Roads and Redwoods April 2010 (North Coast Journal)
Inside the big fight over the Richardson Grove project: Part II of II
Cover Stories
Roads and Redwoods
*Last week, we described Caltrans’ proposal for U.S. Highway 101 at Richardson Grove and examined opponents’ arguments against it. This week, we take a look at the economic reasons for the project and analyze the weaknesses in both Caltrans’ and its opponents’ arguments. * For any producer of export goods in Humboldt County, the logistics…
Roads and Redwoods
Mary Keehn founded Cypress Grove Chevre three years before Maxxam descended on Humboldt County. In 1983, Keehn, a top breeder of Alpine dairy goats, embarked on a new venture: making cheese from their milk, in a time when the American market for goat cheese was extremely limited and virtually no one in the United States…
Ken Miller for DA!
Yes A certain local blogger will be rushed to the hospital upon seeing this image; could someone call ahead and inform the medical staff that we’re talking about a Tehama County ex-cop , not a McKinleyville ex-pot doc ? ( h/t J.K.)
America’s Most Stoned City
enough.America’s Most Stoned City: Today’s Daily Beast – the 4-20 edition – includes a survey of “America’s Most Stoned Cities.” Guess who’s No. 1. No, it’s not Arcata. Criteria? Regular Users: 11.3% Pot Culture: 10 out of 10 Arrests per 100,000 residents: 431 NORML chapter?:
Ladies & Gents, Marcy B.!
Ladies & Gents, Marcy B.!: The California Journalism Education Coalition recently named the Journal’s Marcy Burstiner — she hates it when we call her that — “Journalism Educator of the Year.” Burstiner received her crown at Hearst Castle, appropriately
‘Don’t Tax Me, Bro!’
So reads one of the many picket signs on display at the county courthouse this afternoon as a mass of Humboldt Tea Party Patriots gathered for one of many tax day rallies nationwide. Our man Andrew Goff is in the field and submitted this vid of the launch. Goff estimated the crowd at approximately 250.…
Cashed Out Already?
The common wisdom these days goes like this: Legalization of marijuana will likely reduce Humboldt County’s cash crop industry to ashes (unless we get creative ). Well, according to a story today from The California Report , the bottom may be falling out of the pot market regardless of its legal status. A glut of…
Your Brain on Caltrans
Editor: I read the "Roads and Redwoods" article by Cristina Bauss twice (April 8). I was oh, so hoping that Bauss would write that she is a redwood tree-hugger. But no, she turned out to be a stalwart journalist — a professional reporter, which is at times lacking in that vocation. She reported the facts…
To Your Health
Editor: Thank you so much for your revealing report on health care reform (HCR) in the April 1 edition ("From the Publisher"). Applying the results to your small business is right on track; I believe that it is small, family businesses that our government should be mostly supporting, in this and all instances. We have…
Critics’ Corner
Editor: It seems one person who was only “vaguely gazing” at the paintings that were showcased at the Gallegos Headquarters (321 Gallegos) on Third Street in Old Town, was your reporter Ryan Burns (“Arts Gallegos,” April 8). Had he bothered to actually look at the art he would have noted in his article that the…
Take Back CR
The "College in Revolt" article (April 1) could have applied to either of the institutions of higher education in Humboldt County. However, this time it is College of the Redwoods, where I am a student. The last line of this article concludes that the Board of Trustees at the College of the Redwoods recently took…
Ipos: Book of Angels 14
John Zorn is way out, too much. His prolific outpouring of compositions exploring a wide array of musical forms and formations, using a stable of stellar musicians, is overwhelming. To make it more confusing, Zorn’s cross-pollination of his own musical categories and groups, often blur these marking points. Even though Ipos: Book of Angels 14…
Tips for Bosses
When the kids were young, I slung cocktails for a living. I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, but couldn’t actually afford to stay at home, so the hours allowed me to spend the days with the kids and the tips beat minimum wage. Like most service industry jobs, the work itself didn’t vary that…
Art of the Impossible
If ever a role and a North Coast performer seemed made for each other, it’s Don Quixote in the musical Man of La Mancha, and Brad Curtis. In the current Ferndale Repertory Theatre production, that dream is not impossible — it’s fulfilled. The frequent star of Humboldt Light Opera, North Coast Rep and Ferndale Rep…
Joy Kills Sorrow and John Ludington
If someone asked you in passing, "What kind of music does Joy Kills Sorrow play?" any simple categorization you rattled off to save time would likely fail to properly convey all the musical textures the group is capable of producing. Bluegrass? Acoustic folk? Sure, I guess those work. But anyone who heard the band perform…
The View from Mars
Is Mars a dead planet? Some optimists imagine a tenuous colony or two of micro-organisms still eking out an existence, perhaps in an underground pool on the flank of a still-warm volcano. The general feeling among scientists, however, is that if there ever was life on Mars, it’s long extinct, victim to the intense cold…
New
The grey-green slivers of dullbright moss Tasseled in…
Meet the Fosters
Previews Opening Friday, April 16, is the much-hyped Kick-Ass, based on the comic of the same name. Giving hope to nerdy high school students everywhere, the film features Aaron Johnson as Dave Lizewski, a high school student of little note who decides he can become a superhero by donning an outfit, creating a MySpace page…
Critical Condition
