Tag Archives: redwood voice

DNUSD Board of Trustees Recap, April 9, 2026

Thumbnail photo courtesy of Michael Hawkins

Trustee Area 5 representative Michael Greer was absent. Among the items the Del Norte County Unified School District Board of Trustees discussed Thursday.

School Closure: A leak prompted the Smith River Community Services District to shut the water off at Smith River School on March 3, which in turn forced staff to send students home early, DNUSD Superintendent Jeff Harris told trustees.

The Board of Trustees approved a request to the California Department of Education to allow DNUSD to receive credit for the instructional time students would have been at Smith River School had the water shutoff not taken place. Noting that the shutoff was outside of its control, Harris said the request would ensure that the district does not lose average daily attendance funding for March 3.

Continue reading DNUSD Board of Trustees Recap, April 9, 2026

Smith River Field Renovation Hits Snag As Trustees Reject Proposals

Thumbnail photo: Two years ago members of Smith River School’s student government showed the school board the gopher hole-ridden field they and their peers played on. | Courtesy Smith River School’s student government

Two years after Smith River School students described an athletic field riddled with gopher holes and uneven ground and said they raised nearly $3,000 for its renovation, the project has hit a snag.

Two contractors submitted proposals for the work last month. But the Del Norte County Unified School District Board of Trustees was forced to reject both bids. 

The proposal from the lowest bidder, Hemmingsen Construction, lacked supporting documents. Meanwhile, the bid amount from the other contractor, McKinleyville-based Hooven & Co., exceeded the statutory threshold for informal bidding under the California Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act, or CUPCCAA, DNUSD Superintendent Jeff Harris said Thursday.

Continue reading Smith River Field Renovation Hits Snag As Trustees Reject Proposals

Crescent City Honors ‘Servant Leader’ Mike Young Whose 53-Year Career Took Him Beyond Del Norte

Thumbnail photo: Local engineer Mike Young and a child at an orphanage in Haiti exchange a hug during one of his visits with Team Redwood, a Northern California-based group of medical professionals and engineers who helped the country recover from the 2010 earthquake. | Photo courtesy of Carolyn Arellanes.

Eric Wier wouldn’t be Crescent City manager were it not for Mike Young. 

“Mike hired me at the city in 2003,” Wier told the City Council on Monday before they observed a moment of silence for Young, who died on March 21 at 84 years old. “I was able to work with him on so many different projects over the years. He taught me a ton about the water and wastewater systems, and then it was Mike who pushed me to put in an application for city manager.”

Wier chronicled a life that included a career as Crescent City manager in the 1970s, county engineer in the late 1990s and city engineer and public works director in the early 2000s. Young was interim city manager in 2008 and in 2017 just before Wier stepped into his shoes.

Continue reading Crescent City Honors ‘Servant Leader’ Mike Young Whose 53-Year Career Took Him Beyond Del Norte

Crescent City Council Takes First Step Toward Raising Water, Sewer Rates; Prop 218 Protest Process Starts

Thumbnail photo: Sewer rates for customers within Crescent City limits go toward the conveyance and treatment of their wastewater. | Photo by James Brooks

Linda Sutter vowed to fight planned water and sewer rate increases, telling Crescent City councilors that she’ll be “pounding pavement and getting the signatures” to keep them from going through.

But City Manager Eric Wier corrected a statement Sutter made on Monday about the community’s low-income housing developments and what she said was the expectation that “everybody else who works or gets a decent wage (will) pay for all those people.”

Using Danco Communities’ Harbor Point Apartments as an example, Wier said the developers of the 26-unit senior apartment building paid more than $100,000 in sewer rate connections. The property owners will pay monthly sewer charges based on their water consumption, the city manager said.

“The individual might not be paying that directly because they don’t have an account individually, but that apartment complex does through a master meter,” he said. “The owner of the apartment complex pays that large bill for all those sewer connections. They absolutely pay their equitable fair share for that development.”

Continue reading Crescent City Council Takes First Step Toward Raising Water, Sewer Rates; Prop 218 Protest Process Starts

Residents On 197/199 Corridor Call For Renewed Public Comment As Construction On STAA Project Looms

Map courtesy of Caltrans District 1

Residents living in the Hiouchi, Gasquet and Patrick Creek areas say there hasn’t been enough public outreach to allay concerns about the long-awaited effort to bring State Route 197 and U.S. 199 up to federal trucking standards.

Caltrans is expecting to start bringing in equipment and putting up construction signs as early as May 11, 197/199 Safe STAA Access Project Manager Izzy Konopa told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday.

