NEWS ARTICLE ARCHIVE — in chronological order, with pagination below
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Latino leaders describe positive efforts, values
A Fort Bragg audience got a kick out of a new effort by leaders in the Latino community to provide young people with a positive activity while attracting a new group of visitors to town. The event, Enlance Comunitaro, or “Community Connection — meet your Latino neighbors” was organized by the Alliance for Democracy. Those…
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Hospice thrift shop plans halted by zoning issue
The Mendocino Coast Hospice Thrift and Consignment Shop has put plans to open a new thrift shop on hold, after discovering current zoning doesn”t allow a retail business at that location. After substantial remodeling and even taking some donations, the organization discovered that the area is zoned heavy industrial by the city. The discovery was…
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Department of Interior looks at offshore drilling in off-limits areas
The Department of Interior has taken the unprecedented step of redoing its five-year plan to study the possibility of drilling for oil in areas now prohibited — such as Northern California. The new plan would replace an existing five-year plan launched just last year. That plan didn”t consider developing banned areas such as the Mendocino…
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Department of Interior looks at offshore drilling in off-limits areas
The Department of Interior has taken the unprecedented step of redoing its five-year plan to study the possibility of drilling for oil in areas now prohibited — such as Northern California. The new plan would replace an existing five-year plan launched just last year. That plan didn”t consider developing banned areas such as the Mendocino…
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Fort Bragg fishermen”s group considering legal action as it waits for FERC action
Of the Advocate An eagerly anticipated day for those who want greater local input into the wave energy process turned out to be just another delay. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, has granted itself an extension to the time it will consider requests for public participation and environmental analysis in developing national licensing…
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Skunk Train, Starbucks and Circle K all surviving despite gas prices, foreclosures
Of the Advocate Foreclosures and gas prices are big issues in Fort Bragg, as well as elsewhere. The California Western Railroad, probably the coast”s top tourist attraction, has had its profit margin hit hard by high diesel fuel prices. But despite rumors, the Skunk Train has not been sold, said Robert Jason Pinoli, vice president…
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Otis Johnson, Big River win state grants
Fort Bragg”s Otis Johnson Park and Big River State Park were among the 20 winners in a competitive grant process for Proposition 50 funding. Fort Bragg, rejected in last year”s cycle, impressed the traveling team sent by the state and won its full request of $178,238, plus a $17,389 match provided by City labor, for…
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Opposition forms against Bush”s fish farm, drilling plans
President George W. Bush”s administration is making its biggest effort to date to allow corporate development of the ocean for fish farms, oil drilling and wave energy. While European governments are increasingly subsidizing energy development and insisting on local control of local resources, Bush”s emerging strategy mirrors his long-standing belief in market-driven solutions. Bush on…
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Local Starbucks may have dodged store closures
Fort Bragg”s Starbucks outlet will apparently remain open, surviving the closing of 600 stores which was announced two weeks ago. An email sent to corporate headquarters in Seattle produced a lot more information about modern public relations than about the stores closing. The email from the newspaper was answered promptly, by a San Francisco firm,…
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Salmon barbecue draws huge crowd
It”s easy to spot the Lunde clan every year at the World”s Largest Salmon Barbecue. Just look for lots of red, white and blue. About a dozen family members, all wearing patriotic gear such as Uncle Sam hats beneath their towering American flag, enjoyed an annual family tradition Saturday that was started 15 years ago…
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Four-star condo-hotel envisioned at Hi Seas site
Fort Bragg will soon say goodbye to the burned out hotel near its northern boundary. A four-star condo-hotel with lounge and eats is planned as a replacement. Owner Robert Hunt says he”s ready to demolish the structure as soon as final permits arrive. He”s confident the old Hi-Seas Motel will be gone before the end…
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SRA finds new causes, hopes salmon hatchery can play role
As always, funds raised in 2008 by the World”s Largest Salmon Barbecue go to salmon restoration causes. New this year is that the non-profit Salmon Restoration Association is devoting its efforts to a single river, the Noyo, and seeking more causes for the future, while also hoping the hatchery that was its centerpiece for three…
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N.J. firm gets wave energy rights to Cape Mendo waters
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, has issued a three-year preliminary permit giving California Wave Energy Partners rights to study wave energy in waters north of Cape Mendocino. The project, which was granted its permit on June 27, is the local entry of Ocean Power Technologies (OPT), one of the best-known players in the…
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Noyo to provide perspectives on salmon disaster
When coho salmon or steelhead swim up the South Fork of the Noyo River as far as its confluence with Kass Creek, they will very likely get no farther or be unable to spawn if they do. A Noyo Watershed Alliance Project aims to help fix that problem by replacing a failing and undersized long…
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Fishermen asks feds to map fishing resources before granting wave leases
Of the Advocate In response to this newspaper”s Freedom of Information Act request, the federal Minerals Management Service, or MMS, has released Pacific Gas and Electric Company”s nominations for an exclusive wave energy study off Fort Bragg. The release shows that MMS is considering entering into a five-year, often secret process. MMS has made Fort…
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Offshore drilling pushed as gas price solution
An effort to open up the California Coast to offshore oil drilling was defeated last week, but some Republicans in Congress say they plan to keep pushing it. A House panel voted 9-6 last week in a party-line vote against lifting the 27-year-old offshore drilling moratorium, in a battle reported mostly by the redOrbit blog…
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Thief plunders equipment at Learning Garden
It was a sad moment in the history of the Noyo Food Forest”s Learning Garden at Fort Bragg High School on Sunday when they had to lock the gate this week. “We always left the gate open so that people could come in and work when we”re not there. Some of our volunteers can only…
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Salmon Trollers show river issues caused fishing disaster
Members of Fort Bragg”s Salmon Trollers Marketing Association have used all that unwanted shore time this year to root out the causes of the biggest salmon disaster in California history. On May 15, a congressional sub-committee held a hearing to probe why the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) along with the National Marine Fisheries…
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$16 million bond would fix plumbing, electric, roofs and more at Dana Gray and high school
Fort Bragg High School drama students know there is always at least one bad actor in their room, a beast that growls and chatters while they practice, and if they are lucky, blows hot air at them. Teachers have been known to use the antiquated aerial heater”s growling as part of the learning process in…
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Salmon barbecue offers change
For 37 years, king salmon has reigned as the only main dish at the annual World”s Largest Salmon Barbecue, one of the most traditional and old-fashioned of local events. But 2008 is a year when every salmon-related tradition is being rethought. Groups never involved before are being pulled into salmon restoration efforts. This year, on…
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