Category Archives: Regional News

Articles, Crescent City, Local Government

Crescent City To Set Cap On Cannabis Retailers, Disallow Indoor Cultivation

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Thumbnail photo by Jennifer Martin via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License.

Crescent City councilors endorsed a Planning Commission request to modify the city’s commercial cannabis law to disallow indoor cultivation within city limits.

But, while planning commissioners also recommended limiting the number of retailers to eight, councilors opted for a stricter cap.

“As long as these business owners are obeying the rules and acting professionally, limiting it to five would be very reasonable,” Mayor Pro Tem Candace Tinkler told her colleagues Monday.

Continue reading Crescent City To Set Cap On Cannabis Retailers, Disallow Indoor Cultivation →
Articles, Curry, Local Government

Judge Sides With Curry County BOC Against Sheriff Over Access To Some Documents, But Says Commissioners’ Order Was Overbroad

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Thumbnail photo: Screenshot

The day after an Oregon circuit court judge issued a final ruling that vindicated the Curry County Board of Commissioners, Jay Trost pushed back against accusations that he and his colleagues aren’t transparent.

Speaking from the dais at a meeting Wednesday, Trost noted that it was those accusations that led to a now-abandoned recall campaign against him and his colleague Commissioner Patrick Hollinger. Trost argued that they were the ones being transparent while Sheriff John Ward hasn’t provided a public safety update to the Board in more than a year.

“I’m grateful for the recent ruling and we will now have court-ordered access to the information that we have been requesting for over a year,” Trost said.

Continue reading Judge Sides With Curry County BOC Against Sheriff Over Access To Some Documents, But Says Commissioners’ Order Was Overbroad →
Articles, Gasquet, Infrastructure, Smith River, Transportation

Caltrans May Use Bollards As Visual Incentive To Reduce Speeding on 199; Pedestrian Killed After Being Struck By Car On Oct. 26, CHP Reports

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Thumbnail Photo by Akampfer via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License.

A month after California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1014 into law, the Del Norte Local Transportation Commission’s Tamera Leighton said Caltrans is working on a more visible incentive to get people to slow down on U.S. 199.

During a U.S. 199/197 safety update at Tuesday’s DNLTC meeting, Leighton, the agency’s executive director, said that Caltrans is eager to move forward on the use of traffic bollards to discourage unsafe passing in Gasquet. The regional transportation planning agency will also be conducting outreach in Hiouchi to gauge community opinion on a similar project, she said.

During her update, however, Leighton told commissioners that she and District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard, who represents Gasquet and Hiouchi, are running into roadblocks when it comes to receiving information about collisions in the area from the California Highway Patrol. She characterized it as a misunderstanding and pointed to a recent fatality that occurred on U.S. 199 as an example.

Continue reading Caltrans May Use Bollards As Visual Incentive To Reduce Speeding on 199; Pedestrian Killed After Being Struck By Car On Oct. 26, CHP Reports →
Articles, Curry, Local Government

Recall Effort Against Trost, Hollinger Fizzles Out; Chief Petitioner Says They’ll Try Again After the Holidays

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Thumbnail photo: Curry County commissioners Lynn Coker, Jay Trost and Patrick Hollinger. | Screenshot

Recall efforts against Curry County commissioners Jay Trost and Patrick Hollinger have fizzled out due to a lack of signatures, André Bay, chief petitioner in the Hollinger recall, told Redwood Voice Community News.

Bay said he and Lt. Jeremy Krohn, chief petitioner in the effort to oust Trost, only received about 1,600 signatures and “ran out of time.” There will be another recall attempt after the holidays targeting the entire Board, including appointed commissioner Lynn Coker, Bay said.

“It will be a much more intensified effort this time,” he said Thursday.

Continue reading Recall Effort Against Trost, Hollinger Fizzles Out; Chief Petitioner Says They’ll Try Again After the Holidays →
Articles, Crescent City, Local Government

Crescent City Makes Provisions for Nine Families Impacted By Early End to COVID-Era Housing Program

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Thumbnail photo: Members of the former Crescent City Council, the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors and the Crescent City Planning Commission break ground on Battery Point Apartments in this Sept. 10 file photo. | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

The earlier-than-anticipated end of a COVID-era program will push some families ahead of the line when it comes to obtaining Section 8 housing vouchers.

Nine families are currently being housed through the Emergency Housing Voucher  (EHV) program, which was created in 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, Crescent City Housing Authority Director Megan Miller said Monday.

With the program’s funding expected to run out four years earlier than anticipated, however, the City Council, acting as the Housing Authority Board of Directors, approved transitioning those nine families into the Housing Choice Voucher program.

