Mendo Local Weekly Roundup — September 12, 2026

🏛️ Mendocino County

Paying for the Knife: A Lobbyist Group Funded by Mendocino County Is Working to Defeat Forest Management Bill
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · September 12
Mendocino County's lobbying association and its contracted lobbyist are urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to veto Assembly Bill 2494, which would overhaul California's demonstration forests — even though the county Board of Supervisors formally voted to support the bill.
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Mendocino County Residents Remember 9/11
By Carole Brodsky, Ukiah Daily Journal · September 11
Mendocino County residents share firsthand memories of Sept. 11, 2001, including a Hopland retiree who steeled himself to cross the Golden Gate Bridge the next day, a woman whose mother had dined atop the Twin Towers, and a retired military member who had left a Pentagon job weeks before the attack.
Read more (Ukiah Daily Journal subscription required)

Mendocino's Sheriff Is Treasurer of a Private Nonprofit Coordinates that Funds Investigations Into Human Trafficking and the Environmental Impact of Cannabis Operations
By Roger Coryell, The Mendocino Voice · September 8
Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall serves as treasurer of a private nonprofit, funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, that pays for investigators and victim services. The story raises questions about transparency and accountability and makes an analogy to Al Capone putting Chicago police officers on the payroll.
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⛰️ Covelo

The Nome Cult Walk, From Chico to Covelo, Sets Out Sunday in Remembrance of Tragedy
By Roger Coryell, The Mendocino Voice · September 12
The Nome Cult Walk, an annual roughly 100-mile trek retracing an 1863 forced march of Concow Maidu people, sets out Sunday from Chico to Covelo despite the nearby Lucas Fire. Organizers said the walkers' mountain route avoids the fire zone.
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🌊 Fort Bragg

Jackson Demonstration State Forest Marks Biodiversity Week With Guided Owl Walk
By Mendo Voice Staff, The Mendocino Voice · September 11
Jackson Demonstration State Forest will host an "Owl Discovery Night" on Saturday from 7 to 9:30 p.m. as part of California Biodiversity Week, leading participants on a dusk walk to spot or hear native owls. No RSVP is required, and attendees are advised to bring a headlamp or flashlight, sturdy shoes and water. Read more

Iceberg Wave-Desalinization Device's Voyage Starts With a Bang!
By Frank Hartzell, Mendocino Coast News · September 5
The Iceberg wave-desalinization device was deployed about 1,000 feet offshore near Fort Bragg after being towed out by the fishing vessel Merlin, in what backers call California's first wave-energy technology test.
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🚛 Gualala

Bower Park Reopening Anticipated in Mid-November
By Karen Elowitt, Independent Coast Observer · September 10
The Mendocino County Facilities and Fleet Division reports that work at Bower Park in Gualala could be completed by mid-November. The project includes making the existing deck ADA-compliant, adding asphalt at the basketball and tennis courts and aggregate at the playground.
Read more (Subscription to the Independent Coast Observer required)

🪵 Laytonville

Mendocino Judge Halts New Logging in Coho Salmon Watershed
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · September 5
A Mendocino County judge has halted new logging on two timber harvest plans in the upper South Fork Eel River watershed, siding with a citizens' group that argued state regulators failed to adequately assess impacts on coho salmon. The preliminary injunction allows only erosion-control work to continue while the lawsuit challenging the plans' approval proceeds.
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🎨 Mendocino

Removal of Mendocino Water Tower Appealed to Higher Court
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · September 10
A dispute over the historic water tower on Mendocino's Main Street is headed to a state appeals court after a county judge dismissed two lawsuits challenging the county's approval to remove it. The property owner wants to replace the deteriorated structure, which houses a staircase, while preservationists argue the tower is an iconic historic resource.
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Hill House Trailborn Reopens With Vigor and Vision
By Carole Brodsky, Ukiah Daily Journal · September 10
Mendocino Village's former Hill House Inn has reopened as the Hill House at Trailborn Mendocino after a top-to-bottom renovation, with 44 rooms, conference and event spaces, and a wine-and-grocer shop, following a July 22 ribbon cutting. The adjacent Mendocino Hotel, purchased at the same time, is undergoing its own renovation to add 45 rooms and the new Moonwave Restaurant, letting the two be booked together as a full campus.
Read more (Ukiah Daily Journal subscription required)