The members of HSU’s Academic Senate task force knew they were in a tough spot. They knew that there’s simply no way to eliminate $1.3 million worth of programs from the school’s curriculum without causing an uproar, not to mention damaging the university. But in the face of drastic budget cuts, Provost Bob Snyder had…
McKinleyville Arts Night
McKinleyville Art Night will be Friday, April 16th, 6:00 to 8:00 pm. Join us for our community’s celebration of local art and artists for music, food and fun. You can find more information about the artists and venues and see additional images online at www.mckinleyvilleartsnight.com. 1) The Front Gallery & Gifts,*1181 Central Ave.* Shorty LaVen,…
Four Twenty
It started as a time. 4:20. Time to get stoned. As the story’s told, a now-legendary group of Marin teens gathered at that appointed hour by a statue of Louis Pasteur for post-school bakeage until it became routine. At this point the two numbers are synonymous with the marijuana brand. By stoner logic, if 4:20…
Notes from the Hustings
Follow the Money Twenty-five people or so came out for a rally at the Humboldt County Courthouse Thursday at noon for a campaign finance reform rally. Their signs were sharply worded: "For The People or For The Money?" "Had Enough Humboldt County?" "The 4th District Deserves Better." "Bonnie’s Bought & Paid For." "Neely and the…
Et Tu, Grovie?
You have in your hands the second part of Journal freelancer Cristina Bauss’ exploration of the controversies surrounding Caltrans’ proposed Richardson Grove Improvement Project. This is the first time in my editorship, and possibly in Journal history, that we have devoted two consecutive covers to the same topic. There are two reasons that we decided…
Peat Mosh
This Wednesday, in Humboldt County Superior Court, the Honorable Judge John Feeney will consider the matter of alleged peat bog miners Daniel and Robin Wojcik, owners of McClellan Mountain Ranch near Bridgeville, and whether a cohort of 23 agents from several Humboldt County departments and state and federal agencies have the right to inspect for…
HCDCC Agrees on Neely, Little Else
In an unorthodox meeting flooded with eager contenders and curious onlookers, The Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee tonight agreed to endorse incumbent Bonnie Neely in the race for 4th District county supervisor but could not reach the two-thirds threshold required to officially support candidates in several other key June 8 races, including 5th District supervisor…
T-S City Editor Faulk to Step Down
Unnamed sources have informed the Journal that Times-Standard City Editor James Faulk will step down from the number two position in the newsroom and return to reporter duty starting Monday, April 19. The decision reportedly was made by Faulk himself for personal reasons. In moving into the cops-and-courts beat he’ll replace former reporter/”Fat Guy” colleague Chris…
Marsee: ‘We Must Reverse the Painful Course’ at CR
UPDATED, with link to survey results. Though he’s currently touring colleges in western Siberia, College of the Redwoods President/Superintendent Jeff Marsee appears to be taking the CR revolt seriously. Last week, at a heated Board of Trustees meeting, union employees delivered a vote of no confidence in the Board, citing the removal from the CR…
State Senate Pres In Town
… along with Assemblymember Noreen Evans, our (all-but-certain) next state senator. They’re here to talk about the state budget crisis, cutbacks and Humboldt State University’s economic impact on the local community. Assemblymember Evans and Senate President Pro Tempore Steinberg to Meet with Humboldt State University Officials Roundtable Discussion on Economic Benefits and Jobs from Investments…
Fighting Floyd Squires
For a neighborhood watch meeting there were an awful lot of official types in attendance. On Wednesday, March 31, a small group of Eureka neighbors were joined — in City Council chambers, appropriately — by City Councilmen Jeff Leonard and Larry Glass, Assistant City Manager Mike Knight and EPD Lt. Murl Harpham, among others. The…
A Felon, for Now
In the end, well-liked Eureka attorney Ken Bareilles’ pleas of good character and charitable contributions to his Eureka community, not to mention what he has claimed to be ill-treatment and misleading information from Humboldt County government, were not enough to convince Judge Ronald Brown last Friday. The occasion was a hearing on Bareilles’ motion to…
Snowed Board
Editor: I am a College of the Redwoods student so it should be of no surprise that the cover story “College in Revolt” (April 1) caught my attention. My first issue of concern is with the direction [CR President/Superintendent Jeff] Marsee is moving our beloved community college. Although many people attend CR to then transfer…
Caveat Grower
Editor: I want to thank Amy Stewart for her wake-up call about how the big outside world really operates in her article about the practicality of starting a cannabis-based tourist industry ("Dirt," April 1). But there is more. Maybe the Federal DEA has been told by the Obama Administration to turn a blind eye concerning…
Write What You Pet
Editor: I must respectfully disagree with Marcy Burstiner on her point #5 ("Media Maven," April 1). Family members and pets often make for terrific columns. For example, Adair Lara, who used to write for the San Francisco Chronicle, rarely wrote a column without mentioning her twin sister, her children, her husband or her ex-husband, who…
The Wonder Show of the World
"Where I am, I don’t know, I’ll never know, in the silence you don’t know, you must go on, I can’t go on, I’ll go on." — Samuel Beckett It’s hard to say whether or not the Irish playwright would have liked the music of Will Oldham, under the nomenclature of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, but…
Spare Some Victorians?
