Tag Archives: crescent city news

Strengthening Bonds of Friendship; Largest Rikuzentakata Delegation Visits Del Norte

Thumbnail photo: Takeya Owada, who is in the oyster fishery business, shows his fellow delegates from Rikuzentakata how to shuck one of the oysters Mike Schmidt and Erik Karle, of Schmidt’s House of Jambalaya grilled at the Taste of Japan event on Friday. | Photo courtesy of Jen Schmidt

Cal-Ore Lifeflight CPR instructor Aubree Arneson shows the life-saving technique to a Joe Hamilton Elementary School student as part of the Kamome Festival’s focus on emergency preparedness Friday. |

Taku Sasaki gave a simple “nice to meet you, konnichiwa,” when he and his fellow travelers filed into the Del Norte County Airport on Thursday.

After exchanging hugs, handshakes and bows, the Rikuzentakata mayor and his fellow delegates from Japan grabbed their bags and were whisked away to their first event, the cardboard boat races at the Fred Endert Municipal Pool. 

Coinciding with the Kamome Festival, this visit marks a new development in the Sister City relationship between Crescent City, Del Norte County and Rikuzentakata. The current delegation, consisting of 21 city officials, business leaders, students and educational leaders, is the largest to visit since cultural exchanges began more than a decade ago, according to Kiyoshi Murakami, Rikuzentakata’s senior international affairs advisor.

Continue reading Strengthening Bonds of Friendship; Largest Rikuzentakata Delegation Visits Del Norte

Crescent City Council Takes First Step Toward Raising Water, Sewer Rates; Prop 218 Protest Process Starts

Thumbnail photo: Sewer rates for customers within Crescent City limits go toward the conveyance and treatment of their wastewater. | Photo by James Brooks

Linda Sutter vowed to fight planned water and sewer rate increases, telling Crescent City councilors that she’ll be “pounding pavement and getting the signatures” to keep them from going through.

But City Manager Eric Wier corrected a statement Sutter made on Monday about the community’s low-income housing developments and what she said was the expectation that “everybody else who works or gets a decent wage (will) pay for all those people.”

Using Danco Communities’ Harbor Point Apartments as an example, Wier said the developers of the 26-unit senior apartment building paid more than $100,000 in sewer rate connections. The property owners will pay monthly sewer charges based on their water consumption, the city manager said.

“The individual might not be paying that directly because they don’t have an account individually, but that apartment complex does through a master meter,” he said. “The owner of the apartment complex pays that large bill for all those sewer connections. They absolutely pay their equitable fair share for that development.”

Continue reading Crescent City Council Takes First Step Toward Raising Water, Sewer Rates; Prop 218 Protest Process Starts

Developers Working To Get Project On Track After Cost Overruns, Water Damage Halts Construction At Battery Point Apartments

Updated at 10:39 a.m. Wednesday to correct who the general contractor is for the project.

Water damage and cost overruns have halted construction on Battery Point Apartments — the 162-unit affordable housing project being built near Joe Hamilton Elementary and Crescent Elk Middle School.

Three days after a former Del Norte County supervisor told the Crescent City Council that the project disturbed him, Bill Rice, president of the Synergy Community Development Corporation, acknowledged the work stoppage. But his description of who the building’s tenants will be is different from Roger Gitlin’s “completely Section 8 assisted living project” characterization.

It’s true that the complex’s senior apartments will be offered to those receiving project-based housing vouchers through the Crescent City Housing Authority, Rice said. The remaining 120 units will go to families, including those who are not very-low income, but who can’t afford market-rate rent.

Continue reading Developers Working To Get Project On Track After Cost Overruns, Water Damage Halts Construction At Battery Point Apartments

Earthquake/Tsunami Drill Set For Tomorrow

Thumbnail map courtesy of the Redwood Coast Tsunami Working Group. To find maps for Fort Dick, Smith River and Klamath, click here.

Del Norters who have opted into the county’s emergency alert system will get a notification between 11 a.m. and noon Wednesday.

Coinciding with Tsunami Preparedness Week, the earthquake and tsunami drill will only involve the county’s Everbridge system, Emergency Services Manager Deborah Otenburg told county supervisors on Tuesday.

“Oftentimes we have community members say we didn’t receive the alert, you do have to be registered to receive that alert,” Otenburg said. “And there will not be sirens. This is not a live-code activation. This is not a National Weather Service putting this out. It’s just us.”

Continue reading Earthquake/Tsunami Drill Set For Tomorrow

Chamber To Move To A Temporary Home Ahead of Cultural Center Project

Thumbnail photo by Persephone Rose

Crescent City’s transformation of the Cultural Center into a more inviting, easier place for the public to visit will be underway this spring, but for that to happen the local chamber of commerce needs a temporary home.

