Tag Archives: del norte news

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

January 29, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{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.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure, Local Government

CCHD Recap For Jan. 28, 2026

January 29, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{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.

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Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

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

January 29, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{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.”

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Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government

Del Norte Supes Recap For Jan. 27, 2026

January 28, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{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.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure, Local Government

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

January 27, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{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.

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Articles, CC Harbor

Harbor Staff Working To Raise Partially Submerged Vessel In Its Marina

January 16, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{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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Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government

RV Park Proposals Spark Discussion Over Harbormaster’s Living Situation

January 16, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{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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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’

January 15, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{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.”

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Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government

Del Norte County BOS Roundup, Jan. 13, 2026

January 14, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{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.

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Activism, Articles, Local Government

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

January 14, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

*_{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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