Michelle Blackwell

January 20, 2025 — Nominated for two Academy Awards and for the National Book Award, John Sayles will be appearing at the Gallery Bookstore in Mendocino Village on January 22nd to talk about his new novel, "To Save the Man." Michelle Blackwell, host of the KZYX Upwelling podcast, interviews Sayles.

Multiple large construction projects will cause traffic delays on Hwy 1 in Mendocino throughout this summer and next. The Jack Peters Bridge and Navarro Ridge projects bookend the central coast and will cause traffic delays for residents and tourists between the village of Mendocino and Navarro Ridge. The Elk Creek Bridge is between Elk and Manchester and will impact those going south from HWY 128 to Manchester, Point Arena, and Gualala. Robert King, Project Manager for Cal Trans provides summaries for each project and explains how they will impact Mendocino residents and tourists. The Jack Peters Bridge, Elk Creek Bridge, and Navarro Ridge projects will all be under construction for two years. The one-way traffic signals will be in place during the entire project even when construction is suspended for the winter. If you’re planning a trip to the Mendocino coast, this summer or next, you should be able to avoid the traffic delays by taking HWY 20. If you take HWY128 expect delays going north or south on HWY 1.

At a meeting hosted by the Grass Roots Institute on March 14th, Mendocino County Planning and Building Services Director, Julia Krog and Fort Bragg, Special Projects Manager, Sarah McCormick provided updates on the municipality's Local Coastal Planning for Sea Level Rise. Point Arena, which received its funding before the county and Fort Bragg, announced their findings in September of last year.

The Mendocino Railway, locally called the Skunk Train received a federal loan to repair Noyo Tunnel 1. The Tunnel was initially closed in 2013, reopened briefly, and closed again in 2015. Mendocino Railway shares the 31.4-million-dollar loan with the Sierra Northern Railway. Due to a pending lawsuit between Mendocino Railway vs The City of Fort Bragg and the California Coastal Commission, we were unable to get interviews with the Railway or other local groups. This piece pulls from a June 2021 interview with Robert Pinoli, the president of Mendocino Railway to explain what happened to the tunnel and his plans, at that time, to reopen it.

Fort Bragg Public Works Director John Smith, provides an overview of current projects and talks about the reopening of Wiggly Giggly Park on February 10th at 10:00 AM.

Gray whales swim by Mendocino twice a year as they migrate from Mexico to the Arctic. Scott and Theresa Mercer have been counting and documenting them from a bluff near Point Arena since 2014. The Mercers recently gave a science talk at the Noyo Center that focused on the issues whales face and provided an update on the status of the Gray Whale.

Sarah Grimes, Stranding Coordinator for Southern Mendocino County at the Noyo Center for Marine Science gives her annual report on how many dead marine animals were collected on the beaches and how many were rescued by the Marine Mammal Center.

The first cases of osteofluorosis in free-ranging California Sea Lions were identified in a study done by the Marine Mammal Center, Sealife Response, Rehabilitation, and Research UC Davis and the Noyo Center. Osteofluorosis is a disease caused by the excess consumption of fluoride that affects the bone and teeth structures. In the past, herbivores such as cows and kangaroos have been identified with this issue, but this is the first known incident for sea lions. Sarah Grimes, the stranding coordinator with the Noyo Center for Marine Science in Fort Bragg, describes her role in the study and discusses the importance of sea lions as sentinels of the sea.

The Fort Bragg Planning Commission recommended the City Council approve two resolutions that could alter the face of housing in low-density residential areas of the City. The resolutions are in response to SB9 which was signed into law by Governor Newsom in 2021. Similar to the law that allows second units called alternative dwelling units, SB 9 encourages property owners to build additional housing by allowing lot splits. The resolutions are controversial because they would allow a homeowner to add three additional houses on a single-family lot. The Fort Bragg City Council will take up the resolutions at a future meeting.

Engineer Louis White, an engineer hired by the city presents the findings of a study on the impacts of sea level rise in the coastal zone.