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.
A retired Del Norte High School principal has been accused of sexually assaulting a student in a recent lawsuit filed against both him and Del Norte Unified School District
The lawsuit, filed in Del Norte County Superior Court on Oct. 18, 2024 and amended Jan. 6, 2025, alleges that Randy Fugate was a teacher when he began grooming the plaintiff in 1999 in order to sexually exploit her. The complaint also alleges that Del Norte Unified School District was either aware, or should have been aware, of Fugate’s actions and did nothing to prevent them.
The plaintiff is seeking damages against both defendants for negligence — including negligent hiring, supervision and retention, and negligent failure to train, warn or educate — sexual battery and for violating the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act and California Civil Rights Act of 1976.
DNCOE’s director of information network services showed the Board of Trustees this clip of a Morgan Freeman deepfake during a discussion last year about artificial intelligence in the classroom.Thumbnail courtesy of the Del Norte County Office of Education
A year after he showed trustees a YouTube clip featuring a Morgan Freeman deepfake, Ryan Bahten says Del Norte Unified School District will seek public input as it continues to draft policies around artificial intelligence.
The district will deploy a community survey starting next week, said Bahten, the Del Norte County Office of Education’s director of information network services. The input provided will guide him and other district and DNCOE employees as they differentiate between AI as a tool in the classroom and AI as a potential risk to student privacy.
Bahten said he is aiming to get a policy before the Board of Trustees in time for teachers to begin learning how to use AI next school year.
Thumbnail image includes the DNUSD and CSEA logos taken from the district’s Facebook page and Great Northern Chapter #178’s Facebook page.
Negotiations between Del Norte Unified School District and the union that represents its classified employees are set to start over after members of the union’s local chapter rejected a tentative agreement.
The rejection of the proposed agreement between DNUSD and the California School Employees Association Great Northern Chapter #178 comes as contract discussions between the district and the Del Norte Teachers Association head toward mediation.
It also prompted Jenna Lussier, lead negotiator for CSEA Great Northern #178, to step down from the union’s negotiating team.
Hours after two parents confronted the school board over last week’s lockdown, Del Norte County law enforcement investigated another threat they ultimately deemed non-credible.
A report came to the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office concerning a possible threat of violence at Crescent Elk Middle School, Del Norte Unified School District announced on Facebook at about 9:30 a.m. Friday.
The child that allegedly made the threats had been speaking with a friend from Humboldt County who was concerned enough to notify the Fortuna Police Department, Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott told Redwood Voice Community News.
Thumbnail: Del Norte Teachers Association and Del Norte Unified School District logos.
Contract negotiations between the union representing local teachers and Del Norte Unified School District have hit an impasse with a dispute over salaries being the primary roadblock.
DNUSD is offering a one-time cash bonus of $750 per certificated employee. Del Norte Teachers Association negotiators are pushing for ongoing salary increases for union members. But with COVID dollars having run out and the potential for millions in budget cuts in the next few months, DNUSD officials say the district can’t afford the union’s ask.
DNTA President Amber Tiedeken-Cron, who teaches seventh- and eighth-grade history and math at Smith River School, doesn’t buy that explanation.
Though she thanked trustees for taking her concerns seriously, Lisa Sedgwick rejected the idea that implementing a digital system for reporting and tracking mechanical issues in district vans would cost $70,000.
Sedgwick, a teacher at Mary Peacock Elementary School, told Del Norte Unified School District trustees on Thursday that free electronic tools exist that allow people to fill out forms that are dated and time stamped and QR codes can make them available when a van is returned after hours.
“If you’re really stuck on having a paper form, which they never tell you when you make a complaint in person [that there’s] this form to fill out — it was never handed to me when I complained about the rotors two years ago — that could be handed to you when you’re handing over the keys,” she said. “There are so many tools that are easy to use and they’re free. There’s no reason to spend $70,000 when you have these tools available.”
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.”
To make her case for why voters should favor Measure H, Coleen Parker drew the Crescent City Council’s attention to another proposed bond — this one aimed at improving school facilities statewide.
If Del Norters approve the $59 million general obligation bond Del Norte Unified School District placed on the ballot this presidential election, DNUSD stands a better chance at receiving state facilities money should California’s Proposition 2 succeed, Parker told councilors on Monday.
“The way the Office of Public School Construction works is … if you are in a community that has passed a bond, now your community says, ‘Yes, schools are important to us.’ They help with matching dollars in a variety of things,” said Parker, who retired from DNUSD about two years ago and is part of the Support Our Kids — Yes On Measure H Committee. “If our [Measure] H doesn’t pass and the state bond does, the chances of Del Norte seeing any of that money is very slim.”
October 1st, 2024 – For Redwood Voice Community News, a production of Redwood Voice Youth Media, today’s news: roadwork updates from CalTrans District 1; Redwood Voice has gained a valuable new member; the California DMV announces new rules regarding senior drivers; a popular Crescent City store announced their closing; the Coast Guard of Humboldt Bay rescued a 74-year-old from the Brookings area Sunday; the Crescent City Harbor District will have to contend with firework bans and finding a new harbormaster; updates on yesterday’s school bus accidents; the DNUSD discusses reconfiguring four elementary schools; the BOEM announces the pause of offshore auctions regarding lease areas; a Red Flag Warning has been issued due to local gusty winds; an update on fishing conditions from Kenny Priest; and an in depth look at the Pacific Pantry program. All this and our regular segments from the Pacifica Radio Network and National Native News.
We’re broadcasting on KFUG 101.1FM and tinyurl.com/listentoKFUG 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 KFUG Community Radio Coordinator Amanda Dockter, which has been edited.
Telling the untold stories of Del Norte and Tribal Lands through amplified youth voices.
