LATEST STORIES
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.
Your Mendocino County Garden: September
The coast finally gets its summer, the tomatoes all show up at once, and the seed packets get a second chance.
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 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.
California Teachers Association sues state over $3.9B owed to schools
CTA claims the state violated Proposition 98, the voter-approved formula that determines the portion of state revenue that goes to education.
Community waterway cleanup planned for Low Gap Park Saturday morning
Last year volunteers collected eight tons of litter. How much can be kept out of local water this year?
Alliance for a Better Fort Bragg to host candidate forum
Five city council candidates have signed up to participate in the Sept. 22 event
Word Junkie: Mendocino County’s autumn edition
In which we rake up the season’s words and find a few from Boonville in the pile.
Fort Bragg will get the keys to the county-owned Veterans Memorial Building
County supervisors approve a 3-year license 5-0; veterans’ groups stay first in line and keep their own rooms.
Chris Rogers to attend League of Women Voters reception Friday in Caspar
The event includes guests from the City of Fort Bragg, the Healthcare District and more.
Mendocino Dance Project to invite audiences on a journey through nature with dance
Aerial and climbing techniques aim to immerse audiences in art and nature.
Potter Valley dam comments close Friday as Southern California district keeps fighting to join case
Final spoken comments to come Tuesday and Wednesday in Eureka while Elsinore Valley water district seeks rehearing.
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FEATURED STORIES
A white-eyed vireo is hiding in a Big River thicket
Found Aug. 31 and reported again Friday, it appears to be only the second instance of this eastern songbird on record in Mendocino County.
Mendocino’s sheriff is treasurer of a private nonprofit that funds the county’s trafficking raids
Five county sheriffs and a district attorney run a nonprofit, paid for by a Buffett family foundation, that funds cannabis and trafficking enforcement in five Northern California counties. It has yet to win a trafficking conviction.
Judge halts logging above Dutch Charlie Creek with most of it already done
Two courts bar cutting on 926 acres west of Laytonville. By the company’s own count, 776 were already down.
Mendocino County “not following the law” at Fort Bragg mill site
The state has been cleaning the old Fort Bragg mill site since 1995. A county environmental study incorrectly says it is “not currently included” on the state’s list of contaminated sites.
Mendocino County supes ban data centers—for the moment, at least
Supervisors voted 5-0 for a 45-day emergency moratorium.
Ukiah drops annexation proposal after two years, saying public never got behind it
The City Council’s ad hoc committee is suspending work on the plan and won’t revise it again.
POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Ukiah USD board approves $250,000 sale of former Redwood Valley Elementary
The Alex Rorabaugh Center will now conduct due diligence during a 90-day escrow period, years after the district first sought a buyer for the shuttered campus.
Mendocino County Supervisors weigh housing amnesty, composting toilets
Coast residents say code enforcement and septic costs are costing them livable homes.
California, other states secure settlement to protect AmeriCorps
The settlement requires the Trump administration to reinstate $400 million cut by DOGE.
Police & Courts
Ukiah man held on more than $1 million bail in Sunnycrest stabbing
Deputies found the 23-year old suspect bloodied and arguing outside a Sunnycrest Drive house Friday night; the 53-year-old victim is expected to survive.
Mendocino County Supervisors approve taking a $4.5 million state grant to fight illegal cannabis grows
Much of the debate was about ICE, misunderstood board actions and a $150,000 software contract.
Convicted sex offender from Piercy arrested again after detectives find more material
He was arrested for suspected possession of over 600 images of sexual conduct involving a minor
ARTS & CULTURE
The Mendocino Setlist: September 14-20, 2026
Your weekly guide to upcoming music events in Mendocino County.
Printmaking exhibit combines with the 44th annual Steam Festival in Willits Saturday and Sunday
Mendocino County Museum volunteers will help visitors carve their own linoleum blocks to join the prints on display through Sept. 27.
Ukiah Library mounts show with local artists
Mixed media and paintings by local artists Cottie Morrison and Janet Rosen are on display.
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
McNear: Danish immigrant finds “the promise land” in 1836
Tom Petersen perfected the use of Douglas fir for ship-building on the north coast.
O’Neill: To process the meat after turkey slaughter day takes a big team
We need another team—dogs and electric fencing—to keep the turkeys away from coyotes.
Haschak: Now scotched annexation plan demonstrated that infrastructure in the Ukiah Valley must modernize
County receives funds to combat illegal grows; the sheriff will give quarterly reports.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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.
Letter to the Editor: Ukiah Planning Commission recommends staff redraw annexation map
We congratulate the four commissioners who showed insight and courage.
Letter to the Editor: Eight candidates, two choices
How we go about choosing is the real question.
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Environment & Natural Resources
Mendocino County Board of Supervisors weighs sea level rise rules for coastal building
People building in hazard areas would accept the risk and give up seawall rights.
Spotted a western monarch? Conservationists are asking public to report sightings
Sightings can be submitted through the free iNaturalist mobile app.
California to buy defunct horse track and turn it into the Bay Area’s newest public park
California lawmakers struck a deal to divert $125 million in climate funding to buy the former Golden Gate Fields track and turn it into a park. Gov. Gavin Newsom supports the project.
Potter Valley Project series
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.
Potter Valley update: North Coast residents split on dams, united against Southern California
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s scoping transcripts came out Monday. Residents can’t agree on tearing out the dams, but they don’t want Lake Elsinore buying the water.
COMMUNITY
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.
Church “Cents-Ability” program fights hunger from the Bay to the Oregon border
The First Presbyterian Church of Fort Bragg contributed $2,500 to the Mendo Food Network.
ANIMALS
Featured Pet: Pepita
Kelpies are smart, active and eager to please. Pepita will be your go-to pal, always ready for more.
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.
Ukiah dog toast of the Big Apple. Welcome home, Jinny Lu!
She got in at 2 a.m. and announced that she was done talking to reporters.
Rescue dog from Ukiah named ‘World’s Ugliest Dog’
Plans are in the works to celebrate Jinny Lu once she returns to Ukiah from New York City.
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