Cover Story
The Journey of Radioman
“This play is so important. I’ve never read anything like this.” “Same shit, different war” “My father. My uncle. My sister.” “You gotta get through it somehow.” “It’s a tense time right now.” “It ain’t just a woodworking shop.” “PTSD.” “You gave words to something I experience every day.” “I feel this enormous weight.” “Thanks…
NoHum School Board Censures Trustee Amid Resignation Calls
Four members of the Northern Humboldt Union School board voted to publicly reprimand fellow trustee Jennifer Knight last night, saying her unacceptable behavior over the last two years left them with no other choice. Board President Colleen Toste told Knight that if she had violated one board policy or bylaw here or there perhaps that…
Hotsy Totsy
School cafeteria lunches don’t have their bad reputation for nothing. Those of a certain age remember when ketchup was declared a vegetable and meatless Fridays meant frozen fish sticks or pale, Styrofoam-y squares of pizza. Still, did you secretly revel in those fish sticks and their accompanying tartar sauce packets? Was there shameful pleasure to…
Eel River Drowning Death ID’d as Russian Man
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has identified a man whose body was found in South Fork of the Eel River near Redway on Oct. 6 as Dordzhi Sandzhiev, a Russian citizen who frequented Southern Humboldt and was known to deputies, according to a press release. Sandzhiev, whose cause of death was determined to be drowning,…
Bass Announces $4.8 Million Federal Grant, Ramped Up Needle Disposal Efforts at Packed Opioid Town Hall
Speaking before a Sequoia Conference Center packed with more than 250 people for Tuesday night’s opioid town hall meeting hosted by state Sen. Mike McGuire, Humboldt County Supervisor Virginia Bass announced the county has received a $4.8 million federal grant to create a new local opioid help center. The meeting saw presentations from a handful…
Music Tonight: Wednesday, Nov. 15
The Old Steeple has a night of classical, folk and string band fusion courtesy of the group HawkTail. This surreally talented instrumental trio hides complex and beautiful arrangements in effortless and near-virtuosic playing with the upright bass, guitar and fiddle. It’s about as good as it gets with those instruments. Show’s at 7:30 p.m. ($30,…
Park Rangers Debunk Tourist Robbery Story
The account of five Spanish tourists claiming to have been robbed in Redwood National Park is untrue, rangers established this week. The tourists previously said they returned to their vehicles from a hike at Lady Bird Johnson Grove on the afternoon of Friday, Nov. 3, to be confronted by several armed men who came out…
Music Tonight: Tuesday, Nov. 14
Drink a beer (if you like that sort of thing) and relax at the Redwood Curtain Brewery to the jazz tunes of local piano, bass, guitar and drum quartet The Low Notes at 7 p.m. (free). Drink one for me, too, for alas, I lost the taste for that malted beverage some time ago and…
NoHum Trustee Faces Censure Over Conduct
He’s a popular Arcata High basketball coach lauded for setting high standards on and off the court. She’s a social worker and mother of four who volunteered to serve on a Northern Humboldt Union High School District athletic committee. Both became the target of a single trustee who questioned whether they were qualified for those…
Music Tonight: Monday, Nov. 13
Humbrews hosts Fruition at 9 p.m. ($15). This pickin’ and strummin’ quintet from Portland infuses its songs with country-blues acoustic guitar lines backed by crunchy Kinks-like power chords and soulful three-part harmonies. To my ear, they sound like a modern and more technically adept version of the greatest band Rod Stewart ever fronted, the Faces.…
TL;DR: Radioman
Busy week? We’ll help you catch up on the basics of this week’s cover story, which details Eureka’s Eric and Viviana Hollenbeck’s efforts to co-produce a play, Radioman, detailing the experiences of war veterans. Read the full story here. Amy Barnes thoroughly researched cover story is filled with interesting tidbits about the Hollenbecks, Eric’s efforts…
Dolores Huerta
Civil rights icon Dolores Huerta reminds us that sí, se puede (yes, we can), when she speaks Monday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. at the Van Duzer Theatre ($15). Alongside Cesar Chavez, Huerta co-founded the United Farm Workers, she’s the recipient of two presidential medals of honor and her UFW slogan inspired Obama’s very same…
Music Tonight: Sunday, Nov. 12
The HSU Guitar Ensemble will be plucking and strumming at Fulkerson Hall at 5 p.m. and its repertoire in the past has included challenging pieces by baroque-sters like Vivaldi and modern master Terry Riley ($8, $5 seniors and children, free for students). The Outer Space hosts the pedal-treated guitar and melodica poetry of Los Angeles’…
Uncertainty Surrounds Monday’s Public Defender Hearing
