“Science is about finding useful descriptions of the world; by useful I mean they allow us to make predictions … or explain already existing observations. The simpler an explanation, the more useful it is.”

— Sabine Hossenfelder, Existential Physics

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In 1650, James Ussher, archbishop and professor at Trinity College in Dublin, published his calculation proving that the first moment of Creation, per the Book of Genesis, occurred at 6 p.m. on October 22, 4004 BC. (According to Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s novel Good Omens, his estimate was inaccurate “by almost a quarter of an hour.”) Rather than scoff, the late evolutionist Stephen Jay Gould wrote, “Ussher represented the best of scholarship in his time. He was part of a substantial research tradition, a large community of intellectuals working toward a common goal under an accepted methodology.”

It’s pretty hard to actually prove Ussher wrong. God could have faked the evidence, putting everything in place for us to find later on. Meanwhile, the geological record puts Earth at about 4.6 billion years old, a tad longer than Ussher’s six thousand years, but that’s science for you. Why should we believe science over the Bible? Because, per physicist and science communicator Sabine Hossenfelder, above, it’s useful. And it’s useful because it simplifies.

Take creation, Genesis vs. the so-called Big Bang theory. Genesis is complicated! For Ussher to make his calculation think of all the data required to put everything perfectly in place 6,000 years ago (complete with all that fake news). Then try to deduce anything from the Genesis story—how the 100-odd chemical elements were created, for instance. The real problem is that you can’t really do anything with the Genesis account. It’s not useful.

Compare that with the modern scientific story how those elements were formed, starting with the so-called Big Bang. Between the concordance model* and quantum theory (both of which require just a few input values), science can explain how elements formed. From simple initial conditions we can explain a lot. (This is reductionism.) Unlike Genesis, the scientific story is useful. You couldn’t end up with a smartphone if you got your science from the Bible.

* The currently accepted cosmological model, also known as “Lambda CDM,” which puts the Universe at 13.7 years old, says that it’s expanding at about 70 km/second per megaparsec, and that it consists mostly of so-called dark matter and dark energy. It doesn’t include the hypothetical Big Bang itself (neither big nor a bang), which is outside the purview of physics. Possibly forever.

Of course, today’s science won’t be the last word. Science is an ongoing process of refining knowledge, striving towards truth without ever reaching it. For instance, it’s only about 160 years since one of the best scientists of his day, physicist Lord Kelvin (William Thompson) estimated the age of the Earth to be between 20 and 400 million years. He didn’t know about radioactivity, the “missing” source of energy that explains why our planet hasn’t frozen. Similarly with the sun: not knowing about nuclear fusion in 1860, Kelvin had no way of understanding how the sun could be more than 20 million years old.

Generations from now, scientists may revise or toss out the concordance model, or quantum theory, or the standard model of particle physics + general relativity, currently our best bets for big-picture understanding of the Universe and everything in it. But, unlike Ussher, or even Kelvin, what we’ve got now is useful. Quantum theory explains why your smartphone works (and allows chip makers to make next year’s model faster and smaller, albeit pricier); while general relativity empowers that phone to tell you where you are within about a yard. (When I tell my drone to Return to Home, it lands within two feet from where it took off, thanks to half a dozen or so satellites 22 thousand miles overhead.)

So science = simple explanations = useful. What’s not to love?

PS: New book just out! In color!

Today in tea: Arcata’s Eric Black, who you may know from his reporting stints on KHSU, KMUD and/or KINS, or who you may know through his YouTube channel, Arcata News.

Discussed: What brought Eric to Humboldt from the Bay Area, and how a three-year spell in Israel made him realize that he will always be an American. His “passionate” (the Outpost’s John Kennedy O’Connor’s term) reporting on the Arcata Gateway Plan and offshore wind energy. Plus: Managing the late, lamented Has Beans; juggling; speaking Arabic; and more!

In honor of our guests unshakable Americanness, today’s tea time snack is 3-Ingredient Crescent Hot Dog Rollups. Press play on the video above, and feel free dunk your rollups in your peppermint/ginger herbal tea as we go along. You’re watching us, we’re not watching you!

Let’s face it: Broadway sucks. Especially for pedestrians and non-car users. Thankfully, Caltrans recognizes the deep suckiness of Broadway and is committed to making it better. 

You may have seen cones and temporary bollards and wondered, “WTF?!” Some of those are part of a “pop-up” demonstration of potential measures to make the road just a little bit safer — from bulbouts and curb extensions to improve visibility of pedestrians and to slow vehicle speeds when turning to “refuse islands” in the left-hand turn lanes — others (those north of Wabash) are part of a construction project.