The Crescent City-Del Norte County Chamber of Commerce is looking to move its gift shop and offices into Suite 2 at the Mason Mall likely by May 1, Executive Director Cindy Vosburg told Redwood Voice Community News on Friday. The organization hopes to be back home some time in November, “but you know how construction is,” she says.

“Nobody likes to move, it’s always a disruption, but this is a good workaround,” Vosburg said, adding that parking is plentiful for visitors at the new location. “And when we get to move back, Front Street will be done and it will be beautiful and even more beneficial for people who come to Del Norte County and Crescent City.”

Continue reading Chamber To Move To A Temporary Home Ahead of Cultural Center Project

Crescent City Council Recap, March 16, 2026

Thumbnail photo: Crescent City Council | Photo by James Brooks

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

Digital sign ordinance: Before he ducked out of the meeting early to go to his job, Councilor Jason Greenough cast the sole dissenting vote on new digital sign regulations. They’re unnecessary, counterproductive and “not business friendly,” he said.

Introduced on Feb. 17, the ordinance restricts a digital sign’s size to 32 square feet and states that they are only allowed in the commercial zone along the city’s highway corridor. This includes L and M streets, U.S. 101 from 9th Street north to the city limits and Northcrest Drive and Washington Boulevard. Digital signs must also be 1,750 linear feet apart, according to the new ordinance.

Continue reading Crescent City Council Recap, March 16, 2026

Crescent City Area Residents May See Water, Sewer Bills Increase; Rate Studies Cite Increased Costs, Needed Maintenance, Structural Deficits

Thumbnail photo by James Brooks

Aging infrastructure, increased costs and expenditures outpacing revenues are prompting Crescent City staff to seek a rate increase for water and sewer customers.

Representatives from Rural Community Assistance Corporation and Willdan Financial Services presented study results that reached similar conclusions for both utilities. 

On the water side, sales won’t be enough to cover the system’s operating and maintenance costs, RCAC Assistant Field Manager Samantha Ryan told the City Council on Monday.

Continue reading Crescent City Area Residents May See Water, Sewer Bills Increase; Rate Studies Cite Increased Costs, Needed Maintenance, Structural Deficits

New Housing Developments Spark Controversy; For Some Residents, It’s Too Many Too Fast

Crescent City and Del Norte County residents on Monday spoke both for and against the various housing developments underway within the city limits. | Video and photo by James Brooks

Megan Miller sought to counter what she said was misinformation concerning the housing developments underway in Crescent City. But few stuck around past the public comment period at Monday’s City Council meeting to hear it.

Miller, Crescent City Housing Authority executive director, specifically spoke to Battery Point Apartments — a 162-unit complex that will house seniors and families — and the narrative that its tenants won’t be from Del Norte County.

“The waiting list for Battery Point Apartments, the senior units… there are 78 applicants on that list (and) there are 40 units,” she said. “Out of those 78, 72 of them are local residents. All 72 applicants are automatically ahead of those six who are from out of the area because anybody with a Del Norte County address steps ahead of somebody without one regardless of the application date.”

Continue reading New Housing Developments Spark Controversy; For Some Residents, It’s Too Many Too Fast

Harbor Commissioners Seek General Contractor, Project Manager For Citizens Dock, Seawall Project

Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff; Right: Most recent rendering of Citizens Dock/seawall project. | Image courtesy of the Crescent City Harbor District

Harbor commissioners gave staff the green light to seek a general contractor, project manager, accounting firm and a grants manager as construction for the seawall and Citizens Dock rebuilds loom.

Commissioners unanimously approved releasing requests for proposals on Tuesday after Mike Bahr, CEO of Community System Solution, gave a rundown of what they and the public can expect over the next roughly two years.

“We’re looking at this as one project,” he said. “These two elements are two separate grants, but it really is one very large construction project that’s all taking place at the same time.”

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Crescent City, Del Norte Preparing For ‘Pause’ In CDBG Program; Funding Supports CASA, Senior Nutrition, Pacific Pantry

Thumbnail image: Marina MacNeil and Dominique Richcreek, staff members at Pacific Pantry, visited Smith River in this photo from September 2024 with the pantry’s mobile market. Pacific Pantry is supported through CDBG funding from the city. | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Though her organization’s main funding source, the Community Development Block Grant, is set to pause for two years, Christine Slette said she’s not totally freaking out.

With a year and a half left of its 2024 allotment, Court Appointed Special Advocates of Del Norte may be OK, its executive director told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday. But if CASA is unable to renew its application in 2026, the number of foster youth its volunteers work with will decrease, Slette said.

“It feels like we have to spend more time fundraising and doing grant management than we do serving the children,” she said. “It’s frustrating. But we have such an amazing community (that) always steps up and helps us through tough times. But it’s a strain and it’s so unfortunate.”

Continue reading Crescent City, Del Norte Preparing For ‘Pause’ In CDBG Program; Funding Supports CASA, Senior Nutrition, Pacific Pantry