Cover Story
What’s Organic?
On a crisp, clear afternoon in early April, Jason Whitley pulls the white Food for People van into the gravel parking lot of DeepSeeded Community Farm. Whitley is the local food resource coordinator for the food bank, a man with a mission. Today he’s a gleaner. He stops at the farm’s tools shed and loads…
Drunken Confusion Leads to Fickle Hill Shooting
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office: On 06-26-2012, approximately 1:30 a.m. the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office received a call of a possible intruder in a residence in the 4000 block of Fickle Hill Road, Arcata. While the deputies were enroute the Sheriffs Office dispatch received a call that the intruder had been shot.…
Solomon Concedes
It’ll be close in the end, but Norman says he won’t quite have anough votes to overtake Republican Dan Roberts for the No. 2 spot in the November runoff against Jared Huffman. Here’s his press release: Democrat Norman Solomon has narrowed the vote margin with Republican Dan Roberts to only 172 votes throughout the six…
Arrests Made in This Weekend’s Loleta Stabbings
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office: On 06-24-2012, approximately 12:30 a.m. the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office received a call of a loud party at 591 Cannibal Island Road, Loleta with as many as fifty vehicles reported to be associated with the party per the caller. Deputies responded and met with the occupants of…
The Mess at JPR
Things have been tense for the last few months at southern Oregon-based public radio network Jefferson Public Radio as Southern Oregon University and the station’s fundraising arm, the JPR Foundation engaged in a tug-of-war over JPR’s future. In the latest twist, on Saturday, JPR Executive Director Ron Kramer, who has been running JPR for 38…
From the Publisher
(UPDATE 6/28: The second paragraph in this original post inaccurately implies that members of the Timber Heritage Association “agreed” on the final Bay Trail Plan. By “we” I was referring to the Bay Trail Advocates alone. By the time the plan was finalized, Don Banducci, a long-time member of THA, had joined Bay Trail…
Mary Jane: The Contest – The Winners!
The Contest: We all assume cannabis will eventually get past the current quasi-legal medical marijuana stage. When it does, Humboldt needs a plan for the future. Branding will be über -important. With that in mind, we’re looking for a catchy (new) brand name for Humboldt-grown marijuana. Entries we made in the comments to this post (see…
T-S Outsourcing?
Rumor is that the Times-Standard is letting some folks go and outsourcing ad production jobs. One source at the 158-year-old newspaper said two people are leaving but declined to say who or what they do at the paper. Others contacted at the paper said to talk to publisher Dave Kuta, group advertising director Shonnie Bradbury…
Guest Post: The Burned House
Ami Brusca lives in Sunny Brae, where she is raising her 7-year-old son and trying to start a community supported herbal farm. She blogs at redwoodcottage.wordpress.com. She writes: The wailing I heard in the neighborhood on Sunday morning was the kind of cry that wrenches your gut and tells you in an instant that things…
Coming Soon — Shorter Letters
Letters must comment on something — an article, column, review, letter, etc. — that has been published in a recent print edition of the Journal. Letters must be signed with the writer’s full name and city of residence. For author verification we also require — but don’t publish — the writer’s mailing address and daytime…
Kiss My Ass
Should not be taken as a threat, When…
All Things Humboldt
This week, North Coasters are invited to year two of the rebranded Humboldt Made Fair — formerly the Redwood Acres Fair. The four day event (Thursday, June 21 through Sunday, June 24) will again take on the daunting, self-imposed task of trying to pull together all the non-weedy aspects of Humboldt livin’. An abundance of…
Making Mary Jane Dance
This is the show you have to see this summer. No excuses. Get on the phone. Go online. Get out the debit card. Reserve three or four tickets. You will have friends who will want to see it, too, but aren’t on it like you are. They’ll love you for it. I’m talking about Mary…
Too Big for Words
The word, “festival” seems too brief to describe the month o’ marvel that’s gracing Blue Lake this summer. Even Oktoberfest, the festiest of fests, only lasts for two weeks. Dell’Arte’s Michael Fields said, however, that even if a longerish word were available, the Mad River Festival is too much of a tradition to lengthen. Now in…
Bayshore Mall, before …
This Friday afternoon in early June, Eureka’s Bayshore Mall is bathed in a hue of desperation no amount of sunlight pouring through skylights can brighten. Shoppers are scarce. Roof tiles are dangling. Employees are daydreaming. More than half the storefronts are vacant. Several spaces have been taken over by roadside vendors, peddling rugs and…
… and after Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart is officially open at the Bayshore Mall, and so far the impact on the rest of the mall has been … well, slight. On a Thursday afternoon, just one day after last week’s grand opening, only a few more patrons walked the corridors of what was once a consumerist haven. In the food…
School Wrong on Wal-Mart
Editor: Well the day has come. Wal-Mart is here (Blog Jammin’, June 14). Are we better for it? Hell no. We have heard the arguments about what they do to Main Street and our communities. They are true. We have heard that their labor practices are abominable. And that is also true. What more can they do to be offensive? …
Texas Charmer
Reviews BERNIE. Jack Black has finally gotten himself a role he can be proud of. Not since High Fidelity (2000), his name-maker, has he been able to sink his teeth in and showcase his triple-threat capabilities. As Bernie Tiede, a small-town Texas funeral director, his comic timing and everyman emotionality really shine. And since he…
Saving Humboldt
Will comes up with an obvious solution to preserve the longevity of the Seven-O-Heaven.
Summer Music
You may remember the psychedelic blues power trio Radio Moscow from the time they spent living in Humboldt. They relocated here from Iowa, where the band first came together. The fiery center of the band is guitarist Parker Griggs. In fact in the beginning, when he was still a 17-year-old, Radio Moscow was just him.…
Constitutional Rights
Constitutional Rights
Six Puzzles
Start off your summer, June 20, 5:09 pm PDT, with a dash of brain lubrication. I remind myself that these oldie-but-goodie chestnuts are new to every generation. Like jokes, their origination is lost in the mists of time. 1. In your basement are three unmarked light switches, all of them currently in the OFF position. Each…
How to Build An Android: The True Story of Philip K. Dick’s Robotic Resurrection
Blade Runner has become an iconic film since its unsuccessful 1982 release. Its source was a novel by Philip K. Dick, a highly productive California-based science fiction writer from the 1950s until his death in 1982 who inspired generations of other writers, notably fellow West Coasters William Gibson, Ursula LeGuin and Kim Stanley Robinson. As…
Falling Off the Sky
In late ’79, The dB’s, a New Jersey-based pop quartet, released their debut 7-inch single, “Black and White” b/w “Soul Kiss,” on Alan Betrock’s label, Shake; Betrock was the editor of the late-great ’70s music ‘fanzine New York Rocker. The dB’s song was packed with lo-fi energy: ringing 12-string guitars, a tinny lead riff and…
