WEEKEND EDITION
FRIDAY, February 28, 2020 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
Leaders celebrate nursing programs By Jessica Goddard Staff Writer
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tate Senator Mike McGuire and College of the Redwoods Del Norte Campus hosted a press conference on Saturday, Feb. 22, to celebrate the growing nursing educational opportunities in the north coast, particularly the CR Del Norte’s four-week-old Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) to Registered Nurse (RN) program. “It’s truly a milestone moment for all of us here on the north coast,” Sen. McGuire said at the conference. “Our region has some of the most severe shortages of nurses in the entire state of California. This severe shortage impacts the health and well-being of thousands of patients every year. And it significantly increases the cost with the delivery of healthcare.” The 10 members of the first cohort, adorned in their maroon scrubs, stood in front of the CR Del Norte’s crowded room of politicians, city council members, county supervisors and residents, as McGuire opened the event. “Our philosophy has been simple, and it’s this: we need to keep quality health care close to home and that means we need to grow our own nurses,”
McGuire said to the crowd. After over a decade of requests, CR Del Norte is finally able to offer an RN program to students who have completed LVN or paramedic degrees (PMED). “It’s awesome. I can still work at the job I have now, and I only have to commute a half hour to come here, versus like even the one just in Eureka I’d have to drive down there twice a week to go to class. So this is very good,” said Derek Wood, one of the cohort students who currently works as a paramedic. However, this program did not come about without the numerous partnerships in the community, surrounding counties and state. “We need to acknowledge the fact that we wouldn’t be standing up here today, we wouldn't be having this celebration without the greater Del Norte community. The Del Norte community has had this vision for over a decade now by the way, and numerous neighbors have been influential in getting this to this critical point,” Sen. McGuire said in his speech. Humboldt State University President Tom Jackson More Nursing on Page A2
The RN cohort, city council members, county supervisors and other influential figures pose at the end of the celebration.
Senator Mike McGuire addresses the crowd at the press conference on Saturday. Photos by Jessica Goddard.
Sgt. McManus signs off
Sgt. Gene McManus finishes some last-minute work before clearing out his office after retiring with more than 32 years at the Del Norte Sheriff’s Office. Photo by David Hayes.
He gives a candid glimpse into life of a deputy sheriff By David Hayes Staff Writer
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n Feb. 21, the Del Norte Sheriff’s Office posted a video to its Facebook page that came with a viewer’s warning — “This video may cause you to get sand in your eyes.” It was a dare to watch a recording of Sgt. Gene McManus signing off at the end of his last shift after 32.7 years at the DNSO without it bringing a tear to your eye. It most certainly brought one to McManus’s eye as the dispatcher acknowledged his farewell. “That was hard, really, really hard,” McManus said. “I love what I do. I learned as I got older, there’s some stuff physically I can’t do anymore. Foot pursuits are really hard. “All my children have paid the price for me being a cop. I missed birthdays, Christmas, and I had an epiphany that it didn’t have to be that way anymore. I was making a choice instead of being with them. I decided my children were more important.” McManus, who will be 66 in May, sat down and recalled his nearly 33 years in law enforcement, all in Del Norte County. He got a taste for law enforcement in Los Angeles in a short stint with the housing police but it was in the process of being absorbed by the county and the state. So, he decided it was a good time to work for a sheriff’s department, not a police department or PD as McManus commonly refers to the brother organization. And he wanted to work in a small county. So he came to stay with in-laws in Del Norte County with no job waiting.
He tended bar in Gasquet until he went through the Redwoods Police Academy and, as luck would have it, the DNCO was the first to offer him a job. Over the years, as the community grew, other deputies would leave for the police force or work at the new Pelican Bay State Prison. But McMa-
nus stayed with what he was loving most. “When I moved here, they hadn’t even cut the trees down for the prison yet. They started the construction while I was on patrol,” he said. “The assertion by the undersheriff at the time was when the prison opens up, our wages will go up along with theirs. That never happened. But the thing of it is, even though the wages are better
someplace else, I loved what I did. So I stayed.” He also never transitioned to a police department. “I didn’t want to go to the PD because it was much too small a jurisdiction for me. I like rolling from the Oregon border on 199 all the way down to the Humboldt county line, Code 3 (an emergency response with lights and sirens), that’s a nice feeling,” McManus said. He was the first patrolman assigned to Sheriff Mike Ross’s new narcotics task force under the guidance of the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE). It proved to be one of the few parts of his job McManus did not enjoy. So he returned to patrol duty. Then he discovered his first love in law enforcement — SWAT (special weapons and tactics). “When I inherited it, it was under-trained, and didn’t have any continuity,” McManus said. “It was making a transition in those days from guys who put on camos, had rifles, went out and surrounded a building. It had evolved a lot.” McManus hooked up with a couple of FBI agents from the San Francisco SWAT team who were also part of the training division. He got them to bring their basic 40-hour training course to Del Norte (it’s now 80 hours). “When we came out of that course, we were tight. We were trained up, FBI techniques are cutting edge. Always had a really good relationship with them after that. I absolutely loved tactical work,” McManus said.
More McManus on Page A3
Wild Rivers Market opens deli By Jessica Goddard Staff Writer
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rescent City has a new healthy lunch option. The Wild Rivers Market, a natural foods market, just opened a deli, an endeavor that has been on their radar since 2013. The Wild Rivers Market has been serving organic, natural and local foods to Crescent City residents since 1986. The owners of Eureka Natural Foods took over an old health food store and transformed it into Harvest Natural foods. In 2013, they renamed it the Wild Rivers Market. Since its humble beginnings as a small scale market, it now offers all the amenities of a grocery store, but with the
personal touch of a smalltown shop. Now added to its services is a full-service deli intended to offer a 10 minute or less health food lunch option. “Definitely filled a void in Crescent City that’s been there for a good lunch spot, sandwiches, and really quality ingredients, organic products,” said manager Tom Boylan. Boyland and the owner, Rick Littlefield, have long wanted the market to expand with a deli, like its two sister markets, the Eureka Natural Foods in Eureka and McKinleyville, but they lacked the space. So when the building next to them became available, they quickly claimed the property and went to work transforming it into an eatery.
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For nine months, construction workers created a kitchen area, brought in a salad bar station, new coolers and a service counter. “This building has been a lot of different things, and to see what has become of it with our projects has just been really awesome,” Boylan said. “So really, it’s revitalizing a part of Crescent City that’s needed it for quite some time.” Littlefield and Boylan were too excited to wait until everything was ready, so they held their soft opening on Feb. 17 while they waited for the salad and soup bar to be ready. “It’s been packed. It’s been really busy. People have been really excited to have it, and we’ve been really excited to have all the new faces in here,” Boylan said. “And then
Wild Rivers Market Manager Tom Boylan and Owner Rick Littlefield smile proudly in front of their newly opened deli. Photo by Jessica Goddard. all of our existing customers are just ecstatic.” Once everything is in operation, customers will have options galore – soups, panin-
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is, sandwiches, fresh-squeezed juices and smoothies, local coffee and baked goods and a make-your-own salad. As much as possible, they try to
make all their products with local food from vendors such as the Alexandre Family Farm, More Deli on Page A5
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