Fortuna — Garrett Albright, President of the Fortuna Citizens Council, demanded Thursday that Hunan Village, a Chinese restaurant, change its name to something more appropriate. “This is Fortuna, in the United States of America, a nation which is, at least presently, entirely separate from China,” said Albright, in a prepared statement. “A business implying that this little berg is, in fact, Hunan China, is therefore going to raise the eyebrows of those who had been perfectly content to live in Fortuna up until that point.”*
The organization was inspired by the brazen attempt earlier this year of Carlos Torres to open his new business under the name Mex City Auto Detailing.
*transcript courtesy of the North Coast Journal
Eureka Standard 
August 24, 2007 at 2:01 pm
And it’s about time we run those damn archipelagican Spaniards out of northern Humboldt, too.
August 24, 2007 at 2:58 pm
I wish these white supremacists would go away.
August 24, 2007 at 3:39 pm
WOW!It is Very sad that some people are so uncertain of their location!Perhaps the folks who want the signs conforming to their world view would like to have their local gestapo place a micro-GPS locater in their brain so they have a “reliable” point of reference??
August 24, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Boy, I hope that was an inspired bit of political theater, rather than a serious proposition. I note that the petitioner does have a Wikipedia entry…
August 24, 2007 at 3:42 pm
Perhaps proceeds from the lawsuit against Fortuna Citizens Council for damaging the business interests of Hunan Village can be use to erect signs proclaiming the native tribe who walked on this land before Garrett Albright arrived?One of them must certainly be placed in front of Albright’s residence with a special note of thanks.
August 24, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Good to see that someone will go nuts over a Walmart ruining the town.And I wonder what her stance is on made in China”Support Our Troops”emblems.And I’m sure she’s more than offended by an Aussie occupying the mayor’s office.Is a recall in the works?
August 24, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Fortuna … California … America.Hellooooo.
August 24, 2007 at 4:01 pm
God bless all of these English words.
August 24, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Good thing Fortuna doesn’t have an Olive Garden restaurant. There’s no olive gardens in Fortuna.
August 24, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Umpqua Bank has got to go!
August 24, 2007 at 5:13 pm
As we all know, “Safeway” is merely a snide reference to the underground railroad for illegal Mexican immigrants, and don’t even get me started on “Subway,” directly referencing the ‘underground railroad’ from distant New York.Howabout “Supermarket of America” and “Ye Olde Deportation Sandwich Shoppe”?-JMan
August 24, 2007 at 5:53 pm
If this story is really real, it would set back the reputation of Fair Fortuna about Forty years.
August 24, 2007 at 7:07 pm
If this was coming from anywhere else but Fortuna I would assume this is pulling our leg, but I fear this might be serious. Good grief.
August 24, 2007 at 7:41 pm
Someone forgot to take their crazy pills before opening their mouth!
August 24, 2007 at 8:00 pm
Well, I’ll give them an A for drama.
August 25, 2007 at 12:39 am
Is it any more misleading than the sign that say…”Fortuna..the FRIENDLY city ??
August 25, 2007 at 1:54 am
This goes against the classic internet rule about not feeding trolls, especially ones that track you down through a site about a cartoon that you haven’t updated in three years or so (how did you even find that site, anyway?) and email you about it as if to say, “Hay, lookit meeeeee!”, but what the heck. I have a few more things to say about the issue.The letter, in print, displays a level of vitriol that people who know me would say is unusual. Were I to do it over again, I would have written the letter, saved it, then came back the next day in another frame of mind and read it through again before I went off firing it to the Journal.I was upset, but I was <>far<> more upset at the author’s decision to compare Fortunans that objected to the name to white nationalists than the attempt to name the shop “Mex City” in the first place. My letter could have perhaps emphasized that aspect of it a bit more.As for me being a racist; well. “Racist” sure is an easy thing to call someone. The truth is that I took Spanish classes all four years in high school (dabbled in it in college as well), and also lived in Japan for a year, where I worked with and befriended locals, took classes in the language, and ate a hell of a lot of the food. I don’t believe this is typical behavior of a white separatist. Of course, that won’t be enough to convince some of you, I’m sure, but it’s the truth. And while I was a (legal) immigrant in Japan, I didn’t bring a fork to udon restaurants, I didn’t expect anyone (save for my students) to communicate with me in English, and I sure didn’t start a business with a name like “American City.” (Though, in Japan, they’d actually <>do<> have places with names like that…)And as for those who may be taking the blogger’s article a little too seriously; I am not president of the Fortuna Citizens Council. In fact, I don’t believe such a thing exists.
August 25, 2007 at 2:05 am
Why are you throwing a hissy fit over a name?Get a grip.