But Kiley Hudson, who purchased property in the Washington Flat area north of Patrick Creek Lodge with her partner James about a month ago, said the last time there was a significant public comment period on the project was in 2010.

“We just found out about this project they’ve been trying to push for 20 years,” Hudson said. “A lot of the community is either in the dark or they haven’t had the opportunity to express their concerns.”

Continue reading Residents On 197/199 Corridor Call For Renewed Public Comment As Construction On STAA Project Looms

DNUSD’s Classified Employees Union Levees No Confidence Vote Against Transportation Director

Thumbnail photo by Persephone Rose

Before handing over the results of a vote of no confidence against the transportation director, Shawn Michael Schubert, president of CSEA Great Northern 178, urged Del Norte Unified School District trustees to listen to their bus drivers.

A few minutes later, those bus drivers described “serious operational deficiencies” they say are occurring under Christopher Armington’s leadership. Those deficiencies include a failure to show up to work on time, a lack of communication, rescheduled or canceled training sessions and routes not being properly reviewed.

In one instance, according to Trish Melvin, a bus driver who was hired in 2021, Armington’s failure to show up for work resulted in a student standing on U.S. 101 for three hours waiting for a bus.

Continue reading DNUSD’s Classified Employees Union Levees No Confidence Vote Against Transportation Director

Redwood School Is In For Some Overdue Upgrades This Summer; Project Will Cost $2.7 Million

Thumbnail photo by Heather Polen

Redwood School will be under construction for much of the summer and possibly into the fall as Del Norte Unified School District embarks on a $2.7 million modernization project.

Work will include reroofing four buildings as well as the school’s covered walkways, The school will be repainted and all the electric panels, feeders and main switchboards will be upgraded, according to a March 26 staff report from DNUSD Maintenance and Operations Director Josh McCubbin.

“The existing roofing systems on buildings A, F, G-L, N and the covered walkways have reached the end of their useful life and require replacement to prevent water intrusion, protect structural components and reduce the likelihood of costly emergency repairs that could disrupt school operations,” he stated.

Continue reading Redwood School Is In For Some Overdue Upgrades This Summer; Project Will Cost $2.7 Million

CHP Investigates Dead Horse Found at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds Stables

Thumbnail photo courtesy of dnfair.org.

The discovery of a dead horse at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds has led to a California Highway Patrol investigation, authorities confirmed last week.

Officers responded to the fairgrounds, a state facility, at about 4:14 p.m. on March 21 and found the deceased animal in the horse stalls, the CHP reported on March 25.

According to a statement posted to the fairgrounds website, the deceased animal was in a stall its owner had rented prompting fairgrounds management to alert law enforcement.

Continue reading CHP Investigates Dead Horse Found at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds Stables

Hooper Given 44-Day Jail Sentence, 3 Years Probation Nearly A Year After DUI Arrest;

Hooper

Thumbnail photo: Randy Hooper was arrested on a DUI with injury charge after he struck Megan Postma’s vehicle at Sand Mine Road and U.S. 101 on April 19, 2025 | Photo by Heather Polen

Randy Hooper will serve 44 days in jail, a Del Norte County judge decided on Monday nearly a year after officers arrested the assistant county administrative officer on a DUI with injury charge after leaving Elk Valley Casino.

At a sentencing hearing before Judge William Follett, Hooper offered an apology to Megan Postma, the Grants Pass woman whose vehicle he struck at U.S. 101 and Sand Mine Road on April 19, 2025.

“I wish I could have apologized sooner, but I was advised not to by my attorney,” Hooper told the judge. “I think my conduct was not of character — it certainly is not the way my parents raised me nor the way my wife and I are raising our children.”

Continue reading Hooper Given 44-Day Jail Sentence, 3 Years Probation Nearly A Year After DUI Arrest;

Harbor Commissioners Tepid About CEO’s Offer To Travel To Washington D.C.; Rademaker Says Trump Maritime Initiative Could Help Crescent City

Thumbnail photo by Gavin Van Alstine

Crescent City Harbor commissioners were lukewarm about their CEO’s offer to travel to Washington D.C. on his own dime to advocate for the district’s role in the Trump administration’s Maritime Action Plan.

Harbormaster Mike Rademaker said he planned to speak with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, whose father, Michael Greer, is a Del Norte Unified School District trustee. 

Rademaker said he wanted to talk about the role the Crescent City Harbor District could play in President Trump’s initiative to expand shipbuilding capacity in the United States with the former Fashion Blacksmith boatyard being a particular concern.

Continue reading Harbor Commissioners Tepid About CEO’s Offer To Travel To Washington D.C.; Rademaker Says Trump Maritime Initiative Could Help Crescent City