Unmasked
Behind Humboldt’s decision to follow the state’s lead in hanging up the masks
Cover Story
Unmasked
As the immediate past president of the Humboldt-Del Norte Medical Society, a family medicine doctor and chair of medicine at Redwood Memorial Hospital, Stephanie Dittmer understands the science of COVID-19 better than most. And she understands that the science says that wearing masks helps to prevent spread of the disease that has now killed more…
Public Health Reports HumCo’s 137th COVID Death
Humboldt County Public Health reported the 137th local COVID-19 death today — of a resident over the age of 80. This marks the county’s 15th COVID-19 death of 2022. Public Health also reported two new hospitalizations today. According to a state database, 23 people are currently hospitalized with the virus locally, including one under intensive…
It’s Going to be Cold, Again
Another round of frigid temperatures is expected overnight and into tomorrow morning, which will likely continue into Friday. For the second time in two days, the Eureka office of the National Weather Service has issued a hard freeze warning, this one running from 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. Thursday, which state temperatures could drop down…
Major League News for Mad River Brewery
A little bit of Humboldt will soon be on tap at Oracle Park in a groundbreaking partnership between San Francisco Giants and Mad River Brewery — one of the first tribally owned breweries in the country. ‘There have been dreams that sometimes seemed unreachable; finding a tribal product for sale in a professional stadium was…
Snow Falling: Amid Climate Change, Overhauling California Water Projections Gains Urgency
The Sierra Nevada hasn’t provided nearly as much water as predicted. Now the state is struggling to overhaul its snow runoff forecasts. Packed onto the slopes of the Sierra Nevada is a precious source of water for California — a frozen reservoir that climate change is already transforming. As the planet warms, the spring snowpack…
Hard Freeze Warning: Temps Likely to Dip into the 20s
Just two weeks after unseasonably warm temperatures set new highs for the date, the North Coast is headed in the opposite direction, with record low temperatures expected in the region tomorrow morning, a cold trend likely to continue Thursday and Friday. The Eureka office of the National Weather Service has issued a hard freeze warning…
Marie-Louise deSouza: 1942-2022
Marie-Louise deSouza died Feb. 8, 2022, and she was born in Singapore to Victor and Cora (maiden name Elliott) on Aug. 4, 1942. Marie’s siblings were Evelyn, Brenda, and Jocelyn (age 13). This was during the Japanese occupation. Hence, Jocelyn was put into a concentration camp because he wouldn’t fight in the Japanese Youth Unit,…
Bunny Mae Walthuis: 1977-2022
Bunny Mae Walthuis, born Aug.. 25, 1977, in Thousand Oaks, California, died peacefully on Feb. 6, 2022, at the Hospice House in Eureka in the loving presence of her partner and close friends after a 21-month battle with stage 4 cervical cancer was finally over. Bunny is survived by her lover and partner, Tawny Foskett.…
UPDATED: Forecast: Snow in the Mountains, Rain Across the Region
The Eureka office of the National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for the mountains of northern Humboldt County and interior areas of Southern Humboldt and Del Norte County that runs for 24 hours starting at 7 a.m. Monday. According to the advisory snow is expected a total of 3 to 5 inches…
Meth, a Mother, and a Stillbirth: Imprisoned Mom Wants her ‘Manslaughter’ Case Reopened
The 29-year-old woman was rushed to a Central Valley hospital on Dec. 30, 2017. Seven of her nine children had been born high on methamphetamine. This one, her 10th, was coming two weeks early. Doctors detected no fetal heartbeat at 9:30 p.m. At 10:14 p.m., she tested positive for methamphetamine. Eight minutes later, Adora Perez…
NCJ Preview: Dropping the Mask Mandate and Mobile and Pop-up Restaurants
Humboldt County is following the state’s lead in dropping its indoor mask mandate for fully vaccinated people, and we take a look at why. And we’re looking at how a pair of restaurants are adapting to ongoing COVID life, one by dropping the brick and mortar in favor of a truck, the other by turning…
Cal State Chancellor Resigns Under Fire
In a stunning fall from grace, California State University Chancellor Joseph Castro has resigned from his post, effective immediately, over accusations that he mishandled sexual assault and workplace intimidation claims against a former colleague while president of Fresno State University. Castro — who just completed his first year as the first Mexican American chancellor of…
Public Health Reports Humboldt’s 136th COVID-19 Death
Humboldt County Public Health reported the 136th local COVID-19 death today — of a resident in their 70s. This marks the county’s 14th COVID-19 death of 2022. Public Health also reported three new hospitalizations today. According to a state database, 23 people are currently hospitalized with the virus locally, including four under intensive care. Today,…
