A change in the process for creating marine protected areas on the North Coast has opponents of additional protections feeling sidelined.

But representatives of the Marine Life Protection Act, the legislation responsible for crafting MPAs, claim the change was intended to al­low those same critics more ac­cess to the pro­cess.

The change pushes to the front end the opportunity for interested parties to create their own protection proposals.

The North Coast is the fourth of five regions where MPAs are being created. In the first three, the so-called external-proposal process was not started first, instead happening in conjunction with the rest of the process.

Part of the Marine Life Protection Act process is forming a Science Advisory Team (SAT) and a Regional Stakeholder Group, both of which will be responsible for developing a proposal for the location and types of  MPAs along the North Coast.

Those MPAs could go so far as to impose no-take zones.

External proposals for potential MPAs are developed by individuals and groups outside of the SAT or stakeholder groups.

The Curry Public Transit’s Coastal Express will run from Monday through Friday starting Nov. 9, an increase from three days a week.

The Coastal Express currently runs three times a day, starting at Smith River Rancheria. The route stops in each city along the way.

Fares are $4 per city segment, for example from Smith River to Brookings. Riders over 60 years old, students and those with disabilities ride for half price. Monthly passes and punch passes are available.

State and federal funding for rural transportation helped pay for expanding the bus service. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants helped replace two old buses for Curry Public Transit.

For schedules and more information, call 541-412-8806 or 800-921-2871. Schedules are also available at www.currypublictransit.org .

Nurse Rose Hepburn injects Alexis Hunte, 9, with the H1N1 vaccine Monday at the Department of Heath and Social Services. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

Even though some local physicians have temporarily run out of the first series of  vaccinations, the Del Norte County Health Department is still receiving shipments.

“We’re getting small, sporadic amounts,” said Del Norte County Emergency Services Manager Cindy Henderson. “We are pushing them out to physicians with high-risk patients that are running low.”

Unlike seasonal flu vaccinations, which even pharmacies can order and distribute, the first swine flu vaccinations were delivered only to medical clinics and the county health department. The county then distributes most of its allotment to physicians.

Currently vaccines are only being given to people in high-risk categories.

That includes caregivers for babies 6 months and younger, pregnant women and health-care providers.

Supplies of the vaccine are stored in a refrigerator at the Health Department. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

“We received 600 more vaccines Monday,” Henderson said. “We will be making sure that they get to the community members at the highest risk.”

Henderson said that when large numbers of vaccinations start coming in, she plans on holding vaccination clinics at Del Norte County schools much the same way the Health Department and Del Norte Office of Emergency Services did for the seasonal flu.

The seasonal flu clinics provided free vaccinations for students and their families, and were primarily run by volunteers.

Officials from two state agencies say they will try to preserve the right to hunt water fowl at Tolowa Dunes, even though it’s technically been illegal since the area became a state park in 2001.

But they also admit they’re not sure how to do it.

The California Department of Fish and Game and the California State Parks are working to reinstate hunting at Tolowa Dunes this hunting season, which started Saturday.

Currently, hunting water fowl at Tolowa Dunes is prohibited for the first time since the land was acquired by the two agencies in 1983.

According to state park and DFG officials, that was due to a mistake — hunting at Tolowa Dunes actually has been illegal since 2001 when it was designated a state park. But it took a recent review by legal staff from both agencies to figure it out.

The reason it has been illegal since 2001 is that hunting in a California State Park is against the law.

The original agreement between the two agencies allowed hunting until the 10,000-acre parcel of land was designated a state park.

The Crescent City Council made several budget cuts and approved some additional spending Monday as it addressed a looming shortfall for the current fiscal year.

Faced with with a shortfall of about $350,000, which is lower than originally anticipated, City Manager Rod Butler said the city had to make “much-needed cuts.”

“We sharpened our pencils and started going through everything,” he said.

City staff came up with $310,000 in proposed spending cuts. The remaining budget gap will be closed with new or increased city fees, such as rental or fingerprinting fees. Additional spending will be taken from the city’s reserve fund.

The cuts included closing Fred Endert Municipal Pool on Sundays and holding off on hiring a police officer and sergeant for the Police Department.

Pool Manager Matt Hildebrandt said Sunday is the slowest day at the pool and averages about 48 visitors. The pool makes an average of $57 on Sundays, but staff time and other costs surpass that by far, he said.

