The Mendocino Voice
Mendocino County by the numbers
Every figure below comes from state, federal or county records covering 2025 or 2026.
Roger Coryell
All clips written by Roger Coryell, owned by their publishers
448
stories
November 2026
The Mendocino Voice
State delays Mendocino coast commercial crab season to January to protect whales
Fort Bragg’s commercial crab boats won’t fish on Dec. 1. California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife pushed back the commercial Dungeness crab season to at least Jan. 1, 2027, along…
The Mendocino Voice
Rich Parducci, grandson of John Parducci, gets Mendocino Winegrowers’ top honor
Rich Parducci started learning his family’s wine business at 12, in the vineyards, on the bottling line, in the lab, the cellar and the crush pad. Mendocino Winegrowers Inc. has…
October 2026
The Mendocino Voice
Palace Hotel goes back to the Ukiah City Council on Nov. 4
The Ukiah City Council will take up the Palace Hotel again Wednesday, Nov. 4, when city staff are to bring options for what the city can do next about the…
The Mendocino Voice
Ukiah asks for another year on old dump; garbage customers will help cover $21.1 million
Ukiah is supposed to finish closing its old landfill on Vichy Springs Road by Saturday. It won’t. The city is sending a letter Wednesday asking for one more year.
The Mendocino Voice
Fort Bragg has no Head Start this fall, a first in more than 30 years
For the first fall in more than 30 years, North Coast Opportunities has no Head Start classroom on the Mendocino coast. The nonprofit pointed to state-mandated transitional kindergarten, the free…
The Mendocino Voice
Mendocino review board asks for white hydrants, not ‘Barney purple’
Mendocino’s new fire hydrants are purple. The village’s historical review board would like them to be a little less purple.
Local News Matters
Newsom orders coastal highway protections, eases environmental rules ahead of El Niño
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM HAS ORDERED California agencies to identify stretches of Highway 1 vulnerable to winter flooding and landslides while temporarily easing environmental permitting requirements for projects intended to protect…
SFGate
Newsom orders a storm plan for Highway 1, including the Mendocino coast
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday ordered state agencies to find the stretches of state Highway 1 most at risk from El Nio storms this winter. The order puts preventive work…
The Mendocino Voice
Ukiah’s new 16-bed mental health center is up and running
A new live-in mental health treatment center in Ukiah has taken in its first residents. “This is the first time I’ve come to this meeting to say that it’s running,”…
The Mendocino Voice
Magnitude 4.0 earthquake strikes north of Lake Pillsbury, felt in Potter Valley
UPDATE 8:46 A.M. — A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck at 5:01 a.m. Wednesday about 6 miles north of Lake Pillsbury, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was in…
The Mendocino Voice
Caltrans sues companies behind Hopland’s Thatcher Hotel and Stock Farm restaurant and inn
Times have been tough for downtown Hopland businesses. Work on new sidewalks and a fiber line has blocked customers and parking.
The Mendocino Voice
Fort Bragg hands out 14 Mayor’s Well Done Awards
Fort Bragg handed out 14 Mayor’s Well Done Awards Monday night. Winners included a consignment shop that builds a nonprofit donation into its prices, a mural on a brewery wall,…
The Mendocino Voice
How the Fetzer brothers put Mendocino County’s Eagle Peak on the wine map
This story is part of Islands and Valleys, a monthly tour of Mendocino County’s 13 American Viticultural Areas.
The Mendocino Voice
Salinas man, 40, killed in Highway 101 motorcycle crash near Ukiah
A 40-year-old Salinas man died Sunday night on U.S. Highway 101 near Ukiah after he lost control of his motorcycle, was thrown from it and was struck by a Kia,…
The Mendocino Voice
Fort Bragg City Council hears campaign anger, sets Coastal Trail speed rules
Monday night’s Fort Bragg City Council meeting opened with awards for local businesses. Then, eight days before the election, it turned to anger over the campaign.
