In Yurok Tribal Court, reading to children is one form of restorative justice. "Yurok people care," says Lori Nesbitt. She's the Wellness Program Manager for Yurok Tribal Court in Klamath. Under Judge Abby Abinanti's leadership, Nesbitt's career has included helping turn parolees into better parents, distributing Narcan, facilitating rehabilitation classes for domestic abusers, home visits, and advocating for harm reduction.

"We've got some from Arcata High, we've got some from Fortuna High... we've got a lot of good competitors," says Marco Luna. "Those kids are chasing their dreams."

If time is a river, it makes sense that the historic Requa Inn sits at a river mouth. For over a century, guests have come and gone - but so have families, industries, and even dams. "There's six dams between here and the Klamath Falls in Oregon. And so they've taken down two dams now. And a lot of that conversation happened in that dining room," says innkeeper Cass Kuck.

"This [Humboldt County] is actually one of the most challenging environments to forecast the weather," says Troy Nicolini, the meteorologist in charge for the National Weather Service on Woodley Island. On this episode of Talk Humboldt, Nicolini explores the local climate conditions and the complexities of weather forecasting on the North Coast.

In February of 2020, Food for People, Humboldt county’s food bank, suffered from a sewage flood that wreaked havoc on their facility. But in classic Humboldt fashion, the non-profit turned a challenge into opportunity.

Fire poles and ladder trucks are quintessential to how most people think of fire stations, and Humboldt Bay Fire Station is no exception. But it turns out that Humboldt Bay Fire does much more than just firefighting. In fact, it's not even their most common service. "Our primary responses are medical, so emergency medical services are about 60% of our calls. Fires only account for about 4%," says Chief Sean Robertson.In today's episode of Talk Humboldt with Keith & Tom, Chief Sean Robertson talks about "enhanced moments", his very first fire, and the truth about rescuing cats from trees.

Looking across a pastoral lot in McKinleyville, Mary Keehn points to a family of deer. "Wait 'til we walk a little further to the farm, then you'll be able to see why this is such a special spot." By next year, she hopes, the edges of this 17-acre lot will be an intentional community for neurodivergent people and their caregivers.

Election results. Birth certificates. Property deeds. Marriage licenses. Juan Pablo Cervantes has the kind of job that simultaneously undergirds democracy, family history, and property ownership - all through the boring-but-important power of paperwork. He's Humboldt County's Clerk, Recorder, and Registrar of Voters, "a title so long, it has punctuation in it," he says. "It's one of those offices that few people know about unless something goes wrong."

If an adoptee is curious about their biological parents, or the Humboldt County coroner needs help finding next of kin, professional genealogists like can scour available information to piece together a family's history. "If I can get on someone's Facebook ... I can find your entire family tree," says Alyssa Ellis.A person's digital footprint is just one piece of the puzzle. Public records, DNA, and other proprietary databases can help forensic genealogists with cold cases, finding heirs, or simply helping someone find out where they came from. For Ellis, what started as a hobby has led her to tracking down someone's biological family, working with Tulsa's 1921 Graves Project, and probate attorneys find who they're looking for.

For better and worse, the North Coast is in earthquake country. While shifting tectonic plates define the epic contours of Humboldt's landscape, their seismological side effects pose a major threat to life and infrastructure. "We do live in earthquake country," says Jay Patton of the California Geological Survey. "And the really cool thing is that a little bit of knowledge goes a long ways in terms of helping yourself be more safe and resilient."On this episode, Patton talks about local tsunami maps, early-warning technologies, and what people living on shaky ground can do to be prepared.