Local News roundup- schools reroute controversial path, Jack Peters new railings, Danco needs to fix fence, New ‘housing’ on sale at roundabout, Dog Park gets spruced up and more!!
Jack Peters deck and rail replacement is more than half done!
Caltrans and its contractor have completed the east side of Jack Peters Creek Bridge. Here are some views of the new railing. We call foul on the 2025 date. But it is supposed to be all done before 2026; See photos.
Mendocino schools and their partners have fixed the controversial problem of the path! The alternate routing of the path along Little Lake Road was provided in time for the opening of school today. The idea was out there that this path was not real, not recorded and that the schools didn’t really have to provide a solution. But they ended up doing the right thing! We got the word late Thursday afternoon, as the fix was done without most of us who have been involved hearing about it!. Ok…. Just GET ‘ER Done! That works for me and so far all the neighbors who had complained about their trail being cut off The CHP, which also didnt hear, had planned to send an extra patrol to check on walkers in the area and were delayed by the dump truck accident. But it had already been solved, apparently the day before school!. The schools, county and construction people came up with a solution that routes people around the old trail- but at the same time keeps them out of the construction site and off the dangerous curve in Little Lake Road. Problem solved! Congrats for all parties for working together. Reasonable activism and a reasonable district helped here. I had a lot of unreported conversations that showed it could have gone very south. Here are our original two stories pushing for a solution. If you click on, we will have a new headline celebrating what looks like a win-win-win we were glad to play some part in.
Hey Danco, there is a hole in your fence! And by the way, good job.
The Plateau has been a real success story for most. I watch it on a nightly basis. The Plateau is a neighborhood of homeless, seniors and families, this phrasing ended up as the headline for the story Frank Hartzell broke on this important project. The neighborhood phrase was actually written by the man who pushed this project over the objections of people on all sides of the political spectrum, then Mayor Bernie Norvell, now county supervisor. On Saturday nights, one can walk by the project and all is generally quiet. Gone are the parties of the first few months. Over nearly 4 years, the homeless people who couldn’t live like adults got kicked out and others took their place. Many of those realize what a great opportunity this is. The Eureka developer, Danco, did two projects here in Fort Bragg, one next to the police station, the senior project with the multicolored houses and the Plateau directly south of Adventist Health Mendocino Coast Hospital. Danco today became the recipient of a Newsom Administration award for a big project to create housing for the homeless out of a motel in Oakland with a preference for veterans. A press release from the state says: “Danco Communities, and Operation Dignity will receive nearly $7.1 million in Homekey+ funds to develop The Maya, an adaptive reuse project converting an existing hotel into 23 studio apartments serving individuals experiencing homelessness. All units will consist of kitchenettes, cooktops, refrigerators, private bathrooms, and bed furnishings. Additionally, free internet service will be available in all units, and free laundry services are provided for all residents. I found this hole in the fence at the Plateau on my fruitless search for the giant Red Ted, a black bear brown in color with a red streak that has been lumbering about the hospital area. There are bears all over this year and so far, no problems with them, but do stay away from these guys. There are dozens of videos and photos of Red Ted and the other bears. A biologist said he really large and old, maybe 550 lbs! He has been coming yearly in summers and raiding trash. He tore a giant hole in a fence to get to some beehives on the south side of River Drive. He finally got annoyed enough at people shouting at him that he left before getting any honey. Most of the time, Red Ted ignores all the humans. The police department used to come up and sound the siren and Ted would lumber away. Then that didnt work so other police car noises. Now, Ted just ignores it along with car horns, HEY! HEY! And banging of pots.
We will have a story on Red Ted soon. I looked for him in the plateau and talked to six people there, none of which had ever seen him. Kemppe Way seems to be the limit of his travels. But I did find this hole in the fence, that I had knew must exist. The homeless area is fenced off and has one entrance. This hole is taking folks out of there into the seniors area. The developer promised there would be no entrances directly in to the seniors section. Ill call Danco. I have heard that Danco is not terribly responsive, but I do see their people over there I took a tour of their facilities in Eureka and Samoa, where they are dawdling on their grand plans to fix up the Somoa Cookhouse and make the whole area a very cool new kind of city .There is tremendous potential for incredible housing all out there in the island/peninusla setting of Samoa and Manilla. But Danco seems to start on a lot of stuff and move on. I visited a couple of very nice complexes they had up there and one that was very neglected.
Fort Bragg’s new housing project creates neighborhood of seniors, families and homeless
Good News! The old flea market grounds are now a place you can go and buy a shed. Free delivery is advertised. I think this business picked the right town. How many people will be living in these soon?
The Trump Administration took two major steps this month toward killing the emerging wind energy leases off the Humboldt Coast (with one area being near the line with Mendocino County). The feds had promised to do this, dating back to Obama and the first Trump term, but now the carpet is being pulled out from under plans. It was hoped that the construction and maintenance of these offshore power plants, which would stand more than 150 feet high, would energize the revival of the entire harbor in Eureka. Now all is more uncertain. There have been a huge flurry of anti solar and anti wind decisions from a half dozen Trump Administration agencies, including USDA and Treasury. Here is one with direct impact on Humboldt wind energy.
BOEM Rescinds Designated Wind Energy Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf
The Noyo Headands dog park which has the potential to be one of the coolest dog parks anywhere has been getting regular upgrades this year. When we arrived Wednesday, a big pile of nice mulch had been left but not spread. Caesar immediately played king of the mountain. The scruffy old sandstone of the oceanfront had been a deterrent to many. By far the favorite dog park in Fort Bragg is at CV Starr Center They also mowed it recently and fixed up some broken gates. (the city I presume, another attaboy for John Smith!) . This dog park enclosure is big and has another equal sized fenced enclosure attached. The two together with those pleasant ocean breezes from the adjacent blufftops make this a very cool place to dog your dogs. In the future, the Noyo Center for Marine Science plans to build a museum on this same old GP runway area. Noyo Center’s downtown location is the only non restaurant downtown where you cannot bring your dog.
Memorials on cliff tops, found by the dozens on the Mendocino Coast, are the very best warnings of the danger of the bluffs. Some parks people agreed with me, but didn’t want to get involved. I can see why now. I wanted to spruce up three memorials on the Caspar Headlands ahead of the cleanup there. But I wasnt sure who each memorial of life and death was for. In trying to find out, I got only polite receptions from family members of those who had perished but a few angry reactions from people, including some newly arrived guy to the area who told me all the reasons why i was doing this. Wow! I hadnt thought of any of those. So I decided to keep it low key and do my best to attend to those three over time. Going to need the weedwhacker. The people died quite a long time ago, the most recent a decade ago, a woman who loved dancing outside in Caspar and who was found perished at the bottom of the bluff. Another was an abalone diver who died of a heart attack climbing the steep grade there and the last a young boy. I think the memorials really make a person more careful and reflective too. But there is a better way. State Parks has some picnic tables at Laguna Point dedicated that are also dedicated memorial. The most recent one is the sturdiest picnic table ever, devoted to a young man who loved that place. I would think a bench or something similar could be put up at the clifftop in Caspar with a memorial and a sign saying people had lost their lives in this beautiful spot.
A good look at the new, short railings on Jack Peters Creek Bridge.
The Trump administration and the Congress are not “killing” wind energy at all. That would be the case if they banned wind energy such as the state of CA banned cars using gasoline. They are ending the subsidies because isn’t it wrong for taxpayer money to line the pockets of Big Green businesses?