‘Mission, Values, Vision’
Leaked text messages and an ensuing investigation reveal a toxic culture in at least one unit at EPD
True North COVID-19 Vaccine Fair Sunday
True North Organizing Network and Humboldt County Public Health are hosting a family COVID-19 vaccine fair this Sunday, June 13, at College of the Redwoods that will feature free tacos, music, face painting, a gas card raffle for those getting vaccinated and Spanish speaking volunteers available to help Hispanic community members. The goal of the…
North Coast Night Lights: Eclipse of the Super Flower Moon
The full moon of May, called the flower moon, was a real doozy: it was a super moon, an eclipse, and a blood moon — the first Super Blood Flower Moon into which I can ever remember having tuned. So how does it come by all of those monikers? The moon’s orbit around Earth is…
Public Health Reports 17 New COVID-19 Cases, Almost Half of Eligible Residents Now Fully Vaccinated
Humboldt County Public Health reported 17 new COVID-19 cases today after laboratories processed 293 samples with a test-positivity rate of 5.8 percent. According to a state database, six people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 locally, including one under intensive care. Yesterday, the county Joint Information Center noted that of those who have fallen critically ill…
Photos: Redwood Sky Walk Grand Opening
Beginning with a traditional Wiyot blessing by former Tribal Chair Cheryl Seidner and ending with the red ribbon cutting by Eureka Mayor Susan Seaman, the weekend-long grand opening of the Redwood Sky Walk began last Friday morning under the redwoods on the newly paved path at the Sequoia Park Zoo. Over a decade long in…
Will California Public Schools Continue Free Lunches for All?
Early in the pandemic, the only source of milk for some struggling families was from school lunches, recalls Stacy Johnson, director of nutrition services at Glendora Unified School District. Even for families who weren’t as strained financially — or for families of picky eaters — getting meals during lockdown was something to get excited about:…
Public Health Confirms Nine New COVID-19 Cases, County Stays in Orange Tier
Humboldt County Public Health reported nine new COVID-19 cases today, as well as two new hospitalizations. “Since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of 192 people have been hospitalized and 46 local residents have died,” a press release states. “None of them were vaccinated.” Today’s cases were reported after laboratories processed 162 samples with…
HumCo Records 46th COVID Death, 29 New Cases Since Friday
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed the county’s 46th COVID-19-related death today and 29 new cases since Friday. The resident who died was in their 50s. Public Health also reported that a positive COVID-19 case was removed from the local case count after it was determined to be from another jurisdiction and removed a previously reported hospitalization…
Photos: Paddle Out for Justice
On Sunday, June 6, some 50 people gathered on the Samoa Peninsula, on un-ceded Wiyot land called Twaya’t, for the second Paddle Out for Justice. Event Organizer Melissa Meiris started off the roster of speakers who addressed the crowd on the beach, discussing social justice issues ranging from families separated at the U.S-Mexico border, racism,…
NCJ Preview
With a new batch of ugly messages between members of a Eureka police unit revealing a culture of misogyny and cruel and violent attitudes toward homeless and mentally ill people, the department faces a reckoning. We’ll go over how the police officers’ extensive workplace protections affect the impact and secrecy of that reckoning. And Eureka…
RLL and Francis Vanek at WCA
Bring your chairs and blankets and get comfy on the grass for live music with RLL and Francis Vanek on Sunday, June 6 at 2 p.m. at Westhaven Center for the Arts ($10-$20 sliding). Tim Randles, Mike LaBolle and Kenneth Lawrence are joined by saxophonist Francis Vanek for this afternoon concert of feel good jazz standards,…
Free COVID-19 Rapid Testing Kits Available
Humboldt County Public Health announced this afternoon that organizations and businesses will be eligible to receive COVID-19 rapid antigen tests at no cost through California’s Testing Task Force. According to the TTF, antigen tests, which give results within 15 to 30 minutes, are most useful for routine testing of a workplace, entry into a gathering…
HumCo Records 45th COVID Death, 17 New Cases.
