#64. From Fortuna to the Newsroom: Melissa Sanderson’s Journey of Community, Courage and Connection

Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, it's Scott Hammond on the 100% Humboldt Podcast with my new best friend, Melissa Sanderson.

Melissa Sanderson: Hello.

Scott Hammond: Hey, how's it going?

Melissa Sanderson: Hi, Scott. Good. How are you?

Scott Hammond: It's going good. Tell us who you are, what, what do you do? What's your day job?

Melissa Sanderson: Um, I am the publisher and own- owner of North Coast Journal

Melissa Sanderson: Inc.-

Scott Hammond: Inc

Melissa Sanderson: … which is a huge job.

Scott Hammond: I bet it's a big job.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: How long have you been owner and publisher?

Melissa Sanderson: Uh, let's see. April 1st, 2021.

Scott Hammond: But who's counting?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, everyone thought it was-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Melissa Sanderson: … a joke.

Scott Hammond: T- like, you're like a month into COVID.

Melissa Sanderson: I think that's the day I took ownership-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Melissa Sanderson: … was, yeah

Scott Hammond: … is it 2021? Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: 2021.

Scott Hammond: So right in the middle of COVID.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. K- I think COVID was over-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Melissa Sanderson: … by then. We were, like, on the ramp up.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: We were going uphill.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So I wanna talk about the paper, but I wanna talk about you first. So you came up through the, The Daily, The Times-Standard.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: Born and raised in Humboldt County, and-

Scott Hammond: Oh, 100% Humboldt?

Melissa Sanderson: 100% Humboldt.

Scott Hammond: Wh- what pa- SoHum, right? Or E- Eel Valley?

Melissa Sanderson: Eel River Valley. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: I was born in Fortuna.

Scott Hammond: Fortuna.

Melissa Sanderson: I got some dairy background.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Melissa Sanderson: Some PG&E background.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Melissa Sanderson: I'm all over the map with my family.

Scott Hammond: Are you guys a dairy family?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, my grandfather was a dairyman.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Melissa Sanderson: So-

Scott Hammond: Get up and milk those cows. Do your chores.

Melissa Sanderson: Yep, yep.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Wow, that's- No thank you. I had to get up-

Melissa Sanderson: I loved it

Scott Hammond: … I had to get up early twice this week.

Scott Hammond: I hate that.

Melissa Sanderson: I loved going to the barns and feeding the calves and-

Scott Hammond: Once you're awake, it's fun.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: It's great.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So did you go to Fortuna High?

Melissa Sanderson: Yep.

Scott Hammond: What'd you do after that?

Melissa Sanderson: Uh, Humboldt State, and then I got, uh-

Scott Hammond: Cal Poly, or…?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. No, it was Humboldt.

Scott Hammond: Humboldt State.

Melissa Sanderson: College-

Scott Hammond: Go Humboldt

Melissa Sanderson: … did some College of the Redwoods stuff.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Melissa Sanderson: Wanted to be a teacher, wanted to be a EMT when my grandma got sick. I was like, "I could do this. I could do a lot of different things."

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Melissa Sanderson: Ended up settling on this, like, marketing business world.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Melissa Sanderson: And next thing I knew, I was at The Times-Standard selling ads.

Scott Hammond: Selling ads. So how would we know about that? 'Cause I sold ads, but we'll come back.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So d- what'd you study at Humboldt? Was it journalism?

Melissa Sanderson: Business.

Scott Hammond: Perfect.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Great department.

Melissa Sanderson: I went in with a wanting to be a teacher, and I'm like, "Yeah, this isn't gonna work."

Scott Hammond: It's funny-

Melissa Sanderson: 'Cause I worked at a school

Scott Hammond: … the truth is teaching and sales actually in, when you do one of those, uh, diagnostics for job

Scott Hammond: interest-

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … they're very similar.

Melissa Sanderson: I bet, yeah.

Scott Hammond: You could, you could go either way.

Melissa Sanderson: It's all about talking to people and just-

Scott Hammond: Educating

Melissa Sanderson: … listening.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: Which I'm not a great listener.

Scott Hammond: I know.

Melissa Sanderson: I like to talk.

Scott Hammond: Please, then you're in the right spot.

Melissa Sanderson: I guess.

Scott Hammond: So what'd you do at Times-Standard?

Melissa Sanderson: Sold ads.

Scott Hammond: In Old, Old Town, downtown?

Melissa Sanderson: I was, I was the Old Town rep.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: And I hated it.

Scott Hammond: Why?

Melissa Sanderson: Because I was from Fortuna.

Scott Hammond: Oh, I see.

Melissa Sanderson: And I wanted to be the Fortuna rep-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Melissa Sanderson: … 'cause I knew everybody.

Scott Hammond: Who was the Fortuna person?

Scott Hammond: Brian?

Melissa Sanderson: No.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: No, I don't remember who it was actually-

Scott Hammond: He was the Fortuna guy

Melissa Sanderson: … when I started.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, at Tri-City, he was the Fortuna guy.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. But I wanted to be Fortuna.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Melissa Sanderson: And they're like, "No, this is your people. In Old Town, you have to only stay in that area."

Scott Hammond: It's territorial.

Melissa Sanderson: And I'm like, "Well, that's stupid."

Scott Hammond: Right. Why would you do that? So, so Nick, back in the day, they used to have these things called newspapers, and they would be delivered to your home, or you could pick up one up on a rack-

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and read it, and I worked for the Tri-City Weekly, which is a shopper. You remember that? And do you remember that?

Melissa Sanderson: I do.

Scott Hammond: It was around, right?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And our, our great nemesis was The Times-Standard, the daily paper.

Melissa Sanderson: You know, I never saw it as a nemesis.

Scott Hammond: Well, y- 'cause you guys owned us at that point.

Melissa Sanderson: Well, they were two different products.

Scott Hammond: They were. But it w-

Melissa Sanderson: They w- I, I mean, the, the Tri-City was around before the internet.

Scott Hammond: Imagine. Makes it sound so early.

Melissa Sanderson: Oh.

Scott Hammond: Pre-internet?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's ancient. No, Tri-City was started by, uh, a Christian organization church called The Gospel Outreach.

Melissa Sanderson: Okay.

Scott Hammond: And they started as a free paper.

Melissa Sanderson: Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: And it was free classifieds, and they were amazing, and the shopper just-

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … got panache, and it got better, and they threw money at it-

Melissa Sanderson: Right

Scott Hammond: … and it made money. And one day, Dean Singleton, your owner at the Tri's- Times-Standard, not your owner today-

Melissa Sanderson: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … came to the Eureka and bought it from my boss and friend, Ron Pileggi.

Melissa Sanderson: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Have you heard of Ron Pileggi?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Great guy.

Melissa Sanderson: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Good friend. And he gave him a giant check, and he goes, uh, he, and he let him stay on a year, which was really fun.

Melissa Sanderson: Right.

Scott Hammond: And so it was at that time that I, uh, left after that and became a cable guy. But yeah, you and I share a, a common experience-

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and that is slinging ads.

Melissa Sanderson: Yep. I was just mentioning that when I was at The Times-Standard. I would remember you would come in, and you would sling loaves of bread-

Scott Hammond: Oh, you had to bring them in

Melissa Sanderson: … at all of us.

Scott Hammond: Oh, don't tell Nick that.

Melissa Sanderson: It was so fun. I'd be, like, sitting there at, it'd be, like, 4:30 on, like, a Friday, Thursday or a Friday. I was always late afternoon you would come in.

Scott Hammond: And just hit people with bread?

Melissa Sanderson: And be like, "Anybody want bread? I got bread." And you'd just walk through the whole building.

Scott Hammond: Some bread. Barsolia Brown.

Melissa Sanderson: And you would… You're like Santa with your sack of-

Scott Hammond: People would love it

Melissa Sanderson: … what?

Scott Hammond: They'd get… Dude, they'd get a fresh loaf of, like, uh, f- uh, fleur-

Melissa Sanderson: It was, like, Franz. You-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Melissa Sanderson: … like, Franz loaf

Scott Hammond: … Franz bread

Melissa Sanderson: … was it big loaf?

Scott Hammond: No, it wasn't… I would not do white bread. I would do, like, the killer whole wheat. Get outta here. That.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: No, I would s- I, I would have, I had a hookup that I can't say anything

Scott Hammond: about.

Melissa Sanderson: Oh, it was so funny.

Scott Hammond: And I'd get a whole trunk load of bread, which is just fine.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And hey, friends, um-

Melissa Sanderson: I wish-

Scott Hammond: … friends in print

Melissa Sanderson: … I wish my, like, I had kids when I worked there.

Scott Hammond: They're $4 a loaf now.

Melissa Sanderson: I, I mean, I would've been like, "Yeah, here comes Scott."

Scott Hammond: Come Santa C- Santa's got bread

Melissa Sanderson: Well, I wasn't eating a lot of bread back then

Scott Hammond: Right. Right. It seemed healthy.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Anyway, that's funny. So where did you go from the Times-Standard? Did you ever go to, like, to, uh, Eureka Reporter?

Melissa Sanderson: No.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Melissa Sanderson: Uh, I call it my rebound job-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … which was just to, I don't wanna say get out of the Times-Standard, but I had had … I'd been finished with the Times-Standard. I had a baby-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … and I was ready to move on.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: So I worked at, it's no longer a thing, but it was 95.5 The Bay.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: And I managed that radio station.

Scott Hammond: With John Ford. Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: And it was there where I met a writer by the name of Jennifer Famico Cahill.

