Lost Coast Outpost

(AUDIO) Miles Slattery is Holding UpGlobal pandemics can be rough on a city budget, turns out. As in most cities, Eureka has seen a drastic decrease in tax revenue in the COVID era which recently led the city council to approve massive budget cuts that will affect staffing and services across multiple departments. 

LoCO file photo of Miles Slattery taken back when we could swingAll of this weighs heavy on the mind of Miles Slattery. A little over a month ago, the longtime Community Services Director stepped up to take on the role of interim city manager after his predecessor Dean Lotter's quick exit. What does it mean to attempt to run a city in the midst of a major crisis like the one we now face? Slattery discusses the challenge with Stephanie McGeary and Andrew Goff in this week's Humboldt Holding Up, the Lost Coast Outpost's totally adequate Zoom-quality podcast attempt. Topics broached include (but are not limited to):The importance of passing a new sales tax measure in the November electionWhich city projects are still marching on despite all the turmoilHow has the strain of our current reality personally impacted Miles and his familyWho makes the best burger in Eureka?Can Miles remember the names of the Sequoia Park Zoo's red pandas?To put some Miles in your ears click the audio player above and/or scroll through past guests below.PREVIOUS TALKING HUMBOLDT HUMANS:Savage Henry Co-Founder Chris DurantEureka Street Art Festival Organizer Jenna CatsosSCRAP Humboldt Founder Tibora BeaGym Owner Tyler ParrSix Rivers Brewery Co-Owner Meredith MaierMulticutural Skincare Therapist Levia LoveAnnie’s Cambodian Server and Social Worker Joshua CoppockEureka City Councilmember Austin AllisonHSU Professor Deidre Pike Pastor Bethany CsehSinger/Songwriter Chris ParreiraEureka City Councilmember Leslie CastellanoArcata City Councilmember Paul Pitino

(AUDIO) Chris Durant is Holding UpThere are plenty of reasons the world has seemed less funny lately. One local bummer in point: Turns out global pandemics are hard on a comedy club.  

Chris Durant, comedy nerdBut Chris Durant is still experimenting with ways to generate yuks and maintain cohesion in Humboldt's comedy community. For example, with venues closed due to safety concerns during the COVID era, the Savage Henry Comedy Club co-owner has taken to staging drive-in comedy shows in a downtown Eureka alley where attendees are invited to tune in to hear local comics via Durant's short-range FM transmitter. As he explains in this week's edition of Humboldt Holding Up -- LoCO's attempt to better understand Zoom -- the open-air gigs have drawn new breeds of heckler. Make with the clickin' on the audio player for a heaping serving of Durant's mellifluous tones as he catches up with the Outpost's Stephanie McGeary and Andrew Goff. Topics include: Chris's journey from Times-Standard crime reporter during the Humboldt newspaper wars to co-founding Savage Henry MagazineWhat kind of comedy works in HumboldtDurant makes his pitch for why the government should classify comedy clubs the same as churches with regards to COVID reopening protocols Who is this "Savage Henry"? All that and more in stunning Zoom-quality audio! And if you need additional quasi-human interaction, please scroll the list of previous Humboldt Holding Up guests below.PREVIOUS TALKING HUMBOLDT HUMANS:Eureka Street Art Festival Organizer Jenna CatsosSCRAP Humboldt Founder Tibora BeaGym Owner Tyler ParrSix Rivers Brewery Co-Owner Meredith MaierMulticutural Skincare Therapist Levia LoveAnnie’s Cambodian Server and Social Worker Joshua CoppockEureka City Councilmember Austin AllisonHSU Professor Deidre Pike Pastor Bethany CsehSinger/Songwriter Chris ParreiraEureka City Councilmember Leslie CastellanoArcata City Councilmember Paul Pitino

(AUDIO)We have good news, Humboldt. You will still get to debate the appropriateness of murals this summer. While many of Humboldt's annual events have mostly succumbed to pandemic restrictions, the brains behind the 2020 Eureka Street Art Festival realized that they could still safely corral artists to apply fresh color to local walls. Specifically, this year's event -- happening Aug. 10-15 -- will be centered in Henderson Center, where 12 new murals and other art displays are scheduled to go up on soon-to-be-less-boring buildings. 

Jenna Catsos and an example of her now Humboldt-ubiquitous penmanshipHow is this all going to happen in our socially distanced current reality? The Lost Coast Outpost sought answers from local artist and ESAF organizer Jenna Catsos during the latest edition Humboldt Holding Up, our regular podcast-like Zoom encounter with actual humans. Topics discussed this week include:The logistics of this year's festival, including plans to livestream this year's mural entries; How festival planners attempted to match property owners with some of the over 300 artists who applied to paint this year; Jenna's own artistic endeavors through her business Pen+Pine; How Eureka residents can earn themselves one of Jenna's coveted "Great Garden Awards"; Why Jenna, an East Coast transplant who has made Eureka her home for the past six years, chooses to involve herself in so many community projects.Click the player at the top of this post to hear Jenna's chat with LoCO's Andrew Goff and Stephanie McGeary (w/ Ziggy) and/or peruse past Humboldt Holding Up episodes below.

