Undamming (and Restoring) the Klamath
A close-up look at the nation’s largest dam removal and restoration effort
Cover Story
Undamming (and Restoring) the Klamath
Much of the focus on the largest dam removal and restoration effort in the nation’s history has been on extraction — the removal of the four dams that have choked flows on the Klamath River for more than a century. And from a sheer extraction perspective, the breadth of the project is breathtaking, as it…
Music Tonight: Thursday, April 20
Well, it’s 4/20, so cheers to those who celebrate. If you are among that crowd, you should consider going to the Mateel today at 4 p.m., where a great smoke out is being staged with a proper soundtrack of reggae music. Junior Toots is the son of the late, great Toots Hibbert of the Maytals…
Two Suspects in Robbery, Hit and Run in Critical Condition After Police Shooting, Investigation Ongoing
Two suspects, one of whom allegedly fired at least once at a deputy, are in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds following a police shooting that occurred after they crashed into another vehicle at Harris and Dolbeer streets during a police pursuit Tuesday afternoon. At a press conference today, Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal identified the suspects…
California Bills to Expand State Tax Credits Could send $1 Billion to Low-income Families
When Reyna Bonilla lost her job cleaning hotel rooms in 2020 at the start of the pandemic, she used tax credits and other pandemic relief to chip away at past-due rent so she and her two children could stay in their Koreatown apartment in Los Angeles. This year things are different. Bonilla cleans homes a…
UPDATE: Two Shot by Police After Pursuit, Reported Armed Robbery in Eureka
UPDATE: The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has determined that a third man wanted for questioning in the incident that included a police shooting this afternoon is not a suspect and was uninvolved but fled the scene upon seeing guns drawn, according to spokesperson Samantha Karges. No additional suspects are believed to be outstanding. PREVIOUSLY: Two…
Lawmakers Want to Know Why Billions in Spending isn’t Reducing Homelessness
The state has spent billions of dollars on homelessness in recent years. So why is the crisis getting worse instead of better? That’s what a bipartisan group of California legislators is trying to get to the bottom of by calling for a first-of-its kind, large-scale audit of the state’s homelessness spending. The state has stepped…
El Len Turns 10
El Leñador, an award-winning, monthly bilingual Cal Poly Humboldt publication that’s the only newspaper in the county to deliver the news in Spanish, held a decennial celebration Thursday, with accompanying workshops led by some of its alumni. “The 10-year anniversary is not only a celebration of El Leñador but a celebration of the community we…
NCJ Preview: Undamming, Creative Reuse and Eco Dining
For our annual Green Issue, we’ve got stories impacting the environment. First up, what it takes to minimize the harm to local waters and species as the Klamath Dams come down. We’ve also got the story of how SCRAP Humboldt’s creative reuse mission is being kept alive at Maker’s Apron. Finally, we’re looking at how…
Developer Agrees to Tear Down Controversial Home, Faces Daily $40K Fines
Local developer Travis Schneider has agreed to remove his partially constructed 20,000-square-foot home on Walker Point Road in an effort to resolve a litany of permit violations that resulted in a county-issued stop-work order on the project in December of 2021. In an April 5 letter to Humboldt County Planning Director John Ford, an attorney…
‘Abandoned and Forgotten’
Editor: Over three months ago, the most devastating earthquake I have ever felt as a lifelong resident hit Rio Dell on Dec. 20, and again on Jan. 1 (“High Intensity,” Jan. 26). The damage was shocking, my home and cars sustained more than $30,000 worth of damage. My chimney was broken, garage doors shattered, gas…
Rainy Day Gardening
Talk to any gardener or farmer in your life about how things are going now that it’s spring, and you’ll probably garner a wistful sigh, followed by them looking dejectedly at the long-term forecast, which seems to be a wet Groundhog Day time loop. Look! Some sun! Oh, oops, just kidding. Rain. Then showers, then…
‘The Last Taboo’
Editor: Thanks to Thadeus Greenson for writing a fine cover story on Jeff Woodke: his time in the Sahel and reintegration (“‘When the Lord Restored Our Fortunates,'” April 6). I’m a journalist, too; at this point in my life I write a monthly column for Senior News. I’m also a Christian. Unfortunately, I often see…
It’s Official: CA’s 2023 Ocean Salmon Season Shut Down
In what was a mere formality, the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) put the final nail in the coffin of California’s 2023 ocean Chinook salmon fishery April 6. The PFMC acted unanimously to recommend a full closure of California’s commercial and sport ocean salmon seasons. Options put forward by the PFMC last month for public…
‘Why?’
