Category Archives: Community News

Del Norte Fire Safe Council Hosts Prescribed Burn Workshop

March 10, 2025 Ethan Caudill-DeRego Leave a comment

^{Thumbnail photo by Ethan Caudill-DeRego.}

Flecked with dirt and soaked in sweat from the intense heat of fires burning all around, crew from the Del Norte Fire Safe Council and interested participants worked away with their drip torches, burning pre-collected debris piles on the hills overlooking Rock Creek Ranch.

March 5th was the first day of the Del Norte Fire Safe Council’s two day Prescribed Burn Workshop. This workshop helps teach local residents how to deal with the vegetation that builds up on their land and poses a threat during wildfires.

“This is our first workshop. It’s more about pile burning because that’s the time of year that we have right now,” said Aaron Babcock, Del Norte Fire Safe Council Coordinator. “It’s still pretty wet to do an actual real prescribed burn, but we’re hoping in April we’re gonna do another real workshop, where we’re gonna try to get some fire to carry.”

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Articles, Community News, Education

Del Norte Unified School District Recap, March 4, 2025

March 6, 2025 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

Del Norte County Unified School District Trustee Abbie Crist was absent. Among the items discussed at Tuesday’s meeting:

Surplus babies: Trustees authorized DNUSD staff to surplus more than 24 cases of Baby Think It Overs, realistic baby dolls that haven’t been used for more about 15 years and are taking up space in the school district’s warehouse.

However, they urged Tom Kissinger, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, to reach out to local organizations such as the Family Resource Center of the Redwoods or CASA of Del Norte to see if anyone would care to adopt those baby dolls.

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Articles, Community News, Education, Infrastructure, Local Government

DNUSD Tables SitelogIQ Proposal, Cites Budget Concerns, Need For More Info

March 6, 2025 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail: SitelogIQ representatives presented a microgrid project proposal to the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors in January. On Tuesday SitelogIQ representatives spoke with the Del Norte County Unified School District Board of Trustees.}

After voting to issue pink slips to library technicians, paraprofessionals and teachers, trustees were reluctant to endorse a SitelogIQ proposal its representatives say will make Del Norte Unified School District facilities more energy resilient.

Though their counterparts with Del Norte County signed a letter of agreement with SitelogIQ in January, DNUSD trustees tabled the issue until they could consult with Superintendent Jeff Harris, who was absent from Tuesday’s special meeting.

They also weren’t thrilled at the idea of being charged a $65,000 fee should they decide against installing a solar electricity generation system or energy efficiency improvements to school campuses.

“My concern is that $65,000 will put a librarian in a library,” Trustee Area 5 representative Michael Greer said. “Right now we’re trying to cut our budget instead of adding to it and you can’t guarantee how much that [energy] savings will be.”

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Articles, Community News, Education, Youth

DNUSD Moves Forward With Preliminary Pink Slips Amid Outcry From Parents, Staff, Students

March 5, 2025 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Joe Hamilton Elementary School | Photo by Amanda Dockter}

Molly Sherman donned her parent hat when she told trustees that she was debating whether or not her daughter was going to Crescent Elk Middle School next year.

A third generation Del Norte Unified School District educator, Sherman sent her kids to Uncharted Shores Academy due to choices the district made in the wake of COVID-19 that she said weren’t best for students.

She began to have a change of heart after seeing things improve, but on Tuesday, with several of her colleagues set to receive pink slips, Sherman told trustees that her daughter likely wouldn’t go to Crescent Elk, the school she taught at for 13 years.

“I love this district. I love our schools,” said Sherman, chair of the math department at Del Norte High School. “I have loved every program I have gotten to be a part of here. But if you continue to make bad choices, she’s not going to sit in a classroom of 35 kids with brand new teachers that don’t know if they’re going to have a job.”

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Articles, Community News, Infrastructure, Local Government

Defect In C900 Pipe May Have Caused Last Wednesday’s Water Main Break, Crescent City Manager Says

March 4, 2025 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Crescent City Public Works and Tidewater Contracting crews responded to a water main break on Elk Valley Road at about 6 a.m. last Wednesday and had drinking water restored to about 3,000 customers in the Bertsch-Oceanview area by approximately 5 p.m. the next day. | Photo by Amanda Dockter}

A defect in a 20-year-old C900 PVC pipe may have caused the water main break that left taps dry for about 3,000 customers in the Bertsch-Oceanview area last week.

City Manager Eric Wier was notified of the big leak on Elk Valley Road at about 6 a.m. last Wednesday. He thought it was going to be a run-of-the-mill leak, but found that the break lifted the pavement and destroyed the sidewalk.

The water main was about 8 feet underground, below the city’s storm drain system, Wier told Redwood Voice Community News on Tuesday. Crews with Crescent City Public Works and Tidewater Contracting had to replace 20-feet of pipe, he said.

