Tag Archives: del norte county

Articles, Community News, Education, Infrastructure, Local Government

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

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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.”

Continue reading DNUSD Tables SitelogIQ Proposal, Cites Budget Concerns, Need For More Info →
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Save a Swamp, Sauté a Nutria – Redwood Voice Community News

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March 6th, 2025 – For Redwood Voice Community News, a production of Redwood Voice Youth Media, today’s news: road work updates from Caltrans District 1; beware that small hail and dark clouds are rolling in; Del Norte County Public Health encourages measles vaccination as cases rise country-wide; info on last week’s Bertsch-Oceanview water main break; DNOES invites the public for a Hazard Mitigation Plan meeting; Crescent City will be holding a meeting on the Permanent Local Housing Allocation; a local artist showcases the extraordinary beauty of the Smith River; Fred Endert Municipal Pool reopens this month after winter repairs; US Fish and Wildlife encourage eating invasive Nutria; Pacific Power awards 11 Oregon organizations Electric Mobility Grants; Northcoast Marine Mammal Center advises not to handle harbor seal pups; Trump’s Administration is looking to sell Medford’s Historic Courthouse; and the Josephine County Board of Commissioners voted to file an appeal against the statewide wildfire hazard map. 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 news card image is courtesy of Petr Ganaj via Pexels, which has been edited.

Articles, Community News, Education, Youth

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

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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.”

Continue reading DNUSD Moves Forward With Preliminary Pink Slips Amid Outcry From Parents, Staff, Students →
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Fred Endert Municipal Pool Set to Reopen – Redwood Voice Community News

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March 5th, 2025 – For Redwood Voice Community News, a production of Redwood Voice Youth Media, today’s news: road work updates from Caltrans District 1; DNUSD staff see potential preliminary layoff notices; Del Norte County Public Health encourages measles vaccination as cases rise country-wide; info on last week’s Bertsch-Oceanview water main break; DNOES invites the public for a Hazard Mitigation Plan meeting; Fred Endert Municipal Pool reopens this month after winter repairs; a retrospect on this year’s MMIP Summit; the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation attend the annual TSOC Conference Meeting; US Fish and Wildlife encourage eating invasive Nutria; the ODFW adopts changes to sea urchin regulations; Northcoast Marine Mammal Center advises not to handle harbor seal pups; MINT buys one of their leased properties with grant help from AllCare Health; Grants Pass Police Department deploy a mobile surveillance trailer; Rogue Valley Law Enforcement want to remind drivers about Speed Awareness Month; and the Department of Fish & Wildlife are ordered to fire 400 employees by DOGE. 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 news card image is courtesy of Andrew Goff of the Lost Coast Outpost, which has been edited.

Articles, Community News, Infrastructure, Local Government

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

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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.

Continue reading Defect In C900 Pipe May Have Caused Last Wednesday’s Water Main Break, Crescent City Manager Says →
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Grants Pass Police Surveil Designated Homeless Camp – Redwood Voice Community News

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March 4th, 2025 – For Redwood Voice Community News, a production of Redwood Voice Youth Media, today’s news: road work updates from Caltrans District 1; with a decline in students and funding, the Del Norte Unified School District Board of Trustees discussed post-Covid layoffs; last week California hosted its third annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Summit; Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation officials travel to Coos Bay for the Travel Southern Oregon Coast Network Conference; Federal funding freezes pose a threat to the Del Norte Fire Safe Council; Curry County Commissioners appoint Nick Vicino to the treasurer position; the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife has changed the regulations for sea urchin harvesting; Grants Pass nonprofit MINT purchases the property that houses their emergency weather shelter; Grants Pass Police deploy security cameras and loudspeakers at the 6th & A St. homeless camp; Rogue Valley Law Enforcement commemorate speed awareness month with increased patrols; and DOGE has ordered the layoff of over 400 Department of Fish and Wildlife employees. 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 news card image is courtesy of KOBI-5 NBC5, which has been edited.

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The Oregon Nurses Association Returns to Work – Redwood Voice Community News

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February 28th, 2025 – For Redwood Voice Community News, a production of Redwood Voice Youth Media, today’s news: road work updates from Caltrans District 1; a special Harbor Fire & Rescue Board of Directors meeting is happening tomorrow; a warning about a tsunami alert system test next month; a weekend weather update from the National Weather Service of Eureka; Supervisor Wilson suggests AI to fill staffing shortages in the County; a profile on Del Norte County’s Poetry Out Loud champion; the Oregon Nurses Association returns to work; Oregon seeks to protect renters from application fees; next month is Red Cross Month; the marine update from Fishing the North Coast; and a blood moon is coming. 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 news card image is courtesy of KOBI-5 via their article, which has been edited.

Articles, Community News, Emergencies, Environment, Local Government

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

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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.”

Continue reading Federal Funding Freeze Puts Del Norte Fire Safe Council Fuels Reduction Projects In Limbo →
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Supervisor Suggests Staffing AI to Combat Vacancies – Redwood Voice Community News

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February 27th, 2025 – For Redwood Voice Community News, a production of Redwood Voice Youth Media, today’s news: road work updates from Caltrans District 1; Elk Valley road has a major water main break; Oregon seeks to protect renters from application fees and deposits; Del Norte County Sheriff cracks down to stop a possible July 4th repeat; information on the Del Norte backed AB 1014; the Brookings City Council sees a wave of public support for the municipal pool season; AI is suggested by a supervisor to fill the gaps in county staffing at the Board of Supervisors meeting; environmental groups seek reinstating protections against offshore drilling; and Oregon property owners still have time to fill out their intent to appeal recently released wildfire hazard maps. 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 news card image is courtesy of Redwood Voice Reporter Aisling Bludworth, which has been edited.

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 →