Racing the Rise
Caltrans and the daunting timeline for protecting 101 from the impacts of climate change
Larry Freimark: 1957-2021
Larry Francis Freimark passed away from a heart attack on Aug. 25, 2021, at his home in Portland, Oregon. Larry was born in Iowa on March 16, 1957, the second child of Chester and Lois Tramner Freimark. Larry and his older sister, Theresa, were later joined by younger brother Dale. In 1971, when Larry was…
Public Health Confirms 24 New COVID-19 Cases, New Hospitalization
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 24 new COVID-19 cases today — making 116 so far this week — along with one new hospitalization. Today’s cases — which come on the heels of 204 confirmed last week — come after laboratories processed 133 samples with a test-positivity rate of 18 percent. After recording a test-positivity rate…
Clinton Dean Rebik:1966-2021
Clinton Dean Rebik was born on March 30, 1966, in Brawley, California, and passed away on November 4, 2021, in Eureka, California due to esophageal cancer. He grew up in Brawley and graduated in 1984 from Brawley Union High School. He moved to Arcata to attend Humboldt State University in the fall of 1984 and…
UPDATE: South Fork High, Miranda Junior High Closed Due to COVID-19
UPDATE: Southern Humboldt Unified School district officials have also closed Miranda Junior High starting today until after the Thanksgiving break due to an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. PREVIOUS: South Fork High School is closed for the remainder of the week due to a COVID-19 outbreak, with classes resuming after the Thanksgiving holiday break, according to a…
Public Health Confirms 32 New COVID-19 Cases
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 32 new COVID-19 cases today, along with one new hospitalization. Today’s cases — which make 92 so far this week and come on the heels of 204 confirmed last week — come after laboratories processed 102 samples with a test-positivity rate of 31.4 percent. After recording a test-positivity rate of…
Eureka Council to Consider Ward Maps, Implementing Ranked Choice Voting
The Eureka City Council is slated today to introduce an ordinance that will set the ball rolling on bringing a new system for electing representatives to serve behind the dais by next year’s general election. And, on another election front, the council will also have a public hearing on redrawing ward boundaries, which happens every…
Public Health Confirms 60 New COVID-19 Cases, One New Hospitalization
Humboldt County Public Health reported today that it has confirmed 60 new COVID-19 cases since Friday, with one new hospitalization. Today’s cases — which come on the heels of 204 confirmed last week — come after laboratories processed 464 samples with a test-positivity rate of 12.9 percent. After recording a test-positivity rate of 10.1 percent…
Humboldt Fentanyl Deaths Soar to 33
The Humboldt County Drug Task Force reports today that the county has seen 33 fentanyl-related overdose deaths to date this year, more than double the number in all of 2020, which stood at 11. In a news release, which emphasizes that individuals who sell the powerful opioid can be charged with murder, the drug task…
Most Californians say Economic Inequality is Getting Worse, New Survey Shows
Seven in 10 Californians say the gap between rich and poor is getting larger, according to a statewide survey released Tuesday. The survey, conducted last month by the nonpartisan think tank, Public Policy Institute of California, polled 2,292 adult Californians about their opinions on the state’s economic outlook, financial security, job security, among other topics.…
NCJ Preview: 101 Underwater, Watching Cops and Raising Turkeys
The looming threat of sea level rise is particularly scary along U.S. Highway 101. CalTrans and others are searching for solutions to the flooded future of Humboldt’s main transportation artery, and this week we’re talking about the options and obstacles for keeping the roadway above water. We’re also looking at Eureka’s move toward more robust…
HSU Honors Wiyot Tribe Naming Student Center ‘Gutswurrak’
Humboldt State University will be honoring the Wiyot Tribe by naming its activities center the Gutswurrak (pronounced “guts-wuh-dock”) Student Activities Center. Gutswurrak is the Wiyot word for “many people gather,” it recognizes the importance of the space while honoring its location on ancestral Wiyot land. “A request for the honor of such a naming was made…
45 New COVID Cases; Public Health to Offer Child Vaccination Clinics with Appointments Required
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 45 new cases today. Today’s cases — which make 204 so far this week on the heels of 118 confirmed last week — come after laboratories processed 312 samples. After recording a test-positivity rate of 10.1 percent in July — the highest for any month since the pandemic began —…
California’s State Auditor: ‘Speak the Truth to Power’
