Cover Story
Why California Housing Costs Are So High
California is an expensive place to call home. It’s such a fundamental part of California life it almost feels silly to say. Along with good weather, sunny beaches, Hollywood and the Golden Gate Bridge, the sky-high cost of housing has become part of the state’s national identity. The high cost of housing touches virtually every…
Carl Allen Fairfield: 1938-2024
Carl Allen Fairfield, 86, passed away peacefully at home encircled by family and friends. He will be remembered as a loving husband, dad, stepdad, grandfather and spiritual seeker with a kind heart, a concern for community care and a sweet sense of humor until the very end. Carl joked that he was an avid indoorsman;…
Carol Lynn Wilson 1942 to 2024
A Life of Adventure — Laughing Sal shall laugh no more! Sal’s preëminent patron, fan of fun, Carol Lynn (née Ayers) Wilson of Eureka, California, has passed. Carol loved Laughing Sal, that iconic robotic greeter at Playland at the Beach. As a child she eagerly looked forward to visiting Playland with her family on yearly…
Flash Fiction 2024 is On
Get your stories straight, Humboldt. It’s time again for the Journal’s annual 99-word Flash Fiction Contest. Send us your original stories of 99 words or fewer (not including title) and your work might just wind up in a special issue of the Journal. Send up to three entries in the body of an email (no…
Music Tonight: Wednesday, Oct. 30
Well, it’s the eve of All Hallow’s Eve, so some kind of marker should be set down as we slide into the space where our distance from the dead is at its closest — yes, I really do believe in this sort of thing. We all have our methods of running with the spectral side,…
Supes Request More Review Time on Controversial Pellet Project
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously today, with Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell absent, to send a letter asking an affiliate of the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) to extend the public comment period on a draft environmental impact report for a controversial biomass energy project by 30 days. The letter, brought…
CHP, Coroner Working to ID Crash Victim
The California Highway Patrol is investigating a single-vehicle crash in Hoopa on Oct. 27 that killed one person who the agency is still working to identify. The agency was notified of the incident at Matilton Road, just south of Loop Road, around 6:50 p.m. with the initial investigation finding the driver of a 2016 Dodge…
St. Joseph, AG Agree to Proposed Stipulation in Abortion Case
The state of California and Providence St. Joseph Hospital have agreed to a proposed stipulation under which the hospital’s care staff will follow the state’s Emergency Services Law by allowing physicians to terminate a patient’s pregnancy when necessary to protect a mother’s health. The proposed stipulation — which does not represent a settlement in the…
Music Tonight: Tuesday, Oct. 29
If you still find yourself mourning the recent loss of Kris Kristofferson — and who with a heart isn’t? — then head over to the Logger Bar at 7 p.m. for a free open mic appreciation of the man’s music.
Music Tonight: Monday, Oct. 28
If you enjoy the intersection of pre-war German expressionist cinema and horror, tonight’s the night for you. Over at the Eureka Veterans Hall at 8 p.m., there will be a free showing of two wonders of that era, Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caliguri. Now, bear in mind that I’m working strictly off the…
Music Tonight: Sunday, Oct. 27
In case you missed the brilliant Jenny Scheinman’s recent sold-out live love letters to our remote and sweetly chaotic homeland, I have some good news for you. If you wander on down to the Old Steeple tonight at 7:30 p.m., you will find her at it again, but this time pairing up to play side-fiddle…
Music Tonight: Saturday, Oct. 26
Halloween lands on a Thursday this year (boo!), which places people in the unenviable position of choosing to party early on this weekend or go for a big, long-form bacchanal next week, only to wake up stranded on the shores of what is going to be a disastrous election regardless of outcome. Or for those…
Music Tonight: Friday, Oct. 25
Ruby Ruth and Mule Ranch are raising money to record their debut album of superb local folkster country tunes, and they are going about it in perhaps the best way possible: by putting on a show. The show in question will be at the Arcata Playhouse this evening at 7:30 p.m., and the tickets will…
Music Tonight: Thursday, Oct. 24
