Tag Archives: del norte news

Crescent City Creates Plan B For Public Notices if Newspaper Folds

Thumbnail: Dan Schmidt, the Del Norte Triplicate’s new owner, speaks to a city plan Monday to have an alternate available for publishing public notices should Crescent City be without a newspaper. | Screenshot.

Though the Del Norte Triplicate’s new owner felt it was unnecessary, Crescent City councilors adopted a backup when it comes to publishing public notices should the community be without a newspaper.

Dan Schmidt said Monday that he and his wife Phyllis have put a newspaper out every week since taking over the Triplicate about a month ago. They’re currently working on the fifth issue. A month ago the city’s ordinance would have made sense, he said, but the community still has a newspaper of general circulation.

“You don’t need to pretend that it’s going to go away,” Schmidt told the City Council. “I’m going to be here awhile, I plan to, and we’ll keep putting the paper out.”

Continue reading Crescent City Creates Plan B For Public Notices if Newspaper Folds

Schmidt Cited For Trespassing at Roger Gitlin’s House; Harbor Commissioner Is Contacting Proponents of Now-Paused Recall Effort

Thumbnail photo: Roger Gitlin (left) and Dan Schmidt (right)

Crescent City Harbor Commissioner Dan Schmidt was ready to go to jail for trespassing at Roger Gitlin’s house on Wednesday.

Schmidt, who last month bought the Del Norte Triplicate from Country Media, Gitlin’s previous employer, wanted to hand over his rebuttal to a now-rescinded recall effort against him. Gitlin wouldn’t answer the door, so Schmidt stayed on the porch for about half an hour knocking and ringing the bell. 

“I guess Roger got tired of me being there so he called the police to have me arrested for trespassing,” Schmidt told Redwood Voice Community News on Sunday.  He said the officer who responded gave him the choice of leaving or being arrested. 

Continue reading Schmidt Cited For Trespassing at Roger Gitlin’s House; Harbor Commissioner Is Contacting Proponents of Now-Paused Recall Effort

Del Norte Seeks $20 Million Grant For Behavioral Health Clinic; Supes Also Support Regional Mental Health Services Project

Thumbnail: Del Norte County Department of Health and Human Services employees and their clients commemorated Mental Health Awareness Month with a ceremonial walk to the Flynn Center in May. | File photo by Monique Camarena

Though her department is pursuing the same grant to build a local outpatient behavioral health clinic, Ranell Brown urged supervisors to support a Shasta County project that she says will provide services Del Norte County can’t.

Brown, director of the Del Norte County Department of Health and Human Services, said her department’s application for $20 million in Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP) seeks to expand the services Del Norte offers. 

The “True North” Behavioral Health Campus, a collaboration between Signature Health Care, Arch Collaborative and the Shasta Health Assessment and Redesign Collaborative is a more regional project, she said.
“The project includes triage and crisis stabilization and inpatient psychiatric care, residential treatment for children and youth and partial hospitalization and social rehabilitation,” Brown said of the proposed “True North” facility. “It’s a much broader project than what we can do in Del Norte County.”

Continue reading Del Norte Seeks $20 Million Grant For Behavioral Health Clinic; Supes Also Support Regional Mental Health Services Project

Del Norte Supes Weigh In On Salary Placement, Juvenile Custody Issues, Prop. 50

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

Salary Schedule and New Hires: Though she said new employees are welcome, the president of the Del Norte County Employees Association pointed out that the county is establishing a standard when it comes to placement on the salary schedule.

Norma Williams referred to the proposed hiring of four employees at Step C on the salary schedule — items that appeared on the Board’s consent agenda and were approved without comment.

Continue reading Del Norte Supes Weigh In On Salary Placement, Juvenile Custody Issues, Prop. 50

Weber, Evans Signed Notice Of Intent To Recall Harbor District Colleagues; Effort To Oust Nehmer, Schmidt On Hold, Gitlin Says

Weber | Courtesy ccharbor.com

Thumbnail: Roger Gitlin told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that he has paused his recall effort against Harbor commissioners Dan Schmidt and Annie Nehmer until it can coincide with the November 2026 election. | Screenshot

Crescent City Harbor commissioners Gerhard Weber and John Evans have officially endorsed Roger Gitlin’s now-stalled campaign to recall their colleagues Dan Schmidt and Annie Nehmer.

Both confirmed that they had added their signatures to Giltin’s notice of intent to recall with Weber, the Board’s chairman, telling Redwood Voice Community News on Wednesday that he feels guilty for urging the local Republican Party to endorse Nehmer. He called her smart and hard-working, but said she’s focusing on “minute rule things” instead of directing her energy in a way that is more positive for the harbor.

Weber also said that Schmidt, who purchased the Del Norte Triplicate from its previous owners last month, had revealed information about Harbormaster Mike Rademaker that had, up until then, been stated in closed session meetings. Most recently, Weber said, Schmidt is now claiming in the Triplicate that Rademaker was accused of sexual harassment.

