Cover Story
Late Shift: What Eureka’s Police Officers See After Dark
Wednesday May 30, 2018, 8:30 p.m.-2 a.m. Ride along with Sgt. Leonard La France and K9 officer Vex. The E-watch shift starts with a briefing at 8:30 p.m. Sgt. Leonard La France addresses the three officers sitting at a narrow conference room table: Raymond Nunez, Matthew White and Elliott Aello. Bald with an easy smile,…
Traffic Alert: 101 Closed North Of Leggett
U.S. Highway 101 is closed at mile marker 92, just north of Leggett, after power lines fell into the roadway at approximately 9:15 p.m. Wednesday, according to a California Highway Patrol spokesperson. The downed lines caused a small fire and traffic was stopped. According to a Caltrans update at around 10:30 p.m., there are no detours…
Hollywood Star for Mayor of Flavortown
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has announced its “Class of 2019” inductees and among the stars of film, TV, stage and music to receive a star on the Walk of Fame is — holy moly, stromboli — one Guy Fieri of Ferndale. No dedication ceremony dates have been announced yet but expect the host of…
Humboldt Crews Battling Pawnee Fire Save Vineyard (Slideshow)
Some 2,700 firefighters from around the state, including the Humboldt County Strike Team, are battling the Pawnee Fire burning north of the Lake County community of Clearlake Oaks, which as of this morning was 25 percent contained with 13,500 acres burned, according to Calfire. To date, 22 structures have been destroyed in the fire that…
Eureka Man Dies From Bike Crash Injuries
A 37-year-old Eureka man died in a Santa Rosa hospital yesterday from injuries suffered in a bicycle accident involving a log truck on Broadway Avenue on June 21. According to the CHP release, Zachary Herbert was not wearing his helmet when he maneuvered his bicycle into traffic, hitting the back wheel of a truck that…
Freeman House, Influential Restorationist, Dies at 80
Freeman House, author of Totem Salmon and founder of the Mattole Restoration Council, died Saturday, June 23. He was 80. House was part of a cohort responsible for what is considered to be the “first community-based restoration effort in the state of California.” David Simpson, co-founder of the MRC, recalls meeting House in the 1960s,…
Music Tonight: Wednesday, June 27
The Outer Space hosts an evening of experimental electronic sounds, ambient drones and chaotically curated beat-filled field recordings at 7 p.m. ($5). Join Morher, Kole Galbraith, Matchess and TALsounds as each act entertains you with what will surely sound like the late shift in a light industrial zone to the uninitiated but transcendent heaven for…
Mexican Rodeo at the Fair was Wild, Folks (Photos)
The Brahma bulls at the Mexican Rodeo offered a new kind of thrill ride at the Redwood Acres Best of Humboldt Fair on Sunday — but only young cowboys from the rodeo company were allowed to ride the bulls. A good-sized crowd including a lot of families got a close-up view of the action from…
Controversial Eureka City Attorney Resigns, Effective Immediately
The Eureka City Council emerged from a special closed session meeting this afternoon called to discuss the potential firing or discipline of an employee to announce that the council and City Attorney Cyndy Day-Wilson have mutually agreed to part ways. Mayor Frank Jager thanked Day-Wilson for her service and City Manager Greg Sparks called the…
Music Tonight: Tuesday, June 26
There are a couple of free gigs going down in Blue Lake this evening for those of you who like things on the quieter side. Over at the Mad River Brewery tasting room you can find the standards-laced guitar and vocal sounds of Blue Lotus Jazz. Two hours later and a little way toward the…
Eureka Man Indicted for Child Pornography in Oregon
The Multnomah County Circuit Court has indicted a Eureka man on six counts related to child pornography after he allegedly posed as a classmate of a minor in Portland, Oregon, and obtained nude and explicit photos of her. Jeramey Todd Walkley, 40, was apprehended by the Portland Police Bureau’s Sex Crimes Unit in Eureka, with…
Coasties Rescue Stranded Hiker Near Klamath River (Video)
A crew from U.S. Coast Guard Sector Humboldt Bay rescued a stranded hiker near the mouth of the Klamath River on Sunday. The hiker had contacted the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office at about 2:30 p.m. to report he’d become stranded at the bottom of a 300-foot cliff near the mouth of the Klamath River…
Arson Suspect Arrested After Allegedly Barricading Victims Inside Home
A Myers Flat man is being jailed on suspicion of arson of an inhabited structure, false imprisonment and threats to commit a crime. According to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, on Saturday Michael Jay Merriman, 66, allegedly became angry with his neighbors in the area of Orchard Way and Boy Scout Camp Road when they declined…
Music Tonight: Monday, June 25
It’s a quiet one tonight and apart from some restaurant and club dance gigs I have already promoted in these pages, I can’t really cosign on a show this evening. However, it is the anniversary of two very different events worthy of celebration. Thirty-four years ago, Prince released what will probably be remembered as the…
HumBug: Mr. Big Moth
Back when cameras used film, I noticed large sections of leaf chewed away on the madrone tree in my front yard. I found three large green caterpillars gnawing away at them. I watched carefully over the next few weeks until they each spun a cocoon. I put a mesh bag over each of them and…
