Category Archives: Community News

Articles, Community News, Education

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

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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.

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Articles, Arts & Culture, Community News, Education, Just For Fun, Youth

DNHS Music Department Turns Up The Heat This Memorial Day Weekend

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Slideshow: Screenshots from the last Chili Pepper Fundraiser video | Courtesy Dan Sedgwick

Two years ago for Christmas the Del Norte High School music department attempted an unconventional fundraiser. Students from band and choir teamed up to play and sing “Oh Come All Ye Faithful”… with a twist. Part way through the concert, participants were challenged to eat a chili pepper before continuing their musical fare. The event was a hit with students and donors alike, ultimately raising around $10,000.

This year, the school’s music department hopes to match that figure as they revive the chili challenge for a spicy take on “America The Beautiful” as part of a Memorial Day fundraising blitz.

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Articles, Arts & Culture, Community News

‘Sketch Comedy Experiment’: Not Your Typical LRT Production

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Thumbnail photo: The cast of Lighthouse Repertory Theatre’s ‘Sketch Comedy Experiment’ prepares for the production’s opening night, which will be held at the Cultural Center on Friday. | Photo and video by Monique Camarena

The jury’s still out on whether Lighthouse Repertory Theatre’s new production embodies the definition of insanity, but preparing for it was definitely loony, or so Elizabeth Coburn says.

Coburn is one of the producers for LRT’s “Sketch Comedy Experiment” which makes its second appearance at the Crescent City Cultural Center starting Friday. It’s a departure from the organization’s usual repertoire, but Coburn is hoping to get the same results as the previous demonstration.

“From most of the responses we got, the audience really enjoyed it,” she said, adding that she and longtime LRT thespian Howard R. Patterson wrote the sketches for the experiment’s debut in November. “Howard’s goal when he wanted to put a sketch comedy together was to replicate what was done on Saturday Night Live, but on stage in front of an audience. That’s definitely what we heard from the audience [members] that we spoke to. That’s what they felt like.”

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Articles, Community News, Education

Meet Del Norte’s Lunch Lady

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Julie Bjorkstrand is a self-described “worrier,” a trait that comes in handy when you’re in charge of feeding nearly 2,000 kids every day.  

“I worry where there’s often no need to worry just because I like to think ahead,” she says, taking a seat at the small conference table in her office. The spring sun streams through the windows. Outside, a lawnmower whines in the adjacent Mike Whalen Field. It’s a decidedly non-stressful office, belying the myriad concerns Bjorkstrand encounters daily as Del Norte Unified School District’s Nutrition Services Director. Has she found the best vendors for the mix of prepackaged and fresh fare students get? What if the funding goes away? What if Last Chance Grade slides into the sea? 

“I’d rather be unsurprised by bad news,” Bjorkstrand says, “and have had a moment to think about if this happens, what next? What do we do after that?”

Bjorkstrand has been Nutrition Services Director since 2020. Before that, she served as the admin to her predecessor, Deb Kravitz. For seven years, she worked alongside Kravitz, learning the role of director, helping develop relationships with local food producers, making sure the district was able to provide quality nutrition to its students. “I learned a lot from her,” Bjorkstrand says of Kravitz, “oh, absolutely!”

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Articles, Community News, Education

DNUSD Foregoes Issuing Final Layoff Notices For Most Positions; District Still Has Funding Challenges, Superintendent Says

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Pine Grove School | Photo by Amanda Dockter

Del Norte Unified School District has been able to forego issuing final layoff notices to most of its certificated and classified staff members, Superintendent Jeff Harris said.

But since many of those positions will continue to be paid for through one-time grant dollars, DNUSD may find itself in the same boat again next year, Harris told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday.

“We’ve lost about 450 students since 2019,” he said, echoing a statement from a press release the district issued Feb. 28. “Losing 450 students would be the equivalent, at this point, of closing ‘O Me-nok, Mountain, Sunset and Bess Maxwell schools. What that means is that prior to 2020, we had a certain number of teachers. And, today, we have approximately, I think it’s 21 teachers more than we had before the pandemic even though we’ve lost 450 students.”

