Sewing a Shroud
One doctor’s effort to expand end-of-life care on the North Coast and beyond
Cover Story
Sewing a Shroud
On a recent bright but cloudy afternoon, Pamela Lyall sat upright in her bed overlooking a small pond and garden as cats meandered in and out of the room. She wore abalone earrings, and her mother’s pearl necklace draped across her thin shoulders. She smiled, occasionally, with piercing green eyes, but said she was feeling…
UPDATE: Coroner Announces Retirement, Supes Push Toward Consolidation
The board of supervisors voted unanimously today to begin the process of consolidating the sheriff’s office and coroner’s office. The board asked the county administrative officer to draft an ordinance that would fold the employees and functions of the coroner’s office into the sheriff’s department, and create one elected sheriff/coroner position. Humboldt County has had…
Steamin’ it up for a Cause
The Arcata Ridge Trail got a large shove forward Saturday at the Arcata Community Center, where a host of folks turned out for Cirque Disco-Leil, a steamy, disco-themed event aimed at funding a trail bridge over Janes Creek. Between Caravan of Glam, Va Va Voom Burlesque Vixens, Samba Quente and the hot moves of one…
Strange, Happy Brews
Justin Whitaker’s booth, in the lobby, had first grabs at all of us rushing into the Eureka Theater for StrangeBrew Beer Fest 2014 last Saturday night. It helped that he was strategically placed across from Cypress Grove’s cheese table. “Everybody’s going for The Lush,” said Whitaker, who home brews with his wife, Eryn. Truth, though: Everybody…
Here’s a riddle:
What’s both a barnyard fungus and a dance troupe so brimming with kinetic energy that it makes audience members feel like they themselves are in motion? Answer: Pilobolus. The 30-year-old company’s website says it takes its name from the fungus that “propels its spores with extraordinary speed, accuracy and strength.” When the curtain comes up…
Scenes from the Intertribal Elder Gathering
Native Americans from all over the Pacific Northwest gathered Saturday at Redwood Acres Fairgrounds for the 33rd annual Intertribal Elder Gathering. The community celebration featured traditional Brush, Pow Wow, Aztec, Shake Head, Hoop and Tolowa Honoring dances, as well as singing and drumming. Local photographer Manuel Orbegozo captured these photographers of the day’s festivities.
UPDATED: Musical Venues
UPDATED: Pure Entertainment announced on its Facebook page that tonight’s show has been canceled after the headliner apparently pulled out for unknown reasons. “Unfortunately Kid Ink will not be able to make it tonight,” the site states. “Since the headliner won’t be able to make it, I feel rescheduling the show to a later date…
Minimum Wage Rising Everywhere But Eureka
Eureka voters’ attempt to raise the minimum wage for the city’s largest employers failed decidedly Tuesday, but that’s one small defeat in a rising minimum wage movement. Sixty-two percent of voting Eurekans cast ballots against the Fair Wage Act — the only time nationally a minimum wage measure has failed, apparently — and the overwhelming…
SF-based Film Fest Wants Humboldt to “Think It, Shoot It, Share It” (Like, Now.)
People! We are in the midst of a film festival competition right here in Humboldt! Did you know this? Co-Director Lasha Zambakhidze and Tech AD Bailey Coppola have been touring around town, alerting students and potential participants about PAH-Fest, a one-week film festival taking place in San Francisco, Oakland, Marin and our collective backyard. Students,…
It’s time for an Opportunity Village
Before dawn one foggy, raw morning almost two years ago, I walked down a narrow lane off Second Street to the Eureka Rescue Mission’s outdoor area. I started asking some of the homeless people sitting and lying on benches to take a survey for the Point in Time Count. No one was particularly eager to…
Bike On, Responsibly
Editor: As a frequent pedestrian and occasional cyclist, I feel qualified to address the issue of bikes on sidewalks (“Mailbox,” Oct. 30). I understand why a cyclist would prefer riding on the sidewalk, as the street is scary and bike lanes provide an illusion of protection at best. But bike riders do not seem to…
Clarification
A story in the Blog Jammin’ section of the Oct. 30, 2014 edition of the Journal headlined “Fundraise the Roof” reported on problems with the roof of the Humboldt County Historical Society’s Eureka home. The roof is not actively leaking but is in need of replacement. The Journal regrets any confusion caused by the story.
Correction
In last week’s cover story, “Albert and the Baskets,” Geneva Orcutt Risling was misidentified. She was Vivien Hailstone’s mother, not grandmother.
High Taxes
IRS regulations are making it difficult for legal pot businesses in Colorado and Washington to make a profit, which some say is a way for the federal government to continue its war on drugs. Tax code adopted in the early 1980s holds people accountable for income taxes whether the money they make is legal or…
Hum Plate Roundup
Cherchez le Dip The French dip sandwich you’ve been ordering everywhere in hope of finding a good one isn’t actually French. There, there, mes amis. France can dry its tears on its long list of culinary accomplishments. Or it can stop at Oberon Grill (516 Second St.) to feed its feelings with Nick’s French Dip…
Conundrums
November is a troublesome month. On one hand, you might be trying to recover from October indulgence and saving up for December holiday madness. On the other, local partying options aren’t slowing down one whit. Thursday: Dynamite drums For example, percussive masters Steel Standing release Fine Line at the Arcata Playhouse tonight. The album features…
Regret
In the morning rush at the coffee shop, I flew in behind a woman with a Shakespeare tattoo: his famous face engraved on her right bicep. Only, this version was lined with Maori tattoos, so the upstart crow looked fiercer than usual. It was a beautiful cross pollination of memes, and for the briefest of…
Gutenberg’s Legacy
Last week, I discussed the enormity of the revolution jump-started by Gutenberg’s system of mechanical printing. His genius was his ability to combine several existing technologies, adapting and improving them in the process. The five most important ones are: 1. The printing press. Printing involves transferring ink to paper under pressure. Gutenberg adapted the traditional…
Creep
Reviews NIGHTCRAWLER introduces the viewer to the world of independent Los Angeles news stringers: freelance cameramen with police scanners who prowl the darkened landscape in search of others’ misfortune. They live and die by the motto “if it bleeds, it leads.” There are, of course, overtones of indictment at work in Nightcrawler, both of the…
Desert Storms
With Halloween over and the holiday season officially upon us, the coming months will offer much in the way of charming, sugar-sprinkled and heartwarming entertainment to enjoy with our families. Redwood Curtain Theatre’s production of Other Desert Cities by Jon Robin Baitz is not one of those productions. However, for those navigating their own family…
Fit to serve?
The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District has a poacher on its board of commissioners. Commissioner Aaron Newman, on the eve of trial, recently entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors in which he admitted to misdemeanor charges of illegally obtaining hunting tags, lying to a state agency and misusing abalone tags. (Additional charges,…
Honoring Elders
Last year the crowds at the Intertribal Elder Gathering hit 4,500 according to the organizers’ count. This year is the 33rd annual event, and Native Americans from all over the Northwest are coming together at Redwood Acres Fairgrounds on Saturday, Nov. 8 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (free). Over 55? Pull up a chair…
