Category Archives: Articles

Articles, Arts & Culture, Crescent City

Roadside Art Collection Remains in Safekeeping with the City of Crescent City

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Inside the former Bank of America building on H Street in Crescent City resides an abundant collection of abstract mixed media paintings and sculptures by Ukrainian artist Val Polyanin. In 2022, the city became responsible for over 900 pieces of Polyanin’s art. Polyanin donated his collection to the city for safekeeping after rising rent costs forced him to abandon his roadside gallery alongside U.S. 101 south of town.

After debating whether or not to accept the donation, city councilors eventually agreed to allocate $10,000 out of their economic development fund toward obtaining his collection and curating the exhibit.

In May of 2023, the city held a grand opening for this exhibit, aptly named “Safekeeping,” for “First Friday”. These events, organized in conjunction with the Downtown Divas, are designed to draw traffic to local businesses in the downtown area and stimulate economic activity.

Redwood Voice Youth Media had initially been enlisted by the city to produce a short documentary film to be played on loop at this art exhibit. This video detailed Val Polyanin’s background, journey to America, and passion for artistic freedom.

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Articles, Community News, Curry, Health, Local Government

Curry BOC Moves Forward On One Proposed Use For Opioid Funds; Jail Telehealth Proposal Delayed

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Curry County commissioners last week proceeded with a proposed partnership with Gold Beach to create a school resource and community resource officer (SRO/CRO) position using opioid settlement dollars.

But state procurement laws and the lack of a proposed contract is keeping the Board from moving forward on a request from jail commander Lt. Jeremy Krohn to provide addiction treatment services to inmates using those same settlement dollars.

The county would have to send out a request for proposals to service providers before it moves forward with telehealth opioid abuse disorder treatment at the jail, Finance Director Keina Wolf told commissioners at a special meeting Friday.

“More than likely there is more than one place that can provide us with telehealth capabilities and we need to give equal opportunity for people to apply for those contracts,” she said. “I know [Krohn] did say he reached out and had spoken with different individuals, but there’s not a contract attached so we don’t know what the not-to-exceed number would be and we don’t know what services exactly are going to be provided.”

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Articles, Community News, Crescent City, Curry, Infrastructure, Local Government, Youth

Crescent City Eyes Partnership With Brookings Nonprofit To Offer Alternative Venue For Pool Patrons

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Crescent City councilors last week supported a proposed partnership with South Coast Community Aquatics in Brookings to give Del Norte County pool patrons a place to swim when the Fred Endert Municipal Pool closes for construction in December.

But on Monday, SCCA President Val Early told the Brookings City Council that discussions about how the arrangement would work are still preliminary. She floated the idea of instituting a community pass for patrons on both sides of the state line since Crescent City and SCCA would be funding the program. The details still needed to be ironed out before the agreement goes before the Brookings City Council for approval, she said.

“If we’re able to put that together and [if] you feel like that’s a worthwhile project, that would be a pilot program for us to be able to gauge what our winter activity would be,” Early said. “If we’re able to put together, this collaborative effort would start to happen in December and would go through February because those are the months the Crescent City pool is going to be closed.”

The Fred Endert Municipal Pool is expected to undergo upgrades to its HVAC system as well as its pool deck and locker room floors. As a result, the pool will be closed from December through February, City Manager Eric Wier said.

Under the proposed agreement with SCCA, the nonprofit organization that took over management of  the Brookings pool in 2023 would be responsible for facility-related costs. This includes heating the outdoor pool to between 83 and 84 degrees Fahrenheit, Wier told the City Council at its Oct. 21 meeting. Crescent City would provide the lifeguards and supervisory staff needed to operate the pool, he said.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Elections, Local Government

Race For The Harbor: Harry Adams Says His Job’s Not Done

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Harry Adams credits the changing atmosphere and the new harbormaster for his last-minute decision to run for reelection as a Crescent City Harbor commissioner.

Adams, who’s currently president of the Board of Commissioners, says he’s not done doing the job. Yet  until about three weeks ago, he wasn’t even in the running for the three seats that are up for election this year.

“I felt like I was banging my head against the wall for four years,” Adams said, explaining why he hadn’t planned on seeking re-election. “I was frustrated. I wasn’t feeling it. But with the change in harbormaster, I feel like the cadence has changed, and I received  overwhelming support from the community to run again.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Elections, Local Government

Race For The Harbor: John Evans Wants To ‘Further His Service To The Public’

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The Crescent City Harbor is in the midst of a cultural shift, John Evans says.

The 40-year-old correctional officer says he sees this shift at play during Harbor District meetings, especially during public comment. Expectations for how the port should operate have changed. People expect a more professional image from the Board of Commissioners, he says.

Speaking with KFUG Community Radio’s Paul Critz and Redwood Voice Community News on Oct 17, Evans opined on the recent changes at the Crescent City Harbor District. This includes the resignation of its harbormaster in September amidst allegations of credit card misuse. Its perceived lack of transparency by the public as well as its financial struggles.

It’s not lost on Evans that the only contested local race on the ballot this election season is the Crescent City Harbor District Board of Commissioners. This, he says, makes him optimistic about its future.

“At the end of the day there’s no money being a harbor commissioner,” Evans said. “Everybody who threw their hat into the ring is passionate about it and they feel they have something to offer the harbor.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Elections

Race For The Harbor: Devon Morgante Wants To Help The Harbor Realize Its Potential

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Devon Morgante says he doesn’t want to come to the Crescent City Harbor District Board of Commissioners with an agenda, even though people ask him if he’s got one.

Instead, he says he wants to hear the community’s concerns, “filter that through education and experience,” work with his potential colleagues and the harbormaster and come up with a solution.