Scott Hammond: Oh, was she a DJ?

Melissa Sanderson: She was a sales rep there.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's funny.

Melissa Sanderson: And I walked in-

Scott Hammond: Hi, Jen. We don't know each other, but hi

Melissa Sanderson: … the lady who owned the radio station lived in Sacramento.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Melissa Sanderson: And she goes, "I want you to go by the station and meet with the sales girl there and the DJ." So here I walk in and I meet this DJ and Jen,

Melissa Sanderson: and-

Scott Hammond: That's right

Melissa Sanderson: … he was, she's n- not a good

Melissa Sanderson: salesperson.

Scott Hammond: How'd she do in sales? How were her numbers?

Melissa Sanderson: She talks too much. She makes fun of people, and, like, you either love her or you hate her.

Scott Hammond: You're fired or you get a really big order.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: But her and I were, like, a duo.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Melissa Sanderson: So we had a good, like, year run at that radio station until she got her job at the Journal-

Scott Hammond: Right

Melissa Sanderson: … as a writer.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, you got, you propped it up. I remember. You were the, you were the, you know-

Melissa Sanderson: We, we had fun. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Who else worked there? I, I, I-

Melissa Sanderson: It was literally, like, me and Jen.

Scott Hammond: And then John Ford was there for a minute.

Melissa Sanderson: No, he wasn't there when I was there.

Scott Hammond: Was he a DJ, too?

Melissa Sanderson: I think. I don't know. He-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Melissa Sanderson: … I don't really know him very much.

Scott Hammond: Was that before you?

Melissa Sanderson: He was, he was in a different media space-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … than I was.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: Where I had come from print.

Scott Hammond: Who am I thinking of? They were a D- they actually interviewed me for my book. It was one of, one of my book firsts, yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: It could have been John.

Scott Hammond: It's, like, went on the air one morning and-

Melissa Sanderson: There was Shannon, a girl named Shannon, and I o- and I remember her because her mom was a housewife. And I love the Housewives.

Scott Hammond: Like a TV housewife?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, like The Real Housewives of-

Scott Hammond: Oh, is that, is that her mom up in Willow Creek?

Melissa Sanderson: I, it might be.

Scott Hammond: Housewife, uh, of Orange-

Melissa Sanderson: Is she in Willow Creek?

Scott Hammond: … of Orange County.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. If you, uh, Sha- Shannon, if your mom wants to come hang out, I'll hang out.

Scott Hammond: Her mom is, uh, what's her name?

Melissa Sanderson: Well, her, her stage name was Quinn.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, it's, it's-

Melissa Sanderson: I remember that

Scott Hammond: … that's her name. Yeah, that's her.

Melissa Sanderson: Is that her real name?

Scott Hammond: That's her last name. And the lady's

Scott Hammond: … Is, is Quinn her first name?

Melissa Sanderson: Quinn's her first-

Scott Hammond: Come on. Yeah

Melissa Sanderson: … Quinn was her first name.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: And, uh-

Scott Hammond: It's Quinn somebody. She raises chickens in Willow Creek.

Melissa Sanderson: No way.

Scott Hammond: She's a really nice person. Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I don't know her personally, but.

Melissa Sanderson: She was on The Real Housewives of Orange County.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Melissa Sanderson: And I just thought that-

Scott Hammond: Real Housewife-

Melissa Sanderson: … I was

Scott Hammond: … of Willow Creek.

Melissa Sanderson: I'm like, "Shannon, y- your mom's Quinn?"

Scott Hammond: Hmm. That's cool.

Melissa Sanderson: So yeah, she was there, and then, um, we had a few sales reps throughout the, um, time. But yeah, Jen bailed on me, went to the Journal.

Scott Hammond: And did what? Became a writer?

Melissa Sanderson: She became a writer, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Melissa Sanderson: And then she told everybody over at the Journal how, "You need to get Melissa."

Scott Hammond: Really?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: And then-

Scott Hammond: To come and sell?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. Or, uh, to be a sales manager-

Scott Hammond: Just, oh, there you go

Melissa Sanderson: … for the Journal. They needed a sales manager.

Scott Hammond: Heard the cats.

Melissa Sanderson: And I'm like, "Ugh." I was pregnant with my son, and they're like, "Yeah, come, come, come to the Journal."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Melissa Sanderson: And I'm like, "I'm not gonna go. I'm pregnant."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: I'm not supposed to make life decisions when you're pregnant.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Melissa Sanderson: So they waited, and Jen, the first day I went back to the radio station from maternity leave, Jen's like, "She's back,

Melissa Sanderson: guys."

Scott Hammond: Get her.

Melissa Sanderson: And they were calling me and-

Scott Hammond: Get her

Melissa Sanderson: … like, two weeks later I was at the Journal.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So Judy and, and Carolyn made the offer you couldn't refuse.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: They were, I think they were scared, though, 'cause-

Scott Hammond: Who knows?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: So I was the sales manager-

Scott Hammond: They knew what they were doing

Melissa Sanderson: … but I tell Brian all the time, and I even told Jen, Bri- she goes, "Tell him how great you are at selling." I go, "I'm not gr- great at selling at all."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: I just present the opportunities.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: People can choose to take my advice or not.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: And really the only reason why I feel like I've done so well is because I am 100% Humboldt.

Scott Hammond: That helps.

Melissa Sanderson: I've never left.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: I've always been here. I went from living in my parents' house, getting married to my high school boyfriend, I guess you

Melissa Sanderson: could say-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … right out of high school.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Melissa Sanderson: And then 21 years later-

Scott Hammond: Two kids?

Melissa Sanderson: Two kids.

Scott Hammond: Nice. How old are your kids?

Melissa Sanderson: 13 and 10… 11.

Scott Hammond: 11. 11.

Melissa Sanderson: 11.

Scott Hammond: Fun.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. So I just never left.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Melissa Sanderson: And I try to maintain great relationships with everybody that I meet.

Scott Hammond: Imagine doing that.

Melissa Sanderson: And I mean, sure, I piss some people off.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Melissa Sanderson: A lot of pe- some people don't like me.

Scott Hammond: Come on.

Melissa Sanderson: But I'm loud.

Scott Hammond: How could they not like you? What's not to like? So, so filling it, filling the gaps, and s- so Jen is your writer.

Scott Hammond: And she-

Melissa Sanderson: Jen is one of the writers, yes

Scott Hammond: … she's, she's a chief writer. What, what's her title?

Melissa Sanderson: She is the arts and entertainment editor.

Scott Hammond: And our pal M- and your, your sales guy, Brian, who's your senior sales-

Melissa Sanderson: He's my senior guy.

Scott Hammond: He's a real senior. Hey, Brian. And Brian's a great friend of mine, and love Brian to death. So that's the connection there. And, um, so tell me more about, um, how you, uh, how the Journal came about. I wanna, I wanna go there. So Carolyn and, uh, Judy started this thing. Well, no, they bought it, and they came from the Arcata Union.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: When I was a young man with more hair, there was this 100-year-old paper called the Arcata Union. It was Amazing. It was a really well run-

Melissa Sanderson: Right

Scott Hammond: … little town, hometown paper.

Melissa Sanderson: Right.

Scott Hammond: And they were part of that team.

Melissa Sanderson: Right. And if, Judy, if you're watch- if you listen to

Melissa Sanderson: this

Scott Hammond: Judy, I'm gonna text this to you

Melissa Sanderson: … you, you can write in the comments and correct me.

Scott Hammond: She would too. Judy.

Melissa Sanderson: Do it. Uh, they were holding her voice back. They weren't letting Judy be Judy.

Scott Hammond: That's rough.

Melissa Sanderson: And Judy took it upon herself and I'm, I'm not exactly sure how she acquired the Journal.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: I'm not, I think I've heard rumors and, say that there was a f- prior person that had started like one or two issues of the Journal.

Melissa Sanderson: Um-

Scott Hammond: I think there's more. I think it had a couple o- at least a few years.

Melissa Sanderson: So they, um, they got it. Like-

Scott Hammond: And it might have been a monthly.

Scott Hammond: Like-

Melissa Sanderson: It was a monthly.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So Ju-

Melissa Sanderson: It was a monthly, and it was like a magazine type of-

Scott Hammond: Correct

Melissa Sanderson: … style.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: So they've, they've done a lot in their 30-plus years.

Scott Hammond: And then it went weekly.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So what is the North Coast Journal?

Melissa Sanderson: The North Coast Journal is about politics, people, and entertainment and art. I mean, it is, it's not a breaking news type of newspaper.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: It's investigative reporting-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … on deep issues-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … that are in our community or elsewhere that we are a

Melissa Sanderson: part of.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: Um, but it's, it's different than any other media in Humboldt

Melissa Sanderson: County.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: Um, people like to compare us to other, uh, outlets, and I like to tell at least advertisers or people in the community that we do investigative reporting.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: We don't really do press releases-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … or car crashes or things like that.

Scott Hammond: Right, or AP.

Melissa Sanderson: We're, we're, yeah, we're busy investigating.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: Um, so that's the main part of the editorial side. And then the, um, also the, the entertainment has, we have a Humboldt County trained too. If you're having an event-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … you're putting it in our calendar.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah. Your calendar, amazing.

Melissa Sanderson: It's the first thing you do.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: It's free. It goes online. It goes in print, and it goes to everybody in Humboldt County.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: Um, the Journal is an audited publication-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … that we have, um, an audit that we can provide to people that shows what people read.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Melissa Sanderson: Who reads it.