Editor: Why do you have such a hard time keeping the crossword puzzles in the right order? (Crossword, April 6.) Stevo Vidnovic, Eureka
‘Class-Discriminating Utopias’
Editor: According to Joann Schuch, (Views, April 3), there are “misconceptions and inaccuracies” about Life Plan Humboldt’s proposed $80 million exclusive retirement community in McKinleyville, yet, only one is mentioned: “Living in a nonprofit life plan community does not shelter a resident’s pension from being taxed.” In fact, according to IRS Publication 502, the costs…
Do Better, Arcata
Editor: On Saturday morning, I helped with the PacOut Green Team’s effort to clean up the Arcata Marsh. Many folks showed up and we filled a huge dumpster in just 90 minutes. Godwit Days visitors to the marsh next week will now have a neater view through their binoculars. However, on my walk home after…
Corrections
The March 30, 2023, edition of the North Coast Journal ran the crossword puzzle “Pirate” with answers to “Per” in error. The puzzle that should have run was “Per,” with answers to the March 23 puzzle “Order.” Then on April 6, 2023, “Pirate/Per” ran again, as originally scheduled. This week, the answers to “Order” will run alongside this…
The Island Yacht Club
Following the “shocking and revolting,” in Bret Harte’s words, massacre at the Wiyot village on the former Indian Island, now Tuluwat, in February of 1860, the few survivors were removed to, or sought refuge at, Fort Humboldt. They were subsequently relocated to the Smith River and Klamath reservations, while German immigrant Robert Gunther, then 29,…
Salmon Season Crisis
Next month, the National Marine Fisheries Service is all-but-certain to officially close the California ocean salmon season due to what’s forecast to be near record-low returns of Chinook to the Klamath and Sacramento rivers. The shuttering of the multi-million dollar industry will come with wide-ranging implications for those who depend on the fishery that has…
Bowling for Housing
Very few people are immune to the temptations of self-mythologization. This makes sense in America, where we are raised from birth by the flashing dream machines provided by the entertainment, sports and advertising industries. Narrative is injected into our minds like the processed filling in Twinkies at such a rate and volume that we are…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I hope that in the coming weeks, you will keep your mind bubbling with zesty mysteries. I hope you’ll exult in the thrill of riddles that are beyond your current power to solve. If you cultivate an appreciation of uncanny uncertainties, life will soon begin bringing you uncanny certainties. Do you…
Sneaker Game
AIR. I went on at some length recently about the work of Ben Affleck (Director Affleck), particularly Argo (2012), both as pertains to Tetris and to the shifting focus of culture in the context of mainstream cinema. The logic therein was most likely fallacious and founded on false premises, but I can at least say…
Hop on a Bike
A middle-aged woman who said she had never ridden a bike in her life, climbed onto the saddle of a bicycle bolted to a stationary stand, curious to try pedaling to power the amplified PA system. The watt meter surged and she smiled. The scene was a Bike Rodeo organized last summer by the Arcata…
Eating Ocean Friendly
Click on the Ocean Friendly Restaurants program on the Surfrider Foundation website, and you’ll see businesses that have earned the nonprofit’s seal of approval. Restaurants participating in the program must adopt seven protocols to reduce or eliminate the use of single-use plastics, as well as three of eight optional measures, like offering vegetarian, vegan or…
‘Hard to Believe’
Editor: I voted against Measure M and I believe that the superior court will use declaratory relief to strike down the measure and allow the State Display of Flags statute to prevail (California Government code section 430 to 439). (“‘A Symbolic Gesture,'” March 30.) The proponent made the claim that the measure was legal. All…
Creativity Shouldn’t Cost the World
Attention crafters, recycling mavens and parents looking for affordable, sparkly reused treasures for your children: If you have been missing SCRAP Humboldt, it’s time to welcome Maker’s Apron Creative Reuse to our community. Informally known by its people as the “spiritual successor to SCRAP Humboldt,” the whimsical, colorful spot in Old Town Eureka is dedicated…
