Del Norte High School performs at the Pride of the Northwest field show in Grants Pass on Oct. 12. | Thumbnail photo courtesy of Dan Sedgwick, video courtesy of Danielle Wood.
Self-competition may be cliché in some circles — a motivational mantra personal trainers use to get clients off the couch.
But it’s why the Del Norte High School’s Band of Warriors triumphed despite coming in last in their category at the Festival of Bands field show in Eugene on Nov. 1.
“Even though we did get last place, the students didn’t feel that way because we had a massive point increase from where we were and the best score we’ve ever gotten in a competition,” DNHS Music Director Daniel Sedgwick told Redwood Voice Community News on Wednesday. “I’m talking [about] any year before this.”
Del Norte County is adding a new wing to its juvenile justice system that will offer first-time nonviolent offenders a chance to be held accountable by a true jury of their peers.
The system’s foundation will still be there. This includes the sheriff’s office, police department, Del Norte Unified School District, county probation, the District Attorney and the court itself, said Paul Dillard, chairman of the Del Norte County Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Commission. But as the John Wilson Teen Court program gains steam, Dillard sees youth serving as prosecutor, defense attorney, even the judge.
“We [will] have legal representation there to help those youth,” he told Redwood Voice Community News on Friday. “The DA’s office is going to be there for the prosecution and — not necessarily a public defender, maybe it’ll be a retired attorney or it might even be a retired judge — but they guide them. They set standards on the model that’s been created, including what they can do and what they can’t do.”
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.
Crescent City cut the ribbon Saturday on the first amenity at Beachfront Park built using Prop 68 grant money. | Jessica C. Andrews
Wesley Phillips’ experience with pump tracks is limited — the new course at Crescent City’s Beachfront Park was his first taste.
Though the official grand opening wasn’t until last Saturday, Wesley’s dad, Tom Phillips, said his son had already been practicing. Wesley and his friends Aidan Evans and Landon and Chase Feight were demo riders — zipping over the jumps and scaling the wall ride, the wooden structure towering above the rest of the track — while Tom looked on.
“He’s blown away by it,” Tom said, watching Wesley and his buddies. “He had always ridden bikes and asked [me], ‘Can you build me a jump?’”
As the bike pump track took shape over the last two months, Wesley’s thoughts have been “nothing else but BMX,” his dad says.
Sammy! A Salmon’s Tale was a locally produced play written by Ruthie Rhodes, and was performed as the conclusion to a week-long theatre camp for aspiring youth. The play and camp were both produced in conjunction with local organizations and coordinators, such as KPN, True North, and Dirt and Glitter. Delve behind the scenes in this documentary to see how the whole event was brainstormed and put together, as well as the participants thoughts, and how the coordinators felt it positively affected the youth.
May 17, 2024 marked “‘O ME-NOK DAY” at Margaret Keating Elementary School (Now the ‘O Me-Nok Learning Center) down in Klamath, California. Redwood Voice’s Monique Camarena and Rory McCain headed down to the event, which was a culmination of several presentations by the Yurok held at the school to educate the Klamath youth on different traditions from the tribe, such as basketry, storytelling and pow-wow drumming.
DNATL kids team up with regional experts in theater, dance, music and art to tell the story of Sammy, a salmon born in the Smith River who bravely ventures into the ocean, facing danger and making friends along the way.
The performance was held in Jed Smith State Park and sponsored by the State and National Parks, Lighthouse Repertory Theatre, Klamath Promise Neighborhood, Dirt and Glitter, True North, and the Brabson Family Foundation.
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?
Telling the untold stories of Del Norte and Tribal Lands through amplified youth voices.
