Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure

Del Norte Supervisors Accept Harbor District’s Facilities Plan, Enabling It To Use Measure C Dollars For Maintenance

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Thumbnail photo: The federally-funded reconstruction of Citizens Dock is one of the projects the Crescent City Harbor District’s facility plan lists. | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Del Norte County supervisors accepted the Crescent City Harbor District’s facilities plan on Tuesday.

A necessary step for the Harbor District to be able to use Measure C tax revenue for maintenance, Board Chairman Joey Borges noted that the previous iteration CCHD officials presented to them in December “lacked a few items.” 

The revised version, completed in May, includes a list of potential projects as well as costs and timeframes by which Harbor District officials would like to see them accomplished, Borges said.

Continue reading Del Norte Supervisors Accept Harbor District’s Facilities Plan, Enabling It To Use Measure C Dollars For Maintenance →
Articles, Local Government

Del Norte Supervisors Initiate Hiring Freeze, Though Starkey Says It Won’t Be Enough to Close $9.6 Million Budget Deficit

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Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

Three weeks after supervisors approved a recommended budget that included a $9.6 million deficit, Del Norte County’s top administrative officials proposed a temporary freeze in hiring for general fund positions.

It’s a step the Board unanimously agreed to on Tuesday, but District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey said it won’t be enough to close the budget gap. 

Starkey referenced the staff report County Administrative Officer Neal Lopez submitted, which stated that there were 31 vacant positions within the general fund, each yielding about $81,000 in savings per pay period. She noted that if the hiring freeze lasted for a year, Del Norte County would still have a $7.4 million budget deficit.

Continue reading Del Norte Supervisors Initiate Hiring Freeze, Though Starkey Says It Won’t Be Enough to Close $9.6 Million Budget Deficit →
Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Local Government

Crescent City To Pursue CDBG Dollars For Street Improvements In The Downtown Area

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Thumbnail photo: Public Works Director Dave Yeager showed Crescent City councilors the proposed concept for a revitalized 3rd Street last week. | Image courtesy of the City of Crescent City

The day before Don Arambula presented the revitalization of 3rd and K streets as catalyst projects for the Downtown Specific Plan, Crescent City’s public works director unveiled a plan to pursue grant dollars to help pay for those improvements.

Up to $5 million in Community Development Block Grant dollars expect to be available this fall, Yeager told the City Council on July 6. To be competitive, the city needs to prepare design work associated with those catalyst projects as well as its storm drain masterplan by the time the Notice of Funding Availability drops, he said.

“We did the survey work up front,” Yeager said. “What we’re asking from you this evening is to approve this task order, which is $100,000, so we can finish the design.”

Continue reading Crescent City To Pursue CDBG Dollars For Street Improvements In The Downtown Area →
Articles, Crescent City, Emergencies

Search Is Underway For Pregnant Woman Who Entered Ocean Near 5th Street On Sunday

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Thumbnail photo: Crescent City Police are spearheading the search of a pregnant woman who was last seen entering the ocean near the 5th Street stairs and not seen leaving the water on Sunday evening. | Photo by Heather Polen

An active search is underway for a possibly pregnant woman who was last seen in the water near the foot of 5th Street in Crescent City at about 7 p.m. Sunday.

Reports from bystanders who were about 100 yards away, the woman walked down the stairs barefoot and entered the water at about 3:30 p.m., according to Crescent City Police Chief Richard Griffin. She was last seen in the water at about 7 p.m. 

The reporting party called Del Norte County Dispatch to report that the woman had not been seen exiting the water as of about 8:40 p.m. Sunday, Griffin said. CCPD was still spearheading an active search for the woman as of about 11:12 a.m. Monday, though they had not received a missing persons report for anyone.

Continue reading Search Is Underway For Pregnant Woman Who Entered Ocean Near 5th Street On Sunday →
Articles, Emergencies

Del Norte Man Still Recovering At Hospital Following Explosion; Sheriff Says No Further Explosive Devices Have Been Found, Though Investigation Continues

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of GoFundMe

Five days after a “bomb-like device” exploded in his hand, Jason Turner is still being treated for his injuries at U.C. Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.

“Jason is doing well,” his girlfriend, Pamala Ganfield, told Redwood Voice Community News on Friday. “He had another surgery the day before yesterday (that) took about an inch more of his forearm.”


Ganfield and Turner were picking up spent fireworks at Point St. George at about 3 p.m. Sunday when he found what appeared to be a ball-shaped object with a nail sticking out of it. The item exploded when Turner picked it up. It sounded like a bomb, Ganfield said. Her boyfriend was on the ground bleeding.

