Cover Story
The Pitchfork and the Mouse
It was a hot August afternoon when Robert Joseph Walters, 59, died on the steps of the Garberville County Courthouse. Walters, native to Alderpoint, had left the nearby hospital against medical advice. The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office attributes his death to chronic alcoholism. Within hours of his passing, a photo of Walters’ body was uploaded…
Dogs Dosed By Junkie Poop? Naaaah. Well, Maybe.
A few weeks ago, while scrolling through Facebook to research our article on digilantism, we ran across a passionate comment from a Hammond Trail hiker whose pup had been “poisoned” by eating human poop. “Later that afternoon my dog almost died. Vet took samples of what my dog threw up and her diarrhea…Found mushrooms and…
HSU Students Leading In Waste Reduction Program
The rallying cry is “Kill the Cup!” and Humboldt State University students are killing it, literally and metaphorically. The national waste reduction program includes an annual University Challenge which measures how many drinks are served to students in reusable cups at participating coffee shops. Last year’s winner, Miami University, measured 5.52 percent participation by students.…
Report Reveals Dire Runs of Returning Salmon
The Nature Conservancy recently released its second annual report showing the “big picture” of yearly California salmon runs. A collaborative effort between the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the National Marine Fisheries Service and several other conservation groups, the report includes a database of salmon counts for Coho, Chinook and steelhead returning to spawn…
Huffman Feels the Bern, But Endorses Clinton
North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman announced this morning that he “feels the Bern,” but is endorsing Hillary Clinton in her bid to become the country’s next president because he feels she has a better chance to beat the “terrible GOP candidates” and trigger a Democratic wave that wins back both the House and the Senate.…
Hoopa Teen Arrested for Fatal Arcata Stabbing
Three days after a 52-year-old man was found bleeding to death of multiple stab wounds in front of his apartment, the Arcata Police Department believes it has cracked the case and, this morning, announced the arrest of an 18-year-old Hoopa man. On Sunday evening, police were called to the Courtyard Circle apartments in Valley West…
McKinleyville Residents Turn Out to Talk Crime, Pot, Homelessness With Sen. McGuire
Members of the McKinleyville Community Watch group were able to secure a town hall meeting with State Senator Mike McGuire and other local figures such as Sheriff Mike Downey, District Attorney Maggie Fleming and Chief Probation Officer William Damiano last night. McGuire’s presence was due to the request of Supervisor Ryan Sundberg, who said the…
Sanctioning Body Drops Trinidad Fight Night
Fight night is returning to Trinidad on Nov. 14, but likely without the sanctioning and oversight that were put in place following a catastrophic injury in April of 2014, which left fighter Steve Watts paralyzed. Cher-Ae Heights Casino has hosted two nights of mixed martial arts and amateur boxing in the year and half since…
Labs and Slabs, Egads!
They’re baaack … After taking last year off, the creative minds behind the Kinetic Lab of Horrors are ready to serve up some serious scares, shrieks and shivers at the Kinetic Sculpture Lab, Eighth and N streets in Arcata, starting Wednesday, Oct. 28 and running nightly through Oct. 31 from 7 p.m. to midnight ($12). The brains behind the brains have built a spooktacular house of horrors crawling with special…
UPDATED Big Money in the Harbor Commission Race
UPDATE: The most recent campaign finance information for 5th District incumbent Pat Higgins and details of his late filing have been added to this post. PREVIOUSLY: The final round of campaign finance reports for the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District commission candidates were due yesterday, and they show a fairly spendy push to…
UPDATE: EPD Identifies Victim of Saturday Shooting
Capt. Steve Watson says his department has identified the 31-year-old man killed near Hammond Park on Saturday night as Elliot Michael Walin. A second man admitted to the hospital with a gunshot wound has been confirmed as connected to the case. Walin was arrested in 2013 after allegedly running over a sheriff deputy’s foot in…
APD Investigates Stabbing Death
Arcata police are investigating Humboldt County’s 13th homicide of the year, the stabbing death of a 52-year-old at a Valley West apartment complex last night. Police arrived at the Courtyard Circle apartment complex at about 6:30 p.m. to find the man bleeding of multiple stab wounds and transported him to a local hospital, where he…
HumBug: Mantis Religiosa
Probably the insect’s world epitome of elegant lethality is the praying mantis. There are even a couple of branches of Kung-fu based on the mantis’ movements. Increasingly over the years I have seen adults of the 3- to 4-inch European mantis (Mantis religiosa) variety in the fall. They come in two different colors, pale green…
The Humboldt Four Head to Nationals
Four Humboldt State University mountain bikers boxed up each of their bikes and then paid more than $400 apiece to have them sent to Snowshoe, West Virginia, and back. The reason? The 2015 USA Cycling Gravity Mountain Bike Nationals. This weekend, HSU’s four riders are competing in the two highest levels of racing, professional and…
Inner Beauty
