The Council that Kicked the Hornets’ Nest
Eureka’s new political guard halts the Jefferson School purchase, raising the ire of neighbors
Cover Story
The Council that Kicked the Hornets’ Nest
It’s 12:30 on a weekday afternoon in January, and Jefferson School is empty. Right about now, all across the county, children are erupting joyously from classrooms and cafeterias for recess. But in Jefferson’s asphalt playground there’s nothing but weeds, graffiti and long shadows cast by the winter sun. By the back double-doors, in a cold,…
Is Everybody HAPPY?
Hey, everybody! Are y’all feeling happy? Of course you are! All right! How do I know you’re so happy? Because no less an authority than Sunset Magazine tells me so! In its February issue, Sunset — your “premier resource for achieving the ultimate Western lifestyle” — names Eureka one of the top 10 happiest places left of the…
Ta ta, Mother Humboldt
Yellow is for our Sun Blue is for our Sky and Water Green is for our Forests and Environment Brown is for our Earth and Meadows Well, heck, we’ve got an update already to this week’s news story about some discontented Southern Humboldters and their efforts to grab the reins of their wayward economic and…
Dean Singleton Out as MediaNews CEO
William Dean Singleton, the chairman and founder of Denver-based MediaNews Group — which publishes the Times-Standard among dozens of other newspapers — is stepping down as that company’s CEO. The company announced the move yesterday in a thicket of corporate-speak that offers hints of the troubles faced by daily newspapers in the shifting media landscape. Singleton will stay…
John Ross Is Gone
Poet/journalista John Ross died this morning at Casa Santiago Bed and Breakfast, the home of lifelong friends Arminda and Kevin in Tzipijo, near Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico. He’d been battling liver cancer, knew he was fading and had returned to his beloved Mexico for his final days. He will be cremated, and it’s likely some of…
The Impact of Guy
He’s arguably Humboldt’s most famous semi-native son. Since winning the title “The Next Food Network Star” in 2006, Ferndale-raised Guy Fieri has become more than a star foodie — he’s a phenomenon. Most recently seen pimping Ritz crackers on ubiquitous TV commercials (and in a new recipe contest), he’s also a spokesman for AFLAC, the…
Local Music Scene News — The Hitch + Dragged By Horses!
Man, is timing everything. This morning on Twitter, former member of The Hitch, Magnum and numerous other socks-rockin’ bands (and current bearded construction god, seen above with Duane Flatmo’s fire breathing dragon) Steve Bohner announced: Looks like the new band has found a keyboard player….. New band? Keyboard player? Bohner agreed to come on the…
Fingers
They call the tour “Masters of the Acoustic Guitar.” Sure there’s a touch of hyperbole — the word “masters” is almost as overused as “legends” in the concert business — but there’s no doubting the fact that Eric Johnson, Andy McKee and Peppino D’Agostino all have some degree of mastery when it comes to picking…
Hold Onto Your Coat
Whether you know it or not, odds are you’ve caught a glimpse of The Flying Karamazov Brothers before. Founded in Santa Cruz more than 25 years ago, they’ve worked as street performers and performed on Broadway. They juggled in the film The Jewel of the Nile, and once juggle-jammed with the Grateful Dead. More recently…
Witch Kitsch
Previews THE GREEN HORNET. Seth Rogen (Knocked Up, Superbad, etc.) stars as The Green Hornet, a millionaire playboy turned crime fighter in a story (co-written by Rogen) loosely based on the old radio/TV serials. With sidekick Kato (Taiwanese musician/actor/superstar Jay Chou) the Hornet battles criminals including a powerful Russian mobster (Christoph Waltz). Rogen and director…
Accentuate the Positive
In Jamaica they have a word for media that glorifies guns, violence and degrading images of women — they call it “slackness.” While it once dominated the world of dancehall, things have shifted toward more positive themes, at least from certain artists. At the forefront of “positive” or conscious dancehall is Keith Blair, better known…
Eureka’s Plein-air Hoarder
He trashes our marshes and can’t stand to live among people. He steals shopping carts by the dozens, ties them together and circles them two-abreast like wagons about his mucky plein-air fortress. Drags home every sort of busted big-item implement — computer monitors, lawn mowers, microwave ovens — and all the lowly goods in between,…
