SERVING DEL NORTE COUNTY SINCE 1879
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FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2021
Crescent City, CA
Suspect sought for attempted murder KNOX KERANEN The Triplicate
The Crescent City Police Department is calling for assistance in their search to find a man suspected of attempting to kill his spouse. On May 24, Crescent City police officers responded to a report of
domestic battery on the 1000 block of Highway 101. Once they arrived, the victim told police 29-year-old Skyler Stewart had attacked her while she was sleeping. Stewart allegedly made threats to kill the victim and struck her in the face several times. Then, Stewart used a handheld torch to light a blanket on
fire, which the victim was underneath, according to a May 24 press release from the CCPD. The victim was able to get away from Stewart and put out the fire. In addition to the attack, Stewart allegedly stole the victim’s cell phone, so that she could not call 911. Stewart currently has an active
warrant for his arrest, due to violation of the terms of his probation. If you see Stewart, or know where he may be, contact dispatch at 707464-4196. You can also message the CCPD facebook account or use the online reporting form located at https://www.crescentcity.org/ Police-Form
Six Rivers to provide Capitol Christmas Tree ZACK DEMARS The Triplicate
Photos by Knox Keranen, The Triplicate
Gilbert Myers sorts through seaweed for dead or live fish. The trap boxes inevitably collect a fair amount of debris along with the fish.
Increased fish kill is a troubling sign KNOX KERANEN The Triplicate
The Yurok Nation is warning of an unprecedented fish kill happening in the Klamath River, the likes of which will likely result in thousands of dead salmon. Every Spring, the tribe sets fish traps in the Lower Klamath, just upriver from the confluence of the Trinity River, near Weitchpec. The live traps provide a small snapshot of the river, as they collect various species of fish, including juvenile salmon, Steelhead Trout, Speckled Dace, as well as other river creatures like the wormlike Pacific Lamprey. Fisheries technicians Jamie Holt and Gilbert Myers monitor these traps daily, performing general health inspections, as well as measuring and weighing each fish. On a normal day, they would find four or five dead salmon in their three traps, but mortality rates skyrocketed earlier this month. The traps were yielding 60-80 dead salmon on a daily basis for consecutive weeks during the beginning and middle of May. In examining the dead fish, Holt knew something was drastically wrong. “Being around here so long, we recognized it was a different type of mortality, it didn’t appear to be a naturally occurring one,” said Holt. With distended bellies and bulging eyes, the fish were demonstrating tell-tale symptoms of being infected with the parasite Ceratonova shasta, said Holt. While C. shasta has been present in the water system in the area for a long time, the outbreak this year — driven by warm water Please see FISH, Page A12
Seven dead juvenile salmon illustrates a significant improvement from fish kill numbers occurring earlier in the month.
Vaccines popular among Del Norte teens ZACK DEMARS The Triplicate
Interest in the COVID-19 vaccine has continue to slow in Del Norte County — with one key caveat, according to County Health Officer Dr. Warren Rehwaldt. “We still have relatively low numbers of people getting vaccinated. It’s not just us, it’s pretty much across the board with our partners as well,” Rehwaldt told the county’s board of supervisors Tuesday. But Rehwaldt said county and state officials are working to increase opportunities for young people to get the Pfizer vaccine, which has received federal authorization for use in 12- to 15-year olds. “There’s been a little bit of interest since Pfizer got here because that enabled some younger folks to get vaccinated, and honestly our
biggest interest group right now is teenagers and their parents,” Rehwaldt said. And the county’s vaccination effort has changed in recent weeks. OptumServe, the company which conducts the county’s testing program, took over the county’s main vaccination site under a state contract. “We’re not getting out of the vaccination business, but we’re letting the state take over the steady availability at the fairgrounds, which everybody knows about and has been moderately successful,” Rehwaldt said. “We just have seen a real die-off in interest in the vaccine lately.” Meanwhile, the county’s virus case rate has remained stubbornly stable with a slow downward trend. The county’s averaged around two or three new cases of the virus
each day in recent weeks, according to Rehwaldt. The doctor noted that number is “still more than we like, but it’s manageable, certainly.” The county will remain in the red tier of pandemic restrictions for a 16th week, still longer than any other California county. Just 9% of the state’s population, or eight counties, remains in that risk level. State health officials this week reaffirmed their commitment to remove most COVID-19 restrictions across the state on June 15. That’ll include lifting physical distancing and capacity restrictions, as well as aligning mask guidance with now-loosened CDC rules. But Rehwaldt said that reopening won’t quite put the pandemic to bed. “They’re still going to recommend personal protection, as we will, especially for people who are not vaccinated, it’s still not a safe
place to be out in the world until you’ve been vaccinated. And we still encourage everybody to think it over and think about getting that shot,” the doctor said. He pointed to a recent study, which showed that vaccinated Californians have gotten sick or hospitalized or died with the virus at far, far lower rates than unvaccinated individuals. “That’s a stark difference. I think people need to start understanding that in a real way, and how much a difference it makes to get the vaccines,” Rehwaldt said. Vaccinations — including with the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the Pfizer vaccine, which his open to anyone 12 and older — in Del Norte County can be scheduled through the state’s MyTurn system online at https:// myturn.ca.gov/.
Go Wild Rivers Coast Guide released Ames recognized for service during World War II AT TRIPLICATE.COM
California forest officials are planning for Christmas all year long. The Six Rivers National Forest will provide the “People’s Tree,” this Christmas — that is, the Christmas tree placed on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol each holiday season. Each year, a different national forest is selected by the U.S. Forest Service to provide the tree for the Capitol, as well as additional trees for other congressional offices. And this year, Six Rivers officials will be looking for the fullest, prettiest tree to contribute, according to Samantha Reho, a Forest Service spokesperson. “Our intent is to find the biggest, shiniest, fullest, best, prettiest, tallest, close enough to a road that we can access tree for the U.S. Capitol’s west lawn, and obviously to showcase the Six Rivers and its people,” Reho told the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors Tuesday. Reho said officials will pick one 60- to 80-foot tree for the capitol lawn, and around 130 more for various D.C. office buildings. “And those trees decorations,” Reho said. “We put out a call ... earlier this month requesting 15,000 ornaments by Californians.”
The effort to send and decorate the festive trees will require lots of handmade help, including 4,000 outdoor ornaments, 11,000 indoor ornaments and 130 tree skirts. Forest Service officials say the theme of this year’s Capitol Christmas Tree program, “Six Rivers, Many Peoples, One Tree,” represents the diversity and natural history of the region the tree will come from. The program’s logo does the same: It features an image of a six-stripped river, an endangered Lassic Lupine flower and a tall tree with one light for each of the state’s Native tribes. “Obviously drawing attention to the Six Reivers National Forest, ‘Many Peoples’ as we believe in inclusivity and diversity within our forest as well as within the Forest Service, and obviously ‘One Tree:’ that is our mission to bring a beautiful tree to Washington D.C. by Christmas.” Beyond trees and decorations, Reho said the project includes a slate of community events across the state. “But it’s not just providing a tree to Washington D.C., we are going to be going on a five-week, whistle-stop tour throughout the entire state of California and before making our way over to Washington DC with a lot of local events we’re planning that will obviously culminate with Celebration Week in Please see TREE, Page A12
INDEX Crossword................................................A3 Crossword Answers..................................A7 Classifieds................................................A5
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