Category Archives: Economy

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, Economy

Bang for more buck: July 4th fireworks price is up due to tariffs, Chamber director says

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of the Crescent City-Del Norte County Chamber of Commerce

To some Del Norters, President Trump’s tariffs may be a political talking point, but a representative of the local visitors bureau says they’ve made this year’s July 4th fireworks more expensive.

The price tag for the community’s fireworks increased to $39,800 from last year’s costs of $36,000, according to Crescent City-Del Norte County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Cindy Vosburg. She declined to mention the president’s name, but said after he began implementing tariffs last spring, she contacted Pyro Spectaculars, the family-owned San Francisco-based company that’s created the local professional display for the past 25 years.

“For many years it was $30,000 and then three years ago they had to increase their prices,” Vosburg told Redwood Voice Community News, adding that the cost rose to about $36,000. “But then this year, it was a 10% increase because of the tariffs.”

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Agriculture, Articles, Economy, Environment, Science, Smith River

(Updated) Water Board Seeks Comment On Proposed Easter Lily Bulb Order, Public Workshop Set For Today

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Thumbnail photo: Ninety-five percent of the world’s Easter lily bulbs are produced in the Smith River area. | Photo courtesy of the North Coast Water Quality Control Board

Updated at 8:02 a.m. Wednesday to correct the workshop location. The workshop will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Elk Valley Rancheria Sam Lopez Community Center, 2332 Howland Hill Road in Crescent City.

State water quality scientists are seeking public comment on proposed regulations aimed at controlling waste discharge from the Easter lily bulb industry into the lower Smith River basin.

North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board representatives will hold a public workshop Wednesday focusing on Draft General Waste Discharge Requirements for Commercial Lily Bulb operations in the Smith River Plain.

Also known as the Lily Bulb Order, draft discharge requirements seek to “protect and restore beneficial uses, such as cold freshwater habitat in the Smith River Plain,” according to the state agency’s Feb. 5 news release.  

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Articles, Economy, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

Del Norte Airport Officials Say Flights To Portland May Boost Use, But Will Advanced Air Agree?

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Thumbnail photo by James Brooks

With another runway project pending, more passengers need to fly into and out of Crescent City for the Del Norte County Regional Airport to be sure of the federal dollars needed to make that happen, Director Sean Rosenthal said.

The Federal Aviation Administration provides grant funding every year for capital improvement projects, Rosenthal told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday. Increasing the number of enplanements from 7,485 to 10,000 annually could not only speed up the process, it could convince the FAA that the airport needs a longer runway.

Convincing Advanced Air, the airline that serves Crescent City, to offer flights to Portland is a viable option for boosting those numbers, the airport authority director says. But there are caveats.

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Articles, Economy, Environment

Unwilling To Wade Into the Offshore Oil Debate, DN Supervisors Ask Staff To ‘Track Federal Policies’

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Thumbnail photo: Oil platforms off the coast of Seal Beach, Calif. | Photo by Mike Peel via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License

Del Norte County supervisors declined to take a position on offshore oil drilling in the Golden State with one representative stating that weighing in on the issue might “put ourselves in the middle of a much larger fight.”

District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard on Tuesday quoted from a Politico article that stated that the Trump administration’s plans to open federal waters in the Pacific to offshore drilling “looks designed to antagonize Gov. Gavin Newsom.” 

Howard also cited reports from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Stanford University that stated that the last time the Elk River Basin was studied for potential petroleum development was in 1960.

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Articles, Economy, Health, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

Chris Howard Pushes For Last Chance Grade Advocacy As Del Norte Develops Legislative Platform

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Thumbnail image: District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard urged his colleagues on Tuesday to advocate for the tunnel project around Last Chance Grade in the Board’s 2026 Legislative Platform. | Image Courtesy of Caltrans District 1.

Days after he returned from a visit to Japan, District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard touted that country’s tunnel-building prowess when he urged his colleagues to step up advocacy for Last Chance Grade.

During a discussion of the county’s 2026 Legislative Platform on Tuesday, Howard said he wanted to explore how Japan’s innovative techniques could apply to the Last Chance Grade tunnel project. He also told his colleagues that Caltrans still needs a Coastal Development Permit from the California Coastal Commission for the project despite completing nearly a decade of environmental studies.

Howard asked Assistant County Administrative Officer Randy Hooper to include advocacy for an exemption from that hurdle in the platform.

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Articles, Economy, Transportation

Advanced Air Will Fly As Long As It Can If Shutdown Continues Beyond Nov. 2; No Word Yet On Future of EAS Program, Airport Director Says

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff

The airline serving Del Norte and Curry counties says it will continue to operate for as long as it can beyond Nov. 2 even if funding for the Essential Air Service program isn’t renewed.

The federal subsidy the community relies on for commercial air service would have been suspended earlier this month if the U.S. Department of Transportation hadn’t secured funding to keep it going through Nov. 2. 

However, with that deadline a little more than a week away, Sean Rosenthal, director of the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority, said he’s yet to receive an update on the program’s status.

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Articles, Brookings, Curry, Economy, Infrastructure, Transportation, Tribal Affairs

US DOT Secures Funding to Keep EAS Service Going Till November; Local Airport Authority Still Assessing ‘Best Options’

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff

Though the federal government shutdown continues, the U.S. Department of Transportation granted a reprieve that will allow commercial air service in Del Norte County to continue through November.

In a notice Border Coast Regional Airport Authority Director Sean Rosenthal said he received Wednesday morning, the DOT stated that it has secured additional funding to support both the Essential Air Service and Alternative Essential Air Service programs. As a result, air carriers and communities receiving those subsidies must continue to fulfill their obligations “until such time as the Department notifies them otherwise.”

According to the notice, carriers who serve rural communities under the Essential Air Service — including Advanced Air, which flies from Crescent City to Oakland and to Southern California  — will be able to provide service through Nov. 2.

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Articles, Curry, Economy, Local Government, Transportation

Government Shutdown Threatens Commercial Air Service In Del Norte, Curry Counties

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Thumbnail image courtesy of Border Coast Regional Airport Authority

A day after finding out that commercial air service to Del Norte County may be a casualty of the federal government shutdown, Sean Rosenthal says he’s still searching for answers.

Less than two months after the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority hired him as airport director, Rosenthal said the U.S. Department of Transportation notified him on Monday that if the government shutdown continues, Alternative Essential Air Service funding will end Sunday. 

In an email to BCRAA members Tuesday morning, he said he had hoped to have some information to share, but he’s still working to “fully understand the impact this situation will have on us.”

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Articles, Economy, Local Government

A Quarter of Del Norte County’s Positions Are Vacant, HR Director Says

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Updated at 4:37 p.m. to correct the spelling of Samantha Reagen’s name.

After weighing in on a compensation analysis they said fell short of expectations, county supervisors learned that Del Norte’s overall vacancy rate is 25%.

Out of a total of 482 positions countywide, 121 are empty, Human Resources Director Kerri Vue said last week. This represents a significant staffing shortage that is more pronounced in the Social Services and Behavioral Health branches of the Department of Health and Human Services as well as the District Attorney, Probation and Sheriff’s Offices, she said.

“We also see several smaller, yet important, single vacancies across various departments such as the administrative office, animal control, the assessor and the auditor-controller,” she said. “All these numbers are smaller, [but] each vacancy represents a critical gap in a specific function, potentially impacting efficacy and the ability to meet department objectives.”

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