The Plight of the Abalone
A ‘perfect storm’ sends the North Coast’s marine ecosystem reeling
Cover Story
‘Perfect Storm’ Has North Coast Marine Ecosystem Reeling, Abalone in Crisis
Cynthia Catton’s voice catches a bit as she describes diving along the North Coast this summer to survey the region’s red abalone stock as part of annual state monitoring efforts. She had known the situation was bleak but that didn’t prepare her for what she would see. “At all of the sites we saw a…
Cool! Eureka Wants You to Create Heatmaps of Chill Spots
If you caught our cover story a few weeks ago, you might have noticed that Eureka’s Community Development staff really loves maps. Whether it’s the 1902 map of the city that adorns the wall of Development Director Rob Holmlund’s office or the online architecture map developed by the department, which you can find at www.eurekahistory.com,…
Equinox Dinner Canceled Due to Five Eleven Fire
Untie your bibs, folks. The Equinox in Old Town benefit dinner for Humboldt County Office of Education’s Nutrition Programs and Services set for Monday, March 19 is called off, at least for now. The seven-course feast prepared by a team of local chefs — from Five Eleven, Mazzotti’s, Ramone’s, Vista Del Mar, Kyoto and Le…
Body Found Near South Jetty ID’d as Missing Fortuna Man
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has identified the man whose body was found last weekend at the South Jetty near the mouth of the Eel River as Fortuna resident Quincy Tod Mendes. He was 35. Mendes was last seen around 5:40 p.m. on Jan. 21, after he was involved in a solo vehicle crash on…
North Coast Students Join National Walkout Day
Students in high school classrooms across the North Coast walked out at 10 a.m. this morning, taking part in a national walkout day organized to bring awareness to gun violence and school shootings. The 17-minute walkout took place in solidarity with students at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, with each minute representing…
Be a Warrior: A Seventh Grade Girl of Color Reviews A Wrinkle in Time
Last Wednesday night I had an opportunity to “Tesser” into Meg Murry’s magical world when I saw Ava DuVernay’s new film A Wrinkle in Time at the Humboldt-Del Norte Film Commission’s local premiere. The film follows 13-year-old Meg Murry, her little brother Charles Wallace and friend Calvin, accompanied by the three Misses: Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs.…
Music Tonight: Wednesday, March 14
One of Japan’s most popular modern taiko drumming groups Yamato stops off in Arcata for a performance of its newest production The Challengers at HSU’s Van Duzer Theater tonight at 7 p.m. ($39). Expect an evening of complex dances, masterful multi-instrumentation and elaborate costumes all to the beat of the broad family of percussion instruments…
Guilty Pleas Entered in Hash Lab Murder Case
Three suspects who faced murder charges after a hash lab explosion in 2016 left a 21 year old dead pleaded guilty to lesser charges Tuesday. Xavier Renner died in the University of California Davis Medical Center burn unit five weeks after the Nov. 9, 2016 explosion and subsequent fire left him with third degree burns…
UPDATED: Open Door Director Herrmann Spetzler Has Died
UPDATE: A press release from Open Door confirms that Spetzler died “unexpectedly and peacefully” Sunday night and that his wife, Cheyenne Spetzler, has been named interim CEO. The full press release can be found at the bottom of this post. Previously: Herrmann Spetzler, executive director of Open Door Community Health, died Sunday night of an…
Yurok Tribe Sues Drug Companies Over Opioid Epidemic
The Yurok Tribe has filed a federal lawsuit against 20 manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids, alleging the companies are responsible for spreading the scourge of drug use on the reservation and across the country. “The only difference between these companies and drug cartels is the fact that legal purveyors of prescription opioids have protection…
Music Tonight: Tuesday, March 13
Who Is She Productions presents Dancehall at The Jam at 10 p.m., a bi-monthly Jamaican dance party that happens on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month and which will likely burn the midnight oil. Price TBA.
