Category Archives: Articles

Articles, Crime

Three Accused Of Killing 41-Year-Old Man During Maiden Lane Altercation

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Three Del Norte County men are accused of killing 41-year-old Robert Allen Cole during an altercation that took place on Maiden Lane the evening of March 16.

Robert Christopher Hunter, 46, Andrew Salinas, 43, and 23-year-old Donovan Natt face murder charges, Del Norte County District Attorney Katherine Micks told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday.

Hunter and Natt appeared before Judge Karen Olson on Wednesday. Hunter pleaded not guilty and waived his right to a speedy trial. However, since Natt’s lawyer, Humboldt County attorney Russell Clanton, had just received the case, Natt’s entry-of-plea hearing has been postponed until April 9.

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Articles, Crescent City, Local Government

Developers Working To Get Project On Track After Cost Overruns, Water Damage Halts Construction At Battery Point Apartments

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Updated at 10:39 a.m. Wednesday to correct who the general contractor is for the project.

Water damage and cost overruns have halted construction on Battery Point Apartments — the 162-unit affordable housing project being built near Joe Hamilton Elementary and Crescent Elk Middle School.

Three days after a former Del Norte County supervisor told the Crescent City Council that the project disturbed him, Bill Rice, president of the Synergy Community Development Corporation, acknowledged the work stoppage. But his description of who the building’s tenants will be is different from Roger Gitlin’s “completely Section 8 assisted living project” characterization.

It’s true that the complex’s senior apartments will be offered to those receiving project-based housing vouchers through the Crescent City Housing Authority, Rice said. The remaining 120 units will go to families, including those who are not very-low income, but who can’t afford market-rate rent.

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Articles, Infrastructure, Tribal Affairs

Del Norte County Board of Supervisors Recap, March 24, 2026

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Thumbnail image: The 57-acre “Sand Spit Property” the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation is seeking to acquire. |Image courtesy of the Bureau of Indian Affairs

District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey was absent. Among the items discussed at Tuesday’s Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting:

Trust Acquisition Opposition: County supervisors approved a letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs opposing the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation’s efforts to acquire 57 acres of undeveloped land just outside its boundaries in Smith River.

Known as the “Sand Spit Property,” the parcel is located on the south side of the Smith River estuary near the river mouth.

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Articles, Emergencies

Earthquake/Tsunami Drill Set For Tomorrow

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Thumbnail map courtesy of the Redwood Coast Tsunami Working Group. To find maps for Fort Dick, Smith River and Klamath, click here.

Del Norters who have opted into the county’s emergency alert system will get a notification between 11 a.m. and noon Wednesday.

Coinciding with Tsunami Preparedness Week, the earthquake and tsunami drill will only involve the county’s Everbridge system, Emergency Services Manager Deborah Otenburg told county supervisors on Tuesday.

“Oftentimes we have community members say we didn’t receive the alert, you do have to be registered to receive that alert,” Otenburg said. “And there will not be sirens. This is not a live-code activation. This is not a National Weather Service putting this out. It’s just us.”

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Articles, Crescent City

Chamber To Move To A Temporary Home Ahead of Cultural Center Project

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Thumbnail photo by Persephone Rose

Crescent City’s transformation of the Cultural Center into a more inviting, easier place for the public to visit will be underway this spring, but for that to happen the local chamber of commerce needs a temporary home.

The Crescent City-Del Norte County Chamber of Commerce is looking to move its gift shop and offices into Suite 2 at the Mason Mall likely by May 1, Executive Director Cindy Vosburg told Redwood Voice Community News on Friday. The organization hopes to be back home some time in November, “but you know how construction is,” she says.

“Nobody likes to move, it’s always a disruption, but this is a good workaround,” Vosburg said, adding that parking is plentiful for visitors at the new location. “And when we get to move back, Front Street will be done and it will be beautiful and even more beneficial for people who come to Del Norte County and Crescent City.”

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Articles, Community News, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Local Government

Crescent City Council Recap, March 16, 2026

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Thumbnail photo: Crescent City Council | Photo by James Brooks

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

Digital sign ordinance: Before he ducked out of the meeting early to go to his job, Councilor Jason Greenough cast the sole dissenting vote on new digital sign regulations. They’re unnecessary, counterproductive and “not business friendly,” he said.

Introduced on Feb. 17, the ordinance restricts a digital sign’s size to 32 square feet and states that they are only allowed in the commercial zone along the city’s highway corridor. This includes L and M streets, U.S. 101 from 9th Street north to the city limits and Northcrest Drive and Washington Boulevard. Digital signs must also be 1,750 linear feet apart, according to the new ordinance.

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Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Local Government

Crescent City Area Residents May See Water, Sewer Bills Increase; Rate Studies Cite Increased Costs, Needed Maintenance, Structural Deficits

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Thumbnail photo by James Brooks

Aging infrastructure, increased costs and expenditures outpacing revenues are prompting Crescent City staff to seek a rate increase for water and sewer customers.

Representatives from Rural Community Assistance Corporation and Willdan Financial Services presented study results that reached similar conclusions for both utilities. 

On the water side, sales won’t be enough to cover the system’s operating and maintenance costs, RCAC Assistant Field Manager Samantha Ryan told the City Council on Monday.

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Agriculture, Articles, Education

Sunset High Teacher Nominated for Statewide Future Farmers of America Award

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Photos by Aisling Bludworth

Robyn Payne had a hand in agriculture from the day she could pick up a shovel.

Her father was an agriculture teacher and she grew up on a dairy. These days she follows in her father’s footsteps and teaches agriculture at Sunset High School.

Through her work at Sunset, she has been nominated for the Agricultural Educator of the Year award from the California Future Farmers of America Foundation, the California Farm Bureau, in collaboration with Nationwide Insurance.

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Articles, Crescent City, Economy, Local Government

New Housing Developments Spark Controversy; For Some Residents, It’s Too Many Too Fast

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Crescent City and Del Norte County residents on Monday spoke both for and against the various housing developments underway within the city limits. | Video and photo by James Brooks

Megan Miller sought to counter what she said was misinformation concerning the housing developments underway in Crescent City. But few stuck around past the public comment period at Monday’s City Council meeting to hear it.

Miller, Crescent City Housing Authority executive director, specifically spoke to Battery Point Apartments — a 162-unit complex that will house seniors and families — and the narrative that its tenants won’t be from Del Norte County.

“The waiting list for Battery Point Apartments, the senior units… there are 78 applicants on that list (and) there are 40 units,” she said. “Out of those 78, 72 of them are local residents. All 72 applicants are automatically ahead of those six who are from out of the area because anybody with a Del Norte County address steps ahead of somebody without one regardless of the application date.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure

Harbor Commissioners Seek General Contractor, Project Manager For Citizens Dock, Seawall Project

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff; Right: Most recent rendering of Citizens Dock/seawall project. | Image courtesy of the Crescent City Harbor District

Harbor commissioners gave staff the green light to seek a general contractor, project manager, accounting firm and a grants manager as construction for the seawall and Citizens Dock rebuilds loom.

Commissioners unanimously approved releasing requests for proposals on Tuesday after Mike Bahr, CEO of Community System Solution, gave a rundown of what they and the public can expect over the next roughly two years.

“We’re looking at this as one project,” he said. “These two elements are two separate grants, but it really is one very large construction project that’s all taking place at the same time.”

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