‘SMARTER’: Newsom Administration Outlines Future Plans for COVID
Vowing to be smarter after lessons learned over the past two years, the Newsom administration on Thursday gave a glimpse of what the next few months — and potentially years — may look like in California with COVID-19 likely to stick around. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s health secretary, Dr. Mark Ghaly, said the state’s new plan…
Beach Fleas
A couple of characters approached me at my favorite beach. They were dressed in pinstripe suits and wore fedoras. The small guy said, “Hey buddy. Nice beach you got here. It would be a shame if something bad happened to it.” The much larger guy cracked his knuckles affirmatively. I said, “Something bad like what?”…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): You’re slipping into a phase when stuff that has been invisible will become visible, at least to you. You will have extra power to peer beneath the surfaces and discern the hidden agendas and study the deeper workings. Your interest in trivia and distractions will dissipate, and you’ll feel intensified yearnings…
Introducing, Doctor Betty Kwan Chinn
Local philanthropist Betty Kwan Chinn was never allowed to attend school as a child and was once even beaten for having the audacity to peek into a classroom window, but she’ll soon hold a doctorate degree. Cal Poly Humboldt recently informed Chinn she will be receiving an honorary doctorate of human letters at this year’s…
Fat Anne’s and Manzanilla Pop Up and Hit the Road
Tevyn Fisher had only been serving breakfast, lunch and dinner at Fat Anne’s Bakery & Bistro for three months at her then new Ferndale location when lockdown hit. She shifted to takeout family dinners of fried chicken and seafood boils, which were popular, and happily transitioned back to dine-in, both in the dining room and…
Winter Garden Checklist
The Pennsylvania rodent has decreed that we’ll have another five weeks of winter and in the Midwest, South and Northeast, I’m sure they believe this to be true. Meanwhile, out here on the North Coast, our promised rain seems to have disappeared. But that doesn’t mean it’s time to abandon the garden because there’s a…
My Dad
This is my dad, Ricky Smith. He’s been living on the streets of Arcata for over a decade. On Feb. 2, he was murdered just feet away from the same corner he stood on every day and played his guitar and sang for passersby. He gave smiles and kindness. He often held a sign that…
Making it Look Easy
I WANT YOU BACK. Contrary to my frequent cantankerousness — contrarianism in all things! — I like romantic comedies (almost) as much as the next audience member. Despite their frothiness and sometime ubiquity, romantic comedies are charming by design, an opportunity for attractive people to occasionally act the fool and (if I’m feeling sentimental) find…
CDFW Seeks Input on 2022 Pacific Halibut Season
California anglers who are interested in the recreational Pacific halibut fishery are invited to participate in an online survey to help inform the CDFW about angler preferences for open fishing dates during the upcoming 2022 season. Results of the survey, which is open until Feb. 18, will be used to develop recommended season dates that will be…
Beyond the Numbers
For the better part of two years now, as we’ve navigated this COVID-19 pandemic, each of us has repeatedly been forced to reassess and adjust as conditions changed and new information came to light. We’ve gone from wiping down surfaces and groceries to upgrading ventilation systems and buying better masks, from distance learning back to…
The Truth about Single Payer Financing
Editor: In a recent CalMatters article “Why single payer healthcare died gain” (NCJ Daily, Feb. 3) Alexei Koseff wrote that the proposed funding for the universal healthcare bill, A.B. 1400 (CalCare), is “a series of taxes on businesses and high earning households … estimated by legislative analysts to cost between $314 billion and $391 billion…
‘If Done Right’
Editor: In a complex world, it’s often tempting to boil things down to two sides: right or wrong, for or against (The “Bring It On” letter, Mailbox, Feb. 10). It’s much easier than taking the time to study an issue closely before forming an opinion. From an environmental activist’s perspective, there are three types of projects. There’s…
NCJ April 26
Good morning, North Coast Journal readers. Today’s National Weather Service forecast calls for drizzle followed by sun on the coast and sunny skies inland. Temperatures are expected to reach highs of 56 in Eureka, 66 in Garberville and 64 in Hoopa. In Case You Missed It Thirty years have passed since a trio of three…
‘Greatly Harmed’
Editor: The most striking aspect of the letters that responded to mine was their emphasis on detached analysis and rationalizing, while ignoring my central point: that lockdown measures have greatly harmed our community (Mailbox, Jan. 27). Before COVID-19 there was a wide consensus that asymptomatic spread was insignificant, and hence masking and quarantining the healthy…
