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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2020
Crescent City, CA
New mayor ready for the challenge By David Rupkalvis THE TRIPLICATE
After he was first elected as a councilman in Crescent City, Jason Greenough’s coworkers at Pelican Bay State Prison jokingly began to call him “mayor.” Last week, that joke became reality when Greenough was selected to lead the council for the next year. Greenough was chosen to be mayor of Crescent City by a 3-2 vote with new council members Alex Campbell and Beau Smith joining Greenough in the vote. Former Mayor Blake Inscore and Councilman Isaiah Wright voted for Inscore. Greenough said although he knew he was going to be nominated, he was surprised to win. “I spoke with one person and he asked me if I would accept the nomination to become mayor,”
Greenough said. “I said I would, but I did not expect it to go the way it did.” Greenough said his decision to accept the nomination had nothing to do with Inscore, who led the council the last four years. “Nothing against our old mayor Blake Inscore, he did a great job the last four years,” Greenough said. “He really digs into the issues and brings a lot of experience. I really value his opinions on this, but having him there for four years, I felt it was time for a change.” Greenough first ran for city council four years ago because he wanted to make a difference in his community. “At the time, we had just had my son,” he said. “I looked around and I saw this town, and I love this place. I really wanted to make a difference for my kids.
I wanted to make it so if they wanted to stay here, they can.” Greenough said the council for the last four years has had some successes, but as he takes over the top leadership spot on the council, there is a lot of work to do. He said due to COVID, the council has had to cut more than $1 million from the city budget. Moving forward, he said he has two primary goals. “My focus is two-fold, first, getting us through the COVID crisis which means making sure those who are most vulnerable to the virus are protected,” he said. “I want to encourage people to make wise decisions. When we do get a vaccine, I really hope can focus on getting the vaccine to those most susceptible to getting the virus. “We will get through this as
Please see Mayor, Page A8
Photo by David Rupkalvis
After four years on the city council, Crescent City Mayor Jason Greenough is excited about the chance to lead.
Crabbing becomes a family adventure COVID Crescent City anglers face challenges head on
cases continue to climb
By David Rupkalvis THE TRIPLICATE
The Crescent City Harbor was a beehive of activity Friday night as boat owners and their crews waited to see if they could head out to fish for Dungeness crab. By Saturday morning, it was eerily quiet. After the state of California announced crab season would not open until Dec. 23, most of the owners and crews headed home to wait another week. The only boat with activity was the Fishing Vessel Resolution, where boat owner Richard Nehmer and his crew made some final preparations. Nehmer also took the extra time to work with greenhorn Blake Mihelich, who is going crabbing for the first time. Nehmer was joined on the boat by his wife, Annie, and their children, Alana and Connor. For the Nehmers, fishing is and has always been a family affair. “My grandfather was a fisherman, my father was a fisherman,” Richard said. “Connor will be a fourth-generation fisherman. Connor literally fishes with us. It’s his business, he just has to wait a few years.”
THE TRIPLICATE
Photo by David Rupkalvis
Richard and Annie Nehmer, owners of the fishing vessel Resolution in Crescent City, pose for a photo with their children, Alana and Connor, and their crew, Chris Hooper, left, and Blake Mihelich. Like most professional fishimpact is immense. During crab boats here.” ermen in Crescent City, fishing season, up to 10 million pounds While fishing goes on all year, is a year-round business for the of crab will be caught, and the the money maker is Dungeness Nehmers. The crab season will livelihoods of thousands depend crab. And in the crab season, a run until May, and they quickly on the commercial anglers. fast start is necessary. move on to chasing tuna and “On opening of crab season, “A huge percentage of our later fishing for rock fish. And this whole harbor will be empty,” yearly income is the first week Please see CRABBING, Page A10 in Crescent City, the economic Richard said. “There will be no
Even as vaccinations will soon arrive in Del Norte County, COVID-19 cases are continuing to climb. According to information from Del Norte County Public Health, cases are steadily climbing while hospitalizations and deaths remain relatively low. As of Thursday, Del Norte County Public Health reported 118 active cases of COVID-19 in the community and 587 total cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Over the last two weeks, 121 cases have been confirmed, an average of just more than eight cases a day. On Thursday, five new cases were reported. Three of infected were in the hospital as of Thursday, and COVID-related deaths remained steady at two. While the spread in the community continued to climb, there was some good news as the outbreak at Pelican Bay State Prison seems to be contained. According to the health department, there are no new cases in
Please see COVID, Page A8
Pub hopes to keep brewing in spite of pandemic By Zack Demars THE TRIPLICATE
Awards are nothing new for Rick White. His brewery, Port O’Pints, wins them all the time. He’s even won some during the pandemic. Just this month, his brewery won a silver medal for its strong, barrel-aged Belgian and a bronze medal for its root beer. After a few good years getting established in town and within the community of “beer geeks” across the northwest and the country, White said the brewery was looking forward to a strong year in 2020. That all changed, of course, when a virus turned the world upside-down. “You finally feel like you’re on your feet, the five-year mark,” White said. “Now, this has kind of left a sour taste in my mouth.” White got into the
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business of brewing after a career in architecture around a decade ago. But with the future uncertain during the COVID-19 pandemic, White’s trying to hold on to his brewery as long as he can. “We were on track to do really well in 2020,” White said. “But we were sitting on debt.” That’s like many businesses in the community, White said: Mom and pop shops have to hold on tight during the winter months, using up credit they’ll pay off when warm summers bring tourists up and down the highway. “The local customer base keeps us in business,” White said. “The tourists make us profitable.” But this summer, the tourists didn’t come as often. And now, with Del Norte County under the state’s highest level of COVID-19 restrictions,
Please see PUB, Page A9
Photo by Zack Demars
Rick White, the owner of Port O’Pints, says his newest beer is almost finished. An artist has already worked up the label design, and White expects the batch to be done in the next few weeks.
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