Taxed
California’s beleaguered recycling system leaves Humboldt consumers, grocery stores feeling pinched
Sequoia Park Zoo Skywalk in Final Stages
If you’ve been on the trails of Sequoia Park, closer to the zoo, you may have noticed that the Sequoia Park Zoo Redwood Skywalk appears to be finished, however, the Sequoia Park Zoo Foundation still has some final steps to take before opening the new attraction to the public. According to a statement from the…
How EDD, Bank of America Make Millions on California Unemployment
She didn’t know it at the time, but last September was when everything started to unravel for Julie Hansen. It was late in the month when the furloughed Disneyland candy maker noticed a string of suspicious charges totaling $12,222.23 on her state-issued Bank of America unemployment debit card. First, the money was credited back to…
Huffman Town Hall Dives Deep Into COVID Vaccine Rollout
North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman held a virtual town discussing the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine in Humboldt and Mendocino counties featuring Assemblymember Jim Wood, Humboldt County Public Health Officer Ian Hoffman, Mendocino County Public Health Officer Andy Coren and Associate Chief of Medicine at the San Francisco VA Medical Center Heather Nye. The panel discussed…
Public Health Reports 13 New COVID-19 Cases, the Lowest Tally Since December
Humboldt County Public Health reported 13 new COVID-19 cases today, the lowest daily tally in more than a month, as well as a new hospitalization. This week has now seen 100 case recorded, one death and six hospitalizations, after five deaths and 258 cases were confirmed last week, for a record 990 cases reported in…
Two Polls Give Gov. Newsom Bad News … and Worse News
Two fresh polls indicate that California voters may be falling out of love with a governor who just three years ago was elected by a record-breaking margin, and who early in the pandemic ranked as one of the country’s most popular state leaders. How worrisome is this for the governor facing a burgeoning recall effort?…
Californians Ask: Where Are Our COVID Vaccines?
With Californians growing desperate to protect themselves from COVID-19 and put the pandemic behind them, many want to know: where a re their vaccines? State officials have mostly pointed to insufficient federal supply as the culprit for a slower than expected vaccine rollout. About 4.7 million doses have been sent to the state, not including…
Humboldt Marks 31st COVID Death
Humboldt County Public Health today confirmed the death of an individual in their 60s and 22 new COVID-19 cases, including 12 detected with antigen tests. Antigen tests, which look for the presence of a specific viral antigen, basically a foreign substance that triggers the immune system to produce antibodies, are faster and can produce results…
Huffman Blasts Extremist Colleague, Urges ‘Decent People’ to Leave ‘Moral Rot’ of GOP
There’s a growing rift in the Republican party and North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman, never one to be confused for a political wallflower, has joined the fray. Tensions between the GOP establishment and a new wave of politicians who have ridden to prominence on a wave of populism and Trumpism have been growing for years…
THIRD UPDATE: SWAT Called to Westhaven Drive; Suspect Arrested
THIRD UPDATE: Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office reports the suspect has been located on Dows Prairie Road. Walter Wayne Wright, 35, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Find the full HCSO release at the end of the story. SECOND UPDATE: The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office states a call came in at 10 a.m. reporting a…
Limited Supplies Slowing Vaccination Efforts, County Reports
Humboldt County Public Health has confirmed 65 new COVID-19 cases since Friday as vaccination efforts slow due to limited supplies. Three more hospitalizations were also reported. As a result of the limited doses, Public Health has “canceled its large-scale vaccination clinics for the week and reassigned available resources to support other providers’ clinics,” according to…
Man in Critical Condition After Eureka Shooting
The Eureka Police Department is investigating after a 56-year-old man was found shot on the 700 block of 10th Street just before midnight yesterday. He is reported to be in critical condition. “Based on the investigation, it was determined the shooting occurred near a residence on 1000 block of I Street,” a news release from…
UPDATE: Search and Rescue Ongoing at South Jetty
UPDATE: The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office reports the “missing person has been found safe.” PREVIOUS: Deputies are assisting the the U.S. Coast Guard with a search and rescue operation at the South Jetty, where a person is believed to be in the water. No other details were immediately available.
