SERVING DEL NORTE COUNTY SINCE 1879
www.triplicate.com
FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 2021
Crescent City, CA
Photos by Knox Keranen
Sutter Coast Hospital has erected two triage tents to create more space for COVID-19 patients. Director of Operations, Ellie Popadic said more than half of Sutter’s patients are COVID-positive.
COVID playing havoc on healthcare system Outpouring of support by community as hospital overwhelmed Knox Keranen The Triplicate
With local health care workers straining to keep up with an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 patients, some community members are doing their best to encourage them to keep going. According to data from the federal government, Del Norte County is now reporting more cases of COVID-19 per capita than any other county in California, and most places in the U.S. During the previous surge of COVID-19 in January, the active case total only reached as high as 165. However, as of Monday the active case count in Del Norte was 378, with 166 of those cases occurring over the weekend,
including 18 new cases among incarcerated individuals. Also on Monday, there were 21 county residents who were hospitalized due to the virus — another sharp increase from zero hospitalized cases during some parts of July. As of Tuesday, there were 14 deaths in the county linked to the virus, four of those deaths have come in the past week. About twenty people gathered on the front lawn outside Sutter Coast Hospital on Saturday to sing, dance and offer words of encouragement to the health care workers — both inside the hospital and in the nearby triage tent — which was recently redeployed in the parking lot to deal
Please see COVID, Page A2
Lynn Szabo, nurse, delivered a message from some of the health care workers inside the hospital at Saturday’s support event. “They’re asking for your kindness, they need your patience. This situation calls all of us to be the best people we can be. Please listen to them, and please vaccinate. It’s that simple.”
Long closures at Last Chance Grade coming to an end The Triplicate Long closures at Last Chance Grade will soon come to an end, according to a Tuesday press release from CalTrans. “We have met our goal and will soon put an end to four-hour closures at Last Chance Grade. Beginning Monday, August 30, you can expect up to 30-minute delays in the area at all hours,” according to the release. The small stretch of Highway 101 between Crescent City and
Klamath known as Last Chance Grade has been hampered with long work closures since a landslide swept over the road in February. In July, CalTrans extended daily closures from two to four hours in an effort to speed up the clean-up operation. “All excavation and slide material removal operations are scheduled to be completed by August 30. Crews will be wrapping up the installation of anchored mesh covering the slope next week and
throughout September. Depending on helicopter and pilot availability (as many are busy battling wildfires), we may require a couple of days with 1 to 2-hour closures in September to complete the remaining mesh installation. All future full closures will be planned around bus and commute schedules. Please stay tuned here for updates.” Until August 30, the closure schedule at Last Chance Grade will remain the same with four-
hour closures occurring MondayThursday from 8 a.m. to noon and 3 to 7 p.m. and on Fridays from 8 a.m. to noon. At all other times motorists should expect 30-minute delays. “One-way traffic control is expected to remain in effect at Last Chance Grade until the fall of 2022 as crews are also still completing adjacent retaining wall work. After that, we anticipate the area will see two-way traffic for the first time since 2014.”
Photo by Knox Keranen
Superintendent Jeff Harris was supportive of maintaining a school resource officer in schools within Crescent City, including Del Norte High School. “It’s not about a punitive police presence. It’s about developing relationships, it’s about positive interactions with, and it’s about letting students know that law enforcement is there to help.”
Del Norte keeping school resource officer Knox Keranen The Triplicate
Teacher, principal, police officer. The Del Norte Unified School District will continue a partnership with the Crescent City Police Department to maintain a school resource officer position for the schools within city limits: Del Norte High School, Crescent Elk Middle School and Joe Hamilton Elementary. During a Monday city council
meeting, Police Chief Richard Griffin said school resource officers provide services such as crime prevention, substance abuse education and maintaining a safe environment in schools. The school board approved the continuation of the SRO contract at a meeting last week. During the meeting, Superintendent Jeff Harris said the district’s relationship with the current SRO — Yeng Lo — has been positive. “It’s not about a punitive
police presence. It’s about developing relationships, it’s about positive interactions with, and it’s about letting students know that law enforcement is there to help,” said Harris. “We’ve seen students open up to ask for help, both in the community as a whole, as well as in schools.” However, school resource officers are not as popular in other places. In the wake of the police shooting of George Floyd, many students throughout the country
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called for the removal of police officers from their schools. In fact, student-led protests in Oakland led to the disintegration of an entire department, the Oakland School Police Department, which was a 53-member department solely dedicated to policing schools in Oakland. While the position is not new, the person filling the position will be, as Officer Lo will be stepping down from the role. Griffin said two officers have applied, and he plans to select one this week.
Schools grapple with COVID mandates District to use counseling over punishment to urge mask use Knox Keranen The Triplicate
With the first day of school less than two weeks away, the Del Norte Unified School District is grappling with two new state COVID-19 mandates targeting schools. In an August 11 announcement, Gov. Gavin Newsom said teachers and other employees will have to show proof of vaccination status or face weekly testing. The policy took effect the next day, and schools must be in full compliance by October 15. Newsom said the move is intended to ensure a safe return to in-person learning. “We think this is the right thing to do, and we think this is a sustainable way to keeping our schools open,” said Newsom. In late July, Newsom announced a different mandate requiring students and school workers to wear masks indoors during the upcoming school year, however, he left it up to individual districts to decide
Photo by Knox Keranen
Students and teachers will have to wear masks when school returns in person this fall. Please see MANDATE, Page A2
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