Scott Hammond: Big credibility.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, that's huge.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. So, um, because of that, we're able to have a big stance in the community-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … and really be able to provide, um, the things that no one else can.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: And the journalism that we're putting out, we don't wanna waste our time on the car crashes.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Melissa Sanderson: It's just not a part of our-

Scott Hammond: It's already covered

Melissa Sanderson: … we see it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: It's not real news.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Melissa Sanderson: It's just part of life.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Melissa Sanderson: Unfortunately.

Scott Hammond: No dumpster fire here.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Another one.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um, no, I, I think it's great. It, so y- and you're more diverse than just the paper.

Melissa Sanderson: Right. So-

Scott Hammond: Talk to me about, like, the shop in Ferndale and-

Melissa Sanderson: Oh, yeah. Okay

Scott Hammond: … 'cause you guys are really diversified under your watch, right?

Melissa Sanderson: So when I bought the North Coast Journal-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … um, the prior owner of the Ferndale Enterprise reached out, and I ended up acquiring the Ferndale Enterprise

Melissa Sanderson: newspaper.

Scott Hammond: That's the Titus family?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: And that paper is, like, 147 years old. It's a paid subscription newspaper, and it goes to more than just people in Ferndale.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Melissa Sanderson: It has a reach throughout the United States.

Scott Hammond: Still publishing?

Melissa Sanderson: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: So, um, that is also ran by the team at the Journal.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Melissa Sanderson: And then when I bought the paper, 'cause I live in the valley, I mentioned that I needed an office in Ferndale.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Melissa Sanderson: And when I said that, next thing I knew, I had Guy Fieri saying, "I own the bank."

Scott Hammond: Oh, boy.

Melissa Sanderson: "And I can't get any banks to come to Ferndale." "And I got this empty building sitting here. I heard you needed an office." And I go, "Well, what the heck am I gonna do with a bank?"

Melissa Sanderson: So-

Scott Hammond: Right. It's a beautiful bank

Melissa Sanderson: … I walk through the bank with his dad, Jim-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … and a few other members in the community, and we were able to concoct

Melissa Sanderson: this

Melissa Sanderson: store slash Flavortown Guy memorabilia slash-

Scott Hammond: Flavortown, is that his brand?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: Welcome to Flavortown.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: He does this whole thing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: So I have a little, like, eight by eight office that I work out of in Ferndale, so that way-

Scott Hammond: In the back of the store?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, in the store, so that way I don't have to drive to Eureka every

Melissa Sanderson: day.

Scott Hammond: Do you have a cashier? Do you, do you do the ringing?

Melissa Sanderson: So I hired my cousin, Katrina. She was driving to South Fork High every day from

Melissa Sanderson: Fortuna-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Melissa Sanderson: … with her prior job, and I was like, "Why are you doing that? Like, you can work for me in Ferndale."

Scott Hammond: Perfect.

Melissa Sanderson: And then she brings her baby to work with her behind the

Melissa Sanderson: register.

Scott Hammond: Everybody loves the baby.

Melissa Sanderson: Everybody loves the baby Rad. And, um, we've made it, like, a real community store hub.

Melissa Sanderson: Um, I-

Scott Hammond: It's a lot of cool products. All Humboldt, right?

Melissa Sanderson: All Humboldt products by Humboldt makers. Um, I am the lowest consignment in the county, so, like, we take very little to let-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … people display their products.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Melissa Sanderson: Um, we have other sources of income, so we don't need to take a big chunk.

Scott Hammond: And Guy Fieri's paying the rent.

Melissa Sanderson: And Guy Fieri, I wish. Um-

Scott Hammond: Is Guy cool?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, yeah

Scott Hammond: He seems like a great guy

Melissa Sanderson: He is. He is.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: I can see why people give him bad rap.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: I've learned now that like when you see him in Ferndale, like he's in his, he's at home

Scott Hammond: Yeah. He's relaxed

Melissa Sanderson: So when- but when pe- it's when the people barrage him, like he's a celebrity when he's at home-

Scott Hammond: Right

Melissa Sanderson: … is when you get the, "Oh, he is, ugh"

Scott Hammond: He's an idiot, yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: Whatever

Melissa Sanderson: But no, he's super sweet, super nice

Scott Hammond: He's on guard. He's probably on guard and-

Melissa Sanderson: His son Hunter is, um, he very much… Like we had the earthquake last week, and like

Melissa Sanderson: within 20 minutes Hunter's like, "Are you okay?"

Scott Hammond: Oh

Melissa Sanderson: "Is everything okay?"

Scott Hammond: How old's Hunter?

Melissa Sanderson: 27?

Scott Hammond: Does he live in town?

Melissa Sanderson: N- s- uh, they live in Healdsburg or Windsor, I believe. So he's getting married to like a pickleball player.

Scott Hammond: Cool

Melissa Sanderson: Professional pickleball player.

Scott Hammond: Why not? Who wouldn't?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. They're great.

Scott Hammond: I'm a pro.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: Really good. Okay

Melissa Sanderson: We, we added an escape room in the building too.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's cool

Melissa Sanderson: Because the building's so big.

Scott Hammond: Is it really that deep?

Melissa Sanderson: There are so many rooms that like the banks would use to like hold their paperwork and things like that, so there's no windows or anything. They're just, uh, empty rooms. So I concocted this crack the vault, like escape room.

Scott Hammond: There is a vault in there.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. So people had to find the keys to the vault, and they had to figure out which, uh, box number won.

Scott Hammond: Wow

Melissa Sanderson: And we went through about 200 groups. People loved it. So now it's a locker room.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: You gotta get a hall pass before you get in trouble.

Scott Hammond: Oh, okay.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: You changed it.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. And I, I was tired of tourists coming in to Ferndale

Melissa Sanderson: Sun, going, "What's there to do in this town?"

Scott Hammond: Nothing to do.

Melissa Sanderson: There's nothing to do.

Scott Hammond: Walk around and buy fudge.

Melissa Sanderson: And I go, "Did you go see the dead people at the cemetery?" And they're like, "Oh, yeah, we did that."

Scott Hammond: Go look at the steeple. It's cool.

Melissa Sanderson: "Go see the cows."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: "Yeah, we did that."

Scott Hammond: Do you know Paul up the steep- the old steeple?

Melissa Sanderson: I do know Paul, yeah.

Scott Hammond: He's cool.

Melissa Sanderson: He parked his Bug in front of the store the other day.

Scott Hammond: Oh, he's a Volkswagen guy.

Melissa Sanderson: He had a, he has a beautiful red Volkswagen.

Scott Hammond: Do you know-

Melissa Sanderson: He had it all decked out.

Scott Hammond: Do you know Shannon Dixon, who runs Pearson's?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, I was just texting him an hour ago.

Scott Hammond: He's great. He's worth-

Melissa Sanderson: Our, why are… I, I didn't think you'd bring up Shannon Dixon.

Scott Hammond: Shannon Dixon, he's a great, no, he's a neat guy. He, uh, he was in production, uh, graphic artist at the Tri-City when I

Scott Hammond: was there.

Melissa Sanderson: No way.

Scott Hammond: He was the Pearson dude, and now he's the Pearson dude.

Melissa Sanderson: That's, he was at the Tri-City.

Scott Hammond: He was a, he was amazing at Tri-City.

Melissa Sanderson: The stuff that I learned.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, Brian was trying to tell me that Jack Ricky and Dan Ricky were brothers.

Scott Hammond: Dan Ricky? Who's Dan Ricky?

Melissa Sanderson: Picky, picky, picky.

Scott Hammond: And Jen Ri- I think they spell it different.

Melissa Sanderson: They do. And I, I'm like, "I don't know."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: So we also, well, this, this leads in well to my, to our next thing.

Scott Hammond: Please segue.

Melissa Sanderson: The Journal, NCJ Inc., has a new magazine out on the streets called My Humboldt Life.

Scott Hammond: Oh, did you bring one?

Melissa Sanderson: So I did not.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Melissa Sanderson: You know-

Scott Hammond: No props

Melissa Sanderson: … maybe we might have to put you on.

Scott Hammond: I know.

Melissa Sanderson: Um, so I got tired of everybody saying, "Why don't you ever write about me?" And I go, "You don't want us to write about you,

Melissa Sanderson: buddy."

Scott Hammond: No. No, ask Joe.

Melissa Sanderson: You know, he might make a, can I say it on air?

Scott Hammond: I, yeah, maybe.

Melissa Sanderson: Blank moves.

Scott Hammond: Hmm. I don't know what that means.

Melissa Sanderson: A male part moves.

Scott Hammond: Oh, I don't know what that is.

Melissa Sanderson: Can I say it?

Scott Hammond: You could say whatever you, well, what, what, go for it.

Melissa Sanderson: Top 10 dick moves.

Scott Hammond: Oh, great. You're in the running. Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: I mean, I mean, that, that was this year, right?

Scott Hammond: The one top 10 that you don't wanna be part of.

Melissa Sanderson: No.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: No. And if you're like Rex, you make it twice in one year.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Melissa Sanderson: He's got the record.

Scott Hammond: R- the Rexord. Yeah, Rex, Rex, hey, Rex Bone.

Melissa Sanderson: Does he listen?

Scott Hammond: Shout out. Probably not.

Melissa Sanderson: Oh.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. He may.

Melissa Sanderson: Hey, I'm on it. He might.

