Category Archives: Community News

Arts & Culture, Community News

Art Scene: Stories of Steinbeck Art Exhibit, Kamome Festival Art Show, Community Drum Circle

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Here are this week’s Arts Notes from the Del Norte Association of Cultural Awareness (DNACA):

  • April 13: DNACA presents “Stories of Steinbeck,” an art exhibit and lecture by Jenny Rosa. This free event will be held at 6 p.m. at the College of the Redwoods’ Del Norte campus, 883 W. Washington Blvd. in Crescent City. All ages are welcome. 
  •  April 15: DNACA presents a free film screening of Samurai in the Oregon Sky followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Ilana Sol. The screening is a part of this week’s Kamome Festival festivities and will be held at 6 p.m. in the Tapestry Arts Center at the Church of the Nazarene, 224 F. St. in Crescent City. Pre-registration is required to attend. 
  • April 17-18: DNACA presents the Kamome Festival Annual Art Show at the Cultural Center, 1001 Front St. in Crescent City. This year’s theme is “honoring Japanese culture.”
  • April 25: DNACA is hosting a Community Drum Circle instructed by Mombo Hernandez, at 1:30 p.m. at the Tapestry Arts Center, 224 F. St. in Crescent City. Hand drums and percussion instruments will be provided or you may bring your own. All ages are welcome.
  • April 25: DNACA, in partnership with True North Organizing Network and Trillium Teen Center, are hosting a Poetry Slam. Poets of any age can participate! Participants must have three poems memorized as there will be three rounds The poets will be randomly picked from the crowd. There is an entrance fee of $1, and the prize for the winner will be the amount collected at the door. This event will also be held in the Tapestry Arts Center, 224 F. St., in Crescent City from 4:30p.m. to 6:00p.m. Doors open at 4 p.m.

Articles, Community News

Crescent City Honors ‘Servant Leader’ Mike Young Whose 53-Year Career Took Him Beyond Del Norte

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Thumbnail photo: Local engineer Mike Young and a child at an orphanage in Haiti exchange a hug during one of his visits with Team Redwood, a Northern California-based group of medical professionals and engineers who helped the country recover from the 2010 earthquake. | Photo courtesy of Carolyn Arellanes.

Eric Wier wouldn’t be Crescent City manager were it not for Mike Young. 

“Mike hired me at the city in 2003,” Wier told the City Council on Monday before they observed a moment of silence for Young, who died on March 21 at 84 years old. “I was able to work with him on so many different projects over the years. He taught me a ton about the water and wastewater systems, and then it was Mike who pushed me to put in an application for city manager.”

Wier chronicled a life that included a career as Crescent City manager in the 1970s, county engineer in the late 1990s and city engineer and public works director in the early 2000s. Young was interim city manager in 2008 and in 2017 just before Wier stepped into his shoes.

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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, Community News

Crescent City, Del Norte Preparing For ‘Pause’ In CDBG Program; Funding Supports CASA, Senior Nutrition, Pacific Pantry

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Thumbnail image: Marina MacNeil and Dominique Richcreek, staff members at Pacific Pantry, visited Smith River in this photo from September 2024 with the pantry’s mobile market. Pacific Pantry is supported through CDBG funding from the city. | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Though her organization’s main funding source, the Community Development Block Grant, is set to pause for two years, Christine Slette said she’s not totally freaking out.

With a year and a half left of its 2024 allotment, Court Appointed Special Advocates of Del Norte may be OK, its executive director told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday. But if CASA is unable to renew its application in 2026, the number of foster youth its volunteers work with will decrease, Slette said.

“It feels like we have to spend more time fundraising and doing grant management than we do serving the children,” she said. “It’s frustrating. But we have such an amazing community (that) always steps up and helps us through tough times. But it’s a strain and it’s so unfortunate.”

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Articles, Community News, Crime

Former Airport Director’s Home Burgled Before His Family’s Cross-Country Move

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Thumbnail image courtesy of GoFundMe

Updated at 7:33 p.m. Friday to remove the address.

Ryan Cooley has begun a new chapter in his career, but he hopes his friends and former neighbors can help right a wrong that occurred just before he and his family left Del Norte County.

