Weekly Roundup — Nov. 2–7, 2026

🏛️ Mendocino County

A Magnitude 5 Quake off the North Coast
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · November 7
A magnitude 4.96 earthquake struck the Pacific Ocean about 69 miles west of Petrolia on the night of Nov. 4, drawing 145 "felt" reports to the U.S. Geological Survey, which expected no significant damage. The National Tsunami Warning Center said there was no tsunami danger, and a magnitude 5.6 quake struck less than 3 miles from the same spot in May 2023.
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In Mendocino County: Uncounted Ballots and Called Races
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · November 6
Nearly half of Mendocino County's ballots remained uncounted as of Nov. 6, leaving the 3rd District supervisor seat and the Ukiah and Fort Bragg city council races undecided. Democrats won the local state Assembly, state Senate and U.S. House races, and six of 14 statewide propositions had been called.
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Early Returns Show Close Ukiah and Fort Bragg Council Races, Hart Leading in District Three
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · November 3
In the county's first count, Eric Hart led Buffey Wright Bourassa 1,394 to 1,168 (54.4%) in the 3rd District supervisor race, while the Ukiah and Fort Bragg council races stayed close. All three local measures were passing, though the tally covered only vote-by-mail ballots received before Election Day.
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Six Rural Agencies Move to Form a Joint Powers Agreement to Sustain Ambulance Service
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · November 3
Six rural fire and ambulance agencies are forming a joint powers agreement to keep 911 ambulances running in Mendocino County's most remote communities.
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Supervisors Accept Q1 Budget Report, Warn It Was Balanced by Defunding Roads
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · November 3
The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors unanimously accepted the fiscal year 2026-27 first-quarter budget report and amended the adopted budget. Supervisors Ted Williams and John Haschak warned that the balance rests on years of underfunding roads and deferring building repairs, with Williams saying the county is "probably not" truly balancing its budget.
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Mendocino Registrar Refuses Federal Demand to Set Aside Ballots of 23 Voters Flagged as 'Likely' Noncitizens
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · November 2
Registrar of Voters Katrina Bartolomie declined a U.S. Attorney's Oct. 28 demand to turn over confidential records on 23 voters and set aside their ballots. She wrote that withholding otherwise valid ballots based only on the letter's assertions would be illegal, and said more than half of the 23 had already canceled their county registrations.
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🌊 Fort Bragg

Recreational Dungeness Crab Fishing Season Begins, Commercial Season Delayed
By Editorial staff, Independent Coast Observer · November 5
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Oct. 30 that the recreational Dungeness crab season will open under trap restrictions beginning Nov. 7, except in waters north of Fort Bragg — from the Ten Mile State Marine Reserve to Cape Mendocino — where it is delayed over high domoic acid levels. The commercial fishery is delayed from the California-Oregon border to Point Conception until at least Jan. 1, 2027, to prevent humpback whale entanglements, and recreational crab traps are likewise restricted, though hoop nets and crab snares remain allowed.
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Fiery Highway 20 Crash Seriously Injures Driver, Leads to DUI Citation
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · November 4
A two-vehicle crash on Highway 20 about 11 miles east of Fort Bragg on Nov. 3 left one car engulfed in flames and seriously injured 18-year-old Trever Aaron Morgan of Fort Bragg, who was flown to Adventist Health Ukiah Valley. The CHP cited Morgan on suspicion of driving under the influence of a drug, and the cause remains under investigation.
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What It Costs to Run for Fort Bragg Council: Under $5,000, Most of It Spent Locally
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · November 2
No Fort Bragg City Council candidate spent more than about $5,000 this year, and four of the eight candidates told the city they expected to spend less than $2,000. Most of the money went to a handful of Fort Bragg businesses, and top spender Mary Rose Kaczorowski reported $4,974 in expenditures.
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🎨 Mendocino

Bail Stays at $75,000 for Mendocino Man Whose Wife Died of Overdose
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · November 4
Judge Victoria Shanahan kept Clayton Lowell's bail at $75,000 on Nov. 4 after prosecutors sought to hold him without bail over a new drug arrest allegedly made Oct. 30 while he was on release. The case was continued to Nov. 9 at the court's Ten Mile branch.
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💡 Point Arena

Recent Mendonoma Coast Rescues
By Karen Elowitt, Independent Coast Observer · November 5
Rescue crews from five agencies responded to three separate emergencies along the Mendonoma coast in late October: a car over a cliff on Highway 1 near Anchor Bay on Oct. 29, a kayaker who capsized near Point Arena on Oct. 31, and a motorcyclist who veered off Highway 1 down an embankment just south of Fort Ross Historic Park on Oct. 31. Responding agencies included the South Coast Fire Protection District, Coast Life Support District, Redwood Coast Fire Department, U.S. Coast Guard and Sonoma County Sheriff's Department.
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🏙️ Ukiah

