> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.mendolocal.news/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Mendo Local Weekly Roundup — October 10, 2026 - URL: https://www.mendolocal.news/mendo-local-weekly-roundup-october-10-2026/ - Published: 2026-10-11T02:35:04.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-11T17:58:43.000Z - Description: Local news outlets across Mendocino County put the election front and center with candidate questionnaires, an interactive voter guide, and an analysis of the local ballot measures. - Author: Elise Cox - Tags: Weekly News #### 🗳️ Election 2026 **Five Targeted Local Measures — What’s at Stake and Where** *By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · Oct. 10* Mendocino County voters face five local measures on the Nov. 3 ballot, but no single voter will see all five — and you may not see any. Each measure is decided only by residents of a specific city or special district, from a Fort Bragg fire-equipment tax to a Santa Rosa Junior College bond that reaches the county’s southern corner. [Read more](https://www.mendolocal.news/five-targeted-local-measures-whats-at-stake-and-where-in-mendocino-county/) **Mendocino County Elections Office Urges Voters to “Use Our Drop Boxes”** *By Justine Frederiksen, Ukiah Daily Journal · Oct. 10* Mendocino County’s elections office is urging voters to return their Nov. 3 ballots via official drop boxes rather than the mail, saying each mailed ballot costs the county about a dollar while a drop box costs nothing. Clerk Katrina Bartolomie said roughly 54,000 ballots went out late last week, and a new state law required drop boxes to open 30 days before the election, with boxes now staffed in Ukiah, Willits, Fort Bragg, Point Arena, Boonville, and Covelo. [Read more](https://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/2026/10/10/mendocino-county-elections-office-urges-voters-to-use-our-drop-boxes/?ref=mendolocal.news) (*Ukiah Daily Journal* subscription required) **Newsom Endorses Prop 42 to Block a Wealth Tax, Splitting With His Party on November’s Tax Measures** *By Jeanne Kuang, CalMatters · Oct. 9* Gov. Gavin Newsom endorsed Proposition 42, a Nov. 3 measure that would counter the proposed billionaire tax (Prop 40) and bar new taxes on personal wealth, including retirement accounts. He opposes Propositions 39, 43, and 44, has not taken positions on 41 and 45\. His stance breaks with the state Democratic Party and some unions. [Read more](https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/10/newsom-tax-propositions-november-election/?ref=mendolocal.news) **Voter Guide — Fort Bragg City Council 2026** *By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · Oct. 8* *MendoLocal.News* published a interactive voter guide for the Nov. 3 Fort Bragg City Council election. It includes a score card that compares the candidates’ positions on seven recurring issues and recordings of candidates explaining their positions in their own words. [Read more](https://www.mendolocal.news/voter-guide-fort-bragg-city-council-2026/) **City Planner Running for Point Arena City Council** *By Chelsea Randall, Independent Coast Observer · Oct. 8* Joshua Karlin-Resnick is running unopposed in the Nov. 3 election for a seat on the Point Arena City Council. Karlin-Resnick and his wife moved to Point Arena from the Bay Area in 2023. [Read more](https://www.mendonoma.com/?ref=mendolocal.news) (Subscription to the *Independent Coast Observer* required) **Ukiah City Council Candidate Q&A Series** *By Mendo Voice Staff, The Mendocino Voice · Oct. 7–9* The Mendocino Voice ran a multi-part questionnaire with candidates for Ukiah City Council, covering their top priorities, emergency services and how they would have handled the city’s failed annexation. Seven candidates — Mari Rodin, Susan Sher, Juan Orozco, John Strangio, Robert Bazzani, Sean White, and Matt Froneberger — responded, with water supply, housing, homelessness, and public safety recurring throughout; Mia L. Uribe did not respond. [Read more](https://mendovoice.com/2026/10/ukiahs-top-issues-and-priorities-how-city-council-candidates-would-approach-solutions/?ref=mendolocal.news) (series: also [emergency services](https://mendovoice.com/2026/10/ukiah-city-council-candidates-talk-about-emergency-services/?ref=mendolocal.news) and [annexation](https://mendovoice.com/2026/10/ukiah-city-council-candidates-discuss-how-in-hindsight-they-would-have-handled-annexation/?ref=mendolocal.news)) **California’s Prop 44 Would Require Clinics to Spend 90% of Revenue on Services, Drawing a Union-vs-Clinics Fight** *By Kristen Hwang, CalMatters · Oct. 7* Proposition 44, the Nov. 3 ballot measure backed chiefly by SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, would require community health clinics to spend 90% of their revenue on program services and penalize those that fall short. Opponents including the California Primary Care Association warn it could force clinics to cut services or close, while a September Public Policy Institute of California poll found one in three likely voters supported it. [Read more](https://calmatters.org/health/2026/10/union-billionaire-prop-44-clinic/?ref=mendolocal.news) **Point Arena’s 24-Hour Ballot Drop Box Opens at City Hall** *By Roger Coryell, The Mendocino Voice · Oct. 7* Point Arena’s 24-hour ballot drop box is now open at City Hall, 451 School St., and stays available until 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3\. The county sent ballots to all active registered voters by Oct. 5, and ballots returned by mail must be postmarked by Nov. 3. [Read more](https://mendovoice.com/2026/10/point-arenas-24-hour-ballot-drop-box-opens-at-city-hall/?ref=mendolocal.news) --- #### 🏛️ Mendocino County **Congress Members Move to Offset Coming Cuts to Rural Hospital Funding** *By Liz Carey, The Daily Yonder (republished by MendoLocal.News) · Oct. 9* Members of Congress from both parties have introduced bills to shore up rural hospitals ahead of roughly $1.3 trillion in coming cuts to Medicaid, ACA marketplaces, and SNAP set to take effect after the midterm election. The proposals include interest-free equipment loans and reimbursement changes,. [Read more](https://www.mendolocal.news/congress-members-move-to-offset-coming-cuts-to-rural-hospital-funding/) **Mendocino Supervisors Accept $365,000 Sheriff’s Grant From Nonprofit** *By Roger Coryell, The Mendocino Voice · Oct. 8* Mendocino County supervisors voted 5-0 to accept a $364,959 grant for the sheriff’s office from the Northern California Coalition to Safeguard Communities, a private nonprofit funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and governed by five sheriffs and a district attorney. Sheriff Matt Kendall, the coalition’s treasurer, said the money will pay for a lieutenant’s salary, a new records system, protective gear, and cellphone forensic tools, with the grant year having begun Aug. 1. [Read more](https://mendovoice.com/2026/10/mendocino-supervisors-accept-365000-sheriffs-grant-from-nonprofit-led-by-sheriffs/?ref=mendolocal.news) **Sonoma State Lands $5.45M Federal Grant to Train Rural Teachers in Lake, Mendocino Counties** *By Mendo Voice Staff, The Mendocino Voice · Oct. 7* The U.S. Department of Education awarded Sonoma State University’s School of Education $5.45 million through its Teacher Quality Partnership program. The grant will fund ROOTS, a regional initiative to address teacher shortages in rural parts of Lake and Mendocino counties. [Read more](https://mendovoice.com/2026/10/sonoma-state-lands-5-45m-federal-grant-to-train-rural-teachers-in-lake-mendocino-counties/?ref=mendolocal.news) **Mendocino County Supervisors Extend Data Center Moratorium to 2028** *By Roger Coryell, The Mendocino Voice · Oct. 6* Mendocino County’s Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to extend its ban on new data centers until Aug. 21, 2028, while exempting facilities that draw less than 3 megawatts. The moratorium holds while a committee and county staff draft a permanent data center ordinance. [Read more](https://mendovoice.com/2026/10/mendocino-county-supervisors-extend-data-center-moratorium-to-2028-with-a-3-megawatt-exception/?ref=mendolocal.news) **Code Enforcement Down to Two Working Field Investigators, Division Tells Supervisors** *By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · Oct. 6* Mendocino County’s code enforcement division told supervisors it is down to two field investigators for the entire county — from eight in 2021 — each carrying about 94 cases against a workload of 45 it considers