All clips written by Roger Coryell, owned by their publishers
The Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District wants to buy the Potter Valley Project — but the physics of the system make the bid nonsensical. A look at what the project actually does, and why a Southern California water agency's offer doesn't hold water.
The board of Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op spoke publicly for the first time this week, more than three weeks after most of the store’s staff walked off the job and…
MENDOCINO CO., 5/15/26 — The Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District wants to buy the Potter Valley Project. The district sits in Riverside County, more than 500 miles south of the Eel River. It has never run a hydroelectric dam. Its vice president, Darcy Burke, told a podcast in late April t...
MENDOCINO CO., 5/13/26 — Cannabis has collapsed from its boom years, and wine is contracting. Coastal tourism is one of Mendocino County’s few industries still pulling crowds — but the county doesn’t support its primary tourism marketing platform, Visit Mendocino County, at least not with the fun...
MENDOCINO CO., 5/12/26 — Clean, moving water may be the fastest single addition you can make to attract birds to your yard. A shallow basin works. A small fountain works. Even a slow drip onto a saucer will do it. Keep it shallow, change the water often, and scrub the basin; a dirty bird bath can...
UKIAH, CA., 5/8/26 — Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op, the 50-year-old member-owned grocery at the center of Mendocino County’s organic-food economy, is without a general manager again. Robert Drake, hired this spring to replace longtime manager Lori Rosenberg, was terminated days after more than half t...
MENDOCINO CO., 5/6/26 — If you live in Mendocino County and you have a dog, you have already learned the hard way that most state-park trails are off-limits to four-legged company. Pull up to Van Damme on a Saturday morning, get out of the truck with a leash in your hand, and a ranger will polite...
A deceased adult male gray whale discovered on RCA Beach had traveled past Tiburon on March 28 before passing through the Golden Gate on April 1 and washing ashore in…
A century-