Tag Archives: del norte news

Harbor Staff Working To Raise Partially Submerged Vessel In Its Marina

Thumbnail photo: A commercial fishing vessel, the Flo, was found partially submerged in the Crescent City Harbor’s marina early Friday morning. | Photo by Heather Polen

Harbor District staff are using salvage lift bags and a dive team to raise a partially submerged commercial fishing vessel currently located at E Dock in the port’s marina.

The fishing vessel is owned by Andrew Griffin, a local fisherman, Harbormaster Mike Rademaker told the Board of Commissioners via email on Friday. The cause is still under investigation. In addition to trying to stabilize the vessel, staff have deployed an oil-containment boom around the boat as a precaution, Rademaker said.

A CCHD maintenance worker found the partially submerged vessel earlier Friday, Griffin told Redwood Voice Community News. 

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RV Park Proposals Spark Discussion Over Harbormaster’s Living Situation

Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

Crescent City Harbor commissioners rejected proposals from two Orange County developers eager to revitalize Bayside and Redwood Harbor Village RV parks, Chairman Rick Shepherd announced Wednesday.

The Board’s rejection of proposals from Sean McGraw and Scott Lawhon doesn’t mean that further negotiations couldn’t be had with either developer, according to Harbormaster Mike Rademaker. For now, a request for proposals commissioners approved in August is still active, he told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday.

“Not much has been stated publicly after several closed session deliberations over several months,” Rademaker said, calling the move cautious. “This public statement reflects the Board’s conclusion that, after sufficient review, the proposals were not yet close to terms the district could accept.”

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Junior Livestock Auction Purchasers Say Bandon-Based Butcher Let Their Meat Spoil; State Officials Say They’re Working To ‘Make Buyers Whole’

Thumbnail photo: One of the hog exhibits youth raised to show to judges at the 2025 Del Norte County Fair. | Photo by Heather Polen

At least one person says she wants her money back after she and her husband purchased a steer from the Del Norte County Fair’s Junior Livestock Auction in August only to be told not to eat the meat when she received it two months later.

Patty and Harry Adams successfully bid on a steer a local Future Farmers of America youth raised, paying $17,665 for the animal. They sent it to Bussmann Mobile Ranch Butchering in Bandon, one of two butchers the fairgrounds offered to auction participants for processing.

“You bid, you buy, you pay and then the fair makes the arrangements as far as transportation with each butcher. We just walked away knowing our animal was going up to the butcher and was going to be processed,” Patty Adams told Redwood Voice Community News of the livestock auction which was held on Aug. 2 this year. “But usually you’re communicated with from the butcher or the processor within that month. I thought it was weird that I hadn’t heard from someone by the end of August.”

Continue reading Junior Livestock Auction Purchasers Say Bandon-Based Butcher Let Their Meat Spoil; State Officials Say They’re Working To ‘Make Buyers Whole’

Del Norte County BOS Roundup, Jan. 13, 2026

Thumbnail photos: District 1 Supervisor Darrin Short and District 2 Supervisor Joey Borges. Borges and Short will serve another year as chair and vice chair of the Board of Supervisors.

Among the items discussed at Tuesday’s Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting:

Borges, Short ‘Keep It Going’: District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey ended the long pause that followed Chris Howard’s nomination of Joey Borges for another year as Board chairman.

Howard, who represents Del Norte County District 3, praised Borges’ efficiency in running county meetings, saying he’s done a “wonderful job” over the past 12 months. Though she has yet to serve in the chair position since she first took her seat in 2021, Starkey said she couldn’t think of a reason why Borges shouldn’t continue in the role. Her initial plan was to nominate District 1 Supervisor Darrin Short to the chair position since he’s been the vice chair for the past year, but decided to second Howard’s original motion.

Continue reading Del Norte County BOS Roundup, Jan. 13, 2026

Del Norte Fair Board Calls For Review Of Its ‘First Amendment Expression’ Policy; Rally Set For MLK Day

Fairgrounds CEO Kim Floyd sent this map to Del Norte Democratic Committee Chairman Kevin Hendrick ahead of a rally in April asking that demonstrators park in the north parking lot.

Thumbnail photo: Nearly 1,000 demonstrators showed up for the No Kings Rally at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds in October. | Photo by Heather Polen

Three months after the No Kings Rally brought nearly 1,000 demonstrators to their front yard, officials at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds are calling for a review of its First Amendment Expression policy.