Slide Shuts SR 96 Near Happy Camp
Slide activity has prompted the closure of State Route 96 about 8 miles west of Happy Camp. “Due to the speed at which the debris is entering the roadway and inclement weather possible for the area, the highway is anticipated to remain closed through today (February 1) and will be reassessed Tuesday morning (February 2)…
Chalet House of Omelettes Closes after 45 Years
On Jan. 22, Chalet House of Omelettes announced via Facebook the 45-year-old restaurant on Eureka’s Fifth Street would be closed permanently. Over the phone from the Chalet’s Cutten location, owner Bill Tuttle told the Journal his mother, Vera Johnson, opened the restaurant March 1, 1975 in the former Mr. Swiss ice cream parlor after having…
UPDATE: Flood Watch in Effect for Areas of Humboldt, Del Norte, Trinity
UPDATE: Slide activity has prompted the closure of State Route 96 about 8 miles west of Happy Camp and no detour is available. There is not current timeline for when the roadway will reopen. Read more here. PREVIOUS: Moderate to heavy rainfall is expected across the region today, with 3 to 4 inches of rain…
Task Force Reports Finding Assault Weapon, Guns, Fentanyl in Eureka Bust
The Humboldt County Drug Task Force arrested two San Francisco men at a Eureka hotel today as a part of a fentanyl investigation after they reported finding a small arsenal, drugs and bags of blood spattered clothing. The agents raided the motel room of Joseff Gene Greek, 34, this morning and took him and Dale…
Huffman to Host COVID Vaccine Town Hall
North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman is hosting a virtual town hall Wednesday to discuss the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccine and what residents in the Second Congressional District can expect in the coming months. Guests include: Assemblymember Jim Wood and Humboldt County Health Officer Ian Hoffman and Heather Nye, Associate Chief of Medicine at the San…
Bridging the Gap: A Nonprofit’s Efforts to Get HumCo’s Latinx Residents Health Insurance, Services
You might see a group of Visión y Compromiso “promotores” tabling at local mercados throughout Humboldt County — they’re on a mission to help as many Latinx residents as possible obtain health insurance and access healthcare services. Visión y Compromiso Humboldt is a new chapter of the nonprofit Southern California based organizational coalition of “promotores,”…
CHP Investigating Fatal Fernbridge Drive Crash as Possible DUI
The California Highway Patrol has arrested a 25-year-old woman after a fatal head-on collision on Fernbridge Drive at about 1:15 this morning. According the CHP, Tiannah Ruvalcaba, 25, of Phillipsville, was driving her 2006 Honda Civic northbound on Ferndbridge drive as a 1988 Ford Mustang approached heading southbound. “For unknown reasons, one of the vehicles…
NCJ Preview: A Broken Recycling System and a Crab Cioppino for the Ages
This week we’re looking at California’s recycling deposit system and how it became broken to the point local residents have to drive to Crescent City to redeem their deposits or just accept the deposits as a kind of tax, while local grocers face new fees. It’s a mess. Speaking of which, get out your bibs…
COVID-19 Safety Measures, Testing Should Continue Even With Vaccine Rollout
Humboldt County Public Health is urging residents who have received the COVID-19 vaccine to continue using COVID-19 safety measures and testing sites as the vaccine is not a guaranteed safety measure at preventing the disease’s spread. In the release, Humboldt County Public Health Clinic and Communicable Disease Program Supervisor Hava Phillips, RN, said it takes…
Another Kinetic Cancelation
In an open letter, the folks behind the annual Kinetic Grand Championship, the three-day wild and wooly wheeled adventure across the land and sea of our county, have announced the canceling of this year’s in-person Memorial Day weekend event. “The threat of harm from COVID-19 is all too clear,” the statement reads, and organizers are…
Former Middle School Teaching Assistant Arrested for Alleged Sexual Abuse of a Child
This morning the Fortuna Police Department arrested former Toddy Thomas Middle School teaching assistant Matthew Oliver Gibson of McKinleyville on suspicion of sexual abusing a child. According to a press release, Gibson was a teaching assistant in the 2017-2018 school year and helping with the after-school program at the Fortuna school when he allegedly sexually abused a…
Humboldt Marks 30 COVID Deaths, Nearly 1K Cases in January
Humboldt County Public Health reported three additional COVID-19 related deaths today and 29 addition cases, bringing the week’s total to 262 and a record 994 so far in January. One of the individuals who died was in their 60s and two were in their 70s. Today’s results came after 257 tests were processed. The county…
Storm on the Horizon as Hundreds Remain Without Power, Snowy Roads Prompt Rescues
Enjoy the break in the rain, however short-lived, as another round of weather heads to Humboldt. The Eureka office of the National Weather Service forecast has a weak storm system moving into the region late tonight and into tomorrow, bringing a quarter to half-inch of rain. But following behind is a stronger system slated to…
Mad River Hospital: Don’t Show up at Vaccination Clinics Uninvited
Mad River Community Hospital is asking people not to come to its scheduled COVID-19 vaccination clinics unless they have received an invitation directly from their primary healthcare provider or been referred to the clinic by Humboldt County Public Health or their employer. While word of the clinics scheduled this week and next has spread rapidly…
COVID Case Count Ties Single-Day Record
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 53 new COVID-19 cases today, matching a single-day record set Dec. 30, bringing the week’s total to 233 and a record 965 so far in January. Two additional hospitalizations were also reported, making 15 so far this week, already more hospitalizations than have been tallied in any single week locally…
‘Staff Challenges’ Amid Quarantines Has Fortuna High School District Classes Going Virtual
Fortuna Union High School District campuses, including Fortuna High School, East High School and Academy of the Redwoods, will switch to distance learning starting tomorrow and running through Feb. 5 due to what the district described as “staff challenges” due to quarantines. “All classes will meet virtually at regularly scheduled time,” the post states. “There…
Thousands Remain Without Power in Storm’s Wake
More than 6,500 Humboldt County residents were still without power this morning in the wake of a strong winter storm with blustery winds that blew through the area over the last two days, knocking down trees and closings road throughout the region. According to PG&E, Humboldt is among the areas of the state hit hardest…
Covered California Opens Special Enrollment Period Through May 15
Covered California is offering a special enrollment period for those who have anyone uninsured and eligible to enroll in health care coverage through the agency from Feb. 1 through May 15. According to a release, the special enrollment period would allow uninsured people to sign up for coverage without needing to meet the normal qualifying life events,…
Uneasy Marks
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN. To call men pigs or dogs more often than not does disservice to pigs and dogs, noble contributors both, though not without their faults. More apt to group them/us with ducks, whose inveterate gang rape I have observed and remain traumatized by, or a particularly nasty virus. Such comparisons are closer to…
Be Bold
Editor: President Biden and every Democrat in Congress, this moment calls for boldness (Mailbox, Jan. 21). We don’t need another Obama or Clinton. We need an FDR and then some. It would be a monumental error in judgment to govern as centrists in hope that doing so will appease your most vocal and violent critics.…
Passed Over?
