Category Archives: In Media Res

Some stories from Redwood Voice fall into a strange category. They aren’t quite an Opinion piece, but neither are they a cold, hard News report. Yet stories like these have been foundational to Redwood Voice—firsthand accounts, media activism, and all manner of stories that are, at their core, a human side of journalism. Stories that very clearly express a person wrote, and, dare we say, felt something.

Those stories we have come to call In Media Res — “In the middle of things.” Coined originally by our Station Manager Paul Critz as the name to his column (so a very special thanks to him in giving the name for the broader use of Redwood Voice), it has now become the label for these pieces. Those that do indeed report, and yet do feel, or have that otherwise personal touch given to a work will end up here.

Elections, In Media Res, Tribal Affairs

‘Voting As One Of The Solutions’; One Yurok Tribal Member’s Take On Candidates Forum

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Thumbnail photo: Candidates for Yurok Tribal Chair from left to right: Edward ‘Horse’ Aubrey, Susan Masten, Jewel Frank, Joseph L. James, Thomas P. O’Rourke Sr., Phillip L. Williams | Courtesy of True North Organizing Network

By Tamara Brooks

Disclaimer: I am a Yurok Tribal member, a Yurok Tribal employee, and a Leader with True North and one of the organizers of this event. All opinions expressed are my own, and not affiliated with any agency, organization, or employment. 

I firmly believe that participation in the process of politics is not just a right that we are afforded but is vital. I have organized a few candidates’ forums, canvassed, volunteered in campaigns, a California poll worker, and am currently a trustee on the Del Norte County Library Board. 

As a family when we got our ballots we would sit around the table and discuss the candidates and the referendums, we would discuss the whys of our vote, and I have continued that tradition with my child: Voting as a family event; voting as an ongoing discussion of what we see to be the challenges and the strengths within the system; and voting as one of the solutions to the ongoing struggles that we see in our community, our tribe, our state, our country. 

Continue reading ‘Voting As One Of The Solutions’; One Yurok Tribal Member’s Take On Candidates Forum →
Community News, In Media Res

KFUG Will Continue to be Del Norte’s Voice, Honoring Founder’s Legacy Under New Leadership

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Editor’s Note: Heather Polen, KFUG’s new executive director, penned this In Media Res piece. Polen comes to KFUG with a background in local radio. KPOD’s Bill Stamps Sr. gave Polen her first job when she was just 15 — a six-hour radio show every Saturday — so she knows her way around a radio station. Polen has been involved with KFUG’s Board of Directors starting in 2024 and is helping the station continue Critz’s “dogged insistence that everyone has a voice.”

In a world where the loudest voices often belong to the wealthiest platforms, it’s easy to forget the value of small, independent media, the kind built not for profit, but for people. In Del Norte County, we’re lucky to have two such treasures: KFUG Community Radio and Redwood Voice. These aren’t just media outlets, they’re lifelines for truth, creativity, connection and they thrive because of a community that believes in the power of local voices. 

KFUG (that’s K-Fug, and yes, the name alone tells you you’re in for something different) is community radio at its best, proudly quirky, fiercely independent, and deeply rooted in Crescent City and the surrounding region. In an age of playlists programmed by AI and news spun by corporate interest, KFUG is refreshingly real. Its shows are hosted by neighbors, elders, youth, musicians, activists, care providers and people who simply care enough to speak up and share something meaningful. 

Here, you might hear a local punk band one hour, and a thoughtful conversation about mental health, housing or education the next. It’s a place where the eccentric and the essential exist side by side — a true reflection of our community’s spirit. KFUG honors every voice, not because it has to but because it wants to. It recognizes that the stories of Del Norte County are worth telling, not despite their rawness, because of it. 

Continue reading KFUG Will Continue to be Del Norte’s Voice, Honoring Founder’s Legacy Under New Leadership →
Articles, In Media Res

An Act of Petty Larceny

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The FugHouse is empty this time of day. The sun has yet to rise. I let myself in silently so I don’t disturb my wife who’s still in bed in our house across the driveway from the radio station’s front door. Inside, everything is disheveled. Some walls are bare, computers are gone. Redwood Voice has moved out, though the where and why I’m no longer privy to. I’m sure there’s a reason. It’s been a strange couple of weeks.

Just last month, two Redwood Voice reporters and I went all the way to Los Angeles for a conference and everything seemed fine. More than fine, really. We were gearing up for a slew of youth media programs for the summer; our new antenna mast and hardline lay on the floor of the garage waiting to be hoisted into place. We were nearing denouement with our pending Klamath Promise Neighborhood proposal, which, if executed, would take our organization into entirely uncharted waters, expanding everyone’s role, cementing Redwood Voice’s place as Del Norte’s news source. It was an exciting, if fraught, time to be the director of a nonprofit community radio station with a youth media program at its core.