“Being here for about 19 years, we always enjoyed the harbor,” Morgante told KFUG Community Radio’s Paul Critz and Redwood Voice Community News last week. “There is a lot that could be done to improve the harbor. Then, as you start peeling back the layers, you’re like, ‘Oh, it’s not just about small business development, it’s not just about fishermen and their access….’ You start getting into the infrastructure and maintenance, the safety and, I guess, there’s a lot of different layers.”

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Articles, Community News, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Local Government

Crescent City Council Mulls Gateway Design, Say They Want Public Input On Nov. 4

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Crescent City councilors hope the community, especially local businesses, come to their next meeting ready to chime in on four designs they’re considering for an entryway into Beachfront Park and the downtown area.

Their goal is to select a design and decide if Front Street should be renamed to something that’s more reflective of Crescent City. Some options kicked around Monday include Ocean Drive, Oceanfront Drive and Beachfront Drive.

But, according to City Manager Eric Wier, the City Council doesn’t have much time to make a decision. The city needs to spend the $3 million in Clean California Grant dollars it received for the project by June 30, 2026. This means it needs to hire a contractor by early spring 2025 and have the project under construction between May and October, according to Wier’s staff report.

The City Council hopes to decide on a project design by Nov. 4, according to Mayor Blake Inscore.

On Monday, though he noted that his days on the City Council are coming to a close soon, Inscore said if Front Street was renamed, he preferred Beachfront Drive over Oceanfront Drive.

“From a Google analytics [standpoint], if you put in Beachfront Park, you’re going to get Beachfront Drive and you’re going to get businesses associated with that,” he said. “I would use one term from a marketing standpoint. We have two hotels called Oceanfront. Again, from Google analytics, we don’t want to be confused with a hotel.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Economy

Harbor Officials, Fishermen Are Still Exploring Ice Plant Alternatives; Special Meeting Set For Tuesday

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A potential agreement between the Crescent City Harbor District and Pacific Seafood to purchase ice in bulk from the company’s Brookings plant may provide a short-term solution for fishermen.

But there are still questions over how much ice the fleet needs over the next year, whether fishermen want it flaked or cubed and how it will get from Oregon to Crescent City, Interim Harbormaster Mike Rademaker told Redwood Voice Community News on Friday.

“That’s still to be determined,” he said, adding that it will be up to the Harbor District or, potentially, a cooperative group from the fishing community to work out transporting the ice. “I sent out another email soliciting the fishermen to anticipate what their needs would be over the next year in terms of ice. We’ll add it all up in a spreadsheet and get an idea of what the aggregate demand will be. It will help us negotiate a discounted rate and determine the right size for storage and transportation.”

There also are other challenges associated with that potential agreement, according to Josh Mims, a local commercial fisherman who’s been working to ensure there’s ice available for the upcoming Dungeness crab season.

“One is the storage of ice,” he said. “If that ice sits on a boat for more than four or five days it becomes rock hard and it’s not usable anymore. If we do set up some kind of transportation situation then we got to make sure we store it and handle it properly or it’ll be a waste of money.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Elections, Local Government

Race For The Harbor: Annie Nehmer Aims To Re-Center Harbor On Commercial Fishing

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Annie Nehmer is glad she didn’t win her first Crescent City Harbor run.

Nehmer, a registered nurse turned commercial fisherman, said she began asking questions during the COVID-19 pandemic — things like, why were trash cans missing, why weren’t roads getting repaired and what’s with the constant weed eating — looking for answers, she started going to meetings.

Two years later, Nehmer ran against incumbent commissioners Rick Shepherd and Gerhard Weber. In a conversation with KFUG Community Radio’s Paul Critz and Redwood Voice Community News last week, Nehmer said they had experience that she lacked in 2022.

Now, as she nears the end of her second attempt to win a seat on the Board of Commissioners, Nehmer’s optimistic about the Crescent City Harbor District’s future. She has faith in the new interim harbormaster Mike Rademaker. She’s also excited about the impending change on the Board of Commissioners.

“The current Harbor Commission, in my opinion, is very torn or split, and so I think it’s kind of been a stalemate,” she said. “You have some that are very pro-commercial fishing and a couple that are anti-commercial fishing. Most of the candidates that are currently on the ballot will be replacing anti-fishing harbor commissioners, so I’m hopeful in that regard — that we can maybe make the harbor more centered on commercial fishing.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Elections, Local Government

Race For The Harbor: Linda Sutter Promises ‘Real Change’

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Linda Sutter can’t say why she wanted to see the former harbormaster’s credit card statements from January through August of this year other than “something hit me wrong.”

Sutter spent three years investigating alleged misuse of public funds at the Crescent City Harbor District. She submitted a complaint to the Del Norte County Civil Grand Jury over their lack of a credit card policy and $75,000 in unapproved credit card use. After the Grand Jury “picked out one transaction” to focus on in its investigation, Sutter said she felt her claim was validated, but was disappointed in the results.

She resumed her investigation in August and filed a writ in Del Norte County Superior Court when Harbormaster Tim Petrick initially refused to let her see his credit card statements. Three weeks later — after the Crescent City Harbor District released Petrick’s credit card statements — the harbormaster had submitted his resignation.

Sutter says Petrick wouldn’t have resigned had it not been for her. As one of six candidates vying for three open seats on the Crescent City Harbor District Board of Commissioners, Sutter said the current commissioners have caused the harbor to “lose so much money.”

“I can no longer stand by without trying to get on as a commissioner because I believe I can bring real change,” she told KFUG Community Radio’s Paul Critz and Redwood Voice Community News last week.

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