Cover Story
Youngest North Coast Condor Dies of Lead Poisoning
B7, the youngest member of the North Coast’s California condor flock, has died from lead poisoning after just three months in the wild. The death of the 18-month-old male marks the first in the Northern California Condor Restoration Program — a Yurok Tribe-led effort to return the endangered bird they know as prey-go-neesh to the…
Ila Osburn: 1952-2025
Ila Osburn died from cancer complications on March 17, 2025, in the loving company of her brother, Michael Osburn, cousin, MerryLee Croslin and Danny Franks, Ila’s partner for many years. Ila was born on Oct. 25, 1952, to Lloyd and Katherine Osburn in San Francisco, where she graduated from Mission High School. She later attended…
Moises Lopez
Moises Lopez passed away on Feb. 13, 2024, at the age of 57, in Garberville, California. He was a loving husband, father and grandfather. Despite his battle with cancer, he always had a smile for his family and friends. He will truly be missed.
Sara Mae Letton: 1941-2025
Sara Mae (Arnold) Letton died peacefully on Feb. 27, 2025, at her home in Big Lagoon, California. Sara was born Dec. 26, 1941, to Gus W. Arnold and Ella Mae (Hugghins) Arnold in Tyler, Texas. She graduated from Robert E Lee High School in Tyler and attended The University of Texas, where she received a…
Kathy Sue Montagne: 1948-2025
It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved mother, Katherine Sue Montagne, on Monday, Feb. 10, at the age of 76. She passed away peacefully at Kaiser Permanente Oakland, surrounded by her loving family. Over the years, she touched countless lives with her kindness, compassion, and joyful spirit. Kathy was…
Laurel Ann Miller: 1963-2025
Laurel Ann Miller born April 23, 1963, passed away on Feb. 14, 2025, peacefully at the age of 61 surrounded by family and friends in Loleta, California at 7:30 p.m. She leaves behind a legacy of love, kindness and cherished memories. Laurel, a tribal member of the Bear River Band of Rohnerville Rancheria, was preceded…
Music Tonight: Wednesday, March 26
Seattle duo Yaima has been making multi-instrumental world music with vocals and electronic features for the last decade, and represent a sort of staying power to a music scene that has seen a lot of losses and a few lasting groups, like Beats Antique, who rolled through earlier this month. The Arcata Theatre Lounge has…
McKinleyville Trustees Vote to Consolidate Schools with More Decisions Ahead
The McKinleyville Union School District Board of Trustees voted earlier this month to move forward with consolidating the district’s three campuses into two in the face of declining enrollment and budget shortfalls, but several decisions remain on the table. Currently, students in transitional kindergarten through second grade attend Dow’s Prairie Elementary, third through fifth grade…
Fortuna Police Chief Headed to Pacific Grove, Council Taps Eberhardt to Fill In
Fortuna Police Chief Casey Day is headed south, leaving the Friendly City after about five years on the job. Day, who has announced he will be leaving Fortuna after nearly five years on the job, has accepted an offer to become chief of the Pacific Grove Police Department. His last day in Fortuna will be…
Music Tonight: Tuesday, March 25
Recalling viral music trends and archiving them in the mind seems at odds with the transient nature of the medium — and the flashbang attention span economy it represents — but for those of you who remember, there was a sea shanty thing kicking around about a while ago, starting with a cover of “The…
Music Tonight: Monday, March 24
Mondays can be hard to nail down for a lot of people and often go overlooked as viable entertainment nights. However, when the right show comes through, it’s like fishing on an empty pier and bagging a monster. And monsters are on the docket tonight at the Miniplex. Ak’Chamel, The Giver of Illness is a…
Music Tonight: Saturday, March 22
If you have been online lately looking around for local acts that have broken Humboldt containment into media virality, the odds are even you’ve heard of the country folk act Brett McFarland and the Freedom Riders. Weaving spells of old county tales for the masses out there, this group has garnered enough attention to launch…
Death of a Condor, Trump Cut Casualties and a Hot Wing Fight
This week we’ve got the sad story of how lead ammo poisoned and killed one of our local California condors. We’re also looking at how directives and cuts from the White House are costing jobs, food security and more in Humboldt County. Finally, get some milk for the story of one man’s victory at a…
Music Tonight: Friday, March 21
Spring is a good time for something old returning and something new blooming. And so I offer you two gigs in that order. Music has returned to Cafe Mokka, and tonight’s intimate show will be courtesy of Irish music trio Ceo, featuring locals Blake Ritter, Alina Lawson and Chris Hinderyckx. No fee and the tunes…
Charles Minton
Charles Minton, 78, passed away peacefully at home in Arcata, California, on Jan. 15. Charles was born in 1947 in Massachusetts to his parents, Catherine and Augustus Minton. His early life was spent moving from Air Force base to Air Force base; at the peak of his career, Augustus Minton was a major general for…
Mark Alan Whitman Celebration of Life
A celebration of life will be held for Mark Alan Whitman at 2 p.m. on March 22 in Blue Lake. The event will celebrate Mark’s life, and allow those attending to make connections with others who knew and loved him. Those who would like to join are asked to meet in front of Mark’s shop, 620…
Music Tonight: Thursday, March 20
The springtime has come again to our hemisphere, and where better in our little chunk of the planet to celebrate the equal split between night and day than in bonny Blue Lake? Specifically, the Logger Bar at 8 p.m., where you can enjoy a solo show by Vanishing Pints and Miracle Show-man Jeff Kelley.
