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SERVING DEL NORTE COUNTY SINCE 1879 Crescent City, CA
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2023
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Del Norte County mired in opioid crisis
County has the highest per capita opioid death rate in the state county counsel shared with the board on-going litigation with major pharmaceutical companies in seeking financial relief from the deadly affects of prescription opioids including fentanyl which Roberts attributed three-quarters
BY ROGER GITLIN The Triplicate
Jacqueline Roberts delivered a sobering prescription drug report at the September 26 Board of Supervisors meeting. The assistant
of the deaths. Her comments were riveting. The opioid addiction crisis is a national, state and major local emergency. In Del Norte County, Roberts reported that the explosion of opioid addiction increased 264
percent from 2019 to 2021. How did Del Norte County arrive at this mortifying status? According to Roberts, in 2021, 17,361 prescriptions were written in Del Norte County, alone. From February 2022-to
January 2023, Del Norte County owned the highest per capita death rate from opiate-related overdoses in California. 34 deaths were recorded from a Please see OPIOID, Page A2
County adopts record budget BY ROGER GITLIN The Triplicate
Photo by Roger Gitlin/The Triplicate
Supervisors meet with fishermen to hear concerns banning quillfish retention. From left, Supervisors Joey Borges, Dean Wilson, Chris Howard and Harbor Commissioner Harry Adams. In attendance but not seen in this picture is Del Norte Board of Supervisors Chairman Darrin Short.
Groundswell against fish ban is growing
BY ROGER GITLIN
Here’s how you can help
The Triplicate
What started out as a group of four has quickly grown across Del Norte County. In an effort to end the Department of Fish and Wildlife ban on retention of the quillback fish, the untitled group is raising awareness of the impending economic disaster looming on the horizon. Harry Adams, Steve Huber, Andrea Spahn and Chris Hegness met a few weeks back to discuss the August 21 directive banning quillback retention from Mendocino to the Oregon border. Adams is both a Harbor commissioner and a commercial charter vessel owner, Huber is a commercial charter vessel owner licensed in California, Spahn is a recreational
Please submit your comments about the Dept of Fish and Wildlife ban on Ocean fishing. Here’s the link: Submit Comments (pfmc.org). Scroll down to comments E5 and G1. boat owner who, with her husband, recently retired to Crescent City and Hegness is the general manager of Englund Marine in Crescent City. Here’s the chronology of what has happened: • August 7 - CDFW sent out a bulletin closing all quillback rockfish retention in the Nearshore Groundfish Fishery from Mendocino to the Oregon border. • August 21 - CDFW determined the quota of approximately 2,000 pounds of quillback had exceeded 130 percent, hence ordered a
complete closure directive immediately. The vote to shut down ocean fishing was 7-6, with two abstentions. The balance of the fishing season was now declared over. • September 1 - CDFW extends the closure to the Central Management Area south of Mendocino. The ban extends from the shoreline to a depth of 50 fathoms or 300 feet. Fish are unattainable below the 300 foot depth, according to the group. The fishermen group questioned the model used to declare the ban. The group asks for a review of data via a hook and line protocol, claiming the hook and line data is far more accurate. The closure of ocean fishing will be an economic disaster for Crescent City and up Please see BAN, Page A10
Court will affirm Fashion decision BY ROGER GITLIN The Triplicate
Del Norte Superior Court Judge Robert Cochran stated he will confirm court approval of the Fashion Blacksmith arbitration award against the Crescent City Harbor District. The legal maneuvering by Harbor counsel Best, Best and Krieger delayed the confirmation by one week when the Harbor sought injunctive relief related to additional damages Fashion is seeking. The Harbor has lapsed on the first of two arbitration deadlines: Major repairs including roofing and siding of the harbor-owned Fashion building by September 30, and the dredging of the inner Harbor adjacent to the Fashion pier by October 31 were mandated by the arbiter. Defense counsel asked if Fashion Blacksmith intended to remain a tenant in the Harbor. According to the arbitration panel, the CCHD failure to dredge and remove years-old sand and other natural accumulations has prevented the functioning of the syncrolift, Photo by Roger Gitlin/The Triplicate
Due to delays in making mandated repairs, Fashion Blacksmith may have to close by the end of the year.
Please see FASHION, Page A10
INDEX
Phone Number: 707-460-6727
Obituaries
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Crossword Puzzle Opinion Classifieds
Crossword Answers
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Please see BUDGET, Page A2
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Supervisors concluded the 14day public hearing and adopted the 2023/24 county budget. The balanced budget for the upcoming fiscal year is $211,491,252 with a general fund budget of $40,522,171. To no one’s surprise and in the wake of record high inflation, both are new budget records. The vote was 4-1. Chairman Darrin Short, Vice Chair Valerie Starkey and supervisors Joey Borges and Dean Wilson vote YES. Supervisor Chris Howard voted NO. From the opening of the public hearing two weeks previous, the board increased the general fund budget just under $2.9 million. The general (discretionary fund) carried over a balance of $7.1 million, caused mainly by the continuing labor market and hiring trends. The fund balance is much higher than anticipated due to high vacancy and turnover rates and reduced departmental spending. Voter-approved Measure R passed in 2020 added a 1 percent local sales tax that created an overall 8.25 general sales tax. Measure R derived-funds supported budget increases in law enforcement, emergency and disaster response, public nuisance, blight and code enforcement, emergency response, animal services, planning and capital improvements. The adopted budget is retroactive to July 1, the beginning of the fiscal year. In a rare occurrence, supervisors declined to approve consent agenda number 11 which would have authorized the director of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Officer and director of Public Health Nursing to implement the Bridge Access program. Supervisor Dean Wilson pulled the item from the single vote consent agenda for additional discussion. The Bridge Access program would allow providers to continue to offer COVID-19 vaccines to adults age 19 and above and who are medically uninsured. Wilson questioned the COVID 19 injection protocol as a non-vaccine, experimental, noneffective and creating adverse effects on many individuals who previously had taken the medication. Wilson saw no purpose to offer the Bridge Access program and stated he was unable to vote in favor of the state-funded pro
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