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Things You Should Know, with John Matthews

John Matthews distills information into its purest, most concentrated form and serves it up weekdays at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Local, national, international and beyond.

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Humboldt County residents are worried that any reduction to local postal services will result in problems for the entire community. Christopher Hitchens, the author and essayist who saw great success with his controversial 2007 book “God Is Not Great,” died yesterday in Houston, where he'd been undergoing treatment for esophogeal cancer. Baseball superstar Barry Bonds will remain free while he appeals his conviction for giving misleading testimony before a grand jury investigating steroid use in sports.

The Arcata City Council recently decided to form the Plaza Interest Group to decide how to deal with public drinking and crowded, impromptu Plaza events. It's true — apple juice can pose a risk to your health. But not necessarily from the trace amounts of arsenic that people are arguing about. Pauly D is officially a member of 50 Cent's music group.

Local education officials are bracing for another round of cuts they say have the potential to not only impact students this year, but in the future as well. During the first two months of the nationwide Occupy protests, the movement that is demanding more out of the wealthiest Americans cost local taxpayers at least $13 million in police overtime and other municipal services. GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann lashed out today at NBC for not apologizing or taking immediate disciplinary action for an off-color song played during her appearance on Jimmy Fallon's “Late Night.”

Nine Humboldt County schools have been placed on a list of the 1,000 “lowest-achieving schools” in California. Locally caught Dungeness crab will not likely be on central California Thanksgiving tables as fishermen and buyers argue over a price for the regional delicacy. A tax cut that reaches 160 million Americans and government aid for the long-term unemployed will expire at the end of the year.

The Humboldt County Fair is currently awaiting an important decision from the state horse racing board. Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno has a treatable form of lung cancer. San Francisco's public health department has declared the Occupy San Francisco encampment in Justin Herman Plaza a public health nuisance.

The Eureka City Council decided to enact a 45-day moratorium on the permitting of dispensaries within city limits earlier this week. An asteroid bigger than an aircraft carrier will dart between the Earth and moon next Tuesday. ABC's “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” says Herman Cain will be a guest on the show Monday.

The Milk Can was stolen from its current home in the Cream City late Sunday night or early Monday morning. Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain denied today that he's changing his story as he struggles to contain the fallout from sexual harassment allegations that could threaten his recently surging campaign. Actress Zooey Deschanel and her husband, musician Ben Gibbard, are breaking up.

The Eureka City Council recently asked staff to bring its medical marijuana ordinance back for discussion at its next meeting. Danish researchers can offer some reassurance if you're concerned about your cellphone: Don't worry. Your device is probably safe. A small 4.0 earthquake hit the San Francisco area on this afternoon.

According to researchers, a majority of indoor marijuana grows in Humboldt County use a substantial amount of electricity. Two California lawmakers want to know why the Obama administration is cracking down on the state's medical marijuana dispensaries so they can craft legislation to address the federal government's concerns. Sheriff's deputies shot nearly 50 wild animals in a big-game hunt across the Ohio countryside today after the owner of an exotic-animal park threw their cages open and committed suicide.

The Arcata City Council will discuss whether staff should process a permit for a proposed 10,000-square-foot medical marijuana cultivation operation. The cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service announced today that it will increase postage rates on Jan. 22, including a 1-cent increase in the cost of first-class mail, to 45 cents. The Stone Roses, one of the best-loved and most influential bands to emerge from Britain's “Madchester” scene, announced today that they are reuniting and working on new material.

A local union is running an advertising campaign claiming Safeway didn't hire local construction workers while building its new Eureka store. The month-old Occupy Wall Street movement continues to grow, with nearly $300,000 in the bank and participants finding satisfaction in the widening impact they hope will counter the influence on society by those who hold the purse strings of the world's economies. Trying to make amends for massive outages last week, Research In Motion today promised BlackBerry users free premium apps and a month of technical support.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather warning outlook for the North Coast. An effort to repeal California's annual fire-protection fee on rural property owners has fallen short of the signatures it needs to go before voters next year. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said today she will not run for president.

