The CASA
A legally appointed buddy can help a kid move forward when life seems to have lurched to a stop
Cover Story
The CASA
This Saturday, CASA of Humboldt will throw open the doors of its newly remodeled and expanded headquarters on Myrtle Avenue and invite everyone in to examine what is essentially a haven of beauty, comfort, stimulation and light. “CASA” stands for “court-appointed special advocate” — a trained volunteer who is the friend, and voice, of a…
Two Swine Flu Cases in Marin
filibusters?Two Swine Flu Cases in Marin: … and the beast draws ever nearer. Both victims had traveled to Mexico recently, reports the Chron
Specter To Switch Parties – The Caucus Blog – NYTimes.com
Specter To Switch Parties – The Caucus Blog – NYTimes.com: “If Al Franken prevails in his ongoing court case in Minnesota and Mr. Specter begins caucusing with Democrats, Democrats would have 60 votes and the ability to deny Republicans the chance to stall legislation.” No more
Hurwitz Fraud Case Settled
Defense attorney James Brosnahan (center, bald) and Maxxam chief Charles Hurwitz (behind Brosnahan) leave the Oakland federal courthouse Monday, which turned out to be the last day of the trial. Photo: John Geluardi. This just in from Oakland: Parties in the fraud suit against Charles Hurwitz , former owner of the Pacific Lumber Company, have…
A Stunningly Perfect Political Resume
A Stunningly Perfect Political Resume: There’s a messy special election race shaping up in California’s 10th Congressional District, following Rep. Ellen Tauscher’s elevation into the Obama administration. At least three prominent Democrats are lining up for the seat, including Lt. Governor John Garamendi. Now there’s yet another candidate stepping up, says the Sac Bee’s Capitol…
Grand Jury Uncovers Ickiness
Anything worthwhile in the partial 2008-09 Humboldt Grand Jury report released this morning? A couple of things, maybe. 1. The GJ took a special look at the Assessor’s Office this time around. It found: A) that the office isn’t keeping up with scheduled employee personnel reviews; B). that some money might be saved by consolidating…
Swine Flu & You
“We’re in the first leg of a marathon,” said Humboldt County Public Health Officer Dr. Ann Lindsay at a press conference on swine flu a few moments ago. Good news first. There have been 8 cases cases of swine flu so far in California, Lindsay said — she didn’t include this late-breaking case in Sacto…
Media Alert
acres. KHUM deejay Larry Trask is on the road in Arcata, and I’ll be his guest ’round about 3 p.m. today. That’s 104.3/104.7 FM, or live on the Web at khum.com.
Yurok Tribe Looks to Expand
props.Yurok Tribe Looks to Expand: The Daily Triplicate gives an update on the Yurok Tribe’s expansion efforts. The tribe’s reservation currently consists mostly of a long, thin strip of land hugging the Klamath River from the mouth up to Weitchpec; a $25 million deal with Green Diamond could add 47,000
Capitol Alert: Backers of 1A fall short of Democratic Party endorsement
Capitol Alert: Backers of 1A fall short of Democratic Party endorsement: Cali Dems gathered for a convention in Sacto this weekend failed to get the requisite 60 percent majority to endorse Prop 1A. This follows on the heels of last weekend’s Cali Repub gathering where anti-tax forces held sway and recommended “NO” on all the…
Let the Bitch-Fest Begin!
September. The surgeons are scrubbed, the scalpels are laid out neatly in a line, and northcoastjournal.com is lain out flat on the operating table, awaiting its facelift. All that is remains is to hear from you, our team of aesthetic consultants. Do you love northcoastjournal.com? Do you hate it? Do you hate some parts and…
Patty Berg’s New Gig
Patty Berg’s New Gig: She’s freelancing for Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, the Chron
A Measure of Tea
It’s a sunny but blustery April 15 in Humboldt County. Somewhere between 200-300 protesters have gathered in front of the Eureka Courthouse to join in the Nationwide Tax Day Tea Party. Today, the Board of Directors of the Humboldt Taxpayers League has invited people in our community to come out on Tax Day ’09 and…
Hurwitz Fraud Trial Begins
The federal trial in which Texas financier Charles Hurwitz, the former owner of Pacific Lumber, is being sued for defrauding the U.S. government of hundreds of millions of dollars got off to a quick start on Monday. By lunchtime of the first day of trial, attorneys had agreed on a nine-member jury. By late afternoon,…
Actor! Actor!
