Cover Story
Wing and a Prayer
On an early February afternoon, 4th District Supervisor Virginia Bass found herself in a huge Denver convention hall filled with more than 100 tables. Sitting at each: potential matches. It was like speed dating, and she was prepared, despite the pressure of a giant clock ticking away the seconds of each timed interaction. Would Bass…
UPDATED: Two Dead in Single Car Crash on 101
UPDATE: The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office has identified the two people killed in yesterday’s single-car accident on U.S. Highway 101 north of Arcata as Stacey Kejar, 50, of McKinleyville, and Karen Brennan, 59, of Eureka. Meanwhile, the California Highway Patrol issued a press release stating that the driver, 57-year-old William Larry Morris, of Fortuna, who sustained…
North Coast Drownings on Record Pace
Bobby Allan Root, a 20-year-old from Vicksburg, Michigan who enjoyed sketching and a good Will Ferrell movie is presumed drowned after going missing in the ocean off the North Coast on March 24. Root had been in Humboldt County visiting some friends when, on an overcast day, he dove into the Pacific Ocean at the…
Sheriff Seeks Public Help in Death Investigation
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office is asking the public for help identifying a dead man found on a rural and secluded part of the Hoopa Valley reservation. The Hoopa Valley Tribal Police Department got a call at about 10 p.m. on March 22 from someone reporting they’d found human remains in a wooded area off…
Eureka Man Dies After Being Run Over by Bus
The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office has identified the pedestrian run over by a bus Friday morning as 35-year-old Thomas William Rice, of Eureka. Eureka Police Capt. Steve Watson said the department’s preliminary investigation indicates that Rice was causing a disturbance at a bus stop near the intersection of Fifth and O streets at about 11:30…
HSU Has the State’s worst Faculty Tenure and Salary Numbers
A new report released from the California Faculty Association indicates Humboldt State is among the worst schools in the California State University system when it comes to a growing salary disparity between professors and administrators. The CSU faculty’s labor union report notes several alarming trends between 2004 and 2014: Humboldt State lost 25 percent of…
Critters and Creepy-crawlies
Willow Creek is known as Bigfoot country. But what other furry critters creep around in Sasquatch’s neck of the woods? Physical evidence of snakes, lizards, owls and hawks is a bit easier to find than bipedal impressions, and you’ve got an opportunity to behold some of those creatures live and in the flesh/feather (as well…
No Silver Lining
Bad news for Humboldt’s hungry jet set: Silver Lining, the restaurant located upstairs in the Eureka-Arcata airport, has closed. Aviation Division Program Manager Emily Jacobs said when she arrived at work yesterday morning, the restaurant hadn’t opened its doors. The owners told Jacobs they simply couldn’t make it work anymore. It’s another ding for the…
River Dance
There are two kinds of people: Those who dump trash thoughtlessly, and those who come along and clean up after them. To quote a familiar bumper sticker, “We all live downstream.” So party with those who respect our local waterways and the species they nourish — being good stewards can be a good time. The…
A Little Poem
The breath of the garden has been steeped all night in wood smoke. That’ll be my morning tea. Was I standing long enough to collect dew? Because water fell from my fingers, it’s pent up things. This Spring ground is still wet. With not enough sunshine in the shadows things don’t dry till…
Misfires
Reviews THE GUNMAN. There have been a number of comparisons made lately of the various late-middle-aged Hollywood actors recently restyled as action stars. This amounts to lumping everyone who makes a shoot ’em up in with the current king of such things, Liam Neeson. Yes, I see it too. And I’ll try not to beat…
Before You Ditch Your Job to Follow Your Dream
1You need to eat. Seriously. Being able to buy groceries and pay your bills and take the occasional trip to the city is its own kind of bliss. Don’t underestimate the toll financial insecurity can take on your happiness. Then again, if you’re stuck in a dead-end, low-paying job, you might not have much to…
Zombies and Natural Born Killers
Zombie Dung Flies While working in my front yard, I noticed insects flying around at ankle height. Soon enough one landed. I identified it as the familiar ‘golden dung fly’ (Scathophaga stercoraria). As its name implies, its life revolves around animal droppings, especially those of large herbivores. They spend their larval stage feeding on it,…
Connected Dots
I ‘m nervous. I was in a New Orleans hotel March 15. That’s the same night that police arrested Robert Durst in another New Orleans hotel. And for the past few decades it seems that people, cats and dogs in the proximity of Robert Durst have ended up missing or dead in some weird way.…
Violence Foreshadowed
It’s January 2013, and local healthcare worker Russell Kellim is writing a sworn statement to a Humboldt County Superior Court judge who’s considering issuing a domestic violence restraining order against him. Csilla Adam, the mother of Kellim’s 5-week-old daughter, filed for the order a few weeks earlier, alleging that Kellim hit her on numerous occasions…
Birth of an Activist
Editor: Recently you ran an article about the use of body cameras by the police (“Camera Questions,” March 19). I believe the Ferndale chief said they had been using the cameras for more than two years, but no one had ever asked to see them. An attorney representing me in a criminal case requested video…
No Need to Start from Seed
Editor: I was pleased to see encouragement for the idea of seed swaps in the Journal last week, but disappointed that the article failed to note that there is already a long-established annual seed exchange in Humboldt! In the article “Organize Your Own Seed Swap,” (March 26) Heather Jo Flores encourages readers to “Look online…
The Odd, The Fad and the Heavy
Before we get into where you can go with your bodies, let’s talk about where you can go with your ears. This week marks the debut of a new KMUD program, The Adventurous Ear in which host John Hardin shares unusual, interesting, genre-defying music, and talks to the artists who create it — including Humboldt…
Down to Bidness
Not every business lunch calls for the classic steak and Martinis, and not all of us can return to work after that sort of thing. Choosing where to break bread and make deals can be high pressure. Don’t sweat it — you’ll ruin your suit. (Kidding, Humboldt. Work hoodie.) Duck, Duck, Bacon The duck B.L.T.A.…
Drained Dry
A study published last week posits a parched forecast for several North Coast watersheds that host concentrated marijuana cultivation sites. The report, co-written by scientists from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the National Marine Fisheries Service, outlines the stream-sucking impacts of grows in the areas of Upper Redwood Creek, Salmon Creek and…