For the second consecutive day, Public Health has reported that a Humboldt County resident has died with COVID-19, making 45 to date through the pandemic. The resident was in their 60s, Public Health reported, while also confirming 17 new cases of the virus were confirmed after laboratories processed 269 samples with a test-positivity rate of…
Resolution Care Sells to Healthcare Tech Company in Merger that Could Lead to National Expansion
Resolution Care, Humboldt County’s groundbreaking palliative care company, has been sold to Vynca, an advanced care planning technology company, in a merger that Resolution Care founder Michael Fratkin hopes will ultimately allow for a national expansion of the patient-centered care the company has prided itself on providing. Founded in 2014, Resolution Care’s palliative care teams…
HLOC’s Boomer Troupe Presents The Year That Was!
OK, Boomers! HLOC’s Boomer Troupe is back with another original production. The Year That Was! streams Saturday and Sunday, June 5-6 at 2 p.m. on YouTube Live ($10). Through personal narrative and music, the cast shares what they’ve learned as they tackled the challenges of 2020. This spirited production is a fundraiser for HLOC’s SPACE…
Supes Approve Investigation of Auditor-Controller Allegations
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1, with Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone dissenting, to hire an independent, third-party to investigate allegations of workplace misconduct and delayed payments by the Auditor-Controller’s Office. The closed session vote this afternoon came as the board met to conference with legal counsel regarding anticipated litigation or significant exposure…
HumCo Records 44th COVID-related Death, 14 New Cases
Humboldt County has recorded its 44th COVID-19 related death, Public Health confirmed today, while also reporting 14 new cases of the virus and one new hospitalization. The the local resident who died was in their 70s, according to Public Health. Today’s cases were reported after laboratories processed 185 samples with a test-positivity rate of 7.6 percent.…
Crabs Tickets on Sale Now, Stock Car Races at Redwood Acres
Take us out to the ballgame. Please! Our Humboldt Crabs return to host the Lincoln Potters for a three-game series that kicks off Friday, June 4 at Arcata Ball Park. While Friday’s game is totally sold out and bleacher seats are sold out for the remaining two games, there are still (pod) spots on the grass…
To See or Not to See
Editor: Even Paul Bunyan with his Blue Ox — in gigantic effigy, were not much of a distraction for us on our occasional drives north of Trinidad, up winding, wonderful “101.” My family and I generally avoid most tourist traps. That all changed suddenly a couple of years ago when I discovered that the ‘Monstrament’…
‘To Heart’
Editor: If one good thing came out of the soul-searing decision on the Terra-Gen wind project, it was that consulting early and often with Humboldt’s smart and finicky public can make or break a development. Nordic Aquafarms appears to have taken this to heart last week when it voluntarily opted to pursue a full environmental…
On Memorial Day
Editor: This Memorial Day we remember all who have died in war and understand that no one wins in war. Many of us have been personally touched by war. But we must also extend that mourning. We must remember the civilian victims, and their families, who are all equally human beings. Honoring and remembering some…
Trucks on the Patio
Some pig Opening the county’s first cannabis consumption lounge without food would have been an opportunity missed. And so the upscale Pig and Leaf truck is installed at Papa & Barkley Social’s patio (4325 Broadway, Eureka), complete with heat lamps and fire pits, on the site of the old Kmart that, I’m told, opened with…
Trinidad, Crescent City Kicking Out Limits of Rockfish
The rockfish bite continues to be red-hot out of Trinidad and Crescent City. Both ports have quick access to the rockfish grounds, making it much easier to be on the water even when the ocean is a little snotty. And the fishing has been phenomenal. Limits have been pretty easy to come by. In Trinidad,…
Arts Alive!
