Cover Story
Finding A Unicorn: Humboldt Growers Collaborate in a Quest to Find Superior Cannabis Genetics
It’s a cloudless late September day on the Humboldt Seed Co. near Orleans, which sits tucked above the Klamath River in the eastern-most stretches of Humboldt County. As a small group walks up a hill, past a vegetable garden and a small creek, the farm’s main cannabis cultivation site comes into view, with large plants…
APD Seeks Public’s Help in Lawson Case
With the investigation into the 2017 stabbing death of Humboldt State University sophomore David Josiah Lawson back in its lap, the Arcata Police Department is asking for the public’s help in identifying witnesses. The department sent out a press release this afternoon announcing that it has set up a 24-hour tip line — (707) 825-2590…
Judge Rules Mother of Stabbing Suspect Will Not Stand Trial
Several media outlets are reporting that a Superior Court judge ruled today there was insufficient evidence for the mother of a teenage accused in the fatal stabbing of another boy to stand trial for murder. According to the Times-Standard’s article, Judge Gregory Elvine-Kreis said the prosecution’s argument that Lorna Jean Leen “acted with ‘implied malice’…
Music Tonight: Wednesday, March 27
There’s a really nice esoteric and cultic show happening tonight at the Miniplex at 9 p.m. Geist and the Sacred Ensemble is a Pacific Northwest droning folk curio that trades in ritualistic and neo-pagan sounds and imagery. Opossum Sun Trail is what you get when you force the set designers of Pee Wee’s Playhouse to…
Equity Arcata to Present Projects at HSU Senate Meeting
Equity Arcata will present a rundown of its current projects at Humboldt State University’s Senate meeting April 2. Composed of students, staff, faculty and administrators, the HSU Senate acts is the university’s primary policy recommending bod. Its meetings — held every other Tuesday from 3 to 5 p.m. in Goodwin Forum — are open to…
Music Tonight: Tuesday, March 26
The Logger Bar hosts its ongoing Old Time Music Jam at 8 p.m. tonight. This gathering is free in every sense of the term, as there is no fee and anyone who wants to get involved is welcome to join. Just bring and instrument and soundmaker and for goodness sake, some sense of pitch and…
Sneaker Wave Kills Bay Area Man on His Birthday
A Bay Area man on vacation with his family died on his birthday after being swept away by a sneaker wave north of Luffenholtz Beach near Trinidad on Friday According to Cmdr. Brendan Hilleary, response chief at Coast Guard Sector Humboldt Bay, “The Coast Guard was first notified of the incident by multiple reporting parties…
Music Tonight: Monday, March 25
The ongoing Balkan and Eastern Music meetup is happening at The Sanctuary this evening at 7 p.m. There is a $6 but possibly negotiable drop-in fee for those of you who wish to learn how to sing or play the music of eastern reaches of Europe.
Photos from Saturday’s March for Our Lives
Yesterday some 100 marchers gathered at the Arcata Playhouse to hear students and local leaders speak before setting out on the second March for Our Lives. The local iteration of the national student-based protest march against gun violence started last year as part of the grassroots movement launched by survivors of the mass shooting at Marjory…
HumBug: Spring May Have Finally Sprung
After a few false starts it feels like spring is finally underway. Days ago, a walk in the woods with my dogs produced a tick. I’ve said before I do not like ticks but as a community service I try to give a heads up when I see them about. I also kicked up what…
Music Tonight: Sunday, March 24
The Sanctuary presents a showing of Eve Ensler’s compilation play of stories of real women in prison at 5 p.m. ($12). Titled Any One of Us and directed by Vanessa Vrtiak, this performance is an unadorned view into the horror that a punitive society inflicts upon its more marginalized citizens. The subject matter is frank…
Music Tonight: Saturday, March 23
There are three very different and very good shows in Arcata tonight. At 7 p.m. we have Swingset from Seattle, which describes itself as “playground soul.” I can dig it. Blisster is the noise, guitar and beats project of local keyboard genius Hudson Glover, and Soundscape Shadows is a hybrid act of locals storytellers Cowtown…
Sheriff’s Office: Benbow Shooting Was Self-Defense
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has released a man arrested in the wake of a Benbow shooting after finding that he acted in self-defense. According to a release, the decision was made after the criminal investigations division completed interviews and reviewed evidence connected to the incident that took place Wednesday on the 300 block of…
ACLU Lawsuit Accuses St. Joseph Hospital of Transgender Discrimination (Updated with Statement from St. Joseph)
UPDATE: St. Joseph Health issued a brief statement last night in response to the civil rights lawsuit filed yesterday alleging transgender discrimination at its Eureka hospital, saying it takes the allegations “very seriously” and is committing its “full attention to investigating this matter.” “At St. Joseph Health, we believe health care is a basic human…
Welcome to the Juggle
We know the desire to run away with the circus grows stronger by the day. Your chance to learn some of the skills you’ll need to fit in under the big top comes to town March 22, 23 and 24, when The Humboldt Juggling Festival returns to Humboldt State University’s West Gym with free performances,…
44th Annual Daffodil Show
Put a little spring in your step at the 44th annual Daffodil Show on Saturday, March 23 from 1 to 5 p.m. and Sunday, March 24 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Fortuna River Lodge (free admission). See more than 32 varieties of potted daffodils available for donation purchase. Plus an art and photo…
Music Tonight: Friday, March 22
The Jam could use some love. I like the space, have fond memories of its various iterations since childhood and I like to see the right kind of shows there well-attended. Tonight has one such show. Absynth Quartet is playing two long sets starting at 9 p.m. Although not in my usual wheelhouse, I have…
Rudi Galindo is ‘Just Passing Thru’
International clown and physical performer Rudi Galindo returns to Arcata with his new show Just Passing Thru, Saturday, March 23 at 7 p.m. at Arcata Playhouse ($12, $10 kids 12 and under). The family-friendly comedy show features special guest appearance by The Sweet Georgia Brown Clowns and Galindo’s old pal and fellow Sweet Georgia Brown…
Keep the Fires Burning Cabaret
Things are heating up in Blue Lake this weekend. Steamy nights are on the docket when Keep the Fires Burning Cabaret lights up the stage Friday and Saturday, March 22-23 at 8 p.m. at Dell’Arte’s Carlo Theatre ($12, $10). Adults can enjoy a no-holds-barred night of debauchery, laughter, music, dance and, of course, the unexpected.
