Articles, Economy, Local Government

Del Norte CAO Calls General Fund Deficit ‘One Of The Largest In My Career’; Starkey Points Out Budget Errors

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Del Norte County’s top administrative official admitted that finding $9.6 million to balance the fiscal year 2026-27 general fund budget was an arduous task that goes beyond sharpening pencils.

County Administrative Officer Neal Lopez affirmed concerns District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey raised Tuesday. But, according to him and according to at least one of Starkey’s colleagues, the “huge deficit for the general fund, one of the largest I’ve seen in my career” can be traced to the Board’s actions in the fall to increase the county’s ability to be market competitive.

When the Board of Supervisors raised wages and approved the county’s new salary structure across all bargaining units in December, retirements increased too, Lopez said. Still, he reminded supervisors that the county’s 2026-27 budget is still preliminary and all the accruals from the current fiscal year that ends June 30 have not yet been realized.

“A lot of the prior year’s revenue will increase the revenue from the general fund side of things so we won’t be $9.5 million out,” Lopez said. “I don’t know where it’s going to land, it’s too early in the process, but the bottomline is we have to have a balanced budget so we will have a balanced budget.”

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Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government

DN Board of Supervisors Recap, June 23, 2026

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District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard was absent. Among the items discussed at Tuesday’s Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting:

DelNorteCounty.gov? County supervisors authorized Information Technology Director Dan McCorckle to apply for a new delnortecounty.gov web address.

McCorckle’s recommendation to transition to a .gov or a .ca.gov domain name will allow Del Norte to comply with California Assembly Bill 1637, which requires all local agencies to use verified domain names for their public-facing websites and employee email addresses by Jan. 1, 2029. Signed into law in October 2023, AB 1637 aims to prevent “malicious actors” from impersonating county services, according to McCorckle’s staff report.

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Articles, Traffic, Transportation

Two-Vehicle Collision in Smith River Results In Overturned Semi

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of the California Highway Patrol

California Highway Patrol officers are investigating a two-vehicle collision that resulted in a tractor-trailer overturning on U.S. 101 in Smith River at about 4:05 p.m. Monday.

Dominic Russell Haseltine, of Brookings, was making a left turn onto the highway from Xaa-wan’-k’wvt RV Park when his Kia Sportage collided with a Babich Trucking semi tractor-trailer driven by Coos Bay resident Michael Craig Sanford. According to a CHP news release, the front of the tractor-trailer collided with the front of the Kia resulting in the semi overturning. Both drivers were taken to Sutter Coast Hospital with injuries, according to the release.

The collision is still under investigation. Drugs or alcohol do not appear to be a factor, the CHP reports. The Smith River Fire Protection District, CalFIRE and Del Norte Ambulance also responded to the scene. Those with information are asked to call the CHP’s Crescent City office at (707) 218-2000.

Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government

(UPDATED) CCPD Investigating Hit & Run Claims Connected To MVA Involving CCHD Vice Chair

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Updated at 12:05 p.m. Saturday:

Crescent City Harbor Vice Chair John Evans didn’t want to jeopardize an active investigation, but he denied screaming at the other party in a minor collision that took place in the Safeway parking lot on Thursday.

“It’s just not my character to scream at a lady with a child in a parking lot during an interaction like that,” he told Redwood Voice Community News on Saturday. “During that interaction, one of the things she said to me, and she kind of yelled it at me, was, ‘You’re acting like this is no big deal,’ and I think anybody can infer what that means if somebody’s screaming and yelling at you.”

Evans also denied Tara Music’s claims that he left the scene before she could provide him her insurance information, though he said he didn’t want to make accusations against her. Evans said he provided he gave a report to Crescent City Police Sgt. Alex Pearson so he could review the claims against him.

Evans said he would also reach out to Crescent City Police Chief Richard Griffin to provide him information for any ongoing investigation.

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Crescent City police are working to determine whether a minor collision involving a local elected official meets the criteria for hit and run.

The collision involved Crescent City Harbor District Vice Chair John Evans and took place in the Jedediah Smith Shopping Center parking lot near Safeway between 1 and 1:15 p.m. Thursday.

Police Chief Richard Griffin said both parties left the scene of the accident. Evans provided the other party, Tara Music, with his insurance card, Music didn’t reciprocate, Griffin told Redwood Voice Community News.

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Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Local Government

Crescent City Approves Tight Budget With Water, Sewer Rate Increases Factored In

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Crescent City councilors approved a budget that will have an unallocated fund balance of about $55,000 when the 2026-27 fiscal year closes.