New Jail Transportation Assistance Program Will Still Leave Some Arrestees Stranded, At Least Temporarily
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office sent out a press release this week announcing it has revised its program assisting poor arrestees in getting home after they are released from custody to help them “have a better chance to create a healthy lifestyle upon release.” State law has long required that jails offer transportation assistance, upon…
Music Tonight: Sunday, June 24
It’s another sweet night with a death metal hoedown at the Siren’s Song tonight as a touring circus of fleet-fingered folk fire into town to set your ears aflame. Denver’s Spectral Voice joins Mortiferum from Olympia and Santa Fe’s Superstition to grind steel against the dying light. Local rippers Unholy Oriface open. The hour of…
Music Tonight: Saturday, June 23
Portland’s finest Pink Floyd tribute act Pigs on the Wing plays through a two-set residence tonight at the Arcata Theatre Lounge at 8 p.m. ($20/$17 advance). The show is called Finding the Dark Side of the Moon and the show will culminate with a playthrough of that titular album. You know, with all of these…
Dozens Turn Out to Protest Child Detention Immigration Policies
Several dozen people gathered this evening on the southwest corner of the Arcata Plaza to protest U.S. immigration policies that have left some 2,000 children separated from their families. While President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week stopping the separations — after previously insisting only Congress could take the action — the thousands…
Missing Man Found Dead in McKinleyville
Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call at the 1500 block of Hiller Road in McKinleyville this afternoon after receiving a report of a dead body in a field. The body was subsequently identified as that of Demetrious Gabriel Goodwin, 44, who was reported missing June 17. Foul play is not suspected, according to the…
Eureka City Council Says Yes to Some Expensive Items
Eureka police officers will be getting a raise, two parcels near the Samoa Bridge are inching closer to development as an RV park, the Greater Eureka Chamber of Commerce is on the move and residents will soon be paying a little bit more for garbage collection. These are just a handful of key items the…
Project Hugs Collecting Stuffies for Detained Children
A community effort to help ease the pain and confusion of children separated from their parents at the border is collecting lightly-used stuffies at a donation box set up in Arcata’s City Hall through June 29. Called Project Hugs, the idea for the donation drive grew out of news reports that staff at some of…
Child Welfare Call Leads to Bayside Hash Lab
A call for a child welfare check led to the discovery of a butane hash lab operating in a Bayside home where 800 pounds of marijuana trim and bud were discovered along with 69 pounds of hash oil, according to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office. After deputies arrived at the home on the 1400 block…
Music Tonight: Friday, June 22
There’s a fundraiser for the RAVEN project going on tonight at Phatsy Kline’s with the money from every libation quaffed going toward the teen and young adult homeless outreach program. The hypnotic dance ragas of local wunderkind Hudson Glover’s project Comma Comma will punctuate the night at 7:30 p.m. (free). Meanwhile at the Siren’s Song,…
Trinidad Woman Jailed in Mendocino After Allegedly Causing 18-Month-Old Son’s Death
A 23-year-old Trinidad woman has been jailed in Mendocino County without bail on suspicion of willfully causing or permitting a child to suffer great bodily injury or death. According to a press release from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, Alexandrea Raven Scott was taken into custody after bringing her 18-month-old son, Chergery Teywoh Lew Mays,…
UPDATE: Madrone’s Fifth District Lead Seems Insurmountable
UPDATE: Humboldt County Registrar of Voters Kelly Sanders just told the Journal that the only ballots that remain outstanding in the Fifth District are the up-to-315 provisional ballots from Election Day, which still haven’t been vetted or counted, and another 16 or so vote by mail ballots that have yet to be scanned. With a…
Planned EBT Card Outage This Weekend
The Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services is reaching out to let residents who use electronic benefit transfer cards, or EBTs, know they will not be able to use their accounts for a 24-hour period this weekend due to a statewide upgrade. Holders will not be able to buy food or get cash…
State Considers Listing Marten as Endangered
They’re small, they’re furry and they’re rarely seen. But is the Humboldt marten a candidate for the California Endangered Species Act? The California Department of Fish and Wildlife thinks so. According to a press release from the Environmental Protection Information Center, the CDFW recommended today that the species come under additional protection. The Humboldt marten,…
Five Things to Know About Summer in Humboldt
Editor’s note: Summer has arrived, not that you’d necessarily know it by stepping outside today (see item No. 1) although the National Weather Service is forecasting a warming trend this weekend with temperatures in the low 70s on the coast and close to 100 degrees inland. Too help you ease into the season, here’s a…
Music Tonight: Thursday, June 21
