Cover Story
Manure Maneuver
A herd of Holsteins, roused from their carefree ruminations, stand one by one and saunter up to the wire fence on the edge of a dirt road in the Arcata bottoms. The black-and-white cows whiff the air, bat their luxurious eyelashes and flick their ears, bouncing numbered yellow earrings. Their swiveling jaws creak quietly. …
Manny Machado Named KIEM News Director
From sports scores to news reports: Longtime KIEM Sports Director Manny Machado has been named the station’s next news director, filling the position last held by the polarizing Betsy Lambert. Station Manager Roy Frostenson announced Machado’s promotion to the station’s staff this afternoon. “I’m thrilled that Manny has agreed to take on the extra duties…
Wall Street Journal Goes After Blue Lake Biomass Plant
A story in today’s Wall Street Journal (dateline: BLUE LAKE, Calif.) offers a withering indictment of biomass energy plants, with Blue Lake’s own serving as exhibit A. The story opens on the “malodorous brown smoke” that billowed from the plant two years ago (Heidi Walters wrote about it shortly afterward) and goes on to suggest…
Naked Woman Snatched Off Redway Bridge Ledge
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office: On 07-23-2012, approximately 10:00 p.m. Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Deputies responded to a naked 19 year old female walking the middle of Briceland Road, Redway. The deputies could see the female had cuts on her legs and arms. There were two females following her attempting to stop…
State Parks Scandalpalooza
“Our parks are closing! Our parks are closing!” And so the terrible cry rose up from all of the would-be campers, nature-strollers, deer watchers, bird oglers and others drawn to our state parks. California was in deep deficit doo-doo, and 70 of our 278 parks had to close in order to save $22 million. Some…
And He Had a Funeral Wish
Or, at least, an early-on notion. In his book The Golden Age Is in Us: Journeys & Encounters 1987-1994 (published in 1996), Alexander Cockburn (who died Friday), starts with a short essay — written in 1987 after he went to a funeral in Key West — musing on possibilities for his own funeral (and on…
He Knew How To Live
Political writer and provocateur Alexander Cockburn, who lived in Petrolia since 1990, died Friday in Germany where he was undergoing cancer treatment. He was 71. He wrote for the Village Voice, The Nation and numerous other publications — including this paper, for which he wrote, among other things, a cover story on the Judi Bari…
Huh?
Editor: Ryan Burns’ article “Gasoline Kings” (July 5) is a prime example of the engineered decline of the American economy and the abolishment of the middle class. The left tends to blame corporations and THE right tends to blame government for our economic problems; the left and the right are the chipped wings of the…
Objections, Your Honor
Editor: In the judge’s order (“Judge Backs Caltrans on Richardson Grove,” Blog Jammin, July 12) he found that, “the STAA truck restriction is not (his emphasis) the most important constraint on business development in Humboldt County. And, it appears that lifting the restriction may only prevent further economic losses; it would not generate significant new…
Trails and Tribulations
Trails and Tribulations
Folk in the Cyber Age
I’ve never met Caitlin Jemma, never heard her play her music live, but I feel like I know her, like we’re somehow connected. Of course this connection is just a digital illusion — she is a young folksinger living and sharing her music in the cyber landscape. I discovered Caitlin, who lives in Arcata and…
Got It Down Cold
Reviews ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT. You might as well take the kids to see the fourth installment of the Ice Age series because they’re not going to stop making them. And why should they? These folks have the family movie thing down cold. The films look great, they have some heart, they’re witty and…
Déjà Rescue
The folks at Bird Ally X really like Jim Moore. The retired wildlife biologist knows animals, and he’s always willing to help. Also, he has a van. A big van — the better to transport sick pelicans with. And lately he’s been doing a lot of that. So much that the stubborn stench of smelt…
Romper Rodeo
Jenny Millsap hoisted her 3-year-old, 30-pound son Richie over the metal railing and lowered him into a corral at the Orick Rodeo. A burly cowboy grabbed him by the armpits and propped him astride an agitated sheep. A rope had been drawn around the sheep’s chest, and the two men who’d squeezed into the corral…
SoHum’s One Drop Fest Moves Forward
Another year, another Reggae on the River: Saturday and Sunday at Benbow Lake State Recreation Area south of Garberville the Mateel Community Center will host its 28th annual reggae and world music festival. This one’s another step in what the Mateel folks are calling “the continuing evolution of MCC’s grassroots reclamation of the great Reggae…
Woody’s Cabaret
Fledgling American small town writer Cliff Bradshaw (played by Charlie Heinberg) comes to Berlin in 1929, and falls into a relationship with British singer Sally Bowles (Elena Tessler), first seen in the infamous cabaret, the Kit Kat Club, where the androgynous Emcee (Kelsey MacIlvaine) presides over a carnival of decadence. Meanwhile, Bradshaw’s landlady (played by…
Death Waits
Perched in a fir tree Above the cemetery…
Diets for Losers?
If you’re considering going on a diet to lose weight, you may want to first check the latest evaluations from U.S. News and World Report. Every year, experts and readers of USNWR evaluate hundreds of diets, listing what they consider to be the top 25. The results are pretty depressing. According to the most…
Reserving a Lookout
Six Rivers National Forest as well as the other available lookouts in southwestern Oregon and Northern California use ReserveAmerica (www.reserveamerica.com) for bookings and payment. Some national forest lookouts can also be booked by phone at 1-877-444-6777 or online through www.recreation.gov. Reservations must be made at least one day in advance, and can be made up…
Deciphering Dronkers
Mike Dronkers shows you how the cool kids insult the boys of summer.
A Room with a View
What is it about fire lookouts that gives them such an aura of romanticism? The isolation? The simplicity? Gary Snyder, who spent a couple of summers as a fire spotter high above the upper Skagit River in the North Cascades, celebrated the ascetic nature of the lookout: “fewer the artifacts, less the words slowly…
Fight for Your Right-of-way
Editor: Here’s a thought on the recent railbanking discussions (“We Have a Plan,” June 28) and planning efforts: Between Arcata and Eureka, it’s likely that the Highway 101 corridor needs to rise considering future sea level rise. Caltrans, with great skill and foresight, is adept at planning 100-plus years ahead (just look at all the…
I Like to Keep Myself in Pain
Kelly Hogan is what one might call an active wallflower. Hogan is best known as a superb back-up vocalist for an impressive and long list of musical icons and indie heroes – including Mavis Staples, Alejandro Escovedo, Jon Langford and most importantly, her close friend, Neko Case. After an auto accident tragically killed two members…
Leading Where?
Editor: Chief Justice John Roberts did indeed show “leadership,” but in the wrong direction (“On Leadership,” July 5). Like Owen Roberts in 1937, he rescued the court from the charge of right-wing obstructionism. But see what he extracted in return: In denying that the health plan could be justified under the Commerce Clause, he undercut…
Greener
“Humboldt” and “green” are as synonymous as “Canada” and “white.” Our forests are lush and glorious, we famously elected the first majority Green Party city council (in Arcata) and, uh, there was another stereotype … well, it’ll come to me. Oh, maybe this was it: We dig on our environment! Need tangible, event-form proof?…
