Unsealed
Probation Reports: What we can learn from the ‘most important’ documents in the criminal justice system
Cover Story
Unsealed
Two young people gunned down in the middle of the night at a house party in Arcata. A beloved priest tortured and bludgeoned to death in his Eureka rectory. Two men killed execution-style in a home in a nice, quiet neighborhood of Eureka. Each of these crimes stilled the local community, capturing waves of media…
Court Changes Probation Report Policy
The Humboldt County Superior Court has completed a review of its policies and procedures governing the unsealing of a defendant’s prior probation reports when they are charged with a new crime. Court CEO Kerri Keenan said today that judges and court staff are all in agreement that, under the law, the court should make a…
Tonight’s Setlist
The Redwood Jazz Alliance welcomes the Michael Moore Quartet on Tuesday, April 15 at 8 p.m. at the Morris Graves Museum of Art. Known for his virtuosity, his expressiveness and his beautiful tone on clarinet, the multi-reedist is also a prolific composer with more than two dozen albums to his name. Tickets are $15 general/$10…
Northwest Forest Plan’s 20th
Twenty years after the Northwest Forest Plan’s birth, lawyer/writer Daniel Jack Chasan looks at whether the plan has done all it was cracked up to do. Did it save Northern Spotted owls? Did it protect the logging industry from utter devastation? Chasan concludes, in part one of his story at Crosscut.com, that “[n]either the owl nor the…
New News News
The empty, dilapidated front room of the KAEF building at Sixth and E streets in Eureka will soon be bustling with news hustlers, if all goes according to plan, and Humboldt County’s only TV news program will have competition for the first time in almost 10 years. “We are looking forward to elevating the level…
Nice, and Nicer
The question came near the end of the two-hour debate Friday night, one she said she hadn’t expected: What do you bring to the position of 5th District supervisor that your opponent does not? After a long pause, challenger Sharon Latour said, “Twenty years more of adult life, of problem-solving, tragedy and joy, mistakes and…
Yurok Language Program in NYT
In case you missed it, Eureka High School’s Yurok language program landed on the front page of yesterday’s New York Times. “A generation ago, linguists predicted that Yurok and many other Native American languages would become extinct around this time with the deaths of tribal members who grew up speaking the languages, the criterion used at…
Rom-com 101
With options like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu (the buffering capital of the internet), it can be hard to convince yourself to leave the house for a movie. They’re so incredibly convenient and they don’t require pants, but they do come with monthly service fees, not to mention the hassle of finding a decent unsecured…
Chocolate Revolution
We look at chocolate as a luxury, as a sinful indulgence. But back during the French and Indian War, it was part of a soldier’s rations. Nutritious, medicinal and as necessary as a pouch of tobacco. And a good deal of the scheming, plotting and fomenting for the American Revolution happened over cups of drinking…
Tonight’s Setlist: The Magnificence that is Saturday, April 12.
Skate, chili and a Minor Threat cover band No one will accuse the folks at RampArt of being slackers. Establishing an indoor skate-art park with a focus on providing something cool for kids sounds like the kind of idea some well-intentioned post-college kids brainstorm about one afternoon, only to bail out when the reality of fundraising…
HSU Staffer Among Bus Crash Victims
Humboldt State University has confirmed that Admissions Counselor Arthur Arzola was among the 10 people dead after a bus crash outside of Sacramento Thursday afternoon. Arzola, a regional recruiter based in the Los Angeles area, was accompanying a bus full of high school students up to Arcata to attend HSU’s Spring Preview event for prospective students. According…
Ocean Swimmer Dies
A 21-year-old from Tulare died yesterday afternoon after being rescued from the ocean off of Samoa Beach, according to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office. Matthew Bryant Garcia had gone swimming with a friend, and disappeared in the surf, says the release. A passerby called 911 at about 4:30 p.m. In two minutes rescuers were on…
Prospective HSU Students in Bus Crash
A fiery accident on Interstate 5 this afternoon involved a tour bus reportedly filled with high school students headed for Humboldt State University’s Spring Preview event. At least nine people are believed to have been killed in the wreck, which occurred in city of Orland, about 100 miles north of Sacarmento, at about 5:40 p.m.…
Debate Season Hits Stride
Voters in Humboldt County’s 5th Supervisorial District will get their first chance to compare their candidates side-by-side Friday, as incumbent Ryan Sundberg and challenger Sharon Latour square off in the race’s inaugural debate Friday. The forum, which starts at 6 p.m. in Azalea Hall, is hosted by the McKinleyville Chamber of Commerce and will span…
Don’t Drop the Ball
Jugglers make it look so easy, like their hand-eye coordination isn’t bafflingly super human. That skill, that perfect rhythm of movement and pizazz, is supposedly something you can learn to do with “practice” and “effort.” Before you spend hours alone in your backyard dropping things, you’re gonna want to learn the basics. The Humboldt Juggling…
