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FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2020

SERVING OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 1879 • WWW.TRIPLICATE.COM

Considering Stage 3 reopenings By David Hayes The Triplicate

Dr. Warren Rehwaldt told the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors Tuesday he is working on new plans in the wake of the governor and the state Health Department allowing another variance for counties to move more quickly into Stage 3 reopening. California has a four stage plan for reopening the economy

following closures imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Information about what is called the Road to Recovery (R2R) is available online at https://covid19.ca.gov/roadmap/. Rehwaldt said the new state list of what may be allowed in Stage 3 is fairly long. It includes hotels, RV rentals, campgrounds, outdoor recreational areas, galleries, museums, zoos, family entertainment centers, bowling alleys, bars, wineries and fitness

centers. However, Rehwaldt said he is not keen on authorizing them all to open immediately and has not finalized a new plan. “I think it would be reckless to introduce everything at once,” he said. “We’re still trying to measure (the impact of) everything that opened in Stage 2, including retail stores, barber shops, salons and places of worship. It will take some time to see that happen.”

Rehwaldt said the county Public Health Department is trying to handle reopening in a safe way that doesn’t push the envelope too far. “I don’t have anything definitive to share today. We need to work a few more days to develop something for the public and board of supervisors’ consumption later this week,” Rehwaldt said. Rehwaldt said the plan will likely involve first opening plac-

es that will help the economy. “So, it would be useful to open some of our rentals, at full or 50 percent, we’re still trying to figure out the best strategy. I’m comfortable with low risk businesses, like museums and galleries. They’re low traffic,” Rehwaldt said, pointing toward Ocean World and the Mammal Recovery Center. He said he considers RV parks Please see Stage 3, Page A2

Del Norte Drivethrough graduation By David Hayes The Triplicate

This photo looking down Wonder Stump Road, lined with a canopy of redwood trees, was taken by Reid Powell and appears on the Facebook page “Save Wonderstump.” Del Norte County decided Tuesday to leave Wonder Stump Road, lined with a canopy of redwood trees, as is.

County halts changes to road By David Hayes The Triplicate

Residents of Wonder Stump Road received the news Tuesday they’ve been waiting years to hear – Del Norte County will make no changes to the beloved, redwood lined, one-lane road. The Board of Supervisors voted to accept the county staff’s recommendation of maintaining the “status quo.” All supervisors were present except for District 2 Supervisor Lori Cowan. For longtime resident Mack Eller, the fight to maintain the idyllic lane was waged through a social media campaign that went viral around the world and the supervisors actually listening to the overwhelming opposition to any development plans.

“It sounds like we may have won a battle, maybe not the war, because it looks like they can change their mind down the road,” Eller told The Triplicate. “But it sounds like the county listened to us.” Wonder Stump Road, a two-mile stretch of road off U.S. Highway 101 about four miles north of Crescent City, got its name after an enormous, 1,500-year-old redwood toppled, and over the next 3,500 years another redwood grew up, over and around the original. The upper portion of the growth was logged in the 1800s, leaving behind an unusual stump growth that remains to this day near Eller’s property. The lane itself features redwoods along both sides, creating

a canopy effect. Residents feared that the trees in this canopy would be logged. The county began looking at potential hazards along the narrow lane in 2018, including ditches on either side that had to be hand cleared and low hanging branches that were problematic for emergency vehicles and school buses. Then in July 2019, residents received a letter the county was seeking input from the community to weigh the pros and cons for making potential improvements. Several options were presented at a community meeting in December that included the widening of the road and removal of the redwood trees. Eller’s wife Donna kicked off a “Save Wonderstump” Face-

book page with a link to a petition on change.org that now has more than 6,000 signatures from all over the world. The story was published widely, including on the front page of the Los Angeles Times. During the Zoom meeting, supervisors heard from residents still in doubt of the final vote. “I think it’s pretty clear what the people want with over 6,000 signatures from all over the world,” Smith River resident Joni Forsht wrote to the supervisors by email. “I just can’t see how you can ever consider removing trees from Wonder Stump Road. But, most importantly, there has been an outcry from residents who live in this Please see Road, Page A6

Police Chief speaks at Black Lives Matter rally By David Hayes The Triplicate

Crescent City Police Chief Richard Griffin spoke with those present at a rally in Crescent City Sunday, saying that the local police department has already made many changes that protestors have asked for as part of the national Black Lives Matter movement. Organized by teachers Sarah Elston, Paige Thompson and Jenn Longrie, it was the second such event held locally in the wake of the Memorial Day death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. The rally was in front of the Del Norte County Fairgrounds on U.S. Highway 101 “We are out here to support the black community, we’re out here to support communities nationwide and worldwide that are standing up to say that people have been silent too long,” Thompson said. “I’m really glad to see we have the support of our local law enforcement agencies. They’ve been wonderful. It’s

INDEX Crosswords..............................................A4 Crossword Answers..................................B3 Classifieds................................................B1 Weather....................................................A6

David Hayes, The Triplicate

Crescent City Police Chief Richard Griffin addresses a crowd gathered at a Black Lives Matter rally on Sunday, June 7. great to see so many different ages, so many groups of people all standing together to say

Crescent City sees you and black lives do matter.” Griffin addressed the crowd at

the start of their rally, noting many of the signs that were calling for

Please see Rally, Page A6

Del Norte Unified School District officials were forced to abandon the preferred standing graduation ceremony for Del Norte High School seniors after the county health officer did not approved their plans. Del Norte High School will now go with the community’s second choice of a drive- through ceremony at 6 p.m. Friday — unless the school gets a last-minute reprieve from Dr. Waren Rehwaldt, county health officer. Principal Randy Fugate walked through Plan B option of the drive through graduation ceremony for the school board at their June 4 meeting. For Plan B, Harding and Small streets will be closed off. Parents and graduates will be queued up in 160 cars and wind their way up to the stage. Meanwhile, radio station KPOD has offered to broadcast the ceremony live, Fugate said, so they can listen to the whole ceremony. In addition, it will be live streamed on Facebook Please see Graduation, Page A2

101 closed overnight June 15-18 Travelers need to know that there will be four full overnight closures of U.S. Highway 101 south of Crescent City from June 15 to June 18. Caltrans will close the highway from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. from just north of Wilson Creek Bridge (post mile 13) to Humboldt Road (post mile 23.8) in Del Norte County to keep progress moving on the Last Chance Grade project. Traffic will be piloted through the project every two hours. There is no detour around the road closure. Emergency services will be accommodated through the closure, if necessary. Electronic overhead signs will also be used to notify motorists of the plan. “Since we were unable to complete the work during the last full closure in May, we will use these four nighttime closures to fulfill our purpose,” said Karen Sanders, Resident Engineer for the Last Chance Grade Project. “We must fill the roadway to keep the project moving forward. This work entails backfilling the adjacent turnout a maximum of nine feet and backfilling the roadway one foot to reach 5 feet above ground anchor drilling at the wall on the west side of the roadway. Ground anchor drilling will begin within the next few weeks.”

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