Music Tonight: Monday, March 12
I really dug deep for this one but I have to be honest, apart from a regular restaurant gig — Tony Roach at The Victorian Inn at 6 p.m. and Rude Lion Sound’s regular dancehall Monday deal at The Ocean Grove at 9:30 p.m., both of which I have mentioned in this column before, I…
Music Tonight: Sunday, March 11
Oglala Sioux and Navajo activist and hip-hop artist Nataanii Means performs at The Outer Space tonight at 7 p.m. ($8). Joining him will be Native rapper Antoine Edwards from Omaha, GRIZZ and Arcata hip-hop act Mash Yellow Bird. For the past 30 years, through line-up changes and the death of a founding member, Altan has…
Death Investigation Underway after Body Found at South Jetty
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has launched a death investigation after a decomposing male body was found today near the mouth of the Eel River on the South Jetty. The sheriff’s office released few details, just that deputies were dispatched to the scene shortly after noon today and that deputy coroners took possession of the…
SoHum Turns Out to Talk Roads, Abandoned Vehicles at Budget Meeting
By 6 p.m. yesterday, the overflow audience at the southern version of the Humboldt County Budget Roadshow meeting at the historic Benbow Inn just south of Garberville clogged the doorway and lined the walls. By the end of the event, a long swath of paper covered with suggestions spread across the front wall of the…
Music Tonight: Saturday, March 10
The Arcata Interfaith Gospel Choir and the Arcata Interfaith Gospel Youth Choir presents Love Thy Neighbor tonight at 7 p.m. at the Arcata Presbyterian Church ($18, $15 advance). It’s a fundraiser for the church to help repair damage caused by the horrific arson attack last September that also seriously injured a 28-year-old man who was…
Another Twist in the McKinley Statue Saga
So, remember two weeks ago, when the Arcata City Council voted 4-1 to take down the statue of President William McKinley? Well, things just got a bit more complicated. Now it appears the statue’s situation might go to some sort of vote after all — one of the options staff had recommended in the first…
Coming Soon: New Pizza in Old Town
If you were wondering if anybody was ever going to light up the darkened windows of The Ritz, that’s a yes. Sort of. The Madrone Brick Fire Pizza and Taphouse is moving into the Opera Alley side of the 321 Third St. address, having split the kitchen and claimed its brick oven. Which also makes the Journal…
Taiko Drummers Pound JVD
Taiko means drum in Japanese but it’s also come to mean the mesmerizing traditional drum performance that’s remained low-tech and high-drama since the sixth century. Whether it’s a single drummer playing a massive carved-out wooden drum or a dozen synchronized players, the fiercely athletic performances are always intense — you feel it in your chest…
Music Tonight: Friday, March 9
There’s a disparate deal going down at The Little Red Lion tonight at 8 p.m. with an experimental metal band from the East Bay called Gurschach and a swingin’ and punkish ragtime act from Ellensburg, Washington, named Robbers Roost. Elsewhere in the roster you will find local heavy groovers Ultramafic, glammy punk gutter act The…
Dancing Stars to Shine
Humboldt’s finest dancers give it their all, competing for scholarships and prizes at Dancing Stars of Humboldt on Saturday, March 10 at 7 p.m. at the Arkley Center for the Performing Arts ($12). Watch performances from an array of styles — everything from hip-hop to Egyptian folkloric to ballet, tap and more. Then vote for…
Former Crabs Infielder Killed in Logging Accident
The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office and the California Occupational Health and Safety Administration are investigating the death of Scott Eskra, 42, who died yesterday morning on a logging operation in Hydesville. According to scanner traffic, Eskra was injured when a tree branch fell on him, breaking a femur. Samantha Karges, spokesperson for the sheriff’s office,…
Run the Foggy Bottoms
Six Rivers Running Club has been putting on the Foggy Bottom Milk Run since 1978. Still going strong and one of Humboldt’s best attended and fun family events, the run takes place Sunday, March 11 at noon starting and ending on Ferndale’s Main Street after meandering through Ferndale’s picturesque farmland ($40-$10).
No Man’s Land is an All-Female Film Fest
She is woman, see her soar. The No Man’s Land Film Festival comes to the Arcata Theatre Lounge Thursday, March 8 at 6:30 p.m. ($12). It’s the first local peek at this peak adventure all-female film fest. Strap in for captivating footage of rock climbing, surfing, endurance running, cycling, skateboarding and more.
