Mendo Local Weekly Roundup — August 30, 2026

🏛️ Mendocino County

AB 2494 Awaits Newsom's Signature
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · August 30
AB 2494, the bill would broaden the mission of state demonstration forests to weigh tribal uses, recreation, and climate research on equal footing with logging, has passed the legislature and is waiting for Governor Newsom to sign it into law.
Read MendoLocal.News story, Read MendocinoCoast.News analysis

New Mendocino County Psychiatric Health Facility Still Months From Opening
By Savana Robinson, The Mendocino Voice · August 27
Mendocino County's new psychiatric health facility, under construction south of Ukiah since 2024, is on track to finish building by early September but won't admit patients for several more months while it completes state licensing.
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Mendocino County Issues Updated Scam Alert for Permit Applicants
By Mendocino County Planning and Building Services · August 25
Mendocino County Planning and Building Services issued an updated scam alert warning that fraudulent emails impersonating Interim Director Richard Angley are pressing permit applicants to wire additional funds. Red flags include @usa.com sender addresses rather than official @mendocinocounty.gov ones, wire-transfer demands, and insistence on email-only contact; the department urges applicants to verify by phone and report the messages.
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Trump Administration Proposes Removing Prohibitions on Roads Throughout National Forests
By Frank Hartzell, Mendocino Coast News · August 23
The Trump administration has proposed rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule, which would open nearly 45 million acres of national forest — including tracts in Mendocino and Lake counties — to road building and logging. Colorado and Idaho have state protections that would blunt the change, but California has none.
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🎉 Elk

Great Day in Elk Turns 50
By Frank Hartzell, Mendocino Coast News · August 28
The Great Day in Elk community festival marks its 50th anniversary Aug. 29, with a new evening dinner added to the traditional benefit for the Greenwood Community Center. The origin of the event's name remains disputed, credited variously to part-time resident Bill Edison and to the Oasis Bar crowd.
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🌊 Fort Bragg

From a Living Room Idea to a Healthcare Powerhouse: Winesong Celebrates 41 Years
By Mandela Linder, The Mendocino Voice · August 27
Winesong, the annual wine-and-food fundraiser for the Mendocino Coast Healthcare Foundation, has raised more than $10.7 million over 41 years for coast health programs. The 2025 event netted $725,000 for uses including medical equipment, food banks, and emergency services across the coastal healthcare district.
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Fort Bragg Rewrites Its Coastal Zoning Rulebook in a Single Night
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · August 25
The Fort Bragg City Council unanimously adopted nine zoning changes in a single Aug. 24 session, legalizing short-term vacation rentals downtown for the first time and allowing formula (chain) businesses with city approval. The rewrite also permits detached garages on property lines and home cottage-food production, and refocuses sign rules on size rather than content.
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Fort Bragg Earns State Prohousing Designation
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · August 25
California has awarded Fort Bragg a Prohousing Designation, making the city eligible to compete for state housing grants of roughly $150,000 to $2 million. The designation follows two years of local policy changes meant to streamline development and expand housing options.
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Fort Bragg's New Icehouse Is Generating Complaints as Well as Ice
By Roger Coryell, The Mendocino Voice · August 24
The Noyo Harbor District's new 20-ton flake-ice machine in Fort Bragg is drawing noise complaints from uphill Trailer Cove residents.
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A Letter to Georgia-Pacific the City Kept Confidential for Nearly 12 Years
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · August 24
A 2014 letter from Fort Bragg's mayor assured Georgia-Pacific the city would not press state regulators to require active cleanup of the contaminated Mill Pond — a position the council reversed in 2017 when it voted to demand full remediation. The letter stayed confidential for nearly 12 years until a railway company's lawsuit forced its release.
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Man and Dog Save Dog, Driver: Fort Bragg Police Give Update on Pudding Creek Crash
By Frank Hartzell, Mendocino Coast News · August 24
A 62-year-old man, Lloyd Lewis, and his dog helped rescue an injured driver and the driver's dog after a vehicle crashed into Pudding Creek in Fort Bragg. Fort Bragg police and volunteer firefighters brought the driver to shore, and the rescued dog was checked at the Humane Society.
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📻 Gualala

KTDE Seeks Donations to Replace Antenna Mast
By KTDE, The Independent Coast Observer · August 27
Gualala
Tide Community Radio (KTDE) is raising $10,900 to replace an aging antenna mast. Contributions can be sent to The Tide Community Radio, PO Box 1557, Gualala, CA 95445.
Read more (Subscription to the Independent Coast Observer required)

