One of Humboldt County’s few wooden covered bridges got a pardon this week, as the county abandoned plans to replace the bridge with a modern, two-lane, concrete or steel span. Maintenance of the existing bridge is expected to cost the county $400,000. The Brookwood Covered Bridge, which crosses Jacoby Creek in Bayside, allows access to […]
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Posted inLetters + Opinion
Ganja Capitalism
The pharmacy bottles pictured above are part of a collection of old cannabis-industry flotsam that belongs to “an unofficial historian in Mendocino County.” A slideshow of the collection recently appeared on High Times online, and the post should prove enlightening to anyone who considers medical marijuana a recent invention. One photo shows tall, green tins […]
Posted inNews
‘Let’s Have Intercourse’ – An Etymological Mystery
In this week’s cover story on the not-so-sleepy town of Loleta, Heidi Walters recalls the town’s late-19th century days as a railroad depot known as Swauger’s Station. “The townspeople,” reports Walters, “changed the name in 1897 to Loleta — a Wiyot term, lo-le-tah, meaning “pleasant place at the end of the water.” Ah, how sweet and […]
Posted inNews
The Logger Reborn
We’ve been hearing rumblings about what’s going on at the historic Logger Bar out in Blue Lake. The venerable establishment kitty-corner from Dell’Arte changed hands and new owner Kate Martin (below) has been hard at work refurbishing with a crew of volunteers including Bad Bob Ornelas. Official announcement of a ribbon-cutting and re-opening scheduled for […]
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Healy Bros. Building–Almost There!
Sure has changed since I wrote about the Second Street landmark here in March, 2010. Kurt and Kim Kramer showed off the results of 28 months of work, including a major seismic retrofit, at their “soft opening” this morning. The first tenants will probably be up and running in September, including The Siren’s Song […]
Posted inNews
When Winter Met Summer
“Kissing fish” by Joel Lueders We always knew there was something peculiar about our Eel River steelhead — those two “standoffish fish clans,” as writer Sid Perkins refers to the Eel’s winter run and summer run steelhead in a story this week in Science Magazine‘s online edition. They don’t mingle, they hang out in different […]
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Eureka High Mural Unveiled — Finally
“Our history defines who we are. It shapes us into this moment, the present…” So begins the inscription on a mural by former Eureka High School student Hannah Larkin, set to be unveiled at the school cafeteria Wednesday morning. One thing you can say about Eureka High: It has history. Founded at the end of […]
Posted inNews
Where’s Mike?
My brother-in-law Chris sent a link to this amazing photo: ” President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address by David Bergman ,” on a site called gigapan.org . Bergman explains: I made this Gigapan image from the north press platform during President Obama’s inaugural address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on January 20, 2009. It’s […]
Posted inNews
Bomb Humboldt?
Oh, that British humour. A columnist with the 72-year-old U.K. Labour magazine Tribune — incidentally in the shaky midst of being sold — ponders the implications of President-elect Barack Obama’s Christmas message and predicts possible widespread retributions. Chris Proctor writes: Our great English king and crusader, the Lionhearted Richard, felt the need to explain to […]
Posted inNews
If you pine for the old ER
As Eureka Reporter online readers have already discovered to their distress, or at least puzzlement, if you try to summon the recently laid-to-rest newspaper you will encounter this cold note: The Eureka Reporter newspaper has closed its doors and is no longer in business. If you would like to speak with someone regarding business dealings […]
Posted inNews
Lady Blaze
Keeping watch over the forest from a mountain-top fire lookout is one of those spittle-pay but romantic, go-nowhere-but-be-exactly-where-you-wanna-be part-time career choices that holds perpetual appeal for certain lonesome, oft-literary types who get itchy around too many people. Of course, the gig is a diminishing prospect as technology trumps practical romance. But in this High Country […]