Then, in a matter of mere days, everything changed. There was board room drama, and relationships shifted with the sudden violence of a strike-slip fault. Though I’m being purposefully vague, ironically, I want to be clear: no one did anything wrong, nothing illegal or immoral or any of those other messy reasons board rooms get dramatic. Everybody acted and reacted according to Hoyle. Everybody except me.

Continue reading An Act of Petty Larceny →
Articles, Health, In Media Res, Youth

Del Norte’s Drug Problem

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I recently accepted an invitation from Jermaine Brubaker to join Rx Safe Del Norte Coalition’s quarterly call. During the call, Michelle Greene from the Del Norte County Coroner’s Office presented opioid overdose data that challenged many of my own misconceptions. 

Del Norte’s Drug Problem –  2024 By the Numbers:

  • 198: calls to emergency services for suspected overdose 
  • 65: times Naloxone was administered to reverse a suspected overdose
  • 24: drug-related deaths in Del Norte County
Continue reading Del Norte’s Drug Problem →
Articles, Arts & Culture, In Media Res, Just For Fun

Down the Rabbit Hole of Poland’s Indianist Movement

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Last year I took a trip and spent nearly 3 months in Poland. After only a few weeks of staying there, I came to the realization that, despite such a large cultural and geographical gap between my home and the Slavic country, I and many others had much more in common than I first thought. What started out as a cultural exchange between me and the many Poles I met quickly turned into a rabbit hole of information I had never even known existed. A one-off conversation about Native American tribes turned into the realization that there was an entire  movement about them, spanning generations, all the way across the world. Strangely, it all ties back to a 60’s Americana-based trend. . .

Cowboys and Indians – you’ve definitely heard of the concept. It’s a cliche in American pop culture, most pronounced during the heyday of the Western movie. It  sparked a generation of American children’s imaginations, playing as gun-shooting, horseback-riding cowboys fighting Native Americans. However, it wasn’t just American kids during this era that were captivated by this myth. Over 5,000 miles across the world and deep behind the Iron Curtain, Poland —  a Slavic Eastern European country — would play Cowboys and Indians too, except it wouldn’t be the “righteous” cowboys in the lead role, fending off Natives. Rather, it was the Natives defending their land from the greedy, destructive cowboys. 

Why exactly did this role reversal occur, and how did playing Cowboys and Indians contribute to an informal movement of support for Native Americans in a distant Slavic land? 

Continue reading Down the Rabbit Hole of Poland’s Indianist Movement →
In Media Res

What Does In Media Res Mean?

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Redwood Voice’s Persephone Corvid Rose filed a piece last week, Student Activists Accuse CPH of Suppressing Dissent After Harassment & Arrests, and the comments it’s garnered online deserve a response. Those comments, at least on the Facebook pages it’s been shared to, have been mostly negative. Understandable, in our little red county. But one in particular needs to be addressed. In it, the commenter thought they were pointing something out by saying the piece isn’t “reporting,” and that no article should start with a press release. I agree, in a sense, this piece is not “reporting” in the inferred sense the commenter seems to have meant. It has a point of view, takes a stand, and ends with a “call to action” — all things that would have both purists and partisans up in arms if they occurred above the fold in the Times or Post. 

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Activism, Alerts, Humboldt, In Media Res

Student Activists Accuse CPH of Suppressing Dissent After Harassment & Arrests

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Thumbnail image courtesy of the Redheaded Blackbelt’s livestream of the Jan. 21st protest, taken as a screenshot and edited.

Update, 1:23 p.m. March 7: An anonymous source reached out to inform us that the date for Raymond Evans’ arraignment has been pushed back, before clarifying the case is still being reviewed and the court date has not yet been set. Redwood Voice reached out to the Humboldt County District Attorney’s office to verify, which confirmed that Evans’ court date is still pending. They gave no estimation for when it may be set.

Update, 1:30 p.m. March 20: Redwood Voice reached out to the Humboldt County District Attorney’s office again to check on Maggie Rasch’s court date, and found that her case is also pending review. Evans’ court date is also still pending review.

On the evening of March 1st, Redwood Voice received the following press release via email, from the Friends of Raymond and Maggie:

“Cal Poly Humboldt Orders Arrests of Activists, Seeks to Quietly Criminalize Dissent. Don’t Let Them!”

