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SATURDAY September 21, 2019
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Downtown burglaries on par with last year By David Hayes Staff Writer
C
indy Hoffman, a customer-service representative with Blue Star Gas at 340 H St. in Crescent City, was concerned to learn the business next door - the Del Norte Triplicate – had been burglarized last weekend. “I was very surprised,” said Hoffman. “It had to take them a while to get away with everything they took, and
nobody saw anything? The Police Department is just the next street over.” Hoffman was sympathetic with The Triplicate’s loss, since Blue Star Gas, a business staple in Crescent City for more than six decades, itself has been a victim of break-ins twice in the last five years. She said the company installed an alarm system after the first break-in, “but that didn’t stop them the second time.”
About six months ago, Hoffman said, someone threw a rock through a window in the alley, jumped in and snatched a generator. “They got about as far as the Elks Lodge across the street before it must have gotten too heavy, because they stashed it there. “The police later found it and brought it back,” she said. The Triplicate’s office at 318 H St. was one of five businesses burglarized since Aug.6, according to Crescent
City police records. Acting Chief of Police Sgt. Edward Wilson shared the results of a search of recent records, saying, “I ran the burglaries, without location, from Aug. 6 through Sept. 16. We had seven incidents of shoplifting, two vehicle burglaries, two residential and five commercial burglaries.” Wilson said anecdotally that the numbers seem on par with property crime this time of year. “We see an increase
in petty theft from cars during the summer at the hotels and motels, while the residential break-ins tend to be steady.” In California, residential burglary is considered first-degree and a felony. Second-degree burglary involves any other type of structure, including stores and businesses. Second-degree burglary is known as a “wobbler” infraction, which in this state can be charged either as a felony or a misdemeanor.
According to criminaldefenselawyer.com, prior to Proposition 47 prosecutors could charge thefts of less than $950 as wobblers, making it possible for the accused to end up with a felony, particularly if the defendant had stolen certain types of property or had prior offenses. That option was removed in 2014 by Proposition 47. Now, More Burglaries on Page A4
Two top awards for the harbormaster
By David Hayes Staff Writer
ere this Academy Award seaW son, Charlie Helms would have swept two big awards: Best
Picture and Best Director. As it is, Helms - CEO and harbormaster of the Crescent City Harbor District - recently was named Harbormaster of the Year and also Port Captain of the Year. Both honors were bestowed by the California Association of Harbormasters and Port Captains Board during its annual conference earlier this month. Although Helms is the association’s president, he had been successfully kept in the dark by the rest of the board. “At the awards ceremony, they said, ‘And now, for state harbormaster of the year … ‘When they’re describing his accomplishments, I’m looking around the room and thinking, ‘Who is this guy?’” Helms confided, “It was really cool. I loved having my wife there. It was touching, something different at my age to get this kind of recognition in a job I applied for just because I thought, ‘Oh, I can make a difference.’” Helms was working in economic development in 2014, sitting in an airport, when he saw a LinkedIn job posting for Crescent City harbormaster. “I thought, ‘Wow, it would be really amazing if it’s really like they say it is. I could really make a difference, help this group out.’ “I just thought how cool would it be to be intimately acquainted with someplace and really make a difference for a harbor.” Helms had graduated from Southern Illinois University with a degree
Charlie Helms, CEO and harbormaster of the Crescent City Harbor District, received a trophy and plaque from the California Association of Harbormasters and Port Captains Board as both its Harbormaster of the Year and its Port Captain of the Year. Photo by David Hayes.
in journalism, but early on he veered toward a career on the waterways. His first job was as a deckhand in Mississippi. His career then took him further south, to the Gulf of Mexico.
But, he said, “I’d never worked in a brand-new harbor. I was always somewhere where there was something to work on, or something that was wrong. I looked at this harbor and thought, ‘How great is this?’”
When he traveled to Crescent City, Helms liked what he saw – some vacant land, and a port without a river bar, such as with More Harbormaster on Page A3
Wind, rain cut power on several occasions H
Staff Report
eavy rain and wind caused electricity shortages Sept. 17 along the coast of southern Oregon and northern California. Del Norte County experienced a couple of brief power outages Tuesday afternoon and evening, the largest of which shut down power at Pelican Bay State Prison, which has a backup generator. The power went out at 4:50 p.m. and was fully restored by 7:30 p.m., said Tom Gauntt, a spokesman for Pacific Power. He said a tree had hit a power transmission line, which did not break
the line but did disrupt electricity. “It wasn’t damaging the lines … but if they get connected in that way, it just shorts out the system,” Gauntt said. Crescent City residents experienced a shorter power outage that day, from 3-3:30 p.m., also caused by a falling tree hitting a power line. After a particularly dry summer, the amount of rain received Tuesday laid heavily on the trees, said Gauntt, causing them to lean or fall onto power lines. And if the branches are satu-
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Retiring police chief praised The Crescent City Council honored retiring Chief of Police Ivan Minsal during a council meeting Sept. 16. Mayor Blake Inscore thanked Minsal for his four years of service and presented him with a plaque of appreciation from the council. “I appreciate that you have been a community-first individual,” Inscore told Minsal.
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