manageable. The board voted 4-1 to let the division keep triaging and deferring complaints it cannot reach, with Supervisor Maureen Mulheren dissenting. [Read more](https://www.mendolocal.news/code-enforcement-down-to-two-working-field-investigators-division-tells-supervisors/) **Bracing for El Niño, Mendocino County Finds Clearing Flood-Prone Streams Out of Reach** *By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · Oct. 6* Mendocino County staff told the supervisors that clearing even a single flood-prone creek would take up to 18 months of permitting and cost about $1 million. [Read more](https://www.mendolocal.news/bracing-for-el-nino-mendocino-county-finds-clearing-flood-prone-streams-out-of-reach/) **Newsom Said He Vetoed the Demonstration State Forest Bill Because of Science. We Asked What the Money Said.** *By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · Oct. 6* Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 2494 on Sept. 18, legislation that would have reshaped management of California’s 14 demonstration state forests and added tribal co-management. A *MendoLocal.News* review of campaign-finance records found timber-industry donors gave about $235,000 to Newsom’s gubernatorial campaigns while the bill’s tribal and environmental backers gave little or nothing. The review found no evidence linking the donations to the veto. [Read more](https://www.mendolocal.news/newsom-said-he-vetoed-the-demonstration-state-forest-bill-because-of-science-we-asked-what-the-money-said/) --- #### ⛰️ Covelo **Sheriff Kendall Blasts ‘Catch and Release’ After Second Covelo Stabbing Incident** *By Lisa Music, Redheaded Blackbelt · Oct. 10* Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall blamed the courts and state parole after Jefferey Allan Joaquin, 31 — already awaiting sentencing in a February attempted-murder case and sought in an Oct. 1 Covelo stabbing — was arrested Oct. 10 in a second Covelo stabbing in nine days. [Read more](https://kymkemp.com/2026/10/10/sheriff-kendall-blasts-catch-and-release-after-second-covelo-stabbing-incident/?ref=mendolocal.news) **Covelo Man Sought in Alleged Stabbing of Acquaintance Who Gave Him a Ride** *By Roger Coryell, The Mendocino Voice · Oct. 4* Mendocino County sheriff’s deputies are searching for Jefferey Allan Joaquin, a 31-year-old Covelo man suspected of stabbing an acquaintance from behind Thursday night after asking for a ride. Joaquin is wanted on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, using a deadly weapon in a felony and parole violation, according to the Sheriff’s Office. [Read more](https://mendovoice.com/2026/10/covelo-man-sought-in-alleged-stabbing-of-acquaintance-who-gave-him-a-ride/?ref=mendolocal.news) --- #### 🌊 Fort Bragg **Coast Hospital District Weighs Private Placement for $20 Million for Earthquake Retrofit** *By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · Oct. 8* The Mendocino Coast Hospital District board voted unanimously to authorize a finance committee to explore borrowing up to $20 million through a private placement for a state-mandated earthquake retrofit of the Fort Bragg hospital. The district holds about $18 million in cash. [Read more](https://www.mendolocal.news/coast-hospital-district-weighs-private-bond-placement-for-20-million-for-earthquake-retrofit/) --- #### 🎵 Gualala **Local Musicians Featured in ‘The Times They Are a Changing’ at Gualala Arts Center** *By Editorial Staff, Independent Coast Observer · Oct. 8* The Gualala Arts Center will host a concert of local musicians on Oct. 17 built around the theme of change — personal, cultural, and historical. [Read more](https://www.mendonoma.com/?ref=mendolocal.news) (Subscription to the *Independent Coast Observer* required) --- #### 🎨 Mendocino **Cleaner California Coast Comes to KelpFest Friday, Saturday** *By Carole Brodsky, Ukiah Daily Journal · Oct. 8* Cleaner California Coast will bring eco-sorting stations to the North Coast KelpFest on Oct. 9 and 10, part of a NOAA Sea Grant-funded study of how visual cues shape public composting and recycling habits. The three-county group, which works with the national Leave No Trace program across Marin, Sonoma, and Mendocino counties, will run stations at the KelpFest Taco Crawl and a booth at the Mendocino Art