Three Crescent City nonprofit childcare centers were on the brink of shutting down by the end of the year â victims of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic â when they received a $20,000 grant this week to prevent staff layoffs and keep serving 49 children and their families.
âWe were literally going to have an emergency board meeting this month to decide whether to close the three centers down in January. It was that dire of a situation,â said Melodee Mitchell, director for the Del Norte Child Care Council. âThese families are working families and this would have directly impacted their ability to work â and we would have had to lay off employees, who would be forced to draw unemployment.â
Assemblyman Wood Discusses COVID-19, Broadband Access With Del Norte County Supervisors
Del Norte’s representative in the state assembly made a digital appearance in front of county supervisors Tuesday, discussing COVID-19, wildfire prevention, healthcare and broadband access in Northern California.
District 2 Assemblyman Jim Wood expressed his appreciation for Del Norte County Public Health Officer Dr. Warren Rehwaldt as well as Lori Cowan and Roger Gitlin who attended their final meeting as county supervisor on Tuesday.
Wood also spoke with county supervisors after introducing two bills: AB 9, which seeks to expand state wildfire prevention efforts; and AB 41, which modifies the state’s “Dig Once” policy and seeks to “expedite the deployment of broadband infrastructure.”