Cover Story
An Arcata Woman’s Quest and the Federal Government’s Efforts to See a Centuries-Old Statue Returned to Mexico
Intricately carved by the hands of an artist in central Mexico some 200 years ago, the delicately painted statue of baby Jesus with crimson lips and outstretched arms has spent the last century in the care of Marie Escher’s family. After it was passed down to the Arcata resident in the early 1970s, she continued…
SECOND UPDATE: Motorcyclist Killed in Eureka Crash
UPDATE: The CHP clarified in a release today that Dustin Finson, who was killed in a motorcycle accident on Broadway in May, is not suspected in the theft of another man’s identification that initially led to a misidentification in the fatal collision. Press release from the CHP: HUMBOLDT COUNTY, Calif. – On 05/02/2018 the Humboldt…
Spammed: Photos from the Spamley Cup Cook-off
On Sunday, April 29, some 15 chefs and amateurs battled for the Spamley Cup at Redwood Fields in Cutten, whipping up schmancy SPAM dishes for some 750 attendees. The event also raised $9,000 for Humboldt CASA. Over the phone, organizer Mike Vitiello retells the salty competition’s origin story: Nine years ago, a handful of chefs…
Music Tonight: Wednesday, May 2
Local roots rockers Doug Fir & 2x4s play this iteration of the Mad River Brewery’s Pint for Nonprofits. Join the fun at 6 p.m. and ride your bike there if you like, as the featured nonprofit today is the Redwood Coast Mountain Bike Association (free).
State Audit Confirms Inadequacies in For-Profit Skilled Nursing
A report published on the California State Auditor’s website this morning appears to confirm the worst suspicions of state Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblymember Jim Wood, who in June of 2017 requested an audit of skilled nursing providers and the state agencies that monitor them. The audit focused on for-profit company Brius, which holds a…
SpongeBob and Sara Bareilles at the Tonys
Is it us or is this year’s Tony Awards lineup more Humboldt than anticipated? For one thing, locally grown songstress/composer/Broadway star Sara Bareilles is slated to co-host Broadway’s biggest night on June 10 with Josh Groban (a man with a beard who is evidently also musically inclined but not from here so let’s stay focused).…
Fatal Crash on State Route 36 Claims One
A single-vehicle collision on State Route 36 ended in the death of Chelsea Renee Cash, 22, who was driving a 1999 Dodge Intrepid sedan eastbound at around 7:25 p.m. when her vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree. Cash was from Quincy and, according to her Facebook page, was employed at the Swain’s Flat…
Music Tonight: Tuesday, May 1
HIRS, the Philadelphia queercore collective on Get Better Records enjoys a rotating cast of supporting characters, from Garbage’s Shirley Manson to Laura Jane Grace from Against Me! Tonight, HIRS appears at the Outer Space at 7 p.m. as a duo without the famous faces but with no less of the power, fury and fun, the…
‘A Shining Example:’ Officials Gather to Celebrate the Jefferson Community Center and Park
It’s official: The once blighted and boarded Jefferson Elementary School site is back in a big way. The Westside Community Improvement Association welcomed a host of community members and elected officials Friday to a ribbon cutting that officially completed the Jefferson Community Center and Park. The once fallow property is now bustling with life —…
Mountain Lion Sightings, Pet Attacks Prompt Warning in Rio Dell
Rio Dell officials are warning residents to keep their children and pets indoors following a series of mountain lion sightings near ravines frequented by children along the river bar and in neighborhoods along Riverside and Eeloa avenues on the east side of U.S. Highway 101. The city warns that the sightings have taken place during…
Music Tonight: Monday, April 30
The Miniplex hosts another band from the faraway land of Japan tonight, as stutter-start avant blues and prog trio Loolowingen & The Far East Idiots bounces on the ghost notes and staggers over the off-beats tonight at 8:30 p.m. (price TBA).
Yes, We Spam
On April 29, from 1 to 4 p.m., lovers of the popular and enduring canned meat product SPAM gather in Redwood Fields in Cutten for a day of nitrate worship, live music and libations. Clear your calendar (and your notions about the palatability of something pink and slimy) and get your ticket to the ninth…
Music Tonight: Sunday, April 29
Two very different shows are available for your enjoyment at 8 p.m. tonight. Great Britain’s hardcore veterans Antisect play the Siren’s Song with local support from Dullahan, The ChainLinks and, in its debut performance, DëathWaivëR ($8). Over at Humboldt State University’s Kate Buchanan Room, world-class Cuban percussionist, studio ace and live dynamo Pedrito Martinez brings…
Where is HSU? Questions Go Unanswered at Community Dialogue on Race
Community members are urging the city of Arcata and Humboldt State University for honesty and transparency. Of the nearly 50 people who attended Thursday’s Community Dialogue on Race at Arcata’s D Street Neighborhood Center, there was no one there to represent HSU’s administration. The dialogue began with about half as many attending as did last…
Music Tonight: Saturday, April 28
Speaking of the mid-’90s, The Mateel hosts one of the decade’s more influential acts this evening as The Crystal Method raises the roof with its era-defining electronica at 8 p.m. ($27). With a sound that is at once iconic but nonetheless groundbreaking in its time, this big-beat Las Vegas duo spanned every medium from dance…
HSU’s Cappa Picked by Buccaneers in Third Round of NFL Draft
Humboldt State University offensive tackle Alex Cappa has been selected in the third round of the National Football League draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which traded up to get him, becoming the first HSU player taken in the draft in more than 25 years. The 94th player chosen overall, the 6-foot-6, 305-pound Cappa was…
2nd UPDATE: Suspect Surrenders in Fatal Hit and Run
