Cover Story
Probing Pot
Ten years ago, the premise for a marijuana institute would have been laughed off of even Humboldt State University’s fertile and notoriously weed-friendly campus. Even one year ago, despite changing political climes and the increasing call for daylight on the North Coast’s shady marijuana industry, the academic minds who created the institute were unsure if…
A Kate Wolf Festival Surprise
If you haven’t made it all the way through your Christmas list yet, then oh boy, does the Internet have a surprise for you! The sneak-peak line-up for the Kate Wolf Festival is out and advanced tickets are on sale. Generally, this is good news all around. But wait; there’s more. In his normal, neat-o-cameo…
Silks and the Cold
Leslie Castellano had a big weekend with a couple of aerial performances, the beautiful silk art form she teaches at Synapsis. This photo is from a party in the Synapsis studio/workshop on West 3rd, not far from the Eureka Co-op. It’s not exactly what you might call a “good” part of town, and we ended up…
From the Hum: Tonight! Steve Poltz, legendary music, all-round cool guy
And here’s yet another excellent show brought to us by the indefatigable Chris Parreira. This time it’s Southern California’s Steve Poltz, long beloved as both a solo artist and with cult legends the Rugburns, playing with the one, the only, John Ludington, perhaps Humboldt County’s most unique songwriter and always endearing performer. (Also in Absynth…
Huffman Drops Some Knowledge on Climate-Change Deniers
Oh (cold) snap! Our U.S. Congressman, Jared Huffman, took to the House floor today to debunk the oft-mocked Fox News canard about climate change — that global warming can’t be true because look! Snow! The Huff’s counterpoint? “The fact that it’s snowing simply means that it’s snowing.” Mic-drop speech below:
Here’s What Saturday’s Snowball Drop in Eureka Looked Like
Some folks in Eureka saw flakes of the real deal drift to the ground Saturday, but just try redeeming one of those things for a shopping discount. Photographer Mark Larson was on hand at the Old Town Gazebo and snapped these fantastic shots of parents and kids catching “snowballs” [They’re ping-pong balls -Ed] that had…
Chet Albin Will Be Eureka’s Next Councilmember
Looks like Eureka’s next councilmember will be the ward-hopping, party-switching, Tea Party-liking, Fox News-watching “Democrat” Chet Albin, who is set to replace ailing 5th Ward representative Lance Madsen. Here’s the press release: Mayor Frank Jäger announced today that he is recommending Chet Albin for appointment to the Eureka City Council, 5th Ward. The appointment will be…
From the Hum: Your Sunday, Monday fun days guide
Tonight, Portland’s “little orchestra” Pink Martini returns with what bandleader Thomas Lauderdale calls another “rollicking around-the-world musical adventure.” The multilingual über-hip ensemble is part romantic Hollywood film, part musical archeologist and part red-hot samba parade, wildly diverse yet magically exhilarating. Tickets are $55 general and $25 HSU students. The whole shebang gets going at the…
UPDATE: Death in Residential Structure Fire in Arcata
UPDATE: The Times-Standard is reporting that the fire claimed the life of Arcata Resident Stephen McGeary. At approximately 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 6 a cacophony of sirens could be heard moving through Arcata to South H Street, toward a billowing plume of smoke. At least six fire engines were present at the scene, with the sound of…
From the Hum: Mike Dillon frees minds at the Jam, other fun stuff!
Tonight offers a show sure to please fans of good music and excellent entertainment when Mike Dillon brings his high-octane performance and unorthodox percussion rig to the Jambalaya. After emerging in the late 1980s as the first vibraphonist and vocalist to lead a rock/funk band, Dillon went on to work with artists as diverse as…
Humboldt Baykeeper Hits Rough Waters
Faced with a mounting fiscal crisis, local environmental nonprofit Humboldt Baykeeper is in the process of dramatically downsizing its organization. The office staff was reportedly laid off recently, and this week Executive Director Jessica Hall learned that she, too, is being laid off. Only Policy Director Jennifer Kalt, whose position has been reduced to part-time,…
Cold Enough For Ya?
It’s been cold this week, but now there’s water coming from the sky. So, yeah, snow. There are reports of flakes falling in Fortuna, and it’s sticking at highway summits and other high elevations around the county. After tonight’s coastal freezing rain, temperatures are expected to drop into the 20s over the weekend. Keep updated…
Dropping Off Unwanted Babies OK, Plastic Bags Not OK in Arcata
The Arcata Fire Protection District will soon be accepting anonymously surrendered babies. The City Council on Wednesday voted unanimously to authorize the district’s three local fire stations for safe surrender. “It’s incredibly timely that we can step forward and offer a service to the public.” said Fire Chief Desmond Cowan. Created in 2001 and made permanent…
Pot POWs
When a mega-grow gets busted in Humboldt County, it makes a splash in local media — photos of lush greenhouses, irrigation pipes and bricks of processed weed, plus names and numbers (money, pounds, plants) that read like sports stats. What we don’t see are the repercussions of those busts, what becomes of the growers after…
Stage Left
Hang on to your ideologies, people — Naomi Klein is coming. The bestselling author, anti-globalization activist and all-around international liberal powerhouse is guaranteed to take your coffeehouse and dinner table debates to the next level. If you’ve read her articles in The Nation or seen footage of her speaking to the masses at the Occupy…
But Deep-fried!
