Transformers
A look at four officials who are leaving Humboldt County much different than they found it
Fried Pie
What could be more American than apple pie? Easy. Deep fried apple pie. And you needn’t wait until summer for some carnie at the fair to snuff out a menthol and drop a wedge of frozen pie into bubbling grease. Aim higher. Slice of Humboldt Pie (3750 Harris St.) makes fried apple pies you can…
We Mostly Flunk
We’re a (mostly) sad, bad, hackalung lot up here in Northern California. According to the American Lung Association, “Progress in the fight against tobacco use is at a standstill in California and in most cities and counties in the North Coast …” The association released its annual State of Tobacco Control report today, which shows…
Typo or Fashion Insight?
According to the writing on the wall in Eureka, either Lucifer is poised to fill the world with darkness and chaos, or shiny silks are back for spring. Maybe both. Whether that’s the worst inverted cross ever, a plus sign (for positivity?) or a cliffhanger of an unfinished thought also remains to be seen.
Playing Chicken
It’s always a gamble, an act of guts. You look at the words “fried chicken” on the menu and you just don’t know. Because what you want is so specific: the crunch, the salt-and-pepper simplicity, the juiciness. You lock eyes with the server, making everybody a little uncomfortable, and ask, “How is the fried chicken?”…
El Pulpo Blazes the Rockies
Humboldt County’s most famous fire-spewing octopus is at it again, having traveled into the Rockies to flame it up at Colorado’s Telluride Fire Festival. El Pulpo Mecanico, the 26-foot-tall brainchild of local artist Duane Flatmo is one of the festival’s headliners and, with the event dubbings itself a “community celebration of excellence in interactive fire…
‘Senseless is an Understatement’: No Motive Found in Double Murder
It’s been almost a year since 29-year-old Vincent Earnest Sanchez picked up a shotgun and shot both his half-brother and a life-long family friend at point-blank range in a Eureka home, but it remains unclear why. Sanchez was sentenced earlier this month to serve 40 years to life in state prison after pleading guilty to…
Facing Possible Removal, Newman Resigns Land Trust Post
Facing the threat of a vote to remove him from office, Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District Commissioner Aaron Newman has stepped down from his seat on the Northcoast Regional Land Trust Board of Directors. “There was just a difference of opinion that caused some discomfort on that board, so I didn’t want to…
Bowled Over
What better way to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. than by sharing the original comfort food — bowl of rice and beans — with your friends and neighbors at the annual Bowl of Beans event Monday, Jan. 19 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Arcata Community Center ($6). We…
Bowl Game
Just weeks after the Obama Administration announced it would take a hands-off approach to marijuana cultivation on tribal lands, a Mendocino County Pomo tribe announced it will build a $10 million cannabis farm with help from Kansas and Colorado investment firms. The Press-Democrat reported that the Pinoleville Tribe, which has a 99-acre rancheria north of…
Identities: Mistaken and Otherwise
First, congrats to Adam Pokorski and Matt Jackson for reopening their record store, Missing Link. Second, extra high fives for opening it inside a tavern — genius. Third, apologies to Dead Reckoning tavern master Theo Brown for confusing him with the other bearded guy in Arcata who wears a kilt. Who’d’ve thunk? For the uninitiated,…
Hot Wheels
After her camping gear was stolen at the World of Music, Arts and Dance Festival in England, Jennifer Thompson found herself regrouping with friends in the medical tent. As Brits are wont to do in a crisis, someone kindly brought her a cup of tea. “That cup of tea stuck with me,” she says. Later,…
It Was a Dark and Stormy Night
What is considered the world’s first book? There was a time in the pre-Internet (practically Paleolithic) era, when I never thought to ask a question like that — too complicated to research. Now I find myself trolling Q-and-A sites that ask such Big Questions, along with, What was the first word? and Is English going…
Vice and VirtueInherent‘s a good trip, Selma walks too softly
Reviews INHERENT VICE. Writer/director — we could probably use “auteur” here without irony or too much embarrassment — Paul Thomas Anderson is one of my big three. After Tarantino broke my head open with his exuberant crime pastiche, P.T. Anderson and Wes Anderson (no relation) shepherded me back to a more reasonable place. Each is…
On the Cover
Editor: I don’t get it. The Journal’s article in the Jan. 8 issue (“Catch and Release”) about the local effects of Proposition 47 was balanced and compassionate. Several top law enforcement officials were quoted expressing their concerns for the citizenry, victims and perpetrators alike. A recurring theme was the need for more treatment and counseling…
Whiny Crap Storm
Editor: In your article “Catch and Release,” our local politicians whined but offered nothing constructive. Proposition 47 is the law. Deal with it. Stop complaining and start governing. Try being a supervisor and not a politician, at least until the next yard sign contest. Economic growth will reduce crime. Do your job! When you act…
Women in Exigency
Editor: Linda Stansberry wrote one of the most insightful, compelling commentaries about the effect of the weed culture on women that I’ve ever read (“Women in Weed,” Jan. 8). Absolutely penetrating and convincing. We too often denigrate (America is the foremost country on Earth for scapegoating) a class of people until their reality is submerged.…
Eh, Not So Much
Editor: I found Linda Stansberry’s article “Women in Weed” to be much ado about nothing. The world’s got all kinds of ladies, but two of those kinds are hardworking, real women and ho’s. This is not news to anybody. All walks of life contain these two types of women, not just illicit industries. Good-looking women…
Churlish Hurley
Editor: Contributor Ryan Hurley sure got a load off his chest (and spleen) with his New Year’s rant on homelessness, unisex restrooms, and finally Nazi memorabilia in a pawn shop (“Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner,” Jan. 1). I’m pretty sure he was serious beneath the ironic tone, so his comments invite a response. For people living…
Third Friday McKinleyville Arts Night
is presented by members of the McKinleyville business community and is open for all McKinleyville businesses to display the work of local artists. Receptions for artists, exhibits and/or performances are held on the third Friday of each month. Call 834-6460 or visit www.mckinleyvilleartsnight.com for more information. CALIFORNIA REDWOOD COAST AIRPORT 3561 Boeing Ave. “Women’s Work,”…
Transformers
It seems like Humboldt County might be running out of golden watches, like one can’t turn a corner without bumping into another official who’s on the way out. After all, a pair of sheriff’s office stalwarts — lieutenants Steve Knight and Dave Morey — recently rode off into the sunset, and County Counsel Wendy Chaitin…
The Pen Responds
Much of the world watched in stunned horror last week as news flooded out of Paris that masked gunmen had stormed the offices of the newspaper Charlie Hebdo and opened fire. It’s been widely speculated that the satirical French paper became a target for the attack because of its irreverent and mocking style, which often…
The Writers’ House
I Ghosts live like this. And sometimes, children. A house full of waiting. Small hands smooth bones into the flat, pale finish of the wall. II Letters slide in colonizing the furrowed body Well-fed vowels crowd the bowl-shaped heart of my hips III These are the hard utterances, each…