2nd UPDATE: At about 6:30 p.m. today, 33-year-old Benjamin Shermis, of Arcata, came into the California Highway Patrol’s Arcata office and admitted he was the river in last night’s fatal hit-and-run collision on U.S. Highway 101, according to the CHP. The CHP reports that Shermis was subsequently arrested for felony hit and run and booked…
Don’t Start Your Engines
If you’re revving your engines for the start of racing at Redwood Acres Racetrack, you’ll have to wait. The predicted heavy rains are delaying tomorrow’s kick-off but not for long. April 28 ticket holders can use them on Saturday, May 5, when the track will be roaring with roadrunners, legends, bombers, mini stocks and bandoleros…
UPDATE: One-Way Controlled Traffic on 101 at Klamath Bridge
UPDATE: Caltrans reports that U.S. Highway 101 is now open to one-way controlled traffic. PREVIOUS: A fiery crash between a sedan and a semi-truck has shut down U.S. Highway 101 in both directions at the Klamath Bridge, with at least one person being airlifted from the scene, according to the CHP incident report. The driver…
Music Tonight: Friday, April 27
There’s a free show at the gazebo in Old Town today at 4 p.m. with soul and dubsters New Traditions sharing the bricks with Arcata’s dayglo-polished pop group Paradise Inc. Later on at 7 p.m. at the Outer Space, you can check out a Bay Area bedroom folk/electro/lo-fi blend as Oakland’s Wizard Apprentice rolls through…
Let’s Get Ready to Rumba
Despite what the weather does this weekend, you can bet your Bachata things will be caliente in the Creamery District. Humboldt’s first ever Latin Dance Festival gets underway April 27-29 at Redwood Raks World Dance Studio. Brought to you by Humboldt Latin Dance Collective, the festival offers a variety of workshops in salsa, Bachata, Zouk…
NAACP Calls on HSU to Stop Recruiting Students of Color Unless it Can Support Them
The Eureka branch of the NAACP is asking that Humboldt State University cease all efforts to recruit students of color until certain conditions are met, including ensuring that sufficient support systems are in place so “students of color thrive in this community.” The NAACP’s one-page press release notes that students of color at HSU have…
Honeydew Store Owners ‘Put The Sneak On’ Alleged Burglars, Leading to Arrests
The Honeydew Store was burglarized last night but it didn’t take long for store owner Bob Shinn to crack the case. The store’s manager arrived this morning to find the door pried open, the cash boxes gone and several cartons of cigarettes missing. Shinn said he checked the store’s surveillance tapes to find two people…
Of Beetles and Gadgets
It was cool and windy when my friend and I went for a walk at the Humboldt Bay Wildlife Refuge. Large flocks of geese attested to the success of conservation efforts over recent decades. Egrets, grebes, ducks of several species, mud hens and one of my all-time favorite song birds, bi-colored blackbirds, put in appearances.…
Elections Matter
Editor: It sounds like good news that Mercer-Fraser has withdrawn its controversial cannabis facility permit and zoning change application next to water district wells on the Mad River (“Mercer-Fraser Co. Withdraws Controversial Glendale Site Plans,” posted online April 18). But it’s bad news that it can re-submit the same application as soon as the political climate…
Kudos to KHSU
Editor: I have been confused and even a little mystified by the long-ongoing coverage of the Josiah Lawson murder investigation (“Languishing or Progressing?” April 19). Many of my questions were answered by two items on KHSU’s web page. The first is “13 of the Claims Made about Arcata’s Investigation in the Lawson Homicide” (NCJ Daily,…
After Lunch I Napped
After lunch I napped, and awoke confused where the day’s gone. It can’t be morning I realize, the light’s too bright for dawn. I have missplaced a day for sure. Someone my age shouldn’t do. Appointments: teeth taxes truck, Things I must attend to. The mind believes it’s tomorrow the body rests in today, a…
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and All Week
My roommate has been reading Macbeth all week, which sparked a discussion about our favorite Shakespeare plays, quotes and characters. While his is currently the titular power-hungry Scotsman and the “tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” soliloquoy appears to have all the quotes he needs to satisfy, I am not so easy to satisfy anymore. Sometimes…
Meals to Seek Refuge In
Party in a crepe As you circle the hors d’oeuvre tables and snatch deviled eggs and skewered shrimp from passing servers at parties and openings, spare a thought for our introverted friends missing the spread. Even for the most outgoing among us, there are some people whose company is a high price to pay for a…
Dude, Am I Stoned?
The frat-boy favorite Breathalyzer keychain may have a new, laid-back little friend. Researchers at the University of Chicago have developed a prototype smartphone app designed to answer its namesake question, “Am I Stoned?” The app aims to “improve the safety of cannabis by making users more aware of their impairment,” according to research team leader…
Supes Candidates Square Off in First Forums of Election Season
The races for two seats on the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors officially kicked into gear April 23 with the public watching the candidates square off in real time at a pair of forums. In the race for the Fourth District seat held by two-term incumbent Virginia Bass, the League of Women Voters and the…
Music Tonight: Thursday, April 26
There’s a grab-bag show of beat-based genres at The Jam tonight as pioneering leftfield Los Angeles rapper Aceyalone and DJ Az. Redsmoke is joined by a group of artists spanning afrobeat to neo soul and dub at 9 p.m (price TBA). Also gracing the stage will be AfriCali, J Ross Parrelli, CBaker and Eva Rhyme.…
The return of Troopers and the trials of Schumer
John J. Bennett Reviews SUPER TROOPERS 2. Back when Super Troopers (2001) came out on DVD, I’m sure I walked past the box dozens of times while wandering the aisles of the video store (it’s a kind of reliquary for arcane media, where one can borrow said media, for a nominal fee). But I had…
