Saturday Morning Shots
Inside Mad River Community Hospital’s mass vaccination clinic
High Crash Rate Prompts Wide-Reaching 101 Enforcement Campaign
U.S. Highway 101 will be getting some extra attention Thursday from the California Highway Patrol during an enforcement campaign spanning the northern reaches of the state to the Bay Area. A rash of serious injury and fatal crashes along the main artery in recent years prompted the operation, according to a CHP new release, with…
HumCo Passes 66K Vaccine Doses Administered, Confirms Seven New COVID-19 Cases
Nearly a quarter of all Humboldt County residents age 16 and older have now been fully vaccinated, Public Health reported today. The county reported that more than 66,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered locally, with 26,085 residents now fully vaccinated and 32 percent of the population having received at least one dose of…
Hot Plates Coming Through at Nori
Passersby have been either celebrating or scratching their heads at the sign for Nori (761 Eighth St.), heralding another sushi place joining Tomo and Sushi Spot on the Arcata Plaza. But according to its owners, the soon-to-open restaurant in the downstairs spot where Salt Fish House started out before moving to I Street will have…
Forum Tonight on Plan to Close Redwood Memorial Maternity Services
Providence Health officials will be part of a 6 p.m. public forum tonight to discuss the healthcare provider’s controversial decision to close down the obstetrics program at Redwood Memorial Hospital and shift all deliveries 20 miles north to St. Joseph Hospital. It’s the second time in less than a decade that the hospital system overseeing…
Orange Tier Means Some Restrictions Lifted, Modifications
Humboldt County’s move to the state’s “moderate” or orange COVID-19 risk tier yesterday — coupled with new state guidelines on events and performances — means things will be opening up here on the North Coast. Crabs fans may be excited to learn that outdoor sporting and other seated spectator events are now allowed. In the…
Hoffman to Meet with LatinoNet Friday
As part of Humboldt County Public Health’s ongoing effort to work with the local Latinx community, Public Health Officer Ian Hoffman will be meeting this Friday with LatinoNet, a nonprofit organization formed by a network of service providers for the Latinx community, to discuss county COVID-19 vaccine rollout and the county’s efforts with community partners…
Eureka City Council to Talk Animals, Premium Pay for Grocery Workers
Tonight, the Eureka City Council is set to discuss an update to the city’s animal ordinance which includes some major changes to the number and type of animals — big and small — people can keep in city limits. The council will also consider requiring certain grocery stores to pay workers a premium wage, something…
Public Health Confirms 1 New Case, 1 New Hospitalization
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed just one new COVID-19 case today, while removing two others from the county’s cumulative count because they were from patients who reside outside the county, resulting in a net reduction of local cases. Today’s case was reported after laboratories processed 66 samples with a test-positivity rate of 1.5 percent, which…
State Slated to Reopen in Mid-June, Humboldt Moves to Orange Tier
Humboldt County has been moved into the state’s “orange,” or moderate COVID-19 risk ranking, after long stays in the more restrictive “red” and “purple” tiers. The new status will allow more business sectors open and expand indoor operations capacity for restaurants, gyms, movie theaters, places of worship and other organizations. (Find more information here.) The…
McGuire Looks to Create Statewide TOT Tax Collection System for Short-term Rentals
North Coast state Sen. Mike McGure has introduced a bill that looks to create a statewide system for collecting taxes from short-term rentals to aid cities and counties in accessing “untapped revenue,” according to a release from his office. Senate Bill 555 would require short-term rental services like Airbnb and VRBO to collect the taxes…
Humboldt Residents Now Need to Use State Site for COVID-19 Vaccine Notifications, Appointments
Starting now, Humboldt County residents looking to receive a COVID-19 vaccine need to register through the state’s My Turn site as part of a transition to Blue Shield taking over vaccine distribution and registration. According to the county’s release, residents who filled out the county’s vaccine interest form will have to do so again on…
Public Health Confirms Nine New COVID-19 Cases
Humboldt County Public Health reported today that it has confirmed 9 new COVID-19 cases since Friday after laboratories processed 564 samples with a test-positivity rate of 1.6 percent. The new cases bring the county’s cumulative case count to 3,501. Friday, Public Health reported that the state would allocate 4,640 vaccine doses to the county this…
NCJ Preview: Inside a Vaccination Clinic and a Cooperative Approach to Breakfast
This week we’re talking about the Journal’s new owner, the mass vaccination clinics put on by Mad River Community Hospital and the push to reach herd immunity in Humboldt County. Plus, we discuss a cooperative new breakfast venture in Arcata. For weekly updates on Humboldt stories, hit subscribe.
