Trees or trails?

That appears the be the question Caltrans is asking with its latest project proposal, which would widen four bridges along the Avenue of the Giants to accommodate non-motorized traffic. According to the Times-Standard report, Caltrans acknowledges the project could have a variety of environmental impacts. And they’re not kidding. Construction of the bridges would occur in habitat for [...]

Still no conflict?

So if it’s not a conflict if Eureka City Councilman Larry Glass has a years-long personal vendetta against a developer whose project he’s reviewing, and not a conflict if Larry founded and fronted a group that exists solely to oppose the project, and not a conflict if Larry distributed T-shirts and bumper stickers ridiculing the [...]

Prog groups claim ‘irreparable harm’ if Balloon Track cleanup goes forward

The Times-Standard reports today that papers filed in court seeking to force the city of Eureka to withdraw its Environmental Impact Report allege “irreparable harm” will come to residents, fish and wildlife if the Marina Center property is cleaned up. The petition was filed by the Northcoast Environmental Center, Humboldt Paykeeper, the Environmental Protection Information [...]

Wait. Who’s on first?

A Marina Center story in Saturday’s Times-Standard elicited this response regarding another local item on the California Coastal Commission’s December agenda. The agenda itself is here and the staff report on the item in question is here. Enjoy! Notwithstanding the controversy regarding the Balloon Track, you may not be aware of a more egregious abuse [...]

Who says government isn’t efficient?

Within 24 hours of the filing of the last of three appeals challenging the city of Eureka’s approval of the Balloon Track interim cleanup plan, the California Coastal Commission published a surprisingly thorough 82-page legal and environmental analysis of the plan, along with the expected recommendation that the appeals be heard. Weird, huh? You don’t [...]

Ralph Faust asks Coastal Commission to stop cleanup of Balloon Track–with meaningless updates

And he reportedly did so, unlike in this photo, with a completely straight face. Not that any of this is funny in the usual sense of the word. None of those pull-my-finger or naughty limerick jokes for him, the old coot. No, with this appeal Faust definitely employs the stodgier ironic form–on multiple levels and [...]

NEC, Baykeeper continue battle to undam cash flow

As an agreement that would remove four dams on the Klamath River inches closer, a bunch of folks with “Undam the Klamath” stickers on the bumpers of their Subarus and light trucks are scrambling to make sense of their own talking points. They want the dams removed now, so they’re going to oppose agreements to [...]

The tragical history of Dr. Faust

Remember Faust? No, sillies. The other Faust. Goethe and Marlowe’s Faust, that German fellow with the awkward syntax who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for–well, something. We forget what. Knowledge. Power. An extra two inches. Does it matter? The story itself is your standard-issue dog turns into a devil, offers to serve Faust [...]

Exclusive: Humboldt Mirror scores interview with former NEC director

Shove over, Barbara Walters. Former Northcoast Environmental Center director Greg King took a few minutes out of his humiliating retreat for a little Q and A with the Humboldt Mirror. The man whose claim to fame was finding a forest that had never been lost and, more recently, running the NEC into its own contaminated [...]