Mendo Local Weekly Roundup — September 26, 2026

🗳️ 2026 Elections

5 Local Measures on Mendocino County Ballots Nov. 3: What Each One Does and Costs
By Roger Coryell, The Mendocino Voice · September 24
Mendocino County voters face five local ballot measures on Nov. 3, ranging from fire-equipment and hospital taxes to a Santa Rosa Junior College bond. The largest is the SRJC bond, authorizing $830 million for facilities at an estimated $1.76 billion to repay.
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Contributions to the District Three Supervisor's Race Draw Scrutiny
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · September 24
Sheriff Matt Kendall donated $500 to District 3 supervisor candidate Buffey Bourassa, who works as a manager in his office. Bourassa has also taken money from people with business pending before the county, including $1,000 from interests seeking controversial gas-station permits.
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Ukiah Citizens' Group Mendo Matters Debate Draws 3 of 8 City Council Candidates
By Roger Coryell, The Mendocino Voice · September 23
Only three of eight Ukiah City Council candidates took part in a debate hosted by the citizens' group Mendo Matters, with all incumbents and several challengers declining. Mayor Susan Sher and council member Mari Rodin stayed away, with Rodin calling the group partisan. The chair acknowledged the group opposes annexation and the two-basin approach to Potter Valley water.
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Fort Bragg City Council Candidates Discuss Obstacles to Progress
By Mendo Voice Staff, The Mendocino Voice · September 23
Seven Fort Bragg City Council candidates named the economy as the city's biggest obstacle to progress, with most calling for diversification beyond tourism. Candidate Tess Albin-Smith proposed small-business grants, community-college workforce training, and recruiting light industry such as film production and marine research.
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🏛️ Mendocino County

UC Climate Scientist Predicts Wet Winter
By Roger Coryell, The Mendocino Voice · September 21
A UC Climate Scientist forecasts an unusually strong El Niño this winter and an 80–90% chance of above-average rainfall on the Mendocino coast. NOAA puts the odds at 75% that the event will be stronger than any recorded since 1950, with sea-surface temperatures more than 5 degrees above normal.
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🏠 Calpella

Ukiah Man Jailed on Suspicion of Firing at a Home on Calpella Road
By Roger Coryell, The Mendocino Voice · September 21
Skyler Blue Dausman, 43, was jailed on $250,000 bail after allegedly pointing a rifle at neighbors and firing at their home on East Side Calpella Road on Thursday evening. He faces six felony charges, including assault with a firearm, shooting at an inhabited dwelling, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
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🏍️ Cleone

Motorcycle Crash in Cleone Blocks Road, Driver Now OK, Handgun Retrieved
By Frank Hartzell, Mendocino Coast News · September 23
A motorcycle crash on Highway 1 near Cleone briefly blocked the road on Sept. 23, leaving the driver with minor injuries. Volunteer firefighters took possession of a handgun found at the scene, with no crime alleged.
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⛽ Gualala

18-Year-Old Gualala Teen Survives Plunge Over Embankment, 20-Mile Trek to Safety
By Karen Elowitt, Mendonoma.com · September 24
An 18-year-old Gualala man, Steven Mitchell, survived after his pickup rolled 250 feet down an embankment off Stewarts Point-Skaggs Springs Road late on Sept. 14. Unable to flag down passing drivers after climbing out, he walked roughly 20 miles to Highway 1, reaching the Stewarts Point Store the next morning, where he found a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy.
Read more (Subscription to the Independent Coast Observer required)

Electrical Prep Work Underway for Gualala Streetscape Project
By Karen Elowitt, Independent Coast Observer · September 24
PG&E has begun undergrounding about 3,000 feet of electric distribution line along Highway 1 in Gualala ahead of related Caltrans work. The effort supports the Gualala Downtown Streetscape Enhancement Project.
Read more (Subscription to the Independent Coast Observer required)

Higher Gas Prices Affect Coast Life Support District
By Chelsea Randall, Mendonoma.com · September 24
Gas prices above $7 a gallon are straining the budget of the Coast Life Support District, the only ambulance service on Mendocino County's southern coast. "We're definitely running on the margins of our budget," CLSD EMS Chief Bronwyn Golly said.
Read more (Subscription to the Independent Coast Observer required)

