All posts by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government

Proposed $1,500 Rock Contribution Leads To Debate Over Repairs to Non County-Maintained Roads

Leave a comment

Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

Despite her initial worry that approving a purchase for a private road would open a tin of segmented invertebrates, Valerie Starkey came around to the idea of contributing $1,500 in rock for the Carole Lane area north of Crescent City.

The Del Norte County District 2 supervisor had initially told County Engineer Jon Olson on Tuesday that she would oppose adding the purchase to the budget set aside for repairs to roads not maintained by the county. Starkey’s no vote turned into a yes after her colleague, District 1 representative Darrin Short, made a motion to approve the purchase but only if the rock were used on parts of Carole Lane that are public.

“Just the public road intersections of Carole, Monopoly and Embarcadero,” Short said.

Continue reading Proposed $1,500 Rock Contribution Leads To Debate Over Repairs to Non County-Maintained Roads →
Alerts, Articles, Crescent City, Crime

CCPD Investigating Shooting At Safeway Parking Lot; One Victim Hospitalized

Leave a comment

Updated at 10:18 p.m. to correct the suspects name.

Update May 29 at 1:00PM

CCPD has arrested Joshua Roberts in connection with the investigation regarding the shooting Wednesday evening. Officers gathered evidence that Roberts picked up the two individuals CCPD is searching for and drove them out of Crescent City. Officers contacted Roberts,
who was on parole, and conducted a search of his vehicle. During the search an AR15, semi-automatic shotgun, and several hundred rounds of ammunition were located.

Roberts is currently being held at the Del Norte County Jail, and there are active arrest warrants for Russell Walters, Sr. and Russell Walters, Jr. in connection with the shooting Wednesday evening.

Del Norte Unified School District Director of Communications Michael Hawkins stated that there is an increased police presence surrounding Del Norte schools at this time, including patrols. Del Norte High School has elected to undergo further precautions including entrance monitoring and locking its classroom doors. As of 11:50 AM there have been no apparent threats made to Del Norte County schools, Hawkins told Redwood Voice Community News.

Update at 10:13 p.m.

Crescent City police are seeking the public’s help in finding Russell Walters Jr., the suspect involved in a shooting that took place at Safeway earlier this evening.

Walters will be charged with attempted homicide, Crescent City Police Chief Richard Griffin said. CCPD is working with the Del Norte County District Attorney to obtain an arrest warrant in case the suspect leaves the area, Griffin said.

According to the police chief, Walters was seen leaving the area as a passenger in a black Chevrolet Traverse. The vehicle has a disabled license plate, number EP007. Griffin said his department is actively working with the DA’s office and the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office.

Continue reading CCPD Investigating Shooting At Safeway Parking Lot; One Victim Hospitalized →
Articles, Education, Local Government, Youth

Contract Negotiations Between DNUSD, Teachers Union Commences; Board Approves AI Policy

Leave a comment

Thumbnail photo: Members of Del Norte Unified School District’s AI Task Force discuss a draft policy with the Board of Trustees in this April photo. | Photo by Guiming Xiong

Superintendent Jeff Harris was absent. Among the items discussed at Thursday’s Del Norte Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting.

DNTA negotiations begin:

Del Norte Unified School District is not in a position to offer salary increases to teachers during the 2025-26 fiscal year, Superintendent of Business Jeff Napier told trustees.

Napier presented DNUSD’s first proposal for its 2025-26 contract with the Del Norte Teachers Association a little more than two months after a stalemate between the two parties concluded with help from state mediators.

Continue reading Contract Negotiations Between DNUSD, Teachers Union Commences; Board Approves AI Policy →
Articles, Education, Youth

Route Cancellations, Delays Prompt Parents To Take Bus Woes To School Board

Leave a comment

Thumbnail photo by Persephone Rose

Melissa Endert went before the Del Norte Unified School District Board of Trustees two days after bus service to her children’s school was canceled.

Endert, who lives in Crescent City while her kids attend Smith River School to be near their father who is a special education teacher, said finding out at the last minute that the bus wouldn’t be showing up was a sacrifice for her and left many parents scrambling.

“That’s a hardship for community members who are not like myself, who don’t have a spare car or don’t have time set aside to get their kids to school,” she said. “The district stresses that students should come to school every day. If buses aren’t running they can’t attend school. If they come to school an hour late, they’re missing breakfast, they’re missing time and they’re stressed, they’re hungry, they’re anxious and they’re worried and it’s already a long bus route.”

Continue reading Route Cancellations, Delays Prompt Parents To Take Bus Woes To School Board →
Community News

Curry Voters Reject Law Enforcement Levy For A Second Year; Hollinger Gives Recitation On Presentation From Sheriff’s Association Rep

1 Comment
Sheriff John Ward

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

Two days after Curry County voters rejected a property tax levy to fund patrol deputies and dispatchers, the sheriff took solace from the narrower margin of failure compared to the effort the Board of Commissioners spearheaded in 2024.

“It was 70-30 [last year],” Sheriff John Ward told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday. “And this year, the breakdown was somewhere around 60 percent-to-40 percent.”

