North Coast Otter Sculpture Auction and Preview
Did you get a chance to hunt for any of the 108 North Coast Otter Art Initiative otter sculptures throughout Humboldt, Del Norte, Mendocino, Trinity and Siskiyou counties this summer? If not, no sweat! All of the otter sculptures will be on preview this Friday from noon to 7 p.m. at the Humboldt Bay Aquatic…
Bill to Protect Dudleya from Poaching on Newsom’s Desk
A California bill aimed at protecting dudleya, sometimes called “live-forevers,” from the international black market by imposing stiff fines for illegally taking the succulents from public and private lands is now sitting on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. The bill authored by Assembymember Chris Ward (D-San Diego) and sponsored by the California Native Plant Society comes…
Public Health Reports Two More COVID-19 Deaths, 32 New Cases
Humboldt County Public Health reported another two COVID-19 deaths today, as well as two new hospitalizations and 32 new cases. The deaths reported today — of a resident in their 60s and another in their 70s — bring the county to the grim milestone of 80 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic’s start, with 30 since…
California Can Keep Thirstiest Crops, State Ag Chief Tells ‘State of Mind’ Podcast
The head of California’s agriculture agency said on the California State of Mind podcast that even devastating drought doesn’t mean the state must uproot its thirstiest crops. Instead says Karen Ross, head of state Department of Food and Agriculture, improvements in water usage among some of the state’s biggest water consumers will help solve the problem.…
Rita Wheeler Moore: 1958-2021
Rita Wheeler Moore passed away July 9, 2021, after a brief illness. Rita was born in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sept. 12, 1958, to Eugene and Gloria Wheeler. She graduated from Most Holy Trinity School in Sunnyslope in 1972 and Washington High School in Phoenix in 1975. She attended Glendale Community College until she joined the…
Public Health Reports Three More COVID-19 Deaths, Along with 209 New Cases and Six Hospitalizations
Another three Humboldt County residents have died of COVID-19, Public Health reported today, while also confirming 209 new cases and three new hospitalizations since the county’s last report Friday. One of the residents who died was in their 40s, according to Public Health, and the others were in their 60s. Today’s cases — which were…
Knob Update: Evacuation Order Downgraded South of China Creek
Due to successful work to contain the Knob Fire, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has downgraded its evacuation order to an evacuation warning for areas east of Brushy Mountain Lookout Road/Forest Route 6N08A to State Route 299, south of China Creek. Residents who live in this area may begin to return home but should remain…
Knob Fire Holding as River Complex Grows
Fire crews continued to make progress on the Knob Fire over the holiday weekend, as crews on the McCash Fire work to protect homes near Hyapom and stop the fire’s advance toward Hayfork Creek and Hyampom Road and firefighters work to protect property threatened by the River Complex, which is expected to see another round…
Fires Update: ‘Very Unhealthy’ Air Quality Expected in Orleans, Weitchpec
Fire crews continued to make good progress on the Knob and McFarland fires this weekend, freeing up resources to aid efforts on the McCash and Monument fires and River Complex, all of which remain active. While coastal Humboldt County will see pretty good air quality today, albeit with a “widespread haze,” conditions in the eastern…
NCJ Preview: The State of COVID and a Nicaraguan Food Journey
This week we’ve got an update on the endemic spread of COVID-19 in our county and the strain it’s putting on hospital staff. As numbers climb faster than our vaccination rate, the ICU at St. Joseph Hospital fills and staff deal with illness and deaths of community members — some of whom they know personally.…
Knob Fire Update: Evacuation Orders Downgraded, 299 Reopen Tonight
Due to “positive developments” in the Knob Fire, evacuation orders in areas east of State Route 299 to the Trinity River and south of Butterfly Creek Road to Friday Ridge Road have been downgraded to an evacuation warning. “Residents who live in this area may begin to return home, but should remain ready to evacuate…