At a meeting of the 41st District Agriculture Association Board of Directors on Monday, Board President Kara Miller said she wanted to make sure demonstrators aren’t disturbing businesses or people renting buildings on fairgrounds property. 

Meanwhile, 41st DAA CEO Kim Floyd said she wanted to make sure the fair is protected from liability. She pointed to a confrontation that she said occurred during the No Kings Rally in October between someone who had pulled into the parking lot and a demonstrator.

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DNUSD Workshop Series Aimed At Giving Parents Tools to Advocate For Their Special Needs Children

Del Norte Unified is launching a new workshop series that urges parents to not only advocate for their special needs child, but be a voice for special education issues at a regional level.

DNUSD’s six-week IEP Empowerment Series starts Feb. 5, Special Education Executive Director Jennifer Armington told Redwood Voice Community News. Its goal is for DNUSD to offer a place where parents can air their concerns about special education issues as well as to arm them with information they need to advocate for their children, she said.

A larger goal is to get parents involved in DNUSD’s Collaborating on Meaningful Parent Advocacy for Student Success, or COMPASS, group. One or two parents involved in that group can then bring Del Norte-specific concerns to the committee advising the Humboldt-Del Norte Special Education Local Plan Area.

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‘LA Times’ Lists Del Norte Fair Among Others Plagued With Scandal After State Audit Raises Nepotism, Credit Card Misuse Concerns

Thumbnail photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

A month after the Los Angeles Times listed the Del Norte County Fairgrounds as one of 26 fairs in California struggling with misfortune CEO Kim Floyd offered minimal information on how things would change in the future.

In her Dec. 11 rundown, the Times reporter Jessica Garrison cited a state audit from 2019 that found that Del Norte County fair officials improperly spent more than $1,200 on alcohol in violation of state rules and allowed a manager to employ a close family member. 

Garrison also cited a state audit from 2025 that found additional violations of the state’s nepotism policy as well as $34,637 in credit card charges without receipts. The audit cited $11,903 in credit card charges for food and drink without receipts.

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Art Notes: Rikuzentakata Taiko Performers, New Public Art, Celtic Music Concert

Thumbnail image courtesy of DNACA.net

If you have Arts Notes that you would like featured, contact DNACA at DNACA_CC@CLOUD.COM. We would love to spread the word about your events. You can also send the info to our Facebook Group, as well.

• Beginning January 8, 2026 we will be displaying at the Del Norte Regional Airport on the 2nd Floor Mezzanine, Tolowa Dee-Ni’ Nation posters.  Come see the beautiful artwork.  

• Beginning January 9, 2026, the Nat Soules Art Collection will be displayed in the main building hallway at College of the Redwoods’ Del Norte campus.  Please come during regular business hours to see the beautiful artwork.

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Del Norte Sheriff May Ask Supervisors to Unfreeze Positions Previously Frozen To Increase Staff Salaries

A move to freeze positions in his office to increase salaries and retain deputies has been effective. 

But now that a compensation study and structural analysis of all positions in the county is completed, Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott said he’ll be asking the Board of Supervisors to reverse that decision, probably around March.

“My goal is to ask for the funding to unfreeze those positions so I can put more than just two deputies per shift out there and I can start working on more narcotic enforcement and search warrants, things like that,” the sheriff told Redwood Voice Community News on Friday. “The public, Del Norte County, deserves to have more than two deputies on a shift. I know we’re not a rich county and that ask is not just a simple fix, but I think our Board does want that.”

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Tsunamis, Marches, Government Shutdowns, or 2025 in Del Norte County

Thumbnail photo: Del Norters participated in the People’s March on Jan. 18, two days before Donald Trump was inaugurated to his second term as president. | Photo by Jessica Andrews

Two weeks after the calendar ticked over to 2025, more than 100 Del Norte residents gathered at the Cultural Center in Crescent City.

Waving signs preaching “love not hate” and “united we stand,” they vowed to safeguard the rights of the vulnerable ahead of what they believed to be a dangerous presidential administration.

“Let us be on the right side of history,” Troy Lea said in a statement read aloud during the People’s March on Jan. 18, the first of several demonstrations Del Norters would take part in during 2025. “For our people, our nation and future generations whose lives will be shaped by the work we do here today.”

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