California’s Stimulus Package is Bringing Aid to Immigrants, Undocumented Taxpayers Left Out of Federal Aid
Gov. Gavin Newsom has approved and signed the Golden State Stimulus package, which includes a one-time payment of $600 or $1,200 to low-income residents, including undocumented taxpayers. The one-time stimulus checks are slated to go to an estimated 5.7 million low-income residents making less than $30,000 a year. According to a release from the governor’s…
More than 10K HumCo Residents Now Fully Vaccinated, County Confirms 12 New COVID-19 Cases
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 12 new COVID-19 cases today while reporting the county has passed the milestone of fully vaccinating its 10,000th local resident. The positive cases were reported after labs processed 278 samples with a test-positivity rate of 4.3 percent, bringing the county’s case total to 3,230. The county also reported that only…
Virtual Forum on Move to Close Birth Center at Redwood Memorial Set for Thursday
Providence has announced a virtual community meeting will take place Thursday with local CEO Roberta Luskin-Hawk to discuss the controversial decision to close the birthing center at Redwood Memorial Hospital in Fortuna this summer and transition deliveries over to St. Joseph Hospital. In a Feb. 26 announcement, the health care system cited declining birth rates…
Food for People Begins Construction on the 14th Street Site
Food for People has announced that construction on its 14th Street facility, which was the epicenter of a sewer disaster that destroyed the building and everything inside last year, is set to begin in the coming weeks. Right before the COVID-19 pandemic began impacting everyone’s lives on Feb. 28, 2020, a city sewer drain pipe burst at FFP’s…
Correctional Officer Arrested for Allegedly Smuggling Drugs
A correctional officer was arrested Tuesday by the Humboldt County Drug Force following a month-long investigation into information that he was smuggling drugs into the jail. Eureka resident Ricardo Tranquilino Aguirre, 27, who had been at the job since September of 2019, resigned his position today, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office reported. According to a…
Police Make DUI Arrest After Fatal Crash
The California Highway Patrol has arrested a 31-year-old on suspicion of felony driving under the influence after a fatal head-on collision on State Route 36 Saturday left a 61-year-old Blocksburg man dead, according to a press release. Police report that Andrew Harmon was driving a Dodge 3500 eastbound on State Route 36 near mile post…
Public Health Confirms 9 New COVID-19 Cases, Warns Humboldt Could Move Back into Purple Tier Next Week
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed nine new COVID-19 cases today and no new hospitalizations, bringing the county’s cumulative case tally to 3,219. Meanwhile, the county reported the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 locally has dropped to three — the lowest in weeks. Humboldt County confirmed 85 cases last week, making 458 for the month…
When Will Nursing Homes Reopen to Visitors? State Officials Won’t Say
Before the pandemic, Nancy Klein would spend up to seven hours a day at a nursing home in Riverside County, caring for her 53-year-old son, who was left unable to speak and move his limbs after a massive brain hemorrhage. She would suction his tracheotomy tube and massage his neck, arms and legs. But Klein…
Vote for the Best Home Cooking!