Public Health Reports 29 New COVID-19 Cases, Child Hospitalized
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 29 new COVID-19 cases today — making 463 this week — while also reporting three new hospitalizations, including one of a child under the age of 10. In a press release, Humboldt County Public Health Director Sofia Pereira said it is vitally important local residents follow safety measures and get…
Eureka Man Arrested for Alleged White Supremacist Graffiti
Police arrested a 32-year-old man this morning for allegedly vandalizing the Eureka Skate Park with gang-related graffiti that included white supremacist and white power symbols. Shawn Anthony Miller, of Eureka, reportedly confessed to an officer on scene shortly after 1:15 a.m. that he’d committed the vandalism and was booked into the Humboldt County jail on…
McGuire Warns of ‘Toxic Coal Train’ Plan
An anonymous company out of Wyoming is looking to ship millions of tons of coal from several midwest states through Northern California counties including Humboldt, state Sen. Mike McGuire warned in a press release this morning. “This toxic coal train would run through the heart of so many thriving communities and along the Russian and…
Five Reasons Not to Gather on Labor Day
Well, in the weird loop of time that is the pandemic, Labor Day weekend snuck up on me. But if, unlike me, you still believe in calendars and made plans to get together with people outside your household, you may want to reconsider. I know, we were all promised a fun, vaccinated summer. But, like…
Knob Fire Update: Officials Urge Residents in Evacuation Warning Zones to Prep Homes, Properties
Residents in the evacuation warning zones of areas east of Boise Creek to the Humboldt-Trinity County Line and south of the Trinity River to Victor Creek, are encouraged to conduct fire mitigation tactics to protect their homes and properties, including creating defensible space, from the possible threat of the Knob Fire. The Knob Fire is currently…
Public Health Confirms 139 New COVID-19 Cases, Three New Hospitalizations
Humboldt County Public Health confirmed 139 new COVID-19 cases today — making 434 so far this week — and three new hospitalizations. Today’s cases — which were confirmed after laboratories processed 366 samples with a test-positivity rate of 38 percent — came after a brutal August, which saw more than 2,000 new cases locally, eclipsing the…
Knob Fire at 52 Percent Containment, Sheriff’s Office to Take Community Questions in Virtual Q&A this Afternoon
The Knob Fire grew slightly over night to 2,179 acres and is now 52 percent contained, according to this morning’s incident update, “though it did push hard at Butterfly Creek toward (State Route 299.) The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office will hold a virtual Q&A today at 2:30 p.m., to address community questions and concerns regarding…
The State of COVID-19 …
For 18 months now, local health officials have warned that a potential surge of COVID-19 cases had the potential to tear through the community with exponential growth and overwhelm Humboldt County’s fragile healthcare system. And as the Journal went to press Aug. 31, closing what was by far the darkest month yet locally in the…
‘Desperate’
In the past month, four emergency room nurses — exhausted by the onslaught of patients and emotional turmoil wrought by COVID-19 — have quit at the Eureka hospital where Matt Miele works. Miele, who has been a trauma nurse for four years, is actively looking for a less stressful nursing position and has colleagues who…
History of a Nacatamal
Order a nacatamal from the Nicaraguan Food stall at the Henderson Center Farmers Market on a Thursday and owner Alba Lopez will present you with a fat rectangle wrapped in dark banana leaf, trussed with colored ribbon. Warm and heavy in your hands is the Nicaraguan iteration of stuffed and steamed masa, moister than in…
Seed Saving for a Pretty Spring and Summer Next Year
Just when we thought it was safe to go into other gardens … well, they are outdoors and as long as you keep your distance, going into gardens is still a great activity to keep the mind from wandering toward more unpleasant thoughts. Perhaps you’ve been on your daily walk or drive, and you’ve admired…
Kings Make a Strong Showing on The Klamath