Faculty members at HSU and other California State University campuses are considering whether to strike in response to the chancellor's decision to withhold raises. A new survey shows more than two-thirds of California voters favor keeping the death penalty. Courtney Love, the hard-living rock star and actress known for her band Hole and for her brief marriage to Kurt Cobain, has a book deal with William Morrow.

The Arcata Police Department has arrested two of the three juveniles suspected in the recent arson fire at the Chevret-Vaissade Park. The monthly average of armed clashes, roadside bombings and other violence in Afghanistan is running 39 percent ahead of last year's figure. The California State University faculty union is planning one-day strikes at two CSU campuses to protest the administration's decision to withhold negotiated pay raises.

St. Joseph Hospital is evaluating ways to make its programs and services more efficient. The U.N. Security Council president says the powerful body has decided it will meet on Wednesday to formally consider the Palestinian request for membership in the world body. A Bakersfield plastic surgeon is offering free laser tattoo removal to people whose decorated faces, necks and hands might be keeping them from getting jobs.

Humboldt County DA's Office is warning of an email scam targeting the clients of local attorneys. California authorities say they tracked a package containing 2.5 pounds of marijuana to the home of a Cincinnati Bengals player in suburban northern Kentucky. A pillar of physics — that nothing can go faster than the speed of light — appears to be smashed by a subatomic particle that has made a giant end run around Albert Einstein's theories.

Former Humboldt Coalition for Property Rights Executive Director Estelle Fennell will announce her campaign for 2nd District supervisor tomorrow. A dead 6-ton satellite is getting closer and closer, and is expected to smack down on Earth on Friday. R.I.P. to R.E.M.

The Times-Standard says hundreds of Humboldt County teens could find themselves kept out of school if they don't receive the whooping cough vaccination soon. The U.S. military passed a historic milestone today with the repeal of the ban on gays serving openly in uniform. U.S. scientists are quietly testing an earthquake early warning system.

The Klamath-Trinity Joint Unified School District recently instituted a districtwide prohibition on energy drinks. The cost of removing four dams on the Klamath River in California and Oregon will be far less than first believed. Four people have died in an outbreak of listeria traced to Colorado cantaloupes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today.

Crescent City Harbor officials are saying “everyone is happy” to see the start of the harbor dredging process. Finding parking at a San Francisco-owned garage should now be easier. The federal Food and Drug Administration and a leading doctor are disputing suggestions by television show host Dr. Mehmet Oz that trace amounts of arsenic in many apple juice products pose a health concern.

A statewide referendum is currently circulating that deals with re-drawn California congressional district lines. Imploring Congress to follow his lead, President Barack Obama today lobbied lawmakers to adopt his nearly $450 billion jobs plan, promising it would help workers in the construction industry and rebuild schools in crumbling condition. Authorities in suburban Atlanta say rapper Gucci Mane will serve six months in jail after pleading guilty to battery and other charges.

Supervisors are scheduled to make a final decision on the county's new district boundaries tomorrow. California environmentalists are alarmed by the record number of fish caught in the large pumping facilities that move water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Levi Johnston writes in his upcoming book his ex-girlfriend Bristol Palin was so angry about her mother's pregnancy with son Trig she wanted to get pregnant too.

The Arcata Police Department is searching for a man who robbed the Coast Central Credit Union on Giuntoli Lane this morning. Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are facing each other tonight along with struggling contender Michele Bachmann and other presidential hopefuls at a GOP campaign debate. The jam band Phish is returning to its home state of Vermont to help the victims of Tropical Storm Irene with a benefit concert.

Three forums will be held this week to discuss the health of the Eel River. The economy weak and the public seething, President Barack Obama is expected to propose $300 billion in tax cuts and federal spending Thursday night to get Americans working again. California's highest court seemed inclined today to side with backers of the state's same-sex marriage ban in thinking that the state Constitution gives ballot initiative proponents legal authority to defend their measures in court.

Authorities say a transient suspected of fatally shooting a Northern California city councilman is now also wanted in the death of a land steward. WikiLeaks disclosed its entire archive of U.S. State Department cables today, much if not all of it uncensored. President Barack Obama today scrapped his administration's controversial plans to tighten smog rules.

