The Advocate
Remembering Charlie Bean and his tireless work to bring access and independence to all
Look Down: Ecos Cafe at the Zoo
With all the excitement over the newly opened Redwood Sky Walk at the Sequoia Park Zoo (3414 W St., Eureka) and its elevated view of the big trees, it’s easy to miss changes on the ground. But descend the ramp, hang left past the flamingoes and the otter habitat, and you’ll come upon the newish…
Fredrick Mordecai Gold: 1936-2021
Fredrick Mordecai Gold July 31, 1936 – February 1, 2021 Fredrick Mordecai Gold, born in Brooklyn, New York, on July 31, 1936, died at 84 years of age in the house he built in Eureka, California, surrounded by loved ones, on Feb. 1, 2021. He is dearly missed. He passed after a short and courageous…
Wildfires Closing Sections of SR 299, 36
Wildfires burning to the south and east of Humboldt County are shutting down major travel routes, including state routes 299 and 36 in some areas, and wind shifts could carry smoke toward the north and northwest tomorrow morning. According to Caltrans, State Route 299 is fully closed from 3.5 miles east of Big Bar to…
Public Health Confirms Record 82 New COVID-19 Cases
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 82 new COVID-19 cases today — making 237 so far this week — as Health Officer Ian Hoffman announced a new mandatory masking order will go into effect countywide at midnight Friday. Today’s cases — which come after 217 were confirmed last week, the highest weekly tally since the post-holiday…
Local Events Postponed or Canceled Due to COVID Safety Concerns
Due to the sharp rise in local cases and hospitalizations associated with the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus, a number of organizations are announcing the cancelation or postponement of their events in the interest of public safety. Eureka’s Friday Night Market on Aug. 6 is postponed until further notice (see press release below), as is…
Best of Humboldt Party Postponed
Tough break, kids. In light of spiking local COVID-19 case numbers, the unprecedented spread of disease Humboldt County is currently seeing and Public Health’s recent recommendation against large gatherings, the North Coast Journal has decided to postpone its Best of Humboldt party scheduled for Friday, Aug. 6. We will not risk hosting an event that could…
Health Officer Reinstates Mask Mandate in Humboldt as Cases Skyrocket
Humboldt County Health Officer Ian Hoffman announced at a press conference this afternoon that he is reinstating a countywide mask order requiring facial coverings in indoor public spaces, effective at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. The announcement comes amid a surge in local cases that officials believe is being fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant, with 82…
Dave Nicholson: 1954-2021
A celebration of life will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 8, at the Fortuna River Lodge, 1800 Riverwalk Drive, for Dave Nicholson. Please bring memories and stories to share.
HumCo Records 54th COVID Death, 31 New Cases as Surge Continues
Humboldt County has lost a 54th resident — a person in their 30s — to COVID-19, Public Health reported today, while confirming 31 new cases and three new hospitalizations. This afternoon’s report — which came after laboratories processed 208 samples with a test-positivity rate of 14.9 percent — came after Public Health reported this morning…
Arcata Mayor Releases Statement After Arrest
Arcata Mayor Brett Watson issued a statemement today following his arrest Sunday night on suspicion of driving under the influence. According to a news release from the city of Arcata, Watson was arrested at a controlled traffic stop being conducted by the California Highway Patrol on L.K. Wood Boulevard. Watson’s statement: “Last week was the…
COVID-19 Levels in Eureka’s Wastewater Far Outpace National Samples
Eureka wastewater samples recently collected as part of a nationwide COVID-19 tracking program are showing virus concentration levels higher than 99 percent of other samples submitted from across the nation in the last six weeks, according to the city. Local cases have skyrocketed, with Humboldt County just last week recording its highest single-day count of…
Logger Bar Reopening Cut Short by COVID Numbers
Well, crap. After a brief and much anticipated reopening, the Logger Bar, Blue Lake’s iconic watering hole, has shut its doors once again. Owner Kate Martin, who’d closed the bar for more than a year and put it up for sale, spoke with the Journal last month about the additional outdoor seating she hoped would…