Editor: Thanks for Heidi Walters’ article about Orick ("Waiting for Miley," April 1). I got to know the good people of Orick well over the 20-plus years I provided bookmobile service there, working for the Humboldt County Library. I was constantly impressed by the essential irony of the place: The world’s finest lumber was removed…
Reality Hunger: A Manifesto
The last few years have seen an explosion of scandals when supposed "true life" memoirs have been revealed to be fabrications and fictions. James Frey was forced to recant in the church of Oprah, street kid celebrity author JT Leroy turned out to be a fictional character himself (or herself), and many first novels from…
A Yami Girl
Editor: My thanks to Mr. Byrd for quoting Ms. Chowdhary’s delicious citrus pickle recipe, which brought back memories of exotic turns our family cuisine took when my father brought the book home from his Fulbright year in India, in 1956. I enjoyed, too, the happy reminders of interesting foodways using yogurt ("Table Talk," March 25).…
Modernist Missionary
Humboldt State University’s First Street gallery typically hosts exhibitions worthy of discovery, but this month’s holds particular significance. Works by HSU professor, Arcata Artisan member and 30-year-veteran of the Humboldt County art scene Mimi LaPlant fill the entire gallery space. First Street Director Jack Bentley explained the show’s magnitude: "Mimi is important in that she was…
About Doubt
Live theatre happens in a particular time in the real world. No one associated with the North Coast Repertory Theatre production of Doubt: A Parable — a 2004 play that concerns allegations of a priest’s sexual misconduct — could have known that it would open as the Catholic Church is facing new revelations concerning its…
Arts Arcata!
Arts! Arcata is Arcata Main Street’s monthly celebration of visual and performing arts, held at more than 30 participating locations in Arcata. Visit www.artsarcata.com for even more information about the event or call 822-4500. 1) Arcata Artisans 883 H St. Jim Lowry, photographs; Candy Miller, polymer clay jewelry; Susan Bornstein, paintings. 2) Arcata City Hall*…
I finally get to write a poem to Geri
All the houses you’ve lived in on all…
Gateway to the Americas
The ex-Governor of Alaska didn’t quite say, "I can see Russia from my house!" — that was her separated-at-birth look-alike, Tina Fey, on SNL. Kidding aside, on a clear day you really can see the Russian mainland from the Alaskan mainland, 55 miles away. It’s a lot easier if you’re in the middle of the…
Crap of the Tripe Fans
Previews Happily, The Ghost Writer is being held over and will play at the Broadway and Minor. Opening Friday, April 9, is Date Night, a comedy starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell as a couple whose relationship has grown stale. Visiting a trendy Manhattan restaurant to add some zest, they are thrown into a madcap…
Notes from the Hustings
Consult This! Sometimes it takes more than charm and the blogosphere for candidates to get their message across to voters, and it’s no different here with local elections. With two months to go before the June primary, Humboldt County candidates are tapping consultants for a variety of services, including video production, advising and campaign management.…
Coward of the County
"The sucking thing." It was an incongruous phrase to hear repeated ad nauseum within the proper environs of a courtroom. Yet there it was — this reference to Kenny Rogers’ principal argument that his old lawyer was a bush leaguer and that he deserved a new trial — repeated again and again for everyone gathered…
Keep Moving Forward
Drop the needle in the groove on Mayer Hawthorne’s album, A Strange Arrangement, and you might think you’ve gone back in time. The feel of the music is classic Motown soul, slightly surprising for a kid from Ann Arbor who also goes by the name DJ Haircut. Despite the horn-rimmed glasses and Mad Men suits…
