Ted Ray Ruggles: 1949-2025
Ted Ray Ruggles, born on July 12, 1949, in Mishawaka, Indiana, passed away peacefully in his own home surrounded by his family on March 18, 2025. He was the only son of Oliver George Ruggles and Patsy Ruth (Wolff) Ruggles, a devoted husband to Donna Lee (Smith) Ruggles for 33 years, a loving father to…
Lewis Hathaway Nash: 1932-2024
After a long and adventurous life, Lewis Hathaway Nash passed away on Aug. 3, 2024, in Ashland, Oregon, at the age of 92. Known for his playful sense of humor and insatiable curiosity, he was a beloved partner, father, grandfather, brother and uncle. Born on July 18, 1932, in Berkeley, California, Lew was affectionately nicknamed…
Music Tonight: Sunday, April 13
I mentioned earlier about the Logger Bar often having bands that blend into the environment of the venue but tonight’s gig is going to be a little different. Not that there’s a clash happening here, it’s more like a rare bird will be nesting in the joint. Santa Cruz’s Supernaut plays a type of epic,…
Music Tonight: Saturday, April 12
I am happy to report that the Siren’s Song Tavern is still up and running, and hosting a wicked and heavy show tonight at 6:30 p.m. Two of my favorite local amp slappers Ultramafic and Psyop Victim will be testing the earthquake retrofitting of the building, while another act I have yet to experience live…
Music Tonight: Friday, April 11
There’s a slap-dance night of tightwire funk and bounceable jams happening at Humbrews at 8:30 p.m. for those of you itching to boogie. Seattle’s instrumental funk ‘n soul band True Loves joins forces with local mothership Object Heavy to make the floor rippled and body strengthen with the healing frequencies of the Groove. Early tickets…
Music Tonight: Thursday, April 10
The Logger Bar is once again hosting a show perfect for its coral-like layers of a century of (occasionally) polished rustic ambience. Tyler John Kraehling is a traveling troubadour whose singer-songwriter repertoire takes the audience down the backroads of folk, country and blues, with both wilderness and signposts running through the mud and gravel. He’ll…
‘Hands Off!’ Rally Takes Over Eureka Streets
Hundreds of people carrying signs gathered outside the Humboldt County Courthouse on April 5, with the packed crowd stretching down both sides of the roadway from H Street down to I Street as part of the nationwide “Hands Off!” protests. From 6 years old to 90, protestors of all ages gathered on the sunny afternoon,…
Tacos, a Town Hall, a Bear and a Bust
Happy NCJ Taco Week! We’re perusing the menu and checking out this year’s taco trends at local restaurants. We’ll share why we’ve changed how we print our papers starting with this issue, as well. We’ve also got a look at Congressmember Huffman’s Town Hall last week. Elsewhere, the county is welcoming Ishung, the new black…
Lurline Hatherill
Lurline (Mudford) Hatherhill, age 95, passed peacefully in the Renaissance Unit of Timber Ridge Assisted Living Facility in McKinleyville, California, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. Lurline was born Oct., 6, 1929, in Texarkana, Arkansas. She was the oldest child of Avon Mudford and Sylvia “Lottie Lee” (Johnson) Mudford. Her family moved to Visalia, California, in…
Death of a Unicorn‘s Satirical Magic
DEATH OF A UNICORN. Magical realism is, pun intended, one of the trickier genres to both execute as a creator and to navigate as observer/reader/audience. Because it relies even more heavily on suspension of disbelief than its really only slightly less fantastical cohort, we in the cheap seats need a cohesive, compelling vision to allow…
The Price of Print
Dear readers, The decline of print journalism is no secret. Over the past two decades, the industry has been battered by the rapid shift to digital media, the collapse of traditional advertising revenue, the monopolization of information distribution by tech giants and greedy ownership that prioritize large profit margins over community service. More than 2,500…
‘Disillusionment with the Chaos’
Editor: There are many indications that the American public is turning against President Trump. In late January, Democrat Mike Zimmer flipped an open Iowa state Senate seat in a district which Trump had won by 21 points. Recently, Democrat James Andrew Malone won an open Pennsylvania state Senate seat in a district that Trump carried…
