Mendo Local Weekly Roundup — September 19, 2026

🏛️ Mendocino County

Governor Newsom Vetoes AB 2494, Saying It Would Slow Scientific Forestry 
By Frank Hartzell, Mendocino Coast News · September 19 
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 18 vetoed Assembly Bill 2494, which would have revised how California manages its demonstration state forests — including Mendocino County's Jackson Demonstration State Forest — and created a path for tribal co-management, saying it would "slow the process of scientific forestry." Read more

'This Is Scary': Federal Changes Hit Health Care in Mendocino County 
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · September 16 
Federal budget changes under HR 1, taking effect in 2027, are already reshaping health care in Mendocino County, where an estimated 3,614 residents will lose managed-care benefits and up to 3,000 adults could lose coverage under new work-documentation rules. Adventist Health North Coast Network CFO Richard Riter called the shift "scary," citing more uninsured patients turning up in emergency rooms. 
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Mendocino County Supervisors Weigh Housing Amnesty, Composting Toilets 
By Roger Coryell, The Mendocino Voice · September 15 
The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Sept. 15 to form two ad hoc committees — one to craft a community-designed amnesty program for unpermitted homes, the other to study waterless composting toilets for rural properties. 
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🌊 Fort Bragg

Fort Bragg Will Get the Keys to the County-Owned Veterans Memorial Building 
By Roger Coryell, The Mendocino Voice · September 17 
The Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to hand day-to-day control of the county-owned Veterans Memorial Building at 360 N. Harrison St. to the city under a three-year license agreement. The city will cover utilities, maintenance and rentals while giving veterans' groups priority; the American Legion and county Veterans Service Office keep dedicated space. 
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Cafe One's New Restaurant Site Vandalized With Nazi Swastikas, Owners Seek Community Help
 By Frank Hartzell, Mendocino Coast News · September 17 
 Vandals painted Nazi swastikas across the construction site for Cafe One's new restaurant at Oak Street and Highway 1 in Fort Bragg early on Sept. 16, also damaging equipment on the property. The owners are asking nearby residents and businesses to check security footage from around 3:30 a.m. to help identify who was responsible. 
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From Hospital to Hotel: Fort Bragg's Grey Whale Inn Reopens 
By Carole Brodsky, Ukiah Daily Journal · September 17 
Natalie Dingman and her family have purchased, renovated and reopened Fort Bragg's Grey Whale Inn, the 1915 building that once served as the town's Redwood Coast Hospital. The family kept hospital touches visible throughout the 10-room inn — original redwood floors, exposed pipes and displays of vintage medical equipment — and drew more than 400 people to its grand-opening celebration this summer. 
Read more (Ukiah Daily Journal subscription required)

Fort Bragg Overhauls Its Food-Truck Rules After a Year of Downtown Strife 
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · September 16 
The City Council adopted revised mobile-vending rules on Sept. 14, moving food trucks to annual permits and reshuffling downtown vending spots after a year of complaints over noise, exhaust and parking on East Redwood Avenue. The council kept the Alder Street spot near the post office and added a location on the 400 block of North Franklin Street. 
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The Fort Bragg City Council Says No to Offshore Drilling and Mining 
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · September 16 
The City Council voted 4-0 on Sept. 14 to send letters opposing offshore oil and gas drilling and undersea mining to federal regulators and the state attorney general. The move extends the city's decades-long opposition to ocean extraction, dating to the 1988 Lease 91 fight and the 1996 Measure C ordinance. 
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🎨 Town of Mendocino

Supervisors Move to Update Mendocino's Historic Structures Inventory 
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · September 17 
The Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 on Sept. 15 to update the county's historic-structures inventory, first compiled by volunteers in the 1970s and '80s and now considered only about 70% complete. The board will hire an architectural historian to verify a new database, with supporters saying accurate records could head off property disputes and lawsuits. 
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Mendocino Schools Broke Water Permit Rules, County Staff Says By Roger Coryell, The Mendocino Voice · September 16 
County planning staff say the Mendocino Unified School District violated its water permit by filling two new tanks off Little Lake Road during the dry summer, when the permit allows filling only between Oct. 15 and May 15. Superintendent Jason Morse said the tanks needed filling for pre-school-year safety testing; the county Planning Commission is set to weigh a revised permit allowing year-round pumping. 
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🏕️ Point Arena

Illegal Camping on Port Road Dominates Point Arena Meeting 
By Chelsea Randall, Independent Coast Observer · September 17 
Mendocino County Sheriff's Sgt. Brandon Juntz told the Point Arena City Council that enforcement against Port Road encampments and trespassing is stalled without a property owner's complaint. Deputies need the owner's or an authorized agent's permission before they can remove people from the land.
Read more (Subscription to the Independent Coast Observer required)