The newly opened Greene Lily (307 Second St., Eureka) has trundled away the vinyl chairs and grim lighting of the former Mekong Cafe, swapping in a bright copper ceiling and white padded banquettes. It’s quite a makeover. With all the distraction of shiny newness, facing the laminated gleam of an unfamiliar menu could be daunting.…
Step Right Up
“By the pricking of my thumbs/ Something wicked this way comes.” Ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourself for the gravest show on earth when a haunted circus rolls into town. Big Top thrills and carnival chills take center ring at the historic Eureka Inn for Cirque de Soulless, the Rotary Club of Southwest Eureka’s fiendishly fun fundraiser, Saturday,…
Bounty Call
Celebrate the abundance of good living in the quaint town of Blue Lake this weekend at the annual Blue Lake Harvest Days. There you’ll find a cornucopia of music, dancing, food, drinks, crafts, decorations and more. On Saturday, Oct. 24, grown-ups can knock back a few at the All Day Hoppy Hour at Mad River…
Thinking of Richie
Editor: Thank you Thadeus Greenson for the piece honoring the life and death of Richard Frederick Tis’mil Estrada (“‘System Failure,'” Oct. 15). I’ve often wondered about the young man who wielded a machete in that tragic incident last year. Richie’s story touched my heart, and I feel deeply saddened for his lost life, his family’s…
Rules, Rules
Editor: I want to compliment Ellen Taylor for the article she wrote in honor of the Golden Rule and all the fine veterans (and non-vets) who worked on her (“The Golden Rule Recalled to Life,” Sept. 10). The article described, in depth, the people who were honored and their background. This article reflects the depth…
Vote!
Editor: It has been refreshing to see the positive changes to the vision for our harbor. I have heard for years the same old story regarding shipping out of this port. If it is such a fantastic idea, why haven’t shippers been clamoring to ship out of here? Because it doesn’t make economic sense. I’m…
The Martian
The Martian, playing in 3D at a theater near you, is Ridley Scott’s attempt to show how a castaway on Mars (Matt Damon) could “science the shit” out of his predicament and survive long enough for a rescue mission to reach him. Scott is the man for the job, having previously directed such fabulous futuristic…
Red Menace
Reviews BRIDGE OF SPIES. In 1957, accused spy Rudolf Abel scores insurance attorney James Donovan (Tom Hanks), a veteran of the U.S. legal team at the Nuremburg trials as his defense. While their pairing sends a global message that everyone is entitled to the best defense, it’s clear that everyone from the judge to the…
Stage Kisses
The stage is a place for playwrights to explore and express the foibles and fables of the world at large. However, they are just as likely to turn the lens inward and write about the theater itself. Actors become characters who are actors playing characters and the audience is taken down a rabbit hole of…
Seed Saving Made Simple
This time of the year, the garden might at first glance look messy, unkempt. The plants are starting to dry out, turn brown and die. But look a little deeper and you see an abundance of seeds ready to harvest, and whether you are an old expert at seed stewardship or a new gardener with…
Night Riders
Remember when you were 10, riding by yourself to the corner store for the first time? How about when you and your Saturday crew would go soaring down dirt roads, chasing around cemeteries and barns? Or that 2 a.m. sneak-out to meet up with eighth grade band pals? It was your bike — those two…
A Strategic Property
The Humboldt County Harbor, Conservation and Recreation District recently closed the purchase of a 16-acre property neighboring the old pulp mill site that has become a lightning rod in the district’s looming election. The district purchased 16.5 acres from Freshwater Tissue Co., the same company from which the district acquired the mill site in 2013,…
Ruby Pleasures
summer night sweats dry to fever russet umber rustles under amber blown saffron the swirling melting butterfly air covers cold earth like a crackle quilt of ruby pleasure death
Grab That Cash with Both Hands
A week or so ago I sat down with a new friend I recently met through playing music. He wanted to get together and chat about music, the Beatles, and more music. I happily obliged. He’s a musician himself, a producer and attorney by day. One of the first questions he asked me was, “How…
Roasted Chilies
This time of year I long to be back in Colorado, where a bushel of freshly roasted chili peppers is an easy score. There, large metal cages packed full of chilies are turned slowly over open flames outside most markets and at several pop-up stands. As the chilies toast, they hiss, crackle and pop, emitting…
We Can Do Better
Linda Stansberry should be commended for writing the article “Can Humboldt County Solve Addiction?” (Sept. 24). It is one of the most informative, relevant and insightful investigative pieces the Journal has printed in the last decade and should be mandatory reading for our local policy makers. It is a detailed description of a network of…
Dispensing with the DOJ
One medical marijuana dispensary recently scored a significant court victory that could ease federal meddling in similar operations statewide. The Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, which operated out of Fairfax and was reportedly the oldest legal dispensary in the state, has been closed since 2011, when U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag won an injunction against its…
