KINS radio moving to FM

Local Republican talk radio KINS, which often features rants by mega tax-dodger Rob Arkley, is leaving its days of scratchy AM airwaves behind and moving to 106.3 FM. The move will be official just after midnight on November 1st.

“Many listeners haven’t been able to hear KINS after dusk or before sunrise. By moving to 106.3 FM, KINS will be heard in northern Mendocino County and southern Humboldt County as well as having a cleaner signal in northern Humboldt County, Del Norte and Curry County,” said KINS genersl manager Brian Papstein in a press release.

KINS’ format will stay the same and the station will continue to be heard at 980 AM through November.

FM radio is a big step to be sure.  But if those old boys really want to blow everyone’s hair back they should broadcast online.

SCARY: Population Hits 7 Billion

Halloween may have its roots in dealings with the dead, but this year a more frightening specter hovers as the human population hits 7 billion living individuals.

Population is often the elephant in the room when discussing local and global problems of resource extraction, water shortage, the giant Pacific garbage patch and other environmental damage. To acknowledge a limit to Earth’s carrying capacity — especially given our unsustainable lifestyles — is sacrilegious in some circles.  Every sperm is sacred. Birth control threatens to diminish the pool of consumers required by Wall-Mart.

Congressional candidate Susan Adams in Humboldt this weekend

[In addition to her two appearances in Humboldt, Susan Adams will be live on KHUM today at 11am]

[Press announcement]

Susan L. Adams, a registered nurse practitioner, a County Supervisor and candidate to be Humboldt’s next Congressional Representative will be in Northern Humboldt for a series of “meet and greet” events where you can hear from and ask questions of the candidate. California’s newly formed 2nd District which includes Humboldt County, will run from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon Boarder,

On Saturday Oct 29th from 1:30 pm – 2:30pm, Susan will address the Humboldt State University Democratic Club at Redwood Yogurt located at 1573 G Street in Northtown, Arcata. The general public is welcome to attend.

On Sunday Oct 30th from 1:30 pm – 2:30pm, Susan will host a public forum at Trinidad Town Hall (Civic Room) located at 409 Trinity St. in Trinidad.

NEC clean-up begins

[Press Release]

The Northcoast Environmental Center [broke] ground this Thursday on cleanup of the site of its former headquarters on Ninth Street in Arcata, which has been vacant since the 2001 fire that razed the former NEC and adjacent buildings.

Iraq war vet injured by Oakland Police

A military veteran who was twice deployed to Iraq is in critical condition with a cracked skull and brain swelling following an assault by Oakland Police against Occupy Oakland protestors.

Scott Olsen was hit by a police projectile as Oakland PD moved to disperse the crowd.  When fellow protestors ran to his aid they were targeted by another flash-bang police device.

Two tours in Iraq to “protect our freedoms.” Now Olsen is in critical condition for exercising those freedoms.

Redwood ACLU to hold Eureka School Board candidate debate

[Press Release.]

The Redwood Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is holding a Candidates’ Debate on Civil Liberties for the candidates for Eureka School Board, to be held on Wednesday, October 26th from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on live television — Access Humboldt Channel 11 — out of the Community Media Center studio at Eureka High School.

Hobart’s Halloween Happenings at Redwood Acres

[Public announcement]

In the spirit of Hobart Brown, Glorious Founder of the Kinetic Sculpture Race, and all things wonderfully weird, fun and funny!

Justin Hobart Brown and the Humboldt Kinetic Association will be resurrecting (pun intended) Hobart Brown’s spirit with a Halloween Costume Party.

Started in the way back machine of the 60′s, Hobart’s Halloween Happenings were the talk of the town. Expect to dance the night away, be entertained by fearless fortunetellers, and assorted psychic and not so psychic mediums at large. Compete for fun and fabulous prizes in the costume contest and see the Eureka High Players act out gothic versions of scenes from MacBeth. Food, Beer and Wine will be served. ID required for adult beverages. Halloween weekend starts Oct 28…Don’t miss out!

