All posts by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Articles, Community News, Local Government

Del Norte County Board of Supervisors Roundup, April 8, 2025

Leave a comment

Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

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

Salary Issues: Norma Williams, president of the Del Norte County Employees Association, took issue with proposals to hire Department of Health and Human Services employees at a more advanced step in the salary schedule.

The proposals to hire two medical records clerks and a behavioral health specialist at Step C rather than Step A appeared on the consent agenda. Supervisors approved them without discussion.

Continue reading Del Norte County Board of Supervisors Roundup, April 8, 2025 →
Articles, Community News, Curry, Law, Local Government

Curry Commissioners Cite 2007 Oregon Appeals Court Ruling When Discussing Dispute With Sheriff

Leave a comment

Thumbnail: Screenshot

Though the outcome of a declaratory judgment against the sheriff is still pending, Curry County’s newest commissioner told his colleagues of a 2007 Oregon Appeals Court ruling that may apply to the current situation.

Referring to an ongoing dispute between the Board of Commissioners and Sheriff John Ward, Commissioner Patrick Hollinger said he and Director of Operations Ted Fitzgerald received information about Daniel v. The Board of County Commissioners for Josephine County.

“A lot of the back and forth, or the lack of back and forth, between the commissioners and the sheriff is [about] who has authority over what and why,” Hollinger told his colleagues Wednesday. “And as we all know, we have a declaratory judgment that we’re still waiting to have happen, but this covers a couple of those items within our declaratory judgment. And that would be positions within the sheriff’s department and who picks and chooses those positions and how those positions are funded.”

Continue reading Curry Commissioners Cite 2007 Oregon Appeals Court Ruling When Discussing Dispute With Sheriff →
Articles, Community News, Curry, Infrastructure, Law

Discovery of Lead Paint on Bunk Beds Force Curry County Commissioners To Reduce Jail Capacity

Leave a comment

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

Lead paint on bunks at the Curry County Jail prompted commissioners to temporarily reduce the facility’s capacity, cutting its number of beds from 35 to 16.

The Curry County Sheriff’s Office will be more judicious about who they accept into the jail as a result, according to Lt. Jeremy Krohn. But it’s the less drastic of two options he presented to commissioners at an emergency meeting on Friday. The alternative was to completely evacuate the jail, he said.

Some staff have already been relocated, Krohn said.

Continue reading Discovery of Lead Paint on Bunk Beds Force Curry County Commissioners To Reduce Jail Capacity →
Articles, Community News, Curry, Local Government

Curry County Commissioner Brad Alcorn Announces Resignation Effective May 1

Leave a comment

Thumbnail photo: Brad Alcorn.

Curry County Commissioner Brad Alcorn announced his resignation on Wednesday, telling his colleagues that he had “personal things” he needed to focus on requiring him to be gone for extended periods of time.

“I know that not being present here every day would certainly not be fair to the people of this county, but it also would not be fair to either of you,” he told commissioners Jay Trost and Patrick Hollinger at the end of the Board’s regular business meeting. “You guys show up every day. You work hard trying to solve this county’s problems, and you need someone, a third person, that’s going to be doing the same.”

Alcorn said his resignation will be effective May 1 and the Board’s April 15 meeting will be the last time he serves as its chair.

Continue reading Curry County Commissioner Brad Alcorn Announces Resignation Effective May 1 →
Articles, Community News, Health, Law

Law Enforcement Leaders Discuss Challenges When Responding To Non-Criminal Mental Health Calls; Del Norte’s PATH Crisis Team Launches With Limited Hours

Leave a comment

Thumbnail photo: Concept art of the Del Norte County’s Providing Access to Hope mobile mental health crisis response van. Above: Supervising Behavioral Health Specialist Mariah Coats and two of PATH’s team members, Certified Peer Support Specialist Ryan Downs and Behavioral health Specialist Aaron Matthess. | Photos courtesy of Shiann Hogan

Del Norte County’s Providing Access to Hope, or PATH, program has responded to 27 calls for help since it launched nearly two months ago.

In a majority of those cases, the staff manning the new mobile mental health crisis unit have helped those individuals come up with a safety plan and have followed up with those folks, Behavioral Health Branch Deputy Director Shiann Hogan told Redwood Voice Community News.

But, while it’s a resource anyone, including law enforcement, can call upon, PATH is currently only available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday due to staffing issues.

Continue reading Law Enforcement Leaders Discuss Challenges When Responding To Non-Criminal Mental Health Calls; Del Norte’s PATH Crisis Team Launches With Limited Hours →
Articles, Community News, Education, Infrastructure

Del Norte County, Education Officials Lobby For Century-Old Funding Source

Leave a comment

Thumbnail photo by Amanda Dockter

Pointing out that Del Norte County’s apportionment is a significant part of its general fund, District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard said continuing to lobby hard for the Secure Rural Schools program is important, even though Congress didn’t include it in the budget it approved last month.

