The War on Hippie Christmas
How do-gooders and charities stole a scavenger’s dream holiday.
Cover Story
The War on Hippie Christmas
Make no mistake, there is a war playing out on Humboldt State University’s campus. A way of life is under siege. For decades, as the final days of a school year ticked down, one could count on campus dumpsters to overflow with a treasure trove of goods. There were clothes and shoes, jewelry and watches,…
Family: Danielle Bertolini Confirmed Dead
Family members have confirmed that the skull found on the banks of the Eel River this spring belonged to Danielle Bertolini, missing since February 2014. A family member had initially posted the news on the “Help find Sheila Franks and Danielle Bertolini” Facebook page yesterday, but only confirmed with a press release this afternoon. In…
Á la Truck
The appeal of a crepe is its delicate nature. Sure, you love the lumberjack-powering stack of flapjacks meant to send you off to either haul timber or drop back into bed like a felled tree. But crepes are the pancake’s refined French cousin, impractical, requiring special pans. Crepes are art for art’s sake. Hum Grown…
Tonight’s Setlist: Wrapped in Goodness
Reviews of Eilen Jewell’s music often contain words such as “honest” and “confident,” which, while true, fail to convey the singer/songwriter’s versatility, the way in which she invokes imagery and enraptures audiences with her storytelling. She’s got a hell of a voice, too. Immerse yourself at the Palm Lounge, 8 p.m. (no opening act), $15,…
Grand Jury: Separate Aviation from Public Works
The Humboldt County grand jury just released the results of an investigation into the county’s beleaguered Aviation Division and the six airports it manages. As you may recall, the Aviation Division is in dire financial straits, expected to end this fiscal year nearly $1 million in the hole and with an ongoing structural deficit in…
Tonight’s Setlist: Calling All ‘Sweaty Freaks’
From our friends at The Shanty: “Those who’ve seen for themselves will agree there’s no describing the pure batshit crazyness that happens at a live Quintron and Miss Pussycat show. Expect to see at least some of the following: Cars welded to organs. Light-powered percussion inventions. Puppets. Candles. Sweaty freaks.” In addition to Quinton and…
Stop. Shop. Robbing is so 2012.
Quirkily-captioned security cam stills of local ne’er-do-wells still flutter above the cold case, but the notorious Stop and Shop — aka the “Stop and Rob” — on Wabash and B streets hasn’t called in an actual robbery for the last three years. Owner Lee Ok Boon was vague about why the store hasn’t lived up…
Kinetic Race Gets Wet, Photographs from the Front Lines
Things got downright damp Sunday, as the Kinetic Sculpture Race’s second day began with the ever feared water entry. Some sculptures launched, where others merely wobbled and tipped, before a lively crowd near Eureka’s Wharfinger Building. The first waves of racers are expected to approach the finish line on Ferndale’s Main Street at about 1…
HumBug: The 40-year-old Mystery
When I was in the Navy I never minded midnight topside watch on the ship I was on in Long Beach. I’ve always loved glow-in-the-dark things, and I never tired of looking into the faintly luminous blue fire swirling in the warm bay waters. That was before the Internet and Wikipedia, so my options to…
UPDATED: Gavin Newsom to Talk Pot in Humboldt
UPDATE: North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman issued a press release this afternoon inviting the public to join he and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom in Garberville on Friday afternoon to talk marijuana policy (full press release copied below). And Huffman spokesman clarified for the Journal that Friday’s forum isn’t officially part of Newsom’s committee work on…
Kinetic Kickoff, in Photos
The 47th annual Kinetic Grand Championship is underway, with dozens of teams traversing 40 miles of asphalt, sand and water in pursuit of the glory. A trio of Journal contributors — photographers Alexander Woodard, Mark McKenna and Mark Larson — are following the madness. Here’s some of what they’ve shared so far… and be sure…
UPDATED: Driver Found After Fatal Hit and Run
UPDATE: The California Highway Patrol has located the driver and car involved in yesterday morning’s fatal accident. According to a CHP press release, the driver — 27-year-old Meredith Bayer of Rio Dell — contacted CHP at about noon yesterday, saying she thought she may have been involved in the crash. Find more information in the…
CHP Can’t Pinpoint Cause of Fatal Bus Crash
After a 13-month investigation, the California Highway Patrol has determined a FedEx driver was at fault in the deadly bus crash that killed 10 people, including five high school students on their way to Humboldt State University’s Spring Preview event last April. The investigation found that the FedEx driver made an unsafe turning movement on…
Tonight’s Setlist: Happily Destructive, Deliciously Dark. Also, Math.