When walking, biking, driving or moving yourself by some other unspecific means through Broadway, take note of how your behavior is modified by these demonstration pop-ups or whether you feel safer as a result. Caltrans wants to know! Go to this SurveyMonkey to share your feedback

Jeff Pimentel joins the show to discuss how Caltrans is considering safety improvements to Humboldt’s most dangerous road.

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RELATED READING:

• What the Heck’s Going on With Broadway in Eureka? Caltrans’ ‘Pop-Up Demonstration,’ Explained, May 24.

Oldtimers who lived in the South Park area (Wabash and Broadway) from 1906 to 1912 will remember Frank Winters, known around town as “The Pickle Man.”

His place of business was across Broadway from the old South Park Hotel. There were several stables there and he rented two of them. One was for his living quarters and the other for his kitchen, for his assorted creations from pickles such as relishes, chow-chow, sweet pickles, sour pickles, catsup and hominy.

He had a brother in Oregon who shipped him the pickles by the barrel and he made the above-mentioned products, in the place I just mentioned, from them. Most people agree that his products were much better than the 57 varieties at that time.

He would never allow anyone around when he was cooking up his secret formulas. I know because I was one of his neighborhood door-to-door salesmen when I was eight or nine years old.

Mr. Winters paid real well — 20 cents on the dollar, which was good for those days, but his merchandise was also high for those days so I didn’t sell too much, but to make 40 to 60 cents for a few hours’ work, I thought, was real good.

He had a lot of customers up town and during school vacation he hired me to go along and hold his horse while he was selling his wares in various hotels and saloons.

His horse, Tommy, was an ex-fire horse, having pulled the Eureka steam pumper at one time. One day, I was with Mr. Winters and he was in a sloon selling pickles when the fire whistle blew.

Tommy struck out for the fire house. He was too much for me to hold, but I did guide him lickety-split to the fire barn, without mishap!

Besides being an excellent pickle man, Mr. Winters was also quite a showman. On Sunday afternoons he often put on a free show with his horse Tommy doing many tricks. Mr. Winters had a trick of making a $20 gold piece disappear. He would palm it somehow and tell me that if I could find it, it was mine. I never did find it! I was told that at one time he was in vaudeville and came from a show family.

Around 1912 Mr. Winters disappeared from Eureka. Nobody ever knew what became of him. He walked away leaving everything behind, including his horse. The newspaper thought it might have been foul play. If any old-timer has the answer, I would like to hear from him.

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The story above was originally printed in the January-February 1977 issue of The Humboldt Historian, a journal of the Humboldt County Historical Society, and is reprinted here with permission. The Humboldt County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization devoted to archiving, preserving and sharing Humboldt County’s rich history. You can become a member and receive a year’s worth of new issues of The Humboldt Historian at this link.

Many members of the community were saddened to hear the news last November that Singing Trees Recovery Center –  which had served as a drug detox and rehabilitation center in Southern Humboldt for more than 30 years – was permanently closing its doors. 

Now, after six months of uncertainty about what would happen to the facility, KMUD News recently reported that Singing Trees is set to reopen on Monday, June 12 under the ownership of non-profit Pure Solution Family Services, and will again offer recovery treatment for those in need. 

“We’ve gotten so much support from the community and it’s been really amazing,” Courtney Bell, the new manager of Singing Trees, told the Outpost in a phone interview Friday. “The old owners put their lives into it and they’re really happy that it’s reopening.”  

Bell said that Pure Solutions took over the property in January, but a few setbacks – including the storms, which caused some damage on the property – have delayed the opening from what was originally scheduled. Currently the company is “leasing to own” the property, Bell said. So, Patti Watson’s family still technically owns the property for now, but Pure Solutions is paying it off and is in charge of all of the maintenance and upkeep. 

When interviewed by the Outpost in November, Watson said the two main reasons for the closure were staffing issues and the expensive maintenance of the center’s aging infrastructure. And Bell said that though the owners put in a lot of work to keep the facility operational, there was a lot that had to be done before reopening. Since taking over Singing Trees, the new operators have already replaced the electrical and some of the flooring and completely remodeled the kitchen and the counseling room.

Some sections of the center – like the famous sweat lodge – were in such bad repair that they had to be temporarily closed. So, Bell said, the sweat lodge will not be open for a while, but the staff is working to get it back up and running eventually. Bell added that the community AA and NA meetings that were held on the weekends will also return to the center eventually, but they will not be held immediately. 

As far as the staffing issue, Bell said that this has not been a problem for the new center. Several Pure Solutions staff members, including Bell, have moved over to the recovery center and some of the Singing Trees staff, including chefs and counselors, have been rehired. 

