Cover Story
High Stakes
For a couple of years now, cannabis growers throughout the state have been taking their harvests to get lab tested. Sometimes they’re simply looking to document a potently high THC content they hope will ensure their yield fetches a high price and often they’re looking to prove it’s clean of pesticides. The thing is, if…
A Deadly Year in Humboldt: 2017 Marks Record for Road Deaths
The holiday weekend passed without a single motor vehicle death, a rarity for our often rainy and treacherous roads (the Arcata California Highway Patrol office did report nine DUI arrests and five total crashes). But Humboldt County still exceeds the national average on two tragic statistics: Motor vehicle deaths and accidental overdoses. As the Journal…
The Ugly Holiday Sweater Fun Run in Photos
The third Friday of December is now officially National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day – a clothing statement even non-Christians can wear. Our local second annual Ugly Holiday Sweater Fun Run was held Dec. 17 on the Arcata Plaza as a fundraiser for Humboldt Educare and organized by Arcata Main Street. Given Humboldt Educate was the…
Remembering Those Lost in the Helicopter Crash of the ’64 Flood
The Coast Guard held a ceremony today to honor those killed on this date 53 years ago when the helicopter they were in went down in severe weather during a rescue mission amid the devastating flood of 1964. Three crew members, Lt. Cmdr. Donald Prince, Royal Canadian Navy Sub-Lt. Allen Leonard Alltree and Petty Officer…
Kelly Neel Tapped as Next Superior Court Judge
There’s a new judge in town. Gov. Jerry Brown just announced that he appointed Deputy Public Defender Kelly Neel to the Humboldt County Superior Court judgeship being vacated by Judge Timothy Cissna, who is retiring next month after nearly two decades on the bench. “I’m just speechless,” Neel said when reached by the Journal. “I…
UPDATE: Ferndale Truck Driver Who Died Mendocino Crash Identified
UPDATE: The Mendocino County Coroner’s office has identified the driver as Ronald Machado. Previously: An unidentified Ferndale man driving a Peterbilt logging truck died yesterday after leaving U.S. Highway 101 just north of Leggett and colliding with a tree. The truck was driving northbound when it left its lane and side swiped a Ram pickup…
Update: More Schools Close Down Due to Norovirus Outbreak
Update: Add the Fortuna Elementary School District to the growing list, according to a Facebook post. There will be no classes tomorrow at any of the four campuses. Previously: Another five schools are closing due to an outbreak of the norovirus with the Rio Dell, Cutten and Fieldbrook districts taking Friday off, according to the…
Keep Christmas in Your Heart
If it feels like the world has gone straight to Pottersville, shake it off for one night this week with a return to all things good and meaningful. Slip on your ugliest (or prettiest) holiday sweater, treat yourself to a hot cocktail from the lobby and a take a trip back in time on the…
Music Tonight: Thursday, Dec. 21
At 6 p.m. at Phatsy Kline’s Lounge in The Historic Eagle House, DJ Marjo Lak is spinning an all vinyl set of vintage Brazilian music spanning the 1950s to the ’90s from her private collection. Come on down and shake your Bossa Nova. (Free.) Seabury Gould and Evan Morden continue their 6:30 p.m. Thursday night…
Rainy Days
Editor: The House and Senate tax bills are founded on the theory of trickle-down economics, i.e., if you reduce the tax burden on businesses they will have more cash to use to stimulate economic growth, which should ultimately result in more jobs and a spreading of the wealth (Mailbox, Dec. 7). One means proposed by both…
‘Travesty’
Editor: Thank you for the public service you provided to all of us with your coverage of the hiring and firing of the Humboldt County Public Defender David Marcus (“Don’t Screw This up Again,” Dec. 14). Although Mr. Marcus is leaving, it does not diminish our outrage at the travesty created by the Board of Supervisors. I appreciate that…
‘A Very Good Alternative’
Editor: As a mental health provider in this community for 30 years, I have heard many stories about the impact of our problematic insurance-based health care system (Mailbox, Dec. 14). Getting adequate care has been difficult or impossible for many families. The Affordable Care Act, although imperfect, solved some of those problems. Now, it is…
