HumCo Records 100th COVID Death, 35 New Cases Confirmed
Humboldt County surpassed 100 COVID-19 deaths today, after the county confirmed three more residents have died of the virus, while also reporting 35 new cases and two new hospitalizations. The three residents who died were all over the age of 80, and bring the county’s pandemic death toll to 101. The county also reported today…
State Health Department Blasted Over Nursing Home Oversight
At an emotional legislative hearing Tuesday, lawmakers and critics subjected the Newsom administration to blistering questions about the state’s oversight of nursing homes. Assemblymember Jim Wood, a Santa Rosa Democrat who chairs the Assembly Health Committee, questioned the state’s lack of urgency in addressing licensing concerns. “Where is the proactive, patient centered, public safety approach…
Flash Fiction Season is Here
Well, that went by fast. It’s already time again for the annual North Coast Journal Flash Fiction Contest, so get typing. Make your original stories 99 words or fewer (like this announcement), not including the title, for a chance to see your work of genius and brevity in the Journal. Email up to three entries…
UC Workforce Churn: Why a Quarter of Lecturers Don’t Return Each Year
Sami Siegelbaum loved teaching art history at UCLA even when his office space was a storage closet. The pay, at around $27,000 a year for the part-time job, wasn’t great, though it was more than what he made at his teaching posts at two other colleges. But after four years, his UCLA teaching contract wasn’t…
14 New COVID-19 Cases, Two Hospitalizations Reported
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 14 new COVID-19 cases today and reported two new hospitalizations. The new cases — which come on the heels of 243 confirmed last week and make 135 so far this week — come after laboratories processed 310 samples with a test-positivity rate of 4.5 percent. After recording a test-positivity rate of…
McKinleyville Man Receives Suspended Sentence in Fatal Stabbing
A Humboldt County judge handed a McKinleyville resident a suspended sentence of seven years today for 2019 fatal stabbing of a Rohnert Park man outside of his home in an altercation that occurred after he’d called 911 to report that someone had cut his power and was trying to break into his house. Brian Jon…
What’s at Stake for Newsom’s Biggest Recall Campaign Donors
As Gov. Gavin Newsom wraps up a month of high-stakes decisions about what should become law in California, he’s also making calls that impact many of the donors who just spent millions of dollars to help him defeat the historic Sept. 14 recall. Labor unions, real estate moguls, tech titans — interest groups that lobby…
Tapering Off of Current COVID Surge Could Extend ‘Well into Next Year’
While Humboldt County’s latest — and most deadly — COIVD-19 surge appears to be on the downward slope, the descent is likely to be a slow one that could extend “well into next year,” with occasional mini-surges, according to county Health Officer Ian Hoffman. “Today’s COVID-19 case rates have dropped to the lowest rate they’ve…
Public Health Confirms 121 New COVID Cases, Four New Hospitalizations
Humboldt County Public Health reported this afternoon that it has confirmed 121 new COVID-19 cases since Friday with four new hospitalizations. The new cases — which come on the heels of 243 confirmed last week — come after laboratories processed 545 samples with a test-positivity rate of 22.2 percent. After recording a test-positivity rate of 10.1…
Charles “Chuck” K. Voight: 1944-2021
Charles (Chuck) K. Voight passed away unexpectedly on June 21, 2021, at his home in Fortuna, California. He was 76 years old. Chuck was born April 9, 1944, in Eureka, California, to Mildred and Ray Voight. Chuck loved Humboldt County and lived within the county for most of his life. He spent many years surrounded…
Shlomo Rechnitz Nursing Home Suit Over COVID Deaths Reflects ‘Broken State Licensing’
The state’s largest nursing home owner, Shlomo Rechnitz, is facing a lawsuit alleging that one of his homes is responsible for the COVID-related deaths of some 24 elderly and dependent residents. The catch? Five years ago, the state denied Rechnitz and his companies a license to operate the place, the state’s own records show. The…
Eureka Council to Consider Vaccine Mandate, Police Oversight
The Eureka City Council will consider tomorrow whether to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for all city employees and mull increasing oversight of its police department. In a staff report, Human Resources Director Will Folger writes that “clinical trials, scientific research and safety monitoring” have shown COVID-19 vaccines to be safe and the most effective method of…
Hundreds Rally for Reproductive Rights in Eureka
Hundreds descended on the Humboldt County Courthouse lawn yesterday to stand in solidarity with marches and demonstrations taking place in all 50 states to rally for reproductive rights ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court reconvening Monday. “From local abortion bans being passed in states like Texas and Mississippi to the highest court in our land…
NCJ Preview: Sally Arnot, Potter Valley and Local Eats
This week we’re talking about the life and legacy of local arts supporter Sally Arnot, who died Sept. 15. We’ll look back on her work fundraising for the Humboldt Arts Council and the Morris Graves Museum. It’s back to the drawing board for the Potter Valley Project and its efforts to take over the dam…
Public Health Confirms 40 New COVID-19 Cases, Two New Hospitalizations
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 40 new COVID-19 cases today — making 243 this week — as well as two new hospitalizations. Public Health also offered new data on so-called breakthrough cases of fully vaccinated individuals, noting that one of the five deaths and two of the 14 hospitalizations recorded over the past week were…
