Category Archives: Articles

Articles, Infrastructure, Transportation

Long-Awaited STAA 197/199 Project To Start Construction In The Spring, Caltrans Says

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Thumbnail image: The 197/199 Safe STAA Access project, which includes widening U.S. 199 and State Route 197 in several areas is scheduled for construction starting this spring. | Map courtesy of Caltrans

The likelihood that further litigation will stall a long-awaited project to widen lanes and modify curves on State Route 197 and U.S. 199 is low, Caltrans District 1 representatives told Del Norte Local Transportation commissioners on Tuesday.

The state transportation department expects to solicit bids for the 197/199 Safe STAA Access project in October with proposals coming in between Nov. 4 and Nov. 7, Project Manager David Melendrez said. Contract approval is expected in December and construction will start some time during the spring, he said.

“It is moving forward. It has support from everyone in our district and it also has support from people in Sacramento [at a] pretty high level up there,” Melendrez told commissioners.

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Articles, Infrastructure, Transportation

Roundabout Not Likely To Be Funded For Elk Valley Cross Road, U.S. 101, Caltrans Says

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Thumbnail photo: Caltrans officials and Del Norte Local Transportation commissioners discussed safety improvements to the intersection of U.S. 101 and Elk Valley Cross Road. | Image courtesy of Google Maps

Though acknowledging that a roundabout would help reduce the number of collisions on U.S. 101 at Elk Valley Cross Road, it’s unlikely Caltrans will receive the funding to construct it, Safety Investigator Clark Davis said.

Davis told Del Norte Local Transportation Commissioners on Tuesday that they agreed with its assessment that the collision rate at the intersection exceeded the state average. But with most of those crashes involving drivers that aren’t seeing the approaching traffic behind the car they’re trying to avoid, there isn’t much Caltrans can do, Davis said.

“We can’t make the cars invisible,” he said. “The best we can do is improve some signing and some delineation, which is what we’re planning to do.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government

CCHD Board Looks To AI For Help With Meeting Minutes

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Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

A month after they approved minutes dating back to January, Crescent City Harbor commissioners decided artificial intelligence might make compiling those records easier on staff.

The discussion came after the Board of Commissioners on Wednesday approved minutes from a special meeting on Aug. 13. The minutes from Crescent City Harbor District’s most recent regular session, which was also held Aug. 13, were not included in Wednesday’s consent calendar, something Commissioner Annie Nehmer pointed out.

“We shrank it down to just the action minutes so it was more manageable and it still seems to not be manageable,” she said, adding that the Del Norte County Grand Jury had concerns about meeting minutes being unavailable to the public.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government

CCHD Makes Formal Brown Act Commitment On Behalf of Their Finance Committee; Attorney States Board Wasn’t Admitting To Wrongdoing

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Thumbnail photo by Gavin Van Alstine

Though one member said that such a statement would imply wrongdoing, Crescent City Harbor commissioners last week agreed to issue a formal commitment that their finance committee would comply with the Ralph M. Brown Act.

This unconditional commitment is in response to a cease and desist letter Davis attorney Paul Boylan sent to the Crescent City Harbor District on behalf of his client, county resident Linda Sutter.

The July 14 letter alleges that the CCHD finance committee met without providing public notice and failed to conduct open meetings. It states that the district’s finance committee denied the public the opportunity to comment and record their meetings and failed to keep a record, according to an Aug. 27 report from the district’s attorney, Ryan Plotz of Mitchell Law Firm.

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Articles, Community News, Education, Transportation, Youth

Despite ‘Making Strides,’ Students Were Nearly An Hour Late To School, DNUSD Transportation Director Says

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Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

Del Norte County Unified School District’s transportation director painted as optimistic a picture as he could when describing the first week of school for trustees.

But, though he said things have improved, Chris Armington admitted to cases where students were nearly an hour late getting to school.

“We are making strides to make sure that communications do go out to the parents,” he told trustees on Thursday. “I work with [DNUSD communications director] Michael Hawkins on communicating our shortages and our lates to the community, and we ask parents to assist if they can take their students rather than them being super late.”

