During a busy lunch rush at Havana, a Cuban restaurant in Arcata, Executive Chef Lisvany Ortega sat at a small wooden table, the pulse of salsa music echoing in the background. Between bursts of activity from the kitchen, he shared the story of how he journeyed from Old Havana to this quiet corner of Northern […]
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Posted inArts + Scene
Bloody Havoc
HAVOC. The most linear, lowest resistance path to Gareth Evans’ latest is most likely an accidental one. Dropped unceremoniously onto Netflix, where algorithmic manipulation, more than fandom or genuine interest, is intended to steer traffic its way, Havoc would hardly seem positioned for lasting — even fleeting, viral — success. Casual Tom Hardy fans might […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
The Real Cost of Eggs
In the runup to the November election, eggs took on an almost mythical status, their price tags acting as both a kind of poster for the Trump campaign and a symbol for Democrats’ perceived inability to speak directly to inflation, the issue we were told most concerned voters. In the election’s final days, the average […]
Posted inNews
Honsal Calls for Immigration Reform, Pathway to Citizenship
Forty-eight hours after protesters filled the streets across the nation, many to decry the mass deportations being carried out by the Trump administration, Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal told the Journal the time is right for Congress to pursue comprehensive immigration reform. Honsal said he supports providing a path to citizenship for immigrants in the […]
Posted inMusic
Gloria
I went out past the back pasture in the body of this column, so no opening essay this week. In deference to Easter Sunday, when I am writing this, I humbly submit for your consideration the final words of Dante’s Divine Comedy, when the poet has looked upon God in Paradise, but finds himself unable […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Plant a Cabbage, Welcome the Amphibians
In our last article (“Gardening Undercover,” March 13), we suggested ways to protect your vegetable garden from slugs, snails and other pests by using physical shelters. There are other great ways to control pests, like inviting amphibians into your garden. After all, frogs and their kin live and hunt on the ground where most pests […]
Posted inNews
‘If Only We’d Done More to Save Her’
Some years ago, Laurel Uber says she ended up with a small, unused wooden coffin, given to her wife by someone at church who’d made it. “It’s been sitting around the house,” Uber says, adding they’d been unsure what to do with it. That changed in the lead up to the April 19 protest in […]
Posted inNews
Portrait of a Prairie
About a decade ago, ecologist Joe Hostler set out to better understand how Yurok lands have changed over time in an effort to protect them into the future. What he learned helped lay the groundwork for the tribe’s first foray into grasslands restoration at a project currently underway on 60-acres of a site known as […]
Posted inNews
Internet Scams on the Rise
Not long ago, I received and opened my first-ever smishing text message on my smartphone. The message purported to be from a Bay Area road-toll collection agency claiming I had unpaid toll charges and threatened fines if I didn’t pay up immediately by clicking on the link included in the text message. While way more […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Versatile Dark Leafy Greens, 2025 Edition
Today I continue an informal tradition I seem to have established in recent years: celebrating Earth Day with a recipe that uses dark leafy greens, which are nutritious and overall good for our bodies. In 2022, I argued in favor of consuming radish greens, overlooked in favor of the colorful, spicy roots and often discarded […]
Posted inArts + Scene
There’s Magic in the Redwoods (Even for Beginners)
Gina Venturino recalls that when she started out playing Magic: The Gathering in high school, when her family owned the former NuGames in Eureka, “I was often the only female in the room and it took me a really long time to ever actually start becoming comfortable just going to a game store and playing […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Department of Forest Efficiency
Thank you all for tromping out into the woods for this press conference. Let’s get started so we can all return to the safety of fluorescent lighting as soon as possible. As you know, this administration is very concerned with the environment, particularly our forests. And together with the Department of Government Efficiency, headed up […]