Tag Archives: del norte county news

Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

Paul Place To Get Attention This Year, Though Supervisors Decide Against Bringing It Into The County-Maintained Road System

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Thumbnail photo: Paul Place near Charm Lane and Old Mill Road was selected for repairs as part of an effort to ensure emergency vehicles have access to public roads that are not on the county-maintained road system.| Photo courtesy of Del Norte County

Del Norte County supervisors agreed to commit about $20,000 from the general fund to repair a ditch and grade Paul Place.

But they rejected a proposal to spend an additional $26,000 to pave the first 250 feet of Paul Place, adding it to the county’s network of maintained roads, despite County Engineer Jon Olson arguing that vehicles were tracking mud onto nearby Charm Lane and Old Mill Road. There’s also water puddling up onto Old Mill Road, which is damaging the asphalt, Olson said.

District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey said Olson’s argument could be made for Napa or Lake streets, which impact Washington Boulevard. 

Continue reading Paul Place To Get Attention This Year, Though Supervisors Decide Against Bringing It Into The County-Maintained Road System →
Articles, Education, Infrastructure, Local Government

Del Norte Unified Hits Brakes on SitelogIQ Proposal, Says Savings Potential Not Worth Challenges

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Thumbnail: SitelogIQ representatives proposed installing a solar array near Bess Maxwell Elementary School. | Image courtesy of SitelogIQ

Del Norte education officials decided that waiting 15 to 17 years for substantive savings installing a solar array might bring wasn’t worth committing to a $5 million project even with a $1 million federal rebate.

Reporting back from a March 20 meeting that included officials from the county, the airport and representatives from Pacific Power and SitelogIQ, Del Norte Unified School District Superintendent Jeff Harris said that the community’s utility stated that tying solar into its grid would be difficult.

Meanwhile, quotes DNUSD had received from SitelogIQ were only for solar panels that would be installed at what is currently Del Norte High School’s arboretum near Bess Maxwell Elementary School, Harris told trustees. 

Continue reading Del Norte Unified Hits Brakes on SitelogIQ Proposal, Says Savings Potential Not Worth Challenges →
Articles, Crime, Local Government

Hooper Given 44-Day Jail Sentence, 3 Years Probation Nearly A Year After DUI Arrest;

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Hooper

Thumbnail photo: Randy Hooper was arrested on a DUI with injury charge after he struck Megan Postma’s vehicle at Sand Mine Road and U.S. 101 on April 19, 2025 | Photo by Heather Polen

Randy Hooper will serve 44 days in jail, a Del Norte County judge decided on Monday nearly a year after officers arrested the assistant county administrative officer on a DUI with injury charge after leaving Elk Valley Casino.

At a sentencing hearing before Judge William Follett, Hooper offered an apology to Megan Postma, the Grants Pass woman whose vehicle he struck at U.S. 101 and Sand Mine Road on April 19, 2025.

“I wish I could have apologized sooner, but I was advised not to by my attorney,” Hooper told the judge. “I think my conduct was not of character — it certainly is not the way my parents raised me nor the way my wife and I are raising our children.”

Continue reading Hooper Given 44-Day Jail Sentence, 3 Years Probation Nearly A Year After DUI Arrest; →
Articles, Infrastructure, Tribal Affairs

Del Norte County Board of Supervisors Recap, March 24, 2026

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Thumbnail image: The 57-acre “Sand Spit Property” the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation is seeking to acquire. |Image courtesy of the Bureau of Indian Affairs

District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey was absent. Among the items discussed at Tuesday’s Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting:

Trust Acquisition Opposition: County supervisors approved a letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs opposing the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation’s efforts to acquire 57 acres of undeveloped land just outside its boundaries in Smith River.

Known as the “Sand Spit Property,” the parcel is located on the south side of the Smith River estuary near the river mouth.

Continue reading Del Norte County Board of Supervisors Recap, March 24, 2026 →
Articles, Emergencies

Earthquake/Tsunami Drill Set For Tomorrow

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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.”

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Articles, Elections, Local Government

Del Norte Election Lineup Set For June Primary

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Thumbnail image by Dwight Burdette via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons license.

Del Norte County voters will cast a ballot for two contested local races on June 2.

Incumbents Chris Howard and Joey Borges will each face challenges to their District 3 and District 4 seats on the Board of Supervisors, County Clerk-Recorder Alissia Northrup told Redwood Voice Community News.

The deadline to submit election paperwork was 5 p.m. Friday.

Continue reading Del Norte Election Lineup Set For June Primary →
Articles, Community News

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

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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 →
Community News

The Volunteers of Del Norte’s 2026 Point in Time Count

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Photos and video by Monique Camarena

On one windy day in January, Del Norte Health and Human Services and local organizations came together to gather data, provide support, and spread love to Del Norte’s homeless community at the county’s annual Point In Time Count. 

This year’s PIT count was held in the Del Norte County Fairgrounds Main Building on Jan. 27, where those considered unhoused could take a 5-minute anonymous survey and receive free meals, backpacks, clothes, showers and many more resources. Even free haircuts!

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Articles, Economy, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

Del Norte Airport Officials Say Flights To Portland May Boost Use, But Will Advanced Air Agree?

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Thumbnail photo by James Brooks

With another runway project pending, more passengers need to fly into and out of Crescent City for the Del Norte County Regional Airport to be sure of the federal dollars needed to make that happen, Director Sean Rosenthal said.

The Federal Aviation Administration provides grant funding every year for capital improvement projects, Rosenthal told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday. Increasing the number of enplanements from 7,485 to 10,000 annually could not only speed up the process, it could convince the FAA that the airport needs a longer runway.

Convincing Advanced Air, the airline that serves Crescent City, to offer flights to Portland is a viable option for boosting those numbers, the airport authority director says. But there are caveats.

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Articles, Emergencies, Infrastructure

Del Norte Teams Up With CalOES, Crescent City On Tsunami Education Kiosks For Visitors

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Tsunami information kiosks like this one will be at seven locations popular with visitors throughout Del Norte. | Image courtesy of Del Norte County Office of Emergency Services

Thumbnail photo: H Dock damage at the Crescent City Harbor from the July 30, 2025 Kamchatka tsunami. The harbor will host one of seven tsunami information kiosks throughout Del Norte. | Photo courtesy of Mike Rademaker

Del Norte County is stepping up its tsunami preparedness efforts, focusing on visitors who may not be aware that they’re in a hazardous location or how to evacuate.

Seven kiosks will be installed in areas popular with visitors. They will highlight the natural warning signs that a tsunami is imminent, the immediate actions to take as well as a simplified evacuation map leading folks to a safer spot, Emergency Services Coordinator Jessica Seaman said Tuesday.

“Each evacuation map will be site specific and developed with assistance from the subject matter experts to ensure accuracy and clarity for the exact location,” she told the Board of Supervisors. “The kiosks will also include a QR code that links directly to Know Your Zone and Prepare Del Norte (which has) additional preparedness information.”

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