Michelle Blackwell

The 34th annual Mendocino Coast Writers Conference was held the first weekend of August in the town of Mendocino. Executive Director Lisa Locascio Nighthawk talks about how the conference has changed, how it kept going during the pandemic and her efforts to diversify the faculty and to create opportunities for the writing community.

The Noyo Center for Marine Science’s Slack Tide Café is closing after just 1 year in operation. It was hoped it would help fund research at the science center, but instead ended up never breaking even. Sheila Semans, Executive Director of The Noyo Center for Marine Science, talks about the café, the fate of its existing after-school and adult education classes, and plans for the Noyo Center’s presence in the harbor as well as research and economic development programs in a repurposed facility.

Judy Leach, President of Adventist Health Mendocino Coast discusses staffing, hiring and the Electronic Medical Record system they developed on the coast. She explains the insurance billing issues that started in late 2022 and how they are being resolved. And talks about the 2nd annual back to school fair that is scheduled for July 15th, which will provide free physicals for local youth that participate in school sports as well as backpacks and school supplies.

Mendocino County Animal Services has announced the closure of the Fort Bragg Animal Shelter as early as July 1st due to diminishing county coffers. The shelter which reopened in 2019 after a previous closure is unlikely to be reopened even if budget woes subside. I spoke to Richard Molinari the director of Animal Care Services for the county and Judy Martin the Executive Director of the Mendocino Coast Humane Society, which runs a separate shelter about how this will impact coastal residents and domestic pets.

Fort Bragg Public Works Director, John Smith updates us on the desal pilot program, three new reservoirs that are going into design, construction on the Pudding Creek Bridge and how and where coastal residents can start recycling after nearly a year without service.

Three million dollars in grants awarded to Mendocino County, Fort Bragg and Point Arena to study and plan for sea level rise.

A healthy Sunflower Sea Star was spotted off the Mendocino Coast for the first time in over 8 years.

Local businesses are working with an organization to install water conservation measures.

Judy Leach, the president of Adventist Health Mendocino Coast, talks about the transition, staffing, and the effects of the pandemic.

Festivities surrounding the gray whale migration began in Fort Bragg.