Restoring the Name of Sue-meg State Park
Since time immemorial, the Yurok people have called the coastal area north of Trinidad — located in the heart of their ancestral lands — Sue-meg. Now, some 170 years after the name was usurped, the 1-square-mile property with meadows, forest lands and long beaches stretched out below soaring cliffs will officially be known as Sue-meg…
Student COVID Vaccinations: California Becomes First State to Require Them for Kids in Schools
In another aggressive effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 and ensure schools remain open, Gov. Gavin Newsom today announced a vaccine mandate for students ages 12 and older, making California the first state in the nation to require students to be fully vaccinated for in-person instruction. The mandate would add the COVID-19 vaccine to…
Photos: Migrations and Shoes
Described by organizer Laura Muñoz of Playhouse Arts as an ensemble-created multi-disciplinary, multicultural performance event, Migrations: Walking Together proved a fun and fascinating walk in the parks and other locations of Arcata on Saturday. It began in the Creamery District with a lovely dance performance and shoes — lots of shoes — and ended with a…
A 98th HumCo Resident Dies of COVID-19
A 98th Humboldt County resident has died of COVID-19, Public Health reported today, while also confirming 54 new cases of the virus and two new hospitalizations. A state database shows 29 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 locally, with five under intensive care. The local hospital census peaked Sept. 3 with 42 COVID-19 patients, then steadily declined…
State Commission Votes to ‘Restore the Name Sue-meg,’ Remove Patrick’s Point from Park’s Name
The State Parks and Recreation Commission voted unanimously today to — as one commission described — “restore the name of Sue-meg” to the unit currently known as Patrick’s Point State Park to honor the designation used by the Yurok people for the area since time immemorial. “This genuinely historic decision represents a turning point in…
Arcata High Students Walk Out to Stand with Sexual Assault Survivors
For the third consecutive day, students walked off a high school campus in Humboldt County on Wednesday to stand in solidarity with survivors of sexual assault and protest what they feel are inadequate administrative and societal responses. Hundreds of Arcata High School students descended on the Arcata Plaza yesterday morning, many clad in white or…
The One that Got Away
A few weeks ago, I read about a giant fireball, visible up and down the west coast from the Bay Area north to Washington as it streaked across the sky. My photo heart ached to have missed that one; I was probably watching Ted Lasso instead, or sitting alone with my thoughts. A month ago,…
Journal Entry
last day of summer went out to the jetty after work sun just starting to dip down golden warm, light breeze paddled out at the channel then headed north to bunkers one or two people were up there caught a nice one right off the bat was thinking, is that it? decided to try to…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Blogger AnaSophia was asked, “What do you find attractive in a person?” I’ll reproduce her reply because it’s a good time to think about what your answer would be. I’m not implying you should be looking for a new lover. I’m interested in inspiring you to ruminate about what alliances you…
The Patroness
“Boats at Harbor” has a familiarity about it, both as Humboldt scenery and as subject matter for local watercolor paintings. A trio of boats flank a small dock rendered in earth tones, with sharper lines tracing the masts and the edges of the boats and layers of deepening green for what looks like Woodley Island…
‘A Moment of Opportunity’
A multi-county, regional coalition of organizations bidding to take over Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s Potter Valley Project didn’t get what it was asking for, but some believe that may be a good thing for the Eel River and the fish that depend on it. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Sept. 23 rejected…
What’s Good Roundup
Las Michoacanas’ Regional Redo Muscle memory still brings the odd patron to Las Michoacanas (1111 Fifth St., Eureka) thinking it’s still Rita’s. Don’t feel bad for them. New co-owners Socorro Sanchez and Perla Sanchez (no relation) have made themselves at home with a full bar (no margarita mix, just the real thing made to order)…
Rough Seas Curtail Pacific Halibut Bite
When the ocean has been fishable, the Pacific halibut have been chomping baits at a pretty good clip out of Eureka. Most of the charters and sport boats still fishing are scoring their one-fish-apiece limit. The biggest detriment has been the weather. Large swells have been the norm over the past few weeks, limiting the…
Impeachment’s Time Capsule
AMERICAN CRIME STORY: IMPEACHMENT. Just a few years can make one hell of a difference and 23 years can be like a lifetime — roughly the length of a generation. And from the 1998-1999 scandal-ridden impeachment of President Bill Clinton, it sure feels like a vast gulf from there to the present day. Airing on…
An ‘Alternative Medical System’
Editor: More than 95 percent of the COVID-19 patients in our hospitals have not been vaccinated. The unvaccinated are putting a great deal of stress on our health care system; ICUs are overflowing and non-COVID medical procedures are having to be postponed. The flood of infectious COVID patients is causing space and staff shortages as well…
‘Fear’
Editor: The Maricopa County Arizona Election audit is finally over. An analysis and hand-recount of 2.1 million ballots uncovered only trivial discrepancies: Trump lost approximately 260 votes and Biden gained around 100 more. However, these results will likely be questioned as the amateur auditors, Cyber Ninjas, followed non-standard procedures. Meanwhile, Trump and his allies are…