Scott Hammond: Is, is he a 100% Humboldt guy? I think he might-

Melissa Sanderson: I think he is

Scott Hammond: … kind of be.

Melissa Sanderson: I think he is.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. He's-

Melissa Sanderson: You need like something else for like when our parents were born in Humboldt.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: So 'cause I was thinking, I'm like 200.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: But then both of my parents were born in Humboldt.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: So then that might be 400. And then my grandpa was born in Lolita.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: So that was f- mult- 400 again.

Scott Hammond: Wow. Like 400% Humboldt.

Melissa Sanderson: But then we go to Italy, so I think, and then it stops.

Scott Hammond: So you're Italian?

Melissa Sanderson: Italian.

Scott Hammond: What's your maiden name?

Melissa Sanderson: Well, my, my, my maiden name is Huber, which is

Melissa Sanderson: German.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: And then my mom's maiden name was Sinistrero.

Scott Hammond: Are you related to Mary Huber from, um, State Farm?

Melissa Sanderson: Hub-

Scott Hammond: Wal- Wal- Walker H-U-B-E-R?

Melissa Sanderson: No.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: No.

Scott Hammond: Curious. I-

Melissa Sanderson: I'm not, there's not a lot of Hubers around here that I'm related to.

Scott Hammond: Hi, Mary. Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: Hi, Mary. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Cool.

Melissa Sanderson: I've had that asked to me before.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: But yeah, no, Sinistreros, and that's me.

Scott Hammond: Sinistreo, he was a, uh-

Melissa Sanderson: I've got a golf pro in Fortuna that's a cousin.

Scott Hammond: Greg, yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: Greg, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Does he still run the club down there?

Melissa Sanderson: I believe, yes. And then Glenn was a, a principal superintendent-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … down in Fortuna.

Scott Hammond: You Fortuna folks are all, like f-

Melissa Sanderson: We stick together

Scott Hammond: … dialed, dialed in, yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: But I'm in Ferndale now a lot.

Scott Hammond: So that, that works. Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: So the, the other publication's called what now?

Melissa Sanderson: My Humboldt Life.

Scott Hammond: What's that about? It's q- quarterly?

Melissa Sanderson: So that is nothing but good news.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: It's every month, and it's directly mailed-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Melissa Sanderson: … to people's houses.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Melissa Sanderson: So, uh, you might pick up one. You might see one when it's, it's not all the time. So like every other quarter you might get one.

Scott Hammond: Is it in the rack in Old Town that I walked by?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, yeah. You'll see it in the racks every month.

Scott Hammond: I was on my way to Dick Taylor Chocolates- … in Old Town Eureka.

Melissa Sanderson: Nice segue.

Scott Hammond: And I saw your, I saw your rack there.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And I, I, I thought, "Eh, I'll grab something later."

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, so I like to feature prevalent business

Melissa Sanderson: owners-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … in the community that do great things.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: All positive.

Scott Hammond: Like Humboldt heroes? Recognize veterans?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: Does that ring a bell?

Melissa Sanderson: I think it does.

Scott Hammond: Nick says yes.

Melissa Sanderson: On, and only good news. I don't want any bad.

Scott Hammond: Dude, it's all good.

Melissa Sanderson: It's all good.

Scott Hammond: Tears of joy, tears of happiness.

Melissa Sanderson: Throw the bad stuff in the journal.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I know, I… Throw it in the journal.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. So-

Scott Hammond: We have the good news bucket.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: So, uh, I have Jack Ricky is gonna be Mr.

Melissa Sanderson: January.

Scott Hammond: Cool.

Melissa Sanderson: So-

Scott Hammond: Jack's a great guy

Melissa Sanderson: … look for Jack on the cover.

Scott Hammond: He's done a lot for the community.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. So-

Scott Hammond: Nice guy

Melissa Sanderson: … not Dan Ricky's brother.

Scott Hammond: His son runs Schaefer, one of the Schaefer's I think, right?

Melissa Sanderson: Uh, his son-in-law.

Scott Hammond: Son-in-law.

Melissa Sanderson: Tyson.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Good.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Well, that's cool. So what else? So there's subscription revenue, there's-

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … the store, there's the online piece. Tell us about your online traffic. Are you guys pretty happening?

Melissa Sanderson: Uh, we're all right. You know, we're not, we're not like some of the other media outlets in Humboldt County, but that's not what we strive to do. Um, I actually, when I took ownership of the North Coast Journal, um, I said, "I don't really care about website." Um, I'm all about the print product.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: Um, I believe in the freedom of the press.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Melissa Sanderson: I believe that stuff online can be deleted,

Melissa Sanderson: and that it's not really honestly covered by First Amendment.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: I think that, I mean, I'd love to see a Eureka Reporter website up still.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, that'd be fun. They pulled it all down, right?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. That s- doesn't exist.

Scott Hammond: When they lost the lawsuit.

Melissa Sanderson: It's gone.

Scott Hammond: That's too bad. Do you guys print on Western Web across the bay?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, here locally.

Scott Hammond: Does what's-his-name still run that?

Melissa Sanderson: Steve Jackson.

Scott Hammond: Steve Jack- Hey, Steve. Legend.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, he called me today.

Scott Hammond: Used to print in, in Paradise, the Paradise Post.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, I think I'm his biggest account.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Melissa Sanderson: I mean, we're printing two newspapers a week in addition to a monthly magazine and all work we do for clients.

Melissa Sanderson: So-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … we print stuff for a lot of the chambers here locally-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … and it's all just because we've built this network, we know so many people.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: And, you know, it kinda just comes easy to the people that I have on my team.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: So-

Scott Hammond: Respect and integrity and all that stuff.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: I mean, that's, I asked Brian, I go, "Why are we good at selling in Humboldt County?"

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: And he goes, " 'Cause of the relationships."

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Melissa Sanderson: Duh.

Scott Hammond: Here's what… Can I talk about Brian for just a sec?

Melissa Sanderson: Sure.

Scott Hammond: In sa-

Melissa Sanderson: I love Brian

Scott Hammond: … the reason that he's good in sales, Mr. Total Listener.

Melissa Sanderson: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh, really. And he, he could listen to me just go on, and, and at the end he goes, "Do you wanna buy an ad?" I go, "Sure. Of course I do." You're such a great salesman. He, he didn't do anything, he just…

Scott Hammond: I'm sorry.

Melissa Sanderson: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: He listens well and, and assesses need-

Melissa Sanderson: He-

Scott Hammond: … and dials it in

Melissa Sanderson: … he presents the opportunity.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: That's all it takes.

Scott Hammond: Consultive sale.

Melissa Sanderson: Get in front of 'em and see if they need it.

Scott Hammond: He's a wonderful guy. I love the guy.

Melissa Sanderson: I love him.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, your journalism is, uh, award-winning, but the paper is too, so talk about some of the journal awards.

Melissa Sanderson: Ugh. Well, not just writing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: Our writing pretty much wins California Newspaper awards for our division.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: Every year, whatever we put in will take some sort of award home with it.

Scott Hammond: Now, is this, uh, uh, of small papers independently owned, or could it be-

Melissa Sanderson: It could be any owned, any kind of owned

Scott Hammond: … the San Diego Readers probably has several-

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, they're-

Scott Hammond: … branches, right? Or Chico News and Review is probably-

Melissa Sanderson: It depends on what, how many, how much circulation-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Melissa Sanderson: … you are.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: So I believe ours is between, like, 15 and

Melissa Sanderson: 25,000-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … per week.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: And then we are compared to newspapers of

Melissa Sanderson: our caliber.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Melissa Sanderson: So, um, some of the awards that we've won,

Melissa Sanderson: um, Thad has just killed it in terms of the investigative reporting

Melissa Sanderson: awards.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: And then w- during COVID, we took w- this one award, and this was for all alternative weeklies throughout the United States.

Scott Hammond: So everybody.

Melissa Sanderson: Everybody who's in this all weekly group.

Scott Hammond: The Academy Award.

Melissa Sanderson: It is. It's like, it was in-

Scott Hammond: Goes to Thad

Melissa Sanderson: … it was in Boston.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Melissa Sanderson: And we had two categories where we could win, and when you win you have to get up on stage and take a shot, because it's alternative weekly world, right?

Scott Hammond: A shot of what?

Melissa Sanderson: A shot of-

Scott Hammond: Some-

Melissa Sanderson: … tequila or whiskey

Scott Hammond: … something.

Melissa Sanderson: I think it was clear, so it might've been vodka. I don't know.

Scott Hammond: Why not?

Melissa Sanderson: So-

Scott Hammond: Winner, winner

Melissa Sanderson: … we had two people up. It was Jen in the food category with one of her writing-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … and then the other one was our production department.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Melissa Sanderson: And they entered the COVID cover that we did that was a f- um, fabric template for a mask.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Melissa Sanderson: And you would fold open both the pages, and then you could lay out your

Melissa Sanderson: fabric and-

Scott Hammond: I remember that

Melissa Sanderson: … cut out the… And we won with that.

Scott Hammond: Very, very clever.

Melissa Sanderson: Oh, it was so good to win.

Scott Hammond: Very clever.

Melissa Sanderson: Ugh. We got up there to the shot.

Scott Hammond: Unlike the American flag that goes in the center at-

Melissa Sanderson: What?

Scott Hammond: … 4th of July that you put in your window, that's cool but-

Melissa Sanderson: That's so clever.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And J- did Jen win for food?