Continue reading Crescent City Makes Provisions for Nine Families Impacted By Early End to COVID-Era Housing Program →
Articles, Crescent City, Local Government

Crescent City Creates Plan B For Public Notices if Newspaper Folds

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Thumbnail: Dan Schmidt, the Del Norte Triplicate’s new owner, speaks to a city plan Monday to have an alternate available for publishing public notices should Crescent City be without a newspaper. | Screenshot.

Though the Del Norte Triplicate’s new owner felt it was unnecessary, Crescent City councilors adopted a backup when it comes to publishing public notices should the community be without a newspaper.

Dan Schmidt said Monday that he and his wife Phyllis have put a newspaper out every week since taking over the Triplicate about a month ago. They’re currently working on the fifth issue. A month ago the city’s ordinance would have made sense, he said, but the community still has a newspaper of general circulation.

“You don’t need to pretend that it’s going to go away,” Schmidt told the City Council. “I’m going to be here awhile, I plan to, and we’ll keep putting the paper out.”

Continue reading Crescent City Creates Plan B For Public Notices if Newspaper Folds →
Articles, Curry, Local Government

Oregon Judge Weighs In On Dispute Between Curry BOC, Sheriff, Sets Trial For Oct. 28

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Thumbnail: An Oregon circuit court judge weighed in on the Curry County Board of Commissioners’ dispute with Sheriff John Ward. | Screenshot

An Oregon circuit court judge has issued an opinion outlining where the Curry County Board of Commissioners and the sheriff stand when it comes to their respective roles.

However, one aspect of the county’s complaint against Sheriff John Ward — whether he’s required to provide “all records, information and supporting documents” to the Board of Commissioners upon request — will be the subject of a trial on Oct. 28.

“Personally, I’m grateful to have this judgment determination in front of us,” Board Chairman Jay Trost told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday, adding that the opinion may have implications that apply to other communities besides Curry County. “It just provides a path forward in clarifying some of the roles and responsibilities that have been in question.”

Continue reading Oregon Judge Weighs In On Dispute Between Curry BOC, Sheriff, Sets Trial For Oct. 28 →
Articles, Community News, Gasquet, Smith River, Transportation

Del Norte-Sponsored Traffic Calming Bill Nets Governor’s Signature; New Law Would Increase Safety in Hiouchi, Gasquet, Smith River, Howard Says

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Thumbnail photo: District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard said that newly-enacted AB 1014 will increase safety in Smith River, Gasquet and Hiouchi. | Photo by Akampfer via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License.

A Del Norte County-sponsored assembly bill that aims to tame traffic speeding through rural communities gained the California governor’s signature earlier this month.

District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard on Tuesday thanked Assemblyman Chris Rogers for taking Assembly Bill 1014 through the legislative process and before Gov. Gavin Newsom, who signed it into law on Oct. 3. 

Howard also urged his constituents to look toward a pilot project taking place in Orick, which involves crews putting up “large flexible cones” in the center turn lane to prevent people from using it to pass slower vehicles. 

“That’s exactly what we’re seeing in the townsite of Gasquet also,” he said. “People come into the town of Gasquet off the four-lane stretch (of U.S. 199). They’re doing 65-plus mph and they hit slow traffic and they want to pass people in the middle of the lane.”

Continue reading Del Norte-Sponsored Traffic Calming Bill Nets Governor’s Signature; New Law Would Increase Safety in Hiouchi, Gasquet, Smith River, Howard Says →
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.

Continue reading US DOT Secures Funding to Keep EAS Service Going Till November; Local Airport Authority Still Assessing ‘Best Options’ →
Articles, Environment, Health, Smith River

Water Board Hosts Meeting Focusing On Smith River’s Easter Lily Bulbs

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Thumbnail photo: Ninety-five percent of Easter lily bulb production in the United States occurs in the Smith River coastal plain. | Photo courtesy of the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board

Conservationists seeking to eliminate pesticide use in the Smith River Easter lily bulb industry are urging residents to tell water regulators how they have been impacted on Wednesday.

The California Northcoast Regional Water Quality Control Board isn’t expected to take action, Senior Water Resource Control Engineer David Kuszmar told Redwood Voice Community News. Instead, staff will present findings from a local water quality monitoring study and provide an update on the development of water quality regulations for lily bulb growers.

“This meeting represents an important opportunity for interested members of the public to speak directly to the Board about water quality issues that concern them, Kuszmar said. “Board members are free to offer suggestions and/or provide direction to staff at any time based on information provided and comments received.”

Continue reading Water Board Hosts Meeting Focusing On Smith River’s Easter Lily Bulbs →