Public Health: 124 COVID Cases, Four Hospitalizations Confirmed Friday to Monday
After failing to get a new case count out yesterday due to spiking numbers and dipping staffing levels, Humboldt County Public Health reported this morning that it confirmed 124 new COVID-19 cases between Friday and Monday, with four new hospitalizations, including two people in their 40s. The new cases were reported after laboratories processed 1,263…
Slugging Toward the Sunset
Arcata Ballpark has seen its fair share of excitement over the summer and this week was no exception. A winning streak extended to 11 games, pitchers took to the field as position players, a player sang the national anthem and a home run record fell as the season started to wind down for the Humboldt…
Public Health Estimates More Than 90 COVID-19 Cases Confirmed Since Friday
Humboldt County Public Health did not issue an exact case count today, citing short staffing and high number of positive cases over the weekend as reasons it won’t release a full case tally until tomorrow. Public Health estimates that more than 90 individuals tested positive for COVID-19 since Friday’s report, but said the county’s recent…
NCJ Preview: COVID-19 Update, Charlie Bean’s Legacy and the Joy of Everyday Cooking
Both Humboldt County’s Public Health office and the CDC recommend masking for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people in public indoor spaces. We’re breaking down why that is and Humboldt’s troubling increase in COVID-19 cases. From our cover story, we’ve got a look at the life of the late Charlie Bean, who dedicated his life to…
Public Health Confirms Record 69 New COVID-19 Cases, Four New Hospitalizations
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 69 new COVID-19 cases today — the county’s highest single-day count to date — while also reporting four new hospitalizations amid growing fears of the Delta variant’s spread. Today’s cases — making 217 this week, the highest weekly tally since the post-holiday surge in January — were reported after laboratories…
Defense Department Now Requiring Vaccinations or Regular COVID Tests
The Defense Department announced Thursday that all civilian employees and military personnel will be required to show proof of vaccination or wear a mask and provide regular COVID-19 test results. “The Department of Defense is moving quickly to meet President Biden’s commitment to defeat COVID-19, and that includes being able to ensure every member of…
Hamlet Back on at NCRT
Live theater … to see, or not to see? If you choose the former, get thee to the North Coast Repertory Theatre for its production of Hamlet, opening Saturday, July 31 at 8 p.m. and playing Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Aug. 22 ($18, $16). In tragic Shakespearean fashion, the play was shut down due…
Public Health Confirms 35 New COVID-19 Cases
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 35 new COVID-19 cases today — making 148 so far this week — after laboratories processed 407 samples with a test-positivity rate of 8.6 percent. Last week, the county recorded 169 new cases, the highest weekly tally since the post-holiday surge in late January. No new hospitalizations were reported but,…
Humboldt Mandates Masking in County Facilities
The Humboldt County Administrative Office announced today that facial coverings will be required in all county facilities as of tomorrow. The county notes that the emergence of the more contagious Delta variant — which now accounts for more than 80 percent of cases in California — disease spread and associated hospitalizations have been on the…
Vaccine Clinics Planned for Young Adults
In an effort to reach more young adults, who account for 21.8 percent of positive COVID-19 cases locally, and get them vaccinated, Humboldt County Public Health’s mobile vaccine unit will host clinics during several community events in Eureka, including the city of Eureka’s annual Get Out and Play Day. Public Health’s mobile vaccine clinics will…
Arcata City Council Appoints New Member
The Arcata City Council selected Meredith Matthews to serve the remainder of former Mayor Sofia Pereira’s term last night following a candidate forum. Matthews, an administrative specialist with the Redwood Coast Energy Authority who sits on the Arcata Chamber of Commerce board and previously served on the city’s Economic Development Committee, was one of seven city…
Eureka Salmon Finally Show Up