The lawsuit challenging embattled Humboldt County Public Defender David Marcus’ hiring is bound for a hearing Monday but it’s hard to say what to expect. It could be the decisive moment in the 9-month-old lawsuit, an evidentiary hearing on the merits that ultimately answers whether Marcus meets minimum state qualifications for the post. Or the…
‘Brave and True,’ A Veterans Day Poem
Brave and True Here’s to our veterans old and new, who’ve heard our country’s call. Those of all religions be, of every nationality. Even our women fair, have come to join the fray. Here’s to those who’ve fought and died, and those who’ve come home battle scarred. Look kindly down upon them lord, where ever…
Music Tonight: Saturday, Nov. 11
METAL, METAL, METAL.</p> The Seattle Metal Invasion mini-fest kicks off at The Siren’s Song at 6 p.m. and $10 gets you five bands from two states away (plus local opener shredders Frequency Shift). What a deal! Witch Ripper is the first in the out of town lineup — a stoner metal band featuring members of…
Squireses File for Bankruptcy as Auction Looms
Eureka’s most notorious landlords Floyd and Betty Squires filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week in an apparent bid to prevent more than two dozen of their properties from hitting the auction block later this month. According to the bankruptcy forms, the couple owes between $1 million and $10 million — the same as…
Northwest Inter-Tribal Gathering and Elders Dinner
November heralds the season of thanksgiving and celebrating the bounty of the harvest. It’s a time when families gather to cook, share meals and traditions, and express gratitude. November is also National American Indian Heritage Month and a time for honoring veterans. For the past 36 years, the Northern California Indian Development Council has sponsored…
Music Tonight: Friday, Nov. 10
It’s Arts! Arcata tonight and, depending on the rain, the plaza and surrounding environs will likely be packed with wine-sipping locals and a plethora of musicians, some sanctioned by local shops, some just ad hoc street howlers. I don’t need to tell you that the choices will be many and one good loop around McKinley’s…
Honoring Veterans
Nov. 11 is a day when we pause to reflect and salute the service and sacrifice of veterans on all fronts. Locally, there are several observances and tributes. Here are few where you can pay your respect. The Rotary Club of Southwest Eureka and the city of Eureka host the annual Veterans Day Observance and…
Strangebrew Beerfest
Keep the Eureka Theater beautiful and have a good time while doing it. The 10th annual Strangebrew Beerfest is going down Saturday, Nov. 11 from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. at the Eureka Theater ($35). Taste the strange and sumptuous creations of local brewers, listen to live music by the Point Classic Cover Contest finalists and…
Huff the Humanist
North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman made some big headlines this morning, not because of what he believes but because of what he doesn’t. After years of being cagey about his religious beliefs, the 53-year-old Democrat told the Washington Post that he’s become alarmed this year with the appearance of religion in policy-making, which pushed him…
Music Tonight: Thursday, Nov. 9
The Arcata Playhouse has the Fula Brothers tonight at 7:30 p.m. ($25, $20 advance). Fronted by Malian hunter’s harp player Mamadou Sidibe, this trio plays danceable tunes on acoustic instruments with a sensibility that spans the old and the new worlds of West African music. Sarah Nutting and Kariska Longaker make up the opening duo…
Arts! Arcata
Arts! Arcata is Arcata Main Street’s monthly celebration of visual and performing arts, held at locations in Arcata. Visit www.facebook.com/artsarcata for more information or call 822-4500. ARCATA ARTISANS 833 H St. Gilbert Castro, metalwork and ceramics and Kathryn Stotler, acrylic media. ARCATA EXCHANGE 813 H St. Katie Herbst and Kit Lamb, photography. Music by The Buckin’ String…
HumBug: The Return of Old Friends
Tonight, following our second rain of the season, I went out, camera in hand, looking for one of my favorite insects. Pterotus obscurripinis, our local glow worm. They hide in the ground all summer long awaiting the wet season. Serious snail hunters, they feed on some of our smaller local native land snails and slugs.…
Missing
Related Stories
The Sound of Bells
“Never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee,” cautioned poet John Donne 400 years ago. That was then. Weddings and funerals used to be prime bell-ringing events, when virtually every parish church in the western world had one or more bells hung in their tower or steeple. You won’t hear…
Panfish Fishing
There is nothing like sharing a love of fishing with someone who has never cast a line. Whether fishing with a child who can barely stand on the lake shore or an adult who was simply never offered the chance to hook a fish, the pursuit of panfish is the perfect way to get new…
A Fish in Every Pan