💡 Point Arena

Four Options to Address Hwy. 1 Flooding at Garcia River
By Karen Elowitt, The Independent Coast Observer · August 27
Caltrans presented a feasibility study on options to address chronic Highway 1 flooding near the Garcia River in Point Arena at the Mendocino Council of Governments' August 24 meeting. Three of the four alternatives are long-term projects — two viaduct designs and a relocation of Windy Hollow Road — while the fourth would replace the Hathaway Creek bridge and raise the surrounding grade.
Read more (Subscription to the Independent Coast Observer required)

⛽ Redwood Valley

Supervisor John Haschak Nominated Democrat of the Year
By Mathew Caine, Willits Weekly · August 27
About 80 local Democrats gathered at the Redwood Valley Grange on August 22 to honor retiring Third District Supervisor John Haschak as Democrat of the Year. Haschak is stepping down from the county Board of Supervisors.
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Jury Makes Quick Work of a Hay-and-Necessity DUI Defense
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · August 27
A Mendocino County jury quickly convicted a 60-year-old Redwood Valley woman of two misdemeanor DUI counts, rejecting a necessity defense that she drove drunk only to escape allegations that she was trespassing and taking hay that didn't belong to her.
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Residents File a Lawsuit in an Effort to Block Redwood Valley Gas Station
By Alessandra Rizzo, The Mendocino Voice · August 25
Three Redwood Valley residents sued Aug. 17 to overturn the Board of Supervisors' May approval of a Chevron station permit, arguing it violates zoning rules meant to protect public health and safety. The suit cites operator Faizan Corporation's record of violations, including a $500,000 settlement over faulty leak-detection equipment and false octane labeling.
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🏙️ Ukiah

Ukiah High Students Help Carry Forward Nearly Lost Northern Pomo Language
By Savana Robinson, The Mendocino Voice · August 27
Four Ukiah High School graduates earned California's Seal of Biliteracy in Northern Pomo this year, a language nearly lost to historical suppression. The honor marks the fifth year of the school's Native Language program, built with local tribes and UC Berkeley researchers.
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Ukiah Planning Commission Won't Back Annexation Plan
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · August 27
The Ukiah Planning Commission voted 4-1 to reject the city's proposed pre-zoning plan to annex roughly 1,485 parcels. Commissioners said they remained open to annexing developed neighborhoods but objected the current map.
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🥳 Willits

The Munchery Celebrates Third Anniversary
By Mathew Caine, Willits Weekly · August 27
The Munchery at Brown's Corner marked three years in business with an anniversary party on August 21. Lupine Driver provided live music for the celebration.
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In Willits, Police Cars That Blend in Raise Questions About California Law
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · August 26
The Little Lake Grange is challenging Willits' low-contrast police vehicles, arguing they violate California's requirement that traffic-enforcement cars carry distinctive markings. Under state law, officers in improperly marked cars can be barred from testifying in speed cases, though how the rule applies to the Willits fleet remains unclear.
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Why the City of Willits Wanted to Cancel the Election for City Council
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · August 24
The City of Willits city council missed the legal deadline to cancel the election and save $7,000–$8,000. Candidates Robin Leler and Sherrie Ebyam will now appear on the ballot for two open seats, with write-in entries still possible.
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🐻 CalMatters

Newsom Drops Utility-Cost Plan in Final Legislature Wildfire Deal
By Jeanne Kuang and Levi Sumagaysay, CalMatters · August 29
Gov. Newsom abandoned his plan to shield utilities from wildfire costs after opposition from lawmakers, insurers, and fire survivors, settling instead for a narrower agreement. The final deal creates a "fast-pay" program for survivors and bars private-equity investment in wildfire claims as well as executive bonuses at utilities responsible for fatal fires.
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PPIC Study Links Prop. 47 to Rise in Homelessness and Drug Use
By Marisa Kendall, CalMatters · August 27
California
A new Public Policy Institute of California report estimates that Proposition 47 — the 2014 measure that downgraded many drug offenses from felonies to misdemeanors — likely drove a roughly 10% increase in street homelessness between 2015 and 2019, or about 7,000 additional unsheltered Californians. The study also ties the reform to a 7–8% rise in drug use and a 20% drop in people receiving drug treatment, though researchers cautioned the correlation does not by itself prove causation.
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