FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2020
WE ALL COUNT!
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#CENSUS2020 SERVING OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 1879 • WWW.TRIPLICATE.COM
Del Norte’s COVID status with state on ‘thin ice’ By David Hayes The Triplicate
Photos by David Hayes, The Triplicate
Gasquet residents Ken and Natalia Smith await news of what’s next for them after evacuating with little more than their dog BB and cat Noodle.
Fire forces evacuation Residents allowed to return a day later By David Hayes The Triplicate
Gasquet residents awoke Wednesday Sept. 9, to an urgent notice the California fires choking the air just the day before were now dangerously close to their town, forcing evacuations. From the evacuation center set up at the Del Norte County Fairground, Barbara Conner, there with husband Rod, recounted having an uncharacteristic foresight the night before. “I took the house phone into my room. I never do that at night,” Conner said. At 6:30 a.m., she got the call to evacuate. Acting quickly, she went up the street one way and her neighbor Kim Black went the other, knocking on doors. “My cell phone is always next to my head, because I’m OCD on my phone. I got two different phone calls from Emergency Services and Del Norte evacuating now. Then you start pounding on doors. I did the cop knock on their door,” Black said, pointing to her neighbors Ken and Natalia Smith now safely in the fairgrounds parking lot. “There were people who did not get phone calls or didn’t hear them.” The Smiths were among those
Volunteers from CERT and the local American Red Cross provide evacuees with fresh coffee, information, snacks, water and masks at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds in Crescent City. who didn’t receive a notice until Black came knocking. The Smiths were able to get out with dog BB and their unhappy cat Noodles, which Ken tried to keep calm wrapped in a blanket. “We found it at a 7 a.m.,” Natalia said. “Go,” Ken added about the only information they received. “I was asking everybody, how far? how much time? And they
said, no, go now.” “We were given no time to get out. We didn’t even grab our go bags or nothing, just get out,” Natalia said. According to Del Norte County Emergency Services Manager Kymmie Scott about 600 Gasquet residents received a notice from the Del Norte Office of Emergency Services at about 6 a.m. Wednesday to evacuate.
The Triplicate
The fairgrounds had been set up as a temporary evacuation point. However, due to COVID-19 safety concerns residents were told to shelter in their cars if another option wasn’t available. At the fairgrounds, volunteers with CERT and the local American Red Cross chapter provided fresh coffee, information, snacks, water and masks. Please see Evacuation, Page A3
David Hayes, The Triplicate
Kathy and Joseph Lujan have big ideas, including a larger sign, for their new restaurant ‘La Cappella’s.’ solo venture. Joseph, a contractor in the Bay Area, handles the restaurant’s marketing.
They met in the Bay Area six years ago, married a year later and vacationed annually in Cres-
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cent City. “When I saw this area, it reminded me of my little home town of Pacifica where I grew up, about 10 miles south of San Francisco,” Joseph said. “We said, ‘You know, we need to retire up there,’” Kathy added. “And I’m like, ‘this place needs a restaurant and my cooking.’” Actually 10 years in the making, the dream came together quickly in the end. They moved here July 1, took control of the property July 27th and opened “La Capella’s,” named after her grandmother, Aug. 15, to unexpected results. “We were busy the first day we opened,” Kathy said. “But 4:30 hit and boom! All hell broke loose. I knew it would be a hit.
The Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) recently debuted its volunteer Missing Persons Review Team — Thomas Burke, Gloria Bobertz and Dan Thompson. Sheriff Erik Apperson said they will be tasked with reviewing all outstanding DNSO missing persons reports and identifying areas of the cases that can be strengthened. They may also organize and aid in the investigations. “It’s important that we constantly review policy and the ways we conduct our investigations,” Apperson said on the DNSO’s Facebook page. “We must always try to improve. We are expected to do so by the communities we serve. I believe this team will help us do just that. They have already helped create better policy and practices. I have no doubt that they will represent a positive addition to the DNSO and our mission. It’s critical that missing person reports stay current and keep moving forward.” Burke, with more than 40 years in law enforcement, recently retired after spending the last 13 years as a sergeant for the DNSO. Burke was also a sergeant with the Crescent City Police Department for more than 20 years. He has investigated countless cases and served many years as a Field Training Officer. Just prior to retirement, Apperson directed Burke to prepare a Please see Missing, Page A3
We will never forget 9/11
Please see Restaurant, Page A3
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Missing Persons Review Team launched The Triplicate
By David Hayes
TODAY
Please see Virus, Page A3
By David Hayes
Community invited to be family at new restaurant ‘La Cappella’s’ Kathy and Joseph Lujan had no fear opening a new restaurant during the COIVD-19 pandemic. In fact, they figure it’s perfect timing for their Italian delicatessen “La Cappella’s,” which features a menu of ready to go short orders. “I said to myself, ‘A pandemic? I don’t care. I’m going to go for it. It’s all delivery and carry out. No dine in... everything was carry out and delivery. It wasn’t going to effect me any,” said Kathy a certified chef with 35 years’ experience cooking and teaching the culinary arts. Kathy has opened five restaurants over her career, but always for someone else. This is her first
The county health officer is worried Del Norte County’s status is precarious in the state’s new reopening guidelines. Dr. Warren Rehwaldt told the Board of Supervisors Tuesday that Del Norte is about where he expected it to be with the amount of positive COVID-19 cases at this point in the summer. However, it’s spot in Tier 3 in the state’s new Blueprint for a Safer Economy, just updated on Monday, is not secure. “We are skating on the edge a little bit, kind of by how the data is going to be used by the state,” Rehwaldt said. According to the state’s new website https://covid19.ca.gov/ safer-economy/, Del Norte has 10.4 new COVID-19 positive cases per day per 100,000 people and a .9% positivity rate. This places the county in the moderate, or Tier 3 category. Rehwaldt said there was a method in place to give counties credit for doing a lot of testing to offset their case counts and stay in a better tier.
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