Scenes from the 2019 Eureka Street Art FestivalPREVIOUS TALKING HUMBOLDT HUMANS:SCRAP Humboldt Founder Tibora BeaGym Owner Tyler ParrSix Rivers Brewery Co-Owner Meredith MaierMulticutural Skincare Therapist Levia LoveAnnie’s Cambodian Server and Social Worker Joshua CoppockEureka City Councilmember Austin AllisonHSU Professor Deidre Pike Pastor Bethany CsehSinger/Songwriter Chris ParreiraEureka City Councilmember Leslie CastellanoArcata City Councilmember Paul Pitino

(AUDIO)

Tibora Bea, in full bloomWe hear that many of you are going to be cursed with a long weekend, so the Lost Coast Outpost is going to early-release this week's edition of Humboldt Holding Up, our Zoom-y, COVID-era quasi-podcast thing.This week: We speak with SCRAP Humboldt founder Tibora Bea. For the past decade or so, SCRAP has preached the gospel of creative reuse and has welcomed countless crafty types to share in the bounty found in its Arcata materials collection site. Sadly, global pandemics are difficult to navigate and SCRAP recently announced that it would be shutting its doors. RIP SCRAP.

But don't feel bad for Tibora. She still considers SCRAP to be a triumph and she's still got plenty of projects shakin' as evidenced by her personal website Tuesday Tumbleweed. You may have noticed someone recently poembombed much of downtown Arcata. Yeah, that was her. We'll talk about it.Click the player above to be whisked away to Tibora's chat with LoCO's Andrew Goff and/or peruse some of the other folks we've talked to below.PREVIOUS TALKING HUMBOLDT HUMANS:Gym Owner Tyler ParrSix Rivers Brewery Co-Owner Meredith MaierMulticutural Skincare Therapist Levia LoveAnnie’s Cambodian Server and Social Worker Joshua CoppockEureka City Councilmember Austin AllisonHSU Professor Deidre Pike Pastor Bethany CsehSinger/Songwriter Chris ParreiraEureka City Councilmember Leslie CastellanoArcata City Councilmember Paul Pitino

(AUDIO)The Lost Coast Outpost again somehow managed to sneak in under Zoom's 40-minute time limit for another edition of Humboldt Holding Up, our audio attempt at reaching out to other sheltered Humboldters during COVID times. 

Have you packed on a few pandemic pounds? We know someone who could help you out with that. This week, we speak with personal trainer and owner of Eureka's Alpha Fitness Clubs Tyler Parr about growing up in Humboldt County, how his business has managed through quarantine and his views on recent demonstrations in Eureka. Click the audio player above and get to know Tyler as he opens up with LoCO's Stephanie McGeary and Andrew Goff. PREVIOUS TALKING HUMBOLDT HUMANS:Six Rivers Brewery Co-Owner Meredith MaierMulticutural Skincare Therapist Levia LoveAnnie’s Cambodian Server and Social Worker Joshua CoppockEureka City Councilmember Austin AllisonHSU Professor Deidre Pike Pastor Bethany CsehSinger/Songwriter Chris ParreiraEureka City Councilmember Leslie CastellanoArcata City Councilmember Paul Pitino

(AUDIO)Utilizing the perfectly decent powers of Zoom, the Lost Coast Outpost has been pestering local folks to extend some human connection our way during pandemic times for something we've been calling Humboldt Holding Up. 

After a few months of takeout only, Humboldt's restaurants are again starting to allow patrons the opportunity to eat at other tables again. Thus, this week we were able to convince Six Rivers Brewery co-owner Meredith Maier to take a few minutes away from pouring beer to share with us what the reopening process has been like for her and her staff at "the top of the hill in McKinleyville." Spoiler: Mask up, citizen. Also: You get to bus your own table now! We're all in this together. Meredith also shares a little bit about how she came to co-own a brewery a decade and a half ago and lists some of her fav non-6RB local beers. Pour yourself a pint, click the audio player above and settle in for Meredith’s chat with LoCO’s Stephanie McGeary and Andrew Goff.  PREVIOUS TALKING HUMBOLDT HUMANS:Multicutural Skincare Therapist Levia LoveAnnie’s Cambodian Server and Social Worker Joshua CoppockEureka City Councilmember Austin AllisonHSU Professor Deidre Pike Pastor Bethany CsehSinger/Songwriter Chris ParreiraEureka City Councilmember Leslie CastellanoArcata City Councilmember Paul Pitino

(AUDIO) Levia LoveThe Lost Coast Outpost continues its adventures in social distancing and Zoom-enabled conversations with the latest edition of Humboldt Holding Up, our attempt at maintaining connection with actual humans during the COVID era.  

