NEWS ARTICLE ARCHIVE — in chronological order, with pagination below
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Navy to explain ocean testing next Tuesday
Mendocino County supervisors are working on a coastal feed of a video conversation with a representative of the U.S. Navy about plans to increase weapons testing in the ocean, KZYX and Z radio reported this week. That was the latest word on a process that has been hampered by numerous communication problems. Congressman Mike Thompson”s…
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Navy to explain ocean testing next Tuesday
Mendocino County supervisors are working on a coastal feed of a video conversation with a representative of the U.S. Navy about plans to increase weapons testing in the ocean, KZYX and Z radio reported this week. That was the latest word on a process that has been hampered by numerous communication problems. Congressman Mike Thompson”s…
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Closest offshore oil drilling hearing to be in San Francisco on April 16
No hearings have yet been scheduled in Mendocino or Humboldt counties on a new five-year plan for oil and gas development on the outer continental shelf that now includes the first-ever offshore oil drilling off the two counties. A hearing has been scheduled at the University of California-San Francisco”s Mission Bay Conference Center on Thursday,…
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Navy grants local requests for extension and explanation of ocean testing plans
Once again, the U.S. Navy has extended the public comment period about a big increase in the use of sonar, underwater explosions and other military training exercises off the Pacific Northwest. The latest in a series of comment period extensions — to Monday, April 13 — was just what Mendocino County supervisors and Congressman Mike…
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Jurisdictional clash between FERC and Minerals Management Service ends
The Obama administration has ended a federal family feud over wave energy between the Minerals Management Service (MMS) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). FERC will now have control of the hydrokinetic licensing process, a joint statement issued Tuesday by acting FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. MMS will control all…
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Research buoys disappear
Two hi-tech buoys designed to eavesdrop on whale conversations have vanished from their moorings off Point Cabrillo and Point Reyes. The recorders were installed last year in an effort to count killer whales traveling through Northern California. Whether endangered southern resident killer whales habitat includes Mendocino County could have an impact on local ocean development…
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FBUSD tentatively cuts 14.2 teachers
Dana Gray music teacher John Gilmore will be among the local teachers to get layoff notices being sent out at the end of this week. Gilmore knows the layoffs may not actually come to pass and feels the school district has done a great job of protecting education locally. He would have liked a more…
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Comment period extended on Navy plans to expand ocean weapons testing
Following public outcry, the U.S Navy has extended until Wednesday, March 11 the deadline for public comments on expanded new plans for weapons testing in the ocean, in the air and on land in the Pacific Northwest. Mendocino County ocean waters from shore to 250 miles out are included in the area where the Navy…
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Obama supports more wave energy, offshore drilling
President Barack Obama will help America catch up with the rest of the world in ocean alternative energy development while also pushing some new offshore oil and gas drilling. That will be a big change, but not the one many environmentalists and local ocean advocates had hoped for. Promising to “fix a broken process,” new…
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Obama has little power over FERC process challenged by locals
Mendocino Coast governments, organizations and individuals have made a record splash in the files of the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission, or FERC, over the wave energy project proposed off Mendocino. By Monday, more than 30 parties had filed motions to intervene in GreenWave LLC”s proposal to claim offshore waters between Little River and Point Cabrillo…
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Fishing group requests local involvement
A Fort Bragg-based fishing group is trying to hook Mendocino Coast business leaders on an effort to reopen salmon fishing in 2009. “Our desire is self-centered because we want to fish, but how is the coast going to economically survive without a strong tourist base? The area has taken commercial and recreational fishing financial impacts…
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Bush plan prods North Coast offshore drilling
President Bush left incoming President Barack Obama an auspicious gift — a brand new plan for more offshore drilling. An investigation by this newspaper into the process used to produce this plan shows the Bush administration itself, against the desires even of oil companies, specifically targeted Mendocino County for new drilling. Critics of the Minerals…
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PG&E gives more specifics about WaveConnect project
Pacific Gas & Electric has volunteered to pay the city of Fort Bragg”s costs for wave energy as any other developer of a local project would do, City Manager Linda Ruffing told a City Council committee on Tuesday. After nearly two years of local pleas for specifics about the WaveConnect project, PG&E representatives surprised city…
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Food Bank makes do with less, but needs good food and money
With the Season of Sharing coming to an end, I realize I will miss more than just the vittles at the Fort Bragg Food Bank. Each week during the holiday season, I have shared food and borrowed positive energy from the clients, volunteers and staff at the Food Bank as part of our annual Season…
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Season of Sharing: Food chain for hungriest includes Senior Center, food stamps, Food Bank
T. J. Colvin is naturally a little disappointed lately, having moved to Fort Bragg from the Sacramento Valley to enjoy retirement by doing a lot of salmon fishing. All ocean salmon fishing was banned this year, with a grim outlook for next year. But Colvin”s spirits were lifted on Tuesday by a Redwood Coast Seniors…
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Tough times will test volunteers” spirits, safety network
Jerry Smith hates to see good stuff thrown into the trash. That”s one reason the big man loves his volunteer jobs at the Fort Bragg Food Bank and State of the Ark, the thrift shop of the Mendocino Coast Humane Society. Both non-profits convert the leavings of society into life-giving help for humans and pets.…
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FERC official to explain hydrokinetics
A top official from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will appear in Fort Bragg on Tuesday, Jan. 13 to explain the agency”s strategy on developing what it calls “hydrokinetic” power as an alterative energy source. Ann F. Miles, FERC”s director of the Division of Hydropower Licensing, will meet with county and city officials before…
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Season of Sharing: Many homeless put pets” well-being first
Recently, a man walked into the real estate office where I was working the desk, to look for rental housing. Under one arm was an airline carry-on cage. Inside, his cat crouched. He was furious that another real estate office had told him he was unlikely to qualify to pay any of the rent on…
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No bailout for Heritage House: Doors close after 59 years
It”s more than simply ironic that just as the national economy was hitting a new bottom last week, Little River”s Heritage House was having the worst days in its 60-year history. World renown as the romantic site for the movie “Same Time Next Year,” the Heritage House closed Thursday, Dec. 4, laying off all workers…
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SoCal developer granted wave energy permit off Mendocino
On Tuesday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted a Southern California development company exclusive rights to 17 square miles off the town of Mendocino for a wave energy study. GreenWave LLC”s intent is to eventually produce a 100 megawatt wave energy power plant, more than twice as big as the 40 megawatt project Pacific…
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