Physical Reality and Mad Curiosities
Crazy is popular in dance these days, as HSU’s 40-person, 10-dance spring show, choreographed and performed by both students and instructors, demonstrates. Kelsey Brennan’s “The War Within” tackles post-traumatic stress disorder among vets, set to overlapping recitations from All Quiet on the Western Front by sound artist Tim Gray. The dancing here is percussive and…
Whole Lotta Love
I had just parked in Arcata when my phone buzzed. “The band canceled!” my husband alerted me, referring to our plans to see Warm Soda at The Shanty later that night. “Where’d you hear that?” I responded. “KHSU. The DJ just said.” Mindful of my mission to keep folks updated on local music happenings, I…
Second Friday Arts! Arcata
Arts! Arcata is Arcata Main Street’s monthly celebration of visual and performing arts, held at more than 30 participating locations in Arcata. Visit www.artsarcata.com for even more information about the event or call (707) 822-4500. ARCATA ARTISANS 883 H St. Seth Simpson, ceramics; John Wesa, prints. ARCATA EXCHANGE 813 H St. Morgen Maier, mixed media.…
Role Models
Reviews BAD WORDS. Since his resurgence on TV’s Arrested Development (a handful of hilarious movie cameos notwithstanding), Jason Bateman has been remade as a sort of put-upon everyman/icon. With Ben Stiller becoming a victim of his own newfound sincerity, Bateman the new face face of frustrated good intentions, the likeable loser destined to catch a…
Passover
Let’s begin with a map and a plan; then let’s fold it and follow, go where the light shines stepping in the graceway of the moment. The shine of my shoes, in the dew, dark leather in the green. They squeak like a saddle squeaks only smaller. The peak of frog song heralds the season…
OK, McKay
Humboldt County’s board of supervisors is almost certain to get the keys to a $6.7 million chunk of property in the next several months — even if a few officials are looking in the gift horse’s mouth. The county — with aid from Eureka and other agencies — has been working on a plan to…
Cancer: Evolution While-You-Wait
Every second, some 4 million cells in each of our bodies clone themselves by copying their DNA into two new cells, each virtually identical to its parent. The process isn’t perfect, and occasionally a mutation occurs — if the process were perfect, we’d never have gotten beyond the original cell that kick-started life on Earth.…
Stuck
A contractor hired by Eureka to install the main line for its new wastewater system walked off the job last week, citing an impasse with the city over how to proceed in conditions the company says are nearly impossible. And now the company, Portland-based Apex Directional Drilling, says it is considering suing to recover its…
Coke Is It!
Editor: I couldn’t help but notice the widespread use of gratuitous, brand-specific references in your April 3 issue. In a single piece by Ryan Hurley: ” Rolling around on bigger Michelins … clearly hailed from the Winchester school of diplomacy … Big Wine has stuffed Chesbro’s Dockers with more than $24,000.” (“#Buhneisback.”) Not to be…
Just a Taste
Editor: Ryan Hurley’s blurb in the April 3 issue about a bill I introduced, AB 1989, was cleverly written and entertaining to read (“#Buhneisback”). But I wonder if Ryan actually did his homework and read the bill, because his piece did not accurately characterize this legislation and sounded a little like sour grapes. AB 1989…
Everywhere a Sign
Editor: I appreciated reading Carolyn Ayres’ letter (“Sign Here,” April 3), and I agree with her that the one with the most political signs (and most TV commercials), likely has the most financial backing, and is least likely to act in the best interest of the average citizen. But I fear Ms. Ayres may have…
Allow Me
Editor: We are residents of Eureka, and since our city doesn’t feel they can do it, we would also like to offer a formal apology to the Wiyot people (as was done by another letter-writer last week) for the unspeakable events of 1860. Words cannot express how deeply sorry we are for what was done…
Editors …
Editor: While I am grateful and humbled that my response to John Bennett’s article regarding local short film screening opportunities in Filmland was posted in your paper this week (“Peep My Shorts,” April 3), for the sake of my reputation, please note that I did not give my letter its title. It might have been…
Title Wave
Editor: I am so pleased that “our boys” will solve all of our problems with a “liquor run” along 199. That makes as much sense as trees on Mars. Words almost fail me. Hollie Klingel, Eureka
Snake Oil
Cannabis cures cancer. So goes the viral claim, which like most Internet-borne beliefs, is misguided, unfounded and potentially dangerous; and fueled by hope, desperation and frustration. There’s no shortage of “evidence” online. Glossy websites like www.cureyourowncancer.org offer competent-sounding (look, big words!) solutions while sites like Alternet and YouTube offer an anti-mainstream-media forum for testimonials. Before…
It’s Alive and Growing
The row of jewel-colored shots lined up on the bar in front of me reminds me of sour candies when I first see and smell them. My array of infused beverages includes lavender lemon, turmeric ginger, tangy blueberry and a Mary flavor with hints of hot peppers, garlic, thyme and fenugreek. It’s accompanied by locally…
