Sometimes Jerry wins
Nuisance neighbor, beware the power of DROZ
Cover Story
Sometimes Jerry wins
On the corner of 8th and B streets, Jerry Droz cranes his neck back, squints the midday sun out of his eyes and studies a blue, shingled house that’s seen better days. The high-complexioned, blue-eyed 56-year-old aims the lollipop stick he’s been chewing toward the second floor of the four-unit rental. "You can see there’s…
Choosing the end
A mid the clangor of bus trays and the murmur of lunchtime conversations at the Humboldt Senior Resource Center, Eunice Noack and Gloria McGillvray were talking about how they wanted to die. "I certainly don’t want to lie in bed in a coma or in huge pain that can’t be treated for months," said Noack,…
Nielsen Rated
Friday afternoon at the Adorni Center, a brilliant spring day. Seals swam up and down the harbor, clearly visible from the great glass wall on the north side of the big multipurpose room. It was a momentous day. Inside, 37 sworn officers of the Eureka Police Department – just about the entire force, except for…
Mean Streets
On a Saturday night in Arcata, I walked in front of the bars on the Plaza with Officer Heidi Groszmann. Thankfully, I was not under arrest – just going with her on her rounds as a part of my four-hour ride-along. Whether it was a traffic stop or making rounds on the Plaza, Groszmann was…
Bugs and Buster
Like many parents with young children, we spend an inordinate number of Saturday nights at home doing home things: watching movies, playing games, taking baths, making popcorn, listening to the radio, reading, noodling on the guitar, etc. Mundane, maybe, but still satisfying in a homey way. Sometimes we think about all those shows in nightclubs,…
Kids with a capital “K”
Wind pulsed through the domed labyrinth of quartz monzogranite as I scrambled downward looking for a safer descent. The spring sky was a typically cloudless and brilliant blue. Above, the murmur of voices from the knot of students and my co-instructor at the tabletop summit some 20 feet above faded in and out with the…
Spring books
This winter, I took a break from serious, I-better-read-this-because-it’s-good-for-me nonfiction. Instead, I went down to the library in January and checked out every novel that I’ve been meaning to read but haven’t gotten around to. Two of them stood out; check them out yourself and see if you agree. I don’t know what I was…
Dream cafe
I don’t really consider myself a coffee connoisseur, but I’d have to say it was the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had. My old friend Arno Holschuh made it for me at a new place in town. If you’ve been reading the Journal for a while you’ll remember Arno. He and I were the…
Notes From Bob’s Mailbox
Since I’m heading out to tour Cali over Easter vay-cay, I’ve put the Hum on autopilot, basically just dumping the mailbag directly into this space (sort of anyway). First one from Carol B., via Yvonne: People Productions and KMUD proudly present "Stephen Marley: Mind Control North American Tour" Wednesday, April 18, at the Arcata Community…
