WEEKEND EDITION
ess Guide lth and FitnCounties 2020 Hea Norte Curry & Del
FRIDAY, January 31, 2020
Inside Health & Wellness SPECIAL SECTION S E R V I N G O U R C O M M U N I T Y S I N C E 1 8 7 9 • W W W. T R I P L I C A T E . C O M
Supervisors authorize K9 fundraising account for sheriff’s office Staff Report
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f Del Norte County Sheriff Erik Apperson had his way, his department would be augmented by a robust K9 program. He pitched the upside of creating a fundraising account for the county’s K9 program to the Board of Supervisors on Jan. 28. “There are a lot of benefits to a K9 program. When at Crescent City police, I managed
the program there. It’s great for staff because it provides for lateral movement outside promotional movement, so it brings more depth to staff. And it provides a higher level of service to our community,” Apperson said. Needing little additional incentive, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the funding program. District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard clarified how the fund would
work. “This does not come out of the general fund but is a completely separate fund to be set up for the sheriff ’s department K9s to collect donations and other pieces to help the program,” he said. Apperson said the sheriff ’s office had a K9 policy on books for a long time and this fundraising mechanism would help expand it. “One interesting focus I think will make the sheriff ’s office K9 pro-
gram a little unique, and I give credit to CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) at Pelican Bay (State Prison), they recently instituted a very successful K9 program,” Apperson said. “I want multiple K9s and I want one of them assigned to a correctional officer at the Del Norte County Jail. I’ve heard rumbles over the years there’s been issues of controlled substances and drugs in there. I would like to
build a program that’s so stout, we would not only have a K9 assigned to operations but also to our correctional division. I think that fixes that problem pretty quick.” Asked about how much a robust K9 program would cost, Apperson said he intends to be as successful as he can raising funds. “The more funds I create, the more dogs I can get, the more cops I can get trained and
the more equipment I can purchase,” he said. “K9 programs are not inexpensive. As we move forward and look at fundraising opportunities, it’s my goal to hit somewhere north of $60,000. I’d like to get three K9s. Dogs can range around the $10,000 a dog price. And you can nearly double that with the training and equipment associated.”
Winning the fight
Daniel Aiken Smithson
Charter school employee arrested
Charges include sexual abuse of a minor
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Tolowa Dunes Stewards work together to clear South Big Dune of invasive English beach grass. Photo by David Hayes.
Volunteers clearing plants plaguing area’s dunes By David Hayes Staff Writers
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ore than a century after Europeans settled on the West Coast, Del Norte County volunteers are still cleaning up after them. Specifically, the plants they brought with them. Those plants now are classified as invasive species, and they’re crowding out native varieties.
According to Sandra Jerabeck, director of Tolowa Dunes Stewards, the organization’s volunteers are removing the species that the European settlers didn’t realize were invasive. “When European settlers came here, they brought what they were comfortable with, in terms of plants and animals. Those plants - English ivy, English holly - they brought because they liked it.
“There was no understanding at that time what it could do to this environment. Where it doesn’t have any controls or predators, like those built into our environment, it just takes over and you have nothing but English ivy. “It will kill all the trees, the forest, it will cover the ground so thickly you’ll have nothing else growing,” Jerabeck said. The volunteers with
Tolowa Dunes Stewards have been focusing their efforts on removing the English beach grass. Over the decades, the grass grew unchecked, creating a sea of plants that were crowding out local varieties such as the rare Tolowa coast wallflower, which Jerabeck said probably doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world. She and a rotating group of volunteers have been
digging up invasive species at Tolowa Dunes State Park for 16 years. Jerabeck said the California Department of Parks and Recreation asked for help because it had run out of money to pay crews for the work. “In terms of all our public lands, the money they used to have for work like this is gone. They are More Dunes on Page A2
Fore! Del Norte Golf Course is back Martin family reopens local course to public By David Hayes Staff Writers
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Philip Bright, of Crescent City, hits some balls at the driving range before hitting the links at the reopened Del Norte Golf Course. Photo by David Hayes.
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n Tuesday, after an early morning rainstorm swept over the region, Crescent City resident Philip Bright weighed his options for the day’s activity and decided to hit the links. The option became available locally with the reopening of the Del Norte Golf Course last week after being closed for more than two years. Bright, 72, said he
used to play a round a golf a couple of times a week before the course closed due to declining attendance and maintenance. “Everybody I know who plays golf is delighted it’s reopened,” Bright said in between practice swings on the course’s driving range. Jim Martin purchased the defunct course, located about halfway between Crescent City and Brookings off Highway 197, from the Elk Valley Rancheria Tribe last
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July. The longtime contractor turned his years of experience building homes, condos and townhouses toward resuscitating the course with the help of his son, Alan. Alan said it took months of patience to cut back the overgrown brush and cultivate the greens back into playable shape. “You can’t rush the turf by cutting it down to a quarter-inch and think it’s ready,” Alan explained. “We wantMore Golf on Page A5
Staff Report
ncharted Shores Academy staff member Daniel Aiken Smithson was arrested on sexual abuse of a minor charges on Sunday, Jan 26, according to the Del Norte Sheriff’s Office (DNSO). Smithson, 41, worked as a custodian for the academy but taught elective classes in art, chess and Dungeons and Dragons. He was placed on administrative leave after the arrest, according to Uncharted Shores Academy Principal Margie Rouge. “The charges in no way involve the school or any of the students attending school here. We have somebody taking over for him as custodian… and his elective classes have been canceled,” Rouge told the Triplicate. The Triplicate received information that the victim was a previous student at Uncharted Shores Academy and that Smithson and the victim allegedly met while the victim was a student. This information came from someone involved in the case who wished to remain anonymous at this time to protect the identity of the victim. Rouge could not confirm this, but she did comment saying that none of the current students from this school year are involved. Smithson is charged with suspicion of oral copulation, contacting a minor with intent to commit a sex crime, arranging a meeting with a minor for sexual purposes, continuous sexual abuse of a child, sexual penetration with a foreign object: victim under 14 years old and molesting a child under 18 years old, according to the DNSO’s online information system. His bail was set at $500,000, and he appeared for arraignment at 1:10 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan 28.
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