Category Archives: Economy

Articles, Community News, Economy, Environment, Local Government

Del Norte Supervisors Weigh In On Updated Plan For Managing Forest Service Lands

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Thumbnail: A rain-swollen Smith River in the Smith River National Recreation Area, which is one of the U.S. Forest Service units addressed in its Northwest Forest Plan. | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard used an example from the 1960s to highlight the importance of local input into an amended Northwest Forest Plan.

Del Norte County housed 52 manufacturing mills six decades ago, he said, now there are none. Howard blamed their collapse on the Northwest Forest Plan, which was created in 1994. Now, with a public comment deadline approaching on an amended plan, Howard urged his colleagues to weigh in on a letter to the U.S. Forest Service, the agency spearheading the process.

Tacked onto Tuesday’s agenda at the last minute due to the Monday public comment deadline, the county’s letter was unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors.

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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

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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.”

Continue reading Staff Vacancies Among Top Concern In Strategic Plan Update; County Supervisor Suggests AI To Increase Productivity →
Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Economy

Ocean Gold Seafood Gets Hoist Lease, Promises To Reopen Crescent City Ice Plant

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Photo by Paul Critz

Crescent City Harbor commissioners are holding a Westport, Washington-based seafood buyer to its promise to reopen the ice plant Pacific Seafood shuttered in October.

The Harbor District last week entered into lease agreements with Ocean Gold Seafoods to operate hoists on Citizens Dock and to produce ice locally. If the company fails to reopen the plant within six months, the Harbor District will consider that a default of its lease, Interim Harbormaster Mike Rademaker told Redwood Voice Community News on Feb. 10.

“This gives us the confidence the commitment will be fulfilled,” he said via email. “Restoring essential ice production is critical to maintaining the quality of our local seafood as it reaches the marketplace.”

Continue reading Ocean Gold Seafood Gets Hoist Lease, Promises To Reopen Crescent City Ice Plant →
Articles, Community News, Curry, Economy, Environment, Local Government

Curry County Proposal to Take Over Management of Federal Lands Draws Overwhelming Opposition

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Pistol River in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. | Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service

A proposed resolution stating that Curry County aims to “invoke policing powers of the state” to “clear and thin undergrowth and to remove fire-damaged trees” on federal lands is not a takeover, according to its newest member.

Facing 17 north county residents who opposed the resolution on Wednesday, Patrick Hollinger said he and his colleagues hope to be stewards for lands currently managed by the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and other state and federal agencies. The proposed emergency declaration seeks to hold them accountable, though the Board of Commissioners said Wednesday they weren’t yet ready to approve it.

“We are the closest elected officials to the people with special authority under environmental and jurisdictional law to see these matters through to success,” Hollinger said. “We’re working right now on completely overhauling our land-use plan for the county, our comprehensive plan and our Wildland Urban Interface plans. The state and federal agencies, by law, are supposed to be consulting with the county on an annual basis in order for them to move forward with their plans. That’s not happening. That hasn’t happened in forever. We’re going to implement that going forward.”

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Articles, Community News, Economy, Education, Health, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation, Youth

Trump’s Attack On Federal Funding Could Impact Del Norters’ Access To Health Care, Senior Services, Education, Local Nonprofits Say

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Open Door Clinic operates a clinic at the Del Norte Community Wellness Center. At a discussion with Congressman Jared Huffman on Monday, the organization’s CEO Tory Starr said he was worried about being unable to serve patients should their federal funding be frozen. | Photo by Persephone Rose

Nearly a week after a judge temporarily blocked a Trump Administration directive to freeze federal funding, Open Door Clinic CEO Tory Starr said his organization is still bracing for the worst.

Open Door operates more than 14 clinics across Humboldt and Del Norte counties, providing behavioral health, medical, dental and obstetrics care to 60,000-plus patients and employing nearly 800 people.

During a virtual roundtable discussion hosted by Congressman Jared Huffman on Monday, Starr said that while a judge hit pause on the directive Jan. 28, guidance he’s received from the Health Resources and Services Administration suggests that federal dollars could still be at risk.

Continue reading Trump’s Attack On Federal Funding Could Impact Del Norters’ Access To Health Care, Senior Services, Education, Local Nonprofits Say →
Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Economy

CCHD Court Washington-Based Seafood Buyers Though Space On Citizens Dock Is Limited

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Thumbnail: Crescent City Harbor commissioners are working with two seafood buyers who hope to lease hoists on Citizens Dock. | Photo courtesy of the Crescent City Harbor District

Crescent City Harbor commissioners are hoping to accommodate two Washington-based seafood buyers who submitted competing letters of intent to take over hoists Global Quality Foods had operated on Citizens Dock.

