Category Archives: Community News

Community News

Curry BOC Delays Jail Grant, Calls For A Workshop The Sheriff Says He Won’t Attend

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Thumbnail photo: Citing previous grievances with the sheriff the Curry County Board of Commissioners called for a workshop rather than granting him signature authority over a state grant for opioid use disorder treatment at the jail. | Ken Lund via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License

Ward

Curry County commissioners expressed doubts over whether the sheriff would be forthcoming enough to comply with reporting requirements tied to a $331,214 grant for opioid use disorder treatment at the jail.

In the middle of a seven-month long dispute with Sheriff John Ward, commissioners didn’t turn the money down. But, citing their past grievances with the sheriff on Tuesday, commissioners called for a workshop rather than grant him signature authority over the Jail-based Medications for Opioid Use award.

In a conversation with Redwood Voice Community News on Wednesday, Ward said the Board had called for workshops to discuss the JMOUD grant three or four times before, and wound up canceling one of the meetings when the finance director couldn’t make it.

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Articles, Brookings, Community News, Curry, Economy, Local Government

Councilors Approve Vacant Property Registry As Safeguard Against Blight

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Thumbnail: City of Brookings seal

With one of its members citing the broken windows theory, the Brookings City Council on Monday approved an ordinance that would charge vacant property owners a $25 annual fee and require them to fill out a registration form.

The decision wasn’t unanimous. Council President Andy Martin said he felt the city should invest in economic development and make decisions that would attract businesses to Brookings. Requiring the owners of vacant properties to pay an annual fee and register with the city was government overreach, he said.

“I think government should get involved as little as possible in telling people what they can and can’t do with their property,” he said.

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Articles, Community News, Emergencies, Health

‘We Need To Hear From People In Our Community’

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Thumbnail photo: Courtesy of the North Coast Rape Crisis Team

Amanda LeBlanc issued a call to action last week.

Appearing before the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors, the executive director of the North Coast Rape Crisis Team accepted a proclamation declaring April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month. But with a $500,000 grant that pays for five sexual-assault response team nurses in Del Norte County at the mercy of the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze, LeBlanc urged local elected officials and other Del Norters to reach out to their state and national representatives.

“We’ve been told by our lobbying agencies that they are really sick of hearing from us because they understand that we like our jobs and we would like the funding,” she said. “We need to hear from people in our community who are not directly affected by these funds.”

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Articles, Community News, Local Government

Town Hall Meeting Focuses on Del Norte’s Emergency Shelter, Micro Village Project

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Del Norte County will offer a sneak peak at its comprehensive emergency shelter and micro village project at a town hall meeting from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Veterans Memorial Hall in Crescent city. | Image courtesy of Del Norte County

Del Norters will be able to get a sneak peak at the county’s emergency shelter and micro village project on Tuesday.

Designed to provide a comprehensive pathway out of homelessness, the 60-bed emergency shelter and 50-unit micro village is being spearheaded by the Del Norte County Department of Health and Human Services and Del Norte Mission Possible.

Both facilities, along with restrooms and a commercial kitchen, will be housed on county-owned property on Williams Drive and is being paid for through $10 million in state Encampment Resolution Funding grant dollars.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Infrastructure, Local Government

Harbor’s Latest Development Plan Includes Tree-Lined Thoroughfares, Plazas And, Eventually, An Amphitheater

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Photo by Paul Critz

Chris Williams unveiled a future Crescent City Harbor he says will draw people in and provide economic benefit for everyone in the area.

Williams, planning director for Irvine-based TCA Architects, imagined a tree-lined Starfish Way as the port’s main thoroughfare featuring breweries, wine tasting and places to rent kayaks or charter whale watching tours. There were grand entrances, plazas with restaurants and retailers, a concert venue at Whaler Island and bungalows for rent near two expanded RV parks.

But frequent public commenter Sandy Moreno pointed out that the Crescent Harbor Vision Plan that Williams presented to the Board of Commissioners on Wednesday was the latest in a series of attempts to develop the harbor over the past two decades.

