On December 6th, 2024, the City of Crescent City, California and the Downtown Divas held their annual Christmas Light Parade and tree lighting ceremony in downtown Crescent City.
Category Archives: Regional News
Crescent City Featured Magazine That Generates 7.9 Million Digital Page Views Annually; And Other Crescent City Council Actions On Dec. 4, 2024
Castle Rock is one of the photos featured in an article in the Yosemite National Park Journal. | Photo courtesy of Visit Del Norte
Though it wasn’t an item they were asked to approve, Crescent City councilors learned that $3,700 in money set aside to market the community paid for an ad in a magazine with a 550,000 annual print circulation.
The half-page ad and an article featuring photos of Castle Rock, the redwoods and Battery Point Lighthouse will appear in the Yosemite National Park Journal, City Manager Eric Wier told councilors on Monday.
Published by Outside Interactive Inc., the magazine aims to help readers plan a road trip to Yosemite National Park and other communities in the region, including the California coast.
Continue reading Crescent City Featured Magazine That Generates 7.9 Million Digital Page Views Annually; And Other Crescent City Council Actions On Dec. 4, 2024
Council Chooses Gateway Design, Urges Staff To Engage With Businesses Before Embarking On Street Name Change
Nearly 80 percent of those who responded to a Crescent City survey said they preferred a sequence of gateway elements incorporating waves and dolphins to welcome folks to the Beachfront Park area. | Screenshot
After a community outreach campaign netted 561 survey responses and more than 100 shares on Facebook, Crescent City councilors chose a gateway that draws on its residents’ relationship with the ocean.
Seventy-six percent of those who responded to the city’s survey also supported changing Front Street’s name to Beachfront Drive, Crescent City Manager Eric Wier told the Council on Monday. But the potential name change could disadvantage local businesses, Wier said, costing them thousands of dollars.
“The hard costs are somewhere between $7,000 on the low end for the permitting, the licensing, all the changing of business cards — all those types of pieces,” he said, adding that he spoke with two business owners on Front Street. “Then if you get into search engine optimization and the actual loss of revenue if that’s done the wrong way or at the wrong time, it could be tens of thousands of dollars. Upwards of $50,000. It’s not a small item and it should be one that’s dealt with carefully and intentionally.”
Continue reading Council Chooses Gateway Design, Urges Staff To Engage With Businesses Before Embarking On Street Name Change
Coastal Del Norte Evacuates Following M7.0 Earthquake Off Humboldt Coast; Tsunami Warning Lifted An Hour Later
Map courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey
Coastal Del Norte County sought higher ground late Thursday morning after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck near Humboldt County at about 10:44 a.m. and generated tsunami warnings in Northern California and Southern Oregon.
The earthquake struck about 61.5 miles off the coast of Ferndale at a depth of 6.21 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
As of about 11 a.m., the Del Norte County Office of Emergency Services were advising people in the inundation zone to evacuate to an area north of 9th Street in Crescent City, Emergency Services Manager Deborah Otenberg told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday. At the time, she said, surges were predicted to come ashore at about 11:20 a.m.
Continue reading Coastal Del Norte Evacuates Following M7.0 Earthquake Off Humboldt Coast; Tsunami Warning Lifted An Hour Later
Brookings Repeals ‘Benevolent Meal Service Ordinance’ Following St. Tim’s Court Victory
Photo courtesy of Bernie Lindley
Nine months after a federal judge sided with St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, the Brookings City Council last week repealed the ordinance that prompted the church to sue back in 2022.
Councilors unanimously approved an ordinance repealing its benevolent meal service ordinance without comment at their Nov. 25 meeting. The decision comes after the city reached a settlement agreement with St. Timothy’s that had it paying $357,000 to Stoel Rives LLP, the law firm that represented the church before U.S. Magistrate Mark D. Clarke in Medford on Feb. 15, and $43,000 to the Oregon Justice Resource Center.
Repealing the benevolent meal service ordinance was part of that settlement agreement, the church’s pastor, Rev. Bernie Lindley told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday.
Continue reading Brookings Repeals ‘Benevolent Meal Service Ordinance’ Following St. Tim’s Court Victory
Transportation Officials Seek Public Input South Beach Climate Change Resiliency Plan
Photo courtesy of the Del Norte Local Transportation Commission
Transportation officials are holding the second of two public meetings today to come up with a plan that ensures U.S. 101 and Anchor Way continue to function in the face of rising sea level and extreme weather associated with climate change.
These meetings are part of a joint effort between the Crescent City Harbor District, Elk Valley Rancheria and the Del Norte Local Transportation Commission to create a South Beach Climate Resilience Plan.
