Major fire in Old Town

Lots of firetrucks on 3rd and F Streets in Eureka.  The fire appears to be above the Bead Shoppe.

Arkley pwnd in Seven-O-Heaven

Fans and foes of Eureka big shot Rob Arkley are either laughing or crying at the feature story in this week’s Journal — a 9-page comic strip hitting some high notes of the state of Arkley in Eureka politics: Home Depot, Larry Glass, the Balloon Track, and mean old Pierson’s Building Center, the root of all evil in Arkleyville.

The Journal calls it the “One Story of 2010.”

Fetch yourself a copy at the newsstands — as of this writing the strip hasn’t hit the internet.  Expect to see it soon at seven-o-heaven.com or northcoastjournal.com.

Kids these days

A website called kidsdata.org has facts, figures and customizable charts about Humboldt County’s 27,462 younguns (ages 0-17) compared to the rest of California.

The recession appears to have shot the county up to the state average (53%) for students enrolled in the Free or Reduced Price Meal Program.  But a breakdown shows a number of Humboldt school districts well below the state average.  Jacoby Creek has the lowest rate (13.4%) while Klamath-Trinity Joint Unified is the highest (87.6%)

The website also includes rates based on physical health, demographics, and education

Planning Commissioner Sef Murguia passes on

Humboldt County Planning Commissioner Sef Murguia lost his battle with cancer yesterday.  He died peacefully surrounded by his family and loved ones, according to an email from Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee Chair Milt Boyd.

Funeral arrangements will be announced later this week.

Top 10 of 2009

The Humboldt Herald had another rollicking year slinging news and views from and about Humboldt County, California.

Here are the most-viewed posts of 2009.

1. Marijuana, Inc. A national look at Humboldt County marijuana culture.
2. MASSIVE LAWSUIT TARGETS EUREKA, CITY MANAGER. Major scandal rocks core of Eureka politics.
3. Eureka Police blog spawns lawsuit.  The scandal begins.
4. Cat killer protest.  Bad neighbors booed for felling feline.
5. Fennell to head HumCPR.  Not unexpected.
6. California unemployment rate by county.  Floor falls out.  Widespread panic.
7. Crime spree victim killed.  The terrible parking lot murder of Andrew Pease.
8. MY WORD! Citizens duped by Headwaters Fund. Just a coincidence!  Really!
9. Coastal Commission gives Eureka the smack down.  Home Depot mall spanked.  As predicted.
10. Cops bust johns, for once. Dudes busted in old town.  For once.

Panic map

Check out this interactive hazard map of Humboldt County to see if your house or hole-in-the-wall is subject to landslide, tsunami, dam failure inundation or other disasters.

The map above shows areas of potential liquefaction.  Get ready to shake, rattle and sink.

Merry Christmas, Scrooge

scrooge

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Hamblin resigns

Eureka Community Development Director Kevin Hamblin is saying goodbye to his employment with the city and sailing off to new digs with the county of Del Norte.

The news is not unexpected.  City manager Dave Tyson announced during budget talks in June that Hamblin offered to take an early retirement, which would save the cash-strapped city $100,000.

Hamblin held his job with the city for over 25 years.  His resignation will be official January 5, 2010.

Local toilet paper will be made in China

The on-again/off-again business venture of Freshwater Pulp is on again, with plans to fire up the mill July 1st. But getting started requires a drastic change from the original vision of locally-produced toilet paper.

The new plan calls for local pulp to be dried in sheets and sent to China and other Asian markets, where final products will be produced and then shipped back to the US.

Freshwater Pulp owner Bob Simpson said the modified plan beats selling the mill piece by piece, but lamented on Monday’s KMUD news the extravagant use of energy that will go into the venture.

“We use energy to pulp and dry,” he said.  “Now we send a sheet over to China, we add water and use energy to re-beat the pulp and convert it right back to slush again, so that we can then convert it to tissue and re-dry it.  Now, that’s the part that is just wrong. But I can’t borrow $400 million dollars today.”

Simpson hopes bring the production aspect home once the economy recovers.

Of mountain tops and redwoods

From the mailbag:

Cristina emailed a link with this note: “Just substitute ‘redwoods’ for ‘mountains’ in a few spots, and the story is EXACTLY the same.”

Environmentalists use words like “corrupt,” “greedy” and “thugs” to describe the pro-coal establishment. Industry counters with words like “hippies,” “extremists” and “terrorists.”

Tensions are dangerously high in this West Virginia town between coal miners and opponents of mountain top removal. One case of battery stemming from an assault at a protest is currently winding its way through court.  The vibe is very pre-Redwood Summer.

Get the full story.