TRP424

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WEEKEND EDITION

FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2020

SERVING OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 1879 • WWW.TRIPLICATE.COM

Supervisors vote to open Walker Road DAVID HAYES The Triplicate

Brian Williams Photos, The Triplicate

Protestors waved homemade signs to vehicles driving by the Del Norte County Fairgrounds during the middle of the day on Tuesday.

Rally draws nearly 100 DAVID HAYES The Triplicate

Crescent City residents may call Dan Schultz “Dr. Dan,” but as a holistic chiropractic practitioner, he’s seen enough during the COVID-19 shutdown to join the growing chorus the cure may be worse than the disease. Nearly 100 residents answered Schultz’s call through social media to join in a grassroots rally Tuesday in front of the Del Norte Fairgrounds to protest Governor Gavin Newsom’s shelter place order during the pandemic. Schultz said he was happy to get the support of Del Norte County Supervisor Roger Gitlin, who joined the ranks of protesters. Schultz said he was thrilled by the turnout, saying anything over five would have been great, let alone anything nearing 100. “I’m surprised by the amount of support, talking to people at the feed store, people at the grocery store,” Schultz said. “They’re the silent majority this is happening to, walking around in masks, fear in their eyes, yet know this is ridiculous and harmful, and just want to resume

She estimates they provide daycare services for between 250-300 children and about 200 families, with qualification based on need and income eligibility. The demand skyrocketed that first week schools closed.

To ease the financial burden of its three restaurants during the pandemic economic shutdown, the Crescent City Harbor Commission voted Tuesday to forgive their rent through the end of June. Harbormaster Charlie Helms estimated the forgiveness of monthly lease payments would cause the Harbor District to lose $8,637 per month and would total $25,911 for the three-month period of April through June. The Chart Room, the largest of the three tenants has a monthly rent of $4,487. Helms said the owners are trying to do all they can to stay open during the Del Norte County carry-out only order, including a walk-up window for placing orders and another window for picking up carry-out. “On a good day, they are lucky to make 19 percent of what they make serving indoors,” Helms said. “It’s really weather dependent. If it’s sunny, it’s under 20 percent. Grey days, they don’t do much at all.” Their second-largest restaurant, Crescent Seafood, has a rent of $1,400 a month. Helms said the restaurant had to close for two weeks after the ban on dining in. Helms said after renovations, deep cleaning and painting during the downtime, the restaurant reopened to carry out only. Both restaurant owners are seeking interim funding through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) SBA loan program. Neither has been successful so far. The third and newest restaurant, Schmidt’s House of Jambalaya, was preparing to open as the replacement for the North Coast Grill. The owners now can’t set an open date due to the shutdown, yet still owe $2,750 a month in rent. Helms provided the commissioners four choices: • Do nothing • Offer lease payment deferral • Reduce monthly lease payments by 50 % • Forgive monthly lease payments through the end of June. In the end, with so many unknown factors during the coro-

Please see Care, Page A7

Please see Rent, Page A2

The reopen Del Norte County rally on Tuesday in Crescent City received support from people of all ages.

DAVID HAYES The Triplicate

Crosswords..............................................A4 Crossword Answers......................................A11

Classifieds................................................A9 Weather....................................................A8

Commission gives break on rent The Triplicate

Child Care Council sees demand spike

INDEX

Please see Road, Page A7

DAVID HAYES

Please see Rally, Page A2

When pandemic social distancing guidelines began shutting down large swaths of the community last month, the demand suddenly shot up for other services. Such was the case for the Del Norte Child Care Council. Executive Director Melodee Fugate said her 40-year-old organization was expecting a surge in California, but locally, it happened literally overnight. “With COVID-19, when school shut down on Sunday (March 15), we immediately started getting calls. So, we went to work on a Sunday. Because we knew if they closed, we would get hit for parents looking for childcare for all their displaced children,” Fugate said. “So, we started surveying all our childcare providers to find out how many open slots they had — infant, toddler, schoolage — then we started fielding phone calls and we stayed open that week,” she said.

At a special meeting Tuesday, the Del Norte County Supervisors repealed an earlier vote to close Walker Road, the entry to Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. The supervisors also directed staff to work with the Del Norte Office of Emergency (OES) to draft and send a letter to California State Parks seeking a resumption of vehicle access to local parks for Del Norte residents. District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard, whose district includes Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, spearheaded the vote, arguing that closing parking lots near Damnation Creek, Hiouchi and other trailheads has increased, rather than decreased congestion in spite of protective measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. “We’ve all gotten phone calls from concerned citizens that

David Hayes, The Triplicate

The Del Norte Child Care Council assembled about $10,000 in supplies, through grants and donations, to dole out to their providers on April 15. The nonprofit Del Norte Child Care Council recruits and trains family childcare providers and helps pay the childcare costs of parents who go to school. Their services are available throughout Del Norte County, from Klamath to Gasquet, Fugate said.

The council has 39 licensed providers and 32 licensed exempt providers. Licensed providers can operate either a small-capacity daycare, eight, or a large, 14. Licensed exempt provides can watch only one family’s children, Fugate explained.

FORECAST TIDES

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

59 49

58 47

SUNDAY

58 48

HIGH LOW HIGH LOW

Friday 1:48 PM 7:24 AM 1:08 AM 7:10 PM

Saturday Sunday 2:31 PM 3:19 PM 7:59 AM 8:39 AM 1:37 AM 2:10 AM 7:41 PM 8:16 PM

$1.50


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