All posts by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

DNSO Releases Name Of Subject Killed In Friday’s Officer-Involved Shooting

Thumbnail photo by Heather Polen

The Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office has released the name of the male subject who was shot by a California Highway Patrol officer near the Crescent City Harbor and pronounced dead at Sutter Coast Hospital on Friday.

The deceased is 44-year-old Patrick George Selvage, Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott told Redwood Voice Community News on Tuesday.

A Del Norte County Sheriff’s deputy and two California Highway Patrol officers were dispatched to Anchor Way west of U.S. 101 for a report of a male subject covered in blood at about 10:55 a.m.

Continue reading DNSO Releases Name Of Subject Killed In Friday’s Officer-Involved Shooting

Crews Working Four Fires Within the Gasquet Ranger District; Six Rivers Officials Report 282 Lightning Strikes On National Forest

Thumbnail photo courtesy of Kristen Peterson

Firefighters are working to douse four lightning-caused fires within the Gasquet Ranger District, the Six Rivers National Forest reported Tuesday.

The blazes were caused by a series of thunderstorms that passed through the region Monday evening, resulting in about 282 lightning strikes as of about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to a news release. In addition to the four blazes within the Gasquet Ranger District, firefighters are also responding to a fire reported in the Marble Mountain Wilderness within the Orleans/Ukonom Ranger District, according to the release.

Within the Gasquet Ranger District, the blazes include the Myrtle Fire at about 0.1 acres northeast of Crescent City on Low Divide Road near Forest Route 17N21 near top of the ridge. According to the press release, firefighters have the blaze under control and are “in patrol status.”

Continue reading Crews Working Four Fires Within the Gasquet Ranger District; Six Rivers Officials Report 282 Lightning Strikes On National Forest

Compensation Study Continues as Del Norte Supervisors Begin Budget Process

Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

The county’s latest compensation study isn’t yet finished, but from what she’s seen of the preliminary data, Norma Williams said it validates much of what the Del Norte County Employees Association SEIU 1021 has been saying for years.

Still, speaking with Redwood Voice Community News nearly a week after county administration began the 2025-26 budget process with the Board of Supervisors, Williams, the association’s chapter president, said she would urge the public to ask their own questions.

“Regardless of wage increases, Del Norte County is still under market when compared to other similar counties, or the counties they chose to compare ours against,” she said Monday. “We’re still below average. At some point, the rubber has to meet the road and you have to figure out what path you’re going to drive on.”

Continue reading Compensation Study Continues as Del Norte Supervisors Begin Budget Process

Harbor District Board Drops Property Insurance On Marina Docks To Save $181,500

Thumbnail photo by Gavin Van Alstine

Crescent City Harbor commissioners took Sandy Moreno’s advice and decided not to renew property insurance that covers damage to the docks in the marina from fire and collision.

Moreno, who became the Harbor District’s financial advisor in April, urged commissioners to hold off on renewing the Commercial Property — Inner Boat Basin Docks portion of their coverage with Redwood Leavitt Insurance Agency. She proposed taking the $181,500 premium it would have cost, putting $50,000 of it toward maintenance and using the remainder to keep the Harbor District solvent through the fiscal year.

“I’m giving you guys a year to get your shit together and if we do this one thing it does that,” she said Wednesday. “We will get through a year and if revenue generation and our cost savings and all the things we’re looking at doing — you will be in a really good place come July 1 of next year.”

Continue reading Harbor District Board Drops Property Insurance On Marina Docks To Save $181,500

Unidentified Man Fatally Shot By Law Enforcement; Incident Originated As A Medical Aid Call, Del Norte Sheriff Says

Thumbnail photo: Law enforcement continue an investigation into an officer-involved-shooting that took place near Anchor Way and U.S. 101 on Friday. | Heather Polen

Updated at 11:16 a.m. Saturday:

From the California Highway Patrol:

On June 27, 2025, at approximately 10:55 A.M., California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers assigned to the CHP Crescent City Area responded to a 911 report of a male subject covered in blood, on Anchor Way west of US-101. 

Emergency medical personnel also responded to the scene. The male subject was carrying a knife and aggressively approached medical personnel. Medical personnel backed away from the male subject.

One Del Norte Sheriff’s Office (DNSO) deputy and two CHP officers arrived on the scene and ordered the subject to drop the knife.  The male subject was non-responsive to verbal commands.

The subject aggressively approached the deputy and officers. The DNSO deputy deployed his electronic control device, which proved to be ineffective. The subject continued to aggressively charge at the officers with a knife, and out of fear for his safety and the safety of others, a CHP officer involved shooting occurred.

The subject was arrested at the scene, and emergency medical aid was rendered. The male subject was transported to Sutter Coast Hospital and succumbed to his injuries.  

No injuries were sustained by CHP officers or Allied Agencies. 

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A criminal and an internal affairs investigation is underway in connection with an officer-involved-shooting that claimed the life of an unidentified man, and took place at the intersection of Anchor Way and U.S. 101 on Friday.

