Category Archives: Regional News

Articles, Crescent City, Transportation

Transportation Officials Will Unveil South Beach Climate Resilience Plan Thursday

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Thumbnail photo by Amanda Dockter

Transportation officials will unveil  a plan on Thursday they say will help local and state governments prepare for the more intense storms expected to hit Del Norte County as a result of climate change.

The South Beach Climate Resilience Plan focuses on U.S. 101, Anchor Way and the Crescent City Marsh area, said Tamera Leighton, executive director for the Del Norte Transportation Commission, one of the partners on the project.

The DNLTC has been working with the Crescent City Harbor District, Elk Valley Rancheria, Caltrans District 1, Del Norte County and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for about a year and a half to create the first step in addressing a “big infrastructure problem” for South Beach, Leighton said.

Continue reading Transportation Officials Will Unveil South Beach Climate Resilience Plan Thursday →
Articles, CC Harbor, Crescent City, Law

Sheriff Says He Won’t ‘Give A Lot of Breaks’ On Illegal Fireworks This Year; Blake Inscore To Be Grand Marshal In Parade

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

Del Norte County’s sheriff plans to come down heavy on criminal charges against those  who test the community’s resolve on curtailing the use of illegal fireworks.

Though a new social media campaign launched last week mentions increased administrative fines and penalties for the sale, possession and use of mortars, sky rockets and other unsafe pyrotechnics, those who flout state law could face misdemeanor or felony charges, Sheriff Garrett Scott said.

“The bottomline is it’s easier for us to focus more on state laws than it is on local laws just for the teeth,” Scott said Monday. “This time we’re trying to make an impact and make this community safe. And so this year, we’re not going to be giving a lot of breaks.”

Continue reading Sheriff Says He Won’t ‘Give A Lot of Breaks’ On Illegal Fireworks This Year; Blake Inscore To Be Grand Marshal In Parade →
Articles, Economy, Local Government, Smith River, Tribal Affairs

DN Supervisor Calls Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation’s Latest Fee-to-Trust Application An ‘Erosion Of Our Tax Base’

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Thumbnail photo by Persephone Rose

Del Norte County could lose $162,000 in revenue, District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard said, urging his colleagues to oppose what he called “an erosion of our tax base” — the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation’s latest fee-to-trust land acquisition efforts.

The properties the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation seeks to place into trust are close to three miles away from its boundaries in the Smith River townsite, Howard told his colleagues Tuesday, and are homes that “generate a substantial amount of revenue to the general fund.”

Howard called on his colleagues to reach out to any contacts they might have within the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs as well as their national representatives.

Continue reading DN Supervisor Calls Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation’s Latest Fee-to-Trust Application An ‘Erosion Of Our Tax Base’ →
Articles, Curry, Infrastructure, Law, Local Government, Regional News

Curry County Removed Lead Paint At Jail, Waiting On New Bunks

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Thumbnail photo by Ken Lund via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License

Though he didn’t speak up earlier, Curry County’s director of operations said complying with a detainer request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be “a lot to ask” when there’s only 16 beds in the jail.

About a month after the discovery of lead paint in its bunk beds prompted the Board of Commissioners to cut the jail’s capacity from 35 to 16 beds, Ted Fitzgerald, who also acts as county counsel, said the county was still waiting on permanent replacements.

“We still have the temporaries in there until we get the permanence delivered,” he said, referring to temporary bunk beds Curry County borrowed from Josephine County shortly after he notified commissioners of the lead paint concerns at an emergency meeting April 4. “The old bunks have been cleared. Maintenance went in there and cut them out. They were metal, installed directly into the concrete, and so, in order to keep things safe, we had to cut the metal and then grind the concrete down…”

Continue reading Curry County Removed Lead Paint At Jail, Waiting On New Bunks →
Articles, Curry, Local Government

Curry County BOC Issues Tighter Controls Over Website, Social Media After Staff Member Made ‘Unauthorized Changes’

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Curry County’s director of operations said he withdrew administrative and editing privileges from nearly all employees after an individual made “unauthorized changes” to the county’s website.

Ted Fitzgerald, who is also county counsel, asked the Board of Commissioners on Wednesday to approve a new policy that limits administrative privileges to one person. The new policy also requires those manning Facebook pages for individual departments to register with Human Resources so the county can vet information being posted.

Fitzgerald said he included a social media component to the policy after determining that statistics posted to the Curry County Justice Facebook page were inaccurate.

Continue reading Curry County BOC Issues Tighter Controls Over Website, Social Media After Staff Member Made ‘Unauthorized Changes’ →
Articles, Curry, Law, Local Government

Following Mixed Public Response, Curry County Commissioner Says He Didn’t Intend A Vote On ICE Resolution

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Thumbnail photo by Ken Lund via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License

Curry County Commissioner Patrick Hollinger said he didn’t intend for his colleagues to take official action on a resolution honoring detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Taken verbatim from a similar resolution Coos County commissioners have been discussing since January, Hollinger asked his colleagues to consider Oregon’s status as a sanctuary state and the possibility that the Trump administration may cut its federal funding as a result.

“That will directly affect our county as well,” Hollinger said Wednesday. “We use those funds for our DA office. We use those funds for our sheriff’s office. And it’s those two offices that can help with the human trafficking and drug trafficking [occurring] throughout our county.”

Continue reading Following Mixed Public Response, Curry County Commissioner Says He Didn’t Intend A Vote On ICE Resolution →
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.”

Continue reading Eureka Mayor Says Homelessness Discussion ‘Needs To Happen’ Even If Proposed Ordinance Doesn’t Pass →
Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

Crescent City Will Add A Four-Way Stop To 5th and A Streets

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Thumbnail image courtesy of Google Maps

Public Works Director Dave Yeager convinced the Crescent City Council on Monday that a four-way stop sign would urge motorists to slow down as they approach A and 5th streets.

Six reported collisions have occurred at that intersection between June 2021 and August 2024, Yeager stated in his staff report. On Monday, he cited concerns raised by Crescent City Police Chief Richard Griffin as well as people who have witnessed those collisions.

Yeager also referred to the Del Norte Local Road Safety Plan in his staff report, which noted “one historical collision event”: A rear-end collision with one injury in 2011.

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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.

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