The Marina Center is Dead

A new local blog, the Tuluwat Examiner, reveals that Eureka loudmouth Rob Arkley has redirected his website marinacenter.org — which once featured fancy still and animated renderings of a Home Depot-based mall — to his generic Security National www address.

The Examiner has a timeline of key events in the Marina Center saga which despite all the money, threats, fake-o ballot measures and puppet politicians has lead exactly nowhere while Arkley himself continues to stonewall the Coastal Commission on his much fought-over project. And, of course, the Balloon Track site remains a toxic, leaky mess polluting Humboldt Bay.

Scroll back through the Herald’s extensive coverage of the Marina Center sideshow.  Or better yet, click over to the Tuluwat Examiner to keep up with current local events.

Matthew Owen still crying about the Humboldt Herald

FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS: How the heck are you?  Been a long while, it has.

We had good times, didn’t we?  Kvetching about this or that local policy, development plan or politician’s string-pulling, ghost-writing husband.

And while the Humboldt Herald has left the proverbial building, strong memories remain.  Just today, Humboldt County’s political king-maker, Matthew Owen, despite his great success in electing every DINO and nincompoop to local office, is still sucking sour grapes.

Ah, well.  At least he can glory in the vast improvements he and his BFF Rob Arkley created by building the Marina Center, amiright?

Like my friend Samuel Clemens always says, it’s more fun to run a pseudonymous blog than to fight a losing battle with the Coastal Commission.

While Humboldt County is drowning in Owen’s political triumphs, at least these two jokers are still having fun.

 

 

Home Depot coming 2014?

Breaking news coming at you from the corner of 4th and Broadway. Also: Ron Paul!

Part 2 of Local Pot Documentary debuts tonight

 

[Announcement from KHUM]

The second episode of the radio documentary series ‘The Humboldt Chronicles’ debuts on KHUM Thursday, October 18th. Titled “Growers – They Walk Among Us”, the program seeks to examine common stereotypes about who grows marijuana, and why.

The documentary is hosted by Kym Kemp, who will:

• take you into an attic grow room,
• show you a three-foot-long joint, and
• talk to a mom who grows for her kids’ sake.

Says Kemp, “In this episode, we try to let growers explain why they’re not always the stereotypical dread-headed dude.”

Immediately following the documentary’s debut, the show’s producers will host a live call-in community forum on KHUM (104.3 / 104.7 / KHUM.com) about Humboldt’s marijuana-growing community.

The program will air on the following stations:

KHUM: Thursday, 10/18 6pm, Sunday, 10/21 7pm, Tuesday 10/30 1pm, Saturday 11/3 1pm
KSLG: Saturday 10/20 4pm, Thursday 10/25 6pm
KWPT: Friday 10/19 1:30p, Sunday 10/21 4pm

JOE BONINO: Walking like a liar with his pants on fire

The race for Eureka City Council took a downturn Thursday when challenger Joe Bonino stuffed local mailboxes with some bonafide Bonino bologna aimed at incumbent Linda Atkins.

The Lost Coast Outpost outlines the BS in Joe’s bullet-pointed mailer, and questions why the darling of the right would flush his nice guy image with such a Negative Nellie approach.

The mailer’s flipside boldly claims that Bonino, a Republican, has the endorsement of Democrats and moderates. In fact, the word “Republican” doesn’t appear anywhere on the mailer. Maybe he’s embarrassed, but more likely his aim is to trick voters with Democratic Party leanings. It’s an oft-used ploy by Eureka righties.

If Joe Bonino “walks the talk” as his campaign signs claim, voters should take note of the deception in his bold print. He’s obviously loose with his words.

Linda Atkins for Eureka City Council

The lone independent voice on the Eureka City Council has a booth set up on the square in Old Town for Arts Alive.  Stop by and give her some money.

Otherwise send a check to: P.O. Box 6353, Eureka, CA 95502

More info here.

Linda Atkins vs. the Marina Center

Election season in Eureka is resurrecting the corpse of Rob Arkley’s Marina Center — the proposed big box mall-on-Humboldt-Bay that will breathe new life into Old Town with tourists and newcomers whose minds will blow and wallets unfold at the sight of a Home Depot beside a massive asphalt parking lot. Just wait.

Deeper depths of innovation heretofore unplunged, folks.

The last liberal hold-out on the Eureka City Council, Linda Atkins, is being challenged by a Republican — one who hasn’t even switched parties because such levels of deceit are no longer necessary in Eureka.

Atkins will face Joe Bonino, who says the Marina Center mall will be a boon to Old Town.

Eureka Mayor Frank Jager is ready to lead the flock with nary a dissenting voice. Bonino “would be a better fit for the way the council is constituted now,” he said about the 4-1 ratio of Arkley back-rubbers to the un-kool-aided.

New Humboldt County Supervisor Rex Bohn is happy a “good” person is running. Only bad people raise the ire of Arkley — as Atkins did the first time she ran. Longtime readers will remember that she didn’t know the identity of the raving lunatic yelling at her on the sidewalk. But four years later that fire still burns the gentleman’s rich (yet tender) hide.

Arkley surely finds comfort in the fact that his long campaign of bullshit surrounding the Marina Center has nearly won him a 5-0 majority on the Eureka City Council, and a majority of the Humboldt Board of Supervisors.

Two years ago Arkley paid $30,000 to put a fake-o measure on the ballot promising Marina Center Now!, which achieved nothing but the election of the dimly-lit “Brady Bunch.”

Ever playing the victim, Arkley has long-blamed liberal meanies on the Coastal Commission for blocking his genius plan, but in reality his own stonewalling caused the delays of which he complains.

It’s been quiet on the Marina Center front of late, but the political game of chess plays on, and the pawns are in their places. If there is need of a check-mate at city hall, Arkley already has it. But that one-party system envisioned by Karl Rove is not yet complete in Eureka. And what better way to bring the Home Depot mall back into public discussion than with a GOPer who is already cozy with the local Good Old Boy power network.

Election Day is November 6th.

EUREKA: A “World Class Port”

Based on a short visit from one big luxury ship — which couldn’t even dock on the Eureka side of Humboldt Bay  — Eureka’s port is “world class,” according to this too-long YouTube video.

Original.

 

Earth First! Blocks Sierra Pacific Logging Truck at Manila Sawmill

[Press Release] – Manila, Ca. – 30 Earth First! activists protesting Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) logging practices rallied peacefully outside the gates of SPI’s Arcata mill on Monday, demanding a stop to the company’s logging of old-growth.

“We’re here to expose SPI’s destructive logging” said Jeremy Jensen. “They claim to be sustainable under the Sustainable Forestry Initiative label but SPI intensively clear-cuts and logs old-growth forests all over California.”

Demonstrators blocked the logging truck entrance to the mill, holding banners reading “SFI is a scam” and “Stop old-growth logging.” They stood in front of a truck trying to enter the mill, disrupting logging traffic for half an hour.

In addition, three activists delivered a list of demands directly to the administration office at the mill stating in part that EF! Humboldt wants “Sustainable, light, selection logging, restoration of wildlife habitat and a rate of harvest that restores rather than depletes the forest.”

Changes at the top

A list of changes in top positions at government and non-profit orgs is posted on the Lost Coast Outpost, and readers added several overlooked spots in the comments.

Humboldt County Supervisor Jimmy Smith, whose meeting on Tuesday marked the end of 12 years on the board, is not even mentioned.  That’s how long the list is.