Murder in Arcata
The story of a Native American woman who — marginalized, blind and alone — faced death to save her children
Cover Story
Murder in Arcata
It was January of 1862 and Arcata’s last adult Native American resident, Lucy Romero, had been told her life was in danger but she and her children had nowhere to go. Indians in the mountains were being hunted like animals and those sent to the reservations risked starvation. Women faced the threat of rape and…
Murder Arrest in Cold Case
Humboldt County Sheriff’s investigators made an arrest this morning in an eight-year-old homicide case, taking Jared Damien Boyce, 27, of Fortuna, into custody on suspicion of murdering his mother-in-law, Stephanie Lee Fowler, whose remains were found in 2009 in a burned out structure in Loleta. Fowler, a 34-year-old mother of six, was reported missing in…
So Long, Singleton? Gov. Brown Approves ADA Capital Access Loan Program
Local businesses looking to avoid litigation and make their facilities more ADA accessible may soon have access to some extra cash. Gov. Jerry Brown just approved Assembly Bill 1230, creating the California Americans with Disabilities Capital Access Loan Program. The bill transfers $10 million from the State’s general fund to provide affordable construction loans to…
Death on Newton B. Drury Parkway Brings Humboldt 2015 Road Deaths to 25
The death of a Klamath man at noon yesterday brings the grim total of road deaths in the county up to 25 for 2015. The driver, an 89-year-old man who has yet to be identified, was traveling northbound along the Newton B. Drury Parkway when he left the road and collided with a tree. The…
Meow, Baby
Rowr. On Saturday, Oct. 10, the Arcata Theatre Lounge turned into a bit of a cat house as the Alley Cat Cabaret & Purrlesque slinked onstage to raise money for the Companion Animal Foundation. Photographer Alexander Woodard was on hand (paw?) to capture the feline frivolity. The evening featured more kittenish kitsch from locals Blue…
Scenes from the ‘Right to Sleep’ Protest
If you drove by the Humboldt County Courthouse on Saturday and had flashbacks of Occupy, it’s understandable. A few dozen people turned out Saturday for World Homeless Day, an international day of demonstration aimed at highlighting the needs of those living without homes, with some protesters pitching tents and hammocks to help make their point.…
The Reluctant Cyclist, Part 7 – Good Excuses, A New Commute
Friday, Sept. 4. That was the last day I rode my bike. As of this writing, 38 days have passed – in fact, the poor, neglected piece of machinery still sits locked to an inside bike rack in an office building in which I no longer work. I really do need to pick it up.…
HumBug:Waiting for Rain
No one needs to tell us 2015 has been a dry year so far. Brown lawns, crops under stress, wild fire dangers all reveal our lack of recent rainfall. There is another group of organisms under stress as well. Although probably not high on any homeowner’s endangered species list, termites are facing a problem. Throughout a…
Anti-Vax Measure Won’t See the Ballot
Efforts to repeal California’s new mandatory vaccination law have failed. Signed into law in June by Gov. Jerry Brown, the new law requires that all children be vaccinated for a variety of infectious diseases before attending school, closing a long-standing exemption for families that opted not to vaccinate due to religious or personal beliefs. The…
New Law Says Gold Dredgers Need Clean Water Permits
Local tribes, environmentalists and fishing groups are applauding a bill signed today by Gov. Jerry Brown that will require recreational gold miners to obtain Clean Water Act permits before using dredges and other techniques to search for the precious metal in California rivers. There’s been a moratorium on suction dredge mining since 2009, though loopholes…
Salmon on a Stick
The Clarke Museum is hosting two fun events this Saturday, Oct. 10. From noon until 3 p.m., enjoy Archaeology and Cultural Awareness Day, a free day at the museum as part of Archaeology Month. Join the Clarke Museum, California State Parks, Redwood National Park, and the Humboldt State University Anthropology Club for demonstrations on local Native American basket weaving, flint knapping and more. People of all ages can participate in make-and-take art…
Brown OKs Pot Laws
Been holding your breath? Go ahead, exhale, Gov. Jerry Brown has signed those medical marijuana bills. The trio, introduced by State Sen. Mike McGuire and assemblymen Jim Wood and Rob Bonta — and then tinkered with by staff from the offices of many other lawmakers and Brown himself — introduce wide-ranging regulations to the state’s…
Measure Z Funding for Eureka Aims to “Restore Hope”
The city of Eureka has been approved for $400,000 in Measure Z funding to address homelessness, as part of a project titled “Operation Restore Hope.” The majority of the money, $242,000, will go toward funding positions for two police officers to work with the county’s Mobile Intervention and Services Team. MIST is a collaboration between…
Frisky Business
What good is sitting alone in your room? There are kitties to spay! Life is a cabaret, old chum. Come to the cabaret. The Alley Cat Cabaret & Purrlesque at the Arcata Theatre Lounge Oct. 10 at 8 p.m. ($25-100) is a fundraiser for Companion Animal Foundation (a local nonprofit that provides spay/neuter assistance and…