Music Tonight: Thursday, March 8
It’s an all ages low-fi rock night at Siren’s Song tonight at 8:30 p.m. when Sacramento’s grungy emo kids Meet Cute play with local garage-y headliners Super Senior, formerly Kids Eat Free (it’s a move up the menu, name-wise I suppose). Local openers Five Minutes Alone starts the night. Do they sound anything like the…
Copy Nature and Grow a Thriving Kitchen Garden
The secret to growing a thriving kitchen garden is to follow nature. A quick look at any healthy, living system reveals a clamor of diversity: plants of different kinds keeping company while a mix of good bugs and bad ones busy themselves with the routine of daily living. You’ll also find a variety of birds…
A Schooling on the Second Amendment
Editor: Regarding the spate of opinions on the relationship of the Second Amendment, gun control and a ban on assault-style weaponry (“Guns Don’t Kill People, Toxic Masculinity Does,” March 1 and “Ending Gun Violence Takes a Different Kind of Bravery,” Feb. 22), it is worth citing J. Alito’s opinion from the recent U.S. Supreme Court…
It’s a Woman’s World
Who among us has not winced at a friend’s seemingly inadvisable romantic choice? Fortunately, however, most of us to do not as a result find ourselves at the center of a murder mystery involving a missing dental hygienist, a collection of antique surgical instruments, a lovelorn policeman and a misguided snowboarder. This antic collection is…
Fortuna Settles Police Shooting Lawsuit
The city of Fortuna has agreed to pay $900,000 to settle a federal wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of a man shot dead by police in 2012 after an appellate ruling brought the credibility of the involved officers into serious question. Jacob Newmaker, 26, was shot and killed by then Fortuna Police officer…
Margaret Park, 1924-2018
When I think of my mother I think not of gentle; I think of magenta, I think of a flame.
Musical Transmitters
I’ve been bloviating a lot here lately, so I’ll make this short and sweet. I heard a sound last week, a most unique and wonderful sound, and I would like to share it with you, inasmuch as I can transmit that information via the printed word. I went back-country snowboarding on Horse Mountain last Monday…
Savory Empanadas
Empanadas are a staple for many Latinos. Whether sweet or savory, baked or fried, the little hand pies are a treat. When I was growing up, my momma baked us sweet empanadas, and her empanadas de calabaza (pumpkin) were my favorite. As an adult, it’s the savory empanadas that lure me in: tender, flaky bread…
Enough!
My wife and I moved from the Los Angeles area to the hills of Northern California in 1971, 7 miles from the nearest paved road — far enough from any immediate help from law enforcement that the local police told us, “Make sure you’re right, and call us when he stops twitching.” I own five…
A Border Wall to Save Us All
President Donald Trump caught headlines earlier this month when he unexpectedly dropped into a White House summit on opioids and — in the midst of pledging to crack down on drug “pushers” — mused that some countries execute people convicted of drug offenses. It was a classic Trumpian throwaway line that drew applause from those…
HumBug: Wings of the Fly
A reader recently suggested I write about a particular anatomical feature of the order diptera, which contains about 60,000 known species including flies, mosquitoes, crane flies, midges and gnats. Unlike most other flying insects with four wings, members of this group have only two. Evolution has reduced their rear wings to tiny club-shaped structures called…
The Long Goodbye
Now that the Arcata City Council has voted 4-1 to remove the statue of William McKinley from the Arcata Plaza, sculptor Haig Patigian’s larger than life bronze portrait will be coming down from the massive pedestal where it has held court since 1906 — eventually. The process of removal is slated to take many months.…
Arts! Arcata
Arts! Arcata is Arcata Main Street’s monthly celebration of visual and performing arts, held at locations in Arcata. Visit www.arcatamainstreet.com, Arts! Arcata on Facebook, or call 822-4500 for more information. ALCHEMY DISTILLERY 330 South G. St. Open from 6-9p.m. Bring your sewing, knitting, crochet, drawing, or other art projects or they have adult coloring books…
Donald Trump as a Homeless and Disabled Elderly Person
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