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

Pool Reopening Set, Though Crescent City Now Has To Replace The Roof; Staff Blame Seagulls

March 4, 2025 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff}

“Cannonball Chaos” will reign supreme when the Fred Endert Municipal Pool reopens on March 22.

There will be contests, games and giveaways, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the facility’s new flooring and heating systems. But the pool’s three-month closure this winter revealed a problem — actual rain was getting inside the building. Crescent City Public Works Director David Yeager blamed it on seagulls.

“We’ve had the roofer up there a couple times and the thought is what’s going on is we’ve got about 150 holes in the roof and they’re very small and so the water only comes through after long periods of rain,” he told councilors on Monday. “It rains a little bit, sheds off and gets trapped between the membrane, but it basically has become completely saturated under the shingles and the plastic there. If you get enough water it will actually create a little bit of pressure and come through the membrane.”

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Articles, Community News, Education

DNUSD Trustees May Issue Layoff Notices To Teachers, Classified Staff on Tuesday

March 3, 2025 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail: DNUSD logo}

Del Norte County teachers and classified staff could receive preliminary layoff notices for the 2025-26 school year following a vote from the school board on Tuesday.

The Del Norte County Unified School District Board’s decision could impact more than 18 full-time teachers, Del Norte Teachers Association President Amber Tiedeken-Cron told Redwood Voice Community News.

Meanwhile library services technician and paraprofessional positions also face elimination, according to the proposed resolution. According to Tiedeken-Cron, these potential cuts would impact two classified staff members.

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Articles, Community News, Curry, Local Government

Curry County Finance Director Resigns; Commissioners Appoint Treasurer To Role On Interim Basis

March 1, 2025 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail: Former Curry County Finance Director Keina Wolf (far left) tendered her resignation effective Monday |Screenshot}

Curry County commissioners appointed Treasurer Nick Vicino to provide financial oversight on an interim basis following the resignation of Keina Wolf effective Monday.

Vicino will receive a 25 percent salary increase for taking on extra duties, including the supervision of finance staff, said Commissioner Jay Trost who read out the order at an emergency meeting Friday.

Vicino’s other duties will include ensuring accounts payable and accounts receivable are entered into the county’s Casselle government software system and to ensure that the use of county accounts are in compliance with policies and government accounting standards. Vicino will also be required to prepare financial statements and documents for the county budget and authorize claims for payment.

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Articles, Community News, Emergencies, Environment, Local Government

Federal Funding Freeze Puts Del Norte Fire Safe Council Fuels Reduction Projects In Limbo

February 28, 2025 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail: Del Norte Office of Emergency Services Public Information Officer Bill Steven snapped this photo of the Smith River Complex wildfires burning above Patrick Creek Lodge and U.S. 199 on Aug. 16, 2023.}

(Updated at 12:03 p.m. Friday with a correction: The California Climate Investments grant is a state program and Cal Fire is a state department. There is a $70 million federal grant available, though Del Norte Fire Safe Council County Coordinator Aaron Babcock said he’s not sure how it will be distributed.)

Flames from the Smith River Complex crept within 600 feet of Aaron Babcock’s Gasquet home in August, 2023.

A former firefighter, Babcock is the county coordinator for the Del Norte Fire Safe Council. He said he and his wife chose not to evacuate from the smattering of wildfires burning around the Gasquet area. Instead, he and two of his Fire Safe Council colleagues helped clean out gutters and create extra defensible space for about 50 homes threatened by the fire.

“The houses we had worked on definitely got skipped over,” Babcock told Redwood Voice Community News on Tuesday. “Because they had firefighters preemptively clearing around people’s homes in case the fire came through, those homes didn’t have to have anything done [to prevent them from burning], which was great because it lowers the amount of firefighting resources that were needed and helped protect other homes.”

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Articles, Community News, Economy, Infrastructure, Local Government

Staff Vacancies Among Top Concern In Strategic Plan Update; County Supervisor Suggests AI To Increase Productivity

February 27, 2025 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

Norma Williams rejected a suggestion from District 5 Supervisor Dean Wilson that artificial intelligence might allow Del Norte County departments to increase productivity despite struggling to hire and keep staff.

Williams, Del Norte County Employees Association SEIU 1021 president, provided public comment following an update of the county’s 2024-29 strategic plan on Tuesday. She reminded Wilson that many county services are state- and federally-mandated. The technology staff use to provide those services was created by the state or federal government and, therefore, the responsibility to update those systems rests with the state or federal government.

Del Norte’s vacancy rate is still high and AI can’t replace everyone, Williams said.

“I doubt very seriously that the community at large is going to want to talk to an AI,” she told supervisors. “When they walk through the door they want to see a live human being. Someone who can understand them, who can speak with them and who can serve them.”

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