Melissa Sanderson: She lost that year.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Melissa Sanderson: She had, there's another alternative weekly paper that has a really good food

Melissa Sanderson: writer.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Melissa Sanderson: And that's, like, her arch nemesis.

Scott Hammond: Jesus. Is Jen competitive like that?

Melissa Sanderson: No.

Scott Hammond: Not at all? Okay. Didn't think so.

Melissa Sanderson: No. I don't think she cares when she loses, but she loves to win.

Scott Hammond: Hi, Jen.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Melissa Sanderson: She's gonna, like, ri- remember every word of this podcast.

Scott Hammond: That's funny. She's, she's-

Melissa Sanderson: I know

Scott Hammond: … she's like the, the narrator here.

Melissa Sanderson: I know.

Scott Hammond: She's like the thread. So tell me more about, uh, the, the layout has won awards, the, the format-

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … as well?

Melissa Sanderson: Oh, yeah. All kinds of stuff

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: The ads. Um, ugh. Okay. So people always, now that I own the Journal-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … people come to me and they think I can do anything.

Scott Hammond: And you're so rich.

Melissa Sanderson: Oh, yeah. So rich.

Scott Hammond: Driving the Jag out there.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, I got the Honda with the broken bumper in the back.

Scott Hammond: Nice. Publisher mobile.

Melissa Sanderson: Because I'm, I'm too busy to get it fixed.

Scott Hammond: You're running 10 businesses in one.

Melissa Sanderson: Anybody wants to trade out some auto repair-

Scott Hammond: Nice

Melissa Sanderson: … I'm your girl.

Scott Hammond: I love trades. When I … We worked, we traded all the time.

Scott Hammond: Tires-

Melissa Sanderson: I-

Scott Hammond: … trips.

Melissa Sanderson: Real- I need somebody to come do that for me.

Scott Hammond: Jewelry. It's so rich.

Melissa Sanderson: I just don't have time to go talk.

Scott Hammond: Oh, back in the day, I could tell you stories that were crazy.

Melissa Sanderson: Oh, I've heard some stories.

Scott Hammond: Jewelry and trips and birds.

Melissa Sanderson: Brian said at the Tri-City, that was like your Christmas party.

Scott Hammond: Often it was. We would have, um,

Scott Hammond: there's … I don't know who this guy was. It was Chet the Jet. He would come in from Oregon, and he'd come in with a list of things that he wanted to trade for. He needed a set of tires and this and that. And we'd go out, and he would, we would trade out a set of tires at wherever, Mulkey and Kavacovich.

Melissa Sanderson: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Oops. Doesn't matter where. Anyway.

Melissa Sanderson: God, I haven't heard that name in forever.

Scott Hammond: I know. It wasn't there. So and then Chet, in turn, would have coupons, and he would have, "Hey, do you wanna go to, um … Oh, here's the Hilton in Eugene," or, "Here's the Mark Anthony-"

Melissa Sanderson: It was just some random guy?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, he's reputable, sorta.

Melissa Sanderson: And you just took him to your clients and said, "Hey, this guy's got some stuff"?

Scott Hammond: No, we'd just go get the stuff for him, and then we would give them advertising, and he'd give us coupons for, um, the Mark Anthony in Ashland or wh- whatever. So, I know. Or a limo ride in, in Eugene.

Melissa Sanderson: Ugh.

Scott Hammond: So actually took the kids to

Scott Hammond: … I don't, can't believe I'm telling this story. So on a trade-out deal, in my commission was a trip to Eugene with a limo ride, fi- four nights in the penthouse at, upstairs in, at the Hilton in Eugene, which

Scott Hammond: was cool.

Melissa Sanderson: Okay.

Scott Hammond: And, like, unlimited McDonald's coupons, which was a big thing if you're a kid.

Melissa Sanderson: For all of your kids?

Scott Hammond: All

Scott Hammond: … The ones we had at the time, yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: Okay. How many? Was that eight?

Scott Hammond: I don't, I don't think we had eight then. I think we had five, four or five, and they kinda remember that. You, and a couple fancy restaurants.

Melissa Sanderson: Oh, for sure.

Scott Hammond: Nobody re- ever rode a limo in Humboldt County.

Melissa Sanderson: No.

Scott Hammond: Much less our kids, who didn't even get to go to McDonald's, so.

Melissa Sanderson: Right.

Scott Hammond: It was big doings. Anyway, so trading in, in medi- media.

Scott Hammond: Funny story. Whoa, talk about digress.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Whoa. So, um, you're a publisher, and you're super wealthy, and people hit you up all the time and wonder-

Melissa Sanderson: I'm wealthy. I with the free paper

Scott Hammond: … and you're power, and you're powerful. You're a power monger in Humboldt.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, so everyone's hitting me up. "Oh, you're y- you're their publisher. You're, can you write about this?"

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: And I'm like, "No. I'm not a writer."

Scott Hammond: Doesn't work that way.

Melissa Sanderson: I am not a writer.

Scott Hammond: Plus, you keep a separation, right?

Melissa Sanderson: Correct.

Scott Hammond: Ad department, sales department.

Melissa Sanderson: But I'm the publisher.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: So I control them, right?

Scott Hammond: No.

Melissa Sanderson: No, I don't.

Scott Hammond: You should.

Melissa Sanderson: They, I should.

Scott Hammond: You could.

Melissa Sanderson: I could.

Scott Hammond: Hear that, Brian and Jen?

Melissa Sanderson: But I don't.

Scott Hammond: See?

Melissa Sanderson: And I n- and I pr- and I, and I hopefully never will.

Scott Hammond: How do you walk that balance?

Melissa Sanderson: It's hard. It's really, really hard, and it's really hard with the Ferndale Enterprise.

Scott Hammond: I bet.

Melissa Sanderson: That is what's, that's the toughest.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause it's old school?

Melissa Sanderson: It's old school, and I have writers that d- that might not be of that community's liking sometimes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Sure.

Melissa Sanderson: And it's a small community, and I hear about every single

Melissa Sanderson: minute

Melissa Sanderson: thing.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: And nine times out of 10, I have no control

Melissa Sanderson: over it.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Melissa Sanderson: It is what it is.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: Write a letter to the editor. I don't do that.

Scott Hammond: Do they, do they do that?

Melissa Sanderson: Some of them do.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: I love the ones that go on Facebook and write the letters to the editor.

Scott Hammond: Do they, do you publish them?

Melissa Sanderson: No. They'll put them on their own Facebook page.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's dumb.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. That-

Melissa Sanderson: And then people show me, and I'm like, "What?"

Scott Hammond: I have 500 friends that just heard all about you.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, and of course they agreed with you.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: They're all your friends.

Scott Hammond: I noticed that you do publish a lot of oppositional stuff in the Journal.

Melissa Sanderson: We try.

Scott Hammond: Like letter, letters.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: You should check out this week's. We got Judy Hodgson commenting in there.

Scott Hammond: Judy Hodgson, your former publisher?

Melissa Sanderson: She wr- she wrote a letter to the editor.

Scott Hammond: I love it. By the way, we were at her winery last summer, and she loves you.

Melissa Sanderson: I hope so.

Scott Hammond: She digs you.

Melissa Sanderson: I did everything she wanted, and that is how I was raised.

Scott Hammond: That's cool. Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: If you worked for somebody, you worked.

Scott Hammond: I was like-

Melissa Sanderson: You did it

Scott Hammond: … I was like Carolyn, too. She's great.

Melissa Sanderson: I love her, too. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Is she still up in the area?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Fernandez?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Gosh, that's going back.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, they're here.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Melissa Sanderson: It's great.

Scott Hammond: What history.

Melissa Sanderson: I know.

Scott Hammond: That's cool. You got a cool job.

Melissa Sanderson: And then here I am now.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: Just trying to do these papers that people think I don't do, but that s- that brings me back to an award that I won first place on.

Scott Hammond: Please.

Melissa Sanderson: So I am a numbers person.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: And when … I n- I don't write, but finally, in the Enterprise, I was like, "I have to tell these people what I

Melissa Sanderson: do."

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: So I made a graph chart of our company, and it started at the top with me, and it explained every job by every person and how we all functioned and worked together-

Scott Hammond: Whoa

Melissa Sanderson: … to k- to make everything work.

Scott Hammond: Job chart.

Melissa Sanderson: And we entered that in one of the categories.

Scott Hammond: Was it funny, or was it just-

Melissa Sanderson: No, it was just like our actual-

Scott Hammond: Just a real-

Melissa Sanderson: … flowchart-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Melissa Sanderson: … of our company, and I took first place.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause you did that.

Melissa Sanderson: And it's because it was so done well.

Scott Hammond: Was it, did they graphic it up for you in the art department?

Melissa Sanderson: Oh, yeah, Holly in our art department, who's been there forever.

Scott Hammond: She's really good.

Melissa Sanderson: She needs to make a lot more money than I do-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … and a lot more money than she already is.

Scott Hammond: Shout out to Hol- hi, Holly.

Melissa Sanderson: Holly, big shout out to Holly.

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Melissa Sanderson: Um, and we have Rory

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: Do you know r- remember Rory in the Time Standard?

Scott Hammond: I know, I know his name. Was Thad at Time Standard, too?

Melissa Sanderson: Thad, yeah. W- we may have a little nickname for the Journal.

Scott Hammond: Oh, what is it?

Melissa Sanderson: TS West.

Scott Hammond: TS West.

Melissa Sanderson: 'Cause so many of us worked at the TS.

Scott Hammond: They're all emigrants from the Tri- the Time Standard.

