Tag Archives: del norte county

Articles, Crime, Local Government

Del Norte Judge Rejects Recommendation To Let Hooper’s Felony DUI Causing Injury Charge Stand; Victim Says She Felt ‘Pushed Aside’ During Legal Process

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Thumbnail photo: Assistant County Administrative Officer Randy Hooper struck Grants Pass resident Megan Postma at Sand Mine Road and U.S. 101 near Crescent City on April 19 and continued driving. | Photo by Heather Polen

Hooper |Courtesy LinkedIn

A Del Norte County judge on Thursday rejected a probation officer’s recommendation to let Randy Hooper’s felony DUI causing injury charge stand, deciding to follow a plea agreement offered to the defendant by the state Attorney General’s Office.

If Hooper lives up to the terms of the plea deal, his charge will be reduced to a misdemeanor, said attorney Keith Morris, who was designated as deputy attorney general for the case. But the judge told Hooper to expect to do some jail time — up to 90 days — when his sentence is reviewed in March, Morris told Redwood Voice Community News on Friday.

“He will serve some time in jail,” Morris said. “The judge followed the plea bargain we extended.”

Continue reading Del Norte Judge Rejects Recommendation To Let Hooper’s Felony DUI Causing Injury Charge Stand; Victim Says She Felt ‘Pushed Aside’ During Legal Process →
Articles, Environment, Infrastructure, Transportation

Dean Wilson Proposes Mitigation Exemptions For Counties With Vast Swaths of Public Lands

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Thumbnail image: Dean Wilson mentioned a tunnel project around Last Chance Grade south of Crescent City as a potential project that would require Caltrans with mitigation requirements. | Image courtesy of Caltrans District 1

Five months after his colleague suggested banking county properties for mitigation purposes, District 5 Supervisor Dean Wilson said he’s searching for someone who can propose legislation that would exempt counties like Del Norte from that requirement.

Wilson said Wednesday that his proposed legislation would apply to Del Norte County and others that house vast swaths of public and tribal lands. To illustrate why a mitigation exemption is critical to Del Norte, he pointed to two impending projects on U.S. 101 — the tunnel bypass around Last Chance Grade and efforts to protect the highway from sea level rise near South Beach.

Wilson also mentioned a runway safety project the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority completed about 12 years ago. In that situation, the requirement came from the California Coastal Commission. And while the BCRAA spearheaded the project, it fell to the county to find the land to meet those mitigation requirements.

Continue reading Dean Wilson Proposes Mitigation Exemptions For Counties With Vast Swaths of Public Lands →
Articles, Health, Local Government

Del Norte Supervisors Support City Grants, Discuss DHHS Contracts, Retirement Benefit Policy

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Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

District 1 Supervisor Darrin Short and his District 3 colleague Chris Howard were absent. Among the items discussed at Wednesday’s Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting:

Grant confusion: Three supervisors endorsed two Crescent City grant proposals, though it took a last-minute visit from City Manager Eric Wier for them to arrive at that conclusion.

Supervisors agreed to sign a letter of support for Crescent City’s efforts to obtain a Sustainable Planning Grant through Caltrans for its Redwood Highway Multi-Modal Transportation & Land Use Plan. They also approved a support letter for the city’s pursuit of California Ocean Protection Council grant dollars for its Coastal Resiliency Plan.

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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 →
Articles, Environment, Local Government, Science

Restoring Elk Creek Would Enhance Crescent City’s Ability to Withstand Flood, Tsunami, Smith River Alliance’s Grant Werschkull Says

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Thumbnail: Aerial shot of the Elk Creek watershed looking west toward the Pacific Ocean. | Photo courtesy of Smith River Alliance and Stillwater Sciences

Smith River Alliance Co-Director Grant Werschkull acknowledged that breathing new life into Elk Creek’s wetlands could be an economic boon for Crescent City.

But to illustrate his point that restoring the tidal channels and swales would make a difference during a tsunami or a flood, he pointed councilors to a 2015 New Yorker article about the Cascadia Subduction Zone, the massive earthquakes it is capable of generating and its threat to coastal communities like Crescent City.

“The title is the ‘Really Big One’,” Werschkull said, referring to the article. “Seismologists, the experts that we have, participated in that (article) and it talks about how we are right now at a date when it is timely that it could happen.”

Continue reading Restoring Elk Creek Would Enhance Crescent City’s Ability to Withstand Flood, Tsunami, Smith River Alliance’s Grant Werschkull Says →
Articles, Local Government

Recap: Crescent City Council Has A Vacancy to Fill, Discusses Accessory Dwelling Units, Appoints New Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem

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Thumbnail: Councilor Daran J. Dooley, middle, resigned last month, meaning that his former colleagues are now tasked with appointing his successor. | File photo by Aisling Bludworth

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

Vacancy: Though one member of the public argued for leaving the seat vacant until next year, city councilors directed staff to begin advertising for a replacement for Daran Dooley, who resigned on Oct. 21.

According to City Attorney Martha Rice, the new appointed city councilor would serve until the November 2026 election. At that point, the seat would be up for a vote and whoever won the election would serve until the term ends in November 2028, the city attorney said.