Hot! If sexy sells, then The Hip Joint should be among the 1 percent by now. The band is unleashing its epic boogieness at the Jambalaya along with the Bay Area’s hard-swinging soulsters Royal Jelly Jive at the Jambalaya. Hip Jointster Tofu Schwartz suggests to attendees, “Let’s tear up the floors!” and means it literally.…
Reubenesque
It’s hard to look classy whilst cramming a big, grilled, cheesy, pastrami-packed Reuben into your mouth. And there are days when you want the taste of the sandwich, but maybe not the heart flutters afterward. Your solution is at Nourish Bistro & Catering (518 Henderson St., Eureka). Order up a Reuben at the counter and…
Tonight’s Setlist: Loss and Reconciliation
Alejandro Rose-Garcia goes by the name of Shakey Graves when delivering the blues-country-rock that’s brought him national acclaim and keeps his debut album, Roll the Bones, near the top of Bandcamp’s digital bestseller chart. “The first album was me wanting to burn down my life, cut my hair off and run screaming into the woods,”…
Kinetic Primer: A Photo Essay by Mark Larson
“Kinetics is for everyone,” according to the official rules for Humboldt’s human-powered sculpture race, and Rule A reads, “Amusement is the gift we give and get, so all KGC participants, volunteers, spectators, and innocent bystanders must try their best to have FUN at all times.” This preview guide to the 47th annual Kinetic Grand Championship…
Arcata’s Medical Marijuana Innovation Area Gets a Go-ahead
The Arcata City Council played to a packed house last night as the public weighed in on a proposal for a Medical Marijuana Innovation Area. The council ultimately voted unanimously in favor of the proposal, but not before an antsy, standing-room-only crowd stood by while the council burned through two hours wading through the night’s…
On the Runway
Grab some big sunglasses and a folding fan if you have one. Then put on your best Anna-Wintour-sphinx face and take a seat up front for Flow at the Arcata Theatre Lounge on Saturday, May 23 at 8 p.m. ($30, $25, $20 students). Eleven students, some in team and some solo, from the Arcata Arts…
Women at the Wheel
Reviews MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. It’s been 30 years since Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and George Miller’s bleak, cracked, brilliant vision of a gasoline-crazed, water-poor landscape of nightmares hasn’t slipped a bit. In fact, the intervening decades have been kind, after a fashion. Not only has cinematic technology caught up with Miller’s grand design, but…
Plant a Living Playhouse
It’s the middle of May and time to plant sunflowers! There are many beautiful varieties to choose from, and they are easy to grow — just work up a spot in the soil, poke some holes with your fingers, and toss the seeds inside. Generally, the more space you leave between them, the larger the…
You Know What Happens When You Assume…
Editor: No one can be everywhere all of the time, that is why we have “the news.” Too often, I have been in interesting places (arguably at the wrong time) and later read and watched news reports that were grossly inaccurate, misleading or downright lies. If someone is lying to you about one thing, it…
Balls!
Editor: The article by Rees Hughes about Irish road bowling (“Throw Like the Irish,” May 14) contained a number of inaccuracies. Firstly, Hughes’ was not the first game of Irish road bowling played in Humboldt County. There is an active underground Irish road bowling association that started almost 10 years ago in the Arcata Bottoms.…
Protect your Neck
Editor: Risk compensation theory says that the safer one feels, the less careful one becomes. If you doubt this, ask yourself whether you’d drive more carefully if your seatbelt were broken. Mr. Walker’s tests point to an encouraging corollary: Drivers perceive a bareheaded cyclist as being at risk, and increase their passing distance to compensate…
From the River to the Streets
While camp sweeps have gotten their fair share of coverage in Eureka, the Friendly City to the south is weathering its own issues related to Humboldt’s homeless. A longstanding camp near Palmer Boulevard, just northwest of city limits, was visited by the sheriff’s office multiple times this spring with an estimated 40 indigents ousted onto…
On the Pier at Field’s Landing
On the Pier at Field’s Landing I spy two otters in the bay A mother and a daughter otter All sleek, tea-colored and athletic (It’s May and we think we’re kinetic?) They see me and they slip away Then I glimpse this fluid bat ray Soaring as they do through water Like the…
Schooool’s Out!
We’re happy to report that the sometimes-slow chunk of time following the HSU graduation is not, in fact, happening this year. Instead, a full slate of options awaits your joyful presence. Friday Loss and reconciliation Alejandro Rose-Garcia goes by the name of Shakey Graves when delivering the blues-country-rock that’s brought him national acclaim and keeps…
Ban on the Run
The Lake County town of Clearlake has backed off of its marijuana cultivation ban following public backlash and a lawsuit filed by one of the city’s former mayors. Clearlake was one of the few municipalities in the state to ban cultivation (several counties ban growing as well) and it had become a contentious topic; Lake…
Good Together
A new season is a wonderful opportunity to pay closer attention to what’s on our plates and in our glasses. Politics aside, the impetus to eat local can simply be deliciousness, and that’s even before we invite smartly paired wines to the party. If you consider wine a food (and who doesn’t?), it falls under…
Kinetic Grand Championship 2015
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The Great Race
The pleasures of the Grand Kinetic Championship are many. First, on Saturday, May 23, there is the carnival atmosphere on the Arcata Plaza as costumed racers prep their craft for the noon start of the race. Rutabaga Queens are shamelessly lobbied/bribed and spectators mill around, gawking at giant sharks, shoes, mollusks and spaceships. Stand back…
