Cover Story
The Stress Test
Back in August, when Humboldt County schools returned from summer break for in-person instruction amid a surge in COVID-19 cases fueled by the Delta variant, concerns were pervasive. Parents worried whether their children would be safe in the classroom, while others questioned whether schools would act as virus incubators that hastened community spread. School administrators,…
How Can College Students Stay Safe During the Omicron Surge? We Asked Four Experts
Following record COVID-19 cases fueled by the omicron variant, many California colleges went remote during the first few weeks of instruction in 2022. It’s a decision made by all nine UC undergraduate campuses, most Cal State campuses, but not Humboldt Sate University, and prominent private universities like Stanford and USC. While students made it through…
Public Health Reports Four New COVID-19 Hospitalizations, 241 New Cases
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 241 new COVID-19 cases today — making 1,423 so far this week — as well as four new hospitalizations. The report comes on the heels of a record 2,010 new cases confirmed last week and make 5,501 new cases confirmed so far in January — more than 33 percent of…
HSU is Now Cal Poly Humboldt
Humboldt State University has officially been designated California State University’s third polytechnic campus after the CSU Board of Trustees voted to approve the designation this afternoon. The school will now be known as California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt. Or Cal Poly Humboldt, for short. “We propose that Cal Poly Humboldt represents a triple threat,” HSU…
Student Housing is Tight. A California Plan Wants $5 billion for Affordable Beds
The University of California housed more students than the system officially had room for last fall. Yet UC leaders, lawmakers and the governor all want to dramatically expand student enrollment. But that ambition is at odds with a housing crunch crippling the UC and campuses across California. Students will need somewhere to live and a…
Public Health Confirms 412 New COVID-19 Cases, Two New Hospitalizations
Humboldt County Public Health reported today that it has confirmed 412 new COVID-19 cases — making 1,182 so far this week — as well as two new hospitalizations. The report comes on the heels of a record 2,010 new cases confirmed last week and make 5,260 new cases confirmed so far in January — more…
CHP Investigating Fatal Crash Near Woodley Island
The California Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal head-on crash on State Route 255 near Woodley Island last night. Dwayne Faughn, 49, of Samoa, died at the scene of the crash, according to CHP, after the 2000 Lexus he was driving northbound collided head on with a 2020 Jeep for unknown reasons. The crash sent…
February Arts Alive Canceled
A press release from Economic Development Coordinator Amanda Krushke announced that due to the Omicron-driven surge in local COVID-19 cases and increased hospitalizations, the upcoming Arts Alive night scheduled for Feb. 5 has been canceled. “In support of the health of small businesses, health care workers and the community at large,” the art will still…
Public Health Confirms 872 New COVID-19 Cases, Two New Hospitalizations
Humboldt County Public Health reported today it has confirmed 872 new COVID-19 cases and two hospitalizations since Friday. The report comes on the heels of a record 2,010 new cases confirmed last week and make 4,848 new cases confirmed so far in January — more than 30 percent of the county’s cumulative case count through…
U.S. Army Corps, UC Berkeley Repatriate Human Remains to Wiyot Tribe
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco District and the University of California at Berkeley repatriated 20 human remains believed to be lineal descendants of the Wiyot Tribe and 136 historical, traditional and culturally important objects that belong to the Wiyot Tribe. “We have been working to return the remains of our relations for…
NCJ Preview: Schools vs. COVID, Your Food Life and More
For our annual Health and Wellness Issue, the Journal has a report on how local schools are faring with COVID protocols, staffing shortages and outbreaks. What works and what can be improved are even more important in the face of the Omicron surge. We’ve also got stories on dropping unhealthy habits with unconventional tactics, the…
Sneaker Wave Warning Today
The Eureka office of the National Weather Service has issued a beach hazard statement warning of the potential of sneaker waves, which is currently in effect and will continue to be so until late tonight. “Don`t be fooled by an ocean that looks calm. There can be 30 minutes of small waves before a sneaker…
Tonga Tsunami: A Reminder of the North Coast’s Vulnerability
One week ago today, surges sent more than 5,000 miles across the ocean from the devastating volcanic eruption near Tonga began to hit the California coast as Humboldt County residents awoke Jan. 15 to a tsunami advisory that would span some 12 hours — and even longer just to the north in Del Norte County.…
Public Health Confirms 194 New COVID-19 Cases, Capping Another Record Week
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 194 new COVID-19 cases today — making a record 2,010 reported this week — as well as two new hospitalizations. So far in January, the county has confirmed 3,976 new cases of the virus — more than a quarter of the county’s cumulative case count throughout the 23-month duration of…
HDNL to Allow Four Family Members at Games
The Humboldt-Del Norte League has announced new guidelines for spectators at high school sporting events for the winter season that will allow each student-athlete to have up to four family members attend beginning Jan. 24. The announcement from Commissioner Jack Lakin states that family members will need to enter as a group and follow the…
Two Arrested for Fentanyl Sales in Eureka
The Humboldt County Drug Task Force arrested two Eureka residents Thursday as part of an ongoing investigation into fentanyl sales, according to a news release. According to the release, agents contacted Amy Spindler, 45, who had been under investigation since early in the month, at a gas station on the 2800 block of Broadway and…
Six Things to Know About Omicron’s Risks on the Job
With 7 million Californians infected, how risky is it to work? When is it safe for omicron-infected workers to return? Look no further than your favorite restaurant, your kid’s school or your local hospital to see the effect of California’s latest bout of infections. Cases have skyrocketed since the holidays, reaching nearly 7 million people…