Eureka Main Street is excited to relaunch First Saturday Night Arts Alive beginning July 3. While not all businesses will be participating right away, many are anxious to pick up where we left off in March 2020. Therefore, on June 5 we have a small sampling of what you have been missing. Please remember to…
Back to the Big Screen
REVIEWS I certainly didn’t plan for it but I wasn’t alone: Apparently something in the collective consciousness motivated great droves of us in the same direction. Maybe the denial/resignation I observed setting in six months ago has finally become as contagious as the virus that was and is its subject. Vaccination and the promise of…
Mad River Scramble
Despite being 10 years apart in age and opposites in many ways, my sister and I are very close. On past vacations, my pile of rusty, muddy camping gear would sit in one corner, smelling questionable, while her pile was in the other corner, her pink sunglasses and pink bathing suit smelling like perfume from…
Enough
We’ve seen enough — enough to know that Eureka Police Department Sgt. Rodrigo Reyna-Sanchez and officer Mark Meftah have no business wearing a badge and holstering a gun; enough to to know there’s a cancerously toxic culture in at least one of EPD’s units; enough to know the trust has been irrevocably broken. Now, we’re…
How They Got Here: Round the Horn
Last time, we looked at how about one-third of the estimated 300,000 “forty-niner” gold-seekers arrived in California via the Isthmus of Panama (“How They Got Here: Panama,” May 20). This time, we’ll look at the history of the other main sea route from the east (the U.S. East Coast and Europe): the stormy passage around…
GET VACCINATED!
COVID-19 vaccines are now widely available and are beginning to bring about an end to this year-long pandemic. We are fortunate to have a generous supply of vaccines here in the United States and I encourage everyone to take advantage of this. If you have not been vaccinated yet, go for it! Any minor side…
Could It Be
Why don’t the words come When they came so readily before? Beauty, the stuff of poetry, is still here The birds call and squabble at the feeders The flowers bloom and go to seed The wind whispers in the tree And the fog lounges lazily on the distant ridge As the sun creeps shyly through…
‘An Opportunity’
Editor: The pandemic has changed our relationship to each other, and our social and economic spaces (NCJ Daily, May 27). Many people have found a way to work from home, which leaves a lot of business real estate empty. The Bayshore Mall recently went into foreclosure, a trend seen across America, with over half of…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “There is ecstasy in paying attention,” writes Aries author Anne Lamott. That’s always true for everyone, but it’s extra true for you Aries people. And it will be extra ultra especially true for you during the next 20 days. I hope you will dedicate yourself to celebrating and upgrading your perceptual…
On Hate Speech
Editor: One would hope that the NCJ would be as proactive against anti-Semitic hate precipitated by the Middle East conflict as they were during the anti-Asian rhetoric and assaults in Georgia. You printed one of my letters, and one of your own staff members weighed in with an article in support of Asian Americans (“The…
‘Ironic’
Editor: Evidence of a drought in the immediate future has been plentiful (“Forewarned but Still Not Ready,” May 27). That the North Coast is lucky to be wetter than most of California has made for some complacent behavior. The once “mighty” Eel River has been getting sucked nearly dry pretty much annually due to diversions…
‘Mission, Values, Vision’
On March 16, 2018, Eureka Police Chief Steve Watson, then just six months into the job, sent a memo to all department personnel with the subject line: “Mission, values, vision and goals for EPD.” “As we work together to move the Eureka Police Department forward in a positive direction for 2018 and beyond, it is…
Offshore Wind Gusts Forward
After years of anticipation, the prospect of creating a floating wind farm off the coast of Humboldt County, generating clean energy and economic growth, took a significant step forward last week. Gov. Gavin Newsom joined Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and other federal officials to announce an agreement that will allow for the Department of the…
‘My Hat is Off’
Editor: Congratulations on the CNPA first place award for coverage of youth and education, as well as the second place award for Jonathon Webster’s infographic, “The Cost of Childhood Trauma.” (“Winning While Losing,” May 27.) Iridian Casarez’ Oct. 1 article, “Reaching for Resilience,” was an insightful work, weaving crucial elements on health antecedents, the Humboldt experience…
‘An Ignominious Strikeout’
Editor: The NCJ has always impressed me with your progressive political and cultural style of journalism. When you nabbed the big one: first place prize for coverage of the COVID pandemic, well, that was a monumental homerun. However, your full-page ads for that tobacco company — an ignominious strikeout. And it was not lucky at…