Editor: Deep-fried Oreo cookies! (“Bar Food Crawl,” Nov. 28). OMG, and here I’ve been wasting my time at the Logger Bar eating things like chanterelle quiche and abalone! Frank Onstine, Blue Lake
Ghosts
Your voice is solid silver and it shines and draws me in. I remember numb toes wood stove crackling logs canvas tent hot dogs in tortillas home-brewed beer frozen night with a storm outside. We kept ourselves alive telling stories, poems, fighting off the cold and the dark with our light, as if by casting…
Be Curious
Editor: To the provincial, stilted, stunted and unimaginative Luddite critics of Barry Evans’ science column in the North Coast Journal, I say: Curiosity is inherent in life itself, and the exciting world we live in is all alive. Sometimes Barry’s column is as dry as a cracker and other times it is juicy as a…
Go ‘Like’ the Journal’s Facebook Page
Editor: After reading McGuinty’s response to “Caring Co-Worker” (“Hey McGuinty,” Nov. 21) I found myself looking for the ‘like’ button. Then I realized that I had the paper in front of me. Virg Jimenez, Arcata
More Doctor Woes
Editor: I read with interest the article “Come Hither, Dear Doc” (Nov. 7). Just one week earlier, St. Joseph Health System decided not to renew the contract with the emergency doctors. The group had a combined time of over 100 years here in Humboldt County. At a time when the pool of doctors is becoming…
Early Christmas
Hope you enjoyed last week’s bit of a break, dear readers, because we’re barreling down full bore into the holidays now and your things-to-do-places-to-go-people-to-see list isn’t getting any shorter. The good news is there’s a lot of good news, at least when the news is about the fine, fine selection of musical geniuses vying for…
Luminous Muses
Demetri Mitsanas’ new collection of paintings started as utter garbage. After his daughter gave him some strange bottles found in a Berkeley dumpster, he composed them, painted them with vibrant Mediterranean shades and fell in love with all of the possible compositions. Gold leaf and saturated hues may hide the humble beginnings of these paintings,…
First Saturday Night Arts Alive!
Presented by Eureka Main Street. Opening receptions for artists, exhibits and/or performances are held the first Saturday of each month. Phone Eureka Main Street at 442-9054 or go to www.eurekamainstreet.org for more information or to have an exhibit or performance included. A. GALLERY GARAGE Ninth and F streets. “Noche Humanos,” Kelly Myers, mini book signing.…
Jingle Toes
Winter comforts lean toward familiarity: eggnog, dreidels and twinkling lights. Likewise, dance companies try to find that one show that will bring audiences back to the theater year after year. The Nutcracker is perhaps America’s most famous ballet for just this reason — Tchaikovsky’s stirring themes lend equally to theatrical plot and artistic grandeur. Through…
To Leave or Not to Leave?
Fall leaf raking seems like such a straightforward task — rake the leaves, stuff a few down the back of someone’s shirt, get chased around the garden and end up dirty and sweating with a large pile to take to the green waste or the compost bin. Fun and done, right? But every year I…
On the Ridge
Sunny Brae residents Natalia Collier and Adam Brown know this trail. Up Buttermilk Lane, past the middle school and left onto Margaret, where a large army-green water tank marks the trailhead and a concrete staircase on the right rises into the Sunny Brae portion of the Arcata Community Forest. Collier, Brown and their dog Casey…
Game On
There will be blood. Don’t think that just because you didn’t shoot the beast yourself you don’t have to deal with it. The blood will leak through the plastic wrap and butcher paper, making your kitchen look like a crime scene. It will puddle and congeal at the bottom of your refrigerator. The hunter in…
Holiday Gift Guide
More of the best gifts you’ll find in Humboldt County (or beyond!). Click to read.
Fortuna’s First Friday
Find art, music and fun in downtown Fortuna on the first Friday of every month, 6-9 p.m. Call for participants: Artists interested in showing work should contact fortunadowntown@sbcgobal.net. BODY WORKS FITNESS CENTER 1156 Main St. Free fitness day! Come in and celebrate the arts in Fortuna. COUNTRY ROSE 1137 Main St. Ken Tucker, Jr., pencil…
All is Not Lost
Reviews ALL IS LOST. Robert Redford doesn’t have anything to prove. He made his bones in the business nearly half a century ago and, a few minor artistic missteps aside, has earned the right to just hang out in Utah — maybe attend the occasional film festival that he created. I certainly wouldn’t ask him…
Accountable
At 11:14 p.m. this past election night, Carolyn Crnich, the county clerk and registrar of voters, released her office’s “Election Night Final Report.” This report tallied the results from most — but not all — of the ballots cast, which was intriguing because one election in particular was a real nail-biter. In the race for…
Light ‘Em Up
Living among the redwoods, it’s not often we’re impressed by a “big” Christmas tree. (Yes, Rockefeller Center, your tree is very big. Yawn.) But a tree lighting is another thing altogether. If you’ve ever wrestled with a tangle of lights or risked electrical shock while struggling to fix a strand that just won’t turn on,…