What: Hobart’s Historic Halloween Happening
Who: Hosted by Justin Hobart Brown and friends
Where: Redwood Acres Fairgrounds Eureka Ca.
When: Friday October 28th
Why: Benefit Fundraiser for the Humboldt Kinetic Association!

Time: Doors open @ 7:23 with announced arrivals until 8:56pm
Costume contest @ 11:37
EHS Players with selected scenes from MacBeth @ 11:58
Costume Contest awards @ 12:13
Doors Close @ 1:49
Cost:   $10.00 at the door

Features:
Live music by St. John & the Sinners, Mostly Harmless and Stonehenge.
Food, Beer, Wine (seeking donations of beer & wine)
Costume Contest: with many categories (seeking Prize donations too)
ALL AGES WELCOME: Children under 14 years of age must have adult supervision

Time to consider a municipal bank

[An opinion piece in the Times-Standard by Richard Salzman (which references a guest post on the Humboldt Herald) has also been posted to CalCoastNews.com, where it sparked a long comment thread. Here it is.]

Ten days into the Occupy Wall Street protests, I wrote letters to the editor of several papers complaining about the lack of mainstream media coverage. By the time that letter was printed, they finally got to the story, to their credit.

There are now “Occupy” actions taking place in 1,482 cities across the country including in my own town of Arcata in Humboldt County, California.

Surprisingly, even as the media has covered the story, many seem mystified by the motives and/or lack of a cohesive message. Does “people’s needs, not corporate greed” explain it?

San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos  wants his city  to pull its money out of corporate financial institutions and start a municipal bank “so we can control how we are investing in local businesses…” I hope other cities and states will also consider this option.

Long ago, I pulled my money from a big bank and put it into a local credit union. Then it was recently publicized that the CEO of my small “non-profit” credit union was taking home just shy of a million dollars a year in compensation (making the $160k that our county administrative officer earns seem pretty reasonable). I’m sure people would love to put their money in a publicly-owned bank whose CEO doesn’t get paid a million dollar salary.

Here are more excellent ideas, some from Senator Bernie Sanders and some from Rolling Stone contributor Matt Taibbi:

1. Break’em up.   If it’s too big to fail, it’s too big to exist. Start with repeal of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the separation of insurance, investment and commercial banks.
2. Pay for bailouts.  A speculation fee on credit default swaps, derivatives, stock options and futures would pay for the bailouts
3. Cap credit card interest rates, end usury so they’re not permitted to charge  25 plus percent interest.
4. Tax hedge-fund gamblers more then 15 percent on their income.
5. The Fed needs to provide small businesses in America with low-interest loans like it gave to foreign banks.
6. Stop Wall Street oil speculators from artificially increasing oil prices.

Racist murders spark community event

Local groups are organizing an event in response to a tri-state killing spree by two white supremacists that left one Eureka man dead. The “Vigil and Discussion” will be held Saturday at the Boys & Girls Club (click the flyer at left or below for details).

From the announcement:

You are invited to participate this Saturday, October 22nd, in a public event, titled “No Hate Here.” This event will provide a space for a community response to the murder of local resident Reginald Alan Clark, 53, an African American, October 4, 2011 and Cody Myers in Oregon. Both were killed by white supremacists who were later arrested on their way to Sacramento to “kill more Jews.” These murders, as we know, are part of a broader, although often ignored, pattern of bias and hate-based ideas, discrimination and violence in our local, national and global community

“No Hate Here” will allow people to express their fears and concerns, to understand the links between different forms of bias and the increase of attacks in periods of economic crisis, as well as share tools with other community members for empowerment, safety, and the strengthening of community.  By coming together we can demonstrate our common dedication to creating and living in a community (and a world) built on compassion, nonviolence and justice.

Groups organizing the event include HSU’s Bias Response Team, the Eureka Chapter of the NAACP, Humboldt County Domestic Violence Coordinating Committee, and HSU’s Critical Race, Gender and Sexuality Studies Department.

Sponsors include Temple Beth El, Los Bagels, Denny’s, Emma Center, and the Eureka Police Department.

Want to print and distribute flyers for this event? Download it here.

Food for People benefit Saturday