Though he didn’t speak up earlier, Curry County’s director of operations said complying with a detainer request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be “a lot to ask” when there’s only 16 beds in the jail.
About a month after the discovery of lead paint in its bunk beds prompted the Board of Commissioners to cut the jail’s capacity from 35 to 16 beds, Ted Fitzgerald, who also acts as county counsel, said the county was still waiting on permanent replacements.
“We still have the temporaries in there until we get the permanence delivered,” he said, referring to temporary bunk beds Curry County borrowed from Josephine County shortly after he notified commissioners of the lead paint concerns at an emergency meeting April 4. “The old bunks have been cleared. Maintenance went in there and cut them out. They were metal, installed directly into the concrete, and so, in order to keep things safe, we had to cut the metal and then grind the concrete down…”
Curry County’s director of operations said he withdrew administrative and editing privileges from nearly all employees after an individual made “unauthorized changes” to the county’s website.
Ted Fitzgerald, who is also county counsel, asked the Board of Commissioners on Wednesday to approve a new policy that limits administrative privileges to one person. The new policy also requires those manning Facebook pages for individual departments to register with Human Resources so the county can vet information being posted.
Fitzgerald said he included a social media component to the policy after determining that statistics posted to the Curry County Justice Facebook page were inaccurate.
Curry County Commissioner Patrick Hollinger said he didn’t intend for his colleagues to take official action on a resolution honoring detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Taken verbatim from a similar resolution Coos County commissioners have been discussing since January, Hollinger asked his colleagues to consider Oregon’s status as a sanctuary state and the possibility that the Trump administration may cut its federal funding as a result.
“That will directly affect our county as well,” Hollinger said Wednesday. “We use those funds for our DA office. We use those funds for our sheriff’s office. And it’s those two offices that can help with the human trafficking and drug trafficking [occurring] throughout our county.”
May 9th, 2025 – For Redwood Voice Community News, a production of Redwood Voice Youth Media, today’s news: roadwork updates from Caltrans District 1; Crescent City Council approves a four way stop at the junction of A and 5th Street; other items discussed at Monday’s Crescent City Council meeting; the Yurok Tribe hosted their 2nd Annual Elder Summit; what the “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production” order means for local agencies and forests; Crescent City Fire and Rescue celebrates ten years of collaboration; the Curry Health Foundation opens their 2025-26 grant cycle for Curry County nonprofits; the San Francisco 49ers announces a partnership with the Faithful to the Planet initiative; elected officials push back on climate-related project cancellations at a Washington DC energy summit; due to budget cuts, access to the Pacific Crest Trail may soon become limited; Rite Aid is selling off or closing all of their locations in the next few months; and a reminder for Tolowa citizens about up-to-date identification. All this and our regular segments from the Pacifica Radio Network and National Native News.
We’re broadcasting on KFUG 101.1FM and kfugradio.org every day at 12PM, with a rebroadcast at 5PM. We’re also airing on KZZH 96.7FM at 6AM, and KCIW 100.7FM at 6PM!
Today’s news card image is courtesy of Redwood Voice Reporter Persephone Rose, which has been edited.
May 8th, 2025 – For Redwood Voice Community News, a production of Redwood Voice Youth Media, today’s news: roadwork updates from Caltrans District 1; Crescent City Council approves a four way stop at the junction of A and 5th Street; other items discussed at Monday’s Crescent City Council meeting; the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation commemorate the National Day of Awareness for MMIP; Crescent Fire and Rescue celebrates ten years of collaboration; the Curry Health Foundation opens their 2025-26 grant cycle for Curry County nonprofits; one of the Pacific’s most active volcanoes could erupt before the end of this year; the San Francisco 49ers announces a partnership with the Faithful to the Planet initiative; elected officials push back on climate-related project cancellations at a Washington DC energy summit; information on Real IDs and what they mean for domestic air travel; and a reminder for Tolowa citizens about up-to-date identification. All this and our regular segments from the Pacifica Radio Network and National Native News.
