Reform!?
Two opposing local viewpoints on health care reform.
Cover Story
Reform!?
Alan Sanborn: Strong government intervention is absolutely possible and morally imperative (link to story) Ron Ross: Coy politics and untested economic theory should doom the public option (link to story)
Hauser Anti-Endorsed
To the Editor: This letter is written at the request of City of Arcata OE3 Union members. We are extremely disappointed that those of us with the most recent day-to-day work place interactions with Mr. Hauser were not heeded when fellow Union representatives decided to endorse Dan Hauser for Humboldt Bay Harbor District Commissioner. City…
A Hobbit Con?
Oh dear, we missed Bilbo and Frodo’s birthday! That was two days ago. Nobody around here went barefoot. Nobody spent too long in the bathroom reading. But, intuitively, at least one of us did have a second breakfast! Sure as heck didn’t go and re-read “The Hobbit” like some guy named Stephen, who in a…
Booing Salmon
Zeke Grader of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Associations submitted himself to a virtual lynching on the Sean Hannity show last week, as the host broadcast live in front of a mob of Central Valley farmers. Grader gave as good as he got, but guess what? Everyone lost.
Attack of the Copepods
Hardcore! Photo by Alessandro Catenazzi From National Geographic News comes this: Once the parasitic crustaceans enter the gills of a tadpole victim, they feed off the tadpole’s tissues until male and female parasites mate. The male dies soon after. Meanwhile the fertilized female bores her way partially out of the tadpole. Yes, and then the…
New Ferndalian Blog
New Ferndalian Blog: The Ferndale Sloth was “… founded Sept. 15, 2009 for no particular reason other than a slothly desire to read news about Ferndale every day of the week.”
North Country Fair preview
The North Country Fair is underway on the Arcata Plaza . Here’s a preview of the kind of thing you’ll see and hear: SoHum’s Lost Coast Marimbas play at 4:30 on the 9th and H stage. They’re shown performing at the recent I-Block Party elsewhere in Arcata.
Blago Does KSLG
Chron. KSLG DJ John Matthews has long been the local master of the “get.” But this is astounding, even by his high standards: September 18, 2009 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich with John Matthews on 94.1 KSLG Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich will discuss his new memoir, The Governor with John Matthews…
I See You
Nurses in the intensive care unit at St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka have discovered that video cameras disguised as smoke detectors were secretly installed in their unit — including in a private break room with lockers where some of them change their clothes. The California Nurses Association has filed a grievance demanding surveillance be stopped…
The Soul in the Melody
By the time you read this, Irish fiddler extraordinaire Martin Hayes will likely be at home in Connecticut preparing for next week’s West Cost tour with his guitarist music partner Dennis Cahill. But last weekend Hayes was back where he came from, in County Clare, Ireland playing at something called the Tulla Traditional Music Festival.…
Dreaming of San Salvador
One day, years ago, when Clinton was president, Congress passed a bill mandating that all specimens of a particular hardware item sold in the United States — doorknobs, maybe, or electrical fixtures — had to be stamped with their country of manufacture. For the sake of this parable, let’s say it was electrical fixtures. In…
Worst Of
Editor: Modesty is becoming in this age of hype and megahype, but false modesty is almost as bad as the chutzpah that it contrasts with. Your choice of Kevin Hoover for best reporter, when your own Hank Sims stands at least 10 feet taller than Kevin, is an example (“Best of Humboldt,” Sept. 10). While…
Green Cross
This summer’s health care debate has raised a number of interesting questions, including this one: What, exactly, should health insurance insure against? Should it insure against the possibility that you’re going to need an annual checkup and a refill on your prescription? Or should it only insure against that which you cannot predict and cannot…
D Dose Deterrent
Editor: Following the media and having some historical knowledge of the flu pandemic, I have some concerns about the unknowns of the coming flu. I was relieved to hear in your article that the death rate for H1N1 was not higher than the regular flu (“The Coming Flu,” Aug. 27). What I have never been…
Morning Prediction
One benefit of having such tall trees is…
Many Questions, Few Answers
There are many reasons why support for President Obama’s health care plan has declined as the details have become clearer. I suspect that Mr. Obama and his advisors were afraid this would happen. That’s probably why they wanted to rush it through Congress (even though most of its provisions don’t become effective until 2013). Their…
Correction
A picture of the Paradise Royale Mountain Bike Trail on page 23 of last week’s issue was inadvertently attributed to staff writer Heidi Walters. Actually, the photo was taken by Joey Klein. The Journal regrets the error.
End Waste, Inequality
During his town hall meeting in Eureka, Congressman Mike Thompson repeated (and repeated) what seems to be the Obama mantra for the health care debate: "If you like the health care program that you now have, you will be able to keep it." There appears to be a minority out there who like paying up…
Third Friday McKinleyville Arts Night
1. The Front Gallery & Gifts 1181 Central Ave. John Marx, photographs; music by Pure Concept. 2. Curves Miller Business Park Ann Anderson, watercolor paintings. 3. Mirador Glass Miller Business Park Christina Lastra, Day of the Dead masks and local photographs; Mirador will be shattering large glass objects from high altitudes. At 7:30 p.m. 4.…
The Carson Tunnel
I was surprised to learn that Eureka was once home to a half-mile long railroad tunnel. OK, so "tunnel" is glamorizing what was basically a covered railroad, situated between what is now the County Library and Carson Mansion, and Halvorsen Park on Eureka’s waterfront. Today, all that remains is the retaining wall on the south…
Follow the Roar: Tailing Tiger for All 604 Holes of His Most Spectacular Season
As the subtitle implies, this is the author’s journal as he follows Tiger Woods throughout the golfer’s injury-truncated 2008 season on the PGA Tour. We’re along for the ride as Tiger competes in the surreal sands of Dubai, his frustrating second place finish at the Masters, and — as all golf fans know — his…
The Guilty Office
From the early 1980s, the New Zealand pop scene has flourished, mostly through the Christchurch-based label Flying Nun Records. Bands such as The Clean, The Chills and The Bats emerged from beyond the South Island of New Zealand environs with a distinct type of pop music — often spare, minimal — catching attention of like-minded…
What Happened, Arts! Arcata?
September’s arts events in Arcata typically inspire crowded streets, as Humboldt State University students have rolled back into town and locals feel the rainy season breathing down their necks. True, wine and bathroom seekers filled Jacoby’s Storehouse last Friday, where Northcoast Environmental Center staffers kept pouring vino and providing the toilet key, but outside, attendance…
To Our Readers, an Apology
Two weeks ago a veteran member of our editorial staff made an error in judgment. He had offered to cover a controversial meeting in Fortuna — to take photos and report on the gathering he and his wife planned to attend anyway. It turned out his wife spoke at the meeting, the crowd reacted strongly…
Puppets at the End
Previews Opening Friday, Sept. 18, is Steven Soderbergh’s latest film The Informant! Based on the 2000 nonfiction book by Kurt Eichenwald about whistle blower Mark Whitacre, the film stars Matt Damon in a comic take on the story. Rated R for language. 108 m. At the Broadway, Mill Creek and Minor. Megan Fox is everywhere,…
Disconnected
In the tiny hamlets dotting the hills behind the Lost Coast — places like Ettersburg, Whitethorn and Honeydew — phone service has been sketchy for years, but over the past two months, residents say, land line connections have broken down almost entirely. Complaints have ranged from clicks and buzzing on the line to constant busy…
