Education, Local Government

DNUSD To Sell Surplus Vehicles Starting Monday

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Thumbnail photo: Del Norte Unified School are selling 10 surplus vehicles next week. The sale will start 7 a.m. Monday and last through 4 p.m. Friday. | Photo courtesy of Michael Hawkins

Though he initially balked at the plan, Michael Greer eventually came around to approving a resolution authorizing the sale of 10 surplus Del Norte Unified School District vehicles.

Greer said he worried that DNUSD wasn’t adequately getting the word out that it’s selling these vehicles and was giving its employees more of an advantage as a result. However, according to DNUSD Transportation Director Jenna Lussier, because the vehicles are worth less than $2,500 each, the process for providing public notice is more relaxed than if they were more than $2,500.

Plus, Board President Charlaine Mazzei and Trustee Area 2 representative Abbie Crist argued, the public discussion they were having about the vehicles counted giving public notice.

Continue reading DNUSD To Sell Surplus Vehicles Starting Monday →
Education, Transportation

New Transportation Director Describes Smooth Start To School Year

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Thumbnail photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Jenna Lussier raved about her bus drivers and staff.

Four days after students returned to class, the new transportation director told Del Norte Unified School District trustees that her staff has been working extra time to make sure Klamath students are picked up. She also mentioned special efforts being made for youngsters at Redwood and Pine Grove schools.

“We are working diligently to get our children where they need to go,” Lussier said. “We had a couple of hiccups, but I think today those hiccups have been resolved…. I just want to thank my drivers because they’re making it awesome.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government, Transportation

Crescent City Harbor District Recap, Aug. 26, 2026

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Thumbnail photo: Crescent City Harbor commissioners received a report on the structural conditions of several structures including the former Fashion Blacksmith building on Starfish Way. | Photo by Gavin Van Alstine

Commission Annie Nehmer was absent. Among the items discussed at Wednesday’s Crescent City Harbor District meeting.

Infrastructure Assessment: Promising a more formal presentation at CCHD’s Sept. 16 meeting, Harbormaster Mike Rademaker introduced commissioners to GHD’s structural condition assessment of several of the buildings at the port. 

“It does identify a lot of the challenges that we’re facing trying to rehab these buildings and come up with funding,” Rademaker said. “But fortunately we’ve got some investment from some other companies, such as Ocean Gold, that are going to help us address some of these infrastructure challenges.”

Continue reading Crescent City Harbor District Recap, Aug. 26, 2026 →
Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

Citizens Dock, Seawall Projects Set To Enter Final Design Phase With In-Water Construction Scheduled to Start July 1, 2027

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Thumbnail photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Nearly three months after becoming project manager for the federally-funded seawall replacement and Citizens Dock rebuild, Kimley-Horn representatives say Sept. 23 is the “kickoff date” for the endeavor’s final design phase.

After that Sept. 23 “kick off meeting,” Kimley-Horn will be vetting contractors and ensuring the project has the permits needed for in-water construction to begin by July 1, 2027, said Jerry Holcomb, an engineer who focuses on ports, maritime and waterfront projects for the firm.

“As project manager, the thing we’re going to try and make sure everybody understands is, kind of working back from that date, how do we make sure we’ve got the bids in place.” Holcomb told Crescent City Harbor Commissioners on Wednesday. “How do we make sure that we’ve got the contractor already mobilized … so they’re there ready to start on Day One.”

Continue reading Citizens Dock, Seawall Projects Set To Enter Final Design Phase With In-Water Construction Scheduled to Start July 1, 2027 →
Articles, Business, Crescent City, Infrastructure

Residents, Planning Commissioners Say They’re Wary Of Sartori’s Plan To Bring More Delivery Trucks To Rumiano Cheese Plant

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Thumbnail photo by Heather Polen

Crescent City Planning Commission’s Aug. 20 meeting

Matt Dochterman urged Crescent City Planning Commissioners to think big picture about a proposal to bring more trucks to the Rumiano Cheese factory.

In addition to recruiting for up to 25 new jobs, said Dochterman, vice president of operations for Sartori Cheese, more trucks means the plant at 511 9th Street will get more milk with which to make more cheese.

“We actually have an opportunity — a great thing for the community — that says we can expand production, make more product, expand the Rumiano brand into larger areas of the country and actually create more exposure for Crescent City,” he told commissioners at a special meeting Aug. 20. “We bring more milk in, it runs more hours per day, produces more cheese and (we don’t) have to expand the infrastructure of the site or anything else to do that.”