Continue reading Weber, Evans Signed Notice Of Intent To Recall Harbor District Colleagues; Effort To Oust Nehmer, Schmidt On Hold, Gitlin Says

Del Norte-Sponsored Traffic Calming Bill Nets Governor’s Signature; New Law Would Increase Safety in Hiouchi, Gasquet, Smith River, Howard Says

Thumbnail photo: District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard said that newly-enacted AB 1014 will increase safety in Smith River, Gasquet and Hiouchi. | Photo by Akampfer via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License.

A Del Norte County-sponsored assembly bill that aims to tame traffic speeding through rural communities gained the California governor’s signature earlier this month.

District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard on Tuesday thanked Assemblyman Chris Rogers for taking Assembly Bill 1014 through the legislative process and before Gov. Gavin Newsom, who signed it into law on Oct. 3. 

Howard also urged his constituents to look toward a pilot project taking place in Orick, which involves crews putting up “large flexible cones” in the center turn lane to prevent people from using it to pass slower vehicles. 

“That’s exactly what we’re seeing in the townsite of Gasquet also,” he said. “People come into the town of Gasquet off the four-lane stretch (of U.S. 199). They’re doing 65-plus mph and they hit slow traffic and they want to pass people in the middle of the lane.”

Continue reading Del Norte-Sponsored Traffic Calming Bill Nets Governor’s Signature; New Law Would Increase Safety in Hiouchi, Gasquet, Smith River, Howard Says

CCHD Commissioner Introduces Colleagues To His Brother Amid Nepotism Accusations

Dan Schmidt | ccharbor.com

Three months after the Del Norte Triplicate accused Dan Schmidt of “introducing nepotism” to the Crescent City harbormaster, his fellow commissioners met the man Schmidt says could help right the Harbor District’s ship.

Dennis Schmidt, Dan’s “better-looking, nicer, funnier brother,” came to the podium Wednesday with 32 years’ experience working in the utilities, human resources and city manager’s departments for Anaheim. He’s got a Master’s degree in public administration, a Bachelor’s degree in organizational development and says he’s the guy top administrators bring in to help fix damaged systems.

Now that he’s retired, Dennis Schmidt, whose home alternates between Crescent City and the Mojave Desert community of Apple Valley, says he wants to help the Harbor District. But after a tepid reception from his brother’s colleagues, he said he thinks the Board of Commissioners was “looking for a reason to say no.”

Continue reading CCHD Commissioner Introduces Colleagues To His Brother Amid Nepotism Accusations

US DOT Secures Funding to Keep EAS Service Going Till November; Local Airport Authority Still Assessing ‘Best Options’

Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff

Though the federal government shutdown continues, the U.S. Department of Transportation granted a reprieve that will allow commercial air service in Del Norte County to continue through November.

In a notice Border Coast Regional Airport Authority Director Sean Rosenthal said he received Wednesday morning, the DOT stated that it has secured additional funding to support both the Essential Air Service and Alternative Essential Air Service programs. As a result, air carriers and communities receiving those subsidies must continue to fulfill their obligations “until such time as the Department notifies them otherwise.”

According to the notice, carriers who serve rural communities under the Essential Air Service — including Advanced Air, which flies from Crescent City to Oakland and to Southern California  — will be able to provide service through Nov. 2.

Continue reading US DOT Secures Funding to Keep EAS Service Going Till November; Local Airport Authority Still Assessing ‘Best Options’

Water Board Hosts Meeting Focusing On Smith River’s Easter Lily Bulbs

Thumbnail photo: Ninety-five percent of Easter lily bulb production in the United States occurs in the Smith River coastal plain. | Photo courtesy of the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board

Conservationists seeking to eliminate pesticide use in the Smith River Easter lily bulb industry are urging residents to tell water regulators how they have been impacted on Wednesday.

The California Northcoast Regional Water Quality Control Board isn’t expected to take action, Senior Water Resource Control Engineer David Kuszmar told Redwood Voice Community News. Instead, staff will present findings from a local water quality monitoring study and provide an update on the development of water quality regulations for lily bulb growers.

“This meeting represents an important opportunity for interested members of the public to speak directly to the Board about water quality issues that concern them, Kuszmar said. “Board members are free to offer suggestions and/or provide direction to staff at any time based on information provided and comments received.”

Continue reading Water Board Hosts Meeting Focusing On Smith River’s Easter Lily Bulbs

Government Shutdown Threatens Commercial Air Service In Del Norte, Curry Counties

Thumbnail image courtesy of Border Coast Regional Airport Authority

A day after finding out that commercial air service to Del Norte County may be a casualty of the federal government shutdown, Sean Rosenthal says he’s still searching for answers.

Less than two months after the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority hired him as airport director, Rosenthal said the U.S. Department of Transportation notified him on Monday that if the government shutdown continues, Alternative Essential Air Service funding will end Sunday. 

In an email to BCRAA members Tuesday morning, he said he had hoped to have some information to share, but he’s still working to “fully understand the impact this situation will have on us.”

Continue reading Government Shutdown Threatens Commercial Air Service In Del Norte, Curry Counties