Last time, I discussed Thomas Edison and Emile Berliner, the two main protagonists in early attempts to reproduce sound. Edison invented a machine that could both record and play back sound — his earliest recording of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on a tinfoil-wrapped cylinder dates to 1877. Edison’s phonograph had limited application, mostly as […]
history
Posted inArts + Scene
History and Mystery
Zooming from London, W.E. Roberts said of his new novel The Rivers, which is set in Humboldt County, “The book was written because I’m an actor, because I like a good story and I thought there was a story there,” Roberts explained, leaning forward into the screen. “I’m really an actor who came to writing […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
The 200th Victim
In 1918 my dad, part of the U. S. Army’s First Division, was on a troop ship bound for France. The soldiers on board slept in bunk beds. My dad had a lower bunk, and each morning he would kick the bunk above him to wake up the soldier sleeping there. One morning he kicked […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
North Coast Night Lights: Vacancy at 4th & E Streets, Eureka
For years, driving by, I would see her lonely figure sitting on the bench. I never stopped, but in time I grew used to her presence there and I would look to touch base visually when I passed. Huddled inward and completely covered, she had erected a shell between herself and the outside world, perhaps […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Donate to Toys for Tots and see ‘Red Tails’ for Free on Veterans Day
Wondering what to do with your Veterans Day? How about a night at the movies honoring those who’ve served while helping kids in need? At 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 11, the Eureka Theater is joining up with Toys for Tots to show Red Tails (2012), the World War II action drama about the Tuskegee […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Soldiers Unknown
Chag Lowry knows some stories need to be told to make way for healing. He also knows some stories have been pushed aside and ignored, recast by outsiders or, worse, simply relegated to the dust bins of history as people pretend they never existed, allowing old wounds to fester. With his third book Soldiers Unknown […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Survey Markers and Olympic Medals
Observant walkers strolling down Ninth Street in Eureka between A and L streets may have wondered about the occasional incongruent circular metal discs anchored into the south sidewalk bearing the words “CALIFORNIA DIVISION OF HIGHWAYS,” “HUM-101” and the date 1971. Incongruent because Ninth is outside Caltrans jurisdiction. In fact, the discs are centerline markers of […]
Posted inArts + Scene
The Women Behind the Trees
On Nov. 10, 1924, the Pacific Lumber Co. began secretly logging its timberland near the mouth of the South Fork Eel River. The plan was to cut a right-of-way through the forest that would allow the company to reach Bull Creek Flat, about a mile away, and then level thousands of acres of old growth […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
The Bear Harbor Railroad, 1892-1905
Last week, we followed the saga of the Bear Harbor Railroad from the delivery in 1892 of a “Gypsy” locomotive — what would become Bear Harbor Lumber Company No. 1 — to the early 1900s, when the grandiose plans of lumberman Neff Anderson began to be fulfilled with construction of the mill town of Andersonia, […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Crimes from the Past
Recorded in the eloquent handwritten script of a bygone era, a set of recently rediscovered ledgers contains more than just a list of the individuals who were led through the doors of the Humboldt County jail starting back in the 1880s. The seven logs, along with an equal set of mug shot books, also offer […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Humboldt Lines up For Legal Weed
Dozens lined up on Eureka’s F Street this morning, waiting to become the first people in Humboldt County to legally purchase recreational cannabis. Laura Montagna was the first in line, having shown up at about 10 a.m. — two hours before Eco, the only state licensed dispensary in Humboldt County, was slated to open its […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
TL;DR: Five Questions to Catch You Up
Busy week? We’ll help you catch up on the basics of this week’s cover story, which details the conversation about what should be done about the statue of President William McKinley and a plaque commemorating the Jacoby Storehouse on the Arcata Plaza. Read the full story here before you dive into a Facebook comments debate. Below, […]