We usually have a hard time finding good things to say about a person we find humorless. Beyond acknowledging that he or she is, perhaps, “hardworking” or “dependable as the day is long,” we end up at a descriptive loss for these folks pretty quickly. Since we know, as Thumper the rabbit used to say, if you d...

Just saying “April Fools’ Day” makes me smile. In my life, every day is already pretty darn foolish. But it’s nice to have a special day to laugh — an especially rare commodity over the past year or so, given that the world feels like it’s going to hell in a handbasket. I never did understand that saying, but...

The announcement arrived quietly, the way fog rolls into Humboldt Bay — soft at first, then everywhere. At exactly 9:00 a.m., every screen lit up with a cheerful message from TechGov, the benevolent administrative intelligence that now managed the nation’s well-being.

It’s 1961. Lewy, Larry, Gene and I are leaving Illinois for Florida. Maybe we’ll get to Fort Lauderdale where we imagine the beaches are lined with bikini-clad coeds. We will travel in Lewy’s well-primered ’52 Plymouth, which runs fine but needs regular refills of oil. We have virtually no money. We’ll be sle...

One of my prize sweatshirts, from an 1985 anti-war dance festival, says, “Give Peace a Dance.” A slogan for today’s decidedly dire days might read, “Give Laughter a Chance!” For years, Kathleen Krauss, Joy Hardin and I led regular Laughter Yoga groups. The groups have ceased, but we still talk regularly and a...

If you’ve enjoyed KEET’s local programming like “What’s on Your Bucket List?” and “Studio Space,” as well as the national PBS programming as much as I have over the years, you’ve likely been aware of how very challenging 2025 was for our small but mighty PBS station. At times it seemed like everything that co...

“Together for health. Stand with science.” On April 7, the World Health Organization (WHO) celebrates World Health Day, marking the founding of WHO in 1948. The focus this April and for the coming year celebrates scientific collaboration as key to good health for all people and the planet. It even has a hasht...

Some three days after my wife, Janet, died and my four-year stint as her carepartner ended, I — barely knowing who I was now — emailed my friend Mara to ask about dogs that might need adopting. Whoever I was now, or would soon discover I was, after 24-hour-aday carepartnering for Janet, I was reaching out for...

While there are many directions to go with “it,” I choose the following one for now. As far back as I can remember, I have understood and practiced the policy of working with people who are smarter than I. Starting in kindergarten and throughout early education, I had teachers who were smarter than I. I learn...

Our fava and tart endiven Fallowed be thy bane Thy kingdom’s sun makes roots grow long In earth as it does in raised beds Give us this day our daily veggies And forgive us our pests as we forgive our weevils Lead us not to temptation but deliver us from Walmart For thine is the kingdom, the kale and garbanzos...

Dear Mother Earth, Thank you for planting me on Elm Street in Massachusetts, back in 1948. Too bad your elm children died from Dutch elm disease. However, the maple brothers moved in and did well. I tried to capture the beauty of their autumn leaves but didn’t have enough Sears catalogs or phone books.

About 51 years ago, my wife and I decided to take a West Coast vacation from our home in Minnesota. We had been married for about one year. Two days before we were scheduled to leave, my wife said she had a bit of a stomachache and was feeling nauseous. We made a quick trip to the doctor’s office. Imagine our...

The California Department of Aging periodically features shout-outs to programs for seniors throughout the state that work. In March, the Humboldt Senior Resource Center’s Mobile Café Program received a gold star from the department. The Older Californians Nutrition Program’s “Success Stories 2026” included H...

Joshua Howe, a physical therapist with Redwood Coast PACE, enjoys helping improve people’s confidence in their own abilities so they can continue doing things that matter to them. Physical therapists (PTs) work with people who have injuries or illnesses that affect their movement and range of motion. They hel...

“It ain’t in books,” Jack Hitt used to say. The longtime owner of Northtown Books considered bookselling a public service, a tradition still in practice the day the store burned down in January. Jack had once been Arcata’s police dispatcher. During a time on the East Coast, he was an ambulance driver. Upon hi...

Most Senior News readers will recall the Big Three networks on the family B& W TV. Back then, journalists often reported uncomfortable facts about U.S. military aggression, top U.S. administration corruption, labor strikes, police violence, etc., asking difficult and persistent questions holding public offici...

• Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him? • If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes? • Why is it that, no matter what color bubble bath you use, the bubbles are always white?

Want to find romance and true love in your “later years”? Hit the pool. That’s where Marlene Parsons, 78, and Edward La Rue Sr., 83, not only lit a spark but tied the knot.

People often assume hospice care must be quiet and serious all the time. And yes, there are many meaningful and emotional moments. But there is also a surprising amount of laughter. When people reach their 80s or 90s, something remarkable happens — their filters disappear. Here in Humboldt County, that can ge...

Humboldt County seeks citizens to serve as members of the county Civil Grand Jury for the 2026-27 term, beginning July 1. The jury consists of 19 members plus alternates to act as an independent body reviewing and investigating citizen complaints about the workings of city and county government as well as oth...