Plack: Some witnesses unwilling to cooperate

Crescent City Police are still investigating an early Sunday altercation in which five local men suffered stab wounds.

Suspects have not been identified, but officers are trying to locate people of interest and certain witnesses who may have key evidence, Police Chief Doug Plack said Wednesday.

“Not everybody’s willing to cooperate, so when you have that interfering with your investigation it makes it cumbersome,” said Plack.

Officers responded to an altercation outside Torero’s Restaurant in Crescent City and found five men lying in the parking lot with stab wounds.

Note to inland residents: It’s going to be nice on the coast the rest of the week and through the weekend.

It’s going to nice inland too, but a December sunny spell in Del Norte feels like a special occasion.

The North Coast is still riding the wave of sunny fall days as it heads into December and closer to the official start of winter.

“Crisp mornings, sunny days and clear nights” are forecast to continue through the weekend and into next week, said Doug Boushey, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Eureka.

Eight people, so far, are vying to represent the North Coast in Congress come 2013.

 Those seeking a primary nomination in June have already hit the campaign pavement, launching websites and rustling up considerable donations, even though no one can officially file to run until February.

The future 2nd Congressional District stretches from the Oregon border to the suburbs of San Francisco, encompassing all of Del Norte, Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity and Marin counties, plus the coastal portion of Sonoma County.

Because of redistricting that takes effect with next year’s election, Del Norte will no longer be represented by seven-term 1st District Rep. and Napa County resident Mike Thompson. The natural incumbent for the new 2nd district seat is current 6th District Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, but she’s retiring.

The community is invited to participate in Redwood Coast Rotaract’s AIDS Awareness Walk tonight at 6 p.m.

The walk will begin at the United Methodist Church on H Street with a short video and presentation with some facts about HIV/AIDS, its stigma and how it affects everyone, said Samantha Hunt, the president of Rotaract.

“We are all aware that it’s something we need to work on,” she said.

A candlelight walk begins shortly thereafter down H and 3rd streets to the plaza, where Rotaract will present the county’s Public Health Branch with a commitment to donate money the group has raised for HIV/AIDS awareness.

For some, this included spawning salmon in local streams.

Dozens of people showed up for the first of six free salmon spawning tours continuing every Saturday in December in the Mill Creek Watershed of Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park.

“They got a little taste of what it’s like” to live on the North Coast,  said tour guide Rick Hiser of the out-of-towners’ experience. “Even many people that live here haven’t seen salmon in the wild.”

Opens year with home tournament set for Saturday

Skylar Haddad, top, of the Del Norte High wrestling team, holds his opponent down for a pin last season. On Saturday the Warrior wrestling team opens the 2011-2012 season. They will host the annual Battle of the Border Tournament at the high school beginning at 10 a.m. Del Norte Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

Head coach Aaron Schaad believes that the talent is certainly in place to expect a good year on the mat for the Del Norte High wrestling team.

A total of 35 kids are currently taking part, which is 10 more than last year,  with the majority of returners back, as well as an intriguing group of newcomers, Schaad  said.

Around 50 percent of the team are sophomores, with many likely starting this year after making a mark as true freshmen last season.

Frontier Communications will celebrate the opening of a new retail store in Crescent City on Saturday at 356 H Street.

Everyone is welcome to stop by for free snacks, live music, classic cars, an appearance by Santa and face-painting from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.. The official ribbon cutting is slated for 11 a.m., followed by music from Camryn Ridgley and Scott Perry.

The new store is an attempt to bring customer service back home, rather than relying on distant call centers, said manager Heather Sterns.

Ex-Del Norter has become fungi expert

Science with benefits: Dr. Desjardin displays an edible mushroom collected for the table while looking for rarer varieties for research. Del Norte Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

Just hours after a park ranger infuriated him for detaining Desjardin and two fellow scientists for 20 minutes in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park for photographing mushrooms for a research project, he could laugh about it, though not without some bitterness.

“Let’s warn the readers in Del Norte County that they’re not welcome to look at or photograph mushrooms in Jedediah Smith State Park because they’re going to get a $125 fine if they do,” Desjardin said sarcastically. “I was born here in Crescent City, and the reason I got this fine today was because of my grandparents. They’re completely responsible for this.”

Film commission works on marketing

Was that Miley Cyrus speeding through Hiouchi?

Did Sasquatch just strike a pose?

Probably not, yet. 

Only a handful of film crews have made the trek to Del Norte County since E.T. landed and Ewoks roamed the redwoods 30 years ago.

The county’s new film commission hopes to change that soon.

Judge says no to  high fine for lifer

District Attorney Jon Alexander hit a snag last week in his campaign to seek fines to deter criminal activity by inmates serving long sentences at Pelican Bay State Prison.

During the sentencing hearing of inmate Oscar Corona on Nov. 17, Judge Robert Weir denied the prosecution’s attempt to seek a high amount of restitution for his conviction of possessing a weapon.

Alexander wants to emphasize fines in the prosecution of inmates in the hopes of limiting their ability to purchase from the canteen.

Corona’s case was recently taken to trial, lasting two days, after he refused to plead guilty to a deal that included exacting restitution. He was willing to plead if the fines weren’t imposed, said deputy District Attorney Lisa Specchio, who was the lead prosecutor in the case.