Editor: I have an elderly brother with a serious underlying medical condition, who, despite living in Humboldt for four years, still cannot get assigned a primary care physician (PCP) due to a shortage of local docs. The county does not seem to be addressing this demographic regarding how they can get scheduled for vaccines (“Vaxed,”…
‘Still Hope’
Editor: When worried about something, my mom would often say, “Well, no news is good news”. One day I said, “I don’t understand?” and learned, “It means there is still hope.” Eureka’s rewrite of the camping ban has been delayed and there is still hope that the council could reject it. The proposal is to…
A Killer Ad
Editor: I was disappointed and disheartened when I saw the very prominent cigarette ad on page 2 of the Jan. 14 edition of the Journal. The damage caused by tobacco use is not in question. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the world. About half of those who use tobacco today…
Our Social Brains
In order to appreciate this little window into the inner workings of your brain, please cover up the rest of this column, reading just one paragraph at a time. A deck of cards has, on one side, a person’s age; on the other, it has the drink they are holding, either alcoholic or non-alcoholic. They’re…
Phoenix rising
Out of the ashes of a year So incomprehensible In its universal tragedy But like new shoots Green and tender Sprouting in barren ground Everywhere were helpers And life went on as always With joys and sorrows Contentment and anger Behind the masks and distancing Into this new year Ever moving forward Inevitably and full…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In the 1950 film Harvey, James Stewart plays a middle-aged man named Elwood whose best friend is a tall invisible rabbit named Harvey. The relationship causes problems with the people in Elwood’s life. At one point a psychiatrist tries to convince him to “struggle with reality.” Elwood replies, “I wrestled with…
Taxed
Bags and bags filled with recyclables were piling up in Kathy Hutchinson’s shed. She had been waiting for the Eureka Recycling Center to resume paying for California Refund Value bottles and cans after it closed in March due to COVID-19 restrictions, but the eagerly anticipated reopening was short lived. The center briefly resumed its CRV…
North Fork LumberBuilds up its Employees
Editor’s note: After this story was published, the Journal editorial department learned that its production was included in a contract for services entered into between the Journal’s marketing department and the Humboldt County Economic Development Department. The story was produced by a Journal freelancer under the guidance of Journal editors, and at no time did…
Crab Cioppino
My mom’s recipe for crab cioppino became well known at the Ivanhoe in Ferndale when my dad owned it in the late 1940s. They were raising my two older sisters before the rest of us were born. Maybe my mom was raising them, as my dad was a bar owner. Her recipe was locally famous…
Tips for Post-Inaugural Adjustment
Much has already been written about the disappointed superfans and QAnon followers left rudderless after former President Trump exited the White House with nary an executed Satanist pedophile or vice president, no mass arrests and no overturning of the election. But diehard worshippers and disgruntled Proud Boys are not the only ones suddenly adrift as…
Sharing our Waters with Other Mammals
Humboldt County’s has one of the richest and most diverse populations of marine life in California, as well as some 135,558 people, plus visitors. My family, like many others, is particularly active in the waterways, especially kayaking and surfing in spaces shared by other mammals. Even though we know the animals are there, encounters come…
Coastal Rivers Brace for More Rain
Just as the steelhead season began to show signs of life, another round of wet storms is set to wreak havoc. All the coastal rivers are bracing for increased river flows certain to curtail any hopes of green water for some time. But these storms bring a little good news with them. For the first…
Supply and Demand: COVID-19 Vaccination Frustrations Boil with Too Few Doses and Another Curveball from the State
After nearly a year of living with COVID-19, health officials point to the prospect of mass vaccination as the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, the beacon leading us to normalcy. But hope and hard reality continue to collide in Humboldt County, where there are simply nowhere near enough vaccine doses to meet…
