Hey, how did I miss the fact that we’re all getting Zipcars soon?!? Zipcars are awesome. Thanks, Humboldt State!

For those not in the know: Zipcar members can walk up and rent these things by the hour or day and on the spot, and at pretty decent rates. Payment is handled electromagically. The LoCO joins the vast Facebook hordes in demanding that Zipcar include at least a few trucks in their fledgling Humboldt fleet.

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If you have $70 and some hustle, you can still make it to the annual Humboldt County “Democrat of the Year” shindig at the Eureka Women’s Club. The honorees this year are educator Debbe Hartridge and attorney Ira Blatt. (Much more about their accomplishments at the link.) The mingling commences at 6 p.m.; dinner is served at 7 p.m.; and I’m told that “all six” declared candidates for Congress in 2012 will be in attendance. I only knew about five of them!

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MEDIA ALERT x 2: Your Lost Coast Outpost is deeply honored to be featured in the current issue of the New Settler Interview. Beth Bosk and R.D. Deines let me blather at them for an hour or so way back in March, when this Web site was no more than a twinkling in Lost Coast Communications’ eye, and so fulfilled a lifelong ambition. As I tweeted the other day, there is no greater distinction for a child of the Emerald Triangle, such as myself.

The New Settler Interview! Living history! Pick it up at finer macramé supply stores around Humboldt and Mendo counties. You can also read what I think is the 17th installment in the New Settler‘s ongoing interview series with Dr. Bill Courtney, who has a lot to say.

But wait! Hippie week continues Monday, when your Lost Coast Outpost invades Dennis Huber’s “Monday Morning Magazine” on KMUD! I’ll be joining Dennis at 8:30 a.m. Monday to talk about … something. That’s KMUD Radio: 91.1 on your FM dial in SoHum, at other frequencies elsewhere, and streaming at kmud.org.

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The local unemployment rate is down again, apparently thanks (mostly) to a heavy hiring spurt by local government agencies (which are still down 300 jobs over the year).

Press release from Dennis Mullins at the Employment Development Department – the local economic data swami — follows:

Humboldt’s preliminary August jobless rate is 11.1 percent; down 0.8 percentage points over the month and 0.2 percentage points over the year. The comparable, not-seasonally-adjusted California rate is 11.9 percent; down 0.5 percentage points over the month. Humboldt is ranked 22nd (from the top) among the 58 counties statewide. Some surrounding county rates include: Del Norte (13.7 percent), Siskiyou (15.7 percent), Trinity (17.3 percent), Shasta (14.2 percent), and Mendocino (10.7 percent). Marin County (7.8 percent) retained the lowest rate and Imperial (32.4 percent) remained highest. The comparable U.S. rate is 9.1 percent, down 0.2 percentage points over the month.

Total Humboldt industry employment increased 800 jobs between July and August. The increase follows normal seasonal industry trends including schools rehiring for the new term. Eleven industry sectors gained jobs or were unchanged over the month and one declined. Over-the-year Government (-300) and Construction (-300) job cutbacks continued to offset otherwise positive private industry job growth.

Month-over job growth occurred in:

o Farm(+100)

o Construction(+100)

o Trade, Transportation & Utilities (+200)

o Private Educational & Health Services (+100)

o Government (+400)

Industry sectors with no change over the month:

o Mining & Logging

o Manufacturing

o Information

o Financial Activities

o Leisure & Hospitality

o Other Services

Industry sectors with decline over the month:

o Professional & Business Services (-100)