LATEST STORIES
Willits City Council raises water and sewer rates 6.5% and 6% with October billing
Council votes 4-1 to take the full planned increase after scaling it back last year.
Fort Bragg’s Highway 1 fence due to come down to about 4 feet, city says
The work is due this week or next, the city manager said Monday. The city promised a news release when it had a date.
Featured Pet: Mac Daddy
Sweet Mac Daddy is loyal, calm and a very good boy. He could be your best pal.
Trailer Cove seniors ask Fort Bragg for help at Boatyard bus stop
A council member puts the bus stop on a committee agenda, and the transit board’s chair says she’ll raise it Wednesday.
Letter to the Editor: Vote No on Proposition 44
Prop 44 is a dangerous attack on rural healthcare.
The Mendocino Setlist: September 28-October 4, 2026
Your weekly guide to upcoming music events in Mendocino County.
Ukiah Library hosts Art Walk Friday, Oct. 2 with art exhibit and music
The evening includes music and the exhibit `People & Places: Works by Cottie Morrison and Janet Rosen’ as well as an in-person creative program with Janet Rosen.
First Friday at Ukiah’s Grace Hudson celebrates new exhibit
“Deep Valley: People, Places, Memory” features the greater Ukiah Valley, its cultural history and residents.
Nearly all elementary students use devices in classrooms, teacher survey finds
About 61% of surveyed teachers say digital tools help students learn more effectively, but 46% also say the devices are a distraction.
Mendocino County to host six public workshops on sea level rise strategy
County planners and consultants will present findings and draft strategies from Sept. 29 to Oct. 5.
Ukiah Library mounts show with local artists
Mixed media and paintings by local artists Cottie Morrison and Janet Rosen are on display.
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FEATURED STORIES
5 local measures on Mendocino County ballots Nov. 3: What each one does and costs
Two are city taxes, one pays for ambulances on the south coast, and two are bonds from districts based in neighboring counties.
Navy won’t schedule North Coast sonar training meeting
This year the only in-person meetings are in Washington state. Public comments are due Oct. 19.
UC climate scientist gives the skinny on Mendocino County’s winter
What is forecast to be the strongest El Niño on record tilts the whole North Coast toward a wet winter. What that means on the ground is not so easy to say.
Newsom vetoes Jackson Demonstration State Forest bill, citing need for ‘flexibility’
Mendocino County backed AB 2494. A rural counties group asked for the veto.
Mendocino County’s healthcare backup to Medi-Cal may cut its eligibility and benefits
The program for those who can’t get Medi-Cal could reduce eligibility. The first public hearing is Friday.
Mendocino schools broke water permit rules, county staff says
The school district filled two big water tanks in the dry months, which its permit didn’t allow. On Thursday, the county may rewrite the rules.
2026 ELECTION
Supervisor and school board candidates face voters at Willits forum
Bourassa and Hart talked about the county budget and data centers while Willits Unified trustees disagreed over the district’s finances.
Hearing all the voices: Fort Bragg’s Latino and senior residents
City Council candidates tackle how to engage and serve Latino and older residents.
Fort Bragg City Council candidates discuss tourism’s importance to the economy
The puzzle is how to strike a balance between dependence on tourism and its impacts on jobs, housing and essential services.
POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Ukiah citizens’ group Mendo Matters debate draws 3 of 8 city council candidates
John Strangio, Matt Froneberger and Robert Bazzani agreed on most things but split on annexation and license-plate cameras.
Fort Bragg City Council candidates discuss obstacles to progress
Candidates offer ideas to increase economic diversity, job creation, energy independence and more.
Newsom clamps down on California data centers as voters turn against the industry
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed seven data center bills into law, signaling a tide change toward regulation of the industry.
Police & Courts
Missing at-risk woman last seen in Ukiah located
Ariana Arnold is a member of the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians.
Ex-postal worker sentenced to federal prison for tampering veterans’ meds
Carrie Wallace used her position to gain access to mail sent by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and swap prescription meds with over-the-counter pills.
Ukiah man, 46, held on suspicion of murder in Hensley Creek Road killing
The caller told a dispatcher a woman had been killed with a knife, the sheriff’s office says.
