Oh, hi. Well, this is awkward. I mean, I figured we’d run into each other at the farmers market or whatever before I left. That’s breaking up in Humboldt for you. I would have turned around and given you an out but, you know. You heard I’m leaving, right? Yeah, Canton, Ohio. The old stomping […]
Arcata Plaza
Posted inNews
McKinley to be Removed, Sent to Ohio in Very Near Future
President William McKinley’s days on the Arcata Plaza are officially numbered. The Arcata City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to move forward with the removal of the statue of McKinley at the city’s center and to have the statue moved to Canton, Ohio, which has promised to fund the effort. Without any discussion, the council voted […]
Posted inNews
Arcata Poised to OK Relocating McKinley. The Question is, Where?
The Arcata City Council is poised Wednesday to take a big step toward ridding the the city’s center of the statue of President William McKinley, where it has stood for more than a century. Earlier this week, the city’s planning commission voted unanimously to recommend that the council certify an environmental impact report on the […]
Posted inNews
Officers Cleared in Fatal Plaza Shooting (With Video)
The Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office has determined the Sept. 9, 2017, fatal shooting of a 26-year-old man on the Arcata Plaza by a university police officer was legally justified. Responding to a report of a fight and a suspect brandishing a firearm in front of Arcata’s bar row, University Police Department officer Louis Altic […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Zombies Shake/Drag a Leg
A gray-faced, dead-eyed army of zombies from Sunny Brae Middle School sprang to after-life for some vintage choreography to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” on Friday, Oct. 26 at Murphy’s Market in Sunny Brae. Then, while Vincent Price’s cackle still echoed in the aisles, the undead dancers made their groaning way to the Arcata Plaza for an […]
Posted inNews
We #BelieveChristine and All Survivors Rally in Arcata
Some 40 people gathered at the Arcata Plaza today to show their support for Christine Blasey Ford, who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning about a high school party during which she says she was sexually assaulted by U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. There was also a minute of silence at the […]
Posted inArts + Scene
All Species Great and Small
As the North Country Fair kicked of its weekend of music and revelry on the Arcata Plaza, the All Species Parade drew costumed marchers and crowds of onlookers. Once again, the Same Old People organized the zero-waste, two-day party with arts and crafts, vendors, dancers, jugglers and lots of animal ears. Photographer Mark McKenna was […]
Posted inNews
UPDATE: Arcata Council Sends McKinley Initiative to Voters
UPDATE: Multiple news outlets are reporting that the Arcata City Council voted unanimously last night, with Mayor Sofia Pereira absent, to put an initiative before voters seeking to prevent the removal of the President William McKinley statue from the Arcata Plaza. The council voted 4-1, with Councilmember Michael Winkler dissenting, to remove the McKinley statute […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Independence Day, Plaza Style
As is the annual tradition, scores of revelers descended on the Arcata Plaza yesterday to celebrate the July Fourth holiday. True to Arcata form, there were aerial dancers, wax hands, face painting and even a bubble parade. If you missed the fun — or enjoyed every last bubble and want to reminisce — local photographer […]
Posted inNews
Dozens Turn Out to Protest Child Detention Immigration Policies
Several dozen people gathered this evening on the southwest corner of the Arcata Plaza to protest U.S. immigration policies that have left some 2,000 children separated from their families. While President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week stopping the separations — after previously insisting only Congress could take the action — the thousands […]
Posted inNews
McKinley Draped in ‘Justice for Josiah’ Banner in Dual Act of Protest
The thousands of people who descended on the Arcata Plaza this morning to watch the Kinetic Grand Championship race begin were greeted by an unusual sight. The McKinley statue in the plaza’s center — the source of months of public debate — was shrouded in a white sheet painted with the words “Justice for Josiah” […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
We Are Humboldt — All of Us
We see it overtly in online comments sections, the sentiment that “if they don’t like it here, they should leave.” And we see it subtly in things like the recently minted Facebook page pushing for a public vote on the fate of President McKinley’s statue in the Arcata Plaza, which the city council voted to […]