A growing number of studies indicate that marijuana is, like, really bad for the developing teenage brain, according to a recent NPR report. At a point when the brain is streamlining — honing its ability to think critically, make judgments and remember stuff — marijuana use is hindering development. This is not just problematic for grades and […]
Health
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Dibs and Digs
Hey McGuinty! I recently ran into a business associate and discovered that she divorced her husband a year ago and has moved a few minutes from my house. She is totally amazing and someone I was attracted to immediately. It was obvious that she was attracted to me too, and she confided in me that […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
What We Talk About When We Talk About Meth
Where did you get that laminated, oversized piece of paper with the words “Tweeker Hunting Permit,” on it, the one taking up most of the back window of your car? Did you order it online? Or did you make it yourself? If you made it yourself, tell us about that trip to the copy shop. […]
Posted inNews
Taking on Meth
In the dark days following the brutal New Year’s morning slaying of St. Bernard’s Pastor Eric Freed, in Eureka, rumor circulated that the alleged murderer might have been meth-crazed. And membership in a new Facebook group, the Humboldt Meth Abuse Awareness Project, exploded. The night shift emergency room nurse who started the project, Beth Weissbart, […]
Posted inNews
Dead of Night
How the fuck am I going to get home?” It’s about 12:15 a.m. on a Friday morning, and Matthew Page just walked out of the Humboldt County jail. “What am I supposed to do?” the 41-year-old self-described artist and musician asks. “I don’t even know Eureka. It’s 12:15, and I live in McKinleyville.” Temperatures are […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
No Growth
We lost the Emerald Cup. Not just the competition but the whole event. Last year, for the first time, the annual Emerald Cup Competition and Exposition was held here in Humboldt County, and since it launched a decade ago the event had never been held outside the Emerald Triangle — until last weekend. This year, […]
Posted inNews
Rate Hikes Hidden in California’s Glowing Obamacare Reviews
During a meeting last week, officials at Covered California, the state’s much-touted health insurance marketplace, made a pretty stark admission: Half of the approximately 1 million consumers whose health plans are being canceled will pay more under the Affordable Care Act. The numbers, it seems, have been overshadowed by other, more positive headlines. First, the […]
Posted inNews
OB-Gone
By the end of December, there will be just five OB-GYN (obstetrics and gynecology) physicians left in Humboldt County — down from at least 10 just four years ago. And of those who remain, four are older than 60 and only one sees patients in his office full time: Deepak Stokes, 64, who practices in […]
Posted inNews
Estelle Fennell Recovering from Food Poisoning
Second District Supervisor Estelle Fennell is coming out of the hospital today after a particularly nasty bout with E. coli. In a statement released today, Fennell said she’s one of five people in the county who came down with a “virulent E. coli strain” infection, which is not being considered an outbreak by Public Health […]
Posted inNews
Sport Mussels Cleared For Eatin’
You’ve gotta be careful with those wiley bivalve mollusks. Sometimes the tasty filter feeders are packed with enough toxins to — worst cases — make you tingle, burn, talk funny, choke, fall over and even die. That’s why the California Department of Public Health routinely sets quarantines on sport-harvested bivalve shelfish such as clams, scallops […]
Posted inNews
Mumps! (Update)
UPDATE: There are no confirmed cases of mumps in Humboldt County. While saying he could not speak about any specific cases, public health nurse Eric Gordon, with the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services, says that locally, from 2003 through the present, the county has had only one confirmed case of mumps reported […]