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Articles, Education, Youth

DNUSD Recap: Trustees Create Budget Committee, Discusse Science Instruction and Climate Change

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Among the items discussed at Thursday’s Del Norte County Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting:

Standing Budget Committee:  Trustees approved the creation of a formal budget committee with dedicated meetings that will focus on how to be transparent about the district’s financial situation with all stakeholders, including parents.

Coming two months after he and his colleagues approved a 2025-26 budget amid warnings that DNUSD faces a slow decline in revenue and an increase in expenditures, District 5 Trustee Michael Greer said the meetings will be public.

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Articles, Health, Infrastructure, Local Government

Ruth Compound Barriers Will Stay Put; Supervisors Call For Further Remedies To Illegal Dumping, Camping In The Area

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Thumbnail photo: Del Norte County Supervisors on Tuesday decided that K rail blocking vehicular access to an area commonly called the Ruth Compound should remain. | Photo by Heather Polen

(Updated at 7:51 p.m. to correct the spelling of Randy Pincombe’s name)

District 1 Supervisor Darrin Short argued that barriers are part of the solution to curtail illegal dumping and camping in the Ruth Compound, though he said Band-Aid is an apt term for them too.

“Band-Aid” was the phrase District 2 Supervisor Valery Starkey coined in February 2024 when Short initially proposed blocking the area. 

On Tuesday, though she ultimately voted with the rest of her colleagues for the barriers to continue, Starkey asked for statistics on the number of illegal dumpsites as well as the number of deputy patrols in the area. 

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Articles, Community News, Elections, Local Government

Del Norte Board of Supervisors Recap, Aug. 26, 2025

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Thumbnail photo: Members of the Del Norte Sheriff’s Posse raised $10,000 to bring Otis, a 1954 Ford police car, back to the community last month. | Photo courtesy of the Del Norte Sheriff’s Posse

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

Supervisors accept “Otis”: Though the vehicle has already been purchased, Del Norte County supervisors officially accepted Otis on Tuesday.

The 1954 Ford police car has been in movies, including the 1996 crime flick “Mulholland Falls,” according to Sheriff Garrett Scott’s staff report. Over the summer, the Del Norte Sheriff’s Posse, the nonprofit organization supporting the sheriff’s office, raised $10,000 to buy the vehicle. 

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Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

Del Norte Supervisors Extend Line of Credit To Airport Authority Due To Cash Flow Emergency

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff

With one of their colleagues conjuring up images of plane vs. elk collisions on the runway, Del Norte County supervisors authorized a line of credit that will allow the local airport authority to weather a cash flow emergency.

It’s an emergency tied to three grant-funded projects that are currently underway at the Del Norte County Airport. According to District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard, the emergency represents an oversight on the part of the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority and its former airport director Ryan Cooley.

Howard, however, pinned much of the blame on Cooley, who in 2023 had secured contributions from the joint powers authority’s member agencies to help to meet a 5% match tied to the $8 million Federal Aviation Administration grant-funded runway rehabilitation project.

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Articles, Crime, Local Government

Judge Denies Motion To Reduce Del Norte ACAO’s Hit & Run, DUI Charges; Hooper Allegedly Had 0.198 BAC, CHP Officer Testifies

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Thumbnail photo by Heather Polen

Hooper | Courtesy LinkedIn

After viewing video footage from Elk Valley Casino and hearing from the alleged victim in the case, a Del Norte County Judge denied a motion to reduce hit and run and driving under the influence charges against County Administrative Officer Randy Hooper from felonies to misdemeanors.

During a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, Judge Karen Olson said it would be up to the people to decide whether the charges against Hooper should be reduced. 

“[It’s] not in the interest of justice,” Olson said. “Accountability and justice go hand-in-hand regardless of how many Board of Supervisor members or sheriffs you know. This is not a core issue of the case. Reducing charges may occur in the future, but that is on the people.”

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