Hoopa vs. FERC
Attorney Tom Schlosser didn’t seem all that worried last week. He had just issued a news release announcing that his client, the Hoopa Valley Tribe, had lost another bid to force the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to impose specific interim flows on the Klamath River below the JC Boyle Dam to protect a species of…
The Golden Boy
Monday morning saw the true relaunch of Gov. Jerry Brown, and some of us streaming his press conference from Sacramento grasped pretty quickly what the recent change in regime would entail. Brown was unveiling his proposed 2011-12 state budget, which is a horrifying thing. In the face of a $28 billion budget shortfall, Brown…
Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People
At 304 pages, with a chapter on “fornicrafting” and several (fake) gruesome shots of crafting accidents, Amy Sedaris’ new book, Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People, is not for the fainthearted. Neither, despite its title, is the tome particularly useful for crafters or the financially challenged. What Simple Times does provide is reinforcement that Amy…
Arts! Arcata
Arcata Artisans 883 H St. All artist showArcata City Hall* 736 F St. TBAArcata Exchange 813 H St. Robert Vanitvelt, acrylics on canvas, An Octopus’ Garden; music by Dale Winget.Bon Boniere 791 8th St. Arcata Arts Institute, painting showcase.Bubbles 1031 H St. Bluegrass by Clean Livin’ 7-8:30 p.m.Cafe Brio 791 G St. Charissa Schulze, woodcuts.Fire…
Deerhoof vs. Evil
Deerhoof thrives on unorthodox. The SF Bay Area-based band has developed a distinct form of deconstructionist rock, juggling elements of ‘70s prog, experimental jazz, Captain Beefheart, international music and bubblegum pop. At their best, Deerhoof has proved to be a band that can be chaotic, explosive, unpredictable and fun. Their 12th full-length release (not counting…
The Careless County
Editor: Thank you for your fine recent article about the child care crisis in Humboldt County (“The Daycare Drought,” Jan. 6). Lack of available programs is doing irreparable harm to our economy, our families and — of course, most important — the youngest members of our community, very young children. Keep up your excellent coverage…
Archimedes Tomb
And so I took a good look round all the numerous tombs that stand beside the Agrigentine Gate. Finally I noted a little column just visible above the scrub: It was surmounted by a sphere and a cylinder. The sphere and the cylinder were the tip-off for Roman writer Cicero, quoted above, as he was…
Beefed Hearts
Editor: Call me “Bubble Boy,” but I didn’t know much about Captain Beefheart until I read Bob Doran’s article about him (“The Hum,” Dec. 23). Still, I don’t fault the Times-Standard or any other news organization for not telling me about his passing. So I agree with the “Media Maven” columnist (Jan. 6) that we’re…
Two Words
The plane lands and finally we are in Milan. It is early afternoon, so, after we settle in the hotel room, I have time for my first grocery shopping (we have a kitchenette) — and my first cappuccino. I enter a bar (more on this word later) and ask for un cappuccino. Two words, and…
Geography Lesson
Editor: R.W. Evans may be spot-on in saying that the placement of Linda Wise’s sculpture is spot-on (“Art Beat,” Jan. 6). But the Journal’s copy editors were definitely not spot-on in allowing the art to remain “at the intersection of Broadway and Myrtle.” Alan Sanborn, Arcata
Jan. 16-31, 2011
Jan. 16. January Men, you have made it halfway through the month. Do not, under any circumstances, start imagining your first bitterly, shockingly, bracingly cold drink quite yet. Jan. 17. On Nov. 2, 1983, a Republican president named Ronald Reagan signed into law a bill making today a federal holiday in honor of Martin Luther…
Practice Safe Soy
Editor: The Journal’s “Table Talk” column in the last issue (Jan. 6) caught my attention. The article, titled “Un-Natural Foods,” made some important points about the quality of certified organic food and also the questionable use of the claim “natural” for some food products potentially exposed to hexane, a processing solvent used during oilseed extraction.…
A Dream
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up…
The Coldest Day of the Year
Tonight comes cold A quarter bright moon Purchases…