Voting has closed! Winners will be announced in the April 1st edition. /**/ –>
County Confirms 30 New COVID-19 Cases Since Friday
Humboldt County Public Health reported today that it has confirmed 30 new COVID-19 cases and one new hospitalization since Friday, bringing the county’s case count to 3,210. Humboldt County confirmed 85 cases last week, making 458 for the month of February, a steep decline from January’s 990 and December’s 863. Today’s cases were reported after…
Phasing in of New State Vaccine System Set to Begin Today
State health officials announced Friday that all counties will start playing by the same rulebook today, when Blue Shield will take over distribution of vaccines in California. A patchwork of COVID-19 vaccine eligibility policies that differ from county to county has deeply frustrated Californians. So state officials hired Blue Shield, one of the state’s largest…
Humboldt’s Vaccination Administration Rate Ranks in Middle of CA Counties
With so many believing the little glass vials of COVID-19 vaccine are the ticket to a post-pandemic life, people are understandably anxious for their turn to get the shot and, in some cases, frustrated the process isn’t moving more quickly. It’s also easy to watch news reports of large drive-through vaccination clinics in urban areas…
NCJ Preview: Humboldt’s COVID Variant and Under the Table Food Businesses
Humboldt is back in the red risk tier — we’ll talk about why and what it means, as well as how the county ended up with its own COVID variant. Also, home cooks and out-of-work professionals are cooking and selling meals from home to make ends meet. But unlike in other counties in California, it’s…
Taqueria Martinez Pulls Up
While the pandemic has robbed us of so many simple pleasures, getting a burrito from a truck parked at a gas station and eating it in your car in blissful solitude is not one of them. A week ago, Taqueria Martinez parked at the Texaco station on the Eureka side of the Samoa Bridge and…
HSU Athletes Return to Play
Humboldt State University athletes are returning to the fields and courts as the university, National Collegiate Athletic Association and Humboldt County Public have set “strict health and safety guidelines” for players to return. In a media availability on Thursday, County Health Officer Ian Hoffman said that collegiate sports are governed by the NCAA, which sets…
DA Clears EPD Officers in Fatal Shooting
Humboldt County District Attorney Maggie Fleming has concluded the Eureka Police Department officers involved in the fatal shooting of a 51-year-old Eureka man last summer were justified in their actions. John Karl Sieger, a military veteran, was reportedly intoxicated and suicidal when he raised a pistol at officers during a tense standoff at a home…
Humboldt Confirms 20 New COVID-19 Cases, Youth Sports Cleared to Resume
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 20 new COVID-19 cases, making 114 for the week. The week’s tally is an uptick from last week’s 85 cases but still a far cry from the record 269 confirmed in the first week of January. Today’s cases were confirmed after labs processed 357 samples with a test-positivity rate of…
Redwood Memorial Birth Center in Fortuna to Close
Nearly a decade after the idea was last proposed, Providence (formerly St. Joseph Health System) today announced the birthing center at Redwood Memorial Hospital is set to close July 1, with deliveries being transitioned over to St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka. In a news release, the health care system cited declining birth levels across the…
Toast of the Coast Benefits Coastal Conservation
Raise a glass to the good work Trinidad Coastal Land Trust does in the name of outdoor conservation at TCLT’s Virtual Toast to the Coast on Saturday, Feb. 27 from 4 to 8:30 p.m. Yet another annual event going virtual this year, the Toast offers delicious food, art and music just like in years past,…
Perilous (Post a) Plunge
Wondering what’s up with the Perilous Plunge this year? As with most things, it’s happening online, providing the same wacky (if not as wet) good fun as always while raising much needed funds for Redwood Discovery Museum and its uber valuable hands-on education for kids. See what the crazy and creative plungers have concocted this…
County Reports 10 new COVID-19 Cases, Slated to Receive Nearly 5K Vaccine Doses Next Week
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 10 new COVID-19 cases today, bringing the county’s cumulative tally to 3,160. The results were released after labs processed 297 samples with a test-positivity rate of 3.4 percent. According to the county’s dashboard, eight local residents are currently hospitalized with COVID-19. Local available intensive care unit capacity, meanwhile, has risen…
Eureka Gets Kentucky Fried
If the addition of In-N-Out and Chipotle to the Broadway lineup didn’t slake your thirst for fast food, a KFC has arrived to bulk up the ranks. Anticipation has been building for years, even before the massive chicken chain broke ground and built its new location on the site of the infamously run-down Blue Heron…