As an avid angler and spear fisherman, I am constantly looking for new ways to prepare my wild harvests. Small, easily caught and cleaned panfish (see “Panfish Fishing”), including freshwater species such as bluegill, crappie and sunfish) are best cooked whole, as they’re seldom big enough to filet. Panfish are also an abundant, sustainable and…
Cold, Comfort
It’s cold and wet. I know I mentioned the weather in my last column but that was mostly an attempt to inure myself against the inevitable. It didn’t really work and now the weather is tormenting us like a crazy lover with days of sun and freezing rain with no obvious pattern behind it all…
On the Brinks
In a groundbreaking report released Nov. 7, California State Treasurer (and gubernatorial candidate) John Chiang is recommending that the state consider creating a government-owned bank that could serve the state’s estimated $7 billion, cash-dependent cannabis industry. As the Golden State hurls toward the opening of recreational cannabis sales in January, officials big and small are…
Walking Past
Walking past that poor old soul, a little ragged, a bit worn down, lost in their own little world. Have you ever wondered, who he was, under all that dirt and dust? Perhaps you (politely), tried to walk around, or turn your head away, without realizing quite why. Perhaps he was a doctor once. Maybe…
Not All Heroes Wear Frowns
Reviews THOR: RAGNAROK. I’ve tried to find at least something to like about each addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe; this has proven easier in some cases than others. By and large, the movies are entertaining, expensive looking and well acted, but they also tend toward over-length, weak plots and debilitating Chronic Seriousness. That last…
The Impossible Possible
With roughly three weeks on the clock, members of the Humboldt Homeless and Housing Coalition are fighting time, weather and the specter of past failures to accomplish an utterly reachable but seemingly audacious goal: A six-month, 24-hour homeless shelter that will shield people from the rain and cold, beginning Dec. 1. Sally Hewitt, senior program…
‘Unhinged’
Editor: There’s a theory that when governments go crazy it’s contagious and everybody else starts to show their own insanities. To make a teacher apologize for showing a Buster Keaton movie is truly unhinged (“The General Concerns,” Nov. 2). But on this one, President Trump had a point: “I wonder, is it George Washington next…
Disconnected
Editor: Hours after two American citizens and six tourists were tragically killed by a discontented and deranged psychopath who was a Muslim immigrant, President Trump calls for tighter restrictions on our immigration policy (Mailbox, Oct. 26). One month after a discontented and deranged psychopath who was an older white Christian killed 58 American citizens in…
Ready Shelter
Editor: A vast cavernous space in a solid structure; plumbing, electricity, and possibly gas; bathroom and possibly kitchen facilities; presumably an operational HVAC system; few close neighbors or businesses and not of the type to likely be impacted; on the bus line. Am I the only one who sees a huge homeless shelter/facility waiting to…
‘Fodder for Gossips’
Editor: We really need to focus on important things, not random, monotonous, private conversations between random, monotonous, private citizens … (“Stop Passing Notes!,” Nov. 2) While I’m a fan of your publication in general and Mr. Greenson in particular, I think that wasting a bunch of effort to find out what some councilmembers are texting…
Underserved
Editor: Shhh! Don’t tell anyone, but the unemployment rate is at a 43-year low (Mailbox, Oct. 26). Employers are hearing “I quit” and saying “You’re hired” more often. People are finding greener (as in more money) pastures instead of stuck in “the new normal” of 1 percent GDP the last eight years. Today’s GDP is…
A Men’s Guide to Surviving a Sexual Harassment Witch Hunt
It was a surprise when the tidal wave of sexual harassment and assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein, Bill O’Reilly, James Toback, Mark Halperin, Donald Trump, Roger Ailes, John Besh, Kevin Spacey, that guy from Amazon, holy shit, that other guy from NPR and Dustin Hoffman — there are more but they’re starting to blur together…
Speed Round
This month Arts! Arcata plays it forward. Sights on the north side of the bay include a number of intriguing shows with opening receptions on Friday, Nov. 10, so wear walking shoes. Lineage: Living Traditions of Line, Shape and Design, opening at Humboldt State University’s Gou’dini Native American Arts Gallery (Humboldt State University campus, Behavioral,…
Mateel Forever
The Mateel needs a little help from its friends. Make sure the beat goes on at Mateel Forever, a fundraiser at the Mateel Community Center, Thursday, Nov. 9 from 6 p.m. to midnight ($20). Dance to tunes by Object Heavy, Cold Blue Water, Altar Tones and Opera Alley Cats, take part in the silent auction,…