Ukiah City Council Agrees to Receive Regular Reports on Palace Hotel
By Justine Frederiksen, Ukiah Daily Journal · November 6
The Ukiah City Council agreed Nov. 4 to receive regular progress updates on the deteriorating Palace Hotel from owner Tom Carter, even without the requested letter certifying the downtown building is no longer a public safety hazard. City officials, who deemed the structure an "imminent risk" in 2023, said they still need a California-licensed structural engineer's assurance before removing it from code enforcement.
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Ukiah's City Manager Sets a 2028 Retirement Date, and His Severance Goes Up
By Roger Coryell, The Mendocino Voice · November 5
Ukiah City Manager Sage Sangiacomo will retire Dec. 9, 2028, under a contract amendment the City Council approved 5-0 on Nov. 4. The amendment raises his severance from nine to 12 months of base salary, or 18 months if the council fires him without cause before June 30, 2027.
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Robbery Victim Tracked His Stolen Phone to Hopland, Sheriff's Office Says
By Roger Coryell, The Mendocino Voice · November 5
A 23-year-old Ukiah robbery victim tracked his stolen phone to Hopland Food and Gas, where he fought the suspect. Detectives later traced the suspect's phone to San Francisco. Darrell Law Jr., 36, of Hiram, Georgia, was arrested at San Francisco International Airport. Law enforcement also recovered 177 pounds of processed, packaged marijuana from the suspect's vehicle.
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Ukiah Police Cut Off Most Agencies From License Plate Camera Data
By Roger Coryell, The Mendocino Voice · November 5
Ukiah police revoked data-sharing access for nearly every outside agency to the city's Flock license plate cameras, cutting the list from 318 agencies in September to three. Agencies in Sonoma, Napa, Lake, Humboldt and Marin counties and the CHP can regain access by signing an agreement, and the city's 14 cameras remain in use.
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Misdemeanor Case Against Ex-Ukiah Teacher LaFever Inches Toward a Disposition
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · November 5
The misdemeanor case against former Ukiah High School teacher and MendoFever publisher Matthew LaFever was continued to Nov. 19 for a possible disposition after a Nov. 4 hearing in Mendocino County Superior Court. LaFever, 38, faces a single count under Penal Code section 647.6(a)(1), has pleaded not guilty and remains free on his own recognizance, with no trial date set.
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🚂 Willits

School Board Results Are Close
By Jennifer Poole, Willits Weekly · November 5
Early returns in the Nov. 3 election for the Willits Unified School District Board of Trustees show a tight four-way race for three open seats, with challenger Nicole Karkar leading at 26.73% (1,417 votes). Incumbent Jeanne King (25.32%, 1,342 votes) and Paula Nunez (24.07%, 1,276 votes) held the next two seats as of the final Election Night Report, edging out Mason Rescina (23.88%, 1,266 votes) on 29.67% turnout.
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Willits Council Rejects Highway 20 Sculpture Plan, OKs Airport Hangar for Air Ambulance
By Elise Cox, MendoLocal.News · November 5
The Willits City Council voted 5-0 on Oct. 28 against relocating the Mark Walker sculptures from the Highway 101 grade to the city's Highway 20 park. In a separate 5-0 vote, the council authorized a privately built hangar at Willits Municipal Airport, to be subleased to REACH Air Medical Services to keep its air ambulance based in Willits.
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🐻 CalMatters

Jane Kim Declares Victory in Commissioner Race. CA Insurance Could Be in for Big Changes
By Levi Sumagaysay, CalMatters · November 6
Jane Kim, a former San Francisco supervisor and director of the California Working Families Party, declared victory in the state insurance commissioner race with 53% of the vote to Ben Allen's 47%, becoming the first woman and Asian American elected to the post. Kim, who campaigned on a contested proposal to create a public wildfire insurance program, will now head the state Insurance Department and inherit California's property insurance crisis, including claims from the January 2025 Los Angeles fires.
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Court Rules Against California's First Carbon Capture Project, a Key Piece of State Climate Plans
By Emma Foehringer Merchant, CalMatters · November 5
A Kern County judge ruled that California Resources Corp.'s TerraVault project — the state's first operating carbon capture and storage facility — violated environmental law and must be set aside, finding its environmental review failed to analyze the industries expected to supply its carbon dioxide. Carbon injections continue as the company plans to appeal, but the reapproval process could take months to years, raising questions about California's reliance on carbon capture to meet its climate goals.
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Democrats' Blue Wave Beat Texas' GOP Gerrymanders. Did California Even Need Prop. 50?
By Maya C. Miller and Nadia Lathan, CalMatters · November 5
California Democrats' Proposition 50 temporarily suspended the state's independent redistricting commission to redraw congressional maps and defeat five Republican incumbents, but Tuesday's national "blue wave" ousted Republicans from deep-red districts anyway, raising questions about whether the move was necessary. Democratic leaders credit Prop. 50 with energizing voters and freeing up $100 million for competitive races elsewhere, as California's Republican House delegation shrinks from nine seats to three or four.
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California Has One Ballot-Counting Trouble Spot. It's the One Run by an Election Denier
By Ryan Sabalow, CalMatters · November 4
Shasta County was the only one of California's 58 counties that hadn't finished counting in-person ballots by the morning after Election Day, amid overflowing ballot boxes, staffing shortages, misplaced ballots and computer failures under election-denying Clerk Clint Curtis. Curtis — who lost his June primary, cut drop boxes from 13 to four and drew FBI attention over unproven ballot-stuffing claims — will be replaced in January by Joanna Francescut, a former elections official he had fired.
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