All posts by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Community News

‘He’s Buried At Bar-O Boys Ranch’; Descendant Of Miner Raises Concerns Over Potential Sale Of Former Juvenile Facility

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Photo courtesy of Jane Miller

Thumbnail photo: George H. Washington lived on a mining claim near the Siskiyou Fork of the Smith River — where Bar-O Boys Ranch would be established — from 1894 to his death in 1927. His family say he’s buried on the 34-acre property | Photo courtesy of the Del Norte County Historical Society

With one supervisor noting that Del Norte County doesn’t have the means to maintain the 35-acre property, the Board on Tuesday took a step closer to preparing the former Bar-O Boys Ranch for sale.

Their unanimous decision to modify a contract with Public Square Real Estate to determine if a Surplus Lands Act designation for Bar-O would be appropriate is not listing the property for sale yet. But it still prompted Jane Miller to show supervisors a photo of a gravesite that belongs to her great great great grandfather, George Washington.

“He’s buried at Bar-O Boys Ranch and we just heard about the sale of the property being proposed today like an hour ago,” she said. “This man helped build the road … between Cave Junction and here for us to travel [on] and I just want to make sure his grave site is protected if you’re selling the land.”

Continue reading ‘He’s Buried At Bar-O Boys Ranch’; Descendant Of Miner Raises Concerns Over Potential Sale Of Former Juvenile Facility →
Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Local Government, Tribal Affairs

Crescent City Officials Say $2 Million Grant Will Complete Tolowa Interpretive Trail

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Thumbnail photo: A $2 million grant from the Mellon Foundation will allow Crescent City to finish the Tolowa Interpretive Trail, city officials said Wednesday. | Screenshot

Crescent City received a $2 million grant that officials say will extend the Tolowa Cultural Trail in Beachfront Park to Battery Point where many Tolowa were imprisoned in the 1850s.

Councilors unanimously accepted the grant from the Mellon Foundation at a special meeting Wednesday. They also approved an agreement with T.B. Penick & Sons Inc. to install lithomosaic basket patterns at the entrance to the visitor center and as a welcome to the Tolowa Cultural Trail.

T.B. Penick & Sons will also create a special lithomosaic pebble pattern at the Tolowa Cultural Trail welcome station, City Manager Eric Wier said.

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Articles, Community News, Environment, Local Government

Proposed Sale Of Pac Shore Properties Prompt BOS Discussion Around Wetland Mitigation

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Thumbnail photo: California Coastal commissioners stopped by the Pacific Shores subdivision during a visit to Del Norte County last year. | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Del Norte County supervisors on Tuesday stalled the proposed sale of 18 tax-defaulted properties within the Pacific Shores subdivision to the state, instead directing staff to determine whether they could be used to mitigate wetland damage caused by future infrastructure projects.

Griping about a ratio the California Coastal Commission demanded during a runway safety project at the Del Norte County Regional Airport years ago, District 1 Supervisor Darrin Short asked if it would cost the county to hold onto the 18 properties rather than proceed with the sale. 

“We had to come up with 10 acres for [wetland] mitigation for every one acre we messed around with at the airport. It was plain extortion from the California Coastal Commission,” Short said. “My thought is the parcels we own in and around the swamps — Ruth Compound, whatever you want to call it — there are places there that are buildable. I’m thinking we could use these parcels to mitigate [that].”

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Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government

Del Norte County Board of Supervisors Recap, July 8, 2025

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

Mavris To Work With DA’s Office: Local attorney George Mavris will take on cases for the Del Norte County District Attorney, county supervisors decided Tuesday.

The vote on the consent agenda item was unanimous, but it prompted District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey to ask for an update on the county’s progress on creating a public defender’s department.

Continue reading Del Norte County Board of Supervisors Recap, July 8, 2025 →
Articles, Community News, Crescent City

Crescent City Fire Celebrates 125 Years; Council Approves Reserve Officer Program; Beach Fires Revisited

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Thumbnail photo: Crescent City Fire and Rescue held its annual Fourth of July water ball tournament on Friday. | Photo courtesy of Crescent City Fire and Rescue

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

Crescent City Fire & Rescue’s 125th anniversary: 

After his dad, Rich Wier, accepted a proclamation from the mayor commemorating the local fire department’s 125 years of service, City Manager Eric Wier urged people to take a look through the fire station windows.

