Cover Story
Renewal
The clear winter sky deepens as night creeps upon Woodley Island, that marina-festooned dab of land in Humboldt Bay closest to Eureka’s mainland. The calm water, catching the last light, grows stripes of gold, blue and orange. Against distant spits the ocean thrums. A pair of Canada geese honks by, a gull swoops with a…
HSU Has a New President
After a months-long search, Humboldt State University has a new president to replace outgoing Rollin Richmond, who is retiring. Lisa A. Rossbacher, a geologist and geology professor who is currently president of Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, Ga., will be HSU’s first female president. Heck, it only took a hundred years! Here’s the news release from the university:…
It’s a Terrific Tuesday!
What do you need to know about The Rebirth Brass Band other than that the show is at Humboldt Brews, costs $20, starts at 9:30 p.m. and is 21-and-over? These guys are an international phenom. From the streets of New Orleans to points around the globe, The Rebirth Brass Band brings the funk so heavy…
CSU Settles HSU Brutality Case
The California State University system has settled a civil lawsuit brought by a Fieldbrook man who alleged he was the victim of a “brutal” assault by Humboldt State University police in January 2012, agreeing to pay the man $135,000. CSU spokesman Mike Uhlenkamp said the payment will come out of HSU coffers, noting that the…
Distilling gold: Fortuna Vodka Maker Wins Big
The Humboldt Distillery has something to toast about. Humboldt County’s first micro distillery nabbed a gold medal for its organic vodka at the 2014 Denver International Spirits Competition held earlier this month. For more on the Humboldt Distillery, check out the Journal’s May 2, 2013 cover story on the Fortuna vodka maker and its founder, Abe Stevens. For…
Jazz Hands
Be prepared to blow your top. The Redwood Coast Jazz Festival is a weekend of jazz, blues, swing, dance and general excitement. The festivities boogie-woogie their way onto the scene with the Kick-off Dance at the Adorni Center on Thursday, March 27 at 7 p.m. Donna Landry and Swing Set open the evening, followed by…
Supes to Tackle GPU Monday
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors will begin Monday the process of reviewing changes to the Conservation and Open Space Element of the General Plan Update proposed by its planning commission. After the Supes sent the element to the Humboldt County Planning Commission for review in the beginning of the year, the commission made some…
Tonight’s Setlist: From Mandolins to Oscillations, Your Entertainment Options
#1 Mandolinist John Reischman, guitarist Scott Nygaard, and bassist/mandolinist Sharon Gilchrist blend traditional bluegrass and folk styles with contemporary acoustic music, reshaping old melodies and composing new music with a flair and richness that can be experienced at the Arcata Playhouse on Sunday night. Grammy winners Reischman and Nygaard have performed together regularly since the…
Eat and Run
From the moment you get your passbook for Taste of Main Street ($25) on Thursday, March 27 — which you should do sooner rather than later — you are planning your assault on Old Town in your head. Some of us on paper. Some of us like Churchill in the bunker moving model ships and…
Tonight’s Setlist: Songwriter Circle of Death
You can depend on the Alibi for many things. Excellent Bloody Marys. Fantastic fat French fries. (Fat fries > skinny fries.) A steady stream of serious rock and what would once have been referred to as “underground” bands. On Saturday night, the dim atmosphere of the Alibi delves even deeper into the dark with Songwriter…
Last Dance
Theater and dance fans won’t want to miss the Trey McIntyre Project’s final tour as a full-time dance troupe, performing at the Van Duzer Theatre at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25 ($45, $25 children, $15 students). The Project has been in action for 10 years, earning critical and popular acclaim across the nation for…
Ridding Toxic Killers
On Tuesday, California passed a regulation restricting retail sales of certain rat poisons, such as d-Con. Soon, only licensed, certified or county permitted application professionals will be able to use them. The restrictions don’t go into effect until July 1. But by Friday morning, at least one local retailer already was sweeping those products from its shelves. …
Tyrone Kelley Is Leaving Six Rivers NF
After mid-April, we won’t be seeing the familiar helmet-clad figure of our Six Rivers National Forest Supervisor, Tyrone Kelley, riding his bicycle home through Eureka after work. Nor can we expect to see him at those sometimes contentious fire-safety meetings in our mountain communities. He’s moving to Vallejo for a new job: director of engineering at…
Tonight’s Setlist: A Very Special Friday
As the Allman Brothers Band signs off with a final set of live performances across the country — New York City, to be precise — fans can comfort themselves knowing that Poor Man’s Whiskey will fill Humboldt Brews with “A Special Tribute to the Allman Brothers Band.” The old-timey-bluegrass-southern-rock-jam band has sold out the Fillmore,…
Bay Trail nabs $2 million
Dreams of a Humboldt Bay Trail connecting Eureka and Arcata got a major boost Tuesday, when the California Transportation Commission voted to allocate $2 million to the county for engineering design and environmental permitting for the trail’s southern portion. Humboldt County Deputy Public Works Director Hank Seemann said the funding is expected to come online…
Tonight’s Setlist: Three for Thursday
#1 Tonight brims with opportunity, beginning with the Chris Parreira-booked gig at Humboldt Machine Works — aka Robert Goodman Wines’ new music room — starring Seattle indie folk band Autumn Electric, plus Canary and the Vamp, a local band styled in the “Roaring ’20s Tin Pan Alley, wild-banshee-flapper music” mode, along with the great John…