Godwit Days Takes Flight Again, Virtually
After taking a hiatus in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Godwit Days Festival takes flight again — online! This year’s festival, like so many beloved local events, has adapted itself for the times. Instead of taking to the marshes, mudflats and coasts, participants and guides will gather ’round their individual devices April 16 through 18…
Humboldt’s COVID-19 Mutation and What it Means
When Humboldt County Public Health announced Feb. 18 that a new, never-seen-before mutation of the COVID-19 virus had been discovered locally, the news sounded alarming. And it is. But not for the reasons most initially feared. Due to vigilance and some luck, the virus variant’s spread was limited to a single assisted living facility, meaning…
Under the Table
A year ago, the Especiales Meals and Catering Facebook page was flush with photos of stacked tamales and rows of enchiladas in foil trays. Co-owner Sherrie Bazan was taking business classes at College of the Redwoods, securing a business license and hunting around for a food truck and a commercial kitchen. And in the meantime,…
Ruthless and Rootless
I CARE A LOT. There has been a movement afoot, particularly in the last 20 years or so, among creators and critics in advocacy of the unlikable protagonist. And it makes sense: From a storytelling standpoint, exploring the vague borders of personality in order to subvert the dominant hero/villain paradigm can be a deeply satisfying…
Saving the Discovery Museum
Wednesday afternoon was their scheduled weekly supervised visit with their mom; every week they’d come into the same room with the same books and toys, while I sat on an office chair at the door jotting down notes. Before I became a staff writer at the Journal, I worked with Humboldt County youth at an…
In Praise of Bennett
Editor: The movie review by John J. Bennett about the Hoover/FBI assassination of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton I found to be exceptionally well written (“Tragedy of the Inside Man,” Feb. 18). He gives us a little look into what our very recent COVID life weirdness has been as far as being unable to enjoy…
‘Rush to Judge’
Editor: I feel compelled to respond the letter written by Michael H. Morris in last week’s NCJ responding to my letter of the previous week (Mailbox, Feb. 18). Michael doesn’t fully understand what I said, but first, let me agree with him that an immediate temporary fix to the CRV mess is a stay of…
Correction
The North Coast Journal inadvertently ran the same crossword puzzle in the Feb. 11, 2021, and Feb. 18, 2021, editions. This week’s edition includes answers to both the Feb. 4 and Feb. 18 puzzles (see page 29). The Journal regrets the error and hopes it did not leave anyone puzzled.
Dark Skies of the North Coast
This time of year sees its share of gray skies, a seemingly endless woolen rain blanket drawn across the heavens — the gray that won’t go away. Rain patters the skylight as I type and I dream of summertime … On a warm, clear night, it’s not uncommon for people to drive a few minutes…
May I remember to not know
Circle upon circle spiral over spiral each day turns and the moon follows her cycle and the earth rotates unfolding a life. This dawn light this October air this April sun are all familiar, but not quite. The familiar tempts me to not look because I think I already see. The ordinary tempts me to…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I invite you to think about one or two types of physical discomforts and symptoms that your body seems most susceptible to. Meditate on the possibility that there are specific moods or feelings associated with those discomforts and symptoms—perhaps either caused by them or the cause of them. The next step…
Forward Movement
I have spent every spring since seventh grade involved in track and field, well over 50 years — a life of studying forward movement through running, teaching, clinics, clinician and graduate study — a lifetime study of coaching. We are all aware of the benefits of forward movement including heart strength, muscle strength, chronic disease…
Now or Never for Coastal Steelhead Season
Rivers conditions are trending toward perfection this week and it’s pretty much now or never for the 2021 winter steelhead season. In what has been called one of the toughest seasons anyone can remember, if the next week or so doesn’t produce some quality fishing, it’s likely the season will go down as a bust.…
One Year Ago
One year ago on Feb. 20, the news came: Humboldt had its first confirmed case of COVID-19, which at the time had yet to be detected almost anywhere else in the nation. The individual, who had recently returned from China, recovered after seeking treatment for flu-like symptoms at St. Joseph Hospital. When the test came…
The NCJ Quarantine Pet Photo Contest
Before we dive into the flurry of fur that is the NCJ Quarantine Pet Photo Contest, let’s get a few things straight. First, all of the critters entered were, of course, very good boys and girls deserving of many treats and belly rubs, especially for carrying us through our isolation from other humans, sometimes by…
