Tale of Two Theaters
They were the best of venues, then they were the worst. Now they’re coming back.
Cover Story
Tale of Two Theaters
They stand tall, proudly displaying their respective city names with art deco marquees. Most theaters like them have fallen by the wayside, demolished to make way for more lucrative businesses, but the Eureka, the Arcata and the Fortuna, all built during the golden age of movie palaces, each with its own complex history of survival…
More General Plan Alternatives Released
This just in: The General Plan Update (GPU) alternatives for the following sections have been released and will soon be subject to public debate: Agricultural Resources, Forest Resources and Public Lands. All of these sections fall under the larger header of the GPU’s Land Use Element. Sure-to-be-lively public hearings on the Land Use Element (featuring…
Fugitive’s Daughter Left in Fortuna
[Updated] Seattle’s King 5 News is reporting that a nine-year-old girl who watched her dad rip off an AM/PM Tuesday morning in Thorp, Wash., was taken into protective custody by Fortuna Police last night. Her dad, Robert Daniel Webb, 42, is still on the loose. And here’s the strange thing: Webb is apparently pals with…
Saving Newspapers
Reuters. A brainstorming session featuring our pals at the East Bay Express :
Go Conficker
right? Anxiety over the computer virus known as Conficker is at a fever pitch today, especially among 60 Minutes viewers. News to you? Here’s a brief synopsis: A computer worm, apparently created by a group of young Russian hackers (yes, really…I know it’s April Fools Day, but yes, really), has infiltrated some 10 million computers…
KHUM Blogwatch?
here.KHUM Blogwatch?: KHUM seems to have ditched the North Coast Journal Blogwatch feed for some kind of handcrafted feed of its own. Check it out — lots of interesting stuff
Here Comes Your Stimulus Bonus
Nevada.Here Comes Your Stimulus Bonus: Do you make less that $95,000 a year? Can you be claimed by a dependent on someone else’s tax return? Are you eligible for Social Security? If you answered “yes,” “no,” and “no,” then get ready for some O-funds in your wallet as early as tomorrow! CNNMoney.com reports that the…
Gottschalks: Liquidation
Gottschalks: Liquidation: Another Bayshore Mall department store bites the dust. “Going-out-of business sales at the chain are expected to begin on or around April 3,” says
Obama Signs Wilderness Bill
desperation.Obama Signs Wilderness Bill: The Huffungton Post reports that, with one swoop of the presidential pen yesterday, Obama set aside almost as much wilderness as W. managed in two full terms. “The law — a collection of nearly 170 separate measures — represents one of the largest expansions of wilderness protection in a quarter-century.” Among…
Anonymous Anti-Palin Blogger ‘Outed’ by Lawmaker
waters?Anonymous Anti-Palin Blogger ‘Outed’ by Lawmaker: Dawn Teo of the Huffington Post discusses the outing of Alaska Muckraker, aka AKM. In the process Teo makes some interesting points about anonymous blogging, which has been a hot topic
Fortuna hip hop goes national
If you were paying close attention a couple of years ago, you might have heard a little bit about a hip hop documentary under production focusing in part on Fortuna-based rapper Franco Casasanta from The Dirty Rats. Director Sabrina Lee once lived here, but has since relocated to Montana. Her crew shot scenes locally including…
Invasion Of The Humboldt Squids!
