Category Archives: Economy

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 →
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, Economy, Local Government

SEIU 1021 Confronts Board of Supervisors Over Poor Wages for County Employees

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There was a sea of purple shirts in the Board Chambers. The people wearing these purple shirts were all supporters and people represented by SEIU 1021, a union that bargains on behalf of Del Norte County employees.

After the Consent Agenda concluded at the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, several employees of the County confronted the Board of Supervisors. The volley opened with Norma Williams, Chapter President of the SEIU 1021 branch for Del Norte County.

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Agriculture, Articles, Community News, Economy, Fort Dick, Humboldt

Animal Rights Advocates Sue Alexandre Dairy Over Cruelty Allegations Farm Forward Exposé Raised In April

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A Sacramento-based nonprofit organization combating factory farming and animal abuse in the poultry industry is suing Alexandre Family Farm alleging “rampant cruelty” at their Humboldt and Del Norte County dairy operations.

Legal Impact for Chickens filed its lawsuit in Humboldt County Superior Court last week. The organization’s complaint contains the same cruelty allegations another organization, Farm Forward, outlined in a report released six months ago. In an Oct. 1 news release, Legal Impact for Chickens references that exposé and accuses the dairy of pouring table salt in cows’ eyes to treat maladies, dragging disabled animals across concrete and starving them.

“We saw the exposé and we saw that Alexandre was accused of pouring table salt into animals’ eyes and dragging cows across concrete and starving them,” Legal Impact for Chickens Executive Director Alene Anello told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday. “Being familiar with California’s animal cruelty laws, we immediately thought to ourselves, ‘that is illegal, we need to stop them.’”

Farm Forward released its exposé, “Dairy Deception: Corruption and Consumer Fraud At Alexandre Family Farm” on April 11.

Continue reading Animal Rights Advocates Sue Alexandre Dairy Over Cruelty Allegations Farm Forward Exposé Raised In April →
Articles, Arts & Culture, Crescent City, Economy

Rikuzentakata’s Story Of Survival Prompted RCRC Members to Open Their Wallets, Generate $31,000 for Kamome Foundation

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Rikuzentakata representatives Kyoshi Murakami, Futoshi Toba and Akihiko Ito talk about how their community survived the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. | Photo courtesy of Chris Howard

Chris Howard talks about Del Norte County’s relationship with Rikuzentakata, Japan everywhere he goes, so Kamome’s story isn’t new for his colleagues with the Rural County Representatives of California, or RCRC.

But when he brought Council Chairman Akihiko Ito, Mayor Futoshi Toba and Kyoshi Murakami, senior executive advisor for Rikuzentakata, to the organization’s annual meeting as the keynote speakers last month, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room, said Howard, who represents Del Norte County’s District 1.

The three Rikuzentakata delegates told county leaders from across California how their community survived the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and how it led to a now six-year-old Sister City relationship with Crescent City and Del Norte County.

Continue reading Rikuzentakata’s Story Of Survival Prompted RCRC Members to Open Their Wallets, Generate $31,000 for Kamome Foundation →
Articles, CC Harbor, Crescent City, Economy, Environment, Infrastructure

Crescent City Ice Plant Closure Has Community Leaders, Fishing Reps Searching For Alternatives

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Pacific Choice Seafood is expected to cease operating the ice plant in Crescent City on Saturday, according to Interim Harbormaster Mike Rademaker. | Photo by Paul Critz

City, county and Harbor District officials are joining a representative of the local fishing community to find a solution for the commercial fleet’s ice needs.

Pacific Choice Seafoods is expected to stop operating the ice plant at the end of Citizens Dock as of Saturday, Interim Harbormaster Mike Rademaker told Redwood Voice Community News on Wednesday.

A mobile ice plant may be a feasible option long term since it doesn’t need much in the way of permitting to establish at the port, said Josh Mims, whose Community Food Council’s Sea-to-Market Project brought local seafood into Del Norte schools. The concern now, however, is ensuring there’s an ice supply available for the Dungeness crab season, which typically opens Dec. 1 on the North Coast.

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Community News, Crescent City, Economy, Videos, Youth

California Endowment Finds Footing in Foundation of County’s Future

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Produced by Persephone Rose. Pictured center is Geneva Wiki of the California Endowment

Something special happened right here in the heart of Del Norte. From the office of True North to the Howland Hill Outdoor School and back to the Cultural Center, a team of California Endowment senior program managers met with numerous members of our community. After a tourism and economic development collaboration and a day of viewing the county they’ve never seen, what does this gathering of minds have in store for Del Norte?