NEWS ARTICLE ARCHIVE — in chronological order, with pagination below
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Community
What could be more Mendocino dreamin’ than a classic Volkswagen bus with a trailer carrying peace signs? But something now makes many residents turn away from this image of their only partly apocryphal past. Christian Williams, 26, and Kitty Lyons, 30, were parked out front in that rig enjoying what they got from the Fort…
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Crab season starts with tasty, high quality samples Dungeness fishing brings tasty danger, cash to Noyo
Consumers will soon be able to buy and cook big, juicy Dungeness crabs caught off the coast of Fort Bragg. But the first to sample their flesh every year are government biologists. Commercial fishermen out of Fort Bragg were allowed to pull their pots up on Monday. Crab fishing may be the most lucrative and…
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Season of Sharing
I”ve been investigating strange disappearances at the Fort Bragg Food Bank. Chips. Soda pop. Lemon pies in plastic boxes. At the same time, newcomers like brown rice, yogurt and fresh chard have appeared on the scene, sliding into the places once occupied by the yummy junk foods. Others beyond this cub reporter have noticed these…
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Season of sharing: Fort Bragg Food Bank
There are those rock hard but delicious fresh Mexican squash, or the seemingly endless supply of canned capers and sour little canned mandarins. And there was that can of “spotted dick” I found on Nancy Severy”s desk seven years ago. The Fort Bragg Food Bank”s executive director was visibly mortified after I put our laughs…
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Runners brave fog
As a woman passed her husband in Sunday”s 5K Salmon Run on the trestle over Pudding Creek, she said with a laugh; “Never thought I”d breeze by you.” “I can”t breathe. It”s the fog,” he said. Women, fog and salmon education did well on Sunday. Women were among the fastest runners on the course, which…
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Mother of two killed while waiting for family to return from excursion
Police are mystified about why a man crashed his work truck through the wall of a Fort Bragg motel on Friday night, killing a Lafayette woman in her room and injuring her 7-month-old nephew. No relationship has been established between the driver of the truck, Michael Bradford Bitney, 56, of Fort Mohave, Arizona, and the…
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Few facts released about Oct. 8 death of Cleone man in Mendocino County Jail
Why did Shane Murphy”s cell mates think the 36-year-old Cleone man had committed suicide last Wednesday? Was Murphy a mentally ill person who slipped through the Mendocino County Jail”s screening process? These and all other questions remain unanswered in a case involving five law enforcement agencies, but virtually no facts released to the public about…
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Boards convene historic meeting
Serious efforts by the state to improve water quality and restore salmon led to a “historic” meeting at Fort Bragg Town Hall last week between two former rival state agencies. The California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection and the North Coast Regional Water Board met together, the boards, lawyers and staff filling up Town…
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UC Berkeley expert contradicts Caltrans on replacement of Albion, Salmon Creek bridges
(Editor”s note: This newspaper will feature a full story in the Aug. 14 edition on Astaneh”s two-hour-plus presentation and later feature responses from Caltrans, if that information is forthcoming.) A bridge expert and UC Berkeley professor of structural and bridge engineering told a packed Ledford House audience last Tuesday in Albion he sees no reason…
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Mendocino Coast fishermen smiling over 2014 salmon returns
Has the king really returned? A look at the big line of sport fishing boats lined up a few hundred feet offshore from Albion to Westport would indicate a banner season of catching king (Chinook) salmon is underway. Stopping at the docks in Noyo Harbor gives mostly the same impression. Fisherman Ken Fennell says this…
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Bump up for attendance at Salmon Restoration Association”s barbecue
On a perfect, sunny, 75 degree day, the 43rd annual World”s Largest Salmon Barbecue saw improved ticket and drink sales and had a big crowd that just didn”t want to leave. The total sales for both children and adults was 2,598 tickets, despite a $30 price tag for adult tickets. In 2013, 2,347 paid meals…
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Caltrans proposes replacing Albion bridges
The Albion nation is intent on saving the historic Albion Bridge, either as a footbridge or to continue as the state highway. Albion residents, long known for collective action, gathered earlier this month and decided to fight for the Albion River Bridge, but not, at least so far, for the less spectacular Salmon Creek Bridge.…
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Tall ship”s visit shows continuing need for harbor breakwater
More than 2,000 people enjoyed tours and/or diving off the tall ship Hawaiian Chieftain April 9-13, but it”s unlikely the unique sailing/trading educational vessel will be back soon. This is not the first or the last vessel to be discouraged from using the harbor by a rolling ride through a narrow chute of a harbor…
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Albion, Salmon Creek bridges replacement
Two meetings organized by Caltrans are planned at the Albion School this week, on Wednesday, April 23, from 6 to 8 p.m., and the “official” informal public information meeting on Thursday, April 24, from 5 to 8 p.m. The first meeting follows up on an earlier Caltrans meeting with Albion residents. The Thursday event will…
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Noyo Harbor: Army Corps seeks solutions to infamous dredge pile
Bill Hayes, chair of the Mendocino Coast Recreation & Park District, heard the good news that the Noyo Harbor District would benefit from $500,000 in federal money and suggested at last Thursday”s monthly NHD meeting a revival of an old deal between the two. MCRPD previously explored using dredged material from Noyo Harbor as fill…
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Tall ship pays first visit to Noyo Harbor
Senior Capt. John Morrison gripped the classic spoked wooden wheel of the tall ship the Hawaiian Chieftain for a photograph, with a foggy Noyo Bridge in the background. The vessel had just completed an uneventful voyage from San Francisco, powered by big diesel engines. And then a hair-raising entrance through the tiny opening of Noyo…
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Albion Bridge maintenance work started Monday
Caltrans started work on replacing bolts on the Albion River Bridge this week, with no timetable yet announced for how long the project will take. Caltrans is taking some extra measures to prevent the traffic snarls and angry Albion residents that emerged during last year”s painting of the nearby Salmon Creek Bridge. Caltrans is planning…
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Noyo Harbor Commission meets April 10
After a meeting called by Congressman Jared Huffman, Noyo Harbor may have finally made the funding list in the U.S Army Corps of Engineers” annual budget. A budget allocation of $500,000 for managing dredge spoils will be on the agenda at the Noyo Harbor District”s meeting at Fort Bragg Town Hall, Thursday, April 10, at…
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Ice, snow may have knocked KZYX&Z off the air
Radio station KZYX and KZYZ”s transmitters were all off the air Tuesday morning, with hopes, but not promises of restoration sometime Tuesday. The transmission of three signals is tied together. That left only the live web feed. Some shows were being cancelled on Tuesday. “The situation is this: the unit up on Cold Springs Peak…
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Remembering a good man
Victims and admirers were likely to remember Ricky Del Fiorentino as a big teddy bear in uniform. Young people too. “He was a very nice man,” said Fort Bragg High School student Elizabeth Anderson. She took woodshop with Ricky”s son, who is now a senior in high school. She remembers how Ricky naturally commanded respect…
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