Humboldt County Releases a Draft Marijuana Cultivation Ordinance
Just weeks after the board of supervisors agreed to take on the creation of an outdoor medical marijuana cultivation ordinance, county staff has released a detailed draft ordinance that would create a strict permitting plan for the county’s cannabis cultivators. It’s a remarkably fast turnaround for a staff that shared concerns that it would be…
Whole Lotta Scarin’ Goin’ On
You might as well move into the Arcata Theatre Lounge this week because shinema’s getting reel. Iron out a few fivers and kick off the Halloween season. First up is The Shining, playing Oct. 9 at 8 p.m. ($5). Recovering alcoholic writer Jack Torrance hits the winding road with his neurotic wife and psychic son…
Exceeding Expectations
Editor: Superb article on the Harbor Bay Commission (“Safe Harbor,” Oct. 1) — thorough and balanced. Some hesitancies were expressed in the beginning, but the overall content was a paean to an ambitious, successful, hard-charging approach to dealing with the multiple challenges of an agency that had previously been a moribund, failing anachronism. Of course…
Zone Protection
Editor: It was with great interest that I read the Grant Scott-Goforth article “Eureka Stinks” (Sept. 17) concerning shrimp processing odors from Pacific Choice Seafood, Eureka’s largest seafood processor. While it may seem to many that this article’s only concern was “the odor,” what’s really important about Grant’s reporting concerns waterfront zoning. Pacific Choice is…
Bay Battle
About a decade ago, the makeup of the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District began to change. Since its inception as the manager of Humboldt Bay and its tidelands in 1973, the various iterations of the district’s board had largely envisioned Humboldt Bay as a working harbor; with fishing and shipping as its primary…
These Old Barroom Blues
If you want to be convinced that it’s worthwhile to spend a lot of time lovingly working on your band’s album, artwork, liner notes and everything else that goes into creating a work of art for the world, there’s not a lot of reassurance out there. Revenue from streaming music has overtaken the sale of…
Different Desires
I have a handful of related questions to answer this week. One reader asked how she might improve the sexual relationship she has with her spouse, whom she adores but who has a lower level of sexual interest. Another woman in a similar situation wrote me to ask about navigating the non-exclusive sexual relationship she’d…
The World on a Plate
When I plan a dinner with guests, I include at least one dish that I have made several times and one that is experimental so I can gather reviews. But once we get to dessert, there is no surprise: a couple of flavors of homemade ice cream and a crostata. Crostata is popular throughout Italy;…
Please, Jerry, Please
It’s been nearly a month since California’s yearly legislative session closed, and the tenor then was all backslaps and high-fives for the state lawmakers who had spent months crafting medical marijuana laws. Three bills, one each from State Sen. Mike McGuire and assemblymen Jim Wood and Rob Bonta, had been torn apart and pasted back…
A Little Enlightenment
This week Illustrators 57, a survey exhibition of contemporary illustration art, comes to Humboldt State University’s Reese Bullen Gallery in Arcata. Organized by the Society of Illustrators to commemorate its annual juried exhibition’s 57th renewal, the traveling show consists of 40 artworks selected from among the nearly 500 in the original exhibition held earlier this year…
Second Friday Arts! Arcata
Arts! Arcata is Arcata Main Street’s monthly celebration of visual and performing arts, held at various locations throughout Arcata. Visit www.facebook.com/artsarcata for more information about the event or call 822-4500. ARCATA ARTISANS 883 H St. Jim Lowry, photography; Candy Miller, polymer clay; Kris Patzlaff, small metals artist and jeweler. ARCATA CORE PILATES 977 Eighth St.,…
No Contest
If you’d been on the streets of London, Paris or New York in the late 1880s, you’d have seen two types of bicycle: the “Ordinary,” or penny-farthing, and the “Safety.” By 1895, the Ordinary had virtually disappeared and the Safety, looking very much like the regular “diamond frame” bike you see around town today, was…
Harsh Landscapes
Reviews SICARIO has long gleamed darkly on the horizon, a morbid star promising hope. I’ve navigated the movie lineups by it, through the doldrums of studio slough-offs and intermittent indie disappointments. Against my better judgment, I charged this movie with whatever excitement the year’s worst movies hadn’t yet ground out of me. And I wasn’t…
A Walk on the Dark Side
Many of us have been pressed into sedate suits and neutral colors by day jobs or a misplaced sense of propriety as we age, but if you’ve been squashing down your inner goth, Halloween’s the perfect time to indulge that irresistible pull toward everything dark, black and a little bit creepy — especially in the…
Vote!
Editor: I encourage you to support Pat Higgins for Humboldt Bay Harbor Commissioner. He has demonstrated his passion for protection and development of our Bay. Humboldt Bay is the heart of Humboldt and our collective, greatest resource. Pat has worked with the Harbor Commission to assure its financial solvency, expand aquaculture, promote trail expansion and…
