Local News

A proposal to build a ten-pump gas station and convenience store in Redwood Valley is drawing heated criticism from neighbors and environmentalists.

Chamise Cubbison’s attorney formally asked that District Attorney David Eyster be recused from her case yesterday. Eyster charged Cubbison, the elected Auditor Controller Treasurer Tax collector, with felony misappropriation of public funds in mid-October. On Halloween, the Board of Supervisors suspended her without pay or benefits. She and her co-defendant, Paula June Kennedy, were scheduled to enter a plea yesterday. But instead, Cubbison’s attorney, Chris Andrian, told the court that he was asking the Attorney General to order Eyster to step aside. After the proceeding, he reflected that, “There is potential conflict of interest, in the sense that Mr. Eyster had been public in his opposition to her, has gone before the Board of Supervisors saying that he didn’t think she was qualified to do the job. She was challenging him on some of his claims.” Andrian added that he expects “There’s always going to be an adversarial side” to the relationship between an auditor and what he calls the auditee; “And if it reaches the point where you’re starting to say things about that person publicly, now you have an agenda with that person.”

Sheriff’s deputies had a busy holiday weekend on search and rescue operations. Lauren Schmitt from KMUD news reports.

At the November 15 ceremony to celebrate the new Pudding Creek Bridge, speakers all praised Caltrans, the state’s transportation agency, for a job well done. But Caltrans still has to get past a lot of historical controversy. And there is a lot more work to be done on the coast’s bridges, which are the region’s most imposing infrastructure.

Recreational crab fishing restrictions went into effect yesterday, and the commercial fishery has been delayed due to the presence of migrating whales. Crab meat quality is also a factor in delaying commercial fishing. Lauren Schmitt, of KMUD news, spoke to Ryan Bartling, a senior environmental scientist in the marine fisheries for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Santa Rosa City Councilman Chris Rogers has joined the race for the Second District Assembly seat, after Assembly Member Jim Wood announced that he will not run next year. Rogers has been on the City Council for seven years, two of them as mayor. He cites infrastructure, water, climate change and housing among his top priorities.

The Northern Circle Indian Housing Authority, based in Ukiah, received $2.5 million from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Day 1 Family Fund to help organizations that serve homeless people. The fund has distributed $639 million since its inception in 2018. The Housing Authority is one of 38 recipients of this year’s donations, which topped $117 million across 23 states, the District of Colombia and Puerto Rico.We’ll hear from Moriah McGill, Grants Analyst for the Northern Circle Indian Housing Authority, about how they’ll use the funding, as well as other projects that are underway.

The Ukiah City Council voted 3-2 last week to appoint Council Member Josefina Duenas as mayor in the new year. Duenas was passed over last year, due to lack of preparation. Current Mayor Mari Rodin and Council Member Susan Sher voted against her appointment this year, citing a lack of confidence in her ability to fulfill the role. Duenas argues that, as a deaf person and an immigrant who speaks English as a second language, she represents people who are often overlooked.

The Jackson Demonstration State Forest’s Advisory Group, or JAG, passed its first timber harvest plan last week inspired by a new approach Cal Fire is calling its “New Vision.”To show how the principles of the New Vision are supposed to work, Cal Fire forester Kirk O’Dwyer then led a tour of the forest, where the plan is to be carried out.

PG&E released an initial plan to surrender the Potter Valley Project on Friday morning.

The race for the Second District Assembly seat is on, with incumbent Jim Wood’s announcement that he will not run for re-election next year. Supervisor Ted Williams is running for the office, acknowledging that he is the underdog candidate in a race that includes State Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks, Healdsburg mayor Ariel Kelly, and Santa Rosa councilman Chris Rogers.Williams thinks the region needs to face the very real possibility of an influx of climate change refugees. And he thinks the state needs to step up its commitments to infrastructure in rural California.