The Battle Over Bear River
How a power struggle over tribal policing authority derailed an officer’s career By Thadeus Greenson
Cover Story
The Battle Over Bear River
Josh Bates clearly recalls the exact moment he realized his professional life was spiraling out of control through no fault of his own. A graduate of the College of the Redwoods Police Academy, Bates says it was early March of 2022 and things were going pretty well. He’d recently resigned his post as an officer…
Music Tonight: Wednesday, Jan. 15
Not much going on tonight, so I’ll take a brief moment to point out two changes to your regular Wednesday night options. Big Mood, the weekly queer dance party at the Miniplex, is no longer happening on hump day but will return on Jan. 24, where it will take up residency on the fourth Friday…
Supes Talk Healthcare Forum, Pellet Plant Draft EIR
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors got a preview this morning of the findings of Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo’s listening tour on healthcare provider recruitment and retention, which will be the focus of a community forum later this month. Arroyo, who said she undertook the effort because healthcare delivery is a top constituent concern…
Music Tonight: Tuesday, Jan. 14
Black Flag is one of the few original wave of American punk acts who have everything needed to cement a worldwide icon status: a highly influential discography that covers everything from early hardcore to proto-sludge, grunge and alternative metal; an instantly recognizable sound throughout despite five decades of line-up changes, with guitarist Greg Ginn remaining…
Pam Giacomini: 1958-2024
Pam Giacomini, 66, of Hat Creek, California, died Dec. 29, 2024 at home. Pamela Ann Thompson was born Oct. 21, 1958, in Redding to her parents, Robert and Lois Opdyke Thompson. She grew up with her older brother and sister on the family ranch originally settled by her great-grandparents in 1903. Pam was active in…
Comedy Tonight: Saturday, Jan. 11
San Francisco comedians Spencer Devine and Rachel Pilson continue the last of their two-night headlining residency at Savage Henry Comedy Club tonight at 9 p.m. ($10). If you would like to get in on the ground floor of some rising Bay Area stand-ups, tonight or Friday’s gigs are the place to be. On the topic…
The Battle Over Bear River and the Ivanhoe’s Next Chapter
On this week’s episode of the NCJ Preview, news editor Thadeus Greenson discusses his cover story “The Battle Over Bear River,” which touches on a power struggle over tribal policing authority that derailed officer Josh Bates’ career. And arts and features editor Jennifer Fumiko Cahill talks about her story “The Ivanhoe’s Next Chapter,” which highlights a…
Music Tonight: Friday, Jan. 10
Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka continues its fine use of the pipe organ on site, with a concert by visiting virtuosic player Adam Brakel. The program includes appropriately Baroque tunes, as well as a rendition of French organist Léonce de Saint-Martin’s Toccata de la Libération, written to celebrate the 1944 expulsion of the Nazis from…
Sheriff’s Office Investigating Death of Man Found Under Hoopa Bridge
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of Weitchpec man whose body was found Wednesday under the Trinity River Bridge at State Route 96 and Tish Tang Road. According to a news release, deputies and Hoopa Valley Tribal Police officers responded to the scene around 2 p.m. and located the individual, later identified…
Assembly to Again Take Up Bill Giving Tribes State Police Powers
After twice introducing bills that would allow tribal police departments a path to certification by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training — the first dying in committee before the second was vetoed by the governor last year — Ramos recently introduced Assembly Bill 31, hoping it will overcome the final hurdle this…
‘On the Events of April’
Cal Poly Humboldt is beginning a series “of community conversations and reflections on the events of April,” the university announced in a schoolwide memo earlier this month. The “events” in question were occupation of Siemens Hall in an effort to bring awareness to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza resulting from Israel’s offensive targeting Hamas, and…
Orpheus in the Underworld
Things are picking up somewhat around here but not quite to the levels we can expect to see in the coming weeks. This is the time of the winter lull, when many bands are dormant in response to a limited audience. Marry that to the ongoing series of closing venues, general economic misery and a…
The Ivanhoe’s Next Chapter
It was Hospitality Night in Ferndale in 1997 when the last incarnation of the Ivanhoe opened on Main Street. Barb and Dave Mogni would run the iconic restaurant and bar for more than two decades until Dave’s death in 2020. But the Ivanhoe Hotel, Restaurant and Saloon has been a landmark in the town since…
Shock and Irish
In a fitting end to a discomfiting year, my holidays were canceled in lieu of a protracted illness absent even the minor satisfaction of a diagnosis, or that glorious, wished-for but likely apocryphal fatigue and rest we sometimes associate with influenza. No, this was an unrelenting, tasteless sapping of strength and enthusiasm that, as it…
Re: Huffman and Genocide
Editor: I read with interest the article on the class action lawsuit filed against Representatives Huffman and Thompson (“Group Brings Class Action Suit Against Huffman,” Dec. 26). As the article lays out in detail, the suit should be DOA for numerous reasons under well-established precedent. However, I would go further and argue that the plaintiffs’…
‘None of the Above’
Editor: Despite recent appearances in these pages, I am not really much of a letter-to-the-editor writer (Mailbox, Dec. 26). However, I do believe a letter writer needs to get the facts correct, and try not to slant them too much. So, I feel compelled to respond to Mr. Brown’s letter of Dec. 26. President-elect Trump…
‘Completely Deluded’
Editor: I find it bizarre that Democrats remain completely deluded about the cause of their defeat in the presidential election (Mailbox, Jan. 2). The commentary and letters in the NCJ have been as ignorant as what I see in the corporate media. The obvious, but apparently unthinkable truth, is that a great many people voted…
No Parking
Editor: I hope that the city of Eureka will reconsider its plans to turn downtown parking lots into multi-unit housing (“Top 10 Stories of 2024,” Dec. 26.), in light of California’s new “Daylighting Law.” Beginning Jan. 1, parking within 20 feet of any intersection is prohibited. While the new law will increase much needed visibility…
‘Having a Fit’
Editor: President-Elect Donald Trump is having a fit (“Top 10 Stories of 2024”, Dec. 26). Former President Jimmy Carter died on Dec. 29, and according to custom, all public flags will be flown at half-staff for 30 days. This will include his inauguration day, and Trump can’t stand the fact that the flags will appear…
‘We Are Responsible’
Editor: Let’s remind ourselves that we are responsible for the information we chose to believe (Mailbox, Jan. 2). If we really care about reliable and timely news we will have to work hard to find it in this era. We can find the opposite news for practically any item in mass media unless you happen…
Correction
An article headlined “Group Brings Class Action Suit Against Huffman” in the Dec. 26, 2024, edition of the North Coast Journal mistakenly referred to The University of California College of the Law, San Francisco by its former name. The Journal regrets the error.
Moon Jellies for Breakfast
We at Washed-up Foods Inc. are preparing to launch our first breakfast cereal. It’s called Sugar Frosted Moon Flakes. It’s made from our local moon jelly (Aurelia aurita), one of the jellyfish species harvested for human consumption. Dried jellies are used in several Asian cuisines, and are high in protein and low in fat, but…
Dissonance
Young people at a music festival a nation’s grandchildren are never coming home as our bombs rain down on another side of the world. Is it 45,000 deaths now? According to the UN most of the dead are women and children. Untold numbers are wounded and orphaned. We weep for the mothers and all of…