In addition to having some of the same staff, Singing Trees will offer many of the same services as before. The center will still hold 20 beds and offer options for two-week, 30-day, 60-day and 90-day rehabilitation programs. In addition to providing group and one-on-one counseling, the center will also implement some of the holistic healing approaches previously offered, such as yoga classes and spending time in nature. 

Pure Solution Family Services was started by founder Amber Bedell as a nonprofit that offers wraparound services for adopted children and their families in Humboldt, Mendocino and Butte Counties. Though Pure Solution does not usually focus on recovery from substance abuse, it does focus on mental and behavioral health services, which includes addressing problems with addiction and implements holistic approaches to addressing these issues. 

In an interview with KMUD, Bedell said that the taking over Singing Trees was an “amazing universe lineup” and that, after learning that the center had closed, she connected with the owners, who were very supportive of selling the space to someone who planned to reopen it as a recovery center. 

Though there will be many of the same services offered at Singing Trees, Bedell also said that the center will not be as focused on 12-Step recovery programs like NA and AA and will offer “a variety of modalities.” The center will still offer 12-Step materials and utilize some of those approaches, Bedell said, but will take bits from other recovery models and tailor a treatment plan to the individual. 

“It’s just not a one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter approach  — we believe in co-creation and we believe in empowering people,” Bedell told KMUD. Often people know the best what they need, they just don’t often have access or the ability to talk about it without a guide. So we can be that guide.” 

Singing Trees Recovery Center will officially reopen on Monday, June 12. If you are struggling with addiction you can call the center at 707-247-3495. 

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“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde 

For actor Virgo Marroquin, better known as their on-stage persona Komboujia, this one line, which is quoted by her character in Kinky Boots, perfectly embodies the overarching theme of the musical and the spirit of drag in general – that being your authentic self is crucial, no matter what others might think or say. 

“Our characters are all about ‘this is who I am and I need acceptance. I require it,’” Komboujia told the Outpost in an interview backstage at Ferndale Repertory Theatre, just before the final dress rehearsal of Kinky Boots. “It really drives home the fact that being who you are and having people who recognize that and nourish that is not optional.” 

Komboujia plays the starring role of Lola, a fabulous and self-assertive drag queen who, after a chance meeting with somewhat straight-laced shoemaker Charlie, ends up helping him save his father’s shoe factory by designing a line of high-heeled boots for drag queens. As the two work together they learn that they have more in common than they realized, especially that they both had expectations forced onto them that don’t fit who they really are. The musical (book written by Harvey Fierstein and music/lyrics written by the legendary Cyndi Lauper) is adapted from the 2005 film of the same name, written by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth and based on a true story. 

Charlie (William English III ) and Lola (Komboujia) share a special moment

This is Komboujia’s first time performing at FRT and the first time they’ve been in a musical since high school. As a prominent local drag artist and lead singer of local rock band Vegan Slaughterhouse, they are plenty comfortable on the stage. But being in this type of show, Komboujia said, is still a daunting task. There is so much involved in doing a musical – months of rehearsals, memorizing lines and group choreography, on top of performing the show three nights a week under the scorching stage lights – and it’s a lot to take in. 

And though playing the part of a drag queen seems perfect for a drag performer, Komboujia said that some aspects of embodying the role of Lola has been a challenge, especially since this is not a role that “someone like me traditionally plays,” they said. 

In the film and musical Lola’s character is written as and traditionally played by a Black man (Chiwetel Ejiofor played Lola in the film and Billy Porter, Todrick Hall and Wayne Brady have all played the character on Broadway). As a Latinx person, Komboujia said they were a little concerned about taking a role that may be better suited for someone else in the community. But after a bit of convincing, they decided to accept the challenge and worked with the director, Tiggerbouncer Custodio, to find ways to represent Komboujia’s identity, while still staying true to the character and the story. This required some slight changes to the script, to make Lola’s story cohesive. There are, for example, several lines where Lola or other characters speak in Spanish.  

Komboujia is also trans and non-binary and brings an element of that into Lola’s character. “I went in a different direction to represent a character who I don’t usually see represented in musicals – because I’m trans and non-binary,” they said. 

The show also features an ensemble of other local drag performers, including Glitterous Clitterous (billed as Glit Clit) and Cocky Muffington (Roux Kratt), who, along with actors Rigel Schmitt and Izzy Ferraro, play Lola’s drag entourage “the Angels.” The fabulous cast – which also includes William English III (Charlie), Elaine Yslas (Pat), Valerie Rose (Trish), Miah Carter (Harriet), Jessy McQuade (Nicola), Rocky Kratt (Don), Samahri Brice (Lauren), Brad Harder (George) and ensemble members Amethyst Shelton and Ash Quintana – bring tons of personality and joy to the show. And child actors Korbin Campbell (young Charlie) and Ziomara Paz Dominguez (young Lola/ Simon) are absolutely delightful. 