Mendocino law enforcement officers continue a multi-agency search for the suspect wanted in the shooting death of a Fort Bragg city councilman. In a fiery broadcast from hiding, Moammar Gadhafi warned today that loyalist tribes in his main strongholds were armed and preparing for battle. A judge has declared a mistrial in the case of California teen accused of murdering a gay classmate at a Ventura County junior high school three years ago.

The Ferndale City Council meets tomorrow to discuss the proposed Shell WindEnergy project. The father of a man suspected of killing a Northern California city councilman says his son suffered from severe mental health problems before moving into the woods about four months ago. Atlanta-based rapper T.I. was released today one month early from a federal prison in Arkansas where he was serving time for a probation violation.

The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office is still looking for Aaron Bassler who is wanted in the shooting death of Fort Bragg's former mayor and current Councilman Jere Melo. Libyan rebels say they're closing in on Moammar Gadhafi. State Fish and Game wardens are trying to figure out why so many brown pelicans are showing up along California's Central Coast with huge puncture wounds in their chests.

Some local residents are asking the federal government not to take away their local U.S. Postal Service offices. More than 300,000 people were told today to evacuate and New York ordered buses, planes and its entire subway system shut down as Hurricane Irene marched up the East Coast. A new study says half of all American adults are now on social networks.

Rep. Mike Thompson applauded the announcement that the U.S. Department of Transportation is enacting tough new airline passenger protections. A monstrous Hurricane Irene tightened its aim on the Eastern Seaboard today, threatening 65 million people along a shore-hugging path from North Carolina to New England. Actress Jaime Pressly has been sentenced to three years of informal probation after pleading no contest to drunken driving.

Scientists say they may never know what caused the death of a gray whale that was stranded for weeks in the Klamath River. Apple Inc. says Steve Jobs is resigning as CEO, effective immediately. Transit agency directors appeared ready today to set a policy allowing police to cut wireless phone access on San Francisco Bay area train platforms.

Elected officials and city staff in Arcata are taking issue issue with a number of changes coastal commission staff have asked them to make in the city's coastal plan. A magnitude 5.8 quake centered 40 miles northwest of Richmond, Va hit the east coast today. Prosecutors have charged “Girls Gone Wild” creator Joseph Francis with assault, false imprisonment and other misdemeanor crimes for allegedly attacking a woman he met at a Hollywood club.

The Rio Dell City Council will meet with Shell Wind Energy representatives to discuss the Bear River Wind Power project on Aug. 31st. Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was nowhere to be found today as his 42-year rule teetered on the brink of collapse. California's public colleges and universities are preparing for another round of state budget cuts that could lead to higher tuition and fewer classes.

The Humboldt County Fair Association is hoping to establish itself as a hosting track in 2012 for five days, a move that would cover the race's funding for the following year. The United States and its European allies today demanded an end to four decades of brutal family dictatorship in Syria and underscored the tough talk with new sanctions on President Bashar Assad's government. Former U.S. Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell said today she has no hard feelings toward CNN's Piers Morgan after walking off his show, but has declined an invitation to return.

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors hopes to change the county's district boundaries as little as possible. President Barack Obama will lay out new ideas for speeding up job growth and helping the struggling poor and middle class in a major speech in early September. Abercrombie & Fitch is offering to pay Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino and his fellow “Jersey Shore” cast members so they'll stop wearing the brand.

The Eureka Police Department will be conducting a DUI/Driver's License checkpoint tonight between 8 p.m. and 3 a.m. at 4th & Commercial Streets in Eureka. A 45-foot gray whale that's been stranded the Klamath River for more than a month has died after beaching on a sandbar. Transit police had already decided to keep the San Francisco subway system's wireless network operating by the time rush hour began yesterday and protesters massed on the Civic Center platform.

Congressman Mike Thompson announced today that he will seek re-election in the reshaped 5th Congressional District. A 45-foot-long gray whale shows no signs of leaving the Klamath River. Actress Bo Derek joined lawmakers at the California state Capitol today promoting a bill that would ban selling, trading or possessing shark fins.

Eureka has set two dates in September to hold public forums to find out what the community would like to see in its new police chief. A federal appeals court panel today struck down the requirement in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul package that virtually all Americans must carry health insurance or face penalties. Months behind other GOP candidates, Rick Perry will enter the race Saturday with splashy appearances in South Carolina and New Hampshire.

