Sheriff’s Sgt. Steve Morris collects evidence Monday from the scene of a fatal trailer fire in Crescent City. Del Norte Triplicate / Bryant Anderson

Around 10:24 p.m., Tommy Osburn, who lives in a makeshift tent in the area, said he was walking to the store when he saw smoke from the fire and reported it.

The woman’s body was found Sunday amid the burned remnants of the trailer, said Fire Chief Steve Wakefield.

She has not been officially identified by authorities who are conducting a DNA test on the remains.

But Deborah Starr, who was searching through charred remains of the trailer Monday morning, said the victim was her daughter, Ayla Starr, 24.

She said the fire started near the front door of the trailer.

“She couldn’t get out,” said Starr, visibly emotional. “There was no escape. She was trapped.”

All that was left of the trailer was the floor, piles of ash and partially burned property.

“The picture of the end of a drug life; a life of addiction,” said Deborah Starr amid the destruction.

In the face of widespread community opposition, the Sutter Coast Hospital Board of Directors voted last Thursday to “postpone indefinitely” efforts to switch governing control of the hospital from a mostly local board to a Bay Area-based panel in a move often called “regionalization.”

“After thoughtful consideration, we have decided to postpone indefinitely efforts to make Sutter Coast part of Sutter Health’s West Bay Region,” said a Friday letter addressed to Sutter Coast Hospital employees and medical staff signed by Sutter Coast board chairman Ken Hall, as well as the hospital’s CEO and the president of the Sutter Health West Bay Region.  

“It has become increasingly clear that conversations regarding what regionalization means and doesn’t mean for this community and the hospital have diverted attention from a more significant priority: securing the long-term viability of Sutter Coast,” the letter said.

Opponents noted regionalization had already been postponed through a preliminary injunction obtained by the Del Norte Health Care District in October — a decision that Sutter Coast and Sutter Health have appealed and continue to fight.

“Although the Board is postponing any further discussion on regionalization, the legal process will continue in order to provide clarity around this issue moving forward,” said Sutter Coast CEO Eugene Suksi in an email to the Triplicate.

Dr. Kevin Caldwell, a member of the Del Norte Health Care District’s subcommittee for the court case against Sutter, said the vote to postpone did not go far enough.

“I think this move by the hospital board to postpone the regionalization is a move in the right direction, but it seems fairly hollow since they are still going full speed ahead in the court of appeals and in the arbitration — those two things are what’s hurting this community,” Caldwell said by phone on Monday. “We are spending all of our money keeping them from regionalizing and I think if they were really sincere about putting regionalization on hold they would put the court actions on hold also.”

Superviors to hear today about $500K hole in budget

Issues related to the California Public Safety Realignment Plan are primarily to blame for depleting the county’s general fund by a projected $514,316 by the end of the fiscal year in June, officials say.

Less-than-anticipated revenue in the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office’s jail and coroner budgets because of AB 109 are the culprits, said County Administrative Budget Jay Sarina. The general fund currently has a positive balance of $110,992, he said.

Sarina will discuss the projected deficit in his mid-year budget review at the Board of Supervisors meeting today. County officials are recommending supervisors freeze non-essential services and supply expenditures. Supervisors also will be asked not to fill non-essential positions that are currently vacant.

“When you’re talking $100,000 out of $10 million of discretionary money, money is still tight,” Sarina said, referring to the general fund’s current balance. “A large part of it is AB 109.”

AB 109, which returns some state inmates to local jails, resulted in a loss of $714,000 to the county due to the loss of a state-funded in-custody drug treatment program, according to the staff report. The county had previously been reimbursed for each inmate day spent in the program.

To offset that, supervisors adopted a plan in the 2012-13 budget that included accepting inmates from other counties. The county was originally expected to accept inmates from two counties, Sarina said, but only one county so far has transferred inmates to Del Norte. 

Destany Barker, 4, right, and her friend Ashlyn Sanderson, also 4, at the Wednesday celebration at Torero’s Mexican restaurant. Del Norte Triplicate / Bryant Anderson

Then Destany would actually do the comforting: “She’d come over to me and say, ‘It’s OK, sister. It doesn’t hurt anymore, see?’ rubbing her belly,” where a 6-inch scar remains from the surgery, said Victoria Lopez, 17. “Even when she was at her worst, she was the one hugging us saying, ‘It’s going to be OK.’ She’s an amazing little girl.”

On Wednesday, more than 50 of Destany’s friends and family members gathered at a local restaurant to celebrate the one-year anniversary of her liver transplant — long enough to indicate that Destany’s body will not reject the liver and that the transplant was a success. 

“She’s doing really well; there are no signs of rejection or anything,” said Destany’s mother, Priscilla Masseo.

Destany, herself, had way too much energy to sit in one place during the celebration, but when asked how she feels, she’s quick to show the perfectly healed scar just below her rib cage — accompanied by a wide smile. 

