Category: Far North

Los Angeles garage rock power trio Blurry Stars is making a stop on its tour to play some hi- octane, high quality indie rock for the people of our county. The spot is the Siren’s Song Tavern, which means I have to dust off my John Dee scrying ball (created by a proprietary list of components that can usually be procured via the internet, or at your local Micheals and Ace Hardware for under $100), and ask the Daemon-Keepers of the Twilight Pathway for the time and price. Though the answers are vague and cloudy (I don’t speak Enochian with genuine fluency), I would suggest heading over to the gig at 8 p.m. with $7 in pocket for the door…

Tce yac, a newly created mosaic otter, was celebrated with a party on World Otter Day (Wednesday, May 31st) and installed into the visitor center at Humboldt Redwoods State Park near Weott. The otter, covered with over 40 mosaic images of flora and fauna found in southern Humboldt parks, was created as gift for the visitor center by Weott mosaic artist Jennifer Amidi. Earlier on April 21, Amidi had arranged with teachers at the Agnes J Johnson Charter School in Weott to have children there vote to name the otter. School staffer Traci Chadbourne Speelman, of the Wailaki tribe, provided the three name choices for the ballot and the students chose Tee yac (“chee yash”) which means “otter” in Wailaki. Amidi had created her first amazingly beautiful mosaic otter for the North Coast Otters Public Arts Initiative, a scholarship-fundraising project organized by wildlife professor Jeff Black at Cal Poly Humboldt a few years ago. After it was auctioned off, along with over 100 other unique pieces, she and Sophia Eckert, director of the Humboldt Redwoods Interpretive Association, came up with idea of Amidi using her

Two shows of note today, neither overlapping, which ain’t bad for an offseason Sunday. First up at 3 p.m. at Humbrews, there’s an all-ages matinee show by Naive Melodies, Humco’s premier Talking Heads tribute act. Kids under 13 are free and it’s a mere $10 for everyone else. Four hours later at the Miniplex, you can catch Olympia, Washington’s Debt Rag, an alt-punk supergroup of sorts featuring members of Grass Widow, Preening and Girlsperm. Tickets are $10-$15 sliding scale (gas isn’t cheap on this coast) and local electro pyros Drip Torch provides regional support…

This week we’re looking at the athletics and activism that make up the Salmon Run, raising awareness of the ecological and cultural impacts of the Klamath Dams on the cusp of their removal. And in the wake of the Kinetic Grand Championship, we look back at the winners and flippers of this year’s art and engineering test of human-powered endurance. Finally, we’re wrapping up a four-part series covering the thwarted return of temporary Chinese workers to Humboldt in the early 1900s. Hit subscribe for weekly updates on Humboldt stories. …

Flitter through the glitter and land at the Arcata Plaza on Sunday, June 4 from noon to 10 p.m. for the Fairy Festival (free). Sprites of all ages can wind around a May pole, hear stories, dance to live music and DJ sets, delight at the fire show and aerial and dance performances. There’ll be art installations, juggling, magic, bubbles, food, drink (bring a cup!) and vendors. We’re not sure what a gnome dome is, but you’ll find one among the lounges and the Humboldt LARP boffer ring. Wear your best wings for the costume contest (there’s a Star Wars crossover option, too, in honor of the Forest Moon Festival) and the dragon-led procession. (Sorry, no dogs, just dragons.)…

Last night and tonight are the final performances of the Eureka Symphony’s ‘’22-’23 season, and it is going out with a real powerful number. Mozart’s Requiem is widely recognized as one of the most moving pieces of music in world history, commissioned by a grieving Austrian Count as a memorial for his young bride, who died at the age of 20 on Valentine’s Day, 1791. The composer himself would not live to see its completion, dying at 35 in December of that year. The most famous section is the Lacrymosa, but the piece in its entirety is a funereal masterwork. Among the four singers tonight is tenor and native Humboldt son David Belton Powell, who has carved a career for himself from California to New York City. Both nights’ performances will be at 8 p.m. at the Arkley Center for the Performing Arts, with tickets ranging from $19-$49, and rush tickets available at the box office at 7 p.m. …

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has released more information — and video — from the April 18 critical incident that saw deputies shoot two suspects, leaving them in critical condition. As required under a new state law, the sheriff’s office today released video from the investigation — including footage pulled from a nearby surveillance camera and one deputy’s body-worn camera — along with additional information about the incident. In a video discussing the shooting, Sheriff William Honsal disclosed that deputies fired a total of 32 shots at the suspects after one of them allegedly fired a single shot at the officers. The shooting came after a report of an armed robbery at the Bayshore Mall led to a police pursuit that ended when the suspect vehicle crashed at the intersection of Harris and Dolbeer streets in Eureka, at which point the suspects — Brandon and Jesse Widmark, 27 and 18, respectively — allegedly got out of their car with rifles in hand. Security footage included as a part of the “critical incident video” released by the sheriff’s office today doesn’t capture the shooting on video

