the Bear

Once

By Thadeus Greenson

Contents

PUBLISHER

Melissa Sanderson melissa@northcoastjournal.com

NEWS EDITOR

Thadeus Greenson thad@northcoastjournal.com

ARTS & FEATURES EDITOR

Jennifer Fumiko Cahill jennifer@northcoastjournal.com

DIGITAL EDITOR

Kimberly Wear kim@northcoastjournal.com

CALENDAR EDITOR

Kali Cozyris calendar@northcoastjournal.com

STAFF WRITER

Ollie Hancock ollie@northcoastjournal.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

John J. Bennett, Simona Carini, Wendy Chan, Barry Evans, Mike Kelly, Kenny Priest, Collin Yeo

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Holly Harvey holly@northcoastjournal.com

GRAPHIC DESIGN/PRODUCTION

Heidi Bazán Beltrán, Dave Brown, Rory Hubbard, Renée Thompson ncjads@northcoastjournal.com

ADVERTISING MANAGER

Kyle Windham kyle@northcoastjournal.com

SENIOR ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE

Bryan Walker bryan@northcoastjournal.com

ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE

Linus Lorenzen linus@northcoastjournal.com

Heather Luther heather@northcoastjournal.com

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

Mark Boyd classified@northcoastjournal.com

BOOKKEEPER

Deborah Henry billing@northcoastjournal.com

OFFICE MANAGER/DISTRIBUTION

Michelle Dickinson michelle@northcoastjournal.com

Editor letters@northcoastjournal.com

Events/A&E calendar@northcoastjournal.com

Music music@northcoastjournal.com

Classified/Workshops classified@northcoastjournal.com

‘Violence and Disregard’

Editor:

I was stricken with sadness when I discovered the violent disruption of the Wildlife Sanctuary habitat on an innocent, unsuspecting “first day of spring” walk (Mailbox, April 13). What was once my uplift walk has now become my sorrow walk.

What gave me beauty and hope is now the site of my charnel ground training. Mangled branches, twisted stumps, hacked limbs everywhere. No chance for the wild sweet-peas and vibrant, cheerful poppies that were just beginning to get established along this trail last year: No sparrows scooting across the path in front of my feet. No nests for new babies. Its bleak. All in the name of progress. (Look out, Godwit Days!)

What folly the city leaders are engaged in to ignore the science of their own local marine biologists and sink $54 million into upgrading a 50-year-old waste management system that is clearly within the danger zone of projected sea level rise. Do they not think climate change is real?

Several “Trail Closed” signs gave no clue of what was about to happen, leaving an uninformed and unprepared community in stunned shock and silence in the aftermath. The violence and disregard shown the flora and fauna was echoed eerily in the disregard of the public. No meaningful dialogue with the community to prepare for the loss. The two “Trails Closed” signs scattered by Wahlund Construction, gave me no warning of the total annihilation to come.

A replant program? “Oh, it will grow back,” was the casual, unconcerned response. Sure. In 20 years, but not in time for Godwit Days. The native red currant (Ribes) took about 18 years to grow her modest 2-inch diameter trunk. The bat- tered crabapple might not even make it. This was not a skilled, professional “spring pruning” job. It was an execution.

Glenda Hesseltine, Eureka

For the Birds

Editor:

Thanks for printing my letter last week about Arcata doing better (Mailbox, April 13). I need to share that I was chastised by two of Arcata’s community ambassadors for my letter because I mentioned that a man with a walker had died on the streets. They asked where I gotten that information and it was from the men who hang out in front of the bars on the north side of the plaza. So if the man with the walker didn’t die on the streets, some of his street friends don’t know what happened to him. But let’s talk about birds for a moment. Last Wednesday, I was retracing my steps in the early morning to search for my cell phone which I last remember seeing at city hall during the planning commission special meeting I attended the night before. As I rounded the corner at K and Sixth streets, I saw what I thought was a dead rat. However, as I moved closer to inspect, it was a bird on its back. I flipped the bird over and it just stayed there not moving for more than 10 minutes. At that point, I decided to put it in a box and take it to the new location of the Humboldt Wildlife Care Center out in Manila so they could give it an exam. The Wildlife Care director showed up to immediately take the shoebox with the bird under his experienced “wing.” This little gold crowned sparrow had hit the blackened window of Arcada, the arcade place, and after a day’s stay at HWCC, it was released back to the place I found it and it will hopefully avoid window glass in the future.

I tell this story as Arcata celebrates Godwit Days because, unlike the two-plus hours I spent looking for a shower and clean clothes for a young man a week ago, it took very little time for me to get the local resource to help this little bird.

The moral of the story is that, apparently, Arcata is for the birds.