Howard, whose district includes the Smith River National Recreation Area and parts of Redwood National and State Parks, called the loss of nearly $1.4 million to the community huge. It’s huge for Del Norte County and huge for Del Norte County Unified School District, he said.

But, while he urged Del Norters to let their elected representatives know where they stand on funding for infrastructure and schools, DNUSD Superintendent Jeff Harris said the district has learned not to count on those SRS dollars.

Continue reading Del Norte County, Education Officials Lobby For Century-Old Funding Source →
Articles, Community News, Education, Health, Youth

DNUSD Spared From Cuts To USDA School Nutrition Programs

Leave a comment

Thumbnail photo: DNUSD’s Nutrition Services Department fresh fish tacos to Del Norte High School students last year courtesy of the Community Food Council’s Sea-to-Market program. | Photo courtesy of Michael Hawkins

(Updated at 8:27 a.m. to correct an error. Julie Carter Bjorkstrand, Del Norte Unified School District’s director of nutrition services, will travel to Sacramento as part of the California School Nutrition Association’s legislative action committee.)

Potential changes to a federal program that offers free meals to socio-economically disadvantaged schools will impact 2.4 million Californian students, but those in Del Norte County won’t be among them, according to Julie Carter Bjorkstrand.

Bjorkstrand, Del Norte Unified School District’s director of nutrition services, also said that a $660 million cut to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Local Food For Schools program won’t impact Del Norte schools.

“It’s actually not going to impact us because I didn’t apply for that grant,” she said. “I didn’t like the reporting. They didn’t have it fully fleshed out and so I didn’t feel all that comfortable applying for it.”

Continue reading DNUSD Spared From Cuts To USDA School Nutrition Programs →
Articles, Community News, Education, Transportation, Youth

DNUSD Is Getting New Vans, Training New Bus Drivers, Transportation Director Says

Leave a comment

Thumbnail photo by Persephone Rose

Del Norte Unified School District is putting four new vans on the road, replacing an aging fleet that drew concerns from parents and staff who said they weren’t safe for students.

But since it will take  two or three weeks to be retrofitted to meet the district’s needs, DNUSD is still relying on those older vans, transportation director Chris Armington told the Board of Trustees on Thursday.

Providing an update  four months after parents and staff complained of warped brake rotors, leaking brake fluid and school bus seat belts held together with duct tape, Armington said his department had implemented a check-in check-out system for use of the vans.

Continue reading DNUSD Is Getting New Vans, Training New Bus Drivers, Transportation Director Says →
Articles, Community News, Education, Infrastructure, Local Government

School Board Signs Onto SitelogIQ Proposal After DNUSD Admin Says Potential $65k Fee Won’t Impact Staff

Leave a comment

Thumbnail: DNUSD logo

Despite hearing from two skeptics who balked at the possibility that Del Norte Unified School District would be on the hook for $65,000, trustees endorsed a proposal from SitelogIQ to conduct energy audits of DNUSD campuses.

Del Norte Teachers Association President Amber Tiedeken-Cron was one of those skeptics. On Thursday, she pointed to the names of teachers that had been posted on the wall at the district office, asking trustees to keep them in mind when they think about spending money.

“We had put the names of every one of the teachers that received pink slips on the board,” she told Redwood Voice Community News on Friday, “and asked that the School Board keep our students and the names of the staff who have been given preliminary layoff notices at the forefront of every decision they make.”

Continue reading School Board Signs Onto SitelogIQ Proposal After DNUSD Admin Says Potential $65k Fee Won’t Impact Staff →
Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Law, Local Government

Though He’ll Enforce State Law, Sheriff Advises Harbor District To Hold Off On Administrative Fines For Illegal Fireworks This Year

Leave a comment

Thumbnail: Illegal fireworks on South Beach rivaled professional display Crescent City put on near the North Jetty in this July 4, 2018 photo | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Crescent City Harbor commissioners on Wednesday broke off pursuit of an agreement with the county enabling them to levy fines aimed at curtailing illegal fireworks within their jurisdiction, taking advice from their harbormaster and, through him, the Del Norte County Sheriff.

Sheriff Garrett Scott said his deputies and officers from other agencies will still enforce state law prohibiting fireworks that explode, go into the air and move erratically on the ground this Independence Day. This includes citing and arresting anyone selling, displaying or possessing illegal fireworks in violation of the California Penal Code as well as confiscating dangerous fireworks.

He said he also wanted to see how his office handles enforcing Del Norte County’s new fireworks ordinance, which was established in October and also includes a fee structure.

Continue reading Though He’ll Enforce State Law, Sheriff Advises Harbor District To Hold Off On Administrative Fines For Illegal Fireworks This Year →