Levia, cozy in her "cloud"This week we talk with Levia Love, multicultural skincare therapist and owner of Old Town’s Bling Brow Bar (website, Facebook), about ways she’s adapted to be able to continue providing care to her clients while sheltering in place. We also discuss her involvement with Black Humboldt, a nonprofit that empowers and makes space for local people of color and is one of the organizations helping to produce this year’s virtual Juneteenth celebration in Humboldt. Other topics include: Levia’s passion for self care and the work of the North Coast Association of Mental Health Practitioners (NCAMHP); Her take on recent local Black Lives Matter-affirming demonstrations; and her experience growing up in Humboldt and why she’s chosen to continue to make it home.Click the audio player above to hear Levia's chat with LoCO's Stephanie McGeary and Andrew Goff.  PREVIOUS TALKING HUMBOLDT HUMANS:Annie's Cambodian Server and Social Worker Joshua CoppockEureka City Councilmember Austin Allison HSU Professor Deidre Pike Pastor Bethany CsehSinger/Songwriter Chris ParreiraEureka City Councilmember Leslie CastellanoArcata City Councilmember Paul Pitino

(AUDIO)If you're feeling lonely or bored in these isolating times -- and we at LoCO sure are sometimes -- we invite your ears to enjoy the latest edition of "Humboldt Holding Up," where we zoom chat with other humans in our

beautiful county to find out how they're keeping sane in the times of

COVID.

Coppock and his 'stacheThis week the Outpost's Andrew Goff and Stephanie McGeary are joined by Joshua Coppock -- a man who wears two hats and one glorious mustache. Back when dining in restaurants was the norm, Coppock may have been your friendly server at Annie's Cambodian Cuisine in Eureka. When he isn't busy waiting tables, Coppock does social work with the homeless population through the county's Housing and Disability Advocacy Program (HDAP).Listen to Coppock discuss topics including working with the homeless during the pandemic, how he's managed to keep his upbeat attitude working in the service industry for so many years and the story behind his trademark 'stache. Plus he shares his favorite flavor combo from Annie's. Click on the audio player above to hear the Outpost and Coppock zoom it up. PREVIOUS TALKING HUMBOLDT HUMANS:Eureka City Councilmember Austin AllisonHSU Professor Deidre Pike Pastor Bethany CsehSinger/Songwriter Chris ParreiraEureka City Councilmember Leslie CastellanoArcata City Councilmember Paul Pitino

(AUDIO)If you don't mind sometimes-glitchy Zoom audio -- and who has that luxury these days, anyway? -- the Lost Coast Outpost invites you to join us for the latest edition of Humboldt Holding Up, our attempt at maintaining useful people skills during COVID times. 

This week's guest is Eureka City Councilmember Austin Allison. In addition to his council duties, Austin also works full time at St. Joseph Hospital and spoke with LoCO's Stephanie McGeary and Andrew Goff about how he and his co-workers are dealing with working in health care during a pandemic. Other topics touched on: Austin can't really say much about the recent resignation of Eureka City Manager Dean Lotter, but he does offer praise for A Taste of Bim takeout and also shares which street in Eureka is his favorite. Oh, and he was able to raise $3,000 for a local nonprofit by shaping his hair into what he has deemed a mullet. (Debatable.)Listen in to the socially distanced discussion by clicking the link above.PREVIOUS TALKING HUMBOLDT HUMANS:HSU Professor Deidre Pike Pastor Bethany CsehSinger/Songwriter Chris ParreiraEureka City Councilmember Leslie CastellanoArcata City Councilmember Paul Pitino 

(AUDIO) For the last few weeks, your human interaction-starved Lost Coast Outpost has been Zoom-tracking down local humans because a) we are lonely, and b) we want to know how our neighbors are dealing with quasi-existence under COVID-19. 

Professor Deidre misses her studentsThis week, we convince Humboldt State University journalism professor Deidre Pike to spend some socially distanced time in front of her computer with us to share how life not on campus has been for her and her students. Other topics discussed with LoCO’s Stephanie McGeary and Andrew Goff include: Her critique of HSU President Tom Jackson’s availability during the pandemic; how Fox News has allowed her to bond with her 90-year-old father; and the somewhat concerning close relationship she maintains with her beloved sourdough goo.Tune in by clicking the audio player above.PREVIOUS TALKING HUMBOLDT HUMANS:Pastor Bethany CsehSinger/Songwriter Chris ParreiraEureka City Councilmember Leslie CastellanoArcata City Councilmember Paul Pitino