Glory Days and Gory Days
The light and the dark converge at the Arcata Theatre Lounge this week with a couple of iconic films. You recall the scenes. You quote the movie. You know who’s a righteous dude. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1983), John Hughes’ comedy about a trio of high schoolers who play hooky by spending the day in…
Music Tonight: Thursday, March 21
It’s a punk rock music-adjacent night out there so ready, steady and go. Over at the Outer Space at 7 p.m., you can enjoy the acerbic “bummer punk” sounds of Oakland’s Pity Party, which will be sharing the stage with Arcata lovelies Blood Hunny and the blander-genre sounds of Eureka’s The Bandage ($6-$20). Two hours…
UPDATE: Investigation Finds Self-Defense in Benbow Shooting
UPDATE: The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has released a man arrested in the wake of a Benbow shooting, after finding that he acted in self-defense. According to a release, the decision was made after the criminal investigations division completed interviews and reviewed evidence. PREVIOUSLY: An apparent dispute between neighbors near Benbow erupted into a shooting…
Cannabis Collaboration Can Set Us Apart
It’s no longer a secret that Humboldt County’s economy is contracting. Countywide, sales tax receipts in the 2017-2018 fiscal year plunged 15 percent from the year before and it’s obvious, especially in Old Town Eureka, that businesses are feeling the pinch. Vacant storefronts abound. Anecdotally, anyway, the economic decline seems directly attributable to changes in…
To an Oasis, Sprinkled by Stars Above
Last week surf rock icon Dick Dale died. I saw him live twice and was deafened by his massive and beautiful sound both times. Unfortunately, I saw Mr. Dale’s shows because he was forced to tour into his old age and until his death due to medical bills. Dick Dale’s experience was just one example…
Pot Full of Privilege
White privilege, please come get your boys. As the nation watched transfixed last week by news that federal prosecutors had charged at least 50 people in a brazen college admissions scandal in which rich parents allegedly paid millions to get their kids into universities like Yale and Stanford, young Malcolm Abbott strolled out of his…
More Compassion, Please
Editor: I picked up your latest edition today and have a comment or two of clarification. The man described by you as “A Bipolar Man” is an incorrect use of language (“Digital Nomad,” March 14). While a person may have “bipolar” spectrum disorder, that is not who he is as a person. You would not identify a diabetic with,…
Last Chance Grade
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After They Lifted the Statue Up,
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A Local Chocolate and Cannabis Pairing
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A Shakespearean Tragedy-Comedy Cocktail
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The Handshakers Find Their Place
All albums have their proper element, a setting where the music makes the most sense. David Byrne once noted that music is built for specific spaces. Cathedrals were made to hold certain sacred sounds and vice versa, while stadium rock doesn’t make any sense outside of the thin PA systems of famous ballparks and the…
Trump Needs a Mirror
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The F-Words
Reviews SHRILL. Hulu’s recent fun-size six-episode series Shrill, which loosely fictionalizes Lindy West’s autobiographical essay collection of the same name, is a collage of fun, brave and smart things that are ultimately hard to adore as a package. I say that with real regret because there’s no doubt that I’m in the bulls-eye of this…
Diversify!
Editor: Why is the county boosting the cannabis industry (“The Tax Man Giveth Back,” March 14)? We already have a one-product economy, like Zambia or Uganda or Venezuela, which is a familiarly unstable situation. And the marijuana industry is not entirely benign, to say the least. I’m surprised that the supervisors don’t wince at the…
Progress!
Editor: The old, weird guy is finally off the plaza (NCJ Daily, March 14). I woke up this morning with those words in my head and couldn’t quite believe that the statue’s removal had really come to pass. I grew up in Trinidad and the statue’s presence seemed as all pervasive as fog in coastal…
Protests Follow Grand Jury’s Decision Not to Indict Suspect in Lawson Case
Red hats, scarfs and sweaters enveloped the exterior of the Humboldt County Courthouse and “Justice for Josiah” and “I stand with Charmaine Lawson” signs sat on the steps on March 15, as Lawson began to speak. “We’re not going to stop fighting, this doesn’t end,” she said. “Thursday’s decision doesn’t end. (District Attorney) Maggie Fleming,…
