Mel Berti, a born and raised Fortunan who dedicated much of his life to the betterment of the Friendly City, compiling a decades-long record of public service in the process, died July 22. He was 84. Known equally as the longtime and beloved butcher at Hoby’s Market in Scotia, the 28-year Fortuna council member, the […]
Fortuna
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Graduation Day: A Fortuna Teacher Celebrates with her First Grade Class
Janell Hodges refers to the time between beginning her quest to become a teacher and her eventual triumph as one of life’s seasons. It was a season in which she became a mother, adopting her first son Samuel in 2006, and finding out he had special needs that required extra care and multiple surgeries. She […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
UPDATE: Arcata Police ID Homicide Victim
UPDATE: The Arcata Police Department has identified the shooting victim as Joshua Paul Gephart, 36, of Fortuna, who had been living in the Valley West area of Arcata, according to a press release. PREVIUOSLY: The Arcata Police Department is investigating a homicide that occurred early yesterday morning, leaving a 36-year-old Fortuna man shot dead. The […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Chinese Again in Humboldt, Part Three
Editor’s note: This story, which originally ran in the Ferndale Enterprise, includes racist language in quotations from historical newspaper articles. On Sunday, Sept. 30, 1906, one day after a mixed-race workforce of Chinese and Japanese men and white women arrived at the Starbuck-Tallant Co.’s salmon cannery in Port Kenyon, a mass meeting took place in […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Father, Son Identified as Those Killed in Fortuna Murder-Suicide
The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office has identified the two people found dead in an apparent murder-suicide in Fortuna on Sunday as Wendell Bott IV, 48, and his son, Wendell Bott V, 20. Fortuna Police Chief Casey Day said police were alerted to the possible murder of Wendell Bott V by a family member who came […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Fortuna Police Investigating Apparent Murder-Suicide
The Fortuna Police Department is investigating an apparent murder-suicide that left two men dead in a residence on the 2300 block of Newburg Road yesterday afternoon. Police were called to the scene after a “suspected homicide,” with an adult male suspect reportedly armed and barricaded inside the residence, according to a press release. Officers responded […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Winter Storm Watch: Snow Slated to Start Tuesday, Chance for a Coastal Dusting
Once again, Humboldt County is in the calm before the storm. While Monday’s holiday is expected to be sunny with a high in the mid-50s on the coast and in the mid-to-high 60s inland, the rest of the week’s temperatures are forecast to plummet with each passing day, getting down into the 40s during the […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Hambro to Open CRV Center in Fortuna
The Fortuna Planning Commission has approved a conditional use permit for Hambro Recycling to open and operate a California Redemption Value (CRV) recycling buy-back center in the Friendly City, providing a service closer to Southern Humboldt residents who currently have to travel to Arcata to sell their CRV recyclables. “We had a booth at the […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Food Trucks and World Central Kitchen to the Rescue
Three-year-old Leilani Valverde held a partly unwrapped burrito sideways in both hands, took a bite out of the middle and came up smiling. According to her father, Christian Valverde, who brought her with him to the Rio Dell fire department Thursday morning, it was her first hot meal in two days, ever since a 6.4 […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Fortuna Boil Advisory Lifted
Fortuna residents are no longer advised to boil their water before drinking it, according to City Manager Merritt Perry. “All waterlines have been tested, and the boil water notice can be removed for all locations within the city of Fortuna,” Perry advised. Large portions of the city had been under a boil advisory due to […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Quake Update: State of Emergency Declared, Two Dead, A Dozen Injured, Shelter Opened in Fortuna, State Funds for Fernbridge and Boil Water Advisories
Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal has declared a state of emergency in response to this morning’s magnitude-6.4 earthquake, which left two dead and potentially hundreds displaced while severely damaging Fernbridge. According to a news release, the declaration allows “the county to seek state and federal reimbursement for damage repairs and other associated impacts. The amount of […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Boil Water Advisory for Rio Dell, Parts of Fortuna
A boil water advisory has been issued for the city of Rio Dell and parts of Fortuna due to today’s magnitude-6.4 earthquake and responding power outage. Residents in Rio Dell and the Forest Hills Subdivision in Fortuna are warned not to drink water without boiling it first or to use bottled water. Water should be […]