The Mendocino Voice
Mendocino County fentanyl deaths fall as Lake County leads state
Fentanyl deaths in Mendocino County fell for the fourth year in a row in 2025, according to early figures from the California Department of Public Health. Next door, Lake County…
The Mendocino Voice
Fatal motorcycle crash closed Highway 101 lanes south of Ukiah
A person died Sunday night when a motorcycle and another vehicle collided on southbound U.S. Highway 101 near the Highway 253 on-ramp, south of Ukiah, according to the California Highway…
The Mendocino Voice
Mendocino County Planning Commission OKs 74-foot Tibetan temple near Leggett
Rangjung Yeshe Gomde California, a Tibetan Buddhist retreat center off state Route 271 near Leggett, meets in a converted horse barn that its director says is “pretty much at capacity.”…
The Mendocino Voice
Mendocino County’s ghosts, and the people who tell their stories
On the last night of their stay at the Mendocino Hotel, a man got out of bed for a glass of water and found a woman standing in the room.…
The Mendocino Voice
Mendocino County FAIR Plan policyholders face statewide 29% average rate hike
If your home is insured through the California FAIR Plan, your rate is changing. For many policyholders, that means a bigger bill.
The Mendocino Voice
No 24-hour ballot drop box in Laytonville, Leggett or Covelo
Voters in Laytonville, Leggett and Covelo who want to hand their ballots straight to the county before Election Day have no drop box close to home. The nearest one open…
The Mendocino Voice
Ukiah vineyard floats 252 solar panels on its irrigation pond
The new solar panels at Nelson Family Vineyards don’t take up any farmland. All 252 float on the irrigation pond.
The Mendocino Voice
Ukiah man convicted of murder in 2022 heat death of 1-year-old
A Mendocino County jury Wednesday found a Ukiah man guilty of second-degree murder in the death of a 1-year-old boy, one of two brothers left for hours beside the railroad…
The Mendocino Voice
Mendocino coast ocean runs high ahead of holiday king tides, forecaster warns
The ocean off the Mendocino coast is already running high, and printed tide tables probably won’t be “remotely accurate” this winter, a National Weather Service meteorologist said Wednesday.
The Mendocino Voice
Mendocino County supervisors hire Sara Pierce as CEO, Michael Rossi as county counsel
Board of Supervisors Chair Bernie Norvell swore in Mendocino County’s new chief executive officer and its new top lawyer together Tuesday, a few minutes after the board voted 5-0 to…
The Mendocino Voice
UnitedHealthcare’s AARP Medicare Advantage plan leaves Mendocino County Jan. 1
UnitedHealthcare is pulling its AARP Medicare Advantage plan out of Mendocino County on Jan. 1. After that, only one company will sell Medicare Advantage plans here: Imperial Health Plan of…
The Mendocino Voice
Are we headed for a pet-ocalypse in Mendocino County?
Mendocino County has had $408,000 to spay and neuter cats and dogs since last November. As of Tuesday, it had committed about $41,000 of it.
Local News Matters
A whale of a homecoming: Skeletal leviathan gets new quarters in Fort Bragg after 17 years
A BLUE WHALE that died off the Mendocino Coast in 2009 finally has a home.
The Mendocino Voice
Escondido committee’s mailer hits Ukiah incumbents over 73% council pay raise
A campaign mailer says Ukiah’s three City Council incumbents “voted to give themselves a 73% pay increase.” Mayor Susan Sher calls it “plain and simple, a hit piece containing misleading…
The Mendocino Voice
Mendocino County supervisors hold off on housing amnesty, study why last one stalled
Of the 38 people who tried to legalize a home under Mendocino County’s last amnesty, 12 made it all the way through.
SFGate
PG&E plans November repair of void at Cape Horn Dam in Mendocino County
PG&E plans to start repairing a void at the base of Cape Horn Dam by Nov. 20, according to a letter the utility filed with federal dam-safety regulators Oct. 6.
The Mendocino Voice
Fort Bragg’s blue whale comes home to the Noyo Headlands
A blue whale that died off the Mendocino Coast in 2009 finally has a home.
