Category Archives: Regional News

Agriculture, Articles, Economy, Environment, Science, Smith River

(Updated) Water Board Seeks Comment On Proposed Easter Lily Bulb Order, Public Workshop Set For Today

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Thumbnail photo: Ninety-five percent of the world’s Easter lily bulbs are produced in the Smith River area. | Photo courtesy of the North Coast Water Quality Control Board

Updated at 8:02 a.m. Wednesday to correct the workshop location. The workshop will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Elk Valley Rancheria Sam Lopez Community Center, 2332 Howland Hill Road in Crescent City.

State water quality scientists are seeking public comment on proposed regulations aimed at controlling waste discharge from the Easter lily bulb industry into the lower Smith River basin.

North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board representatives will hold a public workshop Wednesday focusing on Draft General Waste Discharge Requirements for Commercial Lily Bulb operations in the Smith River Plain.

Also known as the Lily Bulb Order, draft discharge requirements seek to “protect and restore beneficial uses, such as cold freshwater habitat in the Smith River Plain,” according to the state agency’s Feb. 5 news release.  

Continue reading (Updated) Water Board Seeks Comment On Proposed Easter Lily Bulb Order, Public Workshop Set For Today →
Articles, Community News, Crescent City

Ribbon Cutting Set For New Senior Apartments; Harbor Point At Capacity, City Manager Says

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Thumbnail photo: The new Harbor Point Apartment building on H Street in Crescent City is already at capacity. | Photo by James Brooks

Eric Wier congratulated his staff and the City Council when he announced the official ribbon cutting of a new senior apartment complex on H Street.

It was through their work that Crescent City secured the $5 million Competitive Permanent Local Housing Allocation grant that allowed Arcata-based DANCO Communities the tax credits needed develop Harbor Point Apartments, the city manager said Monday. 

The ribbon-cutting will take place at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, but the 27-unit apartment building is already at occupancy, Wier told Redwood Voice Community News.

Continue reading Ribbon Cutting Set For New Senior Apartments; Harbor Point At Capacity, City Manager Says →
Articles, Emergencies, Humboldt, Klamath

Search Continues For McKinleyville Fisherman Who Was Swept Into The Ocean In Klamath

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Thumbnail photo: Maximo Macanas | Photo courtesy of Macanas family

The search continues for a McKinleyville man who was swept into the water near the mouth of the Klamath River on Saturday.

Maximo Macanas was fishing from shore with his family on the south side of the river when a sneaker wave swept him into the ocean at about 4 p.m., according to a message posted on Facebook by Macanas’s family.

Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott said the U.S. Coast Guard brought a helicopter to the area to assist in the search, both on Saturday and Sunday. Macanas was last seen in a black puffy jacket and green waders, Scott told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday.

Continue reading Search Continues For McKinleyville Fisherman Who Was Swept Into The Ocean In Klamath →
Articles, Crescent City, Emergencies

Sheriff’s Office, Fire Department Investigating Blazes In Encampment Area Near Waldo

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Thumbnail photo by Heather Polen

Eight individuals were displaced due to fires that burned “at least two RVs” and other structures in the Waldo Street area Friday evening, Crescent City Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Ray Rook told Redwood Voice Community News.

Rook said he and six firefighters arrived on scene at about 9:21 p.m. to find two fully involved fires about 100 to 200 yards apart. The larger fire involved at least two RVs and other structures, including one that someone was living in. The blazes were down toward the end of Waldo Street on the gravel portion of the road in an area that houses several homeless encampments, Rook said.

The cause and origin of the fires are still undetermined, the battalion chief said. There were no injuries.

Continue reading Sheriff’s Office, Fire Department Investigating Blazes In Encampment Area Near Waldo →
Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Local Government

Bill Gillespie Returns to Helm Crescent City Fire & Rescue Until New Fire Chief Is Found

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Thumbnail photo: Bill Gillespie (fourth from left) will lead Crescent City Fire and Rescue as its interim fire chief until the city and the Crescent Fire Protection District can find a permanent chief. | Photo courtesy of the City of Crescent City

Bill Gillespie will return to Crescent City as its interim fire chief, leading a department that has grown into a hybrid agency relying on volunteers and career firefighters to keep the community safe.

Gillespie had led Crescent City Fire and Rescue for about four years after Steve Wakefield retired in 2018. He was chief when voters approved the Measure S tax measure and benefit assessment for the fire district that led to the hiring of three paid fire captains. Under his successor’s leadership the department achieved a Class 2 ISO rating.

“The department, it’s a combination department — volunteer and career — but above all it’s a professional department that serves this community very well,” Gillespie said Monday. “It will be neat coming back, too, with some of the things that came out of Measure S and came out of the fire district assessment to be able to step in now three-and-a-half years later and see where some of this progress has happened.”

Continue reading Bill Gillespie Returns to Helm Crescent City Fire & Rescue Until New Fire Chief Is Found →
Articles, Crescent City, Local Government

Steve Shamblin Appointed To Vacant Crescent City Council Seat

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Thumbnail photo: The Crescent City Council appointed Planning Commission Chair Steve Shamblin to the seat Daran Dooley left behind in October. | screenshot

Three of the four remaining Crescent City councilors on Tuesday chose the chairman of the city planning commission over a former fire captain to fill the seat Daran Dooley vacated in October.

With Mayor Pro Tem Candace Tinkler praising his resume, the Council appointed Steve Shamblin to serve through the certification of the November 2026 General Election.

“I did read Mr. Shamblin’s resume and I have worked with him in previous committees so I do agree that he really does his homework,” Tinkler said. “He didn’t mention this, but I know from his resume that he also has education in urban planning, which I think is very useful.”

Continue reading Steve Shamblin Appointed To Vacant Crescent City Council Seat →
Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Local Government

Crescent City Councilors Seek To Fill Vacancy, Approve Water Well Project, Sea Rise Grant Application

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Crescent City Councilor Jason Greenough was absent. Among the items discussed at Monday’s meeting:

Vacancy: Crescent City is accepting applications to fill the vacant seat left behind by Daran Dooley, who resigned in October. Applications will be accepted through 5 p.m. on Dec. 1. The City Council will then conduct interviews with a goal of swearing a candidate in at its regular meeting Dec. 15, City Manager Eric Wier said. Applications can be obtained by visiting www.crescentcity.org. 

Water redundancy: Councilors awarded a $272,900 contract to GHD to design and provide project management for a redundant water well that could be used if tapping into the Smith River isn’t an option.

Continue reading Crescent City Councilors Seek To Fill Vacancy, Approve Water Well Project, Sea Rise Grant Application →
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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Ward

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 →