Batter up! The Crabgrass Band is tuning up and the Humboldt Crabs are getting ready to take the first swings of the summer at Arcata Ball Park tonight at 7 p.m. There are no tickets for sale at the gate, so make sure to get your tickets online at humboldtcrabs.com before you take yourself out to the ballpark ($10). Gates open an hour ahead of start time so you can get your hot dogs, drinks and seats, and get your glove on to catch a fly ball…

With the students gone and the population reduced to locals and tourists, the music and party scene will be gathering a few tumbleweeds in the coming weeks. Tonight is still fine though, if you like reggaeton, anyway. DJ Gabe Pressure is putting on Fuego, a night of electronic Latin dance music at the Arcata Theatre Lounge tonight at 9 p.m. and $10 gets you in the door…

High Desert’s nourishing hot mess, Never Have I Ever’s sweet center HIGH DESERT. Maybe we don’t need another detective series. Maybe every red herring has been fileted by now and it’s time to call it a day. I have watched a lot of TV. It has all been done. Around the time a psychic detective solved a murder by seeing through the eyes of a haunted doll, I began wondering: Has the genre peaked? Should I find a different obsession? Am I going try to get into sci-fi now? Maybe. But I kept watching that psychic detective show because it starred Patricia Arquette. There’s something mesmerizing about Arquette, with her creaky-sweet voice and diamond stare. Maybe it’s just because I know she was once married to Nick Cage, but I’ve come to think of her presence as that of some underrated, take-no-shit deity, the kind that shows up on the worst day of your life with a playlist and a shovel. A heroine, in other words, for the times we’re living through. High Desert, which currently has six episodes streaming on Apple+, feels less like

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With no salmon season, Pacific halibut continues to be the focal point out of Eureka, Trinidad and Crescent City after another week of sizzling action. Eureka charter and sport boats fishing a few miles on each side of the entrance in 290 to 300 feet of water are reporting quick limits. The small Trinidad fleet has done equally as well straight out of the harbor. Crescent City has also gotten in on the action with a hot bite reported in 260 feet of water straight out of the harbor. And it’s looking like the only thing that will slow down the onslaught is if you can’t get to the fishing grounds. And that’s exactly what’s happening this week. But that could be a blessing in disguise. The 39,520-pound quota has the potential to get chewed up quickly with the fleet consistently putting halibut in the box. The best case scenario would be for the quota to last at least through the summer. The way our weather pattern is shaping up, the wind may just see to it. Through May 29, the California Department of Fish

For the 55th time, the wild and wooly wheels of the Kinetic Grand Championship rolled through the Arcata Plaza, down the sandy dunes at Dead Man’s Drop, into Humboldt Bay (and hopefully back to shore) and southward on the long trek to Ferndale. After three days of escalating challenges, roadside repairs and grueling pedaling, Trashlantis crossed the Main Street finish line to become this year’s Grand Champion. Theirs was not the only glory won, with the first-place awards for Engineering and Art going to Team Goddess and Glorious Gaggle, respectively. Sparky the Kinetic Foster Dog made the trip in nine hours and 24 minutes to win first place for Speed. And it seems only fitting the first-place award for Pageantry went to The Knights Who Say Bee. Even the unlucky can gather glory, as in the case of the Golden Flipper Award for taking a spill in the sand, which went to Rat Rod. The seafaring version, the Golden Flippish, went, fittingly enough, to Grateful Squid. Throughout the colorful chaos, photographers Ollie Hancock and Mark McKenna were there to capture the highlights…

It’s interesting how associative memory works. I can think of someone I know or have known, and that thought will pass through like a windy cloud, shapeless and fleeting. However, if I am in a crowd of people (say, for instance, the Arcata Plaza on Kinetic Saturday) and a familiar face pops up, all of a sudden there’s music and intense feeling. And not just the good stuff, either. No, I’m talking about something viscerally annoying, like the ’90s (or any) version of “Cotton Eye Joe”. As I have passed the decade mark since my return to Humboldt, scanning a local crowd is like flipping through satellite radio stations: There’s going to be a mix and not all of it pleasant. And there will also be the warm and vibrant people with whom a shared sense of life is a comforting delight. I’m talking about the Sinatra or Mancini tunes that swirl into your vision like the steam from a perfect cup of … you fill it in. I don’t have the best social poker face but I do try to be diplomatic, so I

