‘Things Have to Change’
Even as dams are coming down, Klamath Basin ranchers, tribes battle over water By Rachel Becker/CalMatters
Cover Story
‘Things Have to Change’
Arron Troy Hockaday leaned over the highway railing to peer into the water below, where the Scott River empties into the Klamath near the Oregon border. Beneath the bridge, dozens of threatened coho salmon rested on their journey back from the Pacific. It was the end of October, and they were waiting for rain to…
Steven Lee Branstetter: 1954-2023
Steven Lee Branstetter, 69, died in Redding, California, on Nov. 16, 2023, with his loved ones, Joni and golden retriever Cali, by his side. Steve (fondly known as Brundy) was born in Ferndale, California on Jan. 29, 1954, to Charles Branstetter and Phyllis (Titus) Branstetter. Steve attended Ferndale schools, proudly graduating from Ferndale High School…
Pamela Ann Sistrom: 1941-2023
Pamela Ann Sistrom, 82, was born on July 23, 1941, in Los Angeles, California, to Joe and Katie Sistrom, and died on Nov. 19, 2023, in Eureka. She is survived by her daughter, Dianna Bond, her son-in-law, Xavion Bond, her granddaughter-to-be, Xadie Isley Bond, best friend Henry Buchanan and her many family friends who will…
Barbara Deanna Wayland: 1954-2023
Barbara passed away at home in McKinleyville, California, on Nov. 15, 2023 at the age of 68. She was born to Robert and Phyllis Wayland in Pasadena, California, on Dec. 27, 1954. Barbara grew up in sunny Southern California (Fullerton), as one of five children. She loved the sun, always sporting a dark tan due…
Louis Thomas ‘Pete’ Pietrok: 1930-2023
Louis Thomas “Pete” Pietrok passed away peacefully, with family by his side, on Nov. 19, 2023, at the age of 93 in his home in Ferndale, California. He was a loving husband, father, grandpa and brother, as well as a steadfast friend. Born in Linn County, Oregon, on March 13, 1930, Louis’ childhood was typical…
Music Tonight: Thursday: Dec. 28
Here begins the long weekend to the New Year. I’ll be frontloading these days, especially the big evening itself, because, as is often the case, there are ghost days in the very start of January. Not tonight though, as you will find Swingo Domingo at the Basement putting on a free set of jazzy swing…
Klamath Water Fight, Real Estate Mystery and Resilient Restaurateurs
The dams are coming down but that doesn’t mean the fights over water rights are over. We’ve got a CalMatters update on the situation. We’re also looking into the rather secretive sale of land by the Eureka City Schools and what it has to do with homelessness. Finally, we talked to a family recovering from…
Music Tonight: Saturday, Dec. 23
As we close in on the nativity holiday, our music options dry up and disappear like rooms for rent in ancient Bethlehem. No worries, the Speakeasy and the Logger Bar both have something doing tonight for free. Eight p.m. at the Speakeasy is the hour of power if you want to catch the classic funky…
Get Crafty at Sea Goat’s Holiday Open House
Bring the kids along to get crafty at the Sea Goat Holiday Open House on Saturday, Dec. 23, from 10 a.m.to 2 p.m. at Abbey of the Redwoods’ Sea Goat Farmstand (free entry, $5 ornament workshop, $20 garland workshop). Enjoy a drop-in citrus garland and ornament workshop led by Molly of Twine & Rind, specialty…
Mental Health Programs Serving Kids in Humboldt and Across the State to Close after California Payment Changes
Kerry Venegas struggles to sleep these days, worrying about the 55 children who will lose services once her Humboldt County nonprofit closes an outpatient counseling program in January. David Mineta gets emotional when he talks about his organization’s decision to close six mental health programs serving about 650 children and adults in Santa Clara County…
A Second Chance at Wok In Wok Out
On April 18, the day before his wife, Kommaly’s birthday, Ronnie Worasen, then owner and chef at Hunan Restaurant, was driving his sister-in-law and 4-year-old son to Safeway in Eureka to buy a cake. At the intersection of Harris and Dolbeer streets, a speeding red Ford truck ran them into a telephone pole and sent…
Annette Makino’s Life in Collage
Annette Makino has been an artist all her life but it wasn’t until 2010 that she became interested in incorporating haiku into her artwork. For her birthday that year, her Arcata friend and fellow artist Amy Uyeki gave her a book of senryu, a poetic form structurally similar to haiku but with more humor and…
Winter Planting for Future Color
Now that a real rainy season has returned to Humboldt County, it’s time to think about the new gardening year. Winter is nearly here, and while the days can be gray and dreary, there’s still plenty of color to admire in the landscape. As I drive around town, I notice the trees that still have…
Looking Back, Maybe Forward
Being that the only notable new release (at least in local theaters) this past weekend was Wonka, a moment of reflection presented itself. Not to dismiss Willy’s origin story; to the contrary, I’ve long immersed myself in the source material and the revelatory 1971 adaptation. I’ll continue to skip Tim Burton and Johnny Depp’s portrait-in-rictus…
‘Worth the Effort’
Editor: There is a strong case for the social and economic advantages of shopping locally (“2023 Holiday Gift Guide,” Nov. 23). The businesses remain open, cash is accepted, money spent stays in the community, friends and neighbors get paychecks, shoppers get out of the house, delivery is instantaneous, local publications get ad revenue, the tax base doesn’t shrink,…
‘Potentially Huge Impacts’
Editor: Let’s step up to help create a clear vision for the future of Humboldt Bay and the Samoa Peninsula and not get dragged into an “industrial quagmire,” (thank you, Kathryn Travers, Mailbox, Dec. 14). Two massive corporate project proposals with potentially huge impacts to the people who live, work and recreate here are in…
The Awesome Dumbbell Nebula
Charles Messier (1730-1817) was a French comet hunter. Today, scattered around the globe, hundreds of amateur astronomers follow his lead every night, each striving to be the first to discover a fuzzy, luminous patch that (a) turns out to be moving against the background stars, that is, a comet; and (b) is subsequently named after…
A Solstice Remembered
I thought October would take the edge off. After all, there’s no way this fickle light and a few chance rains Could turn my head any further. . Now the garden is all dead, The light, All left to morning now, Just like yesterday, And then again. Please give me this solace, Wanted and waited…
Eureka Schools Agrees to Strange Property Swap
A mystery developer has swooped in to acquire Eureka City School’s long fallow Jacobs Middle School property, scuttling the California Highway Patrol’s plans for the site. Depending on the developer’s plans, the surprise move could also have reverberating impacts on an effort to get Eureka voters to block the city’s plans to convert a number…
Nativity
I didn’t mention it at the time because I had other things in mind, but one of the greatest Irish songwriters of all time, Shane MacGowan, dying in the same news cycle as Henry Kissinger sounds like the beginning of a joke you would tell only when drunk and with friends. The real dark harmonic…