Joanne McGarry, Arcata

A ‘Sense of Grievance’

Editor:

Reading Mr. Silva’s letter of April 13 (“Abandoned and Forgotten”), I was feeling very sympathetic after the first two paragraphs and imagining I’d call Mike and Jim at the state capital, as well as my county supervisor, and plead his case.

Then I got to his third paragraph, where he suggested that the lack of compassionate support for his misfortune is due to the compassion we have been sowing for the undocumented. That would include those who harvest our fruits and vegetables, clean our slaughterhouses and work the back of most of our restaurants. He then went on to also blame the war refugees we invited to receive sanctuary in our country.

I suspect those of us most likely to o er Mr. Sliva a handout are not the same people who share his sense of grievance toward others in need. In fact, I bet he’d do better pleading his case if he suggested that he, alongside others on whom misfortune has visited, could use help. It may not have been an earthquake that led to most folks who are homeless, but I bet their own misfortune shook them to the core just the same. Not everyone has the foresight and means to be fully insured in life, and that is why we as a society need to lend a helping hand to those most in need, no matter how their situation came to be.

I hope help comes Mr. Silva and the rest of Rio Del soon.

Richard Salzman, Sunny Brae

‘Ask the Right Questions’

Editor:

Arcata needs to get its priorities straight (Mailbox, April 13). There seems to be a trend infiltrating this small community where, despite a proud local identity, it hands its fate up to entities that don’t seem to care about the people living in it. The Gateway Plan, for example, follows the dubious induction of Cal Poly Humboldt — another short-sighted project

Godwits

I looked up and there was one low upon the sky. And then three seven twelve. Then too many to count or even seea torrent flying just beyond my reach. Golden underbellies and outstretched wings turning the blemished sky for a moment into a feathered quilt. Then there were fewer .... fewer nine five one, and one more.

I know they did not come for me, and yet they did.

— Julie Doerner

feigning interest in public involvement just to streamline the process. Never mind that there seems to be no concern of building on a coastal zone that will succumb to sea level rise in our lifetime.

The planning meetings, enticed by an expensive consultant, circle around a false dilemma of two inadequate options: It has to be in the Creamery District and it has to be now!

Why the push on increasing car tra c in quiet neighborhoods along K and L streets or building in a potential flood zone when they can first promote better walkability in Valley West? It’s a neglected industrial area that would benefit greatly from safe trails and improved transit lines, particularly for Cal Poly students resigned to live in that area’s motels.

With all the talk of development in the last year, the city council seems to forget its agency in the matter, easily swayed by the allure of urbanization without considering the limitations of the town’s infrastructure, like its sewage system, police force and public transportation. Momentary gains for the few and enduring di culty for the rest.

All it takes is for one member to challenge convention and ask the right questions. Is there really a “housing short-

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Continued from previous page age,” or is there a lack of creativity in regulating developers or property barons, who promise housing but inflate the market so much that it leaves students homeless?

Rose Nhem, Arcata

‘What I Wanted to Understand’

Editor:

My compliments to Thadeus Greenson for his well-written and informative article (“Undamming (and Restoring) the Klamath,” April 13). I worked peripherally on the early planning stages of this project, and his article was just what I wanted to understand in detail how the project will be implemented.

Yantao Cui at Stillwater Sciences produced the model to predict the fate of the sediment that will be released from behind the dam. His model basically gave the green light to proceed because the predicted impacts of the sediment release are relatively minor and short-lived. Because the sediment is so fine-grained and of low density, most should flush from the entire river system in a few years, although turbidity will be high during the process. Of course, how this plays out exactly will depend on the magnitude and timing of the flows after the dams are removed.

Thanks to Thadeus and NCJ for an excellent piece of journalism.

Tom Lisle, McKinleyville

Passover and Taco Week

Editor:

I am not able to eat much in restaurants due to my immune compromised state. So I’m writing this on behalf of those people, like myself, love tacos.

It came to my attention that “taco week” (April 6 through April 16) was chosen to exactly coincide with Passover, which started at sundown on April 5, so April 6 is the first night when Jews are enjoined to not eat leaven, wheat, except for matzoh, (unleavened bread) or other grains for eight days.

Can’t eat tacos during Passover!

Thank you to all participating restaurants for extending this “week” — so those observing the holiday might get a take-out taco after Passover ends — on April 16. Can I just make one additional request: Have an option for beans without lard. Local Muslims would appreciate that, too.

Thanks for all the delicious food.

Amanda Devons, Eureka

Write a Letter!

Please make your letter no more than 300 words and include your full name, place of residence and phone number (we won’t print your number). Send it to letters@northcoastjournal. com. The deadline to have a letter considered for the upcoming edition is 10 a.m. Monday. l