All posts by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Articles, CC Harbor

Crescent City Harbor Roundup, Dec. 3, 2024

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Harbor Commissioners learned about a grant the district is pursuing that will help revitalize the former Fashion Blacksmith boatyard. | Photo by Gavin Van Alstine

Among the items discussed at the Dec. 3, 2024 Crescent City Harbor District meeting:

New Board Business: A new set of Harbor Commissioners chose Gerhard Weber as their Board president last week and went with Annie Nehmer, one of three newcomers to the Harbor District, as its secretary.

Commissioners also volunteered for a plethora of ad-hoc committees focused on personnel, infrastructure, legal affairs and policies and procedures, special events, community outreach and the Harbor District website. According to Interim Harbormaster Mike Rademaker, while each committee dives deep into its focus area, any changes would come before the full Board.

Continue reading Crescent City Harbor Roundup, Dec. 3, 2024 →
Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Infrastructure

New Harbor Board Pulls Back From Finding Short-Term Solution To Ice Plant Dilemma

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Photo by Paul Critz

Crescent City Harbor commissioners are still committed to securing a long-term source of ice at the port, but they decided that seafood processors will be on their own when this year’s commercial Dungeness season starts.

While ice is a concern for the commercial fishing fleet, it’s mostly the seafood processors who rely on it, Commissioner Rick Shepherd told his colleagues on Dec. 3.

A new set of commissioners last week directed Interim Harbormaster Mike Rademaker to focus on securing funding from the National Seafood Strategy Implementation Plan, a NOAA Fisheries program. The Harbor District would use those grant dollars to entice more seafood processors, particularly those focusing on shrimp, to set up shop at the harbor.

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Articles, Community News, Emergencies, Environment, Science

Cal Poly Humboldt Prof. Discusses Why Today’s 7.0 Temblor Spawned A 6-8 Inch Tsunami In Crescent City

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Map courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey

Lori Dengler said she wasn’t surprised that Thursday’s magnitude 7.0 earthquake only produced a tsunami that topped out at roughly 8 inches in Crescent City.

But, while Dengler, geology professor emeritus at Cal Poly Humboldt, is still going through the reports and is speaking with the media about today’s temblor, she said one of the outcomes might be a rethinking of how the U.S. approaches tsunami evacuations.

“The Tsunami National Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska has developed a template for if an earthquake happens here and it’s in this magnitude range, this is what we do,” Dengler, whose expertise is in geophysics, earthquake and tsunami hazards and hazard reduction, told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday. “Because this earthquake was so relatively close to the coast and their preliminary magnitude was 7.3, it immediately triggered a tsunami warning from basically Santa Cruz to Central Oregon.”

Continue reading Cal Poly Humboldt Prof. Discusses Why Today’s 7.0 Temblor Spawned A 6-8 Inch Tsunami In Crescent City →
Alerts, Crescent City, Economy, Local Government

Crescent City Featured Magazine That Generates 7.9 Million Digital Page Views Annually; And Other Crescent City Council Actions On Dec. 4, 2024

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Castle Rock is one of the photos featured in an article in the Yosemite National Park Journal. | Photo courtesy of Visit Del Norte

Though it wasn’t an item they were asked to approve, Crescent City councilors learned that $3,700 in money set aside to market the community paid for an ad in a magazine with a 550,000 annual print circulation.

The half-page ad and an article featuring photos of Castle Rock, the redwoods and Battery Point Lighthouse will appear in the Yosemite National Park Journal, City Manager Eric Wier told councilors on Monday.

Published by Outside Interactive Inc., the magazine aims to help readers plan a road trip to Yosemite National Park and other communities in the region, including the California coast.

Continue reading Crescent City Featured Magazine That Generates 7.9 Million Digital Page Views Annually; And Other Crescent City Council Actions On Dec. 4, 2024 →
Articles, Community News, Crescent City, Local Government

Council Chooses Gateway Design, Urges Staff To Engage With Businesses Before Embarking On Street Name Change

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Nearly 80 percent of those who responded to a Crescent City survey said they preferred a sequence of gateway elements incorporating waves and dolphins to welcome folks to the Beachfront Park area. | Screenshot

After a community outreach campaign netted 561 survey responses and more than 100 shares on Facebook, Crescent City councilors chose a gateway that draws on its residents’ relationship with the ocean.

Seventy-six percent of those who responded to the city’s survey also supported changing Front Street’s name to Beachfront Drive, Crescent City Manager Eric Wier told the Council on Monday. But the potential name change could disadvantage local businesses, Wier said, costing them thousands of dollars.

