Tag Archives: del norte news

Articles, Environment, Fort Dick, Smith River, Tribal Affairs

San Bernardino Lawmaker Authors Bill to Cede Tolowa Dunes State Park To Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation

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Thumbnail photo: Rosa Laucci, Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation marine program manager, led a hike down the Sweetwater Creek Trail during a 2023 celebration commemorating the reclamation of place names at Tolowa Dunes State Park. | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Brie Fraley identified a divide between her community and those who see the land that’s now Tolowa Dunes State Park as just a public space.

A descendant of the Grimes family, one of the last to live at the village of Yontocket, Fraley said its current status as public land is a barrier to her being able to practice her spirituality in a safe way. 

Yet the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation tribal member agreed with Del Norte County District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey who, along with her colleagues on Tuesday, raised concerns about proposed legislation that would turn the state park over to the TdN.

“As a tribal member I was not afforded the information as well,” Fraley said of Assembly Bill 2356, which was authored by San Bernardino Assemblyman James Ramos. “I do think there should be a public engagement process so we can focus on this as an activity of healing. … There needs to be an empathy project for understanding the tragedies that have happened to my people.”

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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. 

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Articles, Education

DNUSD Board of Trustees Recap, April 9, 2026

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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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Articles, Education, Infrastructure, Smith River

Smith River Field Renovation Hits Snag As Trustees Reject Proposals

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Thumbnail photo: Two years ago members of Smith River School’s student government showed the school board the gopher hole-ridden field they and their peers played on. | Courtesy Smith River School’s student government

Two years after Smith River School students described an athletic field riddled with gopher holes and uneven ground and said they raised nearly $3,000 for its renovation, the project has hit a snag.

Two contractors submitted proposals for the work last month. But the Del Norte County Unified School District Board of Trustees was forced to reject both bids. 

The proposal from the lowest bidder, Hemmingsen Construction, lacked supporting documents. Meanwhile, the bid amount from the other contractor, McKinleyville-based Hooven & Co., exceeded the statutory threshold for informal bidding under the California Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act, or CUPCCAA, DNUSD Superintendent Jeff Harris said Thursday.

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Articles, Community News

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

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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, Infrastructure, Transportation

Residents On 197/199 Corridor Call For Renewed Public Comment As Construction On STAA Project Looms

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Map courtesy of Caltrans District 1

Residents living in the Hiouchi, Gasquet and Patrick Creek areas say there hasn’t been enough public outreach to allay concerns about the long-awaited effort to bring State Route 197 and U.S. 199 up to federal trucking standards.

Caltrans is expecting to start bringing in equipment and putting up construction signs as early as May 11, 197/199 Safe STAA Access Project Manager Izzy Konopa told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday.

But Kiley Hudson, who purchased property in the Washington Flat area north of Patrick Creek Lodge with her partner James about a month ago, said the last time there was a significant public comment period on the project was in 2010.

“We just found out about this project they’ve been trying to push for 20 years,” Hudson said. “A lot of the community is either in the dark or they haven’t had the opportunity to express their concerns.”

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Articles, Education

DNUSD’s Classified Employees Union Levees No Confidence Vote Against Transportation Director

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Thumbnail photo by Persephone Rose

Before handing over the results of a vote of no confidence against the transportation director, Shawn Michael Schubert, president of CSEA Great Northern 178, urged Del Norte Unified School District trustees to listen to their bus drivers.

A few minutes later, those bus drivers described “serious operational deficiencies” they say are occurring under Christopher Armington’s leadership. Those deficiencies include a failure to show up to work on time, a lack of communication, rescheduled or canceled training sessions and routes not being properly reviewed.

In one instance, according to Trish Melvin, a bus driver who was hired in 2021, Armington’s failure to show up for work resulted in a student standing on U.S. 101 for three hours waiting for a bus.

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Articles, Education, Fort Dick, Infrastructure

Redwood School Is In For Some Overdue Upgrades This Summer; Project Will Cost $2.7 Million

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Thumbnail photo by Heather Polen

Redwood School will be under construction for much of the summer and possibly into the fall as Del Norte Unified School District embarks on a $2.7 million modernization project.

Work will include reroofing four buildings as well as the school’s covered walkways, The school will be repainted and all the electric panels, feeders and main switchboards will be upgraded, according to a March 26 staff report from DNUSD Maintenance and Operations Director Josh McCubbin.

“The existing roofing systems on buildings A, F, G-L, N and the covered walkways have reached the end of their useful life and require replacement to prevent water intrusion, protect structural components and reduce the likelihood of costly emergency repairs that could disrupt school operations,” he stated.

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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.”

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Articles, Crime

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

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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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