Melissa Sanderson: So-

Scott Hammond: Refugees

Melissa Sanderson: … Thad and I started on the same day.

Scott Hammond: Gypsies.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. And then I brought Khalil. We got Khalil to come over.

Scott Hammond: I know her.

Melissa Sanderson: And then Mark Boyd came over.

Scott Hammond: I know Mark.

Melissa Sanderson: And then-

Scott Hammond: Hey,

Scott Hammond: Mar-

Melissa Sanderson: … Brian

Scott Hammond: Brian Walker, he came from- … Suddenlink, but via the Time Standard.

Melissa Sanderson: TS.

Scott Hammond: And he was at Tri-City.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, in Tri-City.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Brian, this is more about Brian Walker maybe than anything.

Melissa Sanderson: And Jen.

Scott Hammond: And Jen. Oh, I'm sorry.

Melissa Sanderson: I know.

Scott Hammond: Um, hey, so I have a question, and that is in an environment where print has been not dead, but it's been dying for a decade

Scott Hammond: or more-

Melissa Sanderson: Yes

Scott Hammond: … with the internet, part of why I left the Tri-City, 'cause it was on its

Scott Hammond: way out.

Melissa Sanderson: Correct.

Scott Hammond: Uh, the internet killed it, which is fine. It is what it is. How do you, um, how do you see what you're doing, uh, changing? I, I like to think of it as you're sort of like vinyl making a comeback.

Melissa Sanderson: We are.

Scott Hammond: I mean, so-

Melissa Sanderson: I literally-

Scott Hammond: I think of that metaphorically as a record. You know, it's not CDs or cassettes anymore

Melissa Sanderson: … I just left the office before I came here, and Brian

Melissa Sanderson: mentioned-

Scott Hammond: Brian Walk-

Melissa Sanderson: Brian mentioned to me that, um, one of our other sales reps, A- Asia, uh, was just reading in the New York Times about-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … how print is making a massive comeback right now.

Scott Hammond: I would like to read a paper.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. And the thing about the Journal is it's never dipped.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: It's always had the s- same set of

Melissa Sanderson: readers-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Melissa Sanderson: … the same printing if not more-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Melissa Sanderson: … than it's ever had.

Scott Hammond: Whereas the daily has really dipped, right? The numbers would tell us all that. Just fact, without-

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … without, without ripping on them. It's just fact.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, I heard that it's not, they're not good.

Scott Hammond: Remember they were 25, 30,000 on Sunday.

Melissa Sanderson: When I was … When I worked there, it was 32,000 on Sunday I remember selling.

Scott Hammond: Wow, that's huge.

Melissa Sanderson: And, and it… When I sold ads there, it was

Melissa Sanderson: … It worked, and that's why it was easy.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: And then we got to, uh, the t- I remember the turning point, and you weren't there. You were at Suddenlink.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: The owners of some, I don't think it was Singleton. It might have been Singleton. Did he have a cane?

Scott Hammond: He did at the end. He was, I think he was ill.

Melissa Sanderson: There was a man with a cane that came into the Time Standard office, and they said, "This is, um-

Scott Hammond: Do you-

Melissa Sanderson: … We're, we're no longer selling print. We are selling digital."

Scott Hammond: Right.

Melissa Sanderson: And they changed the way we all were being

Melissa Sanderson: paid.

Scott Hammond: That's right.

Melissa Sanderson: And we would … We were like in a day told that, had to tell our clients how great print was and how great the Time Standard was, and then we had to tell them, "Oh, no, you don't wanna buy that. We're buying this imaginary digital thing."

Scott Hammond: Right.

Melissa Sanderson: And that's, that was the downfall of them.

Scott Hammond: Selling futures.

Melissa Sanderson: That day.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: That day.

Scott Hammond: No more print.

Melissa Sanderson: And yeah, so that's what, that's what really makes me drive hard with the Journal-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … is that it's there. It's never going away.

Scott Hammond: So your numbers never dipped in your audits.

Melissa Sanderson: No.

Scott Hammond: That's amazing.

Melissa Sanderson: Even during COVID.

Scott Hammond: That's incredible.

Melissa Sanderson: We never, we never wanted to change. So i- if anything, during COVID, people just, if they couldn't get it on

Melissa Sanderson: a rack-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Melissa Sanderson: … they would just go online and read it.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Melissa Sanderson: Because it's free on a rack and it's free online.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: I don't think I'll ever ask for a paywall on the Journal website, and that's a big thing in the digital world.

Scott Hammond: Huge.

Melissa Sanderson: And I'm like, "Why?"

Scott Hammond: It hurts me when I have to pay for the other.

Melissa Sanderson: Um, another thing I'm pretty big on right now is what's going on in the government with like the bills and such that they're trying to pass. So there's been-

Scott Hammond: Which one?

Melissa Sanderson: … got a, well, there's AV 1328 that was going on, and it's more in the, uh, media industry.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: So it's basically like, so when Thad and Jen write an article and it prints in the newspaper-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … Mark Zuckerberg doesn't know. He doesn't know what's in there. But as soon as we take those words and we put them on our website, they're fair game.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's the bill.

Melissa Sanderson: So they take-

Scott Hammond: So he could steal his story

Melissa Sanderson: … they take our stories, and sure they give us credit, but ultimately they're getting the revenue because they're reading them on their-

Scott Hammond: Correct

Melissa Sanderson: … apps.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: So they're getting the revenue, and we're not getting nothing.

Scott Hammond: Saw the PBS special where there's a reduction big time-

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … of news sources-

Melissa Sanderson: Yes

Scott Hammond: … in the world.

Melissa Sanderson: Yes.

Scott Hammond: So they're redic- reduced down to these l- few news sources who are creating organic news. Thank you, Tha-

Melissa Sanderson: Right

Scott Hammond: … Thad.

Scott Hammond: And,

Scott Hammond: and-

Melissa Sanderson: Giving this content to these corporations-

Scott Hammond: Right

Melissa Sanderson: … that are just getting-

Scott Hammond: Who didn't pay for it

Melissa Sanderson: … bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger.

Scott Hammond: Who didn't pay for it.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. And here we are trying to make our own websites

Melissa Sanderson: grow-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … so then we can get those ad revenue.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: But we also are turning papers over every week and doing things like that.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Melissa Sanderson: And we can't produce enough content because that's not our MO, breaking news, things like that.

Melissa Sanderson: That's-

Scott Hammond: Right. Hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: And, and we also try and stay really true to Humboldt, so I don't have Google ads on the Journal website. You won't see-

Scott Hammond: I've seen that you don't have ads at all.

Melissa Sanderson: We, we do.

Scott Hammond: Do you have lo- Well, yeah, you have ads.

Melissa Sanderson: Well, they're local. Like you'll see a-

Scott Hammond: They're local ads

Melissa Sanderson: … Shannon Dixon's Pearsons is on there.

Scott Hammond: Shannon. Did they rename the store?

Melissa Sanderson: Shannon Dixon Spearsons.

Scott Hammond: So what do you like about Humboldt?

Melissa Sanderson: I love Humboldt. I don't like Humboldt.

Scott Hammond: You love… Okay, love, love Hum-

Melissa Sanderson: Okay

Scott Hammond: … wait, that's Rex's motto.

Melissa Sanderson: I know.

Scott Hammond: Love Humboldt. He always signs his Facebook-

Melissa Sanderson: He stole it from me.

Scott Hammond: Did he? I, he probably… Rex.

Melissa Sanderson: Uh-

Scott Hammond: What do you enjoy about living here? What's cool for you?

Melissa Sanderson: Well, I don't know anything else. That's the first thing.

Scott Hammond: That's okay.

Melissa Sanderson: I panic when I hit the bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: That's just about as far as I'll go.

Scott Hammond: We were just there. It's horrible.

Melissa Sanderson: It's horrible. My dad, when we go to San Francisco Giants games, he would be like, we'd know as soon as we'd get to, like, Tiburon, it was San Francisco mode. You had to shut up.

Scott Hammond: Right, 'cause Dad's freaking out.

Melissa Sanderson: He's gotta focus.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause the traffic's doing crazy.

Melissa Sanderson: And that, I could not imagine living somewhere like that.

Scott Hammond: We were just there Monday. By the ballpark it took 25 minutes to go a quarter mile.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It was total gridlock, and I'm losing my Humboldt mind.

Melissa Sanderson: Miserable.

Scott Hammond: My ever loving Humboldt mind.

Melissa Sanderson: Yes.

Scott Hammond: And it's terrible.

Melissa Sanderson: Um, I'm really, truly, I feel like I'm an introvert. I like to be a homebody. I like to not be around a lot of people.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: Humboldt is that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: Uh-

Scott Hammond: You could do either.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: I, and I don't know, I don't know any better.

Scott Hammond: So what do you do when you're home having fun? What, what's your-

Melissa Sanderson: Ugh

Scott Hammond: … when you're not being publisher, everything?

Melissa Sanderson: That's a really hard question because I f- the last, since I bought the journal-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … I, I- I've been go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

Scott Hammond: Really?

Melissa Sanderson: Go, go. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: Well, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Time to relax a little. It's Christmas, you know.

Melissa Sanderson: I know, and that's the worst.

Scott Hammond: Time to chill a little bit here.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. Like, if I get an idea, I will just, if it makes sense, I will do it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: There's no stopping me. It's 100%.

Scott Hammond: Is that ADD, OCD?

Melissa Sanderson: I think it's a, I think I have ADHD a little bit.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: That, that's definitely a thing.