Previews This weekend, the must-see opening for animal lovers is Earth, the feature length film version of the popular Emmy Award-winning TV series Planet Earth. James Earl Jones provides the narration as you follow the migration paths of four animal families. You know how it goes with animal-centric cinema … Are tissues needed? My guess…
Milk Dud
Wasn’t it just last Tuesday (April 14) that the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors preliminarily approved the expense of $22,000 in scare county funds to help rescue the Humboldt Creamery? Wasn’t the idea to hire someone that would write up a grant proposal which, if successful, would have resulted in the expenditure of even greater…
The VA Way
Editor: Very interesting article on the single-payer system and Dr. Ring’s approach to informing the public. However, if you want to know what a single-payer system would be like, we have an entire segment of our population that now has a one: our veterans. An interesting article could be written by interviewing some vets and…
T-S Will Prevail
Editor: The letter in this week’s North Coast Journal calling for the death of the Times-Standard is irresponsible and a disservice to the community (“Mailbox,” April 16). The writer referred to a column written by the Media Maven in the April 2 issue of the North Coast Journal. The writer stated that Marcy Burstiner was…
Maginot Grove
Editor: Your “Sweet Irony” piece reminded me of something Dennis Miller would have written when he got a job at FOX after his HBO stint ended (“Town Dandy,” April 9). Granted it is the “Town Dandy” column, but calling the release of public documents to the media a “leak” speaks for itself. If your mind…
Above the Old Barn
Blasting a path of noise through the forest,…
Heard of Sunlight?
Editor: I was disappointed when I saw Ryan Burns’ article, “When Weed is Legal” (April 16). To me it came off as an ad for the Northern Humboldt indoor pot scene. In Southern Humboldt, we have been involved in a movement to discourage indoor marijuana growing, or at the very least, encourage proper fuel containment…
The Mad River Canal
A few weeks ago in this column, I mentioned that, contrary to local lore, the Mad River Slough was never an outlet for the Mad River. The Mad has always flowed west into the Pacific, not south via the slough into Humboldt Bay. However, from 1855 to 1888, the Mad River and Humboldt Bay were…
Something Wicked
A couple of years ago I took a research trip to Logan, Utah to visit the USDA’s Poisonous Plant Research Laboratory. From the photographs on their website, I was expecting a sort of horticultural X-Files experience: something very high-tech and state-of-the-art, but also mysterious, subversive and possibly dangerous. And in fact, that’s exactly what I…
Bunny Gets Paid (Deluxe Reissue)
Chicago has a reputation for being a tough town. A Midwestern ethic infused (or grew from) this city of power and corruption, once the center of the nation’s meat packing industry, where immigrant labor was used to make the machine run. "(Chicago is) the only major city in the country where you can easily buy…
Arcata Sectarian
In the beginning there was music. It was simple at first — grunting, belly-drums — later lutes. As the tribes spread, different groups developed their own traditions, such as Gregorian chants, Tuvan throat singing and elementary explorations into salsa. Today the world of music is an advanced and esoteric state of war, with Humboldt as…
Fleet Foxes/Blitzen Trapper
Robin Pecknold, lead singer for Fleet Foxes, summed it up nicely as soon as he hit the stage at the Arcata Community Center last Monday: "I’ve really got a bad case of school-dance anxiety right now. It’s like this is junior high, and we’re the house band for the most uneventful teen-movie ever made. But…
Poverty’s Handmaidens
First, thanks to everyone who has taken a moment to say nice things about this column. I try to add to my observations with suggestions for action; we need to know what we can do if hope can continue to exist. Also, knowing humor beats cynicism for company, I try to keep that in the…
