Weighing the Fish Scales of Economic Development
Community’s deep dive to analyze Nordic Aquafarms’ potential
Cover Stories
Aquafarm Ecology: Energy and Water in, Water and GHG Out, Fish on the Go
The underlying environmental implication of “paper or plastic?” is enormous enough. Building and operating a large-scale, land-based fish farm has a complexity of ecology that has so far taken Nordic Aquafarms 1,800 pages to begin to address. Citizens scrutinizing Nordic’s Draft Environmental Impact Report on the implications of the fish factory produced their own volumes…
Weighing the Fish Scales of Economic Development
The proverb goes something like: “If you give a woman a fish, she can eat for a day. If you teach a woman to fish, she can eat for a lifetime.” But with fewer fish and many more mouths to feed in today’s world, we are left to consider a newer version: “Give Humboldt an…
What to Know About Gov. Gavin Newsom’s State of the State Speech
Even as the coronavirus pandemic finally appears to be receding, Californians are in a funk. They are nearly evenly split on whether the state is headed in the right direction, according to a survey released last month by the Public Policy Institute of California, and gave poor marks to Gov. Gavin Newsom on almost every…
UPDATE: DA Finds CHP Fatal Shooting in 2021 ‘Legally Justified,’ Family Has Filed Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Humboldt County District Attorney Maggie Fleming has determined that a California Highway Patrol officer was legally justified in last year’s fatal shooting of 35-year-old Charles David Chivrell, who had fired at least one round at officers before he was killed, after reviewing an investigation of the incident. “Once Mr. Chivrell pointed and fired his gun…
Millions of Californians At Risk of Losing Health Coverage When Federal COVID Programs End
Millions of Californians could lose or transition into new health coverage as two federal programs that helped many keep or afford insurance are set to expire this year. Two to three million Californians could lose their Medi-Cal coverage, some as soon as this summer, after the federal government’s COVID-19 public health emergency ends, now scheduled…
State of the State: Will Gov. Newsom do More to Reduce California Inequality?
Gov. Gavin Newsom is an unlikely champion of California’s down and out. Yet the wine entrepreneur, who built his political career and fortune with help from the state’s wealthy elite, campaigned on a promise to address California’s disparities – and do so boldly. From his first day in office in January 2019, Newsom called the…
California is Heavily in Debt from Unemployment Payments: How to Get Out of a $20 Billion Hole?
You may have heard how fake pandemic unemployment claims flooded California, or how desperate callers clogged phone lines with questions the state employment agency struggled to answer. But there’s another problem with the Golden State’s unemployment system that has been quietly brewing during the pandemic: California now has the unfortunate distinction of having as much…
Il Forno Bakery Takes the Cannoli
Chris Valk, born and raised in Garberville, already owned the Chimney Tree Grill on the Avenue of the Giants when she began eyeing the spot by the movie theater on Redwood Drive where Treats used to be. When the newly gutted space became available, she jumped at the chance to tailor it for Il Forno…
Local Agencies Warn of Email Hacking Throughout Region
Multiple agencies including the Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services this past week have been warning residents of multiple phishing scams and email hacking incidents attempting to access or damage a computer or network system. In a Facebook post on Monday, Humboldt County OES said they had received numerous reports of cybersecurity-related incidents targeting local government agencies…
NCJ Preview: Fish Farms, Audit Drama and New(ish) Eats
This week’s stories include the impacts from Nordic Farms’ on-shore fish farm according to a new report and what local environmental groups want it to change. We’ve also got an update on the ongoing saga of Humboldt’s auditor controller Karen Paz Dominguez, who’s under fire again with a threat of a fine for not yet…
Public Health Reports County’s 140th COVID-19 Death
Humboldt County Public Health reported the 140th local COVID-19 death today — of a resident in their 70s. This marks the county’s 18th COVID-19 death of 2022. According to a state database, 11 people are currently hospitalized with the virus locally, including two under intensive care. Find the full public health press release, which includes…
Red Carpet Premiere for Discovery+’s The Craftsman
The city of Eureka is rolling out the red carpet for the premiere of The Craftsman, the new Magnolia Network and Discovery+ television series that features local woodworker, writer and veteran Eric Hollenbeck and his Blue Ox Millworks. The first two episodes of the show will be shown back-to-back at the event, held March 18…
Auditor-Controller Working to Meet State’s Hard March 16 Deadline for Delinquent Report
The State Controller’s Office has clarified that the final demand letter sent from the Attorney General’s Office to Humboldt County Auditor-Controller Karen Paz Dominguez threatening to fine her $5,000 if she failed to turn in a long-overdue 2019-2020 financial report was not, in fact, a mistake, as Paz Dominguez suggested at the March 1 meeting…
$430,000 Behavioral Grant to Assist HCSO with Crisis Intervention
The Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services Behavioral Health Branch has been awarded a $430,000 Behavioral Health Justice Intervention Services Project from the state to assist the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office in responding to mental health crisis calls starting next week. “This grant will help increase opportunities to stabilize individuals in mental health crisis in the community…
Zero to Fierce Kicks off Saturday
For the sixth year in a row, Playhouse Arts presents its womxn’s festival: Zero to Fierce 2022: Listening Out Loud, celebrating creative womxn’s work, from Saturday, March 5 to Sunday, March 13 (free and ticketed events, no one turned away). Some of this year’s highlights include: local Black artists Mona Loki (Mo Harper-Desir) and All’Love…
Newsom Unveils ‘Completely New Strategy’ for California’s Mental Health Crisis
Gov. Gavin Newsom today unveiled a much anticipated proposal to address a mental health crisis increasingly visible on trash-strewn sidewalks and in cramped jail cells around California. The proposal, known as the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment (or CARE) Court, would provide a framework for courts to compel people with serious mental illnesses and substance…
Bobby Jo Valentine in Concert
Enjoy the dulcet offerings of Bobby Jo Valentine: An Intimate Concert of Hopeful Folk and Pop Music, Saturday, March 5, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka ($20). The award-winning singer/songwriter delivers “catchy songs with good tunes and intelligent, thoughtful lyrics in the tradition of Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens and Bruce…
How Long are Californians Waiting for Rent Relief?
