HumBug: Saps, Jumpers and Stingers
Lacquering a dowel, I found half a dozen tiny beetles waiting for the chance to entomb themselves in the artificial amber. These are sap beetles. They are usually minute like this one, and different members of the family (nitidulidae) feed on various things including rotten fruit. Some years ago my strawberry patch was infested with…
HumBug: Strategy
I had to remind myself it’s still winter as I watched a mourning cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) and two smaller orange butterflies flutter by, too high and fast to get a photo of. The orange specimens were most likely rustic anglewings but there are several other locally common species which overwinter as adults, emerging on warm…
Human Remains Found at Suspected SoHum Homicide Scene
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office found human remains while searching a Southern Humboldt property Feb. 18 and is working to identify the individual, according to a press release. Ryan Anthony Tanner, 32, was arrested on suspicion of homicide a day earlier after a daylong search that included a CHP helicopter and SWAT team members. Sheriff’s…
UPDATE: Mother of Teen Arrested in Fatal Shooting, House Fire ‘Accidental’
SECOND UPDATE: The Eureka Police Department and Humboldt Bay Fire are reporting that an early morning fire at the Union Street home where a teenager was reportedly shot by his mother last night during a domestic disturbance was “accidental” with EPD stating in a release that it was “unrelated to the manslaughter.” EPD is not…
Should Stores be Required to Accept Cash?
A small, but growing number of businesses are no longer accepting cash. Owners say that accepting only credit cards, debit cards or digital wallets like Apple Pay is more efficient and lowers the risk of being robbed. Electronic forms of payments are gaining popularity with consumers. But the cash-free trend has raised concerns that such…
SWAT Operation Nabs Homicide Suspect in SoHum
After a daylong search that included a CHP helicopter and SWAT team members, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man suspected of homicide in the Ettersburg area around 7:15 p.m. Feb. 17. According to a release, Ryan Anthony Tanner, 32, was taken into custody without incident. The sheriff’s office states detectives and investigators responded…
HSU Investigating Allegations of Faculty Member Soliciting Students
Humboldt State University stated in a press release today that it has “expanded” an investigating into allegations that a member of its faculty “may have” solicited students for paid sex. Providing few details, the release states the university has “taken precautionary steps in order to protect students from harm” since receiving the “anonymous reports” last…
HumBug: Winter Insects
Walking along the road, I saw my first two milkmaids (Cardamine californica), the daffodil bulbs my friend gave me last fall, are starting to put up leaves and the pussy willows are budding out. They are all welcome reminders, spring is still in our future. Despite the coolness of the day, there were quite a…
North Coast Night Lights: Snow Moon over Carson Mansion
As one of the most photographed Victorian buildings in California, if not the United States, the Carson Mansion has crept beyond Humboldt’s borders to seep into our popular culture. Certainly it has added its unique presence to the horror genre; I’ve periodically encountered the mansion’s distinctive form as the architectural basis of haunted houses in…
NCJ Preview with Access Humboldt
This week: We’ve got answers from candidates in the Humboldt County Supervisors races for the First and Second districts covering the economy, climate crisis, homelessness and infrastructure and road maintenance. We also asked them some personal and creative questions, so we’ll talk about why. Then we’ve got advice on where to eat clam chowder and…
Pete’s Pot Flop
For a brief, contentious moment, cannabis took center stage at the Feb. 7 Democratic presidential debate in New Hampshire when mayor-turned-maybe-kind-sorta frontrunner Pete Buttigieg was pressed about disproportionate drug arrest rates for black residents during his tenure in South Bend, Indiana. “Mayor Buttigieg, under your leadership as mayor, a black resident in South Bend, Indiana,…
Yes, Yes We Do
Editor: Does the NCJ ever print a letter that isn’t anti-Trump, demonizing Republicans, stereotyping those with opposing views, mocking the “Christian God,” against any growth, not questioning climate change and blaming the white race for most evils since the dawn of time? You know, about 40 percent of Humboldt doesn’t march to the beat of…
Vote!
Editor: The Terra-Gen vote on TV, for all of Humboldt County to see, showed that Rex Bohn voted in favor after it was obvious the proposal would go down. So to ask, to whom was he beholden, seems a reasonable inference. Virginia Bass had the decency to change her vote when the outcome was obvious.…
A Question of Longitude
Last week, we saw how, starting in the late 1600s, astronomers published almanacs of predictable celestial events, in particular the eclipses of Jupiter’s four bright (“Galilean”) moons, allowing travelers anywhere in the world to compare their local time with almanac time, thus giving them their longitudes. Let’s see how that worked in real life, especially…
Deer Skull
We mark graves for ourselves Not for distant arrivals But for our own returns When we place a stone We don’t believe its weight will ever lift But it does What still hurts now seems to bear some load Each grief is a member That vaults the sky This old skull Is going somewhere I’ll…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Now that she’s in her late 40s, Aries comedian and actress Tig Notaro is wiser about love. Her increased capacity for romantic happiness has developed in part because she’s been willing to change her attitudes. She says, “Instead of being someone who expects people to have all the strengths I think…
The Fighting First
Two-term incumbent Rex Bohn and radio personality Cliff Berkowitz, who cofounded Lost Coast Communications, are vying to represent the First District in this year’s March 3 primary election. Encompassing a sprawling area that stretches from the far reaches of Shelter Cove to the more urban neighborhoods of Cutten, the First District hasn’t seen a contested…
An Eclectic Mix
The race to become Humboldt County’s next Second District supervisor has four challengers taking on two-term incumbent Estelle Fennell, collectively offering a diverse set of opinions on where the county is and where it’s going. The March 3 primary will see Fennell, the former executive director of the Humboldt County Coalition of Property Rights and…
Cupid is Stupid
Love is pretty wild, isn’t it? There isn’t a lot of raw data suggesting that love as a pursuit will pay out in dependable dividends of domestic comfort. The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus suggested that a lack of pain and a tranquility brought on by a dearth of fear over one’s mortality were the keys…
What’s Good
Po’ boys and sympathy If you go to Fat Anne’s Bakery & Bistro’s new spot on Main Street in Ferndale (939 Main St.), get the fried chicken. Then tell me what it’s like because the fryer was down the day I visited, though I hear it’s being remedied. It happens. But there is little that…
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, check out the Arts! Arcata event on Facebook and Instagram, or call 707-822-4500 for more information. ARCATA ARTISANS GALLERY 883 H St. Jeff Langdon, photography; Gilbert Castro, ceramics; Michael Edwards, jewelry. ARISING HOLISTIC CENTER 627…
Squad Goals
Reviews HARLEY QUINN: BIRDS OF PREY. Gratitude is … a good thing, right? Of course it is. And we should probably count ourselves grateful. Because even as the facade of American democracy continues to crumble, as we trudge ever closer toward totalitarianism, destitution and disarray, as winter drags on and tyrants grow more empowered and…
