The very rain soaking reporters and government officials at the Samoa pulp mill this afternoon could have overflowed tanks of toxic chemicals near Humboldt Bay, Environmental Protection Agency coordinator Steve Calanaog said, had his agency not installed temporary overflow tanks. EPA bigwigs, Congressman Jared Huffman, members of the U.S. Coast Guard Strike Team and others […]
Humboldt Bay
Posted inNews
Renewal
The clear winter sky deepens as night creeps upon Woodley Island, that marina-festooned dab of land in Humboldt Bay closest to Eureka’s mainland. The calm water, catching the last light, grows stripes of gold, blue and orange. Against distant spits the ocean thrums. A pair of Canada geese honks by, a gull swoops with a […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Otter Spotter
While hiking the King Range, I saw a flash of brown just up Cooksie Creek. Then a splash. The small, slicked head of a Lontra canadensis created a gentle wake as it spiraled upstream away from me. The river otter kept a wary eye but never stopped its aquabatics until I entered the creek to […]
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Short Sea Doldrums
Remember short sea shipping, that siren who lured us into a maritime reverie some years ago — a fortune-filled dream in which Humboldt Bay once again had a bustling port, helping to reduce transportation costs, air pollution and highway wear-and-tear? Where goods-laden barges — carrying more than just fuel and wood chips — made regular […]
Posted inNews
She’s back…
Remember that huge Navy ship that docked in Eureka for a bit last week? She’s back. The U.S.S. Independence, a 420-foot helicopter carrier and combat ship, returned to Humboldt Bay on Tuesday night and pulled back up to the Schneider Dock, where it refueled and picked up a spare part to fix one of its […]
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Billboard Butcher Caught on Camera!
The image of the vandal responsible for the third billboard toppling this month was captured earlier this week on a camera installed by a now thrice-bitten local sign management company. Peeved by the nighttime saw-wielding maniac’s previous crimes and anticipating further demolition, All Points Signs installed infrared wildlife cameras on a sign west of Highway 101 […]
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Billboard Butcher Strikes Again
A second safety corridor billboard fell today at the hands of a nefarious, saw-wielding advertisement adversary. The nearly 30 billboards lining Highway 101 have been a source of displeasure and controversy for some Humboldt residents for years. Bay views — enjoyed while zipping down the highway in climate controlled automobiles — are spoiled by the loathsome […]
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King for a Day
The Journal was invited to take a New Year’s Eve float on Humboldt Bay to check out the king tides that came lapping at our shores. Some of the year’s highest tides give ocean watchers (like Humboldt Baykeeper, who provided this tour) a chance to see the coastal fallout of rising oceans. It’s a bit difficult to […]
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Be A King Tides Groupie
King tides are exciting: The ocean creeps up and up into our faces, higher than usual, until we can’t help but stop in the middle of the Eureka Slough Bridge to gaze and wonder, “Where’d that skinny island go?” And then, driving around Humboldt Bay, we marvel at the overtopped dikes and waterlogged bay islands […]
Posted inNews
Top 10 Stories of 2013
Summing up the tumult and transformations of a year in Humboldt County with only 10 stories is impossible. Collected here are some — definitely not all — of the events that stayed with us. For more on these stories, go to northcoastjournal.com. The Fires The communities tucked along the rivers in our mountains know fire. […]
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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 […]
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Rough Waters
Faced with a shrinking pool of funding, local environmental nonprofit Humboldt Baykeeper is in the process of dramatically downsizing its organization. The office staff was reportedly laid off recently, and last week Executive Director Jessica Hall learned that she, too, was being laid off. Only Policy Director Jennifer Kalt, whose position has been reduced to part-time, […]