The law firm Cozen O’Connor released a preliminary oral report on the findings of its investigation of the CSU System’s Title IX program at a recent CSU Board of Trustees meeting. The firm visited Cal Poly Humboldt in December, with its attorneys hosting open forums for students and staff. In addition to campus visits, Cozen O’Connor reported receiving nearly 18,000 survey responses, as well as replies sent to a dedicated email address. The audit findings highlighted areas of concern that reduce the efficacy of Title IX reporting processes across the CSU system. The audit looked at responses to Title IX and Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation (DHR) violations, and also “other conduct of concern,” which refers to infractions that may not amount to Title IX policy violations or discrimination based on protected status but were still disruptive. Though these concerns may not require official investigations, they reflect the culture of a campus. Gina Maisto Smith and Leslie M. Gomez of Cozen O’Connor presented five core findings from their review. The first is that the current system infrastructure is lacking. Of 23 campuses, 19 have combined DHR

The Force is strong with us Friday, June 2 and Saturday, June 3 during the Forest Moon Festival celebrating the 40th anniversary of the locally filmed Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (free). It’s the best of the original trilogy (disagree? strike me down!) and you can watch free screenings on Saturday around the county. Get in Jedi drag and get to the Van Duzer Theatre at 1 p.m. to mingle with hardcore costumer groups from all over the state, see the film at 2 p.m. and stay for the filmmaker Zoom Q&A at 4 p.m. At the Mateel Community Center, the troopers, Mandalorians and rebels show out at 3 p.m., the movie is at 4 p.m. and you can hit the after party like an Imperial speeder into a redwood. Jetpack to Sequoia Park — right in the Ewoks’ backyard — to see costumers at 7:30 p.m. and movie with live music at 8:45 p.m. Make a free reservation for the Sequoia Park Zoo’s after-hours Forest Moon Fest and Skywalk through the canopy and get down with DJ Juniper’s Dad. Get more info at forestmoonfestival.org

Editor: Drag as stated in the article (May 18) has been around a long time. What goes on at drag shows today is reported in the media. Reporter Jennifer Fumiko Cahill states Bugs Bunny was her first exposure. The all-ages show at CR had cartoon characters Monsters, Inc., Pumba, Timon. These anthropomorphism characters as cartoons, are comedic. Morphed into human form (by gay performers) as drag queens, and published in NCJ (and elsewhere), the cartoon illusions become muddled. Children see their cartoons coming to life, yet their confused sub-conscious is registering the full message given forth by the performances. The gay movement manipulates media to extend their reach. In 1985, Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen published their blueprint to persuade straight America to accept homosexuality. They suggested gay people “muddy the moral waters.” They said, “At a later stage of the media campaign for gay rights – long after other gay ads have become commonplace – it will be time to get tough with remaining opponents. To be blunt, they must be vilified.” In 1987, Steve Warren, a spokesperson for the gay group ACT UP

Editor: As always, when I pick up the NCJ I go straight to the letters, and this week the letters were X-mas in May for me (Mailbox, May 25). The three letters were from three of my favorite letter writers. The first was from the marvelous Ellen Taylor, who always tells it like it is and with unerring accuracy pins the tail on the donkey. When she said “the value  of the American Indigenous philosophy of life,” my heart swelled. We so need to learn from a people who have lived on these lands for so long what we must do to save our country. Thank you, Ellen. Next came the wisdom of Patty Harvey addressing the increasingly critical situation of health care, here and everywhere. Sadly, it is not enough to have one showing of the film she writes about. We need massive change and we need it yesterday. Thank you, Patty. Last but nowhere in the vicinity of least, the terrific Wendy Ring has done her homework and has, hopefully, shown Michael Winkler how to do his homework in the future. Wendy has

An interview with Lee Eeso of Astoria Editor’s note: The following article contains racist language in quotations from historical newspaper articles. It originally appeared in the Ferndale Enterprise. At the beginning of October of 1906, anti-Chinese labor activists across Humboldt were in uproar over an Oregon-based company’s attempt to bring a mixed-race workforce to the new salmon cannery at Port Kenyon, near Ferndale. Four Japanese men and six young white women remained at Port Kenyon while their Chinese colleagues were evicted. In an article headlined “CHINAMEN ARE COMING TO EUREKA TODAY,” The Humboldt Times of Thursday, Oct. 4, reported on the more-or-less peaceful expulsion of 23 Chinese men, who would be housed on Tuluwat, then called “Gunther’s Island,” in Humboldt Bay for their own safety, until the steamer Roanoke sailed on Sunday, returning them to their homes in Astoria, Oregon. The Times stated, “The gentlemen who have been instrumental in ejecting them, who by the way, number some 600 or 700, feel that all is well.” One of these “gentlemen” was quoted as rejoicing that now “all the Pacific slope realizes that Chinese will not

It’s finally June, which is a favorite month of the year for many. Considering my March birthday and their summer solstice wedding date, I can only assume that June was a favorite month for my parents. If you share that sentiment, you could certainly do a lot worse celebrating June’s inception than by heading over to the Mad River Brewery at 6 p.m. for some free patio entertainment courtesy of Wild Abandon…