The ghouls, scalpels clutched in their gnarl-boned fists, hover over the operating table upon which Jack Mays, chest rent open, twists in torture. “After this procedure,” the ghouls gloat, “you’ll live another day and a half!” That’s one imaginary scene for a cartoon that Mays, the revered and feared longtime Ferndale artist and editorial cartoonist, […]
history
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Ben Kelsey: Arcata Founding Father, Trail Builder, Indian Killer
Last summer, when I first encountered the Kelsey National Recreation Trail which runs east-west across the north side of the Marble Mountains, I thought, “I just hope this isn’t the same murdering scoundrel Kelsey who helped found Arcata.” Hope on. The trail is indeed named for Ben Kelsey, one of the leaders of the infamous […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
The Rise and Fall of Dyerville
This year marks the centenary of the completion of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad link between Eureka and San Francisco. The four-span bridge across the Eel River, just 40 miles south of Eureka, is a picturesque reminder of the once and no-future railroad. Driving south, as you approach the Honeydew/Founder’s Grove exit, look to your left. […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Treacherous Maw
It’s a calm, blue-sky day out here on the north jetty — the sort of day when the sun’s heat actually reaches the skin. The wind is slight. The ocean’s a quiet rumple in the Humboldt Bay entrance channel, between here and the south jetty — moving just enough to elicit languid dingding-dingdinging from a […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Brookwood Covered Bridge Saved, For Now
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 […]
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 (NCJ)
‘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 (NCJ)
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 […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
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 (NCJ)
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 […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
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 […]
