Articles by Jacquelyn Opalach

January 2022

CUDDLE FRENZY! Fourth-Grade Students Donate Hundreds in Change to Humboldt County Animal Shelter and Meet Sapphire, a Kind Pit Bull Rescue

Superintendent of Schools Recommends Denial of ‘Samoa Beach Academy’ Proposal; Points Out Conflict of Interest with Danco

‘Looking for Beauty’: Local Artist Creates Book Honoring Humboldt’s Plein Air Painters

Eureka City Schools Board Overturns Mural Ban, Making Way for BIPOC Student Art

‘All COVID All Day’: Some Schools are Closed, Others Overwhelmed During COVID Surge

With Eureka City Schools Superintendent as Their New Boss, South Bay Union School District Staff Fear a Merger with ECS is on the Horizon

December 2021

‘Samoa Beach Academy’ Appeal Brought to Humboldt County Office of Education; Community Members Voice Support at Board of Education Meeting

Eureka City Schools Board Will Reconsider Recent Ban on Murals; Community Members Urge Board to Examine its Biases

After Eureka City Schools Board Votes to End Murals, Community Rallies for BIPOC Student Clubs That Were Planning Murals of Their Own

Local Parents Look to Open New ‘Learning Center’ for Families Who Oppose Mask and Vaccine Mandates

GRANGE WARS: Transition of Bayside Community Hall Property to State Grange has Been Messy; Fieldbrook Community Club Seeks More Local Attention for its Cause

November 2021

‘A Safety Net Beginning to Fail’: Child Care in Humboldt County Can’t Recover From the Pandemic

October 2021

What’s on the Docket for Humboldt County’s New Superintendent of Schools, Michael Davies-Hughes?

SUB SHORTAGE: Hoping to Keep Programs and Classrooms Alive, School Districts in Humboldt Are Increasing Pay, Offering Full-Time Positions in a Far-And-Wide Search for Substitute Teachers

Klamath Prescribed Fire Training Attracts People From Around the Globe to Learn And Burn From the Epicenter of Cultural Burning

Humboldt State’s Food Sovereignty Lab, ‘Rou Dalagurr,’ Will Uplift Indigenous Food and Culture

Humboldt County Superintendent of Schools Chris Hartley Resigns

New Grant-Funded Program Will Bring Social-Emotional Learning Through the Arts to Classrooms Around Humboldt

New Documentary ‘Lady Buds’ Shines Light on Humboldt’s Women in Cannabis During an Era of Hardship

September 2021

Academy of the Redwoods Students Walk Out For Sexual Assault Victims

A Study Looking at Humboldt’s Mental Health Services is in Motion, and Your Input is Welcome

Fortuna’s Apple Harvest Festival Canceled Two Years in a Row, But That Doesn’t Mean There Aren’t Plenty of Apples For You to Enjoy

‘Samoa Beach Academy’ Denied by Northern Humboldt Union High School District Board, But Proposed Charter School Could Still Open Through the County Office of Education

‘IT STARTS TO HURT YOUR SOUL’: Two St. Joe’s Nurses Talk About Life Inside the ICU During COVID

Some Parents Want COVID-19 Data From Schools to be Public, But Public Health Says the Request Isn’t Realistic Right Now

Local Parents Create Facebook Group to Track In-School COVID Cases and Circulate Petition Asking Public Health to Publish Those Numbers

Humboldt’s Schools Are Finally Fully Open, But Some Parents Don’t Trust That They’re Safe

August 2021

Humboldt’s First Fully Vaccinated COVID Fatality Lived With 30% Lung Capacity. With Confidence in Vaccine Efficacy, His Daughter Hopes More People in Humboldt Will Get Vaccinated, Too

Why Your Community Hall Might Close

July 2021

New Nonprofit Wants a Humboldt Where Aging-Out Foster Youth and Other Young Adults Aren’t Destined for Homelessness

This Free Program Teaches Locals Exactly How to Pursue the Trades

A BRIGHT LIGHT: At the Launch of Humboldt’s New Electric Microgrid, a Vision of the Future

With Push From New Nonprofit, Arcata City Council Will Soon Consider a Resolution That Would Decriminalize Psychedelic Plants and Fungi in Arcata

Speedy Local Teen is Revving Up for a Big-Deal Motorcycle Championship in Illinois Later This Month

June 2021

(VIDEO) Watch This Trailer for a Humboldt-Filmed Movie Created by T. Great Razooly’s Teenage Grandson

TOUGH PUFFIN: A Rare Bird Sighting in Trinidad Harbor

O My! There is an Oyster Fest, Of Sorts, Happening in Arcata Saturday

(PHOTOS) Kiddos, Parents and Bandemonium Spread the Love at Pride-Themed Arcata Library Storytime

‘A Resource for Imagination’: Eureka’s Synapsis Artist Collective Reinvents Itself at Historic Former Union Hall

‘IT WAS JOY’: During the Last Days of the School Year, Eureka High Performing Arts Students Got Their Turns On Stage

Most Humboldt Schools Are Not Regularly COVID Testing Students Despite Available Funding

May 2021

Aggressive Anti-vaxxers Protest McKinleyville High Vaccine Clinic, Harass Students and Staff

(VIDEOS) Arcata High’s AAPI Club is Here to Educate and Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Inside the Turmoil at Peninsula Union School, Where Staff Say That a Much-Lauded Administrator Governs Through Intimidation

Local Schools and Local Sculptor Adorn Jolly Giant Creek With Art That Celebrates It

(VIDEO) CELEBRATION! Eureka High Marching Band Parades Around Neighborhoods For Their First In-Person Practice in, Like, Forever

TACKLING PROBLEMS TOGETHER: Humboldt Schools Link Up and Learn With Taiwanese Kids During the Pandemic

April 2021

So How is School Reopening Going? Humboldt Teachers, Students and Staff Have Mixed Feelings About In-Person Learning After a Year of Pandemic

Hey, Parents of Girls! The Arcata Boy Scouts are Looking to Get a Girls’ Troop Going

In North Coast Schools, the Push is On to Recruit More Native American Teachers and Administrators