According to the results from Tuesday’s election posted on the Oregon Secretary of State’s website, 60.20 percent of the Curry County voters who cast a ballot rejected the proposed “five-year option tax for Curry County law enforcement. According to the results, 39.8 percent approved it.

Continue reading Curry Voters Reject Law Enforcement Levy For A Second Year; Hollinger Gives Recitation On Presentation From Sheriff’s Association Rep →
Articles, Humboldt, Law, Local Government

Eureka Council Quashes Camping Ordinance With One Member Saying It Targets Status Rather Than Conduct

Leave a comment

Thumbnail photo: A man who identified himself as Ray told the Eureka City Council on Tuesday that he’s been homeless for 25 years. He asked the City Council to approach the issue with humanity. | Screenshot

Despite their city manager’s attempt to paint it as a means of getting people the help they need, three Eureka City Councilors decided that a proposed ordinance restricting camping and sitting or lying on the sidewalk is criminalizing homelessness.

City Manager Miles Slattery also presented letters from philanthropist Betty Chinn and Eureka Rescue Mission Executive Director Bryan Hall on Tuesday endorsing the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, or LEAD program, which is specifically referred to in Bill No. 1040 C.S.

But Eureka City Councilor G. Mario Fernandez pointed out that though the LEAD program offers “case management and supportive services,” he’s not aware of any social workers who support it. The city already has regulations governing obstructing public walkways and aggressive conduct prompting Fernandez to question why Eureka needed additional camping laws.

Continue reading Eureka Council Quashes Camping Ordinance With One Member Saying It Targets Status Rather Than Conduct →
Articles, Community News, Education

Library Director Tenders Resignation As Trustees, Staff Fight For Del Norte Reads

Leave a comment

Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

Literacy means resiliency, stability and survival for Del Norte County, Terrin Musbach wrote in a letter she plans to send to state library officials.

Musbach, program coordinator for Del Norte Reads, read her letter before library trustees on Monday about six weeks after the California State Library recommended the local program not participate in the state’s literacy program.

But, while trustees agreed to partner with Musbach and petition the state to let Del Norte Reads rejoin California Library Literacy Services, they also received a letter of resignation from their library director, Phyllis Goodeill.

Continue reading Library Director Tenders Resignation As Trustees, Staff Fight For Del Norte Reads →
Articles, Crescent City, Transportation

Transportation Officials Will Unveil South Beach Climate Resilience Plan Thursday

Leave a comment

Thumbnail photo by Amanda Dockter

Transportation officials will unveil  a plan on Thursday they say will help local and state governments prepare for the more intense storms expected to hit Del Norte County as a result of climate change.

The South Beach Climate Resilience Plan focuses on U.S. 101, Anchor Way and the Crescent City Marsh area, said Tamera Leighton, executive director for the Del Norte Transportation Commission, one of the partners on the project.

The DNLTC has been working with the Crescent City Harbor District, Elk Valley Rancheria, Caltrans District 1, Del Norte County and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for about a year and a half to create the first step in addressing a “big infrastructure problem” for South Beach, Leighton said.

Continue reading Transportation Officials Will Unveil South Beach Climate Resilience Plan Thursday →
Articles, CC Harbor, Crescent City, Law

Sheriff Says He Won’t ‘Give A Lot of Breaks’ On Illegal Fireworks This Year; Blake Inscore To Be Grand Marshal In Parade

1 Comment

Thumbnail photo courtesy of the Crescent City-Del Norte County Chamber of Commerce

Del Norte County’s sheriff plans to come down heavy on criminal charges against those  who test the community’s resolve on curtailing the use of illegal fireworks.

Though a new social media campaign launched last week mentions increased administrative fines and penalties for the sale, possession and use of mortars, sky rockets and other unsafe pyrotechnics, those who flout state law could face misdemeanor or felony charges, Sheriff Garrett Scott said.

“The bottomline is it’s easier for us to focus more on state laws than it is on local laws just for the teeth,” Scott said Monday. “This time we’re trying to make an impact and make this community safe. And so this year, we’re not going to be giving a lot of breaks.”

Continue reading Sheriff Says He Won’t ‘Give A Lot of Breaks’ On Illegal Fireworks This Year; Blake Inscore To Be Grand Marshal In Parade →
Articles, Health

Sutter Coast Hospital To Break Ground On EmPATH Unit Next Month

1 Comment

Thumbnail photo by Persephone Rose

Nearly six months after Del Norte County rolled out its new Providing Access to Hope program, Behavioral Health Director Shiann Hogan briefly mentioned Sutter Coast Hospital’s new EmPATH unit.

Hogan had brought her staff and the clients they serve before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to commemorate May as Mental Health Awareness Month. In addition to thanking her team — “the ones doing the daily work to improve lives” — Hogan said the hospital’s latest development is one of several new treatment options that will be available on the North Coast.

“Yesterday it was announced by the governor many projects that are going to be funded through the Prop 1 BCHIP funds,” she said, referring to the Proposition 1 Bond Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program.

Continue reading Sutter Coast Hospital To Break Ground On EmPATH Unit Next Month →