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EX-POLICE CHIEF MAKES DRONE VIDEOS
501 H Street, Crescent City, CA (707) 464-2141
on Page 6
SATURDAY October 26, 2019
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SCOOTERING
Power stays on here
to break a world record
By Jessica Goddard Staff Writer
By Jessica Goddard Staff Writer
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acific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) cut electricity to around 180,000 California customers on Thursday in its fifth public safety power shutoff since June. Doing so was an effort to curtail the likelihood of wildfires, given weather conditions that included high winds in danger of sparking the dry, wooded landscape. And those outages likely will not stop any time soon, according to the company’s chief executive. By Friday morning, PG&E had cut power to areas of Sonoma County, 75 miles north of San Francisco, where the Kincade Fire has burned 21,900 acres. Firefighters had that blaze only 5% contained, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The National Weather Service is predicting extreme fire weather this weekend - hot temperatures, low humidity, high winds. Meantime, the utility that covers Del Norte County Pacific Power - said it would follow similar shutdown procedures if wildfire conditions rose here. Del Norte County currently has less of a threat of wildfires, but if necessary, Pacific Power most likely would follow PG&E’s steps. Earlier in 2019, the company added a policy to its wildfire safety plan stating it would cut power if the weather produced unsafe conditions, such as high winds and hot temperatures. Pacific Power determines its customers’ risk of a power shutoff by following CalFire’s risk standard and maps, said Drew Hanson, a spokesman for Pacific Power. CalFire rates different sections of California by their level of fire danger. Del Norte County traditionally has faced less danger. “As weather changes from year to year, that could change as well, but at the moment, it seems unlikely that Del Norte County would receive a public safety power shutoff,” Hanson said. “Following the 2017 and 2018 wildfires, we implemented this program to reduce wildfire threats,” said Hanson, although the utility has yet to conduct any fire safety power shutoffs since adding that protocol. Hanson said Pacific Power would alert customers up to 48 hours before a planned outage, then update them throughout the process using phone calls, texts and emails. He urged customers to keep current contact information on their account in case of a power outage. More PGE on Page A3
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(From left) Project Create48 riders Yonatan Belik and Michael Reid reach California after scootering at 35 mph through 24 states. Courtesy photo.
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More Scooter on Page A2
Flames destroy rifle barrel plant Wiyots get an island back
By Jeremy C. Ruark Staff Writer
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hirty-five years of my life went up in this fire,” Chris Dichter said. Dichter owns the PacNor Barreling plant at 99299 Overlook Rd. in Brookings plus an adjacent 10 acres. The plant manufactures precision rifle barrels. Dichter was watching flames rolling through the plant, which sits in a wooded area just east of U.S. Highway 101. A heavy black-and-gray plume from the Wednesday-morning blaze could be seen throughout the surrounding area. While fire investigators have not yet released specific details about the cause of blaze, Dichter described what he saw
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ichael Reid and Yonatan Belik jumped onto their 50cc Honda Ruckus motor scooters on Sept. 7 in Philadelphia ready to ride nearly 9,000 miles for two reasons: to break a Guinness World Record and to highlight the stories of people they met along the way. After scootering at 35 mph through freezing weather and 24 states, Project Create48 riders Reid and Belik arrived in Crescent City on Oct. 14, halfway through their journey, amazed by the redwood trees and the scenic Pacific Coast. “We finally made it to the Pacific Ocean … and we are surrounded by the redwoods,” Belik said. “We were not planning to come to Crescent City, bu t… we changed our route to make sure we went through here.” Their Project Create48 is part of a greater initiative, Wheeling for the World, a group of change-makers seeking to explore and inspire through movement. Growing up in two different countries - Reid from in U.S. and Belik in Israel - they shared the same dream of breaking a Guinness World Record. “For me, this is proving to myself that we can be more than what we’ve been told,” Belik said. They followed that dream first in the summer of 2018 in
By Jessica Goddard Staff Writer
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Fire crews used a defense tactic in battling the blaze - keeping the flames from spreading to adjacent structures and the nearby forest. Photo by Jeremy C. Ruark. when fire erupted inside the 7.000-square-foot building. “We had a part worn out on a lathe and were waiting for a replacement part,” he said. “As one of the
guys moved the electrical conduit attached to the lathe that comes out of a box in the wall, some sparks flew.” Dichter said other employees pulled the
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main breaker to cut the power, but shortly after the fire burst from the wall. More Fire on Page A2
he City of Eureka returned ownership of nearly the entirety of Tuluwat Island, also known as Indian Island, to the Wiyot Tribe during a ceremony Oct. 21. Eureka may be the first local government to take this action, according to the North Coast Journal. The Yurok Tribe in Klamath found the act encouraging and hopes to see local governments take similar steps. “The Yurok Tribe supports tribes in receivMore Island on Page A2
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