ARTS & CULTURE
The Mendocino Setlist: September 28-October 4, 2026
Your weekly guide to upcoming music events in Mendocino County.
Fiesta Latina returns to downtown Fort Bragg on Saturday
The celebration brings music, folkloric dancing, food and a salsa contest to North Franklin Street.
The circus at Crowley came in by train. So does the audience
The Flynn Creek Circus runs until Sept. 27, with over 20 performances in a clearing near Willits.
Mendocino College displays new art created by students in first mural painting course
Mural reflecting themes of Mendocino College now on display near campus café.
FOOD & DRINK
The oldest bar in Mendocino County?
One bar at a time, one claim at a time, until the county runs out of either.
On Mendocino Ridge, a winemaker says wine’s real problem is trust
“Regenerative,” “sustainable,” “natural” — they’ve been stuck on so many bottles that a shopper has no way to tell which ones mean anything.
After years of pop-ups, Floyd and Connie’s opens a permanent Fort Bragg restaurant
“We’re telling people it’s like a sexy mid-century steakhouse” — if that steakhouse sported a large deck overlooking Noyo Harbor and personal touches everywhere.
COLUMNS & OPINIONS
O’Neill: Shoulder season: ripping out beds to replace with starts straining for ground
The cannabis is amazing this year. Its later planting date means more space for veggies and cover crops.
McNear: Emma Barton Coombs had a magnetic presence that transmits through photos
A teacher by training, she was part of a foundational Little River family.
O’Neill: A love letter to the Hog Farm
And to all the farmers who make up the community that supports local food and resilience.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Letter to the Editor: State senators and assemblymembers should override Newsom’s veto
Newsom’s AB 2494 veto mires us in the ‘40s. We need restoration, not timber production.
Letter to the Editor: Fairgrounds are a safe haven during emergencies
Ask Governor Newsom to sign AB 1711 so our fairgrounds are in good shape when we need them most.
Letter to the Editor: The AMEX timber harvest plan at Jackson Demonstration State Forest relies on out-of-date plans
AB2494 will modernize forest management in many ways. Cal Fire should not lock in prior practices.
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Environment & Natural Resources
Coast Residents rally against offshore drilling at Big River Beach
Sierra Club members say they’ve been here before and expect to fight it again as federal offshore drilling plans expand.
The Coastal Act turns 50 today: what it has decided on the Mendocino coast
Half a century after Gov. Jerry Brown signed it, the law still decides what gets built, and what gets launched.
Lake Mendocino boat inspections funded two more years after golden mussel scare
Alerted by a mussel detection dog, a June boat stop at Lake Sonoma turned up lab signs of golden mussels.
Potter Valley Project series
U.S. House of Representatives votes to speed up stalled Lake Mendocino dam study
The Army Corps paused the Coyote Valley Dam study last October for lack of federal money. The bill adds none.
New models say a rebuilt Eel River water link could keep Russian River supplied
Computer models show that a planned water project on the Eel River could move about as much water to the Russian River each year as the Potter Valley Project.
Opinion: A seismic threat to the Potter Valley Project’s Scott Dam
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and PG&E should make public the internal studies of seismic risk to Scott Dam.
COMMUNITY
Sheepdog trials drew a full crowd on the last day of the Mendocino County Fair
Eight dogs who made it to the finals herded sheep through a course against a clock.
Mendocino County celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month
More than a quarter of the county’s population is Hispanic or Latino. A fiesta in Fort Bragg is on Sept. 26.
Winesong 2026 raises more than $700,000 for Mendocino Coast healthcare
The 41st annual event plays a vital part in funding healthcare needs—and offered a smashingly good time.
ANIMALS
Featured Pet: Mac Daddy
Sweet Mac Daddy is loyal, calm and a very good boy. He could be your best pal.
Hopland donkey rescue opens a Texas hospital near auction site
Oscar’s Place had to put sick and healthy donkeys on the same 32-hour trailer. No longer.
Jackson Demonstration State Forest marks Biodiversity Week with guided owl walk
Guided dusk walk on Saturday marks California Biodiversity Week with a search for the forest’s resident owls.
Spotted a western monarch? Conservationists are asking public to report sightings
Sightings can be submitted through the free iNaturalist mobile app.
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