Laughalot
Typical Humboldt theatergoer Ricky Plantagenet fondly recalls that as a young sprout helping Aunt Mary and Uncle John with the harvest, he and his buds amused themselves in the fields by reciting Monty Python and the Holy Grail word for word. Now semi-retired from selling plague insurance in Fortuna, Ricky has just seen the musical…
Hard to Describe
Describing a band’s sound without turning to cliché or meaningless phrases can be a challenge. Press releases ring with adjectives and promises that would also work for wine or new shades of nail polish. For example, from this week’s highlights: “full of grace and style,” “idiosyncratic,” “an incomparable fusion,” “cutting edge” and “fuse together to…
A Capital Question
As the race to become Humboldt County’s next district attorney hits full stride, a trial quietly looms in the background — the first local death penalty case in decades — with the potential to bring the issue of capital punishment front and center in the campaign. With little attention or fanfare, Humboldt County District Attorney…
Have Can, Will Travel
Who the hell allowed this to happen? Graffiti art? At the Humboldt County Airport? Well, yes and no. Bands of masked graffiti writers did not invade the airport and spray paint the planes. But four well-known artists from the Humboldt graffiti scene have installed a show that, while leaning toward street art, still holds tight…
Otter Spotter
While hiking the King Range, I saw a flash of brown just up Cooksie Creek. Then a splash. The small, slicked head of a Lontra canadensis created a gentle wake as it spiraled upstream away from me. The river otter kept a wary eye but never stopped its aquabatics until I entered the creek to…
Correction
Due to an editing error, “And They’re Off” in the March 13, 2014 edition of the Journal contained inaccurate information. Fourth District Humboldt County Supervisor Virginia Bass is the former manager of the Eureka restaurant O-H’s Townhouse, which was owned by her parents. The Journal regrets the error.
This morning
my door opened into a star-filled sky. A dark, cold universe shattered by light.
The Fast and the Short
Reviews THE OSCAR NOMINATED SHORT FILMS 2014: LIVE ACTION. It is a happy thing, tinged with sadness, to have the opportunity to see these shorts in a theatrical setting. Anybody who makes movies cut their teeth on short-form experiments; they represent imagination directly expressed, unburdened by the need for three-act story structure or overarching character…
Using Less Water in the Landscape
Though our recent rains have alleviated some concerns, our brush with drought this winter has many gardeners rethinking water use in the landscape, and rightly so. There are many areas where we waste water or use it frivolously when a minor change could make a big difference. However, cutting off the water to your existing…
Thrown Under the Bus
Editor: Thanks for the article articulating some of the issues that are surfacing now that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is underway (“The Faces of Obamacare,” March 6). I have been working with it via my job and I see the good, the bad and the ugly in it. As stated, there are many folks…
Time Rebel
Editor: This morning I woke up, looked out my window at how light it was and thought, “Ok, it’s about 6, time to get up.” But my clock said 7. “Oops, wrong again. I’m late!” Then I remembered what I had done to my clock a few days ago — set it ahead an hour…
Private Agenda Missionaries?
Editor, I attended the Humboldt County Planning Commission meeting on the Housing Element Thursday evening, March 13, and it was a real eye opener to what happens when private agendas drive a public process. The Humboldt Association of Realtors, for instance, has the willing ear of the majority of the commissioners and is urging ordinances…
Give Love a Chance
Editor: I am writing because I have a very different take on Undecided Daughter’s letter to Jessica (“Hide Me!,” March 6). Jessica came to the conclusion that “You’re just not that into your boyfriend.” It seems to me that Undecided Daughter does indeed like her boyfriend. She just didn’t expect to like someone like him.…
Poor Choices, Slanted Coverage
Editor: When a journalist covers a public event he or she has to make choices. Given the fact that they have only so much space they must decide what the most salient points to cite would be. Grant Scott-Goforth (“And They’re Off,” March 13) started right out with what was, in my estimation, a poor…
Just Good Friends
Hey McGuinty! I have a friend who is overweight and smokes constantly. I worry about this friend’s health, but can’t think of a way to express my concern without coming across as judgmental or patronizing. We both operate under a certain live-and-let live philosophy, so it would feel like a violation of some sort of…
Third Friday McKinleyville Arts Night
A celebration of local art and artists, music, food and fun. McKinleyville Art Night is open for all McKinleyville businesses to display work from local artists on the third Friday of each month. For more information, call 834-6460 or visit www.mckinleyvilleartsnight.com. 1) CALIFORNIA REDWOOD COAST AIRPORT 3561 Boeing Ave. “Street Art,” works by Thomas “Sonny…
Connections to a Conspiracy
It’s not often that Humboldt County ends up in the pages of ESPN the Magazine. But, there we are in this week’s edition. It turns out it was the discovery of $100,000 in cash and a map of Eureka found in the trunk of a marijuana-perfumed Toyota Camry that spawned the massive FBI case a…
Sausage Party
Fat-free sausages are hideous, unnatural creations. They should be corralled and thrown on a pyre. I suspect that if burned, they would give off an eerie blue glow. They are not food. Don’t let one near your mouth. “Fat is what makes sausage wonderful,” says Jamie Bellerman. I’m watching him put pure pork fat through…
