Articles, Community News, Local Government

Del Norte Supes OK Retirement Benefit Asset Transfer to PARS Trust, Call For Guidelines Governing Proposed Withdrawals

February 13, 2025 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

^{_{Photo by Aisling Bludworth}}

Public Agencies Retirement Service representative Matt Spooner repeated a comment he made to county supervisors a month ago, that a Section 115 Trust with his firm was a “savings account on steroids.”

But contrary to a statement one supervisor made at the Jan. 14 meeting, Spooner, County Administrative Officer Neal Lopez and District 5 representative Dean Wilson said Tuesday that Del Norte couldn’t use dollars it places in that trust for anything other than meeting its pension and other post-employment benefit obligations.

Yet, supervisors Valery Starkey and Darrin Short still sought guidance on how the trust funds could be used. Starkey said that any proposal to access money in the Section 115 Trust should come before the Board of Supervisors and be approved with a 4/5ths vote. That way the public could weigh in, she said.

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Crabbers See Record Number of Whale Entanglements – Redwood Voice Community News

February 13, 2025 Redwood Voice Leave a comment

February 13th, 2025 – For Redwood Voice Community News, a production of Redwood Voice Youth Media, today’s news: roadwork updates from CalTrans District 1; the upcoming Crescent City Council meeting is canceled due to lack of agenda items; the Del Norte County Office of Emergency Services is seeking feedback on their hazard mitigation plan; of Curry County’s $4.4 million in COVID relief funding, less than half is accounted for; Oregon crabbers saw record breaking numbers of whale entanglements last year; Nevada dairy cows display a whole new strain of Bird Flu; the vaccination deadline for Oregon children is right around the corner; California has passed the national average percentage of adults with a college degree; and a $1.5 million grant from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation goes towards the push to bring back the Southern Sea Otter. All this and our regular segments from the Pacifica Radio Network and National Native News.

We’re broadcasting on KFUG 101.1FM and kfugradio.org every day at 12PM, with a rebroadcast at 5PM. We’re also airing on KZZH 96.7FM at 6AM, and KCIW 100.7FM at 6PM!

Today’s newscast image is courtesy of NOAA Fisheries via the Curry Coastal Pilot’s article, which has been edited.

Articles, Community News, Crescent City

Del Norte’s Emergency Homeless Shelter, Micro Village Could Start Housing Individuals By September, DHHS Director Says

February 13, 2025 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Department of Health and Human Services Director Ranell Brown says a new 60-bed emergency homeless shelter should be finished by June and accepting individuals by September. | Image courtesy of Del Norte County}

Efforts to create a pathway out of homelessness on Williams Drive are progressing now that rubble from the county’s old mental health building has been cleared.

In her first update to the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors since August, Department of Health and Human Services Director Ranell Brown said Tuesday the county has purchased container units for the restrooms and commercial kitchen that will serve the micro village and 60-bed emergency shelter. Contractors are expected to finish renovating a modular structure that will house the program’s wraparound supports next month.

Though the county still needs to finalize the agreement with a contractor to build the shelter, Brown said it should be finished by June, weather permitting. She told supervisors that DHHS staff and Del Norte Mission Possible representatives are confident the entire endeavor can be completed by the end of August.

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Curry County Seeks Answers for Unaccounted $2.7 Million – Redwood Voice Community News

February 12, 2025 Redwood Voice Leave a comment

February 12th, 2025 – For Redwood Voice Community News, a production of Redwood Voice Youth Media, today’s news: roadwork updates from CalTrans District 1; Crescent City City Council meeting cancelled due to a lack of agenda items; DNOES seeks public input on hazard concerns in the county; Curry County tries to figure out what happened with $2.7 million in unaccounted COVID-19 relief dollars; Curry County schedules a Wednesday workshop for an emergency declaration on unmaintained federal land fire hazards; a retrospective on Del Norte’s Night to Shine celebration for the special needs community; Chetco Community Public Library adjusts their monthly checkout limit; USDA announces a new strain of Bird flu in dairy cows; an Indigenous Authors Book Club starts at Crescent Elk Middle School; and a report on California college credentials says the state passes the national average. All this and our regular segments from the Pacifica Radio Network and National Native News.

We’re broadcasting on KFUG 101.1FM and kfugradio.org every day at 12PM, with a rebroadcast at 5PM. We’re also airing on KZZH 96.7FM at 6AM, and KCIW 100.7FM at 6PM!

Today’s newscast image is courtesy of Curry Civic TV, which has been edited.

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Chetco Community Library Adjusts Checkout Limit – Redwood Voice Community News

February 11, 2025 Redwood Voice Leave a comment

February 11th, 2025 – For Redwood Voice Community News, a production of Redwood Voice Youth Media, today’s news: roadwork updates from CalTrans District 1; the County’s new Teen Court Program receives its first case; Curry County’s proposition to manage federal lands receives pushback; Del Norte’s Night to Shine shone brightly; Chetco Community Library Adjusts its monthly checkout limit; fishing information from Fishing the North Coast; the Yurok Engine 9462 crew returns home; and information about Crescent Elk’s new Indigenous Authors Book Club and its benefits. All this and our regular segments from the Pacifica Radio Network and National Native News.