Only 16 percent of nearly half a million renters who applied for rent relief from the state of California have been paid, according to a new analysis released today. And the clock is ticking: Under state law, landlords will be able to evict tenants who failed to pay rent by April 1. Of more than…
Hoopa Tribe Awarded $5 Million Beautification Grant
The Hoopa Valley Tribe has been awarded $5 million from the state’s Clean California initiative, the largest amount available under the Caltrans-led program that grants funding to beautify public spaces. According to a news release, the money will go toward makeovers in four separate areas owned by the Hoopa Tribe — Pookey’s Park, the Hoopa Rodeo…
Butoh Medea at Dell’Arte
Don’t miss the avant-garde theatrical dance performance Butoh Medea on Saturday, March 5, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, March 6, at 2 p.m. at Dell’Arte’s Carlo Theatre ($20, $15 student/senior). This special presentation features Yokko, an actor and interdisciplinary artist from Japan who won Best One-Woman Show for Butoh Medea in 2014 and has toured the…
Nowadays
I etch poems in the soft panes of air which I pass thru as I travel from here where nothing reconciles with what i hope is there. You dig? Monte Merrick bird ally x/humboldt wildlife care center
‘Opportunities for Fraud’
Apparently spurred by an errant letter from the state, Humboldt County Auditor-Controller Karen Paz Dominguez shared with the Board of Supervisors on March 1 the “findings” of her ongoing review of the county’s finances, which included a laundry list of irregularities and deficient fiscal controls, as well as a few straight allegations of impropriety. Paz…
‘Shattered’
If 19-year-old Mauricio Johnson feels remorse for having gunned down a newly engaged couple and a 16-year-old girl in their home on the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria Reservation last year and then working to flee the county as they lay bleeding, he didn’t express it during a pre-sentencing interview with his probation…
What’s Good: Eureka’s Pile High Deli and Il Forno in Garberville
Piling on Given the changing lineup of eateries lining Broadway in Eureka — with fast food and chain restaurants crowding the corridor — it’s a wonder there were no pile-ups as drivers craned their necks at the new sign for Pile High Deli replacing the old one for Hole in the Wall (1331 Broadway). *Cue…
Arts Alive
Presented by Eureka Main Street. Our galleries, museums, theaters, bars and restaurants are open. The indoor mask mandate for vaccinated people has expired. However, many businesses continue to require everyone to wear masks and follow other COVID safety precautions to keep patrons and staff safe. Please respect the standards set by individual businesses, be kind…
History Looped at Fort Humboldt
We walk through our world in the footsteps of those who came before, sometimes treading the same path unaware. As a teen, I visited the Ulysses S. Grant home in Galena, Illinois. As an adult I helped with an historical recreation of the dinner U.S. Army pork supplier William “Hog” Ryan threw for his friend…
Parched Rivers Set to Receive a Little Rain
As we wait patiently for our “Miracle March,” there is at least some rain in the immediate forecast. While it’s not much, anything at this point is beneficial. Currently we have way more rivers closed to fishing than open. As for the upcoming rain, the Humboldt area could see up to a half inch, which…
CODA‘s Music
CODA. Although my editor made not-so-veiled threats regarding The Sky is Everywhere — order must be maintained, after all — none were required to compel me to watch this, another emotionally charged exploration of teenage identity. Rather, it was the strange pressure of the impending Academy Awards which, as it does almost every year, makes…
Is Medicare a Public Good or a Market Commodity?
Seniors, beware: Traditional Medicare is under attack. It was established 56 years ago for the health benefit of all seniors and those with chronic disabilities. It is already almost half gone — and without public outcry it will never return. Medicare disintegration started with a program with the misleading name of Medicare Advantage, run by…
‘Almost Universally Terrible’
Editor: I recently spent four days in the ICU at St. Joseph’s Hospital, where the nursing staff were all wonderful, but the food was almost universally terrible (“A Week in the Hospital,” Jan. 20). I can only think that those responsible for feeding ICU patients are not used to said patients being alert enough to…
Milky Way Season Approaches
I remember while camping with my folks as a kid how the Milky Way stretched so prominently across the night sky. It was a special feature of the night I never saw from the bright lights of home but it was always there when we went camping. I assumed it was there every night. Later…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “I not only bow to the inevitable,” wrote Aries author Thornton Wilder. “I am fortified by it.” Wow. That was a brazen declaration. Did he sincerely mean it? He declared that he grew stronger through surrender, that he derived energy by willingly giving in to the epic trends of his destiny.…