Gambino puts last minute touches on jewelry backstage at FRT

Because Kinky Boots centers around drag, there is a lot of focus on the costumes in this show (Komboujia alone has about 10 costume changes) and designer Olivia Gambino told the Outpost it was very important to her to bring an extra level of polish, glitz and glamor to the FRT stage. Gambino – who also does burlesque with local troupe Va Va Voom – has a lot of experience designing her own costumes and said when Custodio asked her to help with this show, she leapt at the opportunity. 

“I poured my heart and my soul into it and I really feel like I worked hard to make sure [the performers’] individuality shone,” Gambino said, as she was busy fixing rhinestone jewelry backstage. “We have three major local drag performers in this show and it was so important to me to say ‘I don’t want them to look like anybody else.’ I want them to be themselves out on that stage.. That’s what it’s all about. It’s all about being yourself.”

Gambino, with help from actor Roux Kratt who also assisted with costumes, brought a lot of items from her own closet and used some things provided by the drag performers in the show too, and added as much extra flare to the pieces as possible. Gambino and Kratt spent hours and hours painstakingly rhinestoning wigs and boots. Gambino said that the famous “kinky boots” – red patent leather thigh-highs, worn by both Lola and Charlie in the finale – took 14 hours per boot to rhinestone. 

But Gambino said that putting in all that time is worth it for her, because she loves helping her friends and gets to spend time with incredible people while she works on this show. Plus she loves local theater and being a part of a show that spreads such an important message during a time when it is really needed. “I feel that this positive message of both individuality and acceptance in the community is really important,” she said. 

And Komboujia whole-heartedly agrees that, especially during Pride Month and in a time when drag and the LGBTQ+ community are facing extreme backlash, both locally and around the country, that showcasing drag in a musical and the themes in Kinky Boots – love, acceptance, being yourself and not accepting the “role” that was assigned to you – are more important now than ever.

“I think it is important for people to see that there is an alternative and that there are people out here who are supportive of living authentically and not having to make concessions about who you are,” Komboujia said. “This show does a really great job of showing two people who are not from the same experience shake hands over the line, which I find really beautiful.”

You can catch Kinky Boots at Ferndale Repertory Theatre  Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through July 2. Click here for tickets. 

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Press release from the Center for Biological Diversity, the Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center and EPIC:

SAN FRANCISCO— In a legal victory, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today agreed to reconsider whether West Coast fishers in northern California and southern Oregon warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Fishers are relatives of mink, otters and wolverines, and live in old-growth forests. The Service has until Aug. 21, 2025, to decide whether to protect them.

“It’s great news that the Service is reconsidering its refusal to protect the elusive Pacific fisher, but waiting more than two decades to provide these protections is indefensible,” said Brian Segee, endangered species legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

“These fierce, plush-furred forest weasels have few natural predators, but they’re no match for people logging and poisoning their old-growth habitat. Protecting them under the Endangered Species Act is more important now than ever.”

Organizations first petitioned the Service to grant West Coast fishers endangered species protection in 2000, leading to a 2004 determination by the agency that the fisher should be listed as threatened throughout its West Coast range. But rather than provide this protection the Service delayed, arguing there was a lack of resources.

The agency annually reaffirmed the fisher’s imperilment for more than a decade until 2016, when it abruptly reversed course and denied protection. After the groups successfully challenged that decision, in 2020 the Service granted protections to fishers in the southern Sierra Nevada but nowhere else. The current lawsuit challenges the denial of protections in the rest of the fisher’s habitat.

“This is our last, best chance to prevent extinction,” said George Sexton of Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center. “The combination of logging, rodenticides and fires have pushed fishers to the brink.”

West Coast Fishers once roamed forests from British Columbia to Southern California but now their U.S. range is limited to two native populations in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains, plus another in Northern California and southwestern Oregon. There are also small, reintroduced populations in the central Sierra Nevada, in the southern Oregon Cascades, and in the Olympic Peninsula, Mt. Rainier and the North Cascades in Washington state. The Northern California-Southwestern Oregon population — centered in the biodiverse Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains region — is the largest remaining one but is severely threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation caused by logging, high-severity fire and post-fire salvage logging.

“For over 20 years, we have fought for the West Coast fisher and its imperiled ecosystems. Our organizations won’t stop until the species is afforded the full legal protection that it deserves,” said Tom Wheeler, executive director of the Environmental Protection Information Center.