The city of Eureka continues its free summer concert series on the water at the foot of C street this evening at 6 p.m. Tonight’s artist will be the Mendocino-based rock country act The Johnny Young Band, notable for playing the casino circuit and Cabo Wabo, so if this sounds like your sort of thing,…
At the Fair
The cotton candy, deep-fried, corn dog days of summer are here. And how do we know? Breathe deep, friends. That’s the Best of Humboldt Fair, serving up four days of food and fun June 21-24 at Redwood Acres Fairgrounds ($12 adults, $6 seniors/youth, free admission Thursday, June 21). And the weather’s certainly been fair, hasn’t…
Thor: Ragnarok
Going to the movies matters. Whether it’s gathering with others in darkened movie theaters, in quiet spaces or outdoors under the stars, sharing a communal experience that connects us and can transform our lives for a short while is something we all dig. Whatever you’re looking for from your reel experience, this weekend has a…
#FamiliesBelongTogether
Reviews THE INCREDIBLES 2. Sequels, remakes, reboots and “remaginings” of movies happen faster than any good soul can keep up. That’s what makes the arrival of The Incredibles 2 so remarkable: Does it seem like a long time since the original — a wonderfully entertaining film — arrived on the scene, or is it you?…
Behind the Mask of the Universal Soldier
The connection between the title of this year’s Mad River Festival summer show Ruzzante Comes Home from the War and Dell’Arte International may seem a bit of a stretch, but digging under the surface uncovers a timeless tribute to theatre of place. The original version of this play was written in the Commedia dell’Arte style…
Oregon Butterflies and Wasps
One good thing about insects as a hobby is there are so many of them and they’re everywhere. The high desert environment of central Oregon is so different from our coastal rainforest that it gives opportunities to encounter entirely unfamiliar species. So, I took my cameras on a trip last week. It was easy to…
Visitors Bureau Takes Cannabis Fact Finding Tour
As the Eureka-Humboldt Visitors Bureau’s board of directors continues to contemplate its future cannabis efforts, some of its members recently took a tour with the aim of discerning whether the plant might one day be able to mingle among our redwoods, coastline, food, wine and Victorians in the agency’s marketing efforts. As the Journal reported…
Gun Forum Shows Left and Right Can Talk Peacefully
When the young female gun control activist started talking earnestly with the burly firearms pro — a man who had earlier proclaimed that many gun laws don’t make sense — I knew that we had succeeded in creating a respectful, constructive dialogue about this intensely polarizing topic. Around the room at Eureka’s Wharfinger Building, a…
Best Oysters on the Plaza
On Saturday morning, as locals and tourists were still making their way to the plaza from distant parking spaces and (one hopes) slathering on sunscreen, 18 judges crowded around a trio of awkward tables in the lobby of the Jacoby Storehouse. Volunteers brought in candidates for Best Raw, Best Cooked and Best Non-oyster at the…
Ideas Requested, Ideas Delivered
Editor: In response to Jennifer Fumiko-Cahill and Thadeus Greenson’s request (“A Word from the Lying Media,” June 7) for more letters from readers and ideas for future reporting: Global warming is a thing, a critical thing. How about a weekly column that reflects “best practices” of what other cities and counties are doing to combat…
‘Petty Things’
Editor: Picked up your rag at a motel in Fortuna (“The Media Literacy Issue,” July 7). Wow, you are obviously liberal and anti-Trump. The economy is improving, employment is robust, tax reform and deregulation is working, job creators are upbeat and optimistic, and it looks like there is going to denuclearization and peace in the…
Support KHSU
Editor: Responding to Kathleen Marshall’s letter to your paper June 14 asking that KHSU members and underwriters withdraw their financial contributions to the station to force the re-employment of Katie Whiteside and the firing of the General Manager Peter Fretwell, I say: Please do not do that. As a sustaining member and longtime listener to…
Pardon Me?
Editor: According to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the US government has a right to separate immigrant children from their parents when they cross the border illegally. Sessions says this right was defined by Apostle Paul through “his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained…
Life is Short but This Week is Long
This is the longest week of the year but there is still plenty of nightlife, despite the absence of our collegiate population. We have noise shows, rock shows, folk and metal galore. I have carpentry and gardening projects to catch up on myself, and I can’t be bothered to waste the sun jabbering away so,…
The County’s $3.5 Million Settlement
The county of Humboldt has settled the federal civil rights lawsuit stemming from the 2014 jail death of Daren Borges, agreeing to pay Borges’ family $3.5 million in damages and legal fees, and to make various changes to jail policy. Borges, 42, a homeless, schizophrenic poet and artist, was living in Eureka at the time…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you have cosmic permission to enjoy extra helpings of waffles, crepes, pancakes, and blintzes. Eating additional pastries and doughnuts is also encouraged. Why? Because it’s high time for you to acquire more ballast. You need more gravitas and greater stability. You can’t afford…