Gov. Gavin Newsom will soon get to make yet another appointment with far-reaching implications: Who should lead the independent agency tasked with evaluating the performance of his own administration? Elaine Howle — who has led the California State Auditor’s office for 21 years — announced last month that she plans to retire at the end…
Jan S. Ostrom: 1945-2021
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California Redistricting: Four Key Questions
It took weeks of long, late-night meetings full of wonky debate and digital line drawing — as well as a haiku and at least two songs as public comment. But Wednesday night, California’s independent redistricting commission reached a key milestone: Its first official maps are out. (Find an interactive map viewer here.) The citizen panel…
Beingdifferenttogether
you call me tree and I call you human I like that you are different from me we have names for each other and yet we hardly know each other I like that you are different from me we need one another and yet we…
Racing the Rise
Anyone who has ever driven south on U.S. Highway 101 between Arcata and Eureka during a storm at high tide can’t help but notice how close the water comes to the highway. Sea level rise, which scientists assure us is now inevitable, will only make things worse. The only questions are how much worse and…
Policing the Police
With little fanfare, the Eureka City Council voted unanimously Nov. 2 to move forward with what, if finalized, will become the most robust police oversight policy in Humboldt County. The council directed staff to issue a request for proposals (RFP) to hire an independent police auditor to work with the city’s re-christened Citizens Accountability Board…
Slow Turkey
As word of a rising prices and a potential turkey shortage spreads, some cooks planning Thanksgiving dinner are snapping up stone-frozen birds or planning alternative centerpieces for the meal. According to the New York Times, the cost of some whole turkeys has already jumped 25 cents per pound. At Tule Fog Farm in the Arcata…
Arts Arcata
Arts Arcata is Arcata Main Street’s monthly celebration of visual and performing arts, held at locations in Arcata. Visit www.arcatamainstreet.com, Arts! Arcata on Facebook, or call (707) 822-4500 for more information. ARCATA ARTISANS GALLERY 883 H St. Kurt Hellmich, woodwork. ARCATA GALLERY 1063 H St. New gallery grand opening featuring a diverse collection of artists…
Our Affordable Housing Neighbors are the Best
As my husband and I walked over to the boardwalk, a man standing on the balcony of a building opposite our Old Town apartment called over to us. “Who’s that?” I asked. “His name is Jim,” Barry said. “I think he runs the building.” Since 2000, Jim Wolters, 63, has been the manager of the…
Gardening as a Moral Conundrum
Who’s the dimwit who promulgated the idea of gardening as some kind of idyllic activity that will connect us to our loving, nurturing, higher selves? Surely, this person never put spade to earth, nor hand to weed. The truth is, gardening is fraught with moral ambiguity. With no more training in ethics than their own…
Plenty and Full
In a typical year, the sport crab season can go one of two ways. If the crabs are plentiful, the meat content is usually on the lighter side. If there are fewer crabs around, they are typically fuller and in better shape. This is all due to their food source — more crabs means smaller…
The Hand You’re Dealt
THE HARDER THEY FALL. The Western, uniquely American in that it distills and blends far-flung influences into something distinctly flavored by its struggles and settings, is a most stubborn genre. It refuses to die but, by and large, it also refuses to adapt or evolve. There has been potential, since the earliest days, for Western…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): For much of her life, Aries poet Mary Ruefle enjoyed imagining that polar bears and penguins “grew up together playing side by side on the ice, sharing the same vista, bits of blubber, and innocent lore.” But one day, her illusions were shattered. In a science journal, she discovered that there…
‘Weep for the Forest’
Editor: I am, of course, delighted that our local news reporters and a few dozen citizens could find a moment of joy in seeing Sugar Bear lying dead, prone on the bed of a big fuel consumptive truck (Calendar, Oct. 28). And I weep for the forest. Why would we give a cutesy name to…
Shall we Dance?
Editor: The Nov. 4 North Coast Journal edition had a much-needed, informative and scary article about the nuclear power plant (“Dancing on the Hum Nuke’s Grave is Strictly Prohibited”). J.A. Savage does an excellent job of telling us what has been done and what needs to be done. The ending of the article should be an…
Seeing Sea Stars
My superpower is that I can fly. So I fly around identifying washed-up sea creatures for arguing beachgoers. I am called Flydentifier. For example, I once swooped in on a bickering honeymoon couple. He still wore his tuxedo and she was in her gown carrying her fancy shoes. He said, “It’s a goddamn STARFISH!” And…
