Category Archives: Regional News

Articles, CC Harbor, Crescent City, Emergencies, Regional News

Kamchatka Tsunami May Have Caused More Damage to Crescent City Harbor Than Thought, Assessment Continues

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Thumbnail photo: Crescent City Harbor and Pacific Power staff assess damage done to H Dock from a series of tsunami surges spawned by an 8.8 earthquake near the Kamchatka Peninsula. | Photo by Heather Polen.

Crescent City Harbormaster Mike Rademaker said a series of tsunami surges that swept into the inner boat basin may have caused “closer to $1 million” in damage on Wednesday.

H Dock bore the brunt of the energy, Rademaker said, but the concrete structure of the docks are “mostly still in good shape.”

“The metal connecting plates are sheared all over,” he said via text message just after noon on Wednesday, “and the 1.5 inch electric cabling will have to be completely replaced.”

Continue reading Kamchatka Tsunami May Have Caused More Damage to Crescent City Harbor Than Thought, Assessment Continues →
Articles, CC Harbor, Crescent City, Emergencies, Regional News

Del Norte County Weathers Tsunami With Minimal Damage; CCHD’s H Dock Did Its Job, Harbormaster Says

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Thumbnail photo: The National Weather Service noted surge of 3.6 feet at about 4 a.m. Wednesday, enough to generate minor coastal flooding and inundation. | Image courtesy of the National Weather Service

The Crescent City Harbor District’s sacrificial dock did its job, taking the brunt of the energy spawned by a series of tsunami surges that arrived early Wednesday morning.

No injuries were reported from the tsunami, which occurred following a magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the east coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, Harbormaster Mike Rademaker said during a community briefing at about 8 a.m. Wednesday. But H Dock sustained significant damage.

“At approximately 2:40 a.m. we noticed a surge of water several feet in height,” he said. “That caused the decking of H Dock to lift along its pilings. As the water level rose, the decking lodged on the pilings and was eventually submerged, [which] resulted in major structural failure and the complete separation of the dock.” 

Continue reading Del Norte County Weathers Tsunami With Minimal Damage; CCHD’s H Dock Did Its Job, Harbormaster Says →
Articles, Community News, Crescent City, Infrastructure

US Army Corps To Install New Warning Signs, Gate on the Crescent City Jetty

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Thumbnail photo by Amanda Dockter

If it wasn’t already obvious that the Crescent City jetty isn’t the safest place to explore, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to double down on that message.

But it won’t be through allowing local law enforcement to issue citations, City Manager Eric Wier said Tuesday.

“There were some concerns with the implementation of citations with it being Army Corps property and [in the] sheriff’s jurisdiction,” he told Redwood Voice Community News. “The thought was let’s try to make it as safe as we can and then we’ll see what other avenues are needed.”

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Articles, Crime, Curry

Curry County Woman Sues Gold Beach, Says Officer Used Excessive Force After Shooting Her Twice During A Traffic Stop

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Thumbnail image courtesy of the Gold Beach Police Department

A Curry County woman is suing the City of Gold Beach and one of its police officers, alleging that the officer, Kenneth Moore, exercised excessive force when he shot her twice during a traffic stop on Jan. 23, 2024.

Sharon Johnston-Corson sustained two bullet wounds in her shoulder, according to the complaint filed on her behalf in the United States District Court in Medford on Wednesday. One of those shots caused a pulmonary contusion and resulted in bullet fragments being lodged inside her left lung. 

The complaint also states that after shooting her, Moore pulled Johnston-Corson out of her Subaru and forced her face-down on the ground to handcuff her in violation of Gold Beach Police Department policy stating that “individuals subject to force ‘should not be placed on their stomachs for an extended period of time as this could impair their ability to breathe.’” 

Continue reading Curry County Woman Sues Gold Beach, Says Officer Used Excessive Force After Shooting Her Twice During A Traffic Stop →
Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Local Government, Tribal Affairs

Crescent City Officials Say $2 Million Grant Will Complete Tolowa Interpretive Trail

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Thumbnail photo: A $2 million grant from the Mellon Foundation will allow Crescent City to finish the Tolowa Interpretive Trail, city officials said Wednesday. | Screenshot

Crescent City received a $2 million grant that officials say will extend the Tolowa Cultural Trail in Beachfront Park to Battery Point where many Tolowa were imprisoned in the 1850s.