Maximum Sentence Awarded in Murder of Point Arena Father of Three 
By Karen Elowitt, Independent Coast Observer · September 17 
Superior Court Judge Keith Faulder sentenced Edgar Arteaga Coria to 21 years in state prison, the maximum term available, for the murder of a Point Arena father of three. Coria will serve an additional three years of parole upon release.
Read more (Subscription to the Independent Coast Observer required)

🏙️ Ukiah

Lake Mendocino Boat Inspections Funded Two More Years After Golden Mussel Scare 
By Sonoma Water
Sonoma Water has secured a $400,000 state grant to keep mandatory boat inspections running at Lake Mendocino through October 2028, guarding against invasive golden mussels.
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Ukiah City Council Approves First Step in Creating New Park 
By Justine Frederiksen, Ukiah Daily Journal · September 18 
The Ukiah City Council voted Wednesday to take the first step toward building a park in the Wagenseller neighborhood, directing staff to seek grant funding from the state of California. 
Read more (Ukiah Daily Journal subscription required)

Huffman Still Pushing for Coyote Valley Dam Feasibility Study 
By Justine Frederiksen, Ukiah Daily Journal · September 18 
Rep. Jared Huffman (D–San Rafael) said this week that the Water Resources Development Act of 2026, which he voted to pass, advances a study of raising Coyote Valley Dam to expand Lake Mendocino's storage — a project local officials call crucial to the region's water future in a post–Potter Valley Project world. At the Ukiah City Council's Sept. 16 meeting, council member Mari Rodin said the Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission has hired a Washington lobbyist to help secure federal funding to raise the dam. 
Read more (Ukiah Daily Journal subscription required)

Ukiah Players Theatre Presents "The Trail to Oregon" 
By Carole Brodsky, Ukiah Daily Journal · September 18
Ukiah Players Theatre has opened "The Trail to Oregon," an adult musical-comedy spoof of the classic "Oregon Trail" video game in which a hapless family of five sets out from Missouri for Oregon. Directed by Eddie Haehl and Scott Spears, the raucous, audience-interactive show runs through Oct. 4. 
Read more (Ukiah Daily Journal subscription required)

🚂 Willits

The Circus at Crowley Came In by Train. So Does the Audience 
By Roger Coryell, The Mendocino Voice · September 18 
Flynn Creek Circus, a Mendocino County company founded in 2002, has pitched its tent at Crowley near Willits through Sept. 27, with audiences riding the Skunk Train in alongside the performers and equipment. The railroad also debuted its restored Noyo Presidential Class car, a former U.S. Army vehicle now running cocktail-lounge trips for about 22 passengers. 
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Lightning-Sparked Lucas Fire Destroys Three Structures Before Crews Turn the Corner 
By Kyle Garcia Takata, Ukiah Daily Journal; and Jennifer Poole, Willits Weekly ·September 17
Lightning ignited the Lucas Fire, which began Sept. 10 along the Mendocino–Lake county line near Bachelor Valley and grew to 4,128 acres, destroying three small structures — including an emergency-communications radio site — CAL FIRE said. Containment climbed from 46% on Sept. 16 to about 84% by the weekend, when CAL FIRE said crews were "turning the corner."
 Read more (Ukiah Daily Journal subscription required) · also covered by Willits Weekly

Willits Unified Absorbs Credit Downgrade as Reserves Fall Below Mandated Level 
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · September 14
Willits Unified School District's reserves have fallen to 2.38% of its budget — below California's 3% minimum — prompting a credit downgrade as the board moves ahead with a $5 million bond sale. The district faces about $600,000 in needed cuts and could lose $3.6 million a year if Proposition 3 sunsets. 
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🐻 CalMatters

California Is Poised to Get $1.4 Billion for Broadband, but There's a Huge Catch
By Khari Johnson, CalMatters · September 18
California utility regulators cleared the way this week to accept $1.4 billion in federal broadband funding, but the Trump administration's terms require the state to roll back net neutrality and other internet rules to take it. Open-internet advocates are urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to intervene before the state signs on, warning the conditions could let providers throttle service to first responders and threaten low-cost internet programs for low-income residents.
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CalPERS CEO Lands Seven-Figure Bonus — Her First — as Pension Fund Extends Run of Good Returns
By Adam Ashton, CalMatters · September 17
California
CalPERS awarded CEO Marcie Frost a $1.15 million performance bonus, her first seven-figure incentive and a jump from last year's $766,000, alongside a raise bringing her base salary to $641,000. The board approved it 11–2 over dissent from Controller Malia Cohen's delegate and retiree advocates, who argued public pension pay increasingly resembles Wall Street compensation amid the state's structural deficit.
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