Cooley, the former Border Coast Regional Airport Authority director, said the home he and his family rented on Joaquin Street was burgled. The perpetrators forced open a sliding glass door and made off with everything they were going to take to their new home in Keene, New Hampshire.

“Specifically clothes, laptops, birth certificates that were in our safe, our marriage license, a longboard (and) cash that was in the safe for vehicle delivery. Even toothbrushes and razors,” Cooley told Redwood Voice Community News via text message on Thursday.

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Community News

Del Norte Unified School District Recap, Feb. 26, 2026

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Michael Hawkins. Video by James Brooks

Among the items discussed at Thursday’s Del Norte County Unified School District meeting.

Sign Policy: Parent volunteers at Smith River Elementary School thanked administrators for coming out with a clear policy for installing “non-standard artwork and signage” at DNUSD campuses.

Lauryn Cortez, who is on the school’s parent Local Organizing Committee, said the committee has been working to install a land acknowledgment at the school since April 2025. She thanked Superintendent Jeff Harris and Assistant Superintendent of Education Services Tom Kissinger for being willing to work with her and leaders Amanda O’Connell and Sarah Campbell.

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Articles, Community News, Education, Local Government

DNUSD Trustees Raise Concerns About Interference, Division During Point of Contact Discussion

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DNUSD’s trustee area boundaries coincide with Del Norte County’s supervisorial boundaries

Thumbnail photo by Monique Camarena

The longest-serving member on the Del Norte Unified School District Board of Trustees on Thursday dissuaded his colleagues from designating primary points of contact for each campus

But, though Don McArthur, who represents Trustee Area 1, raised concerns about interfering with school management, Trustee Area 5 representative Mike Greer had a different take.

Greer, whose trustee area encompasses only one school, ‘O Me-nok Learning Center in Klamath, said he visits school sites regularly and has established a relationship with teachers and administrators, but he’s clear that he has no authority as an individual.

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Arts & Culture, Community News

Art Scene: Derina Harvey Band, Spring Celebration, Art Displays

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Thumbnail photo: The Derina Harvey Band will bring their brand of Celtic rock to Crescent Elk Auditorium on March 15. | Photo courtesy of www.derinaharvey.com. Above photo: Images of Tolowa ancestors are on display at the Del Norte County Regional Airport. | Image courtesy of DNACA

Here are this week’s Arts Notes from the Del Norte Association of Cultural Awareness (DNACA):

• March 15: DNACA presents award winning Celtic rock group The Derina Harvey Band. The performance will be at the Crescent Elk Auditorium, 994 G. St., in Crescent City at 3:00p.m. Tickets are $25 general admission, $23 seniors and veterans and $20 students. Tickets are available at DNACA.Eventbrite.com.

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Community News

City Council Recap, Feb. 17, 2026

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Thumbnail photo: A canoe node is part of the Tolowa Cultural Trail at Beachfront Park. City Councilors approved an additional $50,800 to complete design work for the expansion. | Image courtesy of Crescent City.

Councilman Jason Greenough was absent. Among the items discussed at Tuesday’s Crescent City Council meeting:

Utility Box Art Project: City councilors gave their blessing to a Dirt & Glitter endeavor to paint murals on roughly 10 utility boxes within the city limits. Funded through a Klamath Promise Neighborhood grant, the art project is for local youth ages 14-24, Crescent City Manager Eric Wier said. 

The City Council approved an agreement with Dirt & Glitter, which establishes rules and guidelines for the project — according to Wier, the murals have to have seascape, redwoods or historical themes and must go before the Planning Commission for approval. 

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Community News

The Volunteers of Del Norte’s 2026 Point in Time Count

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Photos and video by Monique Camarena

On one windy day in January, Del Norte Health and Human Services and local organizations came together to gather data, provide support, and spread love to Del Norte’s homeless community at the county’s annual Point In Time Count. 

This year’s PIT count was held in the Del Norte County Fairgrounds Main Building on Jan. 27, where those considered unhoused could take a 5-minute anonymous survey and receive free meals, backpacks, clothes, showers and many more resources. Even free haircuts!

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