August 25, 2007 at 3:16 am
Mr. Albright, I try to let people know when I’m lampooning them as a courtesy, in the event that they’d like to respond on the blog. I did the same with < HREF="http://eurekastandard.blogspot.com/2007/07/gender-has-ruined-sex.html" REL="nofollow">Godfrey Tudor Matthews<>, and though he’s not responded on my blog, we’ve corresponded and met in person.I apologize for the manner in which you were contacted, but someone in this thread had mentioned that you were to be found on Wikipedia, and that search led me to a couple of sites which I do not recall, but one of them allowed me to leave a message for you.Your Wikipedia and other web-based work seemed so different from the letter in the NCJ that I was not sure that I was contacting the same person.You are obviously thoughtful, and I want you to know that I’d be willing to delete this post altogether if you wish.Either way, thanks, your comment has been helpful.
August 25, 2007 at 3:51 am
Naah, don’t take it down; that’d be too much. And you <>do<> make a legitimate point with regards to the name of the Hunan Village restaurant – though, as I said above, my beef was really more with the editor of the article than the name of the shop. I’m not above criticism; just letting me respond is enough. (I was afraid you’d just delete my comment…)
August 25, 2007 at 5:59 am
There goes the friendly city….
August 25, 2007 at 4:00 pm
There is hope. 45% of Fortuna voters went for Kerry over Shrub.
August 25, 2007 at 4:08 pm
We’re the friendly minority.
August 25, 2007 at 4:55 pm
Wow. And this is the same Fortuna that is home to many or most of the North Coast’s high level meth and heroin dealers. something like a day late and a dollar short.
August 25, 2007 at 7:38 pm
<>Wow. And this is the same Fortuna that is home to many or most of the North Coast’s high level meth and heroin dealers. <>I’m not going to let you make a claim like that without providing a reputable source. Do you have one?
August 25, 2007 at 7:53 pm
I’ll second that challenge. It seems that we all have our problems with meth and heroin in every part of Humboldt County.
August 26, 2007 at 12:27 am
Before it was Hunan Village, that building in your photo was the Fortuna Co-op, which went out of business after the 1992 earthquakes. Prior to being the Fortuna Co-op, it was Fortuna Market.I agree that meth is a problem all over Humboldt County.
August 26, 2007 at 1:52 am
I agree that racism is a problem all over Humboldt County.
August 26, 2007 at 5:54 am
Anonymous said… I agree that racism is a problem all over Humboldt County. 25/8/07 6:52 PM Yeah! Not to mention the problem of people being called racist who are nothing of the sort.
August 26, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Has 10:54PM ever been to Fortuna? Fortuna does have the reputation of being a white supremecist haven for a reason! All of those KKK members for instance? Oh, I’m sorry, I meant to say “Republicans.” GOP….KKK…..same thing.
August 26, 2007 at 6:49 pm
“GOP….KKK…..same thing.”Anonymous, is this the best you can offer to this thread? Did you just drop by to blow off steam?
August 27, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Anonymous said… “Has 10:54PM ever been to Fortuna? Fortuna does have the reputation of being a white supremecist haven for a reason! … 26/8/07 11:38 AM”To Anonymous 11:38 AM: Your KKK reference is beneath contempt. I am 10:54 PM. Have I ever been to Fortuna? Let’s see. I lived in Fortuna once briefly. Some of my relatives have lived there most of their lives. I graduated from Fortuna Union High School. So yes, I have been to Fortuna.I believe that when you call a person or a town “racist” when it is not true, you commit a moral crime. Not only against the person or town you have slandered. Also against the people who are in fact fighting against real racism.
August 28, 2007 at 1:57 am
Uh oh….I have concern now for the Irish Shop. Old Town, Eureka used to be a mix of nice Italian and Scandinavian shop owners, then then let the damn Irish in. Consequently, there went the neighborhood.
August 28, 2007 at 8:07 pm
How about Harper Ford Country?
September 7, 2007 at 5:33 pm
IGnorant Rednecks Rule!!! Go Fortucky go!!!
September 11, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Ekovox! You understand the nature of the Irish menace! Often I suggest that I would like a “No Irish Need Apply” sign for hanging on every parish church and cathedral in the New World, and people look at me funny, thinking that the only reason to be suspicious of the Irish is for anti-Catholic reasons. Nonsense! Italian, German, Hungarian, Ukranian (actually, especially all Eastern Catholics), and Mexican Catholics should be the most anti-Irish of the bunch. I am a bigot, I know this, even though some of my best friends, and some of my family even, are Irish. The good ones overcome their Irishness. Anyway, under the Keilholtz Dictatorship the name of Fortuna is probably going to be changed, so if you have any suggestions, I would be happy to take them.