Tag Archives: del norte news

Articles, Economy, Environment

Unwilling To Wade Into the Offshore Oil Debate, DN Supervisors Ask Staff To ‘Track Federal Policies’

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Thumbnail photo: Oil platforms off the coast of Seal Beach, Calif. | Photo by Mike Peel via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License

Del Norte County supervisors declined to take a position on offshore oil drilling in the Golden State with one representative stating that weighing in on the issue might “put ourselves in the middle of a much larger fight.”

District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard on Tuesday quoted from a Politico article that stated that the Trump administration’s plans to open federal waters in the Pacific to offshore drilling “looks designed to antagonize Gov. Gavin Newsom.” 

Howard also cited reports from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Stanford University that stated that the last time the Elk River Basin was studied for potential petroleum development was in 1960.

Continue reading Unwilling To Wade Into the Offshore Oil Debate, DN Supervisors Ask Staff To ‘Track Federal Policies’ →
Articles, Crescent City, Emergencies

Sheriff’s Office, Fire Department Investigating Blazes In Encampment Area Near Waldo

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Thumbnail photo by Heather Polen

Eight individuals were displaced due to fires that burned “at least two RVs” and other structures in the Waldo Street area Friday evening, Crescent City Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Ray Rook told Redwood Voice Community News.

Rook said he and six firefighters arrived on scene at about 9:21 p.m. to find two fully involved fires about 100 to 200 yards apart. The larger fire involved at least two RVs and other structures, including one that someone was living in. The blazes were down toward the end of Waldo Street on the gravel portion of the road in an area that houses several homeless encampments, Rook said.

The cause and origin of the fires are still undetermined, the battalion chief said. There were no injuries.

Continue reading Sheriff’s Office, Fire Department Investigating Blazes In Encampment Area Near Waldo →
Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government

CEO Says Crescent City Harbor Will ‘Go Through The Procedures’ To Satisfy Public Concern Over Commissioners’ Bonds

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Thumbnail photo by Gavin Van Alstine

A former county supervisor called it a red herring and the harbormaster said it was silly, but Del Norte County Clerk-Recorder Alissia Northrup reminded commissioners that the public’s concern about whether they have a faithful performance bond is real.

Northrup said she has an insurance policy that was meant to act in lieu of commissioners’ individual bonds, but it’s not signed and it’s old.

“It could have been canceled years ago,” she said Wednesday. “All I wanted was a complete current policy. That’s what I asked for and I’ve been unable to get one to date, so I want to make sure that we put it out there, it’s not silly. The public has an interest.”

Continue reading CEO Says Crescent City Harbor Will ‘Go Through The Procedures’ To Satisfy Public Concern Over Commissioners’ Bonds →
Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure, Local Government

CCHD Recap For Jan. 28, 2026

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Thumbnail photo by Gavin Van Alstine

Among the items discussed at Wednesday’s Crescent City Harbor District meeting.

Citizens Dock & Sea Wall: Harbor commissioners unanimously adopted the mitigated negative declaration the California Environmental Quality Act requires to move the two projects forward. 

Community System Solutions CEO Mike Bahr, who helped the Harbor District obtain the two US Maritime Administration grants needed to fund the projects, said the district could now focus on obtaining its construction permits.

Continue reading CCHD Recap For Jan. 28, 2026 →
Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

After AB 1014, County Supervisors, Residents Seek To Slow Speedsters on Fred Haight

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Thumbnail photo: County supervisors and residents are seeking to potentially lower the speed limit on Fred Haight Drive near the Smith River townsite. | Photo courtesy of Michelle Carrillo

Michelle Carrillo rejected the idea that hearing a person’s lived experience isn’t data.

Appearing before Del Norte County supervisors about three weeks after a car struck and killed her family’s dog near their Fred Haight Drive home, Carrillo said that she spent a month speaking with neighbors who shared stories of near misses and dead animals. It may be qualitative data, but it’s still data, she said Tuesday, and taking no action to try to reduce speeds on the Smith River thoroughfare was untenable.

“We’re in an agricultural area of the county with multiple uses happening at once from farm equipment, school activities, residential driveways, pedestrians and through traffic,” Carrillo said. “I understand there are certain things we have to figure out there and it’s not going to be a uniform speed across the whole road, that makes sense, but 50 on any section of that road does not make sense.”

Continue reading After AB 1014, County Supervisors, Residents Seek To Slow Speedsters on Fred Haight →
Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government

Del Norte Supes Recap For Jan. 27, 2026

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Thumbnail image: Screenshot

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

Welcome to California: The Board of Supervisors congratulated Caltrans representative Julia Peterson after she unveiled new California welcome signs that they said were far superior to Oregon’s.

Peterson showed supervisors an early rendering of the signs created after a public survey showed that the most favored themes were bears and elk. Three-dimensional bears will grace the sign on U.S. 199 while elk and salmon will welcome motorists driving south on U.S. 101, she said. 

Continue reading Del Norte Supes Recap For Jan. 27, 2026 →
Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure, Local Government

Citizens Dock, Seawall Projects Up For Discussion at Wednesday’s CCHD Meeting

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Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

Crescent City Harbor commissioners are expected to take a final step toward starting a $15 million project to replace Citizens Dock and an adjacent seawall this spring.

The Harbor Board will consider adopting a mitigated negative declaration Wednesday based on a 709-page study of its potential environmental impacts. The study includes two phases of the Citizens Dock rebuild, though the Harbor District doesn’t have the funding to complete the second phase, according to Community System Solutions CEO Mike Bahr.

It also includes a construction project near the small boat ramp off Anchor Way to mitigate potential habitat loss as a result, Bahr told commissioners during a public hearing held Jan. 14.

Continue reading Citizens Dock, Seawall Projects Up For Discussion at Wednesday’s CCHD Meeting →
Articles, CC Harbor

Harbor Staff Working To Raise Partially Submerged Vessel In Its Marina

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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. 

Continue reading Harbor Staff Working To Raise Partially Submerged Vessel In Its Marina →
Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government

RV Park Proposals Spark Discussion Over Harbormaster’s Living Situation

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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.”

Continue reading RV Park Proposals Spark Discussion Over Harbormaster’s Living Situation →
Articles, Community News, Youth

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

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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’ →