I Wish I had Been Vaccinated
A Eureka family didn’t believe in the virus or the vaccine. Then they got COVID.
Katherine (Katey) Jane Ringle-Hackney: 1953-2021
Katherine (Katey) Jane Ringle-Hackney, age 68, passed away peacefully in her sleep at home in Miranda, California, on March 13, 2021. Katey Ringle was born on October 22, 1953, in Tokyo, Japan, to Jerld Manual Hackney and Tomiko Hackney-Watanabe. Her father, Jerld, had a career as Chief Master Sergeant in the United Sates Air Force.…
A Letter from 111 Local Doctors: Please Get Vaccinated
Dear Community, We are your physicians. You have honored us by entrusting your lives to us, as well as the lives of your loved ones. We are also your neighbors, your friends, and your relatives. We share with you a deep love of this region and of our communities. Like you, we dream of a…
Public Health Confirms 36 New COVID-19 Cases, Three New Hospitalizations
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 36 new COVID-19 cases today — making 218 so far this week — as well as three new hospitalizations. Today’s cases — which were confirmed after laboratories processed 278 samples with a test-positivity rate of 12.9 percent — come after the county confirmed 471 new cases last week . A state…
Fire Updates: Windy, Dry Conditions Prompt Fire Growth
A handful of fires burning east of Humboldt spread aggressively yesterday, pushed by winds and dry fuel loads, and continue to bring air quality and travel impacts as far west as the coast, with State Route 299 still closed in Trinity County and no timetable for reopening and State Route 36 closed from the junction…
John Harvey McKenzie: 1939-2021
John Harvey McKenzie, age 81, of McKinleyville, passed peacefully Aug. 11. He was in the hospital for a brief illness, and was in the presence of his devoted daughter and dog. John McKenzie was born August 1939 in Ventura, California, and grew up in Ojai, California. He attended Nordoff High School but dropped out short…
Notorious Humboldt County Murderer Dies in Prison
Curtis Floyd Price, an Aryan Brotherhood hitman who was one of two Humboldt County men sitting on California’s death row, died in custody early this morning, according to the California Department of Corrections. According to a press release from the state, Price died of natural causes, though an exact cause of death remains pending, to…
Public Health Confirms 91 New COVID-19 Cases, August Already Has Set Local Case Record
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 91 new COVID-19 cases today — making 182 so far this week — as well as two new hospitalizations. Today’s cases — which were confirmed after laboratories processed 569 samples with a test-positivity rate of 16 percent — come after the county confirmed 471 new cases last week and push…
Brownfield Appointed Public Defender
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors today appointed Luke Brownfield to serve as the county’s public defender, overseeing the office that represents individuals accused of criminal offenses who cannot afford an attorney. “With his experience and leadership, we are fortunate to have Luke as the new public defender for our community,” said 3rd District Supervisor…
Fire Updates: SR 36, 299 Closed Due to Fires, Red Flag Warning in Effect this Afternoon
A handful of fires burning east of Humboldt spread aggressively over the weekend, pushed by winds and dry fuel loads, and continue to bring air quality and travel impacts as far west as the coast, with State Route 299 still closed in Trinity County and no timetable for reopening and State Route 36 closed from…
Doris Yvonne Gocha: 1937-2021
Doris Yvonne Gocha was born on Oct. 8, 1937 in Houston, Texas, to Bessie and Harry Robertson. She was the middle sister to Cova (Vernell) and Patricia, and had a brother, Jesse. Her family moved around a lot when Doris was young and lived for a time in White Sands, New Mexico, where Harry helped…
Public Health Reports County’s 59th COVID Death, 191 New Cases
A 59th Humboldt County Resident has died of COVID-19, Public Health reported today, while confirming 191 new cases of the virus and eight new hospitalizations since Friday. Today’s cases — which were confirmed after laboratories processed 1,272 samples with a test-positivity rate of 15 percent — come after the county confirmed 471 new cases last…
Deputy Resigns After Investigation Contradicts On-Duty Crash Statements
A Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office deputy who claimed he was sideswiped has resigned after a CHP investigation into his on-duty crash found no other vehicles were involved in the incident near Singley Hill Road and Loleta Drive that sent his patrol car down an embankment. “The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has been in communication with…
Fire Updates: Air Quality Improved but Winds Expected to Spur Fire Growth
A handful of fires burning east of Humboldt spread aggressively over the weekend, pushed by winds and dry fuel loads, and continue to bring air quality and travel impacts as far west as the coast, with State Route 299 still closed in Trinity County and no timetable for reopening. Air quality has improved markedly for the…
NCJ Preview: A COVID Survivor’s Regret and the Uncertainty of Dining In
As Humboldt County COVID-19 cases continue to spike, a pandemic denier gets sick and now wants others to avoid his mistake, urging everyone to get vaccinated. And is it safe to dine-in at our favorite restaurants as the Delta variant surges and so many of us haven’t gotten our shots? We’ll also talk about a…
Artists Hit the Streets in Eureka (Slideshow)
Arts Alive may have been canceled due to COVID-19 but artists have been hitting the streets in droves as a part of the Eureka Street Art Festival. If you haven’t had a chance to take a stroll and check on their progress — or just aren’t heading out much right now — fret not, local…
John Edward Buffington: 1941-2021
John Edward Buffington passed away peacefully in Austin, Texas, on July 23, at the age of 80. He was preceded in death by his parents John and Blythe Buffington and is survived by his wife Georgia Willis Buffington of Austin, Texas. He is also survived by his three sons Peter (Mona), Andrew, and Justin (Jillian)…
Public Health Confirms 41 New COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalization of Someone Under 20
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 41 new COVID-19 cases today — making 471 for the week — as well as four new hospitalizations, including one of a person younger than 20. The new hospitalizations bring Humboldt County to a new all-time high. A state database shows 33 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 locally — more…
Fire Updates: Evacuation Warnings Lifted for Some Areas Near McFarland Fire
A handful of fires burning east of Humboldt continue to grow with minimal containment, bringing air quality and travel impacts as far west as the coast, with State Route 299 still closed in Trinity County and no timetable for reopening. Overall hot, dry conditions and wind gusts are expected to continue to complicate fire suppression…
HumCo Records 58th COVID-19 Death, 90 New Cases, Nine New Hospitalizations
Humboldt County has lost a 58th resident to COVID-19, Public Health reported today, while confirming 90 new cases — making 430 so far this week — and nine new hospitalizations including two of people in their 30s. With today’s cases, the county has now confirmed 817 cases so far this month, with 19 days remaining…
Smoke? Cries for help? Don’t Worry, HSU is Having a Drill Tonight
Things might get a little loud today at Humboldt State University around 6 p.m. but don’t worry, it’s only a drill. The campus will be conducting an emergency simulation that will include will include smoke and actors crying for help, with the University Police Department, the Arcata Fire Department and Arcata Mad River Ambulance participating.…
Fire Updates: Red Flag Warnings and Thunderstorms Forecast
A handful of fires burning east of Humboldt continue to grow with minimal containment, bringing air quality and travel impacts as far west as the coast, with State Route 299 still closed in Trinity County and no timetable for reopening. Overall hot, dry conditions and wind gusts are expected to continue to complicate fire suppression…
Karuk Tribe: Spring Chinook Creeping Toward Extinction
A survey of spring Chinook salmon on the Klamath River has returned one of the lowest numbers in decades, spotting only 95 of the fish where hundreds of thousands once swam, according to the Karuk Tribe. “It’s devastating for our community,” said Karen Greenberg, restoration director for the Salmon River Restoration Council in a press…
Louis Marak’s Visual Riddles
Louis Marak’s illusionistic ceramics stretch the capacities of clay in unexpected ways. Fired ceramic slabs become surfaces to draw and paint upon. Images are full of illogical juxtapositions. Even when this is not the case, the way the pieces play at being both objects and images yields surreal results. Glazed bowls, reliefs and ceramic slabs…
