Tag Archives: front-page

Articles, Local Government

County Donation Helps Lighthouse Preservation Society Ensure Helicopter Flights For Volunteers, Visitors Will Continue

Leave a comment

Thumbnail photo courtesy of the Del Norte County Historical Society; 2023 video by Aisling Bludworth

The weather in Del Norte County is notoriously fickle, which makes chartering helicopters a costly proposition for a nonprofit business. 

With no local helicopter services willing to go to the St. George Reef Lighthouse on a touring schedule, perched six miles off the Del Norte coast. The preservation society that cares for the 134-year-old structure has to contract with agencies from Red Bluff, California or Molalla, Oregon to get there.

These agencies charge repositioning fees to fly the helicopter to Crescent City and back, which must be paid regardless of if a tour to the lighthouse occurs or not. Repositioning fees pay for fuel, crew hours, airport fees, and applicable taxes. Usually these fees are paid by the preservation society through ticket sale revenue, but it is always a gamble with the weather according to President John Zimmerman, of the St George Reef Lighthouse Preservation Society. With lighthouse tours anticipated to start again in March of 2027, these fees come to the forefront of the budgeting process.

Continue reading County Donation Helps Lighthouse Preservation Society Ensure Helicopter Flights For Volunteers, Visitors Will Continue →
Articles, Law, Local Government

Unable to hire a chief public defender, Del Norte County Supes shift tactics, call for traditional indigent defense office

Leave a comment

With Del Norte County still lacking a chief public defender despite creating the position three years ago, District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey urged her colleagues to consider a different model.

Instead of the managed-assigned counsel model the Board of Supervisors approved in 2023, which consisted of a county public defender overseeing a department of contracted attorneys, Starkey hoped that establishing a traditional office would attract more applicants.

“We’ve leaned into a different model that hasn’t really been effective for us. We’ve recruited for it, but we haven’t been able to find someone,” she said Tuesday. “If we were to lean into a new traditional office — and that is the notice that’s going out, that’s what we’re marketing (for) — I feel we would get more of an applicant pool of people that have those career ambitions, to come in and create an office and establish permanency.”

Continue reading Unable to hire a chief public defender, Del Norte County Supes shift tactics, call for traditional indigent defense office →
Articles, Crime, Local Government

Del Norte Supervisors Greenlight Narcotics Enforcement Position at the Sheriff’s Office; 33-year Employee Norma Williams Retires; SEIU 1021 Raise Concerns About ICE

Leave a comment

Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey joined her colleagues in approving the creation of a narcotics enforcement position at the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office.

But after questioning County Administrative Officer Neal Lopez and Human Resources Director Kerri Vue about the cost and how it will be paid for, Starkey noted that there’s no guarantee the position will be permanent after the three year funding commitment was up.

“I think they were going to do a year-by-year assessment to see the benefits of this particular position,” Starkey said Tuesday, referring to the Community Corrections Partnership.

Continue reading Del Norte Supervisors Greenlight Narcotics Enforcement Position at the Sheriff’s Office; 33-year Employee Norma Williams Retires; SEIU 1021 Raise Concerns About ICE →
Articles, Elections

With Volatility Surrounding Elections This Year, Del Norte County Clerk Urges Voters To Call Or Visit If They Have Questions

Leave a comment
Alissia Northrup

Thumbnail photo by Monique Camarena

Days after the U.S. Supreme Court made a decision some worry could lead to a mass purge of valid voters ahead of the midterm election, Alissia Northrup sought to allay any concerns Del Norte County voters may have.

Though she hasn’t received guidance from the California Secretary of State as of Tuesday, the county clerk, who was elected to her fourth term in June, says she can’t start kicking people off the voter roles this close to an election.

Still, with her office set to start mailing out ballots in less than a week, Northrup acknowledged that voting is fraught this year. Mentioning worries people have about the U.S. Postal Service potentially rejecting their ballots — gleaned from articles on the Internet earlier — she urged people to call or visit her office.

Continue reading With Volatility Surrounding Elections This Year, Del Norte County Clerk Urges Voters To Call Or Visit If They Have Questions →