Michelle Blackwell

October 2, 2024 — On September 23rd, the Fort Bragg City Council approved a land swap with the Noyo Center on the area commonly known as the mill site, provided direction, and approved with some caveats the conceptual design for the planned Ocean Science Center, received an update on the Municipal Broadband Project and reallocated American Rescue Plan Act or ARPA funding to multiple City needs.In other City news, the Biggest Time originally scheduled for October of this year on the Noyo Headlands has been pushed off until next spring. Police Chief Neal Cervanka was elected to the board of the State Police Officers Association and the council approved the emergency repair of a storm drain on North McPherson. Councilmember Tess Albin-Smith was not in attendance.

September 26, 2024 — Mendocino County is considered a climate haven. While figures about incoming and outgoing populations are mixed depending on which study or part of the county you are talking about, preparation is key. At a meeting hosted by the Grass Roots Institute on September 9th, Tim Robustelli from the Washington DC-based think tank, New America, and local planners from the Cities of Fort Bragg, Point Arena, and Mendocino County, Supervisors Dan Gjerde and Ted Williams, the Mendocino Council of Governments and the Coastal Commission met to discuss the impact climate refugees could have on the county.

September 19, 2024 — Ten years ago a warm water blob in the Pacific Ocean destroyed 93% of the kelp forest off the Mendocino and Sonoma Coasts. Then a wasting disease wiped out the remaining ocean predators for purple urchins.Since that time, abalone season has been closed, the red urchin fishery was declared a national disaster and purple urchins blanket the sea floor consuming everything in their path. Today over 96% of the kelp forest has disappeared.The Nature Conservancy was recently given 1.6 million to develop kelp restoration programs along the coast. Tristin McHugh, the kelp restoration coordinator for The Nature Conservancy, provides an update on what's working to restore kelp forests at Big River and Albion and talks about how the restoration efforts are helping the decimated fishing industry.

September 16, 2024 — On September 9th, the Fort Bragg City Council held a hearing on a local coastal program amendment and coastal development permit for the area commonly referred to as the millsite. The changes alter the zoning on several parcels. If approved by the Coastal Commission, the change will allow the Noyo Center to build on its portion of the site, place the Noyo Headlands trail systems under parks and recreation zoning, and change the zoning on two parcels owned by the Sherwood Valley Tribe to medium-density residential.

September 12, 2024 — Sid Garza-Hillman the new Executive Director of the Mendocino Area Parks Association or Mendo Parks, as it is typically known, joins us to explain the purpose of the organization and how it is funded. He also discusses his vision to increase accessibility and expand youth programs at the ten state parks Mendo Parks raises money for.

August 19. 2024 -- Fort Bragg City Council heard plans for an upcoming Pomo “Biggest Time” event on the Noyo Headlands, explained the three confusing sales tax items on the consent calendar, adopted a draft strategic plan, received a report on the financial status of the employee retirement plan, approved new firearms for the police department, and hired consultants and engineers for three new water reservoirs at the August 12th City Council meeting.City Clerk Diana Sanchez updated the council on applications for the two open council seats that are up for election in 2024. As of the initial deadline of August 9th, the City received three applications, however, as Mayor Norvell is not seeking reelection the deadline was extended to August 14th, and Sanchez expected additional applicants.

September 18, 2023 — Sonoma Clean Power (SCP) is the default public power provider for most of Mendocino County. They deliver power and bill customers through PG&E. They also provide multiple rebate programs to residents who switch to energy efficient appliances or electric vehicles. They are currently seeking seven citizens to serve on a Community Advisory Committee for a four-year term starting in 2024. The application deadline is October 2nd and appointments will be made at the November 2nd SCP Board Meeting.Claudia Sisomphou, Communications and Engagement Manager at SCP explains the committee’s role and why it’s important for Mendocino residents to get involved.The committee meets once per month in Santa Rosa. If you are interested in representing Mendocino, you can find an application for the Community Advisory Committee at sonomacleanpower.org. You can request future agendas in advance or review past meeting minutes and agendas on their website.

September 15, 2023 — Over one hundred residents packed the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday to support outdoor dining and the retention of the tents that many restaurants and bars constructed to provide social distancing during the pandemic. The tents were allowed due to the state’s public health emergency status. Now that the state’s emergency has expired there has been an effort to pressure the restaurants to remove the tents. Supervisor Williams asked the board to extend the tents use for one year to consider both the lack of a reliable water source and the historic aspect of the village of Mendocino. Multiple restaurants stood up and spoke about the impacts of the pandemic on their business and the effort required to stay open and keep people employed. As well as their efforts to save water.Still, the support was not unanimous. Several residents also spoke about dry wells and the specter of wildfire as reasons for being conservative with the water table. The Board of Supervisors granted the one-year extension. But the real work is yet to be done. Water is a shared resource and that includes both human use and the natural environment. It will be up to local government and the community to ensure that they can have both outdoor dining tables and a healthy water table.

September 12, 2023 -- How much will Fort Bragg’s innovative Care Response Unit save the county’s general fund? Supervisors Ted Williams and Dan Gjerde brought Fort Bragg Police Chief Neil Cervenka to the Board of Supervisors Meeting on September 12 to provide an overview of the innovative homeless response program initiated by the city and managed through the police department. The program known as “CRU” or Care Response Unit utilizes a non-enforcement type of interaction to help the homeless get what they need and hopefully get them off the street.The CRU team has served 321 individuals and successfully reconnected 22 homeless individuals with family or friends, persuaded 18 into rehab programs and moved 7 into permanent housing.The program which was initiated by Mayor Norvell got its start with grant funding from the State of California’s Behavioral Health Justice Intervention Services Project. Funding for the program through grant and city funds will only last through mid-2024. Cervenka asked the BOS to fund the program for four years at a cost of 1.72 million using Measure B dollars. Measure B is tax money that was designed to fund the construction of psychiatric and behavioral health facilities, operation costs, and services to treat mental illness and addiction.So how does the program save the money in the county’s general fund?According to Chief Cervenka it costs a minimum of $107 dollars per day to incarcerate an individual in the county jail and goes up based on health and psychiatric needs.Since the CRU program’s implementation there has been a sea change in how the Fort Bragg Police Department deals with the homeless and spends its officer hours. There has been an overall 27 percent decrease in calls for service involving homeless from the 21/22 fiscal year to the current fiscal year. The most dramatic being 242 calls in December of 2021 versus 58 in December of 2022. There has been a 20% decrease in arrests of homeless and an increase in overall arrests.The program also includes contract staffing for Project Right Now, which helps youth with substance abuse disorders fight addiction.The Board of Supervisors directed staff to determine if current funding for homeless services, that is not as effective, can be redirected to CRU and agreed to send Cervenka’s request to the Measure B Committee for consideration. Williams also asked staff to determine how much money the CRU program has saved the county, presumably, due to reduced jail expenses.

January 12, 2023 -- For 49 years, bird enthusiasts have gathered in Manchester to participate in the annual Christmas Bird Count. The Fort Bragg Bird Count has been around for 12 years. Dave Jensen and Tim Bray lead the counts under the umbrella of the Mendocino Coast Audubon Society. And it’s not just about counting birds. The count information is shared with the National Audubon Society and joins over a hundred years of scientific data that tracks the health of our winged neighbors. This data is used by researchers, conservation groups and governments to better understand how the birds of North America are faring in modern times. Dave and Tim talk about the numbers and some interesting finds.