Reporter's Notebook published Jan. 14, 2012

A grant from the California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities funded the dental van.

The Tooth Ferry was selected from 13 entries. “It’s a fun name and will hopefully conjure up positive images for the kids,” said Hilda Yepes Contreras, site administrator of the local health center.

Other suggestions that received a significant number of votes were The Tooth Booth by Tommy Fortier and The Tooth Mobile by Sarah Demuth, both of Crescent City. They also received Kindles as prizes.

“The Tooth Ferry” will be painted on the van. In addition, the Building Healthy Communities logo and “Healthy Smiles” translated into multiple languages heard around Del Norte will also be painted on the van.

Community members can email Contreras with suggested languages, and proper translations of “Healthy Smiles,” at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

—Kelley Atherton

Half-off deal for inmates

As a result of California’s jail realignment, people convicted of crimes that aren’t considered violent, “serious” or sexual by the state will serve significantly less jail time than they are sentenced to, Del Norte County Judge William Follett said at a recent Crescent City Rotary Club meeting.

The convicted, who formerly would have been sent to prison but now will go to a county jail, will be eligible to receive half-time credit for good behavior — two days of credit for every day served. And they may serve even less than half their sentence as a result of overcrowding caused by the realignment, he said.

“We do not have truth in sentencing in California,” said Follett.

While jails may physically have the space for inmates who would have otherwise been sent to prison, they don’t have the fiscal support, he said

The half-off deal California is offering inmates is going to cause a shift in the way defense attorneys negotiate plea deals, Follett predicted.

Instead of criminals asking for several years of probation in lieu of time behind bars, they will now be asking for jail time knowing it will be cut by at least half if they behave and they won’t have to report to a probation officer afterward, he opined.

— Anthony Skeens

Getting the cold shoulder

Over winter break, teachers looking to do some work found their classrooms a little chilly.

Schools were shut down during the break to save on utility costs as part of the district’s Energy Education program.

Teacher Amber Cron, president of Del Norte Teachers Association, told the School Board that her classroom was about 45 degrees. She gave up after about 15 minutes of grading papers.

At some schools, custodians were able to adjust the heat, but at other sites, new programmable thermostats couldn’t be adjusted.

Teachers appreciate the effort to reduce energy costs, Cron said, but are also “gluttons for punishments and like to work on their days off.”

Next winter break, the teachers would like a window of time to come into school and work — with heat, she said.

 —Kelley Atherton

Early-departing crowd

A standing-room-only crowd packed Thunen Gym for the Del Norte-Eureka boys varsity basketball game Wednesday night, but it turned out the attraction wasn’t just basketball

At halftime, with Del Norte up 30-25, a number of people with video recorders and cameras scrambled for good spots to film the action.

The Del Norte High dance and drill squad took to the court. Last weekend, squad members held a dance camp where they taught young children moves for that night’s performance.

To the strains of a country version of the Kenny Loggins’ hit “Footloose,” the dance team and the kids performed for the packed house.

Afterward, many parents took their small children home.

When play resumed, while a decent-sized crowd still remained,  there were a number of empty seats. The early departees missed what turned out to be Del Norte’s strongest performance to date as it went on to a 66-54 victory over the Loggers in Big 5 Conference play.

—Bill Choy

Disastrous scenarios

Del Norte County’s emergency services manager, Cindy Henderson, has been speaking with county agencies, regional coordinators and the general public about preparing for a Cascadia fault line earthquake and the following tsunami.

Henderson has also spoken to Del Norters about how to deal with displaced victims who might travel here after a disaster elsewhere, say in the Bay Area.

“I had people say, ‘Well, we’d blow up a road, and we wouldn't let ‘em across the bridge.’ I told them, ‘No, you can’t do that,” Henderson said.

When disaster strikes, “You just don’t know what people

are capable of doing,” Henderson said, noting that if supply lines are cut, the food supply in grocery stores would last about 72

hours. After that, we’d be waiting for the emergency services cavalry.

—Adam Spencer

Signs go back in the box

Looks like our Jack in the Box won’t be popping up again soon.

First shuttered on Dec. 7, the restaurant’s sign came down this week. Now the sign and all things Jack-related are headed for storage, according to corporate spokesman Brian Luscomb.

Franchise owner Romesh Japra also closed another location in Eureka on Dec. 9.

What happened to the curly fries? Shakes? Sourdough Jack?

Basically, corporate powers stepped in over a franchise compliance issue, Luscomb said.

“The franchisee was not in compliance with his franchise agreement, so by mutual consent the owner closed the restaurants,” Luscomb said, declining to elaborate on the compliance rub, except to say that the closures did not pertain to any health or safety issues.

Japra, a prominent cardiologist in Fremont, hasn’t talked with the Triplicate despite numerous phone calls. He did answer the phone Thursday, but quickly hung up when this reporter identified herself, saying he was with a patient.

“I wish I could be clearer on what the ultimate fate is of the restaurant, but right now it’s still too early to state for certain,” Luscomb said.

Jack in the Box Inc. has a lease on the property until 2021, and Japra sub-leases from the company.

“He is still on the hook for the lease,” Luscomb said.

—Emily Jo Cureton