NEWS ARTICLE ARCHIVE — in chronological order, with pagination below
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Wave energy proposed again for Mendocino
Wave energy is back off the Mendocino Coast, at least on paper. Green Wave Energy Solutions has refiled for permits to develop wave energy off the village of Mendocino and San Luis Obispo; both sets were thrown out by the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission last fall. FERC revoked the Thousand Oaks” company”s 2009 permits citing…
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FBUSD gets new board member
Jerry Matson was chosen last week by the Fort Bragg Unified School District Board from a list of four applicants to fill an open seat. Matson, 56, owner of Matson Construction and Matson Building Materials, spent nine years as a member of the Fort Bragg Planning Commission. He has also been a Fort Bragg Rotarian…
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Mental Health Board makes a difference — without funds or power
Part two of our Mental Health Services investigation looks at the Mendocino County Mental Health Board Before this summer”s murderous spree made headlines around the world, Mendocino County Mental Heath Board (MHB) chairman Guy Grenny was looking for an additional board member from the Coast. Now, the MHB has its most controversial applicant ever, Jim…
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$19M more sought for county conservation easements
More than $40 million in state bond funds headed to Mendocino County this summer will help create “lots of jobs,” said Art Harwood, executive director of the Redwood Forest Foundation Inc. While RFFI is still preparing for its first timber harvest, another logging-preservation nonprofit, The Conversation Fund, is already creating jobs in the three big…
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Security for forest operations
Last month”s murders created fear in local forests and renewed questions about landowner security just as $38 million is being spent to create sustainable wilderness logging in the north and south ends of the county. What is the security strategy of these new style logging-restoration nonprofits? “Jere Melo was our security man,” said Art Harwood,…
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Laura”s Law might save county money, force better services
Mental Health Series Following the murder of three people by a deranged Nevada County man, the California Legislature passed Laura”s Law to give counties a new way to practice preventative mental health care. After two local horrific murders and three attempted murders by Aaron Bassler, whose family had also sought mental health treatment for their…
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SmartMeter protesters rally outside local PG&E office
Ned Vernoga of Chico was enjoying a Fort Bragg vacation when he spotted the vigorous SmartMeter protest July 29 in front of the PG&E office on Main Street. About 50 people showed up to protest the ongoing installation of the wireless devices, which read meters in real time. “There has been a lot of people…
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Spaghetti feed funds help senior daycare
Ruth Auerbach started her 101 years as the daughter of immigrants in old Brooklyn and like the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles before her birthday party in Fort Bragg. That”s where the diminutive centenarian was enjoying lunch on Monday with her friends in the Redwood Coast Senior Center”s Day Program. For $55 per day, the…
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Albion activists plan Fort Bragg SmartMeter protest
SmartMeters are coming to the Coast and some have already arrived quietly. A group called the Albion Community Awareness Network is planning to make some noise about that at an anti-SmartMeter rally on Friday at noon at the Fort Bragg PG&E office at Main and Laurel streets. PG&E is now installing SmartMeters despite a county…
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Pigs, dogs and even a pet psychic on Todd Point
Call Carol Becker the animal communicator, the doggy reader or even the pet psychic. She is more concerned with what animals are saying than the names people come up with, which aren”t always so complimentary. The Fort Bragg woman provided “pet readings” for $5 at her booth among a full day of animal festivities on…
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Salmon rumors, calm ocean lure fishermen
For a really big traffic jam last weekend, forget the Los Angeles freeway “Carmageddon,” — try Noyo Harbor. Boats lined up in the early morning hours to take turns going out to hit the ocean. Pickups jammed the big boat launch parking lot in the South Harbor and there was no parking from the barbecue…
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Radiation monitoring nixed
Fort Bragg City Hall never got the radiation monitoring equipment on its roof that was suggested following the Japanese nuclear disaster. And now City Hall”s roof is also losing its long-standing particulate matter air detector. City Hall turned out to be the wrong spot to measure air quality for Fort Bragg, said Chris Brown, Air…
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NOAA effort pushes more ocean fish farming
The Obama administration has launched an effort to increase fish farming in the nation”s oceans, as a way of creating jobs and reducing a $9 billion seafood trade deficit. The new Department of Commerce and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) aquaculture policy would make it easier to create open ocean fish farming off Mendocino.…
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Fort Bragg Pomo tribe seeks BIA recognition
With some Native American leaders praising and others criticizing a new marine life protection area compromise, Eric Hontou is part of a Pomo band who are feeling left out, as usual. Hontou is part of the Fort Bragg-based Shebelna band of Pomo Indians, who are currently seeking official tribal status from the Bureau of Indian…
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Lost Coast, other ocean protected areas celebrated
Despite ongoing questions about Native American uses, the final map of new marine protected areas is being saluted as a crowning achievement of cooperation and protection by those who were part of the process, from fishermen to environmentalists to government officials to Native Americans. “The North Coast region has put its unique stamp on the…
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PG&E to install SmartMeters despite opposition
Despite an ordinance imposing a temporary moratorium, PG&E has begun to install SmartMeters in Mendocino County. SmartMeters tie the electric grid into the world wide web, giving both PG&E and electrical customers a closer eye on electrical usage through WiFi technology. The Board of Supervisors, on Jan. 25, imposed a temporary moratorium on the installation…
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World”s Largest Salmon Barbecue
When a vibrant Fort Bragg commercial fishing industry came together to create the World”s Largest Salmon Barbecue 40 years ago, tourism and art were insignificant local forces compared to extraction industries. Now the roles of Coast commercial enterprise have reversed. That change can be seen at Fort Bragg”s second oldest major festival. A barbecue, which…
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Salmon barbecue funds help create new stream restoration industry
As a board member of the Salmon Restoration Association, this reporter voted several years ago to spend $30,000 from the 2008 World”s Largest Salmon Barbecue for stream restoration on Kass Creek. Our money would go primarily to inserting woody debris in the creek, with the supposed result being recreation of habitat for threatened coho salmon.…
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Obama ocean policy meeting set for Bay Area
A location and time has been set for the Obama Administration”s meeting in San Francisco to take input on ocean planning. The only California meeting will take place Thursday, June 30 from 1 to 5 p.m. at Hilton Union Square, San Francisco. President Obama recently issued a proclamation naming June National Oceans Month and tasking…
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MLPAI: Native gathering rights still in question
After two years of controversy, camaraderie, meetings and maps, the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative (MLPAI) process ends with the California Fish & Game Commission (CFGC) meeting in Stockton on June 29-30. Ocean protection and marine protected areas will always be important future subjects, but this is the end of the road for the unique…
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