All posts by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Articles, Local Government

Del Norte County Follows City’s Foot Steps, Establishes Alternative Process For Publishing Public Notices

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Thumbnail photo: Del Norte Triplicate owner Dan Schmidt addresses Crescent City’s proposed policy for creating an alternative process for publishing public notices at the Council’s Oct. 20 meeting. | Screenshot

Despite Dan Schmidt’s assurance that Del Norte has a newspaper of general circulation, county supervisors followed the city’s footsteps Tuesday to create a plan B for posting public notices.

Schmidt pointed out that the Del Norte Triplicate has served Crescent City and Del Norte County for since 1879. Though he recently purchased the newspaper from previous owners Country Media Inc., Schmidt said he is in the process of putting his sixth publication out.

“The adjudication status as a newspaper of general circulation is the most valuable and perhaps the only asset a newspaper has. It’s the asset that I drained my 401k to acquire,” he said, handing a copy of that adjudication to the clerk of the Board on Tuesday. “We know the circumstances of why it was shut down. I could have stopped for three or four weeks and taken time to get my act together. I decided to keep on going. Keep on publishing and just today we’re putting together our sixth issue.”

Continue reading Del Norte County Follows City’s Foot Steps, Establishes Alternative Process For Publishing Public Notices →
Articles, Community News

Cal Fresh Benefits Set to Pause For 3,900 Del Norte Families Saturday, Local Food Safety Net Braces For Impact

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Courtesy Del Norte County Department of Health and Human Services

Thumbnail image: Marina MacNeil and Dominique Richcreek, staff members at Pacific Pantry, visited Smith River in this photo from September 2024 with the pantry’s mobile market. | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Some 3,900 Del Norte County families could find themselves without their CalFresh benefits by the end of the week, according to Health and Human Services Director Ranell Brown.

The notice that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits will not be issued on Saturday due to the federal government shutdown has a handful of organizations scrambling to address the sudden need. 

Marina MacNeil, food bank director at Family Resource Center of the Redwoods said she’s ordering extra food for the Pacific Pantry while the FRC gears up for its annual holiday drive.

Continue reading Cal Fresh Benefits Set to Pause For 3,900 Del Norte Families Saturday, Local Food Safety Net Braces For Impact →
Articles, Economy, Transportation

Advanced Air Will Fly As Long As It Can If Shutdown Continues Beyond Nov. 2; No Word Yet On Future of EAS Program, Airport Director Says

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff

The airline serving Del Norte and Curry counties says it will continue to operate for as long as it can beyond Nov. 2 even if funding for the Essential Air Service program isn’t renewed.

The federal subsidy the community relies on for commercial air service would have been suspended earlier this month if the U.S. Department of Transportation hadn’t secured funding to keep it going through Nov. 2. 

However, with that deadline a little more than a week away, Sean Rosenthal, director of the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority, said he’s yet to receive an update on the program’s status.

Continue reading Advanced Air Will Fly As Long As It Can If Shutdown Continues Beyond Nov. 2; No Word Yet On Future of EAS Program, Airport Director Says →
Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government

Part of Harbormaster’s Salary Will Come From CCHD’s Grants; Harbor Received $1 Million In State Appropriations for Maintenance, Tsunami Recovery

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Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

Crescent City Harbormaster Mike Rademaker said the Harbor District is not going broke, though commissioners were asked to approve an adjustment to payroll expenditures Wednesday in order to balance the budget.

“We have over $15 million in grants to improve Citizens Dock and the seawall,” he said. “That’s going to fund the majority of the work I’m going to do, plus tsunami recovery is going to be funded, that’s going to be paying for a lot of my payroll and it’s going to be paying for maintenance work.”

The Port Infrastructure Development Program grant the Harbor District received from the U.S. Maritime Administration as well as a $1 million appropriation from the California legislature are two of four things keeping the port from going bankrupt, Rademaker said. 

Continue reading Part of Harbormaster’s Salary Will Come From CCHD’s Grants; Harbor Received $1 Million In State Appropriations for Maintenance, Tsunami Recovery →
Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Local Government

Harbor Recap: Shutdown Delays Grant Process, Commissioners Discuss Lilies, Hazard Plan, Fillet Station

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Thumbnail photo: Harbormaster Mike Rademaker and Harbor Commissioner Dan Schmidt attend a tour of the harbor’s facilities in this January 2025 file photo. | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Among the items discussed at Wednesday’s Crescent City Harbor District meeting:

Citizens Dock/Sea Wall projects: Construction on the seawall and Citizens Dock is expected to start May 1, 2026. But the federal government shutdown is delaying review of the environmental studies the Harbor District submitted to the U.S. Maritime Administration, Mike Bahr, CEO of Community System Solutions, told commissioners.

The Harbor District is rebuilding Citizens Dock and an adjacent seawall with about $15 million in Port Infrastructure Development Program grant dollars. Bahr, who manages the district’s grant-funded projects, brought two contracts with MARAD to the Board of Commissioners for their review, but said because of the shutdown the administration’s attorneys are furloughed.