It’s a good idea to support arts and music programs for the youths out there, especially those growing up in a society which is increasingly hostile to creative expression. In that spirit, I am going to steer you to McKinleyville High School, where at 7 p.m. you can experience the first performance of the ArMack…
Environmentalists Ask for More Public Input on Pellet Plant Plans
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors heard from a string of speakers during its public comment period for non-agenda items Oct. 22 urging it to weigh in on a project hundreds of miles away. The nexus between the board and controversial plans to build large-scale facilities in Tuolumne and Lassen counties that would combine to…
A Song for You
I’ve been trying to find healthy ways to sublimate my grief at the maddening state of the world that doesn’t involve completely disconnecting, because I am not a monk, ascetic, Zen master, or nihilistic doomsayer. I am none of those people, I’m pretty simple, actually, as I suspect a lot of you out there are,…
Between Thoughts and Concepts
Like many of the best abstract painters, southern Humboldt County artist Jerry Pruce talks about his practice — almost in riddles — as a kind of search for something he cannot quite define. The paintings and drawings document the search, rather than the elusive object, and 50 years of that work have been on display…
Water Witches Ride Again
The fifth annual Humboldt Bay Witches Paddle on Oct. 19 attracted a record number of witches to Humboldt Bay on stand-up paddleboards, in kayaks and even on an e-hydrofoil board for a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon on the water. Celebrating the power, wisdom and beauty of women, the coven of witches met at the Eureka…
Woman of the Hour and the Dating Gaze
WOMAN OF THE HOUR. In the “real,” nightmare world of late 20th century America, when serial killers seemed to lurk inside every tricked-out van and basement apartment in America, there was a television show predicated on the importance of the male gaze and horrifically distorted sexual dynamics and expectations (really, it was only one of…
Our Late Neanderthal Cousins
“Some Neanderthal populations died out, some got massacred, some interacted [with humans] and some only exchanged ideas.” — Sang-Hee Lee, biological anthropologist at the University of California. What caused our hominid cousins, the Neanderthals, to die out some 36,000 years ago? Ever since the first skeleton was discovered by quarrymen in Germany’s Neander Valley in…
The History of Obstetrical Care in Humboldt County
By now I am sure most in our community have heard the California attorney general is suing St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka. The lawsuit stems from a case earlier this year in which a woman who was miscarrying a twin pregnancy at 15 weeks was denied care at the hospital. The reason for the denial…
‘Parade of Insults’
Editor: I am so tired of the Arkley bashing. Jennifer Fumiko Cahill’s article, “A Villian Intervention for Rob Arkley” (Oct. 10) was just the latest in snide and sometimes misinformed remarks. Cahill is an excellent writer. But the parade of insults reminds me of tactics employed by a certain presidential candidate. Do we really want to…
‘Why Life Is’
Editor: The ”No on F” editorial in your last issue (Oct. 10) was thorough in its coverage, logical in its argument and righteous in its conclusions regarding Robin Arkley II’s duplicitous, devious and disabling interference in Eureka’s civic affairs. Then Jennifer Fumiko Cahill delivered deep, mindful and heart-felt chuckles and warm, appreciatory tears of laughter…
Owl Speak
Editor: Who? Who will speak for the owls? Certainly not the NCJ, whose PR piece (“Combating the Barred Owl Invasion,” Oct 10) “presented” its readers with two glaring omissions. The first of these was the missing information that the spotted owl tends to like the barred owl. In fact, a spotted owl will often choose…
Autumn
Rain is due. I spread mulch Beneath the russet leaves of the blueberry patch. Mold spores fly up in a white cloud As I smooth out the mounds. Then purple orbs catch my eye. The plant’s offering: last taste of summer. — Debby Harrison
Flash Fiction 2024 is On
Get your stories straight, Humboldt. It’s time again for the Journal’s annual 99-word Flash Fiction Contest. Send us your original stories of 99 words or fewer (not including title) and your work might just wind up in a special issue of the Journal. Send up to three entries in the body of an email (no…
