Leaving
When humboldt places don’t fit Humboldt people
Cover Story
Leaving
We think of home as a place that must be built, but sometimes it’s simply a place that’s shaped to match a hole within us. Some of us have holes that are shaped like an ocean coast, beaches and bluffs. Others that are shaped like forests; dense, quiet. Still others that are shaped like small…
No-Cost Health Coverage Coming for Poor County Residents
Starting on Jan. 1, many indigent county residents can apply for a program that will cover their primary health care, emergency and hospital care, pharmacy services, and limited dental and vision care at no cost. It will also cover a set number of mental health and substance abuse counseling visits, among other services. Path2Health, as the…
Surgeon Leaves 10-inch Device inside St. Joe’s Patient
UPDATE, DEC. 21: After initially making an 11:30 a.m. appointment to speak with the Journal on Wednesday, St. Joseph Hospital canceled. Spokeswoman Leslie Broomall said the hospital had decided it wanted written questions instead. We politely declined. Broomall later did email an unsigned media statement saying that St. Joseph Hospital takes the error “very seriously”…
Boys Find Human Skull in Arcata
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office: On 12/19/2011 at about 5:00 p.m. Sheriff Deputies were dispatched to the 3100 block of Fickle Hill rd, Arcata, to handle a report of found human remains. The reporting party said that his children found a human skull while playing in the yard. Upon arrival the Sheriff…
You’d Better Watch Out, You’d Better Not Cry …
OK police. OK occupiers. You’re being watched. Or more accurately, you’re gonna be watched, very soon, by specially trained independent observers. (No, not TV reporters!) An independent observer program that was active in the early 2000s during timber protests is being revived and will start training new observers next month. Mark your calendar for Sunday,…
Hurricane Kate’s to Blow Away
Nooooo! To the shock and dismay of tongues county-wide, Hurricane Kate’s announced on Monday that their final wood-fired pizza will come out of the oven Friday, Dec. 23. The closure comes to us courtesy of that derned ol’ sucking economy. Owners Elizabeth Adams and Matthew Yadley have been pretty openly pursuing potential buyers since summer,…
The Final Countdown
You braved Target’s Black Friday stampede. You endured Eureka’s tone deaf truckers. You even let your children sit on some stranger’s lap. ‘Tis the madness of the season. But the end is nigh. This week, the countdown of days until Christmas hits the single digits. While the reindeer’s share of local events has already come…
Got Vinyl?
Stopped by my favorite Arcata record shop last Wednesday to chat with proprietor Matt Jackson about this Thursday’s DJ night at Humboldt Brews, Missing Link’s Got Soul, another jumpin’ all-vinyl dance party hosted by the M.L. crew. The concept, spinning soul/funk 45s and the like for dancers, has been very successful so far — Matt…
You’ve Been Warned
THE SITTER. If you’re among the David Gordon Green faithful, and are therefore holding out some germ of hope that he’ll make a return to the ruminative, atmospheric style of his early work (George Washington, All The Real Girls), you will likely be disappointed by The Sitter. If instead you’re the kind of person…
Not Funny
Editor: While I recognize the artfulness and humor of Amy Stewart’s recent column (“Have Yourself a Boozy Little Christmas,” Dec. 8), as director of Humboldt County’s public health branch, I feel compelled to respond to a few of its more questionable statements. First, contrary to Stewart’s assertion, in many cases a bottle of booze really…
Clever Goldfish
Editor: I don’t own a goldfish. If I did own a goldfish, I’m confident that my goldfish would be able to publish a better story than NCJ’s “Fight “article (Dec. 1).? Shame on the NCJ for using Taniesha Kyle’s desire to become a champion as a political ploy!?My name is Nick Kukuruza. I am responsible…
A Huge Loss
Editor: Bryan Osper’s death (“Sweet Soul,” Dec. 1) leaves a huge hole in the heart of Arcata. An old guy like myself can spend a lot of time bemoaning how things are not what they used to be. For me, meeting Bryan was an antidote to all that. Bryan was every bit the Jerry Martien,…
“The Door Only Opens One Way”
He said as I left home With all…
Human Meddling
Editor: I’m writing in response to the letters engendered by “The Carnivore’s Dilemma” (Nov. 17). The meat provided by those who hunt wild animals, such as Mr. Bird, is a minuscule fraction of what our country consumes. Swine, cattle and poultry have been bred by us humans over the centuries, and even millenia, to have the…
An Exaltation of Atoms (Part 2)
Although it may seem as if the main business of stars is to pump out light, their real work is to synthesize heavy elements from lighter ones. In a process diet-pill manufacturers might dream about, our sun loses some 5 million tons of mass every second. The intense temperature and pressure in the heart of…
Correction
Correction: The “Fieldnotes” column in last week’s Journal inadvertently used the wrong term for the neutrally charged particle in an atom’s nucleus. It is a neutron.
Bill Cunningham New York
It’s good to know there are people like Bill Cunningham in the world. He’s happy. He’s kind and sincere. He has built a life doing what he loves and is acknowledged internationally for it. Richard Press’ charming and emotive documentary, Bill Cunningham New York, is a beautiful portrait of this curious photographer and a passing…
Worst Xmas Gift Guide
Worst Xmas Gift Guide
The SMiLE Sessions
When Brian Wilson convinced skeptical members of The Beach Boys to explore a more artistic, experimental form of pop, the band recorded Pet Sounds, released in the spring of 1966. Packed with sophisticated and eccentric orchestration and arrangements, Pet Sounds was a pop masterpiece, garnering high praise from his peers, notably The Beatles. Soon thereafter,…
Climb Like a Girl
She’s wearing yoga pants and a ponytail, clutching borrowed climbing shoes and a safety harness. She warily looks up Karen Rock at Moonstone Beach. Her palms are sweaty. As she watches a couple of shaggy-haired guys ascend the cliff, her stomach tightens. She’s so nervous. What she doesn’t realize is that she’s built for this.…
Get Climbing
Go: Moonstone Beach, Houda Point, Luffenholtz Beach and Patrick’s Point all have beginner climbing routes. They are all within a 20 minute drive from Arcata. Join: Roots to Rocks is a local women’s climbing group. They meet several times a week to train and travel to local climbing spots on the weekends. Female climbers of…
Shame on Mainstay
Editor: I finished reading “Mainstay Unraveled” (Dec. 8) with a sour taste in my mouth. Ms. Walters tastefully reported on a little discussed area of unemployment. As someone who was laid off three years ago and subsequently collected unemployment, I am appalled. I knew for six months it was coming and received all paid-time-off balances…
More Than One Way to Crack a Nut
Just as Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade marks the start of the holiday season in New York City, Dell’Arte’s holiday production begins Humboldt’s yuletide festivities. The Dell’Arte graduate students and faculty who create each original production bring fresh ideas to the notion of theater and dance and what exactly we are celebrating here as the year…
The Dirt
Chad Waters and Chip Baker wander around a sprawling complex behind the Murphy’s Market on Glendale Drive in Blue Lake. They point out a pile of compost, a plastic earthworm farm, a heap of coco fiber. Forklifts and loaders lumber past, puffing white exhaust in the crisp morning air. They are the microbrewers of soil,…
Touchdown Wal-Mart
The open secret of the new tenant at Bayshore Mall became more open and less secret last week as construction workers talked about the remodeling. “I don’t understand the secrecy. I’ve never seen it before,” said Jay Wright, an inspector for Fresno-based Moore Twining Co. “When I checked into the motel, I told the lady…