Councilors unanimously accepted the grant from the Mellon Foundation at a special meeting Wednesday. They also approved an agreement with T.B. Penick & Sons Inc. to install lithomosaic basket patterns at the entrance to the visitor center and as a welcome to the Tolowa Cultural Trail.

T.B. Penick & Sons will also create a special lithomosaic pebble pattern at the Tolowa Cultural Trail welcome station, City Manager Eric Wier said.

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Articles, Community News, Crescent City

Crescent City Fire Celebrates 125 Years; Council Approves Reserve Officer Program; Beach Fires Revisited

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Thumbnail photo: Crescent City Fire and Rescue held its annual Fourth of July water ball tournament on Friday. | Photo courtesy of Crescent City Fire and Rescue

Among the items discussed at Monday’s Crescent City Council meeting:

Crescent City Fire & Rescue’s 125th anniversary: 

After his dad, Rich Wier, accepted a proclamation from the mayor commemorating the local fire department’s 125 years of service, City Manager Eric Wier urged people to take a look through the fire station windows.

“You’ll be able to see some of this legacy,” Wier said. “You’ll be able to see the pictures of the chiefs on the wall and there’s only six — six in 125 years. You’ll be able to see an old fire pump that actually has the two handles where you had the firemen on either side pumping from a cistern. We’re talking 1900 protecting this community. It really says a lot when you say the heart and soul of this is the volunteers.”

Continue reading Crescent City Fire Celebrates 125 Years; Council Approves Reserve Officer Program; Beach Fires Revisited →
Articles, Crescent City, Local Government

Crescent City Starts Search For Local HR Professional

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Crescent City councilors backed a proposal to recruit local human resources professionals rather than continuing to rely on a third-party consultant after their city manager called the current arrangement effective but not ideal.

The city has had a contract with a Sacramento-based human resources provider following a resignation in December 2023, City Manager Eric Wier said. While that provider was able to meet the city’s HR needs, Wier said the distance proved challenging.

“HR does so many different functions for us as a city,” he said. “Employee relations and having the employees have the ability to go to that person and ask questions about the various HR topics that they might have and having that relationship is very important.”

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Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure

Crescent City Uses Local Contractor To Replace Swimming Pool Roof

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff

Crescent City is turning to Red Sky Roofing to fix the seagull problem at the Fred Endert Municipal Pool.

Four month after Public Works Director Dave Yeager told them that the birds had poked hundreds of pinholes in the roof, councilors unanimously approved a contract with the Crescent City-based business to replace it. According to Yeager, Red Sky will replace the asphalt roof that was installed about a decade ago with a steel seam roof “so we don’t have this problem in 10 years.”

“Hopefully it should last 30 to 50 years,” Yeager told councilors on Monday. “It’s the same material that’s on the Cultural Center [and] it’s the same on the wastewater treatment plant.”

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Articles, Curry, Local Government

Curry County Looks Outside Organization For Financial Oversight

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

Curry County commissioners took the advice of their director of operations Wednesday and finalized an agreement with the Rogue Valley Council of Governments, which will provide third-party oversight to their finances.

Ted Fitzgerald compared the services RVCOG can offer Curry County to the services it received when it worked with the Lane Council of Governments following a ransomware attack in 2023. The county did just hire a new employee in its finance department and the department is getting stronger, Fitzgerald said, but he still wanted professional oversight “to make sure we’re doing things right.”

“The different specialties that exist within the Rogue Valley Council of Governments will be able to help us on a variety of levels,” he told commissioners. “I think it’s going to be a thing [where] we learn how much we need them as we go along, but I want to be sure that we really give it a good chance because every time we have reached out for help from outside entities we’ve gotten it.”

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Articles, Curry, Local Government

Budget Adopted, Curry County Commissioners Discuss Job Descriptions

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Two days after they adopted the county’s 2025-26 budget, Curry County commissioners wanted to get started on finalizing job descriptions and finding people to fill those positions.

New positions include a public works director, an investigator in the District Attorney’s Office, a community resource officer in the Sheriff’s Office and a part-time civil processor and animal control officer, according to Board Chairman Jay Trost. 

Added on as a last-minute agenda item on Wednesday, Trost said he wanted to get a consensus from his colleagues to allow human resources to create those job descriptions and bring them back to the Board by its next meeting in July for approval.

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