dialogue coming on.” Plato says, “Love to! When did you say?” Socrates gives him a look. “I just told you. After lunch.” Which was good…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries poet Anna Kamieńska said her soul didn’t emanate light. It was filled with “bright darkness.” I suspect that description may apply to you in the coming weeks. Bright darkness will be one of your primary qualities. And that’s a good thing! You may not be a beacon of shiny cheer,…
Help Wanted
In Eureka, officers are working an emergency schedule built on 12.5-hour shifts and mandatory overtime, as the police department’s once touted Problem Oriented Policing and Community Safety Engagement teams operate with skeletal staffing. In Arcata, two detectives have been pulled back to patrol and all calls for service that don’t involve someone in danger have…
Sue-meg Restored
Since time immemorial, the Yurok people have called the coastal area north of Trinidad — located in the heart of their ancestral lands — Sue-meg. Now, some 170 years after the name was usurped, the 1-square-mile property with meadows, forest lands and long beaches stretched out below soaring cliffs will officially be known as Sue-meg…
Toward a Sustainable Blue Economy
The perennial conflict between environmental conservation and economic development may now be in remission, the crisis of climate change increasingly pushing industries into cooperation with environmental goals. One such path of co-existence, at least along the California coast, is the “Sustainable Blue Economy,” defined by the World Bank as the “the sustainable use of ocean…
As It Was, So Shall It Be
On Oct. 1 and 2, the Eureka Symphony opened its 30th anniversary season at the Arkley Center for the Performing Arts with a program that was aptly titled “Re-Emergence.” I was there, at my first large indoor concert after the longest break in indoor concerts I have experienced since I can remember. It wasn’t an…
Candy Corn Doesn’t Care if You Hate It
Candy corn is trash. Say it all you want; post it on every platform. Candy corn doesn’t give a giant gummy rat’s ass. For one thing, it’s been around and isn’t going anywhere. Candy corn was first manufactured in the 1880s, the same decade that brought us its wax-wrapped cousin from Atlantic City, saltwater taffy.…
Arts! Arcata
Arts Arcata is Arcata Main Street’s monthly celebration of visual and performing arts, held at locations in Arcata. Visit www.arcatamainstreet.com, Arts! Arcata on Facebook, or call 707-822-4500 for more information. ARCATA ARTISANS GALLERY 883 H St. Zachary Shea and Betsy Roberts, artwork. ARCATA GALLERY 1063 H St. New gallery grand opening featuring a diverse collection…
The Best of Fans
Bill and Emily Langenbach had a grandson that ran cross country and track a few years before I became the track and field coach at Fortuna High School in 1982. He tried hard and he found some athletic success, and they became fans of the sports. Every season from then on, they would come out…
