Category Archives: Community News

Greenough Says Beachfront Park Interpretive Kiosks Should Tell ‘All Of Our History, Not Just One Side’ As Tolowa Cultural Trail Takes Shape

Thumbnail photo: The canoe node will be one of the first interpretive elements to be constructed as part of the Tolowa Cultural Trail feature at Beachfront Park. | Image courtesy of Crescent City

As construction begins on the Tolowa Cultural Trail, Jason Greenough invoked the three industries that “basically made Crescent City” and insisted that “all of our history is important, not just one side.”

The city councilor said he loved the redwood, burden basket and canoe replicas that will be included in the Tolowa Cultural Trail feature. But he pressed his colleagues for consensus on expanding the historical collection of kiosks that will dot Beachfront Park’s perimeter to include information about the lumber, fishing and mining industries.

Crescent City could highlight its historical buildings, bring back the hollow redwood log kids played in before it decomposed and caved in on itself and highlight the importance of the Hmong community in the area, he said.

“If you’re going to walk the entire Tolowa trail and then walk all the way around and look at all the kiosks, that can provide quite a bit of time for people to be outside, to get exercise, to be healthy, to be out there with their families and encourage people to promote a better family life, and education,” Greenough said. “It feels like this checks all those different boxes.”

Continue reading Greenough Says Beachfront Park Interpretive Kiosks Should Tell ‘All Of Our History, Not Just One Side’ As Tolowa Cultural Trail Takes Shape

At Greenough’s Request, Crescent City Council Observes Moment Of Silence For Charlie Kirk

Kirk | Author: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License

Thumbnail photo: Screenshot

(Updated at 2:56 p.m. to clarify that Greenough served as Crescent City Mayor in 2021 and 2022.)

Before asking his colleagues to observe a moment of silence for his death, Crescent City Councilor Jason Greenough said he modeled his leadership style on fallen right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk.

“I have struggled with this all week, that in a country where we value our freedoms so much, that someone would be willing to kill another human being for their opinion,” Greenough said Monday. “And I know when I was mayor I pushed that every single person that stepped up to that microphone would have their time to bring their mind and their thoughts and their beliefs to us.”

Stumbling a bit over his words, Greenough, who was Crescent City mayor in 2021 and 2022, recapped the events that led to Kirk’s killing at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. The city councilor also praised Kirk for his practice of going onto college campuses and engaging youth in “civilized debate” and said his killing was despicable.

Continue reading At Greenough’s Request, Crescent City Council Observes Moment Of Silence For Charlie Kirk

Working Group Battling Opioid Calls Using Settlement Dollars to Build Treatment Capacity, Increase Naloxone Access

Thumbnail photo courtesy of Jermaine Brubaker

Editor’s note: Rx Safe Del Norte and KFUG Community Radio LLP — Redwood Voice’s parent organization — are currently partnering together on TACOCAT, a teen-based program aimed at spreading awareness about opioid abuse in Del Norte County.

Calling the roughly $4 million in opioid settlement dollars Del Norte County is set to receive a “once-in-a-generation opportunity,” members of a local coalition stated that it plans to use that money to close the gaps that contributed to the crisis.

The opioid litigation work group’s plan calls for increasing treatment capacity in the jail as well as inside and outside of Del Norte County, according to Behavioral Health Deputy Director Shiann Hogan. The plan also aims to use settlement dollars to better equip law enforcement, emergency personnel and other providers to meet the community’s needs.

According to Hogan, the group’s plan focuses on using opioid settlement dollars Del Norte County currently has.

Continue reading Working Group Battling Opioid Calls Using Settlement Dollars to Build Treatment Capacity, Increase Naloxone Access

Animal Rescuers Wonder Where Pets Will Fit In At New Homeless Shelter, Micro Village

Thumbnail photo courtesy of Del Norte County; Above, Camp Berry founder Rhonda Berry says that of the 150 puppies she’s rescued in about a year 80% of them have come from the homeless encampments. | Photo courtesy of GoFundMe

Gloria Bobertz says she understands that for some people struggling with homelessness, their dog is often their only friend.

She doesn’t think they shouldn’t have pets, but after nearly 20 years working as a behavioral health specialist for Del Norte County, Bobertz, who’s now retired and works with cadaver and search and rescue dogs, said she’s seen the conditions some of these animals are in. She said she had a particularly hard time with a litter of puppies she brought to Camp Berry in July

“They were starved,” Bobertz told Redwood Voice Community News. “I don’t know what they were given to eat, but I can tell you it smelled so rotten. And just the look in their eyes — how can you do this to another living creature?”