Invasion Of The Humboldt Squids!: A reader sent this link to a CBS News vid about some scary sea creatures — as a warning to surfers. The jumbo squids were once only found way south of here, so they’re not named for Humboldt County (Alexander has his name on many things) but it seems their…
more Reggae news
94. Despite anything you may have heard, there was never a doubt that Reggae Rising will take place on the Dimmick Ranch on the first weekend in August 2009 (that’s July 31-Aug. 2). So, what’s the deal? First, ticket prices are down. “Early bird” price is $99 for the weekend with a $7.50 service charge…
Loggers Going Green – NYTimes.com
Loggers Going Green – NYTimes.com: This story in yesterday’s NYT imagines the two opposing forces that have shaped our local community — namely loggers and environmentalists — coming together for a cause: their mutual love of Coca-Cola. Wait, make that saving the planet AND jobs at the same time. “Some people who have long fought…
So Long, Skid
For nearly four years now, just about every day of the workweek, I’ve walked once or twice or more past the little white house that is Skidmore’s Barber Shop on south G Street. If it was in the afternoons, Mr. Skidmore himself usually would be in there trimming up some gentleman’s often already tight mane, getting that…
Details emerge on Willits Woodstock – Ukiah Daily Journal
today.Details emerge on Willits Woodstock – Ukiah Daily Journal: The promoter working on doing a Woodstock 40th anniversary event this summer has been having trouble getting it together in New York and is exploring the idea of doing it somewhere near Willits, apparently because of the Wavy Gravy Hog Farm
Albin Gruhn, Rest in Peace
Albin Gruhn, Rest in Peace: The Chron eulogizes the former head of the California Labor Federation. He got his start in the movement as a young employee of the Hammond Lumber Co. in Samoa, at the tail end of the Humboldt County labor movement’s heyday. Gruhn was
Ascending 2
The winter birds love this sunlight; They take…
Specifics about the Pacific
Walking on Samoa Beach during a nor’wester a few stormy days ago, waves crashing towards the shore, I wondered if the Pacific Ocean had been named in irony — ‘pacific’ was the last thing that came to mind. Turns out, though, that the man who named our western sea was dead serious — and grateful.…
To Be Still
It is no misnomer that singer/songwriter Alela Diane Menig falls into the growing musical community known as "New Weird Americana" or "Freak Folk." What’s interesting about her segment of this developing "scene" or movement are the roots, which derive from British folk traditions, which in turn borrow from earlier Gaelic musical traditions, namely Scotland, Ireland…
The Little Veal Cutlet that Couldn’t
It seems to me being a vegetarian requires possession of a good sense of humor. The decision to stray from the meat-and-potato traditions of my family certainly exposed me to more than my fair share of ribbing and ridicule, and I don’t think I would have handled those ordeals so well if I didn’t go…
Get Less Poor!
A parking spot opened on F Street — good luck, as I needed to deposit my paycheck before the weekend’s debit card purchases overdrew my account. With money so tight, those $33 overdraft fees, besides being stupid, can kill a person. Exiting the car, I noted the restaurant across the street. Regret pinged through me.…
Why Howe?
Tina Howe nearly nabbed the Pulitzer Prize for Painting Churches in 1984, and by 1986, when I saw the Virginia Stage Company production in Norfolk, the play was on its way to becoming a regional theatre staple. (The cast I saw was Broadway veteran Avril Gentles, regional theatre stalwart Wyman Pendleton and young Jordan Baker,…
My Kind of Fluff
Previews The big opening on Friday, March 27 is the computer-animated Monsters vs. Aliens, which is being released in 3-D. Susan Murphy (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) grows to 49′1″ after being conked by space junk on the way to her wedding. Captured by the military, she is housed with other monsters who become assets when…
All God’s Creatures
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) activists who staged a noontime protest Friday in the F Street Plaza in Eureka arrived with friendly optimism plus a pile of fake green ivy, a curvy near-naked woman painted like a snake and a quiet leaflet-and-sign plea (no megaphone antics here) to stamp out the…
Circus With a Purpose
A whole rainbow of human emotion — anticipation, fear, love and hate — could be seen and heard outside the California Supreme Court’s San Francisco chambers during the March 5 hearing to overturn Proposition 8, the ballot measure that changed the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Signs ranged from the almost clichéd Christian slogans…
Save the Monkeys!
Eureka City Councilman Frank Jäger doesn’t sugarcoat it: The city’s budget situation ain’t pretty. Blame can be spread in a number of directions, though the truth of the matter is that, as with the unholy messes in the state and national budgets, there’s one overriding culprit: It’s the stupid economy. Sales tax revenues have been…
Talkin’ Nocturnum
Anyone out there ever eat at O-H’s Townhouse? It was a classic old-school steak house, a place where you could pick out your meat from a glass-fronted case, then hit the bar for a shot of straight whiskey to be sipped while sitting in a cushy red Naugahyde booth. The cushy booths are still in…
Post Mortem
You might argue that it wasn’t the most important issue that the county will face this year, and after a short but fierce bout, during which I manage to rip out one of your eyeballs before you shatter my elbow and grind my face into the pavement, I would concede the point. Nevertheless, it was…
Eye Popping
Editor: I know this is a distressing time for newspapers and their need to shave costs. However, some decisions made also shave readers. I’m afraid that the Journal is heading in that direction. The last edition is a case in point as more than half was mostly unreadable because of the tiny print, as well…
