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Christmas with a Cop Five lucky kids enjoy bowling and a Walmart shopping spree.

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SERVING DEL NORTE COUNTY SINCE 1879 www.triplicate.com

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2022

Crescent City, CA

More troubles show up at Fred Endert Pool The city will now have to go back to an engineering firm for the design and then put it out to bid for the actual work. It will lengthen the process and cost more on a pool that’s already contentious. The pool was closed in May due to pieces of the ceiling falling off into the water and in June a contractor was brought in to fix it. In the process, City Manager Eric Weir

BY JULIE AKINS For The Triplicate

The struggle continues for the Fred Endert Pool. A contractor who promised to improve it, Johnson Controls, has requested the city cancel the agreement saying if it’s not also bundled with a water meter upgrade for $4 million, they aren’t able to do it.

discovered some insufficiencies he wanted to address: installing new higher-efficiency boilers, new spa pumps, a new heat exchanger and a new dehumidification system. Weir stated that the dehumidifiers would address the moisture concerns which led to the ceiling situation. At a September meeting regarding pool improvements Councilor Raymon Altman quipped, “I feel

like we have a $40 million mansion we have to pour money into all the time,” he continued, “Is it 22 citizens? How many people are using this thing from our community?” Councilor Blake Inscore answered by saying pools are costly and rarely pay for themselves but they’re community assets. And there were others who warned that the city’s sales tax,

Measure S, which would partly fund pool improvements might not pass. But, Measure S did pass and despite the expressed irritation of staff and council with the contractor, it was agreed to let Johnson Controls out of their agreement with Weir stating they don’t want to work

2022 year in review

Please see POOL, Page A2

Convicted killer sentenced to 116 years in prison lead story of 2022 BY DAVID RUPKALVIS For The Triplicate

Hotly-contested elections, a sheriff resigning after being charged and the historic Don Nuss collection going up for auction were among the top stories of 2022, but according to readers at triplicate.com, one story stood above the rest. In April, 34-year-old Neal Thomas Hiller was sentenced to 116 years in prison after he was convicted of second-degree murder. Hiller was convicted of killing 22-yearold Joseph Deford a year earlier. In that case, a 9-1-1 caller reported a man lying on the ground. When officers arrived, they found Deford unresponsive. It wasn’t until Deford was at the hospital, officers learned he had been shot. Using surveillance video, officers were able to find Deford walking with two men on bicycles close behind. That video led to Hiller, who will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Photo courtesy of Roger Gitlin

The city council in Crescent City voted to spend $42,900 to refurbish eight walking tour kiosks across the city.

2 – Deputies involved in fatal shooting in Bertsch In May, a man was killed when sheriff’s deputies responded to the Bertsch community for a welfare check. Although details were not released, the check escalated and led to deputies opening fire. The initial 9-11 call asked for deputies because an individual was upset after failing his driver’s test. One person was killed in the incident, and the district attorney’s office took over the investigation. 3 – Elk Valley Casino opens In April, the long-awaited new version of the Elk Valley Casino opened its doors, presenting a world-class facility in the middle of Coos Bay. New games, a larger territory, and perhaps the biggest change, a casino open 24 hours a day, greeted the first customers

City allocates funds to refurbish walking tour kiosks BY ROGER GITLIN Photo courtesy of Roger Gitlin

For The Triplicate

Fifth District Supervisor Dean Wilson takes the oath of office to officially take the seat. Wilson beat Susan Masten in a special election to fill the seat. during the grand opening weekend. 4 – Election 2022 While there were no contested elections in Crescent City in 2022, the county elections more than made up for it. More than a dozen people signed up to run for three county commissioner seats in the May primary, and two of the three races went through the November general election before winners were declared. When the smoke cleared, Joey Borges earned a seat in District 4 and former Sher-

Crescent City has allocated $42,900 to add a Sister City kiosk and refurbish eight, two-sided iff Dean Wilson was elected in District 5. walking tour kiosks. The other race that garnered attention The resolution to adopt the amending of the budwas efforts to repeal Measure T and U, but get for fiscal year 2022-2023 passed unanimously. those efforts fell short in November. City Manager Eric Wier referred to existing funds available to ameliorate some of the costs 5 – City votes to sell guns from police allocating funding. Councilors also inquired about locker commercial sponsorship funding for each of the In February, the Crescent City council kiosks. voted unanimously to allow the police The city manager continued, “They (the kiosks) department to sell guns from its evidence tell the story of our community’s history, (includlocker. Police Chief Richard Griffin said ing) a web-based platform.” The refurbishment project and Sister City kiosk Please see STORIES, Page A2 is expected to commence in April.

Warriors look to defend home turf in the Big 5 first home league game against Arcata on Jan. 18. (They also have a non-league home game against Hoopa on Jan. 10.) And the head coach is expecting a battle in this year’s Big 5 with all five teams fancying their chances to win it all. “I think you’ve got to defend your home turf and hopefully win a couple on the road,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a favorite. I think a team with a 5-3 or 6-2 record will win it all. “It should be fun. It should be exciting.” Rice admits, however, that his team is still a work in progress and he was looking forward to getting in the gym with his players this week for some undisturbed practice after such a hectic December schedule. “We’re still trying to find our identity,” he said. “We’re not a very good defensive team right now, and we’ve got to stop turning the ball

BY RAY HAMILL For The Triplicate

It’s been a busy start to the boys basketball season for the Del Norte Warriors, who played more pre-Christmas games than any other H-DNL team. After closing out the Windsor tournament on Dec. 23, the players and coaches got to enjoy a couple of days off with their families for the holidays before returning to work this week as they continue their preparation for the Big 5. “It’s been a long December,” said head coach Chris Rice, whose team traveled to play in four tournaments. “(Sixteen) games is a tremendous amount of games in one month.” The Warriors went 1-2 at the Windsor tournament, which featured some challenging teams, and they are now 7-9 on the season. They will begin league play on Wednesday (Jan. 4) at McKinleyville and will play three straight road games in the Big 5 before their

Please see WARRIORS, Page A2

INDEX

Contributed photo

The Del Norte Warriors will take a 7-9 record into Big 5 play, which kicks off January 4 at McKinleyville.

Phone Number: 707-460-6727

Obituaries

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