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SERVING DEL NORTE COUNTY SINCE 1879

www.triplicate.com

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2021

Crescent City, CA

Man killed in officer-involved shooting Knox Keranen The Triplicate

A 38-year-old man has been killed as a result of a police officer-involved shooting in Crescent City on Wednesday. Around 2:45 p.m. police officers from the California Highway Patrol and Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene of a disabled vehicle, which was blocking the road near Parkway Drive and Sherwood Lane. Upon their arrival, the officers discovered a man

was walking in the road with a knife, according to a Thursday press release from the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office. “The male subject advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred. The subject died as a result of the incident.” No police officers were injured as a result of the incident. Police did not identify the subject, but the Triplicate has identified him as 38-year-old Robert Anderson through reports from friends and family.

Previously a city bus driver in Detroit, Michigan, Anderson moved to Crescent City about seven months ago to work at a local adoption agency, according to Derrick Willis, Anderson’s friend. Willis said he was one of the last people to see Anderson alive. “He was just at my house, and then I had to go over to the morgue and see him in a plastic bag,” he said. According to Willis, Anderson was at his house about three hours before the shooting. Willis

said he was acting strangely, and recently had a dispute with his spouse. Around 8 a.m. Wednesday, Anderson posted a more than 40 minute live stream to Facebook. In the video, Anderson appears to be distraught and is walking shirtless through the woods. “When you think s*** is one way and it’s really another... that’s the relationship I’ve been in,” Anderson said through tears. Willis refutes law enforcePlease see SHOOTING, Page A10

Contributed Photo

38-year-old Robert Anderson was killed on Wednesday as a result of a police officer involved shooting.

Mortuary full as COVID rages Knox Keranen The Triplicate

File photo

All schools in Del Norte County are open for full-time, in-person learning, and few problems have been reported in the early days of the year.

Del Norte Schools off to good start By Julie Akins For the Triplicate

What used to be common place is now exceptional - kids are back at school full time. The first week of children returning to classes at the Del Norte Unified School district went off without issue, according to Superintendent Jeff Harris. “By and large, we have a lot of parents excited to have kids coming back five full days per week. But we have some parents, understandably, experiencing anxiety with the Delta surge,” Harris said. According to the school district website where COVID numbers are updated weekly, there have been five students and 10 staff members who tested positive out of a total of more than 4,000 people in the schools. In Del Norte County, there

have been 63 new cases in the past week, according to health department data. “We’re still encouraging physical distancing,” said Harris, who describes schools as employing creative ways to distance in cafeterias and classrooms. “At one of our schools the kids were having lunch outside like a picnic. There’s an overwhelming feeling and perception that we’re here for the students.” In terms of protocol, Harris reports few things have changed. Students are still sanitizing their hands and wearing masks. If someone has symptoms and winds up positive, they have to quarantine for 14 days. Those in contact with that person have to be tested twice per week for two weeks to determine if they are positive. Under California law, staff must be vaccinated or test negative. That goes into

effect October 15, and the school district is hiring two nurses to administer the tests. For students, parental consent is necessary. At Margaret Keeting Elementary on the Yurok Tribal Lands, Principal Christian Stromberg describes the first week back as “The happiest starts of a school year.” Of the 100 students enrolled, 90 are back in the classroom for full-time, in-person learning and Stromberg said it’s an easy environment because the students and parents are very positive. “The kids don’t have resistance to wearing masks. They’ve been trained at home to take this seriously, so we have a great atmosphere here. The Klamath community takes care of each other,” he said. Last year, Keeting was in hybrid mode where students attended half the time. This year

everyone was back, and Stremburg described it as a joyful experience. “We remodeled our library, all our teachers came back and we’re on fire here. It’s super positive,” he said. And for parent Kathleen Van Gordon, testing at school is an effective tool. “Good! That will be much better than having to wait in line to get tested at one of the testing sites or trying to get in to see a doctor. Will definitely be a time saver,” she said. Other parents comment on the district’s Facebook page that they prefer to have their child tested outside of school. Harris reiterates that testing is a matter of parental consent. Sending kids to in person school is also a matter of conPlease see SCHOOL, Page A5

Del Norte schools may be getting second resource officer By Julie Akins

For The Triplicate

There may soon be more police presence on campus at Crescent City schools. The Crescent City police chief is hoping to add another school resource officer, he announced Tuesday. Earlier in August Crescent City and the Del Norte Unified School District agreed to extend a contract for the current school resource officer. The city entered a memorandum of agreement to cover 31 percent of the $122,000 salary and benefits package of a resource officer. The school district agreed to cover the remaining 69 percent.