If the last couple days are any indication, we may have a strong finish to the salmon season out of Eureka. Since the opener June 29, the fishing — and subsequently the effort — have both been underwhelming. But things began to change Saturday. A couple charters and sport boats braved tough conditions and found…
The Wild Ride to F9
F9: THE FAST SAGA. The thrill isn’t gone, per se, but in having recently revisited the undeniable high-water mark of installments four through six — Fast & Furious (2009); Fast 5 (2011); Fast & Furious 6 (2013) — of this almost ridiculously long-lived franchise, this unlikely behemoth that was never really meant to survive, I…
‘Politicized’
Dear Editor: Kudos to Jennifer Fumiko Cahill, Thadeus Greenson and Kimberly Wear for an extremely intelligent and well written editorial (“Across Dueling Realities,” July 15) on the vaccine situation. It’s important to remember that when the country encountered a smallpox problem, medical science solved it. When the country encountered a measles problem, medical science solved…
‘To God’s Ear’
Editor: Many thanks for Jennifer Fumiko Cahill’s superb “A Friendship, Vaccination and Worry” column in the July 15 NCJ. When geriatrics like me were suddenly offered the vaccine back in late January, hundreds of us lined up in the dark, cold Mad River Community Hospital parking lot. A nurse announced: “We think we should have…
Twin Souls: S.S. Emidio and Bessie the Blimp
The Humboldt Times, Sept. 14, 1946, ran the story of Bessie together with an aerial photo of the crashed airship. The caption reads, in part, “At first, it was thought the entire blimp could be salvaged, but huge tears in the outer skin doomed the large craft. Something about Blunt’s Reef, a jagged shard of…
“Only You Can Prevent Wildflowers”
Like fire flickering Western Tiger Swallowtails Flit from flame to flame J. Commander
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): What does it mean to feel real? Some people have a hard time doing that. They have such false ideas about who they are that they rarely feel real. Others are so distracted by trivial longings that they never have the luxury of settling into the exquisite at-home-ness of feeling real.…
The Advocate
California has lost one of its fiercest and kindest advocates. Charles L. Bean Jr., who took a life-changing accident that left him quadriplegic as a young man and turned it into a relentless mission to make the world a more equitable, accessible place for all, using his soft, firm voice and kind smile to improve…
Newsom Implements New Testing, Vaccine Mandate
Amid an uptick in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced July 26 that health care workers and state employees must be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing and wear masks. Employees of hospitals, nursing homes, dentists’ and doctors’ offices and other health care settings will have to comply with the requirements by Aug.…
Back at it Again?
To mask or not to mask, that is the question. Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer a mild inconvenience to … oh, stop it. It looks like the numbers are climbing and the governor — with a recall election looming that he might want to take a tad more seriously lest we all…
Tomato and Egg Stir-fry
When my editor suggested I write about the tomato and egg stir-fry dish I’d posted on social media, I thought, “There aren’t any unique stories (or secrets) behind this iconic dish.” Although this is a dish that’s popular across China, it’s simple and almost too plain to talk about. Then I thought about how life…
Trinidad Art Nights
Venues throughout town are open late for art viewing, music, dance and more. At the Trinidad Elementary school there will be a boffer ring, and a skate ramp set-up at Saunders Park. August will see the return of fire dancing to the streets. For more information, visit www.trinidadartnight.com Hosted by Community Arts Trinidad, a DreamMaker…
Quick and Wordy
The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspre (Abridged) (Revised) — hereinafter referred to as CWWS for the sake of my fingers — was assembled by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield in the early 1980s. While it did make a nine-year detour to legitimate theater in London, CWWS has lived largely on the edge of…
Sea to Summit: Signal Peak
My planning for Signal Peak began with, “Where is this?” I had never heard of Signal Peak before. It’s to the southwest of Black Lassic, sort of behind it as you approach from the northwest. There are several routes, all of them challenging. I didn’t want to go alone, but wasn’t sure who else might…