“We are a population of 7,000 people,” Moreno said. “And I don’t know what our poverty level is, but I think there are some very wealthy places in our area, but there are a lot of poor places in our area. We are reliant on tourism and, because nine months out of the year we don’t have tourism, I wonder how feasible this plan is really.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Local Government

Rademaker Continues To Captain The Crescent City Harbor Ship, Gets A Raise

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Thumbnail photo by Amanda Dockter

Mike Rademaker will continue as Crescent City’s harbormaster for at least another three months.

Four members of the Harbor District Board of Commissioners approved a three-month contract with Rademaker. Vice Chair Annie Nehmer dissented, later telling Redwood Voice Community News that the agreement included a raise despite commissioners’ not being fully aware of the port’s current financial situation.

“It is my concern with everything,” she said. “We haven’t been presented with financials in over a month. And when presented with financials, we haven’t been presented with a semi-annual budget.”

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Articles, Arts & Culture, Community News, Crescent City, Youth

Library Director Fights To Maintain Access

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Phyllis Goodeill sidles around the desk in her office at the back of the Del Norte County Public Library, stepping between cardboard boxes as she does. Her desk is a mess. Piled high with binders, papers and books, it looks exactly how you’d expect the desk of a busy library director to look: Like there are other things more important than an orderly workspace. 

“At this point,” Goodeill says, “I don’t have any answers. We’re all just waiting to see what the fallout will be.”

Goodeill, like many others in the world of non-profit, quasi-government agencies, is waiting for the funding waters to clear. Back in Washington, D.C., programs are being cut with abandon, entire agencies shuttered at a moment’s notice, and it’s up to people like Goodeill to translate all the budget slashing into realities on the ground in the often poor, rural communities where the funding cuts will be felt the most. 

“It’s concerning,” Goodeill says, taking her seat behind the desk. “Of all the things they could monitor or investigate, why the libraries? Why the museums?”

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

Crescent City To Add New Tank To Water System, Plans To Dismantle 68-year-old Elevated Tank

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Crescent City will add a new component to its water system that will regulate water pressure more efficiently and, eventually, lead to the dismantling of the 67-year-old elevated tank near Wonder Stump and U.S. 101.

The City Council approved a $694,000 contract with Humboldt County-based Wahlund Construction to build a 6,000 gallon pressurized tank. The new tank will be across the street from the Ranney collector, which takes in water from the nearby Smith River, Public Works Director David Yeager said Monday.

The new tank, which will include a bladder that runs on an air compressor, will be able to absorb additional pressure in the event of a surge in the system, Yeager said. It’s also closer to the Ranney collector instead of a mile and a half away — the distance from the Ranney collector to the elevated water tank, he said.

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Articles, Community News, Crescent City, Local Government

Crescent City Council Roundup, April 7, 2025

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Thumbnail photo: Crescent City Police K9 Sgt. Murtaugh keeps the streets safe in this Dec. 22, 2024 photo. CCPD and the Del Norte County Office of Education are partnering together to fund a school resource officer for the schools within city limits. | Photo courtesy of Crescent City Police Department

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

School Resource Officer: Crescent City and the Del Norte County Office of Education will share the cost of a school resource officer when grant funding for the program expires in June.

The Council’s decision to enter into a two-year agreement with the DNCOE was unanimous. The school resource officer, an employee with the Crescent City Police Department, will work 40 hours per week providing services to Crescent Elk Middle School, Del Norte High School and Joe Hamilton Elementary School. They’ll also be available for after-school activities.

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Articles, Community News, Curry, Infrastructure, Local Government

Curry County Hosts Cybersecurity Summit Two Years After Ransomware Attack

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Thumbnail courtesy of Curry County

Curry County is hosting a cybersecurity summit that will feature information from experts who helped the county get back on its feet from a ransomware attack that crippled its network about two years ago.

Chief Information Officer Phil Dickson told commissioners on Wednesday that he invited representatives from special districts within Curry, Coos and Del Norte counties to attend. In addition to providing information about multi-factor authentication and good backup practices, the summit hosts will conduct an assessment of every attendee’s network, he said.

“It’s not something to get you in trouble or go, ‘Oh, gotcha!’” Dickson said, adding that about 40 participants have registered to attend so far. “This is going to be a moment where we can have a baseline. What these professionals are going to do is spend 10 to 15 minutes with each individual district and say, ‘This is what I recommend you look at first, this is what I’d recommend you look at second…’”

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