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It’s official

The Klamath Chamber of Commerce has closed its doors.

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SERVING DEL NORTE COUNTY SINCE 1879 www.triplicate.com

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 2023

Crescent City, CA

The darker side of law enforcement rears its ugly head BY ROGER GITLIN The Triplicate

The state released its May revision for the 2023/24 budget. The assault on the funding at both the adult and juvenile offender level is staggering. Policies of early release have reduced Pelican Bay State Prison down to approximately 1,650 inmates and

total CDCR inmate population to about 92,000. Now, Gov. Gavin Newsom is poised to shut down and permanently disable youth justice and turn over all adjudication of youth offenders to all 58 individual counties. The impact of this decision on Del Norte County will be profound. Law enforcement realignment,

including the operations of all probation departments, was voted by the Senate via SB 823 and signed into law two years ago. Newsom, with a stroke of his signature will close all youth detention authority facilities, effective July 1. Del Norte had already decided to close its Juvenile Hall, effective July 1. Per an inter-county

agreement, Del Norte youth who offend will be detained in either Humboldt or Shasta counties; however, all costs associated with a Del Norte ward (minor) must be paid by Del Norte. These offenders and follow-up programs, albeit rare, will tax the general fund. The long, practiced process of sending letters opposing SB 823 from Del

Norte Chief Probation Officer Lonnie Reyman and the 57 other chief probation officers has not resonated in the ears of Newsom nor legislators up and down the Golden State. Reyman stated, “SB 823 realignment was a poorly formulated plan by the governor Please see JUVENILE, Page A10

Memorial Day ceremonies planned Board directs Remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice

staff to form public defender position

BY ROGER GITLIN

BY ROGER GITLIN

Monday, May 29, is Memorial Day. All government offices and banks will be closed. Crescent City and Del Norte County will remember those who gave their all so the rest of us may enjoy our freedoms. Commander Dave Cooper of local Veterans of Foreign Wars post 1381 announced the schedule for this hallowed weekend. • Saturday, May 27, the VFW, American Legion, Daughters of the American Revolution, and local Boy Scouts will set flags at veteran gravesites across the Crescent City Cemetery. Additional volunteers to help set flags are welcome and appreciated. • A silent vigil will take place at the Point of Honor at 7 a.m., Memorial Day. • New County Veteran Service Officer Ramsey Willamson will be a guest speaker at the somber Memorial Day services at 10 a.m. • Judge Robert F. Cochran will sing World War 1 poem, “In Flinders Field.” • A three-rifle salute by Post 1381 honor guard will close out the ceremony. The community is invited to participate in all the events.

The Board of Supervisors appears poised to open an office for a fully staffed public defender. Supervisors directed administration to develop an office of the county public defender, establishing a classification for the county public defender as part of the recommended 2023/24 budget using a managed assigned counsel (MAC) structure. The board also directed county counsel to prepare an ordinance to amend the county code, to account for developing the office for county public defender and appointing a county public defender, as requested by the county administrative officer. The motion was made by Supervisor Valerie Starkey and seconded by Supervisor Chris Howard. The motion passed on a 4-1 vote. Supervisor Dean Wilson dissented. The genesis of discussion for a fully-staffed Del Norte office of public defender comes from a not so rosy report from the state office of the public defender which cited the high incarceration rate of indigent Del Norte clients needing legal defense. The report was conducted last October and made public to supervisors March 14. The state recommended supervisors adopt its own public defender’s office. Wilson disputed the state analysis of Del Norte indigent legal defense services and cited his opposition on purely financial grounds. The 5th District supervisor pointed out current costs spread over four assigned public defenders needed to be bolstered with an additional counsel. Wilson supported appointing a fifth public defender, a contract for investigative services and a centralized case management system, with a total projected cost of approximately $833,000. Wilson foresees dark economic times on the horizon and expressed his concern this was not the time to increase the budget during this precarious local economy. Public defender Elly Hoopes emphasized the need to make more resources available to public defenders and the centralized coordination of public defense services. The three other contracted public defenders concurred. The quad of defenders expressed support

The Triplicate

The Triplicate

Photo by Roger Gitlin/The Triplicate

The gravesite of Captain Bruno deSolenni, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2008, is among the many that will be decorated with an American flag for Memorial Day.

Board increases its support of DNACA BY ROGER GITLIN The Triplicate

After four plus decades, the Del Norte Association of Cultural Awareness has earned a raise. The board of supervisors, with a board resolution, created DNACA in 1981. Since then, the board annually contributed $2,000 to help offset rent and utility costs. Those expenses have dramatically spiked over the last two years. Supervisors increased the assistance an additional $8,000 for the current fiscal year and effective with fiscal year 2023/ 24 supervisors authorized $10,000 for DNACA. Executive director Stephanie La Torre successfully presented her plea to supervisors. La Torre shared with supervisors how DNACA is funded. The California Arts Council, a state agency, provides a dollar-for-dollar match, annually. On a $124,000 budget, the arts council funded DNACA to the tune of $62,000 this past year. Additional support comes from the Del Norte Unified School District and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Community support from businesses and individual donors is significant. Unquestionably, Del Norte County supports DNACA. With the recent funding increase from supervisors, DNACA continues on its mission to provide support and excitement for the creative arts in Del Norte County and to inspire community vitality and harmony. The DNACA calendar can be viewed at DNACA. Photo by Roger Gitlin/The Triplicate net and via social media on Facebook. Stephanie LaTorre, executive director of DNACA, makes a presentation to the board of supervisors.

INDEX

Phone Number: 707-460-6727

Community Calendar

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