Caltrans District 1, Del Norte County, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife as well as consultants GHD and GreenDOT are also participating in the project, DNLTC Executive Director Tamera Leighton said.
Caltrans is expected to take over the project on June 30, 2025, when the planning phase is completed, Leighton said. Today’s meeting, which will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Elk Valley Rancheria, will give people the opportunity to learn more about why a resiliency project is necessary and will enable them to provide input, she said.
Continue reading Transportation Officials Seek Public Input South Beach Climate Change Resiliency Plan
Curry County Law Enforcement Levy Proponents Say It’ll Free Up General Fund Dollars, Commissioners, Staff Still Have Questions
The spokesperson for a Curry County citizens’ group behind a proposed law enforcement levy broke the numbers down for elected officials on Monday, stating if voters approve the measure, $1.2 million could go back into the general fund.
But commissioners were no closer to supporting a levy than they were at last Thursday’s regular meeting when they said they were uncertain about how many patrol deputies it would fund.
On Monday, commissioners, staff and the few residents who showed up to the workshop had more questions for Georgia Cockerham, who spoke along with Sheriff’s Lt. Jeremy Krohn, in favor of the levy. They asked if they would consider using the levy to fund correctional deputies or if they thought about paying for a detective who could follow up on cases patrol deputies initially respond to.
Continue reading Curry County Law Enforcement Levy Proponents Say It’ll Free Up General Fund Dollars, Commissioners, Staff Still Have QuestionsService District Proposal For Curry County Sheriff Turns Into Pitch For Another Tax Levy
Right after the Curry County Board of Commissioners heard a proposal to send another law enforcement tax levy before voters, a North Bank Chetco River Road resident said “unsavory people” frequenting Social Security Bar were destroying his property.
The property owner, whose name is Rob, said those “unsavory people” are known to Oregon State Police and are drug addicts. They have cut down his trees and left their refuse, including needles, behind. He asked commissioners on Thursday if they planned to install gates, recruit hosts or institute “any of that campground stuff” for the gravel bar that’s on the Chetco River four miles from U.S. 101 near Brookings.
“I’m at the point now, when it dries up, I’m going to import some riprap and I’m going to block the lower section of Social Security Bar to vehicle access,” Rob said, adding that the sheriff’s office doesn’t pick up his calls. “I’m at my wits’ end and I was wondering if there’s anything in the works.”
Continue reading Service District Proposal For Curry County Sheriff Turns Into Pitch For Another Tax Levy
Crescent City Council Praises Friendlier Cultural Center, But Says Design Should Reflect Whole Community
Cultural Center concept art designed by Greenworks Planning Consultants architect Ben Johnson, courtesy of Crescent City.
Crescent City councilors applauded the friendlier Cultural Center architect Ben Johnson and his team at Greenworks Planning Consultants presented them on Monday.
Johnson’s vision removes the second of two staircases and adds a walkway that takes visitors to an entry plaza. But rather than incorporating a Tolowa basket pattern into the entry plaza — a proposed introduction to the interpretive walk at neighboring Beachfront Park — councilors wanted a design that represents the whole community.
“The entryway needs to be communicated that this is an entry point for all people,” Mayor Blake Inscore said. “None of this is meant to undermine or take away from the amazing work or this being the ancestral home of the Tolowa people. The point is we’re talking about an entryway going into a public building that’s for everyone, including people from all over the world.”
Continue reading Crescent City Council Praises Friendlier Cultural Center, But Says Design Should Reflect Whole CommunityThough Concerned About Usage, Crescent City Council Finalizes Pool Partnership With Brookings Nonprofit
Crescent City Mayor Blake Inscore supported a partnership with South Coast Community Aquatics in Brookings to give Del Norters a place to swim while the Fred Endert Municipal Pool undergoes renovations starting next month.
But he said he was apprehensive about committing $35,000 toward the arrangement without having a better sense of how many people would actually be willing to swim in an outdoor swimming pool from December through February.
“When we talked about this initially with the extended closure we talked about how we were going to do some cost adjustments whether that is to not renew people’s passes or give them that extra period of time that we’re closed — are we still going to do that?” Inscore asked city staff Monday. “What if a person goes up and goes for a couple of times and realizes it’s not warm enough [or] it’s too far? How are we going to track that for a person who tries this and it doesn’t work for them and other people are now getting a three-month, four-month bump on their annual pass?”
Continue reading Though Concerned About Usage, Crescent City Council Finalizes Pool Partnership With Brookings Nonprofit