Public Health Confirms Another COVID Death, 241 New Cases
A Humboldt County resident in their 20s has died of COVID-19, Public Health reported today, while confirming 241 new cases of the virus, continuing an already-record week that has already seen 1,816 cases confirmed. One new hospitalization was also reported today. So far in January, the county has confirmed 3,782 new cases of the virus…
Locally Filmed ‘The Sky is Everywhere’ Trailer Drops
The trailer for A24’s film adaptation of Jandy Nelson’s YA novel about a high school girl navigating grief over her sister’s death and budding romance has just been released and is bursting with Humboldt scenery. Redwoods, Old Town shops and coastal views abound with dream-like high school-theater effects, young lovers floating into the sky and…
The Mouths of Babes
LICORICE PIZZA. Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest probably deserves better treatment than I’m about to give it. Not because I dislike or intend to denigrate it. Rather, circumstances may have prevented the fullest possible experience: I saw it in a theater which, while not frightening or dangerous, was off-putting for its unfamiliarity. That and the fact…
Get Out in Nature More in 2022
“However you decide to exercise, remember to make your moving joyful” was the recommendation with which I ended the article I wrote for this column in January of 2020. I stand behind those words. Joyful moving has helped my physical and mental health in the past two years while the pandemic changed our lives in…
Project Censored
Project Censored co-directors Mickey Huff and Andy Lee Roth title their introduction to this year’s edition of State of the Free Press “A Return to News Normalcy?,” drawing a direct parallel between our world today and that of post-WWI America, “when the United States faced another raging pandemic and economic recession,” with other sources of tumult as well:…
Weekend Looks Excellent for Winter Steelhead
If you’re looking to hit one of our local rivers in search of winter steelhead, this is your weekend. The lack of recent rainfall, both a blessing and a curse, has allowed the rivers to drop and turn the shade of emerald green steelhead anglers dream about. From the Chetco to the South Fork Eel,…
Not the Same
Editor: Lighten up, Sam Neuwirth! (Mailbox, Jan. 6) Equating “dick moves” with “cunt moves” ignores the millennia of women being treated as second-class citizens (still, earning on average 80 percent of what a man does for the same job). Equating “dick” with “cunt” is no more appropriate than likening the insult quotient of “whitey,” “honky”…
Fighting for Everyone
“We’re all going to get it.” I keep hearing the phrase. Sometimes, it’s said with a sigh by someone who has no choice but to work face-to-face with the public, resigned to what seems inevitable when depending on strangers to consider their safety. But more often, I hear it spoken or see it typed in…
Must be the Masks
Editor: Amidst the torrent of vulgar language in “Top 10 Dick Moves of 2021” Jennifer Fumiko Cahill adds “pop-up anti-maskers” to her list of people “chipping away at the social contract.” This made me think of Sweden, a country famous for its social contract. I spent three months in Sweden last year and rarely saw…
No Peeking Behind the Nuke’s Fence
After a modest burst of self-congratulation upon finishing the physical decommissioning of its Humboldt Bay nuclear plant in November of 2021, PG&E has gone deeply silent in answering the Journal’s follow up inquiries into the long-term safety of the highly toxic radioactive waste now ensconced 44 feet above Humboldt Bay at Buhne Point. The lack…
Sexist
Editor: Equality does not mean letting a new class of bigots take over (“Top 10 Dick Moves of 2021,” Dec. 30). Cahill represents “politically correct” sexism. Robert Sutherland, Ettersburg Related Stories
Make Friends, Live Longer
“… more than 20 percent of the adult population in America admits to struggling with loneliness. That’s more people than have diabetes in our country. That’s more than adults that smoke ….” Former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy As everyone knows, the best way to stay healthy and live to a ripe old age is…
For Kevin Carlos Ramirez in Memoriam
Tow-truck driver, on-call, nights, Heads out to the heavy snow (The stricken town has lost its lights: The streets a featureless tableau) To 96’s snow-bound curves: Where mother and her little child (Much like his own, his mind observes) Are stuck in ice and whistling wild. A cheerful grin dispels their fright. He finds the…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In October 2021, the Vancouver Canucks hockey team played the Seattle Kraken team in a Seattle arena. A fan named Nadia Popovici noticed that the Canucks’ equipment manager Brian Hamilton had an irregular mole on the back of his neck—possibly cancerous. She found a way to communicate her observation to him,…
Correction
The answers for last week’s crossword puzzle ran alongside it instead of the Jan. 6 answers, printed here. The Journal regrets the error and awards extra credit to those who completed the Jan. 13 crossword without peeking.
Resolutions for a Better Food Life
We talk about our work lives, our family lives, our social and sex lives, so why not a food life? The nourishment, enjoyment, creativity and connection food allows crosses into those other realms and goes well beyond the headings of eating habits and diet. I’m hardly immune to the influence diet industry’s January cash grab,…
Vaccine Marketing Meeting
Thanks for jumping in on this Zoom meeting. As you all know from the 16 meetings it took to get to this meeting, consulting on increasing vaccine uptake in the face of disinformation, conspiracy theories and general quackery is a plum gig for us. So keep in mind this is a brainstorming session and there…
Six Strategies for Breaking A Bad Habit
When I decided to give up smoking in my 20s, I resolved to enjoy my last cigarette the night before my birthday and turned my final smoke into a sacrament. I put The Moody Blues’ “Nights in White Satin” on my tinny record player, turned off the lights and sat in the dark, gazing at…
A Week in the Hospital
The specter of COVID-19 is everywhere. It’s the elephant in the room, the new “C word.” But it’s not the reason I’m here. It’s my sixth evening in the hospital. I had a major surgery to prevent paralysis by having a large calcium deposit removed from my thoracic spine. By day six I’ve gotten permission…