Continue reading Animal Rescuers Wonder Where Pets Will Fit In At New Homeless Shelter, Micro Village

Crescent City Takes First Step On Long Path Toward Revitalizing Its Downtown

Thumbnail image courtesy of Crescent City; YouTube video by Heather Polen

Karen Betlejewski choked up a little when she described her dad’s impression of Downtown Crescent City as a 40-plus year resident returning home after being away.

“He said, ‘I wanted to cry,’” she told a gathering of business owners, elected officials and other stakeholders with interest in the downtown area.

Betlejewski, who manages the Del Norte County Historical Society’s museum and says “she’s into old,” said she enjoys shopping in Downtown Crescent City and she loves the people. But the vacant buildings make the area look sad.

“You know that it just needs help,” she said. “And I would like to see that.”

Don Arambula agreed. The project manager, principal planner and urban designer for Portland-based Crandall Arambula PC presented a preliminary assessment to Betlejewski and about 80 other residents on Wednesday.

Continue reading Crescent City Takes First Step On Long Path Toward Revitalizing Its Downtown

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

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.”

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

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

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. 

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

(Video) Del Norte Supes Revisit Union Street Closure; Redwood Voice Kicks Off New Project — ‘Voices From The Swamps’

Thumbnail photo courtesy of Del Norte County.

Video: Darcy Walton talks to Redwood Voice’s Heather Polen about what residents of “The Swamps” go through. | Video by Heather Polen

Like many Del Norters, Heather Polen found the footage Gasquet Mike posted to YouTube in early July hard to ignore.

The videographer had flown his drones over the wetlands south and east of Crescent City, capturing a bird’s-eye view of derelict RVs and vehicles, tarps and piles of garbage.

Though these videos are no longer available to the public on YouTube as of Monday, the still images were published in the Del Norte Triplicate and posted to the Triplicate website on July 18. 

Knowing there is more than one side to any story, Polen, executive director of KFUG Community Radio and Redwood Voice Community News, took her own video camera beyond the county-erected barriers. 

Continue reading (Video) Del Norte Supes Revisit Union Street Closure; Redwood Voice Kicks Off New Project — ‘Voices From The Swamps’

Del Norte Ambulance Will Station A Vehicle, Crew In Klamath

Thumbnail photo courtesy of Del Norte Ambulance

(Updated at 5:07 p.m. to clarify that it was Walter Lara Jr. that helped facilitate a partnership between the Yurok Tribe and Del Norte Ambulance to open a station in Klamath.]

Del Norte Ambulance’s operations manager confirmed a statement District 5 Supervisor Dean Wilson made earlier this month — the emergency medical provider will have an ambulance and a crew stationed in Klamath.

“We are working with the Yurok Housing Authority on a partnership for securing housing for us on a trial basis of one year while we place one of our four ambulances there,” Charles Tweed told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday. “Two people will be staffed in that ambulance at any given time.”

This news comes about two weeks after an independent consultant, EndPoint EMS Consulting LLC, delivered an analysis of Del Norte County’s emergency medical system, finding that Klamath residents often waited up to 45 minutes for an ambulance to arrive during an emergency.

Continue reading Del Norte Ambulance Will Station A Vehicle, Crew In Klamath

Blake Inscore To Be Guest Speaker At Sister Cities International Summit in Japan; Delegation Will Visit Iwate Prefecture

Thumbnail photo: A delegation from Rikuzentakata celebrates the inaugural Kamome Festival in Crescent City in 2023. | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Blake Inscore called his guest speaker role at a Sister Cities International Summit in Japan his “last big push for tourism as well as for our community” before he moves onto the next chapter of his life.

Part of the World’s Expo 2025 in Osaka, Inscore said every U.S./Japan Sister City was invited to attend the summit, which will be held from Sept. 16-19. His opportunity to re-tell the story of Crescent City’s evolving friendship with Rikuzentakata not only puts it on as large a world stage as the Tokyo Olympics did back in 2021, it represents what many Sister Cities don’t have.

“Sister Cities International has been very intrigued and they want us to show how a Sister City can work together with government-to-government relationships,” Inscore told the Crescent City Council on Monday. “[Many Sister Cities] don’t have a city council or a mayor or anybody else that’s engaged with wanting to see this happen. And, frankly, this is a win for us.”

Continue reading Blake Inscore To Be Guest Speaker At Sister Cities International Summit in Japan; Delegation Will Visit Iwate Prefecture