Early last week, we were waiting patiently for the fall run of king salmon to begin their migration upriver. Well, the wait is over. The water temperatures cooled a couple degrees and the schools of ocean-fresh kings moved their way into the lower river. In fact, so many fish came through the mouth beginning last…
The Forest for the Happy Little Trees
“Bob Ross, 52, Dies; Was Painter on TV.” That was the caption in the July 13, 1995 New York Times obituary section. No headline, no picture. Just a blurb. Yes, that Bob Ross. The white guy with the Afro and the soft voice who painted landscapes inconceivably quickly and beautifully for the PBS show The…
Failing the Test
If you simply look at COVID-19 as a stress test, there’s no denying that Humboldt County, as a community, is failing. It’s not just the numbers, which are awful. After all, the county confirmed more COVID-19 cases in August than it did in its two previous record months — the post holiday surge of December…
It’s Not a War, It’s Biology
The pandemic has brought forth the language of war: We must fight back against the virus, engage in battles, attack the enemy. It’s nonsense: Pandemics are biochemistry. Perhaps treating them as such will help depoliticize them. Viruses are on the border between biology and chemistry; they rely on biological organisms for the “infrastructure” to reproduce…
STEAM, not STEM
Editor: Humboldt State University is at the beginning of an exciting new path to establish a polytechnic university right here in Arcata. A very large sum of money is earmarked to make this transition. In reading Barry Evans’ article (“Cal Poly Humboldt?” Aug. 26) he describes his own educational path as being an either/or situation…
‘Trashy’
Editor: I have hiked and biked many trails and roads in northern Humboldt and have noticed lately, much to my dismay and frankly disgust, how trashy our environment has become. Plastic bags, disposable and recyclable containers, PPE, fast food cups, and those plastic or glass hard alcohol bottles are everywhere. This seemingly infinite assortment of…
‘So Enthused’
Editor: So enthused about your Aug. 18 issue, I had to write a letter after many years: Starting page-by-page with the Letters to the Editor, from Avis, Rogers and Jeff Knapp: Right on you three! Except Bill Morris, who said: “if the petulant children of ‘pro-Trump America’ hadn’t decided to embrace vaccine refusal.” Doesn’t he look at…
Unvaccinated House Calls
Editor: When the tech from Suddenlink appeared at our front door, masked, I put on my mask and welcomed him in. I led him through the front room, down the hall, and into the room with the desk and Wi-Fi equipment. A few minutes later, I asked if he had been vaccinated (Mailbox, Aug. 26).…
Divine Intervention
Editor: In the debate over vaccinations (“‘Felt Severely,'” Aug. 26), I’ve read quotes from people declining to be vaccinated because “they believe in God.” Which makes me wonder, to which God are they referring? I know that, during the early months of the pandemic, millions of people around the world prayed that a vaccine would…
Grief, Lethargy and OCD
I look at my raised feet beefy with squish Purple-skin design with lizard like texture Aching from too much pacing. I can’t seem to level this Mount Everest of fatigue With the right amount of sleep Not to mention getting rid of the malaise and dead wood brain I ‘ve found the bottom of the…
‘Unsung Heroes of Humanity’
Editor: Read you article this morning and have to agree with you that the development of the smallpox vaccine was one of the major accomplishments for human health … in fact, all the developers of our vaccines are really the unsung heroes of humanity (“When the Old World Met the New,” Aug. 26). As you…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries poet Anna Kamienska wrote, “I’ve learned to value failed conversations, missed connections, confusions. What remains is what’s unsaid, what’s underneath. Understanding on another level of being.” In the coming weeks, I suggest you adopt her perspective as you evaluate both past and present experiences. You’re likely to find small treasures…
Milky Way Stargazing Season
Stargazing season is upon us, when the spectacular Milky Way is visible immediately after dark, soaring from horizon to horizon. Of course, one can watch the stars on any clear night and feel the immensity of space around us, but during the summer months, the Milky Way will make it worth the extra waiting for…