Center. [Read more](https://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/2026/10/08/cleaner-california-coast-comes-to-kelpfest-friday-saturday/?ref=mendolocal.news) (*Ukiah Daily Journal* subscription required) --- #### 🏙️ Ukiah **Man Kills Two Children, and Then Himself on Outskirts of Ukiah** *By MendoLocal.News Staff, MendoLocal.News · Oct. 9* Three people died in an apparent double homicide and suicide near Ukiah on Friday, Oct. 9, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators say a man killed two juveniles at a home on Old River Road before taking his own life, and detectives are still working to determine a motive. [Read more](https://www.mendolocal.news/man-kills-two-children-and-then-himself-on-outskirts-of-ukiah/) **Ukiah’s Oak Manor Park Gets $600,000 for a Permanent Bathroom and New Playground** *By Savana Robinson and Roger Coryell, The Mendocino Voice · Oct. 9* State funding of $600,000 will pay for a permanent restroom, a new playground and other upgrades at Ukiah’s Oak Manor Park, where the only restroom is currently a portable toilet. State Sen. Mike McGuire marked the project at a Tuesday ceremony, and the city expects construction to begin in spring or summer 2027. [Read more](https://mendovoice.com/2026/10/ukiahs-oak-manor-park-gets-600000-for-a-permanent-bathroom-and-new-playground/?ref=mendolocal.news) **Off-Duty Ukiah Police Officer Collides With Pedestrian on Route 29** *By Mendo Voice Staff, The Mendocino Voice · Oct. 9* An off-duty Ukiah police officer driving a city-issued vehicle struck a pedestrian on State Route 29 in Lake County early Thursday while heading home from a shift, the city of Ukiah said. The California Highway Patrol responded to the 4:02 a.m. collision, and the officer remained at the scene. [Read more](https://mendovoice.com/2026/10/off-duty-ukiah-police-officer-collides-with-pedestrian-on-route-29/?ref=mendolocal.news) **Palace Hotel Update: Council Presses Owner, Sets Nov. 4 Deadline** *By Justine Frederiksen, Ukiah Daily Journal · Oct. 6–8* A status report on Ukiah’s long-derelict Palace Hotel turned testy Oct. 8 as Mayor Susan Sher told owner Tom Carter “I don’t have a lot of faith in you right now” after three years of delays. Carter said he had been clearing debris and awaiting a letter declaring the downtown building structurally sound. The council voted to put another Palace update on its Nov. 4 agenda whether or not that letter arrives; at a candidate debate the same week, Ukiah City Council hopefuls were also asked how the city should handle long-vacant buildings. [Read more](https://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/2026/10/08/ukiah-mayor-tells-palace-owner-i-dont-have-a-lot-of-faith-in-you/?ref=mendolocal.news) (*Ukiah Daily Journal* subscription required; see also [the owner’s Oct. 7 update](https://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/2026/10/06/palace-hotel-owner-expected-to-give-update-on-building-wednesday/?ref=mendolocal.news) and [candidates on vacant buildings](https://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/2026/10/08/ukiah-city-council-candidates-address-palace-hotel-other-vacant-buildings/?ref=mendolocal.news)) --- #### 🚂 Willits **County Museum’s Cannabis Exhibition Opens Saturday in Willits** *By Carole Brodsky, Ukiah Daily Journal · Oct. 6* The Mendocino County Museum in Willits opens “Behind the Redwood Curtain,” an exhibit tracing Mendocino County cannabis culture from the 1970s to 2016 legalization, with a reception Oct. 10\. Built with the Cannabis Counterculture Museum and Archive and featuring voices from farmers to former Sheriff Tom Allman, the show runs through Nov. 28 before touring California for three years via Exhibit Envoy. [Read more](https://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/2026/10/06/county-museums-cannabis-exhibition-opens-saturday-in-willits/?ref=mendolocal.news) (*Ukiah Daily Journal* subscription required) **Museum Fundraiser Focuses on Statues** *By Mathew Caine, Willits Weekly · Oct. 8* The Friends of the Mendocino County Museum recently held their second annual lunch at the coach house at Ridgewood Ranch and raised money to move the Mark Walker sculptures from Highway 101 to a safer location. [Read more](https://www.willitsweekly.com/?ref=mendolocal.news)