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Articles, Community News, Humboldt, Law, Local Government

Eureka Mayor Says Homelessness Discussion ‘Needs To Happen’ Even If Proposed Ordinance Doesn’t Pass

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Eureka City Councilman G. Mario Fernandez used the phrase “robber baron” when asking his colleagues to postpone consideration of an ordinance that would increase the penalties for people living in unauthorized encampments.

Fernandez urged his fellow councilors to refer the ordinance to an ad-hoc committee on camping alternatives consisting of himself and Councilwoman Renee Contreras-DeLoach rather than consider it on May 20.

This request echoed comments several public speakers made on Tuesday about removing the proposed ordinance from the May 20 agenda. Though a handful of commenters accused the City Council of criminalizing homelessness, Fernandez said speakers were asking him and his colleagues to either let them be part of their deliberations or to bring “those with experience into the discussion.”

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

Charter, Frontier Push Back On Underground Utility Efforts, And Other Crescent City Council News

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Crescent City

Candace Tinkler was absent. Among the items discussed at Monday’s Crescent City Council meeting.

Underground Utility District: City councilors approved the creation of Underground Utility District No. 1, taking yet another step toward ridding the gateway to Beachfront Park and downtown of most of the overhead electricity and telecommunications lines.

But representatives from Charter Communications and Frontier Communications, which provide cable and Internet service in the area, opposed the proposal, stating that the same work credits available to PacificPower aren’t available to them.

In a May 5 letter to Crescent City, Lisa Ludovici, Charter’s director of government affairs, asks the city not to pursue the undergrounding of its utilities, warning that the cost for the company to participate could be passed onto its customers.

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Community News, Crescent City, Regional News, Tribal Affairs

Locals March for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People

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About a hundred people, most dressed in red, gathered Monday in the Arts and Crafts Building in the Del Norte Fairgrounds to commemorate the National Day of Awareness for Murdered and Missing Indigenous People (MMIP). The event, which included sign-making stations, face-painting, and testimonials by Native community members, was organized by the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation. 

As attendees trickled in, many with children, Adrian Lopez paused in front of the large, flashing informational video projected on the wall behind him. Lopez works in the Victims Services Division of the Tolowa Community and Family Department as a Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Prevention Specialist. “We like spreading awareness,” he said. “Especially for this specific cause because the rates of missing and murdered indigenous people are higher than the national average for any other race or ethnicity. It’s up to ten times more likely being missing or murdered as an indigenous individual.” 

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Articles, Community News, Crescent City, Environment, Gasquet, Humboldt, Klamath, Smith River

Threat Assessment: Trump Administration V. Redwoods

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Assistant superintendent for the Redwood State and National Parks: Shelana DeSilva

Lavina Brooks, a Yurok tribal member, elder, and descendant of the Karuk and Tolowa people posed a pointed question to the panel of Redwood Park conservationists hosted by the local Democratic committee at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds over the weekend.

Digital Event Flyer

“I want to know: From your perspective — or if you’re allowed to give your perspective — how big a threat is the current administration to the parks in Del Norte and Humboldt County.”

Brooks’ question articulated a sentiment present in many minds. The redwood forests of this region are home to some of the oldest and tallest trees on the planet. Human beings have a long and passionately protective history with this particular classification of tree, including as a UNESCO World Heritage site — the designation for places on Earth that are recognized as having outstanding universal value to humanity, and have been inscribed to be protected for future generations to appreciate and enjoy.

On March 1, the Trump administration issued an executive order titled “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production” that set a lot of tree-huggers on edge.

Shelana DeSilva, assistant superintendent for the Redwood State and National Parks, stood up from the table and came forward with the mic.

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Articles, Community News, Curry, Local Government

Curry County BOC To Consider Resolution To Honor Detainer Requests From ICE

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Indivisible North Curry County has a slew of questions for the Board of Commissioners who are set to discuss — and potentially approve — a resolution honoring potential detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

The Port Orford-based group of progressives also hope to get the public to the commissioners’ meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Gold Beach to protest the resolution.

“REMEMBER — the people’s voice stopped the commissioners’ resolution on managing our public lands,” Indivisible North Curry County leadership stated via email Monday, referring to a February resolution the Board considered to take over stewardship of state and federally-managed lands. “We can stop this one, too!”

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