Melissa Sanderson: I will just drive and go.

Scott Hammond: I got accused of that. It really offended me, and I told somebody, I go, "Dan." My boss told me I, I got ADD, and she goes, "Duh." Thanks for nothing. You know?

Melissa Sanderson: Well, my, my really good friend that I-

Scott Hammond: Achievers have it, trust me.

Melissa Sanderson: She has it, and I'm just like her.

Scott Hammond: So there, there it is. So what's our, uh, what are our issues, just our, our, our county issues in your mind, and what are we doing to solve them? What, what, what can we do? What's our problem?

Melissa Sanderson: Uh, I don't think we're original.

Scott Hammond: Ooh.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Good one.

Melissa Sanderson: I wanna put pressure on Humboldt County.

Scott Hammond: To get original?

Melissa Sanderson: To get original.

Scott Hammond: Like-

Melissa Sanderson: To think outside the box

Scott Hammond: … like in what way?

Melissa Sanderson: So-

Scott Hammond: Jobs or what?

Melissa Sanderson: Okay. I-

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: We're getting deep.

Scott Hammond: I know.

Scott Hammond: Go for it.

Melissa Sanderson: The Christmas tree.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, Ferndale.

Melissa Sanderson: I don't think Eureka really needed to do what they

Melissa Sanderson: did.

Scott Hammond: Oh, here it comes. Ferndale.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: It wasn't original.

Scott Hammond: It's still, it's not a spruce.

Melissa Sanderson: I know, but it wasn't original.

Scott Hammond: Well-

Melissa Sanderson: It's like they coulda… Like, the skywalk, that's awesome.

Scott Hammond: That's original.

Melissa Sanderson: That's original. Improve, like, do more with that. Give it something more. But instead, it's just another tall

Melissa Sanderson: tree.

Scott Hammond: With some lights on it.

Melissa Sanderson: With lights on it, but we already have that.

Scott Hammond: Well, wait a minute. So now the Skunk Tr- Train Tree-

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … that you have to travel to.

Melissa Sanderson: Right.

Scott Hammond: Is it, is that a redwood?

Melissa Sanderson: And, and it's on private land.

Scott Hammond: Is it a redwood?

Melissa Sanderson: And I think that's a redwood too, but it's not really about the tree. I'm just giving, using that as an example.

Scott Hammond: That's fair. Was Ferndale the largest Christmas tree in the nation?

Melissa Sanderson: Living.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Melissa Sanderson: Like, still in the ground.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. It hurts to lose that, doesn't it?

Melissa Sanderson: And they've been… Well, I, I could care less.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. It's a ni- it's a nice thing.

Melissa Sanderson: I just think that the, the 90-year tradition-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … with the firemen, if you go on YouTube, type it in, and watch the video of them-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … hoisting the lights in the morning.

Scott Hammond: It's a whole thing.

Melissa Sanderson: It's, it's, like, it's a little moving.

Scott Hammond: It's way up there, too. What-

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … how big is the tree?

Melissa Sanderson: Like, 160 feet or something. And, like, to watch all the guys, like, pull the lights up, and, like, they get the College of the Redwoods baseball team, I think, helps.

Scott Hammond: That's cool. They weren't there during the earthquake, were they?

Melissa Sanderson: No, it was already lit. On December 1st is when we lit it this year.

Scott Hammond: Were you down in Ferndale for the earthquake?

Melissa Sanderson: I was.

Scott Hammond: I bet that shook in the bank, huh?

Melissa Sanderson: Oh, it was… Yeah, it was good.

Scott Hammond: Oh, crap.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah. I, and, and the bank, now is the lawyer guy still around that sues everybody that has businesses? He's gone?

Scott Hammond: He's been gone for 20 years.

Melissa Sanderson: Thank God.

Scott Hammond: Is his name Singletary? Singleton?

Melissa Sanderson: Singleton.

Scott Hammond: Single something.

Melissa Sanderson: Ton. No.

Scott Hammond: He was a super turd.

Melissa Sanderson: So-

Scott Hammond: He was awful

Melissa Sanderson: … the bank building is in Ferndale, built in 1911. The doors open in.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Melissa Sanderson: They don't open out.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Melissa Sanderson: So when the earthquake hit, Katrina had her baby, Brad, in the stroller.

Scott Hammond: His name is Brad?

Melissa Sanderson: Try- yeah, trying to get out, but she's gotta open the door in and push the stroller out at the same time. I mean, with nine kids, you know how hard that is.

Scott Hammond: I have never tried that.

Melissa Sanderson: And I'm coming from the back room yelling, "Keep going." And I ended up just shoving him out the door-

Scott Hammond: Okay, it's go-

Melissa Sanderson: … while everything was still shaking and-

Scott Hammond: Oh, it was so l- it was the longest minute.

Melissa Sanderson: It was awful.

Scott Hammond: So downtown Eureka, I walk out, and it's a set from a Hollywood movie. There's sirens, bumper-to-bumper traffic, which there never is at 11:00 in the morning in Eureka.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: People in clusters, in, in groups that, that have evacuated already from, from downtown.

Melissa Sanderson: Oh, because of the tsunami warning.

Scott Hammond: The peop- so the tsunami piece was really interesting.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, that was interesting.

Scott Hammond: Here it is, like 30 minutes later, and there's gridlock. It's like, no, you would've drowned by now if there was gonna s- a tsunami's gonna be there in 15 minutes-

Melissa Sanderson: Right, that's all you got

Scott Hammond: … if. Yeah, so it's like, no, you get out of your office, you run like hell. Like really fast.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: Uphill.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: And get out of there.

Melissa Sanderson: So we know where our zone is at the Journal. It's a part of our safety meeting.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, you're in the zone.

Melissa Sanderson: We are in the zone.

Scott Hammond: Where does it stop?

Melissa Sanderson: You know where it stops?

Scott Hammond: Sixth or fifth?

Melissa Sanderson: The Local Beer Bar. So that is our meetup spot.

Scott Hammond: Joanie just laughed at, my wife was just telling me, she goes, um,

Scott Hammond: run, uh, go, "No, we're gonna rendezvous at The Local or something."

Melissa Sanderson: Where we-

Scott Hammond: And they had to correct it. Uh, what was it? The Local Bar? The Local-

Melissa Sanderson: I don't-

Scott Hammond: Ah, something. It was funny 'cause there's a bar called-

Melissa Sanderson: The Local

Scott Hammond: … There's The Local. Did you guys go to The Local?

Melissa Sanderson: Well, yeah, it's right up from the Journal office.

Scott Hammond: Where is that?

Melissa Sanderson: It's by Domino's Pizza there on Fourth Street.

Scott Hammond: Oh, the cider bar.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, so that's our tsunami-

Scott Hammond: That's your rendezvous point?

Melissa Sanderson: Rendezvous point.

Scott Hammond: Hilarious. Love it in the morning, cider.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, but then in Fr- so I was in Ferndale and I get the alert on my phone, and I'm not even in the zone,

Melissa Sanderson: right?

Scott Hammond: Ferndale's, would they be in a flood zone?

Melissa Sanderson: Not in, not on Main Street. When you drive on 211 going over to Ferndale and-

Scott Hammond: All kinds of floods

Melissa Sanderson: … pay attention to the tsunami signs. You're entering, you're exiting, you're entering.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause it's-

Melissa Sanderson: All the way as you wind

Scott Hammond: … comes and goes.

Melissa Sanderson: But in up through the town, yeah, the, the Main Street, you're not in it.

Scott Hammond: You're okay.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, so everyone's freaking out.

Scott Hammond: We're gonna go to the graveyard in Ferndale.

Melissa Sanderson: They're like, "We're going up the Wildcat."

Scott Hammond: Yeah, right.

Melissa Sanderson: I'm like, "Dude, we're not even in the zone."

Scott Hammond: That's so funny.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So you want us to be more original.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, I think that.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: I think we can be a little bit more original.

Scott Hammond: Like creative?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, like I just… Yes, creative.

Scott Hammond: So reinvent Arcata, cannabis, reinvent Cal Poly, reinvent-

Melissa Sanderson: No

Scott Hammond: … Old Town?

Melissa Sanderson: No. Just to like think outside the box a little bit. Like when we-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … bring something new to the county-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … or like a new business or something like that, it's different.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: It's not something that we have already.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: I feel like I just see so much repetitiveness here.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. It's funny 'cause there's such a creative element-

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and artists and people, entrepreneurial-

Melissa Sanderson: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … that are great.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And yet no one else has done an escape house

Scott Hammond: for a while.

Melissa Sanderson: Well-

Scott Hammond: There was one in Old Town, but it's gone

Melissa Sanderson: … there was one in Old Town.

Scott Hammond: It went out.

Melissa Sanderson: It went out. The people moved away. And it's something that we don't have within 250 miles.

Scott Hammond: It was fun.

Melissa Sanderson: And I've had my, one of my biggest, uh, groups that loves to come through is Providence Health.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Melissa Sanderson: They're bringing every department through.

Scott Hammond: Really? They do that as like a group thing?

Melissa Sanderson: And they do it as like a team bonding thing.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Melissa Sanderson: It's really fun to watch.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Melissa Sanderson: I've had the F- Fortuna Police Department do it.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: I had the sheriff's department do it.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, it's-

Scott Hammond: Could we do Scott Hammond and State Farm too?

Melissa Sanderson: You can. Get a team together.

Scott Hammond: I have a team.

