Lost Coast Outpost

The news from the Lost Coast and beyond.

HUMBOLDT TODAY: A former bookkeeper agrees to repay $50k she embezzled from a local business, an ATV accident claims the life of a man in SoHum, another pedestrian is struck on Broadway, and more in today’s newscast with John Kennedy O’Connor.

Your daily Humboldt newscast.

TODAY in HUMBOLDT: Security footage of a Wildberries employee’s confrontation with a shoplifter causes a stir, an update on yesterday’s tragic accident in Arcata, Humboldt gets drenched, and more in today’s newscast with John Kennedy O’Connor.

If you read the news, or just live in Humboldt, you're surely familiar with the work of beloved local philanthropist Betty Kwan Chinn, who has spent the last four decades tirelessly serving the local homeless community.

And Chinn loves the work she does so much that after all those years, working sometimes 20-hour days, she has no plans to slow down any time soon.

"My mother lived to 104 years old, and I will work until the day I die," Chinn told the Outpost when asked about her retirement plans. "...I don't need anything...When you are free from power and greed, you are free yourself. I feel free everyday."

Chinn talks about her passion for helping those in need on this 100th -- and final -- episode of Humboldt Holding Up, the Outpost's long pandemic podcast experiment. Chinn also discusses the heartbreak she felt when the trailers she planned to turn into housing were recently burned down, the elation she felt a receiving an honorary doctorate from Cal Poly Humboldt and some of trials of helping the homeless during COVID.

And as a special treat, Chinn entertains our "lightning round" of silly questions, sharing her love of Star Wars, her admiration of Obama and that time she met Bono, but didn't know who he was.

Humboldt's summer of returning joys continues this coming week with the first edition of the Humboldt Folklife Festival to take place out in Blue Lake since the fun-killing pandemic made gathering with community virtually impossible. Starting Thursday, Dell'Arte's Rooney Amphitheater will again host a collection of the county's finest musicians. And if you think recent hip replacement surgery is going to stop longtime festival organizer Patrick Cleary from tappin' his toe (or jumpin' on stage), well, you don't know Patrick.

Warning: It might get spicy! This week the Outpost is joined by Cleo DeOrio -- Dell'Arte graduate, dancer, choreographer and director -- to chat about Dell'Arte's Red Light Cabaret, her character Betty Boop, and her new gig as artistic producing director of Ferndale Reperatory Theatre.

For those keeping score, the city of Arcata is now home to a brand new three-unit housing complex just off Alliance Road. How did that wondrous housing manifest into existence? Well, local electrician Will Startare wanted to see if he could pull off such a project on his nights and weekends and set out jumping through the various hoops required to get it done. On this week's Humboldt Holding Up we nerd out on all the tedious minutiae surrounding the undertaking.

John Kennedy O'Connor, who recently came on as an anchor for KIEM, Redwood News, joins the Outpost to discuss his times as an announcer for the Eurovision Song Contest and how he ended up in lil' ol' Humboldt.

After months of training your brain to not register the garish yard signs screaming at you from every street corner, we've just about arrived at Election Day, thank goodness. Let this be over!

On Tuesday, Humboldt will head to the polls -- if they haven't already conveniently sent back the ballot they should've received in the mail, that is -- to fulfill their civic duty by voting in the June primary. So, to get you primed for this blessed occasion, on today's episode of Humboldt Holding Up we speak to Tom Wheeler, local political nerd and executive director of the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), and Hank Sims, editor in chief of the Lost Coast Outpost (LoCO), about the various races we're tasked with making decisions on this cycle. We're talkin' supervisor races! District Attorney! Yes, even Auditor-Controller! More! We lay out the stakes and then force Wheeler and Sims to give us their predictions. Believe it or not, this is fun for some people!