In their latest flailing attempt to supress any dissent, Cal Poly Humboldt and the University Police Department (UPD)  have leveled charges against community members Maggie Rasch and Raymond Evans, accusing the two activists of felony “conspiracy to commit a crime,” “vandalism,” and “unlawful use of a mask” just over a week after a January 21st protest. When Evans asked what vandalism he was accused of, the arresting officer Joseph Conlin stated that he witnessed Evans loading signs, drums, and a wagon into his pickup truck after the protest, and that this constituted criminal conspiracy. Is this a reasonable basis for a felony arrest warrant?

In the week prior to obtaining warrants, police twice appeared outside a local house at odd hours of the night, stalking and surveiling anyone they assumed to be associated with the residence. In the first instance, two UPD officers arrived outside the house around 10 PM, shined flashlights into cars parked on the street outside, and knowingly deadnamed Maggie (a trans woman). In the second instance, an Arcata Police cruiser and a Humboldt County Sheriffs vehicle were spotted around 10 PM staking out a street corner one block from the house. Upon leaving, one friend was tailed by the sheriff all the way home.

Continue reading Student Activists Accuse CPH of Suppressing Dissent After Harassment & Arrests →
Articles, In Media Res

Local Family Responsible for Community Scares Is Met With Love After House Fire

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“I woke up to flames six feet from my bed,” JoAnn Holcomb said. “I could spend hours listing the things lost, I want to list the things we have received. We are blessed to have homeowners’ insurance. While it may not cover the cost of everything, it gives us hope that rebuilding our home is possible.” 

JoAnn and David Holcomb are the owner-operators of David’s Haunted Manor, the only haunted house attraction in Del Norte County. Every year they and their two kids spend weeks putting on a show for the community, and donate a portion of their proceeds to a scholarship fund in collaboration with the Humboldt Area Foundation. 

On Feb. 12, the master bedroom and hallway of their family home was engulfed in flames, forcing them to flee. Luckily, the Holcombs survived with minimal injury.

“Our Haunt family reached out immediately to ask what they could do for us. Some brought clothing, others gave us a place to keep our reptiles and amphibians until a long-term solution is found. Others have offered their hands and all have sent their love,” Holcomb said via text Thursday.

Continue reading Local Family Responsible for Community Scares Is Met With Love After House Fire →
Articles, Crescent City, Education, In Media Res

Del Norte County Office of Education Hosts Inaugural ‘Building Bridges’ Family Summit 

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Event signage in front of school entrance.

Climbing the stairs that lead to the main entrance of Crescent Elk Middle School feels an awful lot like stepping through a time machine. 

It’s not just the building’s 1930’s Art Deco aesthetic that immerses me in nostalgia every time I walk through its doors. I graduated from the school in 1999, sure, but I’ve wandered through those halls for a myriad of reasons over the decades. Most recently, I found myself returning to my adolescent alma mater for an entirely new reason. As the parent of a student, I was invited by the Del Norte County Office of Education and the Del Norte Unified School District to their inaugural “Family Summit” event. This conference, called “Building Bridges”, was an effort undertaken by DNCOE and DNUSD to strengthen student and family connections between home, school, and resources available within the broader community. 

Continue reading Del Norte County Office of Education Hosts Inaugural ‘Building Bridges’ Family Summit  →
Community News, In Media Res

How a Community Dies…

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Cherece Norris laughs into the phone, though there remains a hint of something else in her voice.

“Everybody keeps calling and saying they’re waiting for the ‘Ha-ha, I was only joking!’ I wish I was…”

Cherece, along with her husband Eric and their sons, Eric and Brent, run two businesses in Crescent City: Norris Family Kitchen and the Park City Superette. The restaurant began in the tiny building in front of the Superette at the corner of Howland Hill and Elk Valley but quickly became too popular — with their selection of “smash” burgers and Indian tacos — for the location. Two years ago, Cherece moved her restaurant into town, along the 101 corridor, to both better serve her expanding clientele and catch some of the tourist dollars that blow along the highway.

Her son Eric and his wife run the Superette, and have made it a hub in the marginal mixed-use neighborhood on the edge of town, providing the usual selection of small-store fare, as well as some fresh produce and prepared food. Outside the front door is a cabinet in which donated food stuffs are left for the local homeless population to take, free of charge.

If you drive down Elk Valley, past the Superette, the first street you come to on the right is Norris. The short, tree-lined street runs past the Elk Valley Rancheria’s education building and disappears in a knot of houses belonging to tribal members. The street’s name isn’t a coincidence. The Norris family has been part of the Rancheria for decades.

Continue reading How a Community Dies… →