Melissa Sanderson: Maybe I could-

Scott Hammond: Do that

Melissa Sanderson: … live stream it.

Scott Hammond: Well, that would be…

Scott Hammond: Thank you.

Melissa Sanderson: People beg me all the time. They're like, "Could you like put this on YouTube so we could watch it?"

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: I, I'm waiting for a proposal-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Melissa Sanderson: … in the escape room. I feel like it would be a perfect place for somebody, like the last-

Scott Hammond: To shoot something

Melissa Sanderson: … thing before they get out of the room-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … they open the box and there's the ring.

Scott Hammond: Ah. Ooh.

Melissa Sanderson: I know, right?

Scott Hammond: That's original.

Melissa Sanderson: I know.

Scott Hammond: Look at you. I like that.

Scott Hammond: So-

Melissa Sanderson: I have, I have my bucket list

Scott Hammond: … so everybody sat here and said our problems are housing, homelessness,

Scott Hammond: and health.

Melissa Sanderson: No.

Scott Hammond: And you're saying originality.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Which I, which could solve all three of those.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I like that.

Melissa Sanderson: I mean, everybody has those problems.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: They're never gonna go away.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Melissa Sanderson: So let's just be a little bit original in h- how we do

Melissa Sanderson: things-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … from everything, from a, from businesses-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … to how we put a road in.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Bring music in that's original.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That'd be cool. H- so in the future, what are you thinking for Rad and your two kids? What's, what's this, what's this county gonna be like? What would you, what's your vision? What would you like to see if you could wave-

Melissa Sanderson: Um

Scott Hammond: … the publisher wand and make it all magical?

Melissa Sanderson: God. You know, I don't know what's gonna happen,

Melissa Sanderson: but, um-

Scott Hammond: What would you like?

Melissa Sanderson: I'd like it to stay as, um, I don't wanna say wholesome. I don't think that's the word.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: Um, but I don't want it to look like San Francisco.

Scott Hammond: Oh, no.

Melissa Sanderson: I don't want, that's what I don't want.

Melissa Sanderson: Um, I think that the tech industry needs to not be anywhere up

Melissa Sanderson: here.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: I don't wanna, I don't really wanna see that.

Scott Hammond: Where are we gonna house them? We'd have to get real original.

Melissa Sanderson: I mean, I know that my son wants to be like his dad. He wants to build houses.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: He wants to, you know, learn how things work. Uh, I'd like to see more of our-

Scott Hammond: trades

Melissa Sanderson: … trades, 100%.

Scott Hammond: I like that. 100% Humboldt trades.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Hm.

Melissa Sanderson: And like just don't rewrite the book on the easy stuff.

Scott Hammond: Now, what about cannabis in this? I mean, it's, it's on, it's boom and bust, and we're busting, so what-

Melissa Sanderson: Um-

Scott Hammond: Where do you see that going?

Melissa Sanderson: I see, I think cannabis should be treated like alcohol.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: Just period.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: If there's a liquor store, have a dispensary.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: If there's…

Melissa Sanderson: That's it.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: I think it's exactly like alcohol.

Scott Hammond: Taxed to the hilt and-

Melissa Sanderson: Stupid

Scott Hammond: … brewed in a, in a place and-

Melissa Sanderson: It's just, it's just like beer

Scott Hammond: … and sold at a store.

Melissa Sanderson: It's just like beer.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: I mean, you're gonna be able to smoke it now while you eat. That's just like having a beer.

Scott Hammond: Not sure how to do that.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, I just think that, yeah, the, we, we've all, we've all, or not all, we, a lot of people just think cannabis is just like this drug.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Melissa Sanderson: And it's not. It's just like, it's, it's a, a c- it is a drug. Alcohol is a drug.

Scott Hammond: It's not my dad's ditch weed though. It's, it's pretty potent.

Melissa Sanderson: It's-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Melissa Sanderson: … I mean, if you're a, if you consume cannabis, you're probably okay.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Melissa Sanderson: You're just fine.

Scott Hammond: You're just super stoned.

Melissa Sanderson: No, I, I don't even think it's that.

Scott Hammond: I watched my son come home and get lit.

Melissa Sanderson: I think there's two types of consumers in Humboldt County.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: There's the young, let's get high group-

Scott Hammond: Right

Melissa Sanderson: … like your son.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Melissa Sanderson: Then I think there are the highly functioning

Melissa Sanderson: society-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Melissa Sanderson: … that is using it.

Scott Hammond: He's been vaping all day in his store.

Melissa Sanderson: All day.

Scott Hammond: Nobody even cares.

Melissa Sanderson: You don't even know.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Okay. And drinking vodka.

Melissa Sanderson: Exact- and it's just like vodka. They could have been having a couple beers at

Melissa Sanderson: lunch-

Scott Hammond: It's true

Melissa Sanderson: … or cocktails and no one would think anything of it.

Scott Hammond: Okay. That's it. That's it. Okay, here it comes.

Scott Hammond: This is speed round. Are you ready? 'Cause we have, like, three minutes.

Melissa Sanderson: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Number one, for this Dick Taylor peanut butter dark chocolate bar-

Melissa Sanderson: Oh, I love peanut butter

Scott Hammond: … do you like dark chocolate?

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Quiz question number one, favorite restaurant?

Scott Hammond: Go.

Melissa Sanderson: Oh, this is easy. It's not open yet.

Scott Hammond: Oh, the one in Arcata that's opening?

Melissa Sanderson: No.

Scott Hammond: What is it?

Melissa Sanderson: The Ivanhoe.

Scott Hammond: Woo. Question number two.

Melissa Sanderson: It will be open in January.

Scott Hammond: Favorite cup of coffee?

Melissa Sanderson: Mm, Main Street Coffee in Ferndale's caramel macchiato, extra scolding hot.

Scott Hammond: Ooh, I like that.

Melissa Sanderson: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Number three, where do you go for gifts,

Scott Hammond: gift buying?

Melissa Sanderson: Humboldt's Hometown Store.

Scott Hammond: Why, where's that at?

Melissa Sanderson: Only Humboldt-made items.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: Um-

Scott Hammond: Do you have gift baskets? Do you wrap a basket there you can give?

Melissa Sanderson: No, I hate that.

Scott Hammond: Can you ship stuff there?

Melissa Sanderson: We can. We have a online site, but my newest thing, I can make custom gifts. So if you want your face on an ornament, I can do that in five minutes.

Scott Hammond: Sweet. Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: Come on in.

Scott Hammond: Last question. We make you take a day off during Christmas and you get to do whatever you want. What are you gonna do?

Melissa Sanderson: I'm gonna get a case of Diet Coke.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Melissa Sanderson: My dog. I'm gonna lock my room, and I'm gonna stay in there all day.

Scott Hammond: With a case of Coke.

Melissa Sanderson: And I'm gonna DoorDash whatever food I want to my back door.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Melissa Sanderson: And I don't want anyone to bother me.

Scott Hammond: That's a-

Melissa Sanderson: And I'm gonna watch the Housewives.

Scott Hammond: That's, oh, which one? It just doesn't matter.

Melissa Sanderson: All of 'em.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Melissa Sanderson: All of 'em. And, uh, a little true crime.

Scott Hammond: Nice. That's the most definitive answer I've gotten in 63 of these. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls- … this is for you.

Melissa Sanderson: Thank you.

Scott Hammond: Congratulations. Last question before you go, what's your legacy? What do you want, what's on your tombstone? What are we saying at your celebration of life as Thad and Jen and Brian and me and everybody comes to say words

Scott Hammond: about you?

Melissa Sanderson: How many words do I get?

Scott Hammond: It's a, you c- well, you got a minute and a half. You got a minute. Go.

Melissa Sanderson: Oh, no. What would people say if I died?

Scott Hammond: No, what would they say when, when you're there?

Melissa Sanderson: Well-

Scott Hammond: What's your legacy? What do th- what do you wanna be remembered for?

Melissa Sanderson: She was loud.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: Um,

Melissa Sanderson: uh, dang. She didn't really care about anything.

Melissa Sanderson: Uh-

Scott Hammond: That's, how could that be true?

Melissa Sanderson: They call me the Ice Princess.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Melissa Sanderson: I don't, yeah, yeah. Um, God, she was a hard

Melissa Sanderson: worker.

Scott Hammond: Good.

Melissa Sanderson: Um, she never met an animal she didn't like.

Scott Hammond: Good. Wielded power, heavy power with the publisher.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, shoot. I mean, I, I, I would like to say some other things, but I'm gonna hold it back-

Scott Hammond: I love it

Melissa Sanderson: … 'cause if you really know m- know me.

Scott Hammond: I love it. Okay. Well, well, maybe that's the, the next time you're back.

Melissa Sanderson: I think that's enough.

Scott Hammond: That's good.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Hey, thanks for being on the show.

Melissa Sanderson: Hey, thanks for having me.

Scott Hammond: Watch the quickest promo ever. Ready? Scott Hammond, 100% Humboldt. Like us on Facebook and Instagram and TikTok and podcast and on Access TV and, uh, social media, YouTube. Uh, like us, share us. I think you guys might. Hope you will.

Melissa Sanderson: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And, uh, thanks for being on the show. Really appreciate you, Melissa.

Melissa Sanderson: Love it. Thank you for having me. Follow. You gotta follow too.

Scott Hammond: And follow. Oh, yeah, and follow. All right. We're gonna follow.

Scott Hammond: Thanks.

Melissa Sanderson: No problem. Thank you.