The officer will spend most of their time on campus. “It’s about establishing a relationship with children early,” said Crescent City Police Chief Griffin. Now Griffin has applied for a tobacco grant to hire the second officer and hopes to hear “any day now.” The Del Norte Unified School District first entered into an agreement with Crescent City for a resource officer in 2016. The latest approved contract will be in place through 2023. “We’re focused on prevention and overcoming barriers so students can remain in school” according to Schools Superintendent Jeff Harris. The resource officer serves

schools within city limits: Del Norte High School, Crescent Elk Middle School and Joe Hamilton Elementary. “It’s not about a punitive police presence, but about building connections and helping our kids stay in school,” said Harris, who acknowledges truancy as among the chief issues. “We’ve had to get creative. We’ve bought alarm clocks to help students get up in time. Sometimes we’ve figured out rides and we’ve spoken with parents about school being compulsory.” The police chief echoed the sentiment. “We’ve established reading programs in schools where we’ve read to third graders. Sometimes we’ve taken the

Rower sets off on nine-month journey. Firefighters stop Redwood Fire at six acres. AT TRIPLICATE.COM

canine into schools. We want that connection with young people so that we can intervene before any issues become serious.” The Office of the Attorney General established the California Department of Justice Tobacco Grant Program in 2017 to provide annual funds to local enforcement agencies throughout California. To date, the Tobacco Grant Program has distributed approximately $124 million dollars in grant funding to approximately 260 grantees through a competitive process. If the Crescent City Police Department wins its grant it will work with the school district to add a second officer to compliment the Resource Officer just hired.

Crescent City Manager Eric Wier said the Wier Mortuary Chapel — his former family business — is now full, in-part due to a tremendous spike in COVID-19 cases in the county. “They’re beyond capacity at this point… We’re providing resources for additional refrigeration trucks just to deal with this surge. That’s what we’re talking about here,” said Wier during a COVID town hall meeting co-hosted by State Senator Mike McGuire last Thursday. “We are not talking about case numbers anymore, we’re not talking about the hospital impacts. We’re talking about our local mortuary, who has built tremendous capacity, and has always been here for this community and always will be here for this community — they are now at capacity.” McGuire said low vaccination rates in the region, as well as the introduction of the Delta variant, are to blame for the spike in cases. He also said the worst is yet to come. “I want to be blunt, we believe the worst of this public health crisis is yet to come. The next two to four weeks is when we could potentially see a peak in cases,” said McGuire. McGuire said although there have been 10 deaths linked to the virus since August 13, he and other officials believe the actual number of deaths is higher. According to McGuire, those reported deaths occurred at the local hospital, and many other deaths in the community could also be linked to COVID after further investigation. “I don’t want to talk politics here tonight, I just want to talk about the facts and how we can protect the public’s health. The best way out of this pandemic right now is by getting the shot. Vaccines are safe, they’re abundant in California and they’re always going to be free,” said McGuire. In addition to Wier and McGuire, many other local officials weighed in on how the current surge is impacting their respective sectors, including representatives from the public health department, hospital, county, schools and city. After announcing a countywide mask mandate for indoor public spaces earlier in the day, County Public Health Officer Dr. Aaron Stutz said the prevalence of COVID in the community is “quite high,” citing a more than 10% test positivity rate in the county, which is double the statewide average. “If you are having COVID symptoms in Del Norte right now, you are very likely to have COVID and much more likely than in other counties,” Please see MORTUARY, Page A2

INDEX Crossword................................................A2 Crossword Answers..................................A8 Classifieds................................................A6

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