Continue reading Harbor Recap: Shutdown Delays Grant Process, Commissioners Discuss Lilies, Hazard Plan, Fillet Station →
Articles, Crescent City, Local Government

Crescent City Makes Provisions for Nine Families Impacted By Early End to COVID-Era Housing Program

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Thumbnail photo: Members of the former Crescent City Council, the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors and the Crescent City Planning Commission break ground on Battery Point Apartments in this Sept. 10 file photo. | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

The earlier-than-anticipated end of a COVID-era program will push some families ahead of the line when it comes to obtaining Section 8 housing vouchers.

Nine families are currently being housed through the Emergency Housing Voucher  (EHV) program, which was created in 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, Crescent City Housing Authority Director Megan Miller said Monday.

With the program’s funding expected to run out four years earlier than anticipated, however, the City Council, acting as the Housing Authority Board of Directors, approved transitioning those nine families into the Housing Choice Voucher program.

Continue reading Crescent City Makes Provisions for Nine Families Impacted By Early End to COVID-Era Housing Program →
Articles, Crescent City, Local Government

Crescent City Creates Plan B For Public Notices if Newspaper Folds

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Thumbnail: Dan Schmidt, the Del Norte Triplicate’s new owner, speaks to a city plan Monday to have an alternate available for publishing public notices should Crescent City be without a newspaper. | Screenshot.

Though the Del Norte Triplicate’s new owner felt it was unnecessary, Crescent City councilors adopted a backup when it comes to publishing public notices should the community be without a newspaper.

Dan Schmidt said Monday that he and his wife Phyllis have put a newspaper out every week since taking over the Triplicate about a month ago. They’re currently working on the fifth issue. A month ago the city’s ordinance would have made sense, he said, but the community still has a newspaper of general circulation.

“You don’t need to pretend that it’s going to go away,” Schmidt told the City Council. “I’m going to be here awhile, I plan to, and we’ll keep putting the paper out.”

Continue reading Crescent City Creates Plan B For Public Notices if Newspaper Folds →
Articles, Crime, Local Government

Hooper Pleads No Contest to DUI With Injury; Plea Bargain Would Reduce Charge To Misdemeanor

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Hooper | LinkedIn

Thumbnail photo: Randy Hooper’s hit and run and DUI charges stem from a collision that took place near Sand Mine Road and U.S. 101 on April 19. | Photo by Heather Polen.

Randy Hooper pleaded no contest to felony DUI causing injury as part of a plea bargain that would reduce the charge to a misdemeanor if he follows its terms, attorney Keith Morris told Redwood Voice Community News on Tuesday.

Del Norte County’s assistant county administrative officer changed his plea on Oct. 9 and will be formally sentenced in November, said Morris, who prosecuted the case on behalf of the California Attorney General’s Office.

If the judge approves the plea deal, Hooper will be required to finish the Humboldt Addictions Services Program (HASP) for DUI offenders, attend two Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, showing proof of attendance, and “obey all laws,” Morris said. Hooper will have six months from Oct. 9 to meet the terms of the plea bargain.

Continue reading Hooper Pleads No Contest to DUI With Injury; Plea Bargain Would Reduce Charge To Misdemeanor →
Articles, CC Harbor, Elections, Local Government

Schmidt Cited For Trespassing at Roger Gitlin’s House; Harbor Commissioner Is Contacting Proponents of Now-Paused Recall Effort

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Thumbnail photo: Roger Gitlin (left) and Dan Schmidt (right)

Crescent City Harbor Commissioner Dan Schmidt was ready to go to jail for trespassing at Roger Gitlin’s house on Wednesday.

Schmidt, who last month bought the Del Norte Triplicate from Country Media, Gitlin’s previous employer, wanted to hand over his rebuttal to a now-rescinded recall effort against him. Gitlin wouldn’t answer the door, so Schmidt stayed on the porch for about half an hour knocking and ringing the bell. 

“I guess Roger got tired of me being there so he called the police to have me arrested for trespassing,” Schmidt told Redwood Voice Community News on Sunday.  He said the officer who responded gave him the choice of leaving or being arrested. 

Continue reading Schmidt Cited For Trespassing at Roger Gitlin’s House; Harbor Commissioner Is Contacting Proponents of Now-Paused Recall Effort →
Articles, Health, Local Government

Del Norte Seeks $20 Million Grant For Behavioral Health Clinic; Supes Also Support Regional Mental Health Services Project

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Thumbnail: Del Norte County Department of Health and Human Services employees and their clients commemorated Mental Health Awareness Month with a ceremonial walk to the Flynn Center in May. | File photo by Monique Camarena

Though her department is pursuing the same grant to build a local outpatient behavioral health clinic, Ranell Brown urged supervisors to support a Shasta County project that she says will provide services Del Norte County can’t.

Brown, director of the Del Norte County Department of Health and Human Services, said her department’s application for $20 million in Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP) seeks to expand the services Del Norte offers. 

The “True North” Behavioral Health Campus, a collaboration between Signature Health Care, Arch Collaborative and the Shasta Health Assessment and Redesign Collaborative is a more regional project, she said.
“The project includes triage and crisis stabilization and inpatient psychiatric care, residential treatment for children and youth and partial hospitalization and social rehabilitation,” Brown said of the proposed “True North” facility. “It’s a much broader project than what we can do in Del Norte County.”

Continue reading Del Norte Seeks $20 Million Grant For Behavioral Health Clinic; Supes Also Support Regional Mental Health Services Project →