KZYX News

June 8, 2021 — As the region heads into a massive drought and the start of fire season, there are some signs of optimism about humanity’s ability to reverse some of the damage it’s done. Gerald “Bam” Britton, a senior at Round Valley High School in Covelo, recently made a film with a title that sounds like a line from a poem about nature. From River to Ridge and From Fish to Fire is a series of in...

June 7, 2021 — On Wednesday, the Board of Supervisors voted 4-1, with John Haschak dissenting, to waive the first reading of a cannabis cultivation ordinance which, if it becomes law, will allow grows of up to ten percent on ag and rangeland parcels over ten acres. Ellen Drell is working with a citizens group called Save Our Water, Wildlife, and Way of Life to repeal the ordinance. Most of the sup...

June 4, 2021 — The Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to adopt chapter 22.18, the phase III cannabis cultivation ordinance that will allow cultivation on up to 10% of ag or rangeland parcels that are ten acres or larger. They also directed staff to come back with another ordinance this summer that will allow growers in those zones to phase in to larger operations. The board was struggling to pass the...

June 3, 2021 — The Board of Supervisors is holding a special meeting today to decide on a new cannabis cultivation ordinance, which some are calling Phase III and others are referring to as 2218, after the new chapter that will enter the county code if the supervisors pass the proposed ordinance. The current ordinance, 10A17, was crafted before the state developed its own regulations. The two syst...

June 3, 2021 — The Board of Supervisors took a look at tax relief options for small cannabis farmers, with an eye toward passing the tax burden on to farms larger than 10,000 square feet yesterday. And law enforcement critic David Ayster called in to critique the Board and the Sheriff for the quality of their discourse during last month’s discussion about the proposed audit. Public Health Officer...

May 28, 2021 — The Board of Supervisors declined to conduct a proposed audit of the sheriff’s department this week, opting instead to hold a workshop where the sheriff and the auditor will answer questions.

May 25, 2021 — Public Health Officer Andy Coren told the Board of Supervisors today that the county is in a covid-19 surge. Though there are no outbreaks in the county at this time, Coren expects the county to be demoted to the orange tier by June 2.

May 25, 2021 — The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously yesterday to use Measure B funds for a psychiatric health facility, or puff, and to conduct a study on the feasibility of locating it on Whitmore Lane, in the unincorporated fifth district portion of south Ukiah. The county purchased the 26,601 square foot building with two point two million dollars of CARES Act federal funding last August....

May 24, 2021 — Supervisor John Haschak met virtually with a friendly crowd at a town hall organized by Willits Mayor Madge Strong and the Willits Economic Localization group. Residents talked about water, fire, money, cannabis, and public safety. Haschak, who is on a drought ad hoc committee, said the county is considering asking residents for a 20% voluntary reduction in water usage. He didn’t ha...

In this extended interview with Mendocino County cannabis program manager Kristin Nevedal, we’ll hear about how the county will make use of a multi-million dollar windfall — if the Legislature approves Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposal to allocate $100 million to bringing provisional license holders through the system to annual state licensure. Mendocino county’s allotment would be $18,084,837, bas...

May 21, 2021 — The county is anticipating big changes around cannabis between now and the end of June. Chapter 22.18, the proposed new county cultivation ordinance, has gone through two rounds of review by the Planning Commission and is due before the Board of Supervisors again soon. Hovering over that process is the possibility of a referendum, if enough voters essentially recall the ordinance. M...

May 19, 2021 — The pandemic has been an economic catastrophe as well as a health disaster. In Mendocino County, where 98% of the businesses are small, the blows have kept landing. Now a group representing a variety of local interests has assembled economic data and a plan they think will help the county climb out of a slump following multiple disasters and long-term stagnation. A little over a yea...

May 18, 2021--Annie Esposito reports on a Sunrise Ceremony this weekend, organized by Clayton Duncan of Robinson Rancheria, to remember the Massacre of 400 Indigenous Pomo people on May 15, 2850 by the US Calvary. Story produced by Alicia Bales for KZYX.

May 17, 2021 — Supervisors Glenn McGourty and Maureen Mulheren held a community meeting with residents of Potter Valley on Saturday morning, to talk about what they’d like from the $22 million PG&E settlement for damage caused by the 2017 firestorm.

May 13, 2021 — Last night’s meeting of the Redwood Valley Municipal Advisory Council hinged on the familiar topics of cannabis enforcement, water, and how to spend the $22 million PG&E settlement.

May 12, 2021 — The Board of Supervisors heard initial plans for organizing an enhanced cannabis enforcement program yesterday. And fire departments that fought the fire in 2017, as well as the Redwood Valley County Water Agency, made the case for why they think they should get a share of the $22 million PG&E settlement.

Little River, 5/11/21 - Reps. Jared Huffman, Mike Thompson, and other notable North Coast water managers and politicians gathered at a virtual summit yesterday morning to discuss the severe drought facing the North Coast and the state. No new policies were announced, but Senator Mike McGuire announced that the state senate is moving on a $3.4 billion drought relief package and Huffman listened to...

May 10, 2021 — There was dancing in the streets in Ukiah, as the first First Friday since the pandemic got underway. Postcards from Mecca lined the walls of the Grace Hudson Museum, offering glimpses of adventure and associations with lengthy travails in the desert. Masked art lovers flocked cautiously to the Corner Gallery.

May 7, 2021 — The Planning Commission hammered out further refinements to the proposed cannabis cultivation ordinance at a meeting that ended at a civilized hour yesterday. The Board of Supervisors is anxious to pass a phase III ordinance before June 30, after which the state will require environmental review that county counsel estimates could take three to five years. But the board made signific...

May 5, 2021 — The Board of Supervisors held its third quarter budget workshop yesterday and heard a covid briefing from public health officer Dr. Andy Coren. Though the forecast for non-departmental revenues, mostly from taxes, is over $80 million, the board is bracing for several possible blows, including inflation, the loss of cannabis taxes, and the as-yet unknown fiscal impacts of drought. And...

May 4, 2021 — In the last few hours of a meeting that lasted for three days, the Board of Supervisors hammered out amendments to a cannabis facilities ordinance that clarified farmers markets, cannabis tours, and invited a few legal threats. The cannabis cultivation amendments typically draw ore than four hundred letters to the Board of Supevisors or the Planning Commission, and hours of public co...

The town of Mendocino is already at a stage three water shortage and eyeing a stage four, which would trigger mandatory 40% reductions in water allotments for all users, according to district superintendent Ryan Rhoades. The Mendocino Community Services District Board is holding a meeting May 3, at which they are expected to raise the drought level. This year, the town of Mendocino received less t...

April 30, 2021 — The county moved into the yellow tier this week, which means movie theaters can open with 50% maximum capacity, more if everyone can prove they’ve been vaccinated or have a recent negative test. That’s just in time for the independently owned Noyo Theatre in Willits, which is reopening May 4, the 81st anniversary of its premiere. Owners Lois and Jeff Hoover are history buffs and m...

April 28 — The Board of Supervisors sent recommendations for a reworked cannabis cultivation ordinance back to the Planning Commission for another round of review. Yesterday’s nine and a half hour long meeting was held after an early-morning rally protesting the expansion of cannabis grows into rangeland during a drought. In spite of assurances that no new permits will be granted without water, de...