Continue reading Del Norte Man Still Recovering At Hospital Following Explosion; Sheriff Says No Further Explosive Devices Have Been Found, Though Investigation Continues →
Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Local Government

Crescent City Council Recap, July 6, 2026

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Thumbnail image: Crescent City Police Chief Richard Griffin administers the oath of office to new officers Chase Gardener and Mai Thao on Monday. Above: An Oct. 13, 2025 storm resulted in significant damage to the third floor of the Cultural Center, according to the public works director. | Screenshots

Councilman Steve Shamblin was absent. Among the items discussed at Monday’s Crescent City Council meeting:

Cultural Center project: City Manager Eric Wier assured councilors that Harley Munger, of Piece by Piece Pottery, has already provided replacements for the tile mosaic murals that had graced the wall in front of the Crescent City Cultural Center.

“They had all of the original designs,” Wier said during a presentation marking the start of a project to improve ADA access to the Cultural Center. “They have refired all of those tile pieces. We have the murals and so it’s just a matter of figuring out where exactly they go in this new design. Most likely they’ll go on the inside of the porte-cochere as that gets revamped. That’s going to be a space that needs to have some art and culture and different things like that.”

The project involves replacing 24 steps that had led to the facility with eight steps and two ramps leading to an entrance plaza from Play and Front streets.

Continue reading Crescent City Council Recap, July 6, 2026 →
Articles, Community News, Economy, Local Government

Though most opposed stricter regulations, Crescent City Councilors call for audit to make sure vacation rental owners are paying their taxes

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Though the city planner said most of Crescent City’s vacation rentals were concentrated on Pebble Beach Drive, Candace Tinkler brought up Gainard Street to illustrate the need for stricter regulations.

According to the mayor pro tem, “every single house that has gone up for sale is flipped” into a short-term rental and there are only “one or maybe two long-term neighbors.” 

But her argument that vacation rentals are changing the character of Crescent City’s neighborhoods didn’t land with her colleagues Monday. One, Councilor Jason Greenough, said there are already laws on the books that address many of her concerns. He also disputed her statement regarding Gainard Street.

Continue reading Though most opposed stricter regulations, Crescent City Councilors call for audit to make sure vacation rental owners are paying their taxes →
Articles, Emergencies

Del Norte County man’s hand is amputated after explosion at Point St. George; girlfriend says they found shiny ball-shaped object in the sand

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Thumbnail photo: Jason Turner is at U.C. Davis Medical Center in Sacramento where he is being treated for injuries sustained after an object exploded in his hand at Point St. George on Sunday. | Photo courtesy of Pamala Ganfield

A Del Norte County man is at a Sacramento hospital after a fireworks explosion on the beach at Point St. George led to the amputation of his left hand. 

Jason Turner was walking the beach with his girlfriend, Pamala Ganfield, on Sunday, putting a few spent fireworks into a pile when they saw a shiny object in the sand. Ganfield said it looked like a bouncy ball with an opening at the end and a nail sticking out of it.

“He went to pick it up — I told him no — and boom, that was it,” Ganfield told Redwood Voice Community News on Tuesday. “I couldn’t see. I couldn’t hear. It sounded like a bomb. I looked over and my boyfriend was on the ground bleeding and his hand was opened up like a banana.”

Continue reading Del Norte County man’s hand is amputated after explosion at Point St. George; girlfriend says they found shiny ball-shaped object in the sand →
Articles, Emergencies

Firework Explosion Seriously Injures Beach-goer at Point St. George Day After ‘Mild’ Holiday

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Though the Del Norte County sheriff called the holiday pretty mild compared to previous Independence Days, his deputies are investigating an explosion that sent one man to the hospital the day after.

The explosion occurred at Point St. George at about 3:50 p.m. Sunday, Del Norte County Undersheriff Devin Perry told Redwood Voice Community News. A couple visiting the beach had been walking along the sand picking up a few spent fireworks and found what appeared to be a silver ball with a screw sticking out of it.

“The female said as soon as the male picked it up it exploded,” Perry said. “There were significant injuries to his hand. He was taken to Sutter and then they (flew) him out to a higher level of care.”

Continue reading Firework Explosion Seriously Injures Beach-goer at Point St. George Day After ‘Mild’ Holiday →
Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure, Transportation

CCHD Commissioners Drag Feet On Key Citizens Dock Project-Related Appointments; Project Grants Manager Says Work Won’t Slow

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Thumbnail photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Despite selecting a project manager and a grant manager for the Citizens Dock rebuild and seawall replacement last week, Crescent City Harbor commissioners delayed approving the contract that would allow them to start work.

CCHD Board Chairman Rick Shepherd asked his colleagues to wait until the district’s next regular meeting to consider the contracts between Kimley-Horn and Community System Solutions. 

At a special meeting Friday, Shepherd said he felt the public didn’t have sufficient time to review the proposed agreements. Though he and his colleagues decided to award the grant manager contract to Fair Oaks-based Community System Solutions, Shepherd still had questions about the firm’s role in the overall project.

“There’s still a gray area between grant manager and finance director and having another accountant in between that. That needs to be explained to me,” he said.

Continue reading CCHD Commissioners Drag Feet On Key Citizens Dock Project-Related Appointments; Project Grants Manager Says Work Won’t Slow →

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