Arts & Culture, Community News, Crescent City

Art Scene: Art in Public Places, Community Drum Circle

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Here are this week’s Arts Notes from the Del Norte Association of Cultural Awareness (DNACA):

  • On display until July 9: As part of its Art in Public Places Program, DNACA presents Flora, Fauna and Omah– a collection of mixed media art by artist Jim Hooper. View his collection at the Del Norte County Courthouse, 450 H St. in Crescent City. The courthouse is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
  • On display until July 9: DNACA presents A Solo Exhibit by Georgia Cockerham at the Del Norte County Airport, 1650 Dale Rupert Rd. in Crescent City. The author and artist’s collection of watercolor artwork can be viewed on the second-floor mezzanine of the airport. 
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Articles, Education, Infrastructure

DNUSD Faces Daunting Task Of Updating Surveillance System Hardware, Software Amid Skyrocketing Tech Costs

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of DNUSD Communications Director Michael Hawkins

Ryan Bahten summed up a setback to Del Norte Unified School District’s new system for monitoring emergencies in real time using its surveillance cameras with one word: RAMageddon.

DNUSD’s Information Network Services director said that in order for the district’s new ActiveNet system to work efficiently, the network video recorders at each school site need replacing. But the current skyrocketing costs in memory chips — driven, Bahten says, by the prevalence of artificial intelligence — means that won’t be cheap.

“Dell, as an example, will only give us a quote for six days on a server because every six days they expect pricing increases,” Bahten told trustees Thursday, describing 30-to-50% increases in technology costs month over month. “Right now, today, if I was to buy an NVR, we’re probably looking at anywhere from $35,000 to $40,000 per unit for that one box. But, unfortunately, we’re at a point where what we have is failing out there for our security camera hardware.”

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Articles, Education, Local Government

DNUSD Board of Trustees Recap, June 25, 2026

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Thumbnail photo: Don McArthur (middle) is retiring from his Trustee Area 1 seat on the Del Norte Unified School District Board of Trustees. | Photo courtesy of dnusd.org.

Trustee Area 5 representative Michael Greer was absent. Among the items discussed at Thursday’s Del Norte County Unified School District meeting:

Trustee Area 1 Vacancy: With Del Norte Unified School District’s longest-serving trustee, Don McArthur, announcing his retirement earlier this year, the Board of Trustees will soon have a vacancy.

DNUSD and the Del Norte County Office of Education will be seeking candidates interested in serving in the Trustee Area 1 seat. The Board expects to extend an appointment in July or August. For more information, email communications@dnusd.org.

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Articles, Community News, Health, Housing, Local Government

‘A Warm Dry Bed’: Del Norte Opens Its Emergency Homeless Shelter, Micro Village

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Del Norte County celebrated the opening of its first emergency homeless shelter and micro village on June 9. | Photos by Aisling Bludworth

From the ashes of the old mental health building the emergency shelter and micro village was revealed to the public last week.

Community members came to celebrate the hard work that brought it to fruition.

“It’s really not every day that your career comes full circle, and you literally find yourself helping make plans to burn down your [old] office.” said Shiann Hogan, deputy director for Del Norte County’s Behavioral Health Branch during the June 17 ribbon cutting at the facility on 200 Williams Drive. 

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Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure, Transportation

CCHD Board Fills Project, Grant Manager Roles For Citizens Dock, Seawall Endeavors

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Thumbnail photo by Jessica C. Andrews

Crescent City Harbor commissioners on Wednesday selected a project manager and a grant manager for the seawall replacement and Citizens Dock rebuild.

Instead of picking a firm to negotiate an agreement with, the Board unanimously voted to award the grant manager contract to Community System Solutions. The Fair Oaks-based nonprofit helped the Crescent City Harbor District obtain the two U.S. Maritime Administration Port Infrastructure awards paying for the project.

Commissioners also decided that Kimley-Horn should be the overall project manager, noting that while GHD’s proposal was impressive, it was too expensive. 

CCHD Board Chair Rick Shepherd and Vice Chair John Evans also noted that Kimley-Horn Principal-in-Charge Rob Sloop had been with Moffatt & Nichol, the architect firm that designed the seawall and Citizens Dock projects.

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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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