“She’s a normal kid now,” said Destany’s stepfather, Gabe Lopez, while adoringly watching her run around the restaurant with her friends from day care. “Just to see her run around and be a little kid — it’s great.” 

Some results are already clear; others are still taking shape

How will the $85 billion cutback in federal spending known as sequestration affect Del Norte?

That depends on who you ask. Agencies directly funded by the feds are already making some cuts, while state and local agencies are assessing the landscape with varying degrees of optimism and pessimism. 

Here’s an early look at possible effects on local services:

• Parks: Redwood National Park acting superintendent Dave Roemer said that once certain roads are in need of repair, they will be closed as the park’s budget can no longer handle as many road maintenance projects. The road leading to Tall Trees Grove in Redwood National Park and Coastal Drive on the south side of the mouth of the Klamath River are two likely candidates.

“As the conditions deteriorate, we will not be reopening roads,” Roemer said.

The Hiouchi Visitor Center is another likely victim of sequester cuts. 

“I feel pretty confident that we will not be able to operate two visitor centers in the north this summer,” Roemer said, meaning only the Crescent City visitor center would remain open. The Hiouchi facility typically opens in late May or early June. 

Authorities and school officials to attend seminar

In the wake of school shooting tragedies across the nation, the Del Norte County Unified School District and local law enforcement agencies will engage in a “School Active Shooter Seminar” on Wednesday.

The event will be sponsored by California Emergency Management Agency to address preventing, planning for and responding to a school shooting scenario, including “parent/student reunificaiton.”

It will be held at the Crescent Fire Protection District, 255 W. Washington Blvd., from 8 a.m. to noon.

The seminar is expected to draw about 100 participants, including principals of each district school, other school employees and first responders from local law enforcement agencies, said Cindy Henderson, Del Norte County emergency services manager.

“I think it’s the perfect timing to get them in here,” said Henderson. “It’s on people’s minds, and when it’s on people’s minds they’re interested.”

Del Norte County Superior Court felony and misdemeanor sentencings for the week of March 1-7 include:

• Matilde Rea Montanez, 34, Crescent City, was sentenced to four days in County Jail, three years probation and fined $210 for vandalism

• Adam Link Nott, 25, Crescent City, was sentenced to 23 days in County Jail and fined $220 for theft/larceny

• Sean Madeiros Simao, 22, Crescent City, was sentenced to 10 days in County Jail, three years probation and fined $570 for theft, larceny, carrying a switch blade knife and two failures to appear

• Joshua Barkley Cari, 28, Smith River, was sentenced to 90 days in County Jail, one year probation and fined $2,120 for driving when privilege suspended for a prior under the influence conviction and a prior conviction special allegation 

• Donald Roy Jordan, 53, Crescent City, was sentenced to 30 days in County Jail for inflicting corporal injury

• Jose Alvarez Lopez  (aka Jose Lopez Alvarez), 26, Lincoln, was sentenced to 90 days in County Jail and fined $2,120 for driving when privilege suspended or revoked and a prior conviction and two probation violations

• Ruben Mathews, 37, Crescent City, was sentenced to three years probation and fined $210 for public intoxication

• Arnulfo Martinez Salas, 50, Crescent City, was sentenced to 45 days in County Jail, three years probation and fined $1,400 for two counts of possession of a controlled substance

Free speech reigns at Post Office as protesters spark complaints

On Thursday, posters of President Barack Obama with a Hitler mustache caused a stir in front of the Crescent City post office. 

Two young men, who said they were from Seattle and declined to give their names, were distributing petitions to “impeach Obama” and handing out literature for that and other causes.

Acting postmaster Hollie Maready said many customers were complaining about the display, but when Maready called police, she was told it was legal as long as it wasn’t blocking the sidewalk.

City Councilwoman Kathryn Murray attempted to move the sandwich board signs of Obama-as-Hitler, and several other post office customers confronted the group, but free speech reigned even when comparing the president to one of history’s most notorious dictators and mass-murderers.

— Adam Spencer

Cocktail hour

Howland Hill Road and Elk Valley Road were on fire with activity Monday, literally.

Authorities responded to Howland Hill around 10:45 p.m. after a report of a Molotov cocktail being thrown in the road. It was extinguished by the time they arrived and no suspects were located.

Here are excerpts from the Crescent City Police Department call logs for March 1 to March 7.

Friday, March 1

• At 4:20 p.m. a report of an intoxicated male trying to ride his bicycle in the surf near Beachfront Park. He was arrested for disorderly conduct.

Saturday, March 2

• At 3:00 p.m. a report of a battery on the 1000 block of 9th Street.

Monday, March 4

• At 3:32 a.m. a person arrested for public intoxication on the 700 block of E Street.

• At 10:15 a.m. a report of a vehicle accident on the 600 block of L Street.

• At 5:00 p.m. a report of a vehicle burglary on the 1700 block of A Street.

• At 7:35 p.m. a warrant arrest was made on the 900 block of 9th Street.

• At 8:00 p.m. a warrant arrest on the 400 block of M Street.