Tag Archives: crescent city

Articles, Arts & Culture, Economy, Education, Local Government, Youth

Strengthening Bonds of Friendship; Largest Rikuzentakata Delegation Visits Del Norte

April 18, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{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.

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Articles, Education

DNUSD Board of Trustees Recap, April 9, 2026

April 13, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo courtesy of Michael Hawkins}

Trustee Area 5 representative Michael Greer was absent. Among the items the Del Norte County Unified School District Board of Trustees discussed Thursday.

School Closure: A leak prompted the Smith River Community Services District to shut the water off at Smith River School on March 3, which in turn forced staff to send students home early, DNUSD Superintendent Jeff Harris told trustees.

The Board of Trustees approved a request to the California Department of Education to allow DNUSD to receive credit for the instructional time students would have been at Smith River School had the water shutoff not taken place. Noting that the shutoff was outside of its control, Harris said the request would ensure that the district does not lose average daily attendance funding for March 3.

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Arts & Culture, Community News

Art Scene: Stories of Steinbeck Art Exhibit, Kamome Festival Art Show, Community Drum Circle

April 11, 2026 Redwood Voice Leave a comment

Here are this week’s Arts Notes from the Del Norte Association of Cultural Awareness (DNACA):

April 13: DNACA presents “Stories of Steinbeck,” an art exhibit and lecture by Jenny Rosa. This free event will be held at 6 p.m. at the College of the Redwoods’ Del Norte campus, 883 W. Washington Blvd. in Crescent City. All ages are welcome.

April 15: DNACA presents a free film screening of Samurai in the Oregon Sky followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Ilana Sol. The screening is a part of this week’s Kamome Festival festivities and will be held at 6 p.m. in the Tapestry Arts Center at the Church of the Nazarene, 224 F. St. in Crescent City. Pre-registration is required to attend.

April 17-18: DNACA presents the Kamome Festival Annual Art Show at the Cultural Center, 1001 Front St. in Crescent City. This year’s theme is “honoring Japanese culture.”

April 25: DNACA is hosting a Community Drum Circle instructed by Mombo Hernandez, at 1:30 p.m. at the Tapestry Arts Center, 224 F. St. in Crescent City. Hand drums and percussion instruments will be provided or you may bring your own. All ages are welcome.
April 25: DNACA, in partnership with True North Organizing Network and Trillium Teen Center, are hosting a Poetry Slam. Poets of any age can participate! Participants must have three poems memorized as there will be three rounds The poets will be randomly picked from the crowd. There is an entrance fee of $1, and the prize for the winner will be the amount collected at the door. This event will also be held in the Tapestry Arts Center, 224 F. St., in Crescent City from 4:30p.m. to 6:00p.m. Doors open at 4 p.m.

Articles, Community News

Crescent City Honors ‘Servant Leader’ Mike Young Whose 53-Year Career Took Him Beyond Del Norte

April 9, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo: Local engineer Mike Young and a child at an orphanage in Haiti exchange a hug during one of his visits with Team Redwood, a Northern California-based group of medical professionals and engineers who helped the country recover from the 2010 earthquake. | Photo courtesy of Carolyn Arellanes.}

Eric Wier wouldn’t be Crescent City manager were it not for Mike Young.

“Mike hired me at the city in 2003,” Wier told the City Council on Monday before they observed a moment of silence for Young, who died on March 21 at 84 years old. “I was able to work with him on so many different projects over the years. He taught me a ton about the water and wastewater systems, and then it was Mike who pushed me to put in an application for city manager.”

Wier chronicled a life that included a career as Crescent City manager in the 1970s, county engineer in the late 1990s and city engineer and public works director in the early 2000s. Young was interim city manager in 2008 and in 2017 just before Wier stepped into his shoes.

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Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Local Government

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

April 8, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{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.”

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Articles, Crime

CHP Investigates Dead Horse Found at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds Stables

March 31, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo courtesy of dnfair.org.}

The discovery of a dead horse at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds has led to a California Highway Patrol investigation, authorities confirmed last week.

Officers responded to the fairgrounds, a state facility, at about 4:14 p.m. on March 21 and found the deceased animal in the horse stalls, the CHP reported on March 25.

According to a statement posted to the fairgrounds website, the deceased animal was in a stall its owner had rented prompting fairgrounds management to alert law enforcement.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure

Harbor Commissioners Tepid About CEO’s Offer To Travel To Washington D.C.; Rademaker Says Trump Maritime Initiative Could Help Crescent City

March 30, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo by Gavin Van Alstine}

Crescent City Harbor commissioners were lukewarm about their CEO’s offer to travel to Washington D.C. on his own dime to advocate for the district’s role in the Trump administration’s Maritime Action Plan.

Harbormaster Mike Rademaker said he planned to speak with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, whose father, Michael Greer, is a Del Norte Unified School District trustee.

Rademaker said he wanted to talk about the role the Crescent City Harbor District could play in President Trump’s initiative to expand shipbuilding capacity in the United States with the former Fashion Blacksmith boatyard being a particular concern.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Crescent City, Local Government

Harbor Board Chair Calls For April 8 Conclusion To RV Park Negotiations; Self-Management On Table As ‘Contingency,’ CEO Says

March 27, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo: Bayside RV Park is one of two the Crescent City Harbor District is looking to lease for redevelopment. | By Jessica Cejnar Andrews}

Crescent City Harbor commissioners say they’re in the final stages of their negotiations with potential developers for the district’s two RV parks.

But their experience with the last developer who sought to revamp Bayside and Redwood Harbor Village RV parks still haunts them, they say. Responding to a member of the public Wednesday, Chairman Rick Shepherd said he’d like to present a bottomline to the developers by the Harbor District’s April 8 meeting.

“I’m done with it and I’m ready to move on,” he said.

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Articles, Crime

Three Accused Of Killing 41-Year-Old Man During Maiden Lane Altercation

March 25, 2026 Redwood Voice Leave a comment

Three Del Norte County men are accused of killing 41-year-old Robert Allen Cole during an altercation that took place on Maiden Lane the evening of March 16.

Robert Christopher Hunter, 46, Andrew Salinas, 43, and 23-year-old Donovan Natt face murder charges, Del Norte County District Attorney Katherine Micks told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday.

Hunter and Natt appeared before Judge Karen Olson on Wednesday. Hunter pleaded not guilty and waived his right to a speedy trial. However, since Natt’s lawyer, Humboldt County attorney Russell Clanton, had just received the case, Natt’s entry-of-plea hearing has been postponed until April 9.

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Articles, Crescent City, Local Government

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

March 25, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

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.

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