The alternative was a special election that could be done in the spring through mail-in ballots or in conjunction with the November 2026 midterm election, Rice said. The current City Council could also choose to leave the position vacant until November 2026, the city attorney said.

Continue reading Recap: Crescent City Council Has A Vacancy to Fill, Discusses Accessory Dwelling Units, Appoints New Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem →
Articles, Health, Infrastructure, Transportation

Transportation Commission Kicks In Funding For Road Improvements Related To Homeless Shelter

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Thumbnail image courtesy of the Del Norte County Department of Health and Human Services

Transportation commissioners provided support for two Del Norte County projects on Tuesday, including one associated with its emergency homeless shelter and micro village campus.

The Del Norte Local Transportation Commission awarded a total of $572,240 to Del Norte County for the Williams Drive Access Improvement for Vulnerable Road Users Project. According to the DNLTC’s staff report, $492,240 is coming from Regional Surface Transportation Program funding and $80,000 is coming from Transportation Development Act dollars.

Del Norte received two Highway Safety Improvement Program grants totaling $441,260, but the estimated project cost is more than $1 million, Assistant County Engineer Rosanna Bower said in a Sept. 22 letter to the commission. The $572,240 funding shortfall includes a required local match for the two grants of $49,030, she said.

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Articles, Local Government

Del Norte Supervisors Question Salary Schedule Placement Requests

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Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

Updated at 8:42 p.m. Thursday to correct an error, an employee being hired at a Step C would top out about a year later at Step E and would then have to wait roughly nine years before reaching longevity, according to Norma Williams, Del Norte County Employees Association SEIU 1021.

With the president of Del Norte County’s largest bargaining unit warning that the practice was creating a retention problem, the Board of Supervisors took no action on five requests to hire staff at a more advanced step on the salary schedule.

Two weeks earlier Norma Williams, president of the Del Norte County Employees Association SEIU 1021, told supervisors that their hiring at Step C was fast becoming a standard. On Tuesday, noting that negotiations with county administration were scheduled for Thursday, Williams said the union seeks clarity on the hiring process.

Williams also noted that the length of time an employee has before they reach longevity is shorter if they are hired in the middle of the salary range than an entry-level worker. According to Williams, if a new employee is approved at a Step C after being hired, he or she would top out at Step E about a year later. They would then have to wait about nine years before reaching longevity where they would get a 5% pay increase, she said.

Until then, Williams said, the only pay increases that employee would see is any SEIU 1021 and county agree on.

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Articles, Infrastructure, Transportation

Federal Subsidy Del Norte, Curry Relies On For Air Service Is Extended Till Nov. 18, U.S. DOT Says

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Thumbnail image courtesy of Border Coast Regional Airport Authority

The federal subsidy that allows Advanced Air to serve Del Norte and Curry counties will continue through Nov. 18.

If the federal government shutdown extends beyond Nov. 18, the U.S. Department of Transportation states it will “provide notice to air carriers and communities” in advance, according to a Wednesday notice.

“We’re at the mercy of the system at this point,” Border Coast Regional Airport Authority Director Sean Rosenthal told Redwood Voice Community News. “It’s kind of like starting all over again from the last notice.”

Continue reading Federal Subsidy Del Norte, Curry Relies On For Air Service Is Extended Till Nov. 18, U.S. DOT Says →
Articles, Community News

(Updated) Del Norte Safety Net Mobilizes Ahead of Potential Suspension Of CalFresh Benefits To 3,900 Families

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Thumbnail photo: The FRC of the Redwoods’ Pacific Pantry has set up A Mighty Cause fundraising campaign to prepare for a surge of need should CalFresh benefits be suspended starting Saturday. | Photo courtesy of A Mighty Cause.

Updated at 4:31 p.m.:

Iya Mahan, food program director for the DNATL Community Food Council, said the Emergency Food Task Force has been activated in response to the potential suspension of SNAP benefits for Del Norte families.

Originally created to respond to natural disasters, Mahan said that with nearly 4,000 families that will be potentially impacted the task force is working together to come up with solutions.

“There have been a lot of people who want to get involved,” she told Redwood Voice Community News on Wednesday. “So we are making sure that we’re not duplicating efforts. For the people who want to get involved, I’m having them fill out a form so I can get them to the right people.”

The Emergency Food Task Force includes local food banks, Del Norte Unified School District’s Department of Nutrition Services, the Del Norte Office of Emergency Services and the Del Norte County Department of Health and Human Services.

For more information on food security resources, click here. Organizations that distribute food resources are asked to click on this link to fill out a short form.

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Original Post:

People are stepping up to ensure Del Norte families don’t go hungry next month, though District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey still hopes this was a “just how-prepared-are-you” kind of test.

After learning that an average of 3,900 families could be without their CalFresh benefits in November due to the federal government shutdown, Starkey said Monday that the community was “mobilizing.”

On Wednesday, she posted on Facebook that the Emergency Food Task Force met to ensure local food banks had the supplies and volunteers necessary to meet the increased need. It’s also coordinating resources with other community partners and churches.

Continue reading (Updated) Del Norte Safety Net Mobilizes Ahead of Potential Suspension Of CalFresh Benefits To 3,900 Families →