🎨 Town of Mendocino

Major Drug Bust in the Town of Mendocino Follows Apparent Deadly Overdose
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · September 23
A Mendocino man, Clayton Lowell, was arrested on felony drug charges five days after his wife's apparent overdose death, with investigators seizing counterfeit fentanyl pills and other substances. The complaint against him notes potential liability for murder, underscoring the lethality of the drugs recovered.
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💧 Potter Valley

Lucas Fire Started by Lightning
By Jennifer Poole, Willits Weekly · September 24
CAL FIRE's Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit announced Sunday evening that the Lucas Fire, which began Sept. 10 in northwest Lake County, had reached 100% containment. The agency also confirmed the fire was started by lightning.
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🏙️ Ukiah

Mendocino College Hosts Annual Fall Plant Sale in Ukiah
By Carole Brodsky, Ukiah Daily Journal · September 24
The Mendocino College Agriculture Department and its Horticulture Club will hold their annual Fall Plant Sale on Oct. 2–3 in Ukiah. Student interns, including one from South Valley High School, are helping grow and prepare the plants for sale.
Read more (Ukiah Daily Journal subscription required)

Broadway Star Teal Wicks Coming to Ukiah for SPACE's Starlight Series
By Carole Brodsky, Ukiah Daily Journal · September 23
Broadway performer Teal Wicks, who played Elphaba in Wicked, will headline the launch of SPACE's new Starlight Series in Ukiah on Oct. 3. The series aims to bring nationally recognized performers to the SPACE Theatre, with the local Higher Ground dance troupe opening the show.
Read more (Ukiah Daily Journal subscription required)

Ukiah Community Singalong Brings Buddhist Songs for Peace
By Carole Brodsky, Ukiah Daily Journal · September 22
A free community singalong of Buddhist songs for peace took place Sept. 24 at Ukiah's Sudhana Center, sponsored by Dharma Realm Buddhist University. The event featured Reverend-Professor Heng Sure and local musicians performing songs by senior disciples of Master Hua, founder of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas.
Read more (Ukiah Daily Journal subscription required)

🚂 Willits

Great Redwood Trail Willits Opening Three Months Away
By Mathew Caine, Willits Weekly · September 24
The 1.6-mile Willits segment of the Great Redwood Trail is on track to open in about three months, with grading complete and bridges built over three streams. Still to come are asphalt paving, dusk-to-dawn lighting, fencing between the trail and the rail line, cameras, and other amenities.
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Final Week for Flynn Creek Circus/Skunk Train Collaboration
By Carole Brodsky, Ukiah Daily Journal · September 20
The Skunk Train's collaboration with the Flynn Creek Circus enters its final week, with the last performance at Crowley Summit on Sept. 26. The railroad recently debuted The Noyo, a mid-century Presidential Class luxury car on its Willits line, ferrying passengers to the circus.
Read more (Ukiah Daily Journal subscription required)

🐻 CalMatters (statewide)

He Knows His Community Is Going to Burn Again. Now He's Making Sure They're Ready
By Rachel Becker, CalMatters · September 25
A Lake County fire chief has purchased portable hydrant systems to close California water-infrastructure gaps that state agencies haven't addressed with guidance or funding. Chief Sapeta secured a $75,000 local health-system grant to buy five Remote Hydrant units after years of searching for workable equipment and financing.
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How Airbnb Is Fighting for Its Place on California's Coast
By Kathryn Wheeler, CalMatters · September 25
Airbnb spent nearly $90,000 lobbying against Pacifica's short-term-rental ordinance, helping persuade the California Coastal Commission to reverse its staff's recommendation and weaken the city's limits. After the commission received 206 of 209 pages of correspondence from Airbnb's attorney, it dropped the primary-residency requirement and doubled allowed rental days from 60 to 120 a year.
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Newsom Cites Pension Crisis as He Vetoes Bill to Enhance Retirement for Police and Firefighters
By Adam Ashton, CalMatters · September 20
Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 1383, which would have lowered the retirement age for police and firefighters from 57 to 55, despite near-unanimous passage (33-0 in the Senate, 69-2 in the Assembly). Newsom cited fears of repeating the pension crisis that led to California's 2012 reform law.
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