NEWS ARTICLE ARCHIVE — in chronological order, with pagination below
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Rising ocean acidity a threat to marine life
Rising acidity of ocean waters will wipe out the world”s coral reefs and could devastate crab, scallops and other creatures that build shells from calcium compounds in ocean waters, a top professor told a Fort Bragg audience last Friday. San Francisco State Professor Jonathon Stillman presented figures that showed the pH balance of ocean waters…
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Rising ocean acidity a threat to marine life
Rising acidity of ocean waters will wipe out the world”s coral reefs and could devastate crab, scallops and other creatures that build shells from calcium compounds in ocean waters, a top professor told a Fort Bragg audience last Friday. San Francisco State Professor Jonathon Stillman presented figures that showed the pH balance of ocean waters…
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Rising ocean acidity a threat to marine life
Rising acidity of ocean waters will wipe out the world”s coral reefs and could devastate crab, scallops and other creatures that build shells from calcium compounds in ocean waters, a top professor told a Fort Bragg audience last Friday. San Francisco State Professor Jonathon Stillman presented figures that showed the pH balance of ocean waters…
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MLPAI”s division of local group protested
Controversy continues over the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative”s staff dividing the Regional Stakeholders Group in half, apparently despite objections of a majority of group members. Jim Burns, a Noyo Harbor Commissioner, resigned the RSG last week, citing the strong-handed control and division of the group as one reason. The cities of Point Arena and…
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Million people tell Obama no” whale hunting
Whales can still inspire people to action like no other issue, Casson Trenor of Greenpeace told a packed house at Town Hall on Sunday. More than one million people have contacted the Obama administration to dissuade U.S. cooperation with an International Whaling Commission (IWC) effort to allow legal whaling to resume, Trenor said. While encouraging…
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Fort Bragg schools cut six
The Fort Bragg Unified School District last Thursday voted to layoff six people in an effort to bridge a $500,000 budget deficit. The governor”s May Revise budget came out the next day, which Superintendent Don Armstrong said didn”t contain any pleasant surprises for the district. The schools laid off two office assistants, who each work…
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MLPAI reverses photography ban
The Marine Life Protection Act Initiative has reversed its ban on photography and filming at work sessions, following news coverage that called the legality of that ban into question. After the April 21 arrest of David Gurney of Fort Bragg over photo and public speaking bans, the Sacramento Bee, KZYX Radio, Independent Coast Observer and…
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Attorneys say MLPAI public meeting bans are illegal
The Marine Life Protection Act Initiative (MLPAI) has violated California law by banning filming and photography at meetings and by forbidding any public input at a meeting last week, two top public access attorneys say. The pre-stated ban on public comment at an April 21 Regional Stakeholders Group meeting led to the arrest of Fort…
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Noyo Food Forest”s Earth Day growing faster than garden weeds
In four years, Noyo Food Forest”s Earth Day has gone from a garden party to one of the busiest events on the festival-rich Mendocino Coast. Noyo Food Forest Executive Director Susan Lightfoot remembers the blessing circle and digging party of 2007, attended by about 50 people. That increased to 750 people in 2008, 1,500 in…
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Sportfishing opens, early salmon arrivals delight locals
Valerie Seal treated herself to a salmon fishing outing on her day off, April 16, which might not seem like headline news at first. One twist in this tale is that Seal”s day job is working as the deckhand on the fishing boat the Telestar. Another is she”s the only woman in a business where…
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Sportfishing opens, early salmon arrivals delight locals
Valerie Seal treated herself to a salmon fishing outing on her day off, April 16, which might not seem like headline news at first. One twist in this tale is that Seal”s day job is working as the deckhand on the fishing boat the Telestar. Another is she”s the only woman in a business where…
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MLPAI leaders get earful, drenching in coast visit
Coast residents finally met the controversial Schwarzenegger administration organization breaking new ground in both environmental privatization and ocean protection. The North Coast Blue Ribbon Task Force updated locals on the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative (MLPAI) process for three hours Monday morning, then listened to short speeches all afternoon. On Tuesday, the task force got…
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More and more clients use Food Bank in hard times
Ever wonder what happens to that carton of eggs in the grocery store with the one cracked egg in it? Many end up at the Fort Bragg Food Bank, where Marie Rusert sorts out the good from the bad and repacks them into the half cartons the Food Bank gives away. Despite celebrating her 94th…
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More and more clients use Food Bank in hard times
Ever wonder what happens to that carton of eggs in the grocery store with the one cracked egg in it? Many end up at the Fort Bragg Food Bank, where Marie Rusert sorts out the good from the bad and repacks them into the half cartons the Food Bank gives away. Despite celebrating her 94th…
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10 locals chosen for MLPAI panel
For the first time, Native Americans will have a major presence in the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative (MLPAI) process. Following criticism that tribal interests were overlooked in other California coastal regions, the newly appointed North Coast Regional Stakeholders Group (NCRSG) includes seven Native Americans on a 31-member panel. Annelore Reisewitz, a MLPAI spokeswoman, said…
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New maps suggest MLPAI ocean closures
Eight maps proposing connected marine protected areas in the ocean off Northern California have been submitted by community groups in Mendocino and Humboldt counties. Mendocino County groups submitted six of those eight plans. A total of 18 groups had expressed an interest in submitting an array, but 10 did not do so by the Feb.…
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MLPAI meeting features maps, data, controversy
Four groups of locals are putting finishing touches on ocean maps that create new areas to restrict fishing but so far exclude most of the Mendocino and Fort Bragg area. But it”s just a start, actually not even yet the official start of the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative (MLPAI) process. As the extensive “external”…
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Food Bank clients often give to pets before selves
One afternoon I helped referee a typical drama in our parking lot next to the Fort Bragg Food Bank. A fat Labrador puppy, who had tried his best to obey his master”s very firm “stay,” instead leaned too far out of the pickup to bark at the two dogs in the next car over and…
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Christmas need, giving spirit both on the rise at Food Bank
For many an indulgent year, Christmas was a thrilling family holiday for opening gifts, stuffing ourselves and watching sports. The last three years of immersing myself with the clients and volunteers at the Fort Bragg Food Bank has changed my thinking. The example of giving people who have almost no worldly possessions, helped spur me…
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Food Bank staff never slows down despite flu, workload
I confess I tested the mettle of Amanda Friscia, the Fort Bragg Food Bank”s new front desk person, by asking her questions while she worked. She steadily checked in a constant barrage of clients, while typing, smiling and engaging in the interview with me. “I love busy. This job is multi-tasking to the max,” she…
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