HumCo to Receive 2K Fewer COVID Vaccine Doses Next Week
Despite thousands of local residents becoming newly eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine this week, Humboldt County Public Health reported today that the state will allocate 4,640 vaccine doses to the county next week — more than 2,200 fewer than were received this week. Public Health reports it will use 2,400 of those doses at…
Three Rescued from Trinity River
Three Arcata residents drawn to the Trinity River by warm temperatures this week were rescued at the Big Rock Day Use area after they became trapped on a rock. A Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded around 4:45 p.m. Wednesday to a report of swimmers in distress and spotted the individuals on the rock in…
EPD Arrests Man for Alleged Sexual Assault of Child
The Eureka Police Department has arrested Jorge Alcazar Vasquez of Rio Dell for the alleged sexual abuse of a child under 10 years old after a months-length investigation. Vasquez is suspected of oral copulation or penetration with a child under 10, sexual intercourse or sodomy with a child under 10 and recurring sexual conduct with a child. The…
DA Names New Chief Investigator
The Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office announced today that Kyla Baxley has taken on the role of chief investigator, having previous served as the senior district attorney investigator, replacing Wayne Cox, who retired on Tuesday. Baxley, who joined the office in 2013 after five years with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, grew up in Eureka…
J & J Vaccine Encounters Glitch as State Expands Eligibility
Gov. Gavin Newsom said today that California will still receive safe shipments of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after a nationwide batch was discarded because of a manufacturing problem. The news couldn’t have come at a worse time as California dramatically expands vaccine eligibility to people 50 and older starting today. All Californians 16 and older…
Saturday Morning Shots
The vaccine clinic starts at 9 a.m. By 8:45 a.m. the lines stretch from the breezeway of Pacific Union School’s main building in Arcata all the way through the parking lot, then the adjacent parking lot, to Janes Road. A young woman with blonde hair stands just inside the school’s fence, her arms crossed against…
Looking for McKinley
Two years have passed since the statue of President William McKinley was taken off his pedestal on the Arcata Plaza in a quiet pre-dawn operation and, since that morning, the bronze work has remained out of public view. After being placed on a cushion of tires in the back of a flatbed truck for the…
Under One Roof
The canopies over the patio at Northtown Coffee flutter above a half dozen people having a late Monday breakfast. Sunshine slants onto picnic tables where diners in beanies and sunglasses hunker over to-go cups, blueberry crumble bars and biscuit and egg sandwiches wrapped in checkered paper. Inside, a red and yellow menu board hangs emblazoned…
NCJ Home Cooking Recipe Contest Winners
The NCJ Home Cooking Recipe Contest, sponsored by Eureka Natural Foods and Delish on 5th, was a potluck of submissions from cheesecake to chili, pancakes to pierogi. And now the results are in. Sponsor Eureka Natural Foods gave in to its sweet tooth, choosing Tiffany Bullman’s delicate cream puffs filled with whipped cream and topped…
Small Fish Finds a Fishing Buddy
After spending a month of my summer running off to Samoa Beach every chance I got to practice casting my line, fishing alone lost its luster. I had so many questions and theories building up in my head, I felt like I was going to burst if I couldn’t talk about it. I wanted to…
Tough Steelhead Season Comes to a Close
One of the toughest and most frustrating steelhead seasons in many years will close Wednesday, March 31. From the Chetco south to the South Fork Eel River, and all the rivers in between, the fish just never showed up in numbers we’re accustomed to. No one knows for certain what caused the decline but it’s…
Shooting His Shot
BOOGIE. Eddie Huang remains always on his hustle. The child of a sometimes troubled but ultimately fruitful marriage of immigrant entrepreneurs (Chinese by way of Taiwan), he grew up in the restaurant business, went on to a successful academic career, became a lawyer, lost that gig, started a clothing line, allegedly sold weed, opened a…
The ‘Cruelty to Urban Voters Act’
Editor: In Georgia, the GOP controlled state Legislature just passed a new more restrictive election law tailored to deter Democrat voters. Among other things, it makes it illegal to hand out water to individuals while they’re standing in line on Election Day, regardless of the heat. The GOP knows that traditionally the longest lines are…
God, the Multiverse and You
“Our Universe has not been fine-tuned for life: life has been fine-tuned to our Universe.” Klaas Landsman, The Challenge Of Chanc The fine-tuning of many of the “constants of nature” is offered as evidence for both the existence of God and of an infinity of universes beyond our own, aka the multiverse. It’s pretty weird both…
What Remains
You find out what’s a poem the Hard way some times A scrap of line you threw away two days Ago and now look at you bent over the dumpster at the waist Sneaking a bite of pizza while you Think no one can see you It’s not everyday that the end of the world…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Playwright August Strindberg (1849–1912) was a maverick innovator who loved to experiment with plot and language. One of his stories takes place in a dream and the hero is the Christ-like daughter of a Vedic god. He once said that he felt “an immense need to become a savage and create…