Alan Justice, left, discusses tankless water heaters with Kirk Neil on Saturday. The Daily Triplicate/Rick Postal

The environment-themed event brought together vendors and consumers with a focus on saving money by saving energy.

“It’s been a good, steady crowd; this is an excellent opportunity for us to talk about our new programs,” said Kevin Hendrick, director of the Del Norte Solid Waste Management Authority

A drop-off station for electronic recycling was set up by Axtell Consulting in the parking lot and by mid-afternoon, hundreds of pounds of televisions and computer monitors had been dropped off.

A Pacific Power display compares traditional and energy-efficient light bulbs. The Daily Triplicate/Rick Postal

One vendor displayed building forms made of styrofoam and plastic to be used as walls. Another showed an on-demand water heater that has far more capacity than traditional water heaters.

As he browsed the vendor booths, Larry Alliston of Crescent City said he had come for a simple reason: “Curiosity, I just wanted to see what this was all about.”

Dozens of computer monitors, TV sets and other electronic devices were brought to a free drop-off point for recycling. The Daily Triplicate/Michele Thomas

“I just kept them all in a butter-dish, I didn’t know what to do with them,” said Alliston.

At the Sold Waste Authority booth, he got his answer.

“We take needles, but only if they’re in these,” said Hendrick, handing Alliston a small red bio-hazard container.

To see more photos from the green weekend events go here , here , here , and here . 

In some small, rural communities, a school can serve several purposes beyond educating children.

Mountain School in Gasquet and Margaret Keating Elementary School in Klamath are two examples, said local advocates for the schools, but amid state budget cuts, their size makes them a liability.

Del Norte County Unified School District administrators, a School Board member, a county supervisor and a handful of teachers made their case to state Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro on Friday for funding for the two small rural schools.

“It would be devastating if those two schools closed,” Gayla Bruhe, an instructional assistant at Margaret Keating School, told Chesbro on Friday.

The two schools currently don’t qualify for state funding specifically for small, rural schools because they are in a unified school district of more than 2,501 students (DNCUSD has about 3,570 students), according to state law.

Necessary Small Schools funding could help keep the two schools open if the district is faced with steep funding cuts yet again next year.

The process for creating marine protected areas along the North Coast will once again be discussed in Crescent City on Thursday.

The Marine Life Protection Act Initiative is holding three open house workshops this week, one of them here.

The MLPA process designs marine protected areas along the California coast.

The North Coast is the fourth region in California to go through the MLPA process.

Due to a significant amount of interest from local groups, the MLPA Initiative has extended the deadline for external proposals, officials an­nounced last week.

Part of the pro­cess is forming a Scientific Advisory Team (SAT) and Regional Stake­hol­der Group, both of which will be res­ponsible for dev­el­op­ing a proposal as to where marine protected areas (MPAs) should be placed.

If You Go

■ WHAT: Marine Life Protection Act Initiative open house/workshop

■ WHEN: Thursday October 29, 4:30-8:30 p.m.

■ WHERE: Board of Supervisors Chamber, Flynn Center, 981 H St., Crescent City

A Eureka man who stole artifacts from Yurok Tribe burial grounds and published a video of his exploits on YouTube was sentenced in Humboldt County Superior Court on Friday to serve 30 days in jail, perform 60 hours of community service and pay a $530 fine.

Several tribal members were present during the proceedings, according to a prosecutor in the case, and some asked the judge to impose the maximum punishment on James Edward Truhls, who initially faced up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine after pleading guilty in September to illegally excavating and removing American Indian artifacts from a cultural site.

Despite the smaller sentence, Humboldt County Deputy District Attorney Christa McKimmy said Monday she was satisfied with the ruling, given Truhls’ lack of a criminal past.

“I think the 30 days along with the community service sends a message to the community that our court is not going to take this kind of conduct lightly,” McKimmy said. “I’m pleased that the judge ordered some jail time (considering) the defendant had no previous criminal record.”

Truhls was arrested in December after Patrick’s Point State Park rangers became aware of a YouTube video that showed him uncovering the artifacts in a Yurok village site. A subsequent investigation led to more videos Truhls had posted online, including one in which he showed off his entire collection.