We’re broadcasting on KFUG 101.1FM and kfugradio.org every day at 12PM, with a rebroadcast at 5PM. We’re also airing on KZZH 96.7FM at 6AM, and KCIW 100.7FM at 6PM!

Today’s newscast image is courtesy of the Yurok Tribe via their Facebook Page, which has been edited.

Articles, Community News, Curry, Regional News

Curry County’s Finance Director Says $2.7 Million in Federal COVID Dollars Went Unaccounted For

February 11, 2025 Jessica Cejnar Andrews 2 Comments

Curry County’s finance director used a scatalogical expletive to describe the knot she and the county treasurer had to untangle to answer a federal inquiry about unaccounted for COVID relief dollars.

Keina Wolf told commissioners Wednesday she and Curry County Treasurer Nick Vicino spent the final hours of 2024 addressing an email from the US Department of Treasury stating that out of a total of about $4.4 million in American Rescue Plan money, only $1.734 million had been accounted for.

Wolf, who became Curry County’s finance director in February 2024, had taken exception to a public commenter who asked how she could have missed the un-accounted for balance of about $2.7 million.

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Articles, Crescent City, Education, In Media Res

Del Norte County Office of Education Hosts Inaugural ‘Building Bridges’ Family Summit

February 10, 2025 Amanda Dockter Leave a comment

*Event signage in front of school entrance*.

Climbing the stairs that lead to the main entrance of Crescent Elk Middle School feels an awful lot like stepping through a time machine.

It’s not just the building’s 1930’s Art Deco aesthetic that immerses me in nostalgia every time I walk through its doors. I graduated from the school in 1999, sure, but I’ve wandered through those halls for a myriad of reasons over the decades. Most recently, I found myself returning to my adolescent alma mater for an entirely new reason. As the parent of a student, I was invited by the Del Norte County Office of Education and the Del Norte Unified School District to their inaugural “Family Summit” event. This conference, called “Building Bridges”, was an effort undertaken by DNCOE and DNUSD to strengthen student and family connections between home, school, and resources available within the broader community.

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Articles, Community News, Crescent City

Local “Night To Shine” Shines Bright

February 10, 2025 Paul Critz Leave a comment

The stretch Hummer maneuvers carefully between the buildings, getting as close as it can to the main entrance where a knot of people wait expectantly. The big building at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds is already teeming with guests and volunteers; light and music pour from the open double doors. An older woman in a long gown steps from the Humvee and pauses to hike her dress up and show a friend her satin bloomers and fancy shoes.

It’s Del Norte’s Night To Shine — an annual faith-based celebration for the special needs community, a community that doesn’t ordinarily have events like this thrown for them. Part of a worldwide celebration, the Night To Shine was founded in 2014 by the Tim Tebow Foundation, and is celebrated the Friday before Valentine’s Day in 800 cities across the United States, and in other locales as far-flung as Burkina Faso and the Philippines.

Each Night To Shine follows the same script, as the Tebow foundation’s website explains: “Each event is unique to its location, but some cornerstone activities included across all of them are a red carpet entrance complete with a warm welcome from a friendly crowd and paparazzi, hair and makeup stations, shoeshines, limousine rides, karaoke, gifts, a catered dinner, a Sensory Room, a Respite Room for parents and caregivers, dancing, and a crowning ceremony where every guest is honored as a King or a Queen — the way God sees them each and every day.”

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Articles, Community News, Local Government

Del Norte BOS To Consider Transferring Retirement Benefit Assets To Private Trust; Firm’s Rep To Give Presentation

February 10, 2025 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz}

Del Norte County Supervisors on Tuesday will discuss transferring assets from a California Public Employees Retirement System-managed trust to one managed by a private firm.

Public Agencies Retirement Service (PARS) Senior Consultant Matt Spooner is also expected to give a presentation to the Board about his firm’s 115 OPEB Prefunding Program and Pension Rate Stabilization Program.

The Board of Supervisors last month approved establishing the Section 115 Trust with PARS after Spooner said it would provide greater flexibility when it comes to the county paying its share of its employees pension and other retirement benefits.

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Del Norte Teen Court Receives Its First Case – Redwood Voice Community News

February 10, 2025 Redwood Voice Leave a comment

February 10th, 2025 – For Redwood Voice Community News, a production of Redwood Voice Youth Media, today’s news: roadwork updates from CalTrans District 1; the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors puts out a poll regarding their annual strategic plan review and update; the County’s new Teen Court Program receives its first case; Crescent City Councilors discussed turning the Cultural Center into a Redwood Discovery Center; other agenda items discussed at the City Council’s recent meeting; fishy facts & figures from Kenny Priest of Fishing the North Coast; Yurok firefighters return home after aiding in the fighting of the Hughes fire; the Redwood Parks Conservancy announces 2025’s artists in residence; and an announcement from former Del Norte County Supervisor Susan Masten and station manager Paul Critz. All this and our regular segments from the Pacifica Radio Network and National Native News.

We’re broadcasting on KFUG 101.1FM and kfugradio.org every day at 12PM, with a rebroadcast at 5PM. We’re also airing on KZZH 96.7FM at 6AM, and KCIW 100.7FM at 6PM!

Today’s newscast image is courtesy of Katrin Bolovtsova via Pexels, which has been edited.

Telling the untold stories of Del Norte and Tribal Lands through amplified youth voices.