We’re broadcasting on KFUG 101.1FM and kfugradio.org every day at 12PM, with a rebroadcast at 5PM. We’re also airing on KZZH 96.7FM at 6AM, and KCIW 100.7FM at 6PM!
Today’s news card image is courtesy of Redwood Voice Reporter Persephone Rose, which has been edited.
Eureka City Councilman G. Mario Fernandez used the phrase “robber baron” when asking his colleagues to postpone consideration of an ordinance that would increase the penalties for people living in unauthorized encampments.
Fernandez urged his fellow councilors to refer the ordinance to an ad-hoc committee on camping alternatives consisting of himself and Councilwoman Renee Contreras-DeLoach rather than consider it on May 20.
This request echoed comments several public speakers made on Tuesday about removing the proposed ordinance from the May 20 agenda. Though a handful of commenters accused the City Council of criminalizing homelessness, Fernandez said speakers were asking him and his colleagues to either let them be part of their deliberations or to bring “those with experience into the discussion.”
Public Works Director Dave Yeager convinced the Crescent City Council on Monday that a four-way stop sign would urge motorists to slow down as they approach A and 5th streets.
Six reported collisions have occurred at that intersection between June 2021 and August 2024, Yeager stated in his staff report. On Monday, he cited concerns raised by Crescent City Police Chief Richard Griffin as well as people who have witnessed those collisions.
Yeager also referred to the Del Norte Local Road Safety Plan in his staff report, which noted “one historical collision event”: A rear-end collision with one injury in 2011.
Candace Tinkler was absent. Among the items discussed at Monday’s Crescent City Council meeting.
Underground Utility District: City councilors approved the creation of Underground Utility District No. 1, taking yet another step toward ridding the gateway to Beachfront Park and downtown of most of the overhead electricity and telecommunications lines.
But representatives from Charter Communications and Frontier Communications, which provide cable and Internet service in the area, opposed the proposal, stating that the same work credits available to PacificPower aren’t available to them.
In a May 5 letter to Crescent City, Lisa Ludovici, Charter’s director of government affairs, asks the city not to pursue the undergrounding of its utilities, warning that the cost for the company to participate could be passed onto its customers.
May 7th, 2025 – For Redwood Voice Community News, a production of Redwood Voice Youth Media, today’s news: roadwork updates from Caltrans District 1; a River Swimming Warning from the National Weather Service of Eureka; the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation commemorate the National Day of Awareness for MMIP; local tribes appear in New PBS episode of “Changing Planet”; this week’s update from DNUSD Superintendent Jeff Harris; information on the finalized 2025 Ocean Salmon Season; an undersea volcano off the coast of Oregon is suspected to erupt this year; the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has begun releasing juvenile Chinook Salmon into the main stem of the Sacramento River; Inland Empire warehouse construction in Bloomington sees pushback from environmental justice groups; this week’s fishing updates from Fishing the North Coast; and information on Real IDs. All this and our regular segments from the Pacifica Radio Network and National Native News.
We’re broadcasting on KFUG 101.1FM and kfugradio.org every day at 12PM, with a rebroadcast at 5PM. We’re also airing on KZZH 96.7FM at 6AM, and KCIW 100.7FM at 6PM!
Today’s news card image is courtesy of KFUG Station Manager Paul Critz, which has been edited.
About a hundred people, most dressed in red, gathered Monday in the Arts and Crafts Building in the Del Norte Fairgrounds to commemorate the National Day of Awareness for Murdered and Missing Indigenous People (MMIP). The event, which included sign-making stations, face-painting, and testimonials by Native community members, was organized by the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation.
As attendees trickled in, many with children, Adrian Lopez paused in front of the large, flashing informational video projected on the wall behind him. Lopez works in the Victims Services Division of the Tolowa Community and Family Department as a Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Prevention Specialist. “We like spreading awareness,” he said. “Especially for this specific cause because the rates of missing and murdered indigenous people are higher than the national average for any other race or ethnicity. It’s up to ten times more likely being missing or murdered as an indigenous individual.”