The Mendocino Voice
Housing advocates plan to fill Mendocino supervisors’ chambers Tuesday
Say you’ve lived in a cabin in the hills for 20 years. It was built long before you got there, and nobody ever got a permit. Then a neighbor complains.…
The Mendocino Voice
Mendocino supervisors to hire a Santa Clara County lawyer as county counsel Tuesday
Mendocino County supervisors will vote Tuesday on a new top lawyer for the county: Michael Rossi, a longtime lawyer in the Santa Clara County Counsel’s Office. The job would pay…
SFGate
Sheriff’s Office names father in deaths of his 2 children near Ukiah
The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office on Thursday named Alexander Gonzalez-Gonzalez, 44, of Ukiah as the father investigators believe killed his two children and then himself Oct. 9 at a home…
The Mendocino Voice
Mendocino’s watchdog for 50 little governments says it has no hammer
The one county agency charged with checking up on Mendocino County’s 50 special districts says it can’t make any of them do anything.
The Mendocino Voice
Mendocino County supervisors to vote on 3-year contract making Sara Pierce chief executive
Sara Pierce has run Mendocino County government as interim chief executive since July. On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors votes on whether to make the job hers for three years,…
The Mendocino Voice
Ukiah to celebrate its city-owned fiber network Oct. 27
Eeeee-AWWWW. Bong-bong. Ksshhhhhhhhhh. That was the sound of getting online over a phone line. A 56K modem topped out at 56 kilobits per second coming in and 33.6 going out.
The Mendocino Voice
A potter’s estate helps Friends of the Fort Bragg Library start $1.5 million annex
An arson fire destroyed Fort Bragg’s library in September 1987. The Friends of the Fort Bragg Library turned an old funeral home on Laurel Street into a library, according to…
SFGate
No Kings’ rallies in 5 Mendocino County towns Saturday push early voting
No Kings comes back to five Mendocino County towns Saturday with a different ask: vote early. Fort Bragg is bringing large letters and yard signs.
The Mendocino Voice
State budget sends $900,000 to Boonville fairgrounds for drinking water fixes
The new state budget includes $900,000 for Mendocino County to fix up the fairgrounds in Boonville, with the drinking water system the main focus, the county said in a news…
The Mendocino Voice
Tribal nonprofit asks Coastal Commission for a gate at Blues Beach near Westport
Kai Poma, the tribal nonprofit that took ownership of Blues Beach from Caltrans in July, has asked the California Coastal Commission for permission to put a steel swing gate at…
The Mendocino Voice
Mendocino County Supervisors boost Willits library remodel from $600,000 to $2.6 million
The planned fix-up of the Willits library now costs more than four times what the county first set aside. Along the way, the design picked up new windows, restrooms, lighting,…
The Mendocino Voice
Mendocino County Civil Grand Jury wants a fire-safe process for post-1991 unpermitted homes by Thursday
Mendocino County’s civil grand jury asked the county to draft written rules by Thursday, Oct. 15, for applying state fire-safe law, including to homes built without permits. The county’s answer…
The Mendocino Voice
Fort Bragg council steers Coastal Trail e-bike rules toward a speed limit, not a ban
The Fort Bragg City Council on Tuesday backed away from banning the fastest e-bikes on the Coastal Trail. Council members said they’d rather set a 15 mph speed limit for…
The Mendocino Voice
Willits council weighs billing Brooktrails $1.14 million for city solar project Wednesday
In May, Willits finished building solar carports, solar panels on raised frames that shade parking spaces, over the Sports Park and Skate Park parking lots. Now city staff say the…
The Mendocino Voice
Mendocino County Planning Commission to weigh 74-foot Tibetan temple near Leggett
A Tibetan Buddhist retreat center near Leggett wants to build a temple 73 feet, 9 inches tall, more than twice the 35-foot height limit for its zoning. The Mendocino County…
The Mendocino Voice
Fort Bragg City Council to finalize coastal ADU rules, keeping a rental limit the state questioned
The Fort Bragg City Council is set to give final approval Tuesday to new rules for backyard cottages and in-home apartments in the city’s coastal zone. The rules keep a…
The Mendocino Voice
Covelo man sought in Oct. 1 stabbing arrested after second stabbing
A Covelo man wanted in an Oct. 1 stabbing was arrested Saturday after another man was stabbed at a Covelo cemetery, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.