Commissioner Rick Shepherd, a long-time commercial fisherman, told representatives with Fathom Seafoods, of Tacoma, and Ocean Gold Seafoods, of Westport, that he hoped they could split the two hoists Global Quality Foods once operated.

“That would be the ultimate,” he said last week. “And it would only be for this winter and maybe next winter and the winter after next. Then you would [have] a permanent hoist with trucks being able to go right up to it. A state-of-the-art hoist on land instead of out on the dock.”

Continue reading CCHD Court Washington-Based Seafood Buyers Though Space On Citizens Dock Is Limited →
Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Economy, Environment

‘The State Won’t Work With You’; Long-time Shrimper Says Lack of Infrastructure Is Forcing Fleet, Processors Out of California

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of the Crescent City Harbor District

Randy Smith says he understands why Pacific Seafood shuttered its facilities in Crescent City and Eureka.

The same regulations the Clackamas, Ore.-based processor gave as its reasoning for abandoning Humboldt and Del Norte counties have also forced Smith and other local fishermen to land their catch elsewhere.

Smith, owner of the Mistasea and member of the Crescent City Commercial Fisherman’s Marketing Association, the California Dungeness Task Force and, up until last year, the Newport, Oregon Board of Shrimp Producers, said he bought a house in Oregon about two years ago because “I’m up there more.” The harbors in California are a place to park a boat and do some repairs, he said, but there’s no infrastructure anymore.

“You can’t blame Pacific Seafood for doing what they did,” said Smith, whose father was one of the first fishermen to work with the company when its CEO opened the Eureka processing facility about 39 years ago. “You don’t know how many pots you’ll get to fish with and you don’t know when you’re going to get to fish…. The state won’t work with you and Fish and Game won’t work with you.”

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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, CC Harbor, Community News, Economy

Pacific Seafood Said It Was Going To Take Ice Plant Equipment, Harbor Locked Them Out — Briefly

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Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

(Updated at 9:16 a.m. Wednesday to correct an error. Pacific Seafood sold about 1,300 tons of ice last year, according to Interim Harbormaster Mike Rademaker.)

Mike Rademaker thought the Crescent City Harbor’s potential takeover of the ice plant was a good solution given the impending crab season — until the plant’s previous operator decided it was going to remove the equipment.

The interim harbormaster received this news Nov. 5, about a month after Pacific Seafood vacated the premises. With the Harbor District’s legal counsel stating that its previous tenant had abandoned its equipment when it ceased operations, Rademaker locked them out of the building.

But that lockout was short-lived, he told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday.

Continue reading Pacific Seafood Said It Was Going To Take Ice Plant Equipment, Harbor Locked Them Out — Briefly →
Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Economy, Local Government

Ice Plant Saga: Harbor District Weighs Operating Plant As Short-Term Solution, Enlists Help From City, County Leaders

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Thumbnail courtesy of KFUG Station Manager Paul Critz.

After meeting with city and county representatives on Monday, Interim Harbormaster Mike Rademaker says there’s more momentum toward the Harbor District operating the ice plant rather than transporting the ice from Brookings.

The Crescent City Harbor District is still working on establishing a containerized ice plant, but with the commercial Dungeness crab season set to start soon, getting the ice plant on Citizens Dock up and running is a faster option, Rademaker told Redwood Voice Community News on Tuesday.

“Lead time is at least 24 weeks,” he said, referring to the containerized ice plant option, which could cost about $1 million. “It’s not a viable solution for the upcoming crab season or tuna [fishery].”

But local leaders are still figuring out how to address environmental concerns associated with the ice plant itself as well as how much ice the local fishing fleet actually needs, according to Crescent City Manager Eric Wier.

That information must also be weighed against the  costs associated with transporting ice from Pacific Choice Seafood’s plant in Brookings to Crescent City as well as figuring out how to get it onto local fishing boats, Weir said.

“We had an initial meeting in which some more questions were asked, and we need to have the answers to those questions,” he said Thursday. “What are some of the options and what are the impacts? How does this affect fishermen in regards to crab season, which is basically upon us, versus other fishing seasons? We need to have some answers fairly quickly.”

Continue reading Ice Plant Saga: Harbor District Weighs Operating Plant As Short-Term Solution, Enlists Help From City, County Leaders →