“The hard costs are somewhere between $7,000 on the low end for the permitting, the licensing, all the changing of business cards — all those types of pieces,” he said, adding that he spoke with two business owners on Front Street. “Then if you get into search engine optimization and the actual loss of revenue if that’s done the wrong way or at the wrong time, it could be tens of thousands of dollars. Upwards of $50,000. It’s not a small item and it should be one that’s dealt with carefully and intentionally.”

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Alerts, Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Humboldt

Coastal Del Norte Evacuates Following M7.0 Earthquake Off Humboldt Coast; Tsunami Warning Lifted An Hour Later

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Map courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey

Coastal Del Norte County sought higher ground late Thursday morning after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck near Humboldt County at about 10:44 a.m. and generated tsunami warnings in Northern California and Southern Oregon.

The earthquake struck about 61.5 miles off the coast of Ferndale at a depth of 6.21 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

As of about 11 a.m., the Del Norte County Office of Emergency Services were advising people in the inundation zone to evacuate to an area north of 9th Street in Crescent City, Emergency Services Manager Deborah Otenberg told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday. At the time, she said, surges were predicted to come ashore at about 11:20 a.m.

Continue reading Coastal Del Norte Evacuates Following M7.0 Earthquake Off Humboldt Coast; Tsunami Warning Lifted An Hour Later →
Articles, Brookings, Community News, Local Government

Brookings Repeals ‘Benevolent Meal Service Ordinance’ Following St. Tim’s Court Victory

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Photo courtesy of Bernie Lindley

Nine months after a federal judge sided with St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, the Brookings City Council last week repealed the ordinance that prompted the church to sue back in 2022.

Councilors unanimously approved an ordinance repealing its benevolent meal service ordinance without comment at their Nov. 25 meeting. The decision comes after the city reached a settlement agreement with St. Timothy’s that had it paying $357,000 to Stoel Rives LLP, the law firm that represented the church before U.S. Magistrate Mark D. Clarke in Medford on Feb. 15, and $43,000 to the Oregon Justice Resource Center.

Repealing the benevolent meal service ordinance was part of that settlement agreement, the church’s pastor, Rev. Bernie Lindley told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday.

Continue reading Brookings Repeals ‘Benevolent Meal Service Ordinance’ Following St. Tim’s Court Victory →
Articles, CC Harbor, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Transportation

Transportation Officials Seek Public Input South Beach Climate Change Resiliency Plan

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Photo courtesy of the Del Norte Local Transportation Commission

Transportation officials are holding the second of two public meetings today to come up with a plan that ensures U.S. 101 and Anchor Way continue to function in the face of rising sea level and extreme weather associated with climate change.

These meetings are part of a joint effort between the Crescent City Harbor District, Elk Valley Rancheria and the Del Norte Local Transportation Commission to create a South Beach Climate Resilience Plan.

Caltrans District 1, Del Norte County, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife as well as consultants GHD and GreenDOT are also participating in the project, DNLTC Executive Director Tamera Leighton said.

Caltrans is expected to take over the project on June 30, 2025, when the planning phase is completed, Leighton said. Today’s meeting, which will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Elk Valley Rancheria, will give people the opportunity to learn more about why a resiliency project is necessary and will enable them to provide input, she said.

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In Media Res

Finding My Faith — In Media Res

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Photo courtesy of www.sportograf.com

“…I was playing my guitar

Lying underneath the stars

Just thanking the Lord

For my fingers

For my fingers”

I’m not religious, or even spiritual, yet I’ve experienced moments more than once this year where I’m astonished at what I can achieve and I’m grateful to… someone.

One of the first came at the San Diego Spartan Race in Pala on April 13. I had hoisted a 40-pound sandbag on my shoulder and carried it for a quarter of a mile. I did the same for a 60-pound weighted bucket and a 70-pound Atlas ball, though the distance I had to schlep that last monstrosity wasn’t as long and I had help getting it off the ground.

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Articles, Community News, Education

From Broken Axles to Warped Brake Rotors, DNUSD Staff Raise Concerns Over Vehicle Breakdowns

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Photo by Persephone Corvid Rose

A trailer’s broken axle added more drama to the Del Norte High School marching band’s tale of triumph at the Festival of Bands field show in Eugene earlier last month.

But Music Director Dan Sedgwick says the axle is an example of several concerns he and other faculty have raised regarding the safety of vehicles transporting students to and from activities outside of Del Norte County.

Sedgwick, his wife Lisa Sedgwick, who teaches at Mary Peacock Elementary School, and his colleague in the music department at Del Norte High, Collin Kirkwood, described warped brake rotors, leaking brake fluid, a bus that ran out of diesel exhaust fluid and seat belts held together with duct tape.

Continue reading From Broken Axles to Warped Brake Rotors, DNUSD Staff Raise Concerns Over Vehicle Breakdowns →