The incident started as a medical aid call, Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott told Redwood Voice Community News. Shortly after arriving at the scene — the grassy area near the Crescent City Harbor entrance — personnel from Crescent Fire and Del Norte Ambulance requested help from law enforcement, saying the patient was attacking them with a box cutter.

A Del Norte County sheriff’s deputy and a California Highway Patrol officer arrived on scene at about the same time, Scott said. The suspect was shot and later pronounced dead at Sutter Coast Hospital, the sheriff said, though the details surrounding shots being fired are still under investigation.

Continue reading Unidentified Man Fatally Shot By Law Enforcement; Incident Originated As A Medical Aid Call, Del Norte Sheriff Says

Following 3-2 Vote, Rademaker Keeps Harbormaster Job Despite Concerns Over His Contract

Rademaker

Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

Three Crescent City Harbor commissioners let a five-year employment contract with Mike Rademaker stand despite concerns from two of their colleagues that someone had tweaked it after the fact.

During a meeting that lasted more than five hours Wednesday, commissioners Annie Nehmer and Dan Schmidt said the final version of the contract included terms that had been deleted during negotiations the Board held with Rademaker in May.

Nehmer said that paragraphs she and her colleagues had changed when negotiating Rademaker’s contract with the help of attorney Michael Travis, of Best Best & Krieger, had been added back in after it had been sent to the district’s current legal counsel, Ryan Plotz, of the Mitchell Law Firm, for review.

Continue reading Following 3-2 Vote, Rademaker Keeps Harbormaster Job Despite Concerns Over His Contract

CCPD Investigating Human Remains Found Near Cooper Hill To Rule Out Homicide

An investigation is underway to rule out homicide after human remains were found near Cooper Avenue and J Street in Crescent City on Wednesday.

Crescent City Police Chief Richard Griffin said the body of a male subject was found about 200 feet into the brush toward the cemetery. The subject had been wearing a hospital bracelet, Griffin said. Officers are working with the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office Coroner to identify the individual, Griffin told Redwood Voice Community News.

There was also evidence that animals had disturbed the body, Griffin said.

Continue reading CCPD Investigating Human Remains Found Near Cooper Hill To Rule Out Homicide

Curry Board of Commissioners, Sheriff Agree On Staffing Plan, Commit To Regular Meetings

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

Though tensions continued on Tuesday with Curry County’s newest commissioner telling John Ward that his constituents have been fearful for the past year, both sides were able to compromise on staffing for the sheriff’s office.

Both sides agreed to staff a lieutenant in the patrol division who would oversee four deputies, a forest deputy, a marine deputy and a community resource officer. There would also be a part-time civil service deputy working for the sheriff’s office as well as two sergeants working under jail commander Lt. Jeremy Krohn. 

The part-time civil service deputy would also handle animal control cases for the Board of Commissioners, according to Director of Operations Ted Fitzgerald.

Continue reading Curry Board of Commissioners, Sheriff Agree On Staffing Plan, Commit To Regular Meetings

Low-Power FM Station Continues To Broadcast Local Voices, News to ‘Crescent City, Del Norte County and Beyond’

Health Matters wasn’t Lynn Szabo’s idea.

Paul Critz, co-founder and director of KFUG Community Radio, had visited Redwood Urgent Care to discuss underwriting possibilities. Next thing Szabo knew she had a spot on the air to discuss all things health and why Del Norters should care.

“It was kind of amazing,” she said. “He came up with a show idea and for me to do [it]. He took a minute and a half to come up with it.”

Continue reading Low-Power FM Station Continues To Broadcast Local Voices, News to ‘Crescent City, Del Norte County and Beyond’

Curry Sheriff, BOC Meet In Same Room To Go Over 2025-26 Budget

Thumbnail: Curry County Sheriff John Ward and his staff, Sgt. Synthia Westerman and Lt. Jeremy Krohn, met with the Board of Commissioners on Thursday to discuss the office’s budget. | Screenshot

A nine-month long stalemate between the Curry County Board of Commissioners and the sheriff’s office seems to have thawed. But while both sides, including Sheriff John Ward, met in the same room Thursday to discuss the 2025-26 budget, their differences continue.

Still, Director of County Operations Ted Fitzgerald said he hopes that they can reach a compromise and decide what role each plays in county government without moving forward with the Board’s petition for a declaratory judgment.

“If we can just acknowledge and accept the role of each party … and realize that cohesion and working together between the two entities is necessary … we’ll be able to deliver services,” he told Redwood Voice Community News following Thursday’s budget workshop, which was the third time both sides met since conflict arose between them in September 2024. “We got to some of the fundamental questions today. We don’t have answers to them yet, but I think we’re on the way to getting them, and the sheriff’s office [has] their concerns that are valid.”

Continue reading Curry Sheriff, BOC Meet In Same Room To Go Over 2025-26 Budget