“You’ll be able to see some of this legacy,” Wier said. “You’ll be able to see the pictures of the chiefs on the wall and there’s only six — six in 125 years. You’ll be able to see an old fire pump that actually has the two handles where you had the firemen on either side pumping from a cistern. We’re talking 1900 protecting this community. It really says a lot when you say the heart and soul of this is the volunteers.”

Continue reading Crescent City Fire Celebrates 125 Years; Council Approves Reserve Officer Program; Beach Fires Revisited →
Articles, Crescent City, Local Government

Crescent City Starts Search For Local HR Professional

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Crescent City councilors backed a proposal to recruit local human resources professionals rather than continuing to rely on a third-party consultant after their city manager called the current arrangement effective but not ideal.

The city has had a contract with a Sacramento-based human resources provider following a resignation in December 2023, City Manager Eric Wier said. While that provider was able to meet the city’s HR needs, Wier said the distance proved challenging.

“HR does so many different functions for us as a city,” he said. “Employee relations and having the employees have the ability to go to that person and ask questions about the various HR topics that they might have and having that relationship is very important.”

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Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure

Crescent City Uses Local Contractor To Replace Swimming Pool Roof

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff

Crescent City is turning to Red Sky Roofing to fix the seagull problem at the Fred Endert Municipal Pool.

Four month after Public Works Director Dave Yeager told them that the birds had poked hundreds of pinholes in the roof, councilors unanimously approved a contract with the Crescent City-based business to replace it. According to Yeager, Red Sky will replace the asphalt roof that was installed about a decade ago with a steel seam roof “so we don’t have this problem in 10 years.”

“Hopefully it should last 30 to 50 years,” Yeager told councilors on Monday. “It’s the same material that’s on the Cultural Center [and] it’s the same on the wastewater treatment plant.”

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Articles, Curry, Local Government

Curry County Looks Outside Organization For Financial Oversight

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Thumbnail photo by Ken Lund via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License

Curry County commissioners took the advice of their director of operations Wednesday and finalized an agreement with the Rogue Valley Council of Governments, which will provide third-party oversight to their finances.

Ted Fitzgerald compared the services RVCOG can offer Curry County to the services it received when it worked with the Lane Council of Governments following a ransomware attack in 2023. The county did just hire a new employee in its finance department and the department is getting stronger, Fitzgerald said, but he still wanted professional oversight “to make sure we’re doing things right.”

“The different specialties that exist within the Rogue Valley Council of Governments will be able to help us on a variety of levels,” he told commissioners. “I think it’s going to be a thing [where] we learn how much we need them as we go along, but I want to be sure that we really give it a good chance because every time we have reached out for help from outside entities we’ve gotten it.”

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Articles, Curry, Local Government

Budget Adopted, Curry County Commissioners Discuss Job Descriptions

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Two days after they adopted the county’s 2025-26 budget, Curry County commissioners wanted to get started on finalizing job descriptions and finding people to fill those positions.

New positions include a public works director, an investigator in the District Attorney’s Office, a community resource officer in the Sheriff’s Office and a part-time civil processor and animal control officer, according to Board Chairman Jay Trost. 

Added on as a last-minute agenda item on Wednesday, Trost said he wanted to get a consensus from his colleagues to allow human resources to create those job descriptions and bring them back to the Board by its next meeting in July for approval.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Economy

OC Developers Unveil Grand Plan For Harbor District RV Parks Amid Lingering Skepticism Over Previous Efforts That Failed

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Thumbnail photo: A few RVs linger in a nearly-deserted Bayside RV Park in this photo from June 2023. | By Jessica Cejnar Andrews

After hearing a pitch from two Orange County-based developers who want to revitalize the Crescent City Harbor’s RV parks, public commenters resurrected memories of a previous investor whose grand design never materialized.

Many are still bitter over the Harbor District’s experience with Alex Lemus, Henry Geiger told the new developers, Sean McGraw and Scott Lawhon following their proposal on June 25. 

Geiger said he liked their proposal, which includes improving deteriorated pavement, broken electrical outlets and outdated restrooms at Bayside and Redwood Harbor Village RV parks, but wished they had made their pitch to the Harbor District seven or eight years ago.

“The problem is you’re coming in behind an individual who made promises in the past,” Geiger told McGraw and Lawhon. “I have no doubt you’re committed, but I also heard the same commitment from the previous individual who promised the world and stuck [the Harbor District] with some big bills.”

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