Redwood Voice has received and is sharing body worn camera footage provided by the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office related to the October 12, 2026, incident at the Del Norte County Courthouse involving Amanda Dutton. The incident has raised allegations of excessive force, which Sheriff Garrett Scott disputes. We are sharing this footage in the interest of public information and transparency. We encourage viewers to consider the video alongside the statements from both sides and the full context of the incident.
Continue reading UPDATE: Courthouse Incident Video ReleasedTag Archives: redwood voice
County Elected Officials Working With Sutter On Ensuring Sexual Assault Exams Can Be Conducted At the ER
Thumbnail photo by Persephone Rose
A week after allegations came to light that local emergency room doctors were refusing to treat sexual assault victims, District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey said she and other officials are working with Sutter Coast Hospital to find a resolution.
A resolution may be forthcoming in the form of a memorandum of understanding between the hospital and the North Coast Rape Crisis Team, Starkey said. The MOU may also involve Del Norte County Public Health Officer Dr. Stutz, though it’s still being finalized, Starkey told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday.
“I asked for our county counsel to take a look at that (agreement) as well,” she said, adding that another meeting is scheduled for this week. “I don’t know that it’s necessary, but that was my suggestion at the last meeting.”
Continue reading County Elected Officials Working With Sutter On Ensuring Sexual Assault Exams Can Be Conducted At the ERCrescent City Man Faces Murder Charge In Connection With Fort Dick Shooting
A Crescent City man faces a murder charge in connection with the shooting death of a 25-year-old man in Fort Dick early Saturday morning.
Del Norte County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call of a gunshot wound on the 1500 block of Morehead Road at about 4:56 a.m. Saturday. When they arrived, they found the victim, Merrick Goodman, injured. Goodman was transported to Sutter Coast Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, according to DNSO Undersheriff Devin Perry.
Deputies arrested Joshua Janssen, 25, of Crescent City on a charge of murder in the first degree and booked him into the Del Norte County Jail, Perry told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday.
Continue reading Crescent City Man Faces Murder Charge In Connection With Fort Dick Shooting
County Donation Helps Lighthouse Preservation Society Ensure Helicopter Flights For Volunteers, Visitors Will Continue
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
Unable to hire a chief public defender, Del Norte County Supes shift tactics, call for traditional indigent defense office
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
Del Norte County To Inspect Sewer Lines North of Crescent City Limits, Initiate a Rate Study
Thumbnail image: The red triangles are areas within the sewage system within County Service Area 1 north of Crescent City limits that have defects. Image courtesy of Del Norte County Engineer Jon Olson
Noting that staff has identified more than 100 defects in the sewer collection system north of the city limits, Del Norte County Engineer Jon Olson got the green light to get an inside view of the pipes using closed circuit television.
Olson told supervisors on Tuesday that his goal is to document the location of each defect in Assessment District 2 of the County Service Area, or CSA. Assessment District 2 includes the unincorporated part of Crescent City North as well as Northcrest Drive north of Washington Boulevard and the area surrounding Sutter Coast Hospital and Walmart.
The county engineer showed a picture of one of the classic defects — a mowed-over sewer cleanout cap in a low area of the yard. That defect allows rainwater to enter the system, Olson said. Another photo was from the outside of a commercial building, he said.
Continue reading Del Norte County To Inspect Sewer Lines North of Crescent City Limits, Initiate a Rate Study
Del Norte Supervisors Greenlight Narcotics Enforcement Position at the Sheriff’s Office; 33-year Employee Norma Williams Retires; SEIU 1021 Raise Concerns About ICE
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 ICESheriff Disputes Use Of Excessive Force Allegation Against Bailiff, Says Woman Caused A Disturbance At Courthouse
The Del Norte County sheriff is disputing an excessive use of force accusation against one of his bailiffs.
The allegation was posted on Facebook on Tuesday and is related to the removal of a Reno, Nev. woman from a family court hearing at the Del Norte County Courthouse on Monday. Sheriff Garrett Scott told Redwood Voice Community News on Wednesday that he is asking the Del Norte County District Attorney to criminally charge Amanda Dutton and Jordan Dutton.
According to Scott, Amanda Dutton was disrupting the proceedings in the courtroom and refused to leave when one of his deputies, Luisa Ahumada, ordered her to. Ahumada escorted Amanda Dutton from the courtroom and into the hallway where they were met by Ahumada’s colleague, Dep. Jeremy Sutton, the sheriff said.
Continue reading Sheriff Disputes Use Of Excessive Force Allegation Against Bailiff, Says Woman Caused A Disturbance At Courthouse
Del Norte, Curry Serves Up Spooktacular Halloween Experiences
Thumbnail photo: Storefront of Salty Dog Grooming. Window art by Amber Taney Art. | Photo by Monique Camarena
From Klamath, Calif. to Port Orford, Ore., there looks to be a bowlful of Halloween-themed events happening in Del Norte and Curry Counties this October. Check them out!
Del Norte County
Oct. 15: The Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation is hosting its Monster Bash for tribal citizen households from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in the Howonquet Hall Community Center, 101 Indian Ct. in Smith River. Enjoy food, games, and Tolowa Dee-ni’ community. Children must be accompanied by an adult. For more information, call Monica Calvillo at (707) 487-9255 ext. 1191.
Oct. 16 and 23: The Yurok Tribe is hosting Klamath Halloween Movie Nights from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Ada Waukell Charles Community Center, 225 Klamath Blvd. in Klamath. Light snacks will be provided. For more information, call Judith Scott at (707) 951-9371 or email Tara Jordan at Tarajordan@yuroktribe.nsn.us.
Continue reading Del Norte, Curry Serves Up Spooktacular Halloween ExperiencesHealthcare District Is Investigating Allegations That Sutter Coast ER Doctors Are Refusing To Test, Treat Sexual Assault Victims
Thumbnail photo by Persephone Rose
Editor’s note: The following article includes a reference to the sexual assault of a minor.
Del Norte Healthcare District officials are investigating allegations that Sutter Coast Hospital emergency room doctors have refused to examine sexual assault victims, including those who are minors.
The initial complaint came from Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office Det. Maia Mello, a member of the Sexual Assault Response Team. At the DNHCD’s July 28 meeting, Mello asked the Healthcare District Board to provide the hospital with a “letter of encouragement to follow established federal and state law, locally established and agreed upon protocols and the best practices in the treatment of victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.”
“Sutter Coast is the best place for our victims to receive treatment for their acute injuries and conditions,” she said, according to meeting minutes for July.
Continue reading Healthcare District Is Investigating Allegations That Sutter Coast ER Doctors Are Refusing To Test, Treat Sexual Assault Victims