Emergency repair work at St. Vincent de Paul may lead to the end of its free-meal program. Seven Republican presidential contenders will try to use tonight's debate in Iowa to cast themselves as the strongest alternative to one rival: front-runner Mitt Romney. The young Washington state man dubbed the Barefoot Bandit has reportedly signed a movie deal worth as much as $1.3 million.

A plan is being worked on to move the Cape Mendocino Lighthouse lens to the Ferndale Museum. Wall Street focused today on the bleak landscape ahead for the economy and wiped out its big gains from a day earlier — and then some. George Lopez, who lost his TBS time slot to Conan O'Brien and then saw ratings for “Lopez Tonight” slide, got a cancellation notice today.

The Humboldt County Sheriff's Office, with the assistance of the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, cut down almost 800 pot plants off of State Route 299 yesterday. The Federal Reserve offered super-low interest rates for two more years today. California tax revenue fell nearly $539 million below projections last month, edging the state closer to automatic, mid-year budget cuts to schools, universities and social services.

Class members in the lawsuit brought against Skilled Healthcare are starting to receive their settlement checks, and some are finding the settlement puts their Medi-Cal eligibility in jeopardy. The Dow Jones industrials fell 634.76 points, the first trading day since Standard & Poor's downgraded American debt. Police say a K-9 dog smelled drugs on Grammy-winning OutKast rapper Big Boi as he was getting off a cruise ship in Miami.

Supervisor Mark Lovelace and county planning staff have joined in Cypress Grove Chevre's search for land for its goat dairy. Scientists tracking the gray whale that swam up the Klamath River continue to monitor her health. Gripped by fear of a new recession, the stock market suffered its worst day today since the financial crisis in the fall of 2008.

The Eureka City Council moved forward yesterday with a process of gathering public input to help guide recruitment and hiring of a new police chief. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the government hopes to find the source of a salmonella outbreak linked to ground turkey “very, very” soon. Astronomers now think Earth once had two moons.

Rep. Mike Thompson is urging domestic air carriers to stop charging for the cost of federal aviation taxes on their tickets. The Senate passed emergency legislation today to avoid a first-ever government default. Federal officials say one person has died from salmonella poisoning that appears to be linked to eating ground turkey.

The Eureka City Council will take its first step tomorrow toward finding new leadership for the EPD. The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors will not meet on Aug. 2 or Aug. 9. Ohio University has been named the nation's No. 1 party school. (No. 5 - University of California Santa Barbara.)

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously yesterday to approve a tight budget. Several Humboldt County post offices are on a “study list” for possible closure. Alex Trebek put his life in jeopardy while chasing a burglar in San Francisco earlier today.

Mark Anthony Nelson, the Eureka man sought in last nights's shooting of a woman, has turned himself in. Some local businesses are overcharging sales tax despite recent decrease. Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill clarifying that strangulation is a traumatic condition that can lead to felony charges.

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors will consider approving a massive plan to rezone properties throughout the county tomorrow. Heroin use on the rise in Humboldt. Pot supporters get approval for CA ballot petitions.

Ken “Shorty” Ames pleaded guilty Wednesday to embezzling $250,000 from Pierson’s Building Center. Norway's peace was shattered twice today when a bomb ripped open buildings and a man dressed as a police officer gunned down youths at a summer camp.

A planned power outage scheduled for July 28 in the Garberville area has been postponed. California plans to borrow roughly $5 billion from private investors next week to shield itself in case the federal government defaults on its debt.

Tonight’s DUI / Sobriety Checkpoint in Eureka will be located in the 600 block of W. Henderson Street. The checkpoint will be operational starting at 8pm.

County issues warning about blue-green algae poisoning.

Unknown retailer prepares to move into Gottschalks building.

Humboldt Waste Management Authority and the ACRC, Carmageddon has arrived, and Rupert Murdoch apologizes.

California Citizens Redistricting Commission, University of Calif. board OKs 9.6 pct tuition hike, and “Carmageddon.”

Humboldt medical marijuana policy, Utah's bigamy law, and more!

Got PMS? New campaign says milk can help. Also, California woman accused of slicing off husband's penis.

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