About McKinley
Editor: Once again McKinley’s statue on the Arcata Plaza is being attacked for being politically incorrect. Before he was assassinated, Hawaii was invaded and we had the Spanish-American War, which was how we ended up owning Puerto Rico and various other island chains around the world. The natives on some of those islands revolted and,…
In McKinley’s Shadow
Editor: The recent debate over monuments on the Arcata Plaza makes this a good time to expand the issue. Let’s look at removing the numerous offensive place names that dot the Humboldt County map. Most of these names either denigrate and insult Indians or honor people who murdered Indians. Here are a few that come…
Corrections
The cover story, “Maria Garcia, Citizen,” in the Dec. 14, 2017, edition of the Journal contained a misspelling. Maria Garcia’s last name is Arteaga. The Journal regrets the error. In the same edition, the Journal also neglected to run answers to the crossword puzzle that appeared in the Dec. 7, 2017, edition. Readers can find…
The Force is Strong With This One
Star Wars: The Last Jedi. A dispatch from the outer fringe, where I have, after much struggle and soul-searching, come to the conclusion that it is perfectly fine to be a Star Wars fan without being a super-fan. The release of The Last Jedi brought back some of the sense memories and reluctance that hampered…
Clarification
A story in the Dec. 14, 2017, issue of the Journal headlined “In the Interest of Justice” contained some unclear information. Eric Hollenbeck has been awarded three Bronze Service Stars to pin to his Vietnam Service Medal, which is different than the combat medal the Bronze Star. The Journal regrets any confusion. Related Stories
Mo Money, Mo Swag Stores
One of my strongest childhood holiday memories is Christmas shopping with my mom in the Bayshore Mall circa 1992, about four years after it opened. As a 10-year-old hayseed from Honeydew, the place seemed impossibly frenetic, even as my mom was impossibly efficient, pushing me and my little brother from store to bustling store as…
Take Two Aspirin
It’s a geezer thing. We old dudes typically start losing hair in our 60s, the crowns of our heads being the first to go — hence the monks’ tonsure look. In my case, beyond the narcissism issue (“Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity”), I developed a scalpful of dandruff not seen since…
The Plaque, The Statue, The General and 1984
The historical plaque recognizing the Jacoby Building in Arcata uses about 65 words in four sentences to inform visitors when it was built and by whom, when he sold it and a few of the functions it served over time. One of those sentences reads: “From 1858 through 1864 it served periodically as a refuge…
Tom and Jerry and Austin and Carl
The first Tom and Jerry that Jessie Wheeler ever sipped was at Austin Nichols’ holiday party. She tips her head of curly gray hair, streaked with purple, to recall the first taste she’d had from a grown-up’s mug. She was just tall enough to see over the table where the adults picked up a heated…
Enter the Yuletide Slumber
I have to admit it: I am a bit of a Grinch. It isn’t because I dislike Christmas as a holiday, mind you; I enjoy the lights and the bonhomie and the carols (the minor-key ones anyway). I even like fruitcake and being cold, though both in very small doses. As I write this I…
In Gratitude
Cry with the ancestors long gone Family we’ve never met Cry with them now as they cried then… Stoking fires of wet wood Mending what would not be fixed And burying their babies. Cry with them now as they once cried… In childbirth In war And in love. Laugh with them too, For the fever…
Something to Crow About
To start off the morning, Art Rush likes to pour himself a cup of coffee, gather up his rescue tabby cat “Lily” and head for his small white bungalow’s back porch to sit back and enjoy his brood. There’s his pair of ducks, “Daffy” and “Melissa,” a speckled black hen named “Dot,” two white ones…
Live Nativity
Make it a night of oohs and ahhs with Christmas-light viewing and the story of Christmas all from the comfort of your car. First Covenant Church Eureka presents its annual Drive-through Live Nativity, Thursday, Dec. 21, 6-8 p.m. and Friday, Dec. 22, 6-8 p.m. (free). Listen to a narrative on CD while viewing seven different…