Sunshine, If We Can Keep It
We in Humboldt County know better than most that sunshine isn’t a thing to be taken for granted. As Sunshine Week — an annual March celebration of the importance of government transparency — comes to a close, we want to add our voice to the chorus that has spent the week championing the principles of…
‘Appalled’
Editor: In June of 1984, President Reagan said the following during a ceremony at Pointe Du Hoc France commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Normandy invasion: “We in America have learned bitter lessons from two World Wars: It is better to be here, ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the…
‘Endless Wailing’
Editor: The endless wailing and gnashing of teeth in the Democrat media, including the North Coast Journal, regarding President Trump and his administration needs some important facts presented to the American people (NCJ Daily, March 6). The federal government has a $36 trillion national debt. That debt is financed with bond sales requiring interest to…
DOGE versus PERS
Editor: Riddle me this. Why is DOGE causing loss of jobs and services such a tremendous concern for California politicians, while PERS causing loss of jobs and services is not a huge concern (NCJ Daily, March 6)? Congressmember Jared Huffman talks of how government exists to serve the people and how DOGE is slashing staff…
‘Petitioning for Band-Aids’
Editor: The current debacle launched by the fake “mandate” of the current White House occupant has given us an insane tariff war, destruction of USAID and multiple other agencies (NCJ Daily, March 6), illegal firing of government employees (“It’s Just Chaos,” Feb. 27) and failure to address any substantive problems facing the nation. It is…
‘Aim to Harm’
Editor: Regarding “Sleazy Move” (Mailbox, March 13), the editor wrote, “On the subject of McCullough’s credentials, it should be noted that the American Board of Internal Medicine recently revoked his board certifications in cardiovascular disease and internal medicine after determining he was providing false or inaccurate medical information to the public.” Let me add my…
To My Noisy Neighbor
Hello neighbor I see you there with you thumb-sized Cracker Jack toy surprise history book ranting about the world’s problems. I catch you sometimes peering through that rolled up paper tube out past your basement window scanning the horizon for the next threat in whatever shape or color it might be. And I hear you…
Trickle Down
As the Trump administration continues to slash and burn parts of the federal government in its avowed mission to weed out “waste, fraud and abuse,” embers continue to land on the North Coast, scorching services. In recent weeks, news arrived that cuts at the United States Department of Agriculture will hamper nutrition assistance programs supporting…
The Rite of Spring
Hey, check out this quote from the Library of Pseudo-Apollodorus regarding Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and the reason for the season which we are just now leavin’ — according to the ancients, anyway: “But when Zeus ordered Pluto to send up the Maid, Pluto gave her a seed of a pomegranate to…
Wing Man
When chef Jeremy Shaffer emerged onto the patio of Six Rivers Brewery with a steaming stainless steel bowl of hot wings in his arms, the tang wafted into the crowd, setting jaws tingling. Fourteen contestants in the brewery’s annual wing eating competition stood in a line between a long table and the back fence, kitchen…
All the President’s Frantic Women
POTUS Or, Behind Every Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive by Selina Fillinger is a fast-moving farcical comedy set in the White House during a fictional presidency. The President has (yet again) said something awful at the worst possible moment. His chief of staff Harriet (Christina Jioras), her beleaguered intern Stephanie (Ximena…
Black Bag Keeps its Secrets
BLACK BAG. Decades ago, I read a story in which a couple was described as having a “daunting conjugal bond.” It has since been the only scale by which my husband and I, mostly joking, measure our relationship. Are we, different though we are, seamlessly united against everyone at this table, in this restaurant? Is…
Nature Red in Tooth and Claw
Following the death of his great friend Arthur Henry Hallam in 1833, the poet Alfred Tennyson began writing In Memoriam AHH, perhaps the greatest elegy in the English language. It would take him 17 years of composing, writing and editing until he finally published it — anonymously — in 1850. While the long (2,916 lines…