COVID Wraps Crabs’ Season Early
The 2021 Humboldt Crabs season has come to an abrupt end, with the final two games of the season canceled due to two positive cases among team personnel. The decision came Saturday afternoon about an hour before the team was set to meet for batting practice and it brought an early end to a memorable…
Fall-Run Salmon Quotas to Begin on the Klamath
Fall regulations will begin Sunday, Aug. 15 on the Klamath River, triggering the start of the fall salmon quota. The California Fish and Game Commission adopted bag and possession limits for the Klamath Basin based on a quota of 1,221 fall-run adult kings. On the Klamath, the fall season closes Dec. 31. The fall season…
Listen to Jon
The woman’s voice was unflinchingly confident as she spoke, addressing the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors during public comment. “It is unscientific,” she said of the creation of three different COVID-19 vaccines, each of which built upon decades of research and underwent months of rigorous trials, and the near unanimous recommendation of health officials across…
Anti-heroic
THE SUICIDE SQUAD. It has been five years (sigh) since the misbegotten and now confusingly titled Suicide Squad bowed. At the time, I was hellbent on enjoying the thing, intermittently awestruck as I had been by the work of writer/director David Ayer. Good times meet sad ends, though, and as I lengthily enumerated in this…
It Works
Editor: I was very pleased to see the Journal mention California’s plan to fund a universal basic income pilot for all cities and counties that apply (NCJ Daily, July 22). Policies such as these are going to be increasingly necessary as human workers continue to be further outperformed by their automated counterparts, and consequently left…
Get Your Shots
Editor: With the Delta variant of the coronavirus raging worldwide, and Humboldt County not doing well (“The Barnstable Effect,” Aug. 5), why are there still so many refusing to get vaccinated or wear a mask? Three reasons seem to be: “I want to wait and see;” “I don’t trust doctors and pharmaceutical companies;” and, “Mask…
Cal Poly Humboldt?
When and where I was a kid — 1950s, Britain — it was science or arts. No middle ground, nothing nuanced about my education. If you were “science,” you looked to engineering or medicine for your future. If you were “arts,” you ended up doing, well, something else — usually more creative. I became a…
Bigfoot Bigotry
Not having the pleasure of prior acquaintance, I wasn’t sure whether their upturned noses were a constitutional characteristic or a register of their displeasure on finding me suddenly in their midst. The work of a moment dispelled my uncertainty. They looked to me, then at the earth, and then took to the trees, unwilling to…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “Consecrate” isn’t a word you often encounter in intellectual circles. In my home country of America, many otherwise smart people spurn the possibility that we might want to make things sacred. And a lot of art aspires to do the opposite of consecration: strip the world of holiness and mock the…
‘I Wish I Had Been Vaccinated’
For more than a year, Jonathan Weltsch dismissed COVID-19 as the flu. When vaccines became available, the 43-year-old local businessman spent months decrying them as more dangerous than the virus itself and urging loved ones not to get them. In short, he thought the pandemic was “kind of a hoax,” according to his wife, Sarah.…
‘Dramatically Changed’
By any mark or measure, it was a grim week in Humboldt County, and not just due to the smoky, orange haze that overtook the sky as four wildfires raged with minimal containment to its east. In the seven-day period before the Journal went to press Aug. 10, the county saw 539 new cases of…
Open Your Mind
Last week I asked a very important question about the continued existence of live music in the face of our increasing pandemic spike and its attendant dangers. That question has been answered by a wave of cancelations here and abroad. I wrote about the spike affecting my former home of New Orleans and, to give…
Should We Be Dining Out?
Was it a good idea to click on the profile of the person in my Facebook feed indignant over vaccine requirements? Probably not. But there, along with the anti-vaccine messaging, COVID-19 dismissal and fretting about freedom I expected, were snapshots of meals in restaurants around Humboldt. Some were at tables and in dining rooms I…
