What’s Killing Us?
It’s no secret Humboldt County has a drug and alcohol problem. But what is addiction and what’s causing it?
Cover Story
What’s Killing Us?
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a two-part series looking at addiction on the North Coast. While this story analyzes theories of addiction and its causes, the second part will look at efforts to combat the epidemic in Humboldt County and the barriers that stand in their way. It’s your mom, who started using…
UPDATE: Body Found in Arcata’s Redwood Park Identified
UPDATE: The Humboldt County Coroner’s office has identifed the woman as Sarah Anne Walsh, age 25, from Crossville, Tennessee. The sheriff’s office says that they do not know at this time what Walsh, who appears to have committed suicide, was doing in Humboldt County. “At the time of death, the deceased had nothing on her person…
HumBug: Don’t Worry, Bee Happy
With great alarm, many articles have informed us that honeybees are dying out in record numbers. The phenomenon is called Colony Collapse Disorder. There are numerous theories from over use of neo-nicitonieoids insecticides, GMO crops, mites, climatological stress and a combination of all of the above. Like a plague, it has wiped out many hives…
Sidney Dominitz: 1941-2015
Sidney Dominitz, a longtime Humboldt State University journalism lecturer and editor of the Northcoast Environmental Center’s EcoNews, died early Saturday morning of complications from a heart condition. He was 74. A fixture on the North Coast for roughly 40 years, Dominitz is remembered by friends and colleagues as a man whose sharp wit and warm…
Marsh Campers Condensed in Wake of Stabbings
The Eureka Police Department and homeless advocacy group Friends of the Marsh are encouraging campers in the PalCo Marsh area to move their camps from directly behind the Bayshore Mall to the northern part of the marsh, away from the abandoned structures and closer to Vigo Street. The push comes in response to two recent…
Yurok Tribe no Longer Supports Klamath River Agreement
NOTE: This post was updated with comment from Huffman. The Yurok Tribe has announced it will withdraw its support of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, the massive, multi-agency restoration plan originally signed in 2010 that’s sat untouched by Congress for the last five years. The Karuk Tribe and Oregon Klamath Tribes will also withdraw at…
Ex-Rio Dell Cop Pleads Guilty in Domestic Violence Case
Former Rio Dell Police officer Kevin Harralson entered into a plea deal with prosecutors today that will see him placed on three year’s probation and mandated to a 52-week domestic violence counseling program after pleading guilty to a single count of false imprisonment. The deal also stipulates that Harralson will not appeal his termination from…
Feeling the Rainbow
Colors of the rainbow adorned hundreds of people watching or marching in a spirit of joy and fellowship Saturday, Sept. 12 at the 23rd annual Humboldt Pride Parade and Festival in Eureka. “We Are Queer History” was the theme as the crowd celebrated this year’s historic wins for the LGBTQ movement, according to organizers. The…
HumBug: Neglected Damsels
Whenever I give a talk on dragonflies, I point out that there are two subgroups to the order Odonata. The dragonflies (anisoptera, which means “same wing”) and the damselfiles (zygoptera meaning “different wing”), which I am told refers to the sizes and shapes of the front and hind wings. I guess because they’re bigger and…
Right-to-die Law Goes to Gov. Brown
The California Senate and Assembly passed legislation this week that will allow terminally ill people to end their own lives with a doctor’s assistance, so long as Gov. Jerry Brown signs the bill. The bill will allow doctors to prescribe life-ending medication to people who’ve been told they have six months or less to live,…
Uncorking Wine of Summer
Were you wondering if movie buffs at Portugal’s 2013 Duoro Film Harvest and the crowd at the 2013 Humboldt premier were the only people who’d ever see the The Wine of Summer? Well, so was local filmmaker Maria Matteoli for a minute there. But come Oct. 6 the film, shot both in Spain and here…
UPDATE: Medical Marijuana Bills Pass
The state Assembly and Senate approved a trio of medical marijuana regulations just before deadline Friday. The bills were the subject of some last minute tweaking, and reports of stubbornness regarding authorship began to leak out of the capitol in the days before consensus was reached (read more about that below). The bills will go…
Spinning Wheels
Reviews MISTRESS AMERICA. I realized upon settling in to see writer-director Noah Baumbach’s latest that it was 20 years ago this summer that I saw his straight-outta-Vassar debut “Kicking and Screaming” in the very Minor Theatre auditorium in which I was sitting. Baumbach’s great first film laid a heavy marker in an era clogged with…
The Reluctant Cyclist
