KZYX Community News

January 15, 2021 — Local community clinics have started vaccinations this week, and are reaching out to the elderly and people whose jobs put them at greater risk of exposure. 

January 14, 2021 — Vaccination efforts on the coast are ramping up, with two clinics for firefighters and EMS workers plus a clinic tomorrow at the Fort Bragg high school for all the educators who want it. The hospital is putting together a list of patients who are eligible for a vaccine and will be the first to hear about it as soon as it arrives.

The Mendocino Coast Clinics will be using 300 doses of Moderna it received from the county for tomorrow’s school clinic, and have received an approval email to get more directly from the state. 

January 7, 2020 — The sheriff’s presentation before the board of supervisors this week elicited critiques of his data, a request for a resident deputy in Covelo, and demands for him to issue a formal apology for including an image of a hog-tied Black man on a PowerPoint slide.

Jan 6, 2021 — Yesterday was the first board of supervisors meeting of the new year, and the first one ever for First District Supervisor Glenn McGourty and Second District Supervisor Maureen Mulheren, who were sworn in on Monday. Judson Howe, the new CEO for the local Adventist hospitals, was also on hand for a bit of an after-action review of a malfunctioning hospital freezer that

set off a mad dash to vaccinate hundreds of people in two hours.

January 5, 2021 — Two new county supervisors were sworn in yesterday morning, shortly before the compressor went out in a freezer containing 830 doses of the Moderna vaccine at the Ukiah Valley Adventist Hospital.

Adventist Health and the county’s public health department get separate allocations of vaccines from the state. So far, the county has received one batch of 975 doses from Pfizer and one batch of 400 from Moderna.

January 4, 2021 — The covid outbreak at the jail continues and has spread to the women’s facility. A total of 90 people have tested positive at the jail since the outbreak began on December 19th, including 77 inmates and 13 staff. As of Sunday night, there are 59 active cases among inmates and seven active among deputies and other staff. Eighteen inmates have recovered or been released, and six staff have completed their isolation. The population at the jail fluctuates, but it’s around 250 people.  

January 1, 2021 — The coronavirus vaccine has arrived during a surge in covid-19 cases and an outbreak at the jail that has tripled over the course of the week. 

As the jail works to monitor its staff and inmates, the vaccination effort is rolling out at Carl Purdy Hall at the fairgrounds in Ukiah. Nash Gonzalez and Adrienne Thompson, of Planning and Building Services, are in charge of making sure everything goes according to plan.

December 30, 2020 — The Ukiah City Council will be short one member as soon as Second District Supervisor-elect Maureen Mulheren leaves the council to take her seat on the Board of Supervisors next week. Earlier this month, the Council voted to fill her seat by appointment rather than special election. The council has replaced departing members by appointment at least since 1947, according to a document put together by City Clerk Kristine Lawler.

December 29, 2020 — Food banks are a lifeline for people living on the financial edge: seniors, families, and those with little job security. We’ll hear from volunteers at three food banks from three very different communities in Mendocino County: Gualala, Anderson Valley, and Ukiah.

December 24, 2020 — The synthetic opioid fentanyl is a huge problem in the US right now, according to Sheriff Matt Kendall, who sees some of the social effects first-hand. “It is the biggest problem,” he says, because fentanyl is so much cheaper than methamphetamine or heroin to make. “I believe there’s more fentanyl on the streets right now than heroin,” he added. “This is going to be the new epidemic.”

December 21, 2020 — The legal cannabis industry in Mendocino County is more uncertain than ever, with a local ordinance that does not set up local growers for success in getting their annual licenses from the state. Those will be required by the first of the year in 2022.

December 18, 2020 — The covid-19 vaccine is here, but leading medical experts urge continuing safety measures, like mask-wearing and staying home for the holidays.