The Disappearing Registrants
One woman’s fight to amend a law allowing offenders to quietly disappear from state sex registry
Cover Story
The Disappearing Registrants
For years, Elizabeth Thurston used the website as a kind of salve. She’d check it for affirmation, clicking her abuser’s name so it would come up for the world to see, reinforcing that through the awful experiences that shaped her childhood and, in turn, her life, she’d taken a stand as an 8 year old…
Music Tonight: Friday, July 18
Modesto’s Valley Wolf packs a whole lot of party punch into its amplified output, making massive psychedelic and cumbia overtures out of the instruments of a humble quartet. It’s great fun and a perfect way to kick off a midsummer weekend, especially with local DJ scramblers Hispanic! at the Disco onboard at their home turf…
Music Tonight: Thursday, July 17
The Outer Space is hosting Portland acts Fry’d — a solo acoustic adventure — and Just Nick, who are both promoting a split record called American Progress. They will be joined by local acts Bleater and The Guiding Water for an evening of relatively easy-listening summer vibrations. The music starts at 7:30 p.m., there’s a…
Giants Draft Humboldt Crabs’ Elijah McNeal
Life can come at you pretty fast sometimes. Just ask the Humboldt Crabs’ Elijah McNeal, the 18 year old the San Francisco Giants selected in the 20th round of the Major League Baseball Draft this week. In the past calendar year, the 6-feet-3-inch, 180-pound infield prospect out of Dublin, California, has seen a lotta bit…
Last Boarding Call for Avelo in December
Avelo Airlines is preparing to take off from Humboldt County, permanently. According to announcements from the company and the county of Humboldt, the low-cost carrier is ending all flights between the Arcata-Eureka airport and Burbank after Dec. 2 as the airline pulls out of servicing the West Coast altogether. The move comes amid local and…
Music Tonight: Tuesday, July 15
The Miniplex has a good one going on tonight at 8 p.m. for all you lovers of keys and electronic flourishes buttressing tropical beats and kinetic sonic paintings. Headliner Kolumbo is an electro-tropicalia quartet centered around the impressive keyboard mastery of Frank LoCrasto, also known for his work with Cass McCombs and Fruit Bats. On…
Gary Vincent Todoroff
Gary Vincent Todoroff, 78, passed away on March 4th, 2025, at his home in Eureka, CA. Gary is survived by his wife JoAnn “Annie” Harding Todoroff; sons Ryan and Nathan; daughter Clara; granddaughter Veronica; sister Sandy; nephews, nieces, in-laws, and cousins. He is preceded in death by his parents, Edward and Norma Todoroff, his son…
Music Tonight: Monday, July 14
Moss Oak Commons is hosting a lineup of some bands on the louder and heavier end of the live music spectrum tonight at 7 p.m. Sacramento digital hardcore band An Apparition joins Reno, Nevada’s electro-rock band Lav Andula and local heavies Image Pit and Spayr for a stomp and grinding good time. As ever, the…
Music Today: Sunday, July 13
Speaking of free concerts with donations welcome, there’s a fine matinee going down at the Eureka Woman’s Club at 2 p.m., where you will find the All Seasons Orchestra performing its summer program. In the songbook today will be selections from John Williams’ Star Wars score, Richard Meyer’s “American Rhapsody,” a Duke Ellington medley arranged…
Blood Drive Dinners and Changes to Megan’s Law Registry
This week we’re looking at why a law is allowing sex offenders to petition for removal from California’s online registry, and how one survivor is fighting to change that. We’ve also got a story about how the North Coast Community Blood Bank is using food to remove barriers to donation and turning it into an…
Higher Premiums and Lost Coverage: How Trump’s Budget will Change Health Care in California
The new federal budget signed into law by President Donald Trump is expected to raise some health care insurance premiums and force millions off coverage, reverberating the most in lower-income families and communities that are already struggling. Trump’s new budget reduces spending for Medicaid — called Medi-Cal in California — by $1 trillion over the…
Maureen Ann “Mickey” LeForge
Maureen Ann “Mickey” LeForge passed away at the age of 86 on March 18, 2025, in Fresno, California. She was born Maureen Boyd on April 30, 1938, the daughter of James Boyd, and Irene Wormhold in New York. When Maureen was five, the family (including her sister Katherine) moved across the country to Los Angeles,…
Gatherings
Behind the stone wall, They dreamed in the luxuries Of dried grass. Here, the miseries were far away. Woven into the symmetries of thistle, Shaded by specks of leaves Restless on the afternoon, Now suddenly still, While the sweetness reaches Almost too far now, And the last cheating light Leads them home once again. Sam…
Earth Flag Appeal Denied
The Earth flag appears set to maintain its current third-rung position on municipal flagpoles in Arcata after the First District Court of Appeal recently upheld a local judge’s decision finding that a citizen-led initiative requiring the city to place the so-called “Blue Marble” image in the top spot violated state law mandating the U.S. flag…
The Sisters of Mercy
I’ve been working a lot lately, which is good for distracting an unquiet mind and (eventually) doesn’t hurt the wallet too much either, but it hasn’t been enough to hold off some of the feelings I suspect more than a few of you out there are also feeling. I don’t want to get into specifics…
Meals and Bloodmobiles
Traci Palmer always knew giving blood was important; her father has been a lifelong donor, topping out at 14 gallons. But it wasn’t until her sister Tiffany Armstrong, director of donor services at the Northern California Community Blood Bank (NCCBB), gave her a tour of the Eureka facility that the reality of blood shortages hit…
Painting Animals as a Refuge
I seem to be a rare breed: I’m not an animal lover. I have nothing against animals, but I have no interest in owning a dog or cat, or being a “pet parent,” as a vet told me is now a common phrase. The closest I come to being an animal lover is supporting the…
Crabs Fireworks for Fourth of July
After a tough loss to end their series with the Lincoln Potters, the Crabs were back in action Tuesday, welcoming the Marysville Giants. Lefty Miles Oliver got that start and would cruise through the first four frames. The two teams traded zeros until the fifth inning, when the Giants would jump out in front 2-0.…
Back in the Fight for The Old Guard 2
THE OLD GUARD 2. Recent rewatching of 1980s American action movies (don’t judge me — we all have demons) had reminded me how little we moviegoers once expected. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bulk (sub-Marvel on today’s market) and enough uninterrupted gunfire to become its own variety of white noise was enough for action movie fans to give…
Changes at the NCJ
Editor: I was very sorry to read about Thad’s departure (“In Gratitude” and “Editorial Changes and a Fond Farewell,” July 3) from the North Coast Journal. He was a joy to work with at the Times-Standard and his work at the Journal has been wonderful and will be missed. I also enjoyed working with Kim…
‘Cold Hard Truth’
Editor: As our supervisors develop their five-year economic development strategy and speak of how Humboldt County’s struggles are shared by most of California, let us look at what has happened in California. California public grade school enrollment has declined for the seventh straight year. The number of students from low-income and homeless families has increased.…
A Yay and Boo Hiss
Editor: Re: T. Custodio’s June 26 review of Love’s the Best Doctor at Dell’Arte. My two guests and I enjoyed the Sunday, June 30, show in the Rooney Amphitheater. The review had a “sidenote” that rang true for me. With recent local efforts to incorporate the long-ignored original inhabitants of Humboldt County, it was sad…
Look Closely, It’s Crab Spider Season
What do you see in this photo? A bumble bee. A small brown spider. White flowers. Look closely: There’s a large crab spider front and center. If you have a garden, you may be familiar with the goldenrod crab spider (Misumena vatia), which is commonly seen on flowers from late spring through early fall on…