‘Shown its Mettle’
Editor: Canada has shown its mettle by proclaiming a total divorce with the U.S. I would divorce us, too, but like a battered spouse, I am loath to give up my home, family and friends to hunker down in a foreign country, head buried in the sand. Europe now considers us an enemy; Russia, China, North…
‘Agency and Office’
Editor: As citizens of a Republic, we all have agency and office (“Sunshine, If We Can Keep It,” March 20). We have a responsibility to be informed and engaged. Voting is not a right, it is a duty we all share, and, if necessary, we must defend our Constitution by any means available. An Oath:…
‘Old Enough to Remember’
Editor: I’m just old enough to remember Joe McCarthy and the Red Scare of the 1950s. Sen. McCarthy (R-Wisconsin) led a government-wide hunt for communists, socialists and their “fellow travelers,” and he claimed to find “commies” everywhere he looked, from colleges to the armed forces (“Sunshine, If We Can Keep It,” March 20). Many people…
‘Pick an Issue’
Editor: Someone sent me a notice of a protest gathering at the courthouse at noon on April 5. If one (or a dozen) of the following Trump Administration issues (read that DOGE and billionaire cabinet) has impacted you or loved ones or just concerns you, you might want to see what’s going on Saturday noon…
Axis of Evil
Don’t blame me for the clickbait heading. Capitalizing on Dubya Bush’s 2002 State of the Union address in which he singled out Iraq, Iran and North Korea as Earth’s baddies, cosmologists Kate Land and João Magueijo employed the same phrase three years later for the title of their scientificxpaper. In it, they described a spooky…
‘The Peril of this Moment’
Appearing at his first in-person town hall meeting since Donald Trump began his second term as president, North Coast Congressmember Jared Huffman alternately described himself as “concerned,” “alarmed,” “worried” and “terrified” at what the new administration is doing, painting it as a “corrupt” enterprise that’s “delighting” in the suffering it is causing while barreling the…
Drug Task Force Alleges Local Business Knowingly Sent Drug Trafficking Profits Out of the Country
The Humboldt County Drug Task Force announced March 19 that it had arrested Oscar Rocael Cruz-Ramos, 29, of Carlotta, after a four-month drug trafficking investigation that included the seizure of more than 2 pounds of cocaine and an array of firearms. The investigation, which began with a tip from a paid confidential informant reporting a…
In a Silent Way
Last week I experienced a brief moment of pure detachment, a period of silent grace — for the language of God is nothing if not Silence — while lying in the bed of my truck on some scraps of plywood, a flat tire propping up my legs. Pure quietude, no thoughts, no images beyond the…
First Saturday Night Arts Alive
Experience the vibrant atmosphere as galleries, museums, theaters, bars and restaurants extend their hours for your enjoyment. 4TH STREET MERCANTILE 215 Fourth St. Various artists. ART CENTER FRAME SHOP 616 Second St. Sandra Henry, Sara Starr, Lynne Bryan and Judy Lachowsky, watercolors. ART CENTER SPACE 620 Second St. “Gravitas,” Georgia Long, oil painting, mixed media. BELLE STARR 405 Second St. Christina Anastasia Pop-up…
Clue is Game
A dark and stormy night outside a lush mansion on Van Duzer Theater’s stage sets the melodramatic tone for Cal Poly Humboldt’s Department of Dance, Music and Theatre production of Clue by Sandy Rustin. The madcap, stylized parlor game whodunit is based on the movie of the same title, which was inspired by the board…
Steel Magnolias Blooms in Ferndale
It’s a bold choice to present a piece of theater as beloved and acclaimed as Steel Magnolias. For people of a certain (cough) maturity, the movie is a go-to experience for anyone needing a deep laugh, a cathartic cry and brilliant writing. It’s hard to separate the cinematic masterpiece from the stage play, and the iconic actors…
Democracy is in Peril
Friends, these are indeed unprecedented times and our democracy is in peril. But let’s not get crazy. We need to present a united front. Those of us who haven’t been pulled off the streets and disappeared by plainclothes ICE agents have an obligation to stick together and honor those stripped of their humanity because of…
