KZYX Community News

September 18, 2020 — The Hopland Municipal Advisory Council received a presentation this week about a proposed high-end campsite off of Old Toll Road, on 92 acres of property owned by Brutocao Vineyards. Several environmental groups and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife weighed in with concerns about how the project’s initial study did not include sufficient detail to analyze impacts on plants and animals, including anadromous fish that can be harmed by sediment that washes into waterways  from roads that are improperly built and maintained. 

September 17, 2020 — After last week’s evacuation from Brooktrails during the Oak Fire, Sherwood Firewise held an after-action review at its regularly scheduled meeting. Keith Rutledge, who’s on the Sherwood Firewise steering group, said about fifty evacuees attended the zoom meeting last Thursday. The successful use of the Firco road, one of the evacuation routes that’s been established over the past two years, was a major bright spot.

September 16, 2020 — There is still time for income eligible people to get free help from the Mendocino Firesafe Council to do the work of creating defensible space on their properties.

And the Mendocino Coast Health District board of directors is short a member, since one director left and another is not renewing her term. One applicant, Sara Spring, will be appointed automatically.

September 11, 2020 — Schools and rodeo grounds and fairgrounds have become traditional evacuation centers as fire season has turned into a months-long annual event. Refugees from the August Complex Fire can take shelter at the high school in Covelo and drop their animals off at the rodeo grounds on South Airport Road. 

September 10, 2020 — When the Oak fire broke out in Brooktrails on Labor Day, Sherwood Firewise did what it’s been planning to do for years, ever since the Redwood Complex revealed how important it is to be ready for catastrophic wildfire, especially for communities with only one way in and one way out.

Keith Rutledge, who’s on the Sherwood Firewise steering group, estimates that about 5,000 people evacuated safely from 2,000 homes, over a fairly spread-out area with multiple clusters of dwellings.

 September 9, 2020 —  There is still time to complete the 2020 census, according to Miranda Ramos and Paloma Paterson, who are managing the census outreach project with the Community Foundation, which subcontracted with the county to do the work under a state grant.

September 3, 2020 — This campaign season is already different from every other. We spoke with Second District supervisorial candidates Mari Rodin and Maureen Mulheren about campaigning during a pandemic.

September 3, 2020 — The Board of Supervisors agreed unanimously this week to use Measure B monies to fund a mobile crisis unit that would pair mental health workers with the sheriff’s office, but declined to approve three other proposals until Measure B has a business plan and a plan in place to implement the Kemper Report.

September 2, 2020 — Dr. Andrew Coren was sworn in as the county’s public health officer at yesterday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. Within minutes, he was taking part in one of several existential debates that is defining the country right now: whether public health is best served by measures that keep the virus at bay but increase isolation and economic hardship, or by opening back up and risking outbreaks. 

September 1, 2020 — As the pandemic carries on and the economic fallout widens, more and more businesses and individuals are wondering how they will pay their employees, make their bills and maintain their properties. That’s true for local governments, too, especially the City of Willits, which Mayor Gerry Gonzalez says has been scraping to get by since at least the early aughts, when he started serving as chief of police. Now the city is making calculations that sound like the ones a lot of businesses, big and small, have been struggling with. 

August 31, 2020 — The latest shelter-in-place order, effective as of 8:00 on August 31, reflects a new statewide system of monitoring the covid-19 pandemic, just one week before the expected Labor Day surge. Instead of being on the much-dreaded watchlist, which is now a thing of the past, Mendocino County is in the top tier, or purple zone, of a four-tier color-coded system. As such, hair salons and barbershops may now operate indoors, retail stores can only operate at 25% capacity, and grocery stores at 50% capacity.

August 28, 2020 —  Between fires and covid-19, respiratory distress is a major consideration for Mendocino County. Case numbers are up to 659, with an additional death bringing the total to 17. The latest casualty is an 82-year-old Hispanic man who was in the Ukiah Valley. A county employee also succumbed recently to the virus. Five people are hospitalized, with none in the ICU. Dr. Andrew Coren, who will be sworn in as the new  public health officer next week, gave his first briefing today, starting with a half-hour in Spanish. 

August 27, 200 -- Voters, first timers and seasoned politicos alike, must all make sure they are registered, signed up properly with the county and aware of when their ballots will be arriving.  We spoke with Mendocino County Registrar of Voters Katrina Bartolomie to get the latest information on how to properly register to vote.