Number of miles ridden: 21 Time traveled: 2 hours, 5 minutes, 31 seconds Number of times scolded for not wearing helmet: 1 (it worked) Number of times actively feared for life: 3 With my bike fixed and my work once again based in Arcata, I was ready to give the bike commute another go. The…
And Another Thing…
Editor: I’m amazed the Journal would posit a question like, “Is it the roads or is it us?” (“CRASH,” Sept. 3). Grab a bicycle and ride the frontage road from Eureka to Arcata then get an old copy of Mad Magazine and look at a pic of Alfred E. Neuman. Look familiar? That’s because you’ve…
Biking the Wrong Way
Editor: In all these years of commuting from Manila by bicycle, I can count on my fingers how many times I have encountered another commuting cyclist (“The Reluctant Cyclist,” Sept. 3). Perhaps it is too daunting a route for most, but those who complain about the danger, the only way to protest is to be…
Cat Scratch Furor
Editor: Keith Andersen’s Aug. 27 letter (“Me-OW”) regarding domestic cats killing wildlife is ridiculous and shows his lack of knowledge. Does he have any access at all to information regarding the subject he has written about? Maybe a computer? It is a fact that domestic cats kill billions of birds and other species of wildlife…
Sittin’ Down in Old Town
Soon you’ll be able to park it right in front of Ramone’s in Old Town and enjoy a glass of wine. Not in your car, but in an outdoor seating area that bumps out into the street. Four restaurants are nearly set to build parklets — small public spaces that will occupy one parking space…
Mandi & Miss “P”
It begins with grace. Following pain, Carrying exhaustion, Shepherding worry, There are no answers. If they smile, For any reason, You are home. When life calls, On your iPhone, Buried somewhere, Away from your heart, Don’t answer…
You’ve Got to Fight
In Humboldt County we rarely experience a joy greater than that of the outside world noticing how awesome we are. Whether it is the Washington Post naming Humboldt the second most beautiful county in the country (somehow behind Mugu-Rock-having Ventura County) or some other national rag documenting Eureka as having the most artists per capita,…
Georgia on My Mind
Have I ranted about how wonderful and totally-better-than-all-other-cuisines Georgian food is? Well, it is. So there. With their heady and profound combinations of marigold, cilantro, pomegranate molasses, fruit and, above all, walnuts, those gosh darn Georgians just serve up the tastiest dishes. I first heard of Georgian food in my college days when my bogglingly…
The Golden Rule Recalled to Life
On June 20, a gray afternoon, a crowd gathered on the bank of Zerlang and Zerlang Boat Yard in Samoa to witness the launching of the Golden Rule. Out on Humboldt Bay, kayaks and yachts drifted around, waiting to accompany her across the water. The mood was excited but somber. Most present were old enough…
Weed Disagree
When California Cannabis Voice Humboldt, the political action committee behind two proposed county marijuana ordinances, recently announced agreement with environmental groups, it provoked a mixed reaction from the very groups said to be in agreement. CCVH was responding to a letter sent to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors by four environmental groups that outlined…
Arts! Arcata
Arts! Arcata is Arcata Main Street’s monthly celebration of visual and performing arts, held at various locations throughout the city. Visit www.facebook.com/artsarcata for more information or call 822-4500. Free carriage rides around the plaza sponsored by Arcata Main Street. Starting in front of Arcata Artisans, 883 H St. ARCATA ARTISANS 883 H St. Zak Shea, woodwork; Loryn White, ceramics; Gilbert Castro,…
Cabin Fever
This is an homage to a work of art that might not exist. The potential work is open-ended, loosely defined — it’s really more of an art situation than anything else. And it all relates to the tiny, illegal, irreproachable cabin that captivated public imagination when it was discovered this summer in the Arcata Community…
Atlantis: The Lost Land
The Greek philosopher Plato couldn’t have known what he was starting when he wrote about Atlantis. In one of his many dialogs, or accounts of conversations his teacher Socrates had with Athenian scholars and statesmen of his day, he introduces us to the lost land of Atlantis: “In front of the pillars of Heracles [i.e.…
The Rubber Hits the Road
It’s a soup-er weekend for engine lovers as classic car fans and biker baddies strut their struts at two very cool events that raise money for two very cool organizations. The good times roll into Eureka Sept. 10 to Sept. 12 for the 22nd annual Cruz’n Eureka. It’s three days of fenders, food and fun…
From Stonewall to SCOTUS
2015 has been an historic year for gay rights and on Saturday, Sept. 12, the 23rd annual Humboldt Pride Parade and Festival (free) is ready to celebrate the good times and acknowledge the pioneers who fought shoe and nails for it. The parade starts at First and C Streets in Eureka at 11:30 a.m. and…
