It was like old times on the plaza during the June 10 Arcata Bay Oyster Festival: friends hugging and balancing topped up beers, lines for the food vendors lining the sidewalks and bands playing the main stage for an audience of dancers and picnickers in the grass. The official head count isn’t in yet but, […]
Meredith Matthews
Posted inEat + Drink
Oyster Fest Hopes to Pack the Plaza Again
The last time revelers swarmed the Arcata Plaza for Oyster Fest was 2019, the pre-pandemic Before Times, when long lines, sunburn and a hangover were the looming fears. Following two years of virtual events and a ticketed in-person event in the Creamery District last June, the annual bivalve bacchanalia is set to take over the […]
Posted inNews
Arcata Seats City’s First All-Woman Council
There’s a new city council in Arcata. On Dec. 15, newly elected members Meredith Matthews and Kimberley White were seated at the dais, forming the city’s first all-woman council, joining just a handful of cities across California to ever do so. (Read more about the landmark occasion in the Nov. 17 Journal story “Marking a […]
Posted inNews
Marking a Milestone
When Arcata voters cast their ballots to fill two open seats on the city council in the November election, they probably weren’t thinking about making history — again. Long known for being on the cutting edge of progressive politics — the college town made national headlines back in 1996 after seating the country’s first Green […]
Posted inNews
Matthews, White Tromp in Arcata as Voters Reject Watson
UPDATE: With a field of six vying for two four-year terms on the Arcata City Council during a time of major transition for the city, incumbent Meredith Matthews and Planning Commissioner Kimberly White won easily, taking 32.33 percent and 30.11 percent of the vote, respectively. The race spells the end of embattled Councilmember Brett Watson’s […]
Posted inNews
Arcata Council Strips Defiant Watson of Assignments, Limits Access to Staff
After hearing nearly two dozen residents plead with Councilmember Brett Watson to resign in the wake of a scathing investigative report that he abused his power and harassed a city employee, the Arcata City Council passed a series of measures tonight aimed at protecting city staff, while limiting Watson’s access to City Hall. Watson, meanwhile, […]
Posted inNews
Arcata Vice Mayor Goldstein Stepping Down to Focus on Family
Arcata Vice Mayor Emily Goldstein announced last night that she will be stepping down from the city council seat she was elected to a little more than one year ago to “focus on the health of my family.” At times growing emotional, Goldstein said the decision was “really hard” but the “energy and time I […]
Posted inNews
Arcata City Council Appoints New Member
The Arcata City Council selected Meredith Matthews to serve the remainder of former Mayor Sofia Pereira’s term last night following a candidate forum. Matthews, an administrative specialist with the Redwood Coast Energy Authority who sits on the Arcata Chamber of Commerce board and previously served on the city’s Economic Development Committee, was one of seven city […]