Their decision comes about a month after Finance Director Linda Leaver said that the estimated unallocated general fund balance at the end of 2026-27 would be “basically nothing” at $62,559. 

On Monday, the budget Leaver presented to councilors reflected the changes they called for at that three-hour workshop on May 20. It also reflects water and sewer rate increases the City Council approved on June 1 following an unsuccessful Proposition 218 protest effort. Those increases are expected to stabilize both the water and sewer funds, Leaver said.

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Articles, Environment, Transportation

Cleanup Continues A Week After Overturned Tanker Dumped Asphalt Binder On 199

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Caltrans District 1

State and federal agencies continue to oversee a cleanup effort involving liquid asphalt emulsion that spilled from a tanker that overturned on U.S. 199 about a week ago.

While it’s still unclear how much material entered the river, the cleanup has recovered about 3,778 pounds of asphalt emulsion, said Eric Laughlin, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Office of Spill Prevention and Response. Responders have not observed the asphalt emulsion one mile downstream from the incident, Laughlin told Redwood Voice Community News via email Thursday.

The 2016 Kenworth semi was hauling about 6,000 gallons of liquid asphalt emulsion on June 11 when the driver collided with the embankment and overturned at milepost marker 27.4 on U.S. 199 south of the Idlewild Caltrans Maintenance Station.

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Articles, Crescent City, Housing, Infrastructure, Local Government

Construction On Battery Point Apartments Set To Resume By June 29, Developer Says

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Thumbnail photo: Changing state regulations and water damage from winter storms sidelined construction on the senior housing portion of Battery Point Apartments in Crescent City. | Photo by James Brooks

Construction is expected to resume at Battery Point Apartments in about two weeks, a representative of the Los Angeles-based nonprofit behind the affordable housing project said.

The project’s subcontractors are paid and a crane will be on site later this week, Synergy Community Development Corporation President Bill Rice told the Crescent City Council on Monday. The investor working with Synergy and its partner, Step Forward Communities, also brought in a construction management firm to remediate water damage to the senior housing structure.

Rice was reluctant to give an exact date of completion, but he told councilors that Synergy and Step Forward Communities are working with their insurance company to ensure the remediation is “done right.”

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Articles, Crescent City, Education, Local Government, Youth

Uncharted Shores Academy Leases City-Owned Former Preschool Building At Peterson Park

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Thumbnail image courtesy of Uncharted Shores Academy

Uncharted Shores Academy has found safe harbor for its Offshore Resource Center thanks to a Crescent City Council decision Monday.

The Council’s unanimous approval to lease its property at 475 7th Street to the charter school comes roughly two weeks before Uncharted Shores was set to vacate one of its satellite locations at Washington Square, according to Executive Director Dan Cartwright. 

In addition to offering space for students in its homeschool program to meet with teachers, the Washington Square space also housed the school’s business office, Cartwright said. But because of Sutter Coast Hospital’s plans to use the building for medical offices, its current tenants need to be out by the end of the month, he said.

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Articles, Community News, Health, Housing, Infrastructure

Del Norte To Cut The Ribbon On Long-Awaited Emergency Shelter, Micro Village

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Thumbnail image courtesy of the Del Norte County Department of Health and Human Services

Ranell Brown says she’s expecting a large turnout to cut the ribbon at Del Norte County’s new emergency shelter and micro village on Wednesday.

The result of a collaboration with the county, Del Norte Mission Possible and True North Organizing Network, the shelter’s grand opening comes about a year after the Point in Time Count identified 482 individuals as homeless, according to a Department of Health and Human Services press release.

The campus needs a handful of finishing touches, but Brown, who directs DHHS, said the shelter will begin accepting clients within 30 days of the ribbon cutting.

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Articles, Arts & Culture, Community News

Chamber Needs Help Putting on Independence Day Celebration

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Steve Pate-Newberry via the Crescent City-Del Norte County Chamber of Commerce

With the United States celebrating 250 years of being a country, Cindy Vosburg is anticipating a large turnout for Crescent City’s Fourth of July festivities.

Vosburg and her team at the Crescent City-Del Norte County Chamber of Commerce have been planning the Deck Party, accepting parade entries and figuring out where to set up vendors for the festival in the park. It’s a heavy lift mostly funded through sponsorships from the business community, but this year, the Chamber is asking the general public for help. 

“Last year we were able to raise $63,000 in sponsorships and the event costs us about $70,000 to put on,” Vosburg told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday. “We also make a little bit more money off the bar, the raffle and Cow Chip Bingo. But this year, it’s a really tough year for the business community. We’re about $8,050 short of that $63,000.”

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