Category Archives: Local Government

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

CCHD Debate Over USDA Loan Continues; Board Rejects Nehmer’s Appointment To Ad Hoc Committee

Nehmer | ccharbor.com

Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

Crescent City Harbor commissioners rehashed whether one of their colleagues acted outside her scope for the second day in a row at a meeting that culminated in raised voices and a recall threat from the public.

Ultimately, a motion to appoint Annie Nehmer as one of two commissioners on an ad hoc committee related to renegotiating a U.S. Department of Agriculture loan failed Wednesday with three of her colleagues casting no votes. 

Their decision came ahead of a third special meeting that had been scheduled for Thursday but has since been canceled. Nehmer’s censure and removal from her vice chair position was on the agenda.

Continue reading CCHD Debate Over USDA Loan Continues; Board Rejects Nehmer’s Appointment To Ad Hoc Committee

Hooper Pleads Not Guilty to Felony Hit & Run, DUI; Trial Set For October

Hooper |LinkedIn

Thumbnail photo: Randy Hooper’s hit and run and DUI charges stem from a collision that took place near Sand Mine Road and U.S. 101 on April 19. | Photo by Heather Polen.

Assistant County Administrative Officer Randy Hooper pleaded not guilty to felony DUI and hit and run charges on Tuesday.

Hooper was arraigned before Del Norte County Superior Court Judge William Follett, according to Keith Morris, who is prosecuting the case for the California Attorney General’s office. Follett set a jury trial for Oct. 27 through 30, Morris told Redwood Voice Community News on Wednesday.

Hooper entered his not guilty plea via his attorney, George Mavris, according to Morris. About two weeks prior, Mavris unsuccessfully petitioned Judge Karen Olson to reduce Hooper’s charges from felonies to misdemeanors. 

Continue reading Hooper Pleads Not Guilty to Felony Hit & Run, DUI; Trial Set For October

Though Taken Off The Agenda, Potential Censure of Annie Nehmer Dominates CCHD Special Meeting

Nehmer

Thumbnail photo by Amanda Dockter

Linda Sutter urged Gerard Weber to call the police on Tuesday, refusing to leave the Crescent City Harbor District’s special meeting until she had her three minutes to speak.

Stepping to the rostrum after Weber, the CCHD’s chairman, told the public to stick to items that weren’t on the agenda, Sutter addressed the potential censure of one of his colleagues when he stopped her.

“We should not talk about items that are on the agenda,” he said.

When Sutter protested, pointing out that she is speaking about Harbor District business and accusing Weber of disrupting her right to free speech, Weber called a halt to the meeting. 

Continue reading Though Taken Off The Agenda, Potential Censure of Annie Nehmer Dominates CCHD Special Meeting

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

CCHD Board Looks To AI For Help With Meeting Minutes

Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

A month after they approved minutes dating back to January, Crescent City Harbor commissioners decided artificial intelligence might make compiling those records easier on staff.

The discussion came after the Board of Commissioners on Wednesday approved minutes from a special meeting on Aug. 13. The minutes from Crescent City Harbor District’s most recent regular session, which was also held Aug. 13, were not included in Wednesday’s consent calendar, something Commissioner Annie Nehmer pointed out.

“We shrank it down to just the action minutes so it was more manageable and it still seems to not be manageable,” she said, adding that the Del Norte County Grand Jury had concerns about meeting minutes being unavailable to the public.

Continue reading CCHD Board Looks To AI For Help With Meeting Minutes

CCHD Makes Formal Brown Act Commitment On Behalf of Their Finance Committee; Attorney States Board Wasn’t Admitting To Wrongdoing

Thumbnail photo by Gavin Van Alstine

Though one member said that such a statement would imply wrongdoing, Crescent City Harbor commissioners last week agreed to issue a formal commitment that their finance committee would comply with the Ralph M. Brown Act.

This unconditional commitment is in response to a cease and desist letter Davis attorney Paul Boylan sent to the Crescent City Harbor District on behalf of his client, county resident Linda Sutter.

The July 14 letter alleges that the CCHD finance committee met without providing public notice and failed to conduct open meetings. It states that the district’s finance committee denied the public the opportunity to comment and record their meetings and failed to keep a record, according to an Aug. 27 report from the district’s attorney, Ryan Plotz of Mitchell Law Firm.

Continue reading CCHD Makes Formal Brown Act Commitment On Behalf of Their Finance Committee; Attorney States Board Wasn’t Admitting To Wrongdoing

Ruth Compound Barriers Will Stay Put; Supervisors Call For Further Remedies To Illegal Dumping, Camping In The Area

Thumbnail photo: Del Norte County Supervisors on Tuesday decided that K rail blocking vehicular access to an area commonly called the Ruth Compound should remain. | Photo by Heather Polen

(Updated at 7:51 p.m. to correct the spelling of Randy Pincombe’s name)

District 1 Supervisor Darrin Short argued that barriers are part of the solution to curtail illegal dumping and camping in the Ruth Compound, though he said Band-Aid is an apt term for them too.

“Band-Aid” was the phrase District 2 Supervisor Valery Starkey coined in February 2024 when Short initially proposed blocking the area. 

On Tuesday, though she ultimately voted with the rest of her colleagues for the barriers to continue, Starkey asked for statistics on the number of illegal dumpsites as well as the number of deputy patrols in the area. 

Continue reading Ruth Compound Barriers Will Stay Put; Supervisors Call For Further Remedies To Illegal Dumping, Camping In The Area

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

Del Norte Supervisors Extend Line of Credit To Airport Authority Due To Cash Flow Emergency

Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff

With one of their colleagues conjuring up images of plane vs. elk collisions on the runway, Del Norte County supervisors authorized a line of credit that will allow the local airport authority to weather a cash flow emergency.

It’s an emergency tied to three grant-funded projects that are currently underway at the Del Norte County Airport. According to District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard, the emergency represents an oversight on the part of the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority and its former airport director Ryan Cooley.

Howard, however, pinned much of the blame on Cooley, who in 2023 had secured contributions from the joint powers authority’s member agencies to help to meet a 5% match tied to the $8 million Federal Aviation Administration grant-funded runway rehabilitation project.

Continue reading Del Norte Supervisors Extend Line of Credit To Airport Authority Due To Cash Flow Emergency