Continue reading Residents, Planning Commissioners Say They’re Wary Of Sartori’s Plan To Bring More Delivery Trucks To Rumiano Cheese Plant →
Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

Del Norte Supervisors Appoint Gerry Hemmingsen to Airport Board’s Public Member Seat; JPA Voted For Someone Else

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff

Four Del Norte County supervisors on Tuesday chose their former colleague, Gerry Hemmingsen, over Cal-Ore Life Flight employee Mark Weaver to serve on the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority’s governing body.

Their action ran counter to a 5-3 vote BCRAA commissioners took after multiple split decisions on Aug. 6 to appoint Weaver to Del Norte’s third seat on the joint powers authority with Hemmingsen serving as his alternate. 

According to District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard, who sits on the BCRAA Board with District 1 representative Darrin Short, there currently isn’t a mechanism for the JPA’s public member to have an alternate. 

Continue reading Del Norte Supervisors Appoint Gerry Hemmingsen to Airport Board’s Public Member Seat; JPA Voted For Someone Else →
Articles, Health, Infrastructure, Local Government

Del Norte County Board of Supervisors, Aug. 25, 2026

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Among the items discussed at Tuesday’s Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting:

California Automated Response and Engagement System: County supervisors received an advocacy letter from the Del Norte County Department of Health and Human Services to state legislators concerning the launch of the Child Welfare Services-California Automated Response and Engagement System (CWS-CARES).

According to a staff report from DHHS Director Ranell Brown, the County Welfare Directors Association asked the department to weigh in on the issue. The project is expected to go launch on Oct. 26, according to Brown’s letter to Assembly members Jesse Gabriel and Corey Jackson and State Senators John Laird and Carolin Menjivar.

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Articles, Economy, Infrastructure, Transportation

Starkey, Howard Urge Local Advocacy As Last Chance Grade Project Enters Design Phase; ‘Real Hurdle’ Is Finding $2-Plus Billion For Construction, Starkey Says

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Thumbnail image: Conceptual art of the 1.1 mile-long tunnel that will allow U.S. 101 to avoid the Last Chance Grade landslide area south of Crescent City | Image courtesy of Caltrans District 1

Efforts to re-route U.S. 101 around Last Chance Grade reached a milestone on Friday after the California Transportation Commission approved funding for the project’s design and engineering phase.

But Del Norte County supervisors Chris Howard and Valerie Starkey, who attended the commission’s meeting in San Diego, say local advocacy at the state and federal level is imperative for the 6,000-foot tunnel project to continue to advance toward construction.

“What was interesting about the CTC meeting was when they got to the funding portion of it, the staff member from CTC (said) we’re supporting this, but this is the largest chunk of money we put out for one specific project,” Starkey told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday. “They said we never awarded this much money. We’ve never supported this much money going to just one project, but we understand the importance of it.”

Continue reading Starkey, Howard Urge Local Advocacy As Last Chance Grade Project Enters Design Phase; ‘Real Hurdle’ Is Finding $2-Plus Billion For Construction, Starkey Says →
Articles, Crescent City, Housing, Local Government

Crescent City Joins SoCal Cities In Effort To Combat ‘State Overreach’ In Housing, Land-Use Matters

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Thumbnail photo: Battery Point Apartments near Joe Hamilton Elementary School is one of a handful of housing projects in Crescent City that is being developed as part of California’s statewide housing goals. | Photo by James Brooks

A statewide proposal that has its origins in a Riverside County community and aims to enforce local authority over California’s housing and land-use initiatives put Crescent City’s mayor pro tem at odds with her colleagues on Monday. 

Citing the University of California and Harvard University’s Joint Center of Housing Studies, Candace Tinkler noted that the Golden State is home to six of the top metropolitan areas with the highest share of cost-burdened households. 

About one in three renters in the Los Angeles metropolitan area spends more than 50% of their post-tax household income on rent, she said, and as of last year there were 1,000 more homeless people in San Francisco than in all of Missouri.

Continue reading Crescent City Joins SoCal Cities In Effort To Combat ‘State Overreach’ In Housing, Land-Use Matters →
Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Local Government

Crescent City Council Recap For Aug. 17, 2026

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Thumbnail image: Conceptual art shows the fish and canoe node that will be part of the Tolowa Cultural Trail at Beachfront Park. | Image courtesy of Crescent City

Video by Monique Camarena

Among the items discussed at Monday’s Crescent City Council meeting:

Tolowa Cultural Trail Milestone: Councilors recognized the completion of the first initial contract associated with the Tolowa Cultural Trail in Beachfront Park.

City Manager Eric Wier pointed out that despite unanimously approving a notice of completion associated with the project, it’s work that Tidewater Contractors did to lay the foundation for the trail that councilors are recognizing.

Continue reading Crescent City Council Recap For Aug. 17, 2026 →

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