Thumbnail photo: Del Norters participated in the People’s March on Jan. 18, two days before Donald Trump was inaugurated to his second term as president. | Photo by Jessica Andrews
Two weeks after the calendar ticked over to 2025, more than 100 Del Norte residents gathered at the Cultural Center in Crescent City.
Waving signs preaching “love not hate” and “united we stand,” they vowed to safeguard the rights of the vulnerable ahead of what they believed to be a dangerous presidential administration.
“Let us be on the right side of history,” Troy Lea said in a statement read aloud during the People’s March on Jan. 18, the first of several demonstrations Del Norters would take part in during 2025. “For our people, our nation and future generations whose lives will be shaped by the work we do here today.”
Twenty twenty-five brought victories. In October, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Del Norte County-sponsored AB 1014 into law, giving rural communities greater flexibility when it comes to setting speed limits.
Del Norte County and Crescent City also got special mention in People magazine when it listed the Forest Moon Festival as its fourth reason to love California.
The community also weathered challenges, including a tsunami on July 30 that reached a height of 4 feet and did significant damage to H Dock.
The federal government shutdown had an impact on Del Norte County as well with the delay of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for November. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, this delay negatively impacted about 4,000 Del Norte families.
What will 2026 bring? Who knows. For now, not in any particular order, let’s look back at some of the most-read Redwood Voice Community News stories of 2025.
Local organizations working to address food insecurity in Del Norte County scrambled to meet the need of some 3,900 families who were looking at a lapse in their CalFresh benefits for November.
A casualty of the federal government shutdown, the delay in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits marked the first time that the DNATL Emergency Food Task Force mobilized since its creation in 2024.
During the first week of November, the Family Resource Center of the Redwoods’ Pacific Pantry served 380 households, 50 of which were new, Food Bank Director Marina MacNeil said.
Though SNAP benefits had been restored for more than a week, MacNeil said new families were still signing up to receive assistance from the pantry as of Nov. 21.
Del Norte Unified School District also stepped up to meet the need, particularly during the week of Thanksgiving, preparing and distributing roughly 600 food bags to children ages 18 and under.
Funding from the Del Norte Healthcare District assisted Pacific Pantry and the School District in their endeavors.
On Oct. 27, District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey, who had been on the phone with State Sen Mike McGuire when she heard about the SNAP gap, said she was worried about the impact to Del Norte County’s economy. She pointed out that Del Norte families receive about $1.1 million per month in SNAP benefits.
“That $1.1 million gets pumped into our local economy,” she said. “To Walmart and Safeway and small businesses. Think of the impact we’re going to have on those people not getting that money.”
“Del Norte County Weathers Tsunami With Minimal Damage; CCHD’s H Dock Did Its Job Harbormaster Says”
Crescent City lived up to its reputation as California’s tsunami magnet when a magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck east of the Kamchatka Peninsula in late July.
The quake sent a series of surges into the harbor starting at about 12:50 a.m. July 30, about eight hours later with the largest recorded at a height of roughly 4 feet at about 1:39 a.m., according to the National Weather Service’s Ryan Aylward.
People living in Crescent City’s low-lying areas evacuated when the tsunami sirens sounded, according to City Manager Eric Wier. Water levels reached about 8 feet in Elk Creek — the area of most concern to city officials — but it stayed within its banks, Wier said. Water and sewer infrastructure also remained intact.
H Dock at the Crescent City Harbor didn’t fare so well. Neither did Citizens Dock. Right after the tsunami, Harbormaster Mike Rademaker estimated damages at about $1 million. However, he pointed out that the harbor’s core infrastructure was still operational. Rademaker also pointed out that the harbor sustained $50 million in damages following the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.
After the first few surges swept through the harbor on July 30, 2025, Rademaker said that though H Dock was damaged, it protected the rest of the marina from damage by taking most of the impact.
Two days after the earthquake, Del Norte Emergency Services Manager Deborah Otenburg praised first responders, law enforcement and other community partners. About 15 people had shown up at the county’s temporary evacuation point at the Veterans Memorial Hall and 13 spent the night during the emergency, she said.
“Del Norte County’s Assistant CAO Arrested On DUI, Hit & Run Charges”
A Del Norte County judge on Nov. 14 upheld a plea agreement that would reduce felony DUI charges to a misdemeanor for Assistant County Administrative Officer Randy Hooper.
Hooper had pleaded no contest to felony DUI causing injury a month prior. At a sentencing hearing, the victim in the case, Grants Pass resident Megan Postma said she was still struggling with pain from the April 19 collision and argued that Hooper’s felony charge should stand
“I’m six years sober from alcohol, and I hit my rock bottom,” she said. “Thankfully I didn’t cause harm to anybody else, just myself, but it’s important that he understands the weight of what happened, and the fact that he and I — neither of us — could be here right now.”
Hooper, Del Norte’s assistant county administrative officer, hit Postma from behind near Sand Mine Road and U.S. 101 at about 10:30 p.m. on April 19. At an Aug. 26 preliminary hearing, Jennifer Williamson, investigator for the Del Norte County DA’s office, testified that Hooper was escorted from Elk Valley Casino moments before the collision, but instead of getting into the cab staff secured for him, Hooper walked toward his truck.
An analysis of a blood sample taken at Sutter Coast Hospital following the collision showed that Hooper had a blood alcohol level of 0.225%, according to the pre-sentencing report prepared by the Trinity County Probation Department.
Probation officers had recommended Hooper receive three years felony probation and serve 90 days in jail. Follett upheld the plea agreement, which requires that the assistant county administrative officer finish the Humboldt Addiction Services Program for DUI offenders and attend two Alcoholics Anonymous meetings per week through March 6.
However, the judge said that Hooper could expect to do jail time, up to 90 days, according to attorney Keith Morris who prosecuted the case for the California Attorney General’s office.
Country Media’s decision to shutter the Del Norte Triplicate would have been the end of the 146-year-old newspaper were it not for Dan Schmidt.
Schmidt had helmed the paper as its editor in 2022 before recommending former Del Norte County supervisor Roger Gitlin take over the job in early 2023. When he purchased the Triplicate just before it published its final issue as a Country Media newspaper on Sept. 17, 2025, Schmidt told Redwood Voice that he aimed to be better tuned to the community’s “needs, desires and expectations.”
Schmidt also serves on the Crescent City Harbor District Board of Commissioners and, along with his colleague Annie Nehmer, had been the subject of several critical articles Gitlin published in the Triplicate during his tenure as its editor.
In September, Gitlin announced his intention to start a recall campaign against Nehmer and Schmidt. According to Gitlin, Schmidt had promoted nepotism by urging his colleagues on the Harbor Board to hire his brother, Dennis Schmidt. Nehmer, Gitlin says, had cost the Harbor District thousands in legal fees by initiating litigation against the agency alleging that the Board had violated the Brown Act.
Gitlin, who now spearheads the blog “Eye On Del Norte,” has since canceled his recall effort against both commissioners due to the $130,000 price tag to the Harbor District to run a special standalone election.