👯 Philo

Mendocino Dance Project to Invite Audiences on a Journey Through Nature With Dance
By Savana Robinson, The Mendocino Voice · September 9
The Mendocino Dance Project will stage vertical dance in the redwoods at the Brambles in Philo this month, combining contemporary and aerial dance with the natural landscape. Performances are set for Sept. 19, 20, 26 and 27 — including a fundraising gala — with tickets ranging from $17 to $130.
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💡 Point Arena

Large Tree Branch Falls Near Point Arena Elementary School
By Chelsea Randall, Independent Coast Observer · September 10
A large section of a cypress tree fell across Lake Street in Point Arena early Friday morning, landing on the sidewalk directly opposite Arena Elementary School. The tree came down before the school day began, and no children were injured.
Read more (Subscription to the Independent Coast Observer required)

💧 Potter Valley

Hundreds of Firefighters Battle Lucas Fire as It Reaches 4,008 Acres By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · September 12
More than 1,200 personnel were battling the Lucas Fire, which reached 4,008 acres and 15% containment near Bachelor Valley on the Mendocino-Lake county line and prompted the fire's first evacuation order in Mendocino County. A red flag warning ran through Monday afternoon, and CAL FIRE and the Lake County Sheriff's Office scheduled a Sunday community meeting as crews worked overnight with night-flying helicopters.
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🏙️ Ukiah

25 Years Later: Ukiah Woman Recalls Life in NYC After 9/11 Attack
By Justine Frederiksen, Ukiah Daily Journal · September 11
Longtime Ukiah resident Alyssum Wier, who was attending Columbia University and living about two miles from the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, recounts watching the attacks unfold from her Manhattan apartment. Now back in Mendocino County, Wier says wildfire threats can reawaken that trauma, prompting her to keep a "crisis apron" of essentials at hand.
Read more (Ukiah Daily Journal subscription required)

Two Programs Serving Ukiah's Most Vulnerable
By Carole Brodsky, Ukiah Daily Journal · September 9
The Ukiah Senior Center and Ukiah Methodist Church are collaborating rather than competing to serve adults with dementia, strokes and other conditions, cross-referring families between the Senior Center's Lunch Bunch and the church's forthcoming Be Well Adult Day Center. The Lunch Bunch runs Monday–Thursday at $30 a day, while the Be Well center — opening in early 2027 — will offer three or five days a week at $90 a day with sliding-scale help, and will pay the Senior Center to share its bus system.
Read more (Ukiah Daily Journal subscription required)

Grace Hudson Exhibit Celebrates Museum, City and National Anniversaries
By Carole Brodsky, Ukiah Daily Journal · September 6
The Grace Hudson Museum's exhibit "Deep Valley: People, Places, Memory" marks three anniversaries — the museum's 40th, the City of Ukiah's 150th and the nation's 250th — tracing the Greater Ukiah Valley's Pomo, Latino immigrant and settler histories. A 40th-anniversary gala is set for Sept. 26, and the exhibition runs through Feb. 7, 2027.
Read more (Ukiah Daily Journal subscription required)

🚂 Willits

Violet Fire Leads to Brief Evacuation Order
By Jennifer Poole, Willits Weekly · September 10
A fire near the 15000 block of Ridgeview Road southwest of Willits prompted an evacuation order that lasted about 25 minutes. The order was issued Tuesday at 2:43 p.m. and downgraded to a warning at 3:13 p.m.
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🐻 CalMatters

Medi-Cal Won't Pay for Assisted Living in Most of California. One Brother Fought Back
By Jessica Blough, CalMatters · September 8
Medi-Cal covers assisted living in only 15 of California's 58 counties, mostly urban areas, leaving many rural seniors to enter nursing homes or facilities far from home. After a nine-month effort, one family secured assisted-living coverage for their sister through Partnership HealthPlan's new pilot program in nearby Shasta County.
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The Data Center Backlash Is Here — and Big Tech Is Spending Big to Combat It
By Katherine Ortiz and Khari Johnson, CalMatters · August 28
Tech companies and utilities are spending millions lobbying against seven California bills that would regulate data centers, with PG&E reporting the most at $2.86 million in quarterly lobbying. The fight comes a year after industry lobbying diluted or blocked similar measures, and amid polling showing broad public opposition to new data center construction. Read more