If you somehow missed Ryan Burns’ sweet story on the beloved bag monster, please check it out now. If you’d like to further crawl inside Burns’ brain, tune into KHSU 90.5 FM tomorrow (Thursday) at 1:30 p.m. when he joins HSU Prof Deidre Pike and yours truly on The EcoNews Report, the longest-running public affairs show on the North Coast. The topic at hand? Environmental journalism. Is that a thing? Tune in and find out. (If you thrill to the idea, but can’t listen when the show airs, no worries, you can also hit up KHSU’s audio archives or the Northcoast Environmental Center’s webpage.)

An update on the North Jetty call box: it’s fixed! But future functionality depends on funding (as functionality so often does). And thanks to all the responses (thank you!), the general sense is, having an emergency call box out there matters to people. Stay tuned for ways to keep it.

If you haven’t been to Crescent City for a while, know this: The sometimes-maligned town has quietly been stepping up its game. From the snazzy new restaurant Porcini to improved trails, our neighbors to the north are not only making it nicer for the folks who live there, but tempting people to visit more often and stay longer. (RIP Noll Longboard Classic.)

Yesterday Crescent City Harbormaster Charlie Helms spoke with KHUM’s Cliff Berkowitz and RCAA’s Emily Sinkhorn on “Happy Trails,” a regular Tuesday morning feature, and today at noon Mike Dronkers and I will continue the conversation on Coastal Currents. Tune into 104.3/104.7 FM or listen here. 

My enviro-loving colleagues and I have spent the last week raving about the groundswell in grassroots cleanup actions. From the amazing Alderpoint crew to the PacOut Green Team, people are taking a moment – sometimes several moments – to make the world around them a better place. It’s a beautiful thing. And here’s another one:

Eel River clean up party: Power in numbers and the music. Great News!! The Southern Humboldt Technical Rescue, along with Cal Fire, and any and all of the ERCP crew team, will be doing ROUND 2 on the Alderpoint Rd. site. this Sunday, February 1 at 10 a.m. and ending just in time to shower before the Super Bowl!!! The Rescue team will be utilizing this mission for training, and repelling practice while helping us free the land of the tons of trash illegally dumped over the cliff, and threatening a tributary to the Eel River. Post below if you plan on joining in, sorting, puncturing cans, bagging and hauling. New World Water is providing the hydration station, and stay tuned for more information!

Ocean Night fans, please note: Instead of the usual first Thursday, February’s Ocean Night takes place on the first Saturday, Feb. 7. The featured film is “Divide in Concord,” the story of a bottled water ban battle in a small town. 

Don’t enjoy the billboards on the bay? New petition you can sign. 

Our very own Congressman Jared Huffman has been named Ranking Member of the newly-created House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans. The Subcommittee is responsible for matters concerning America’s water resources, federal irrigation projects, generation of electric power from federal water projects and interstate water issues. Huffman’s been doing right fine by the North Coast so far – consider this excellent news.

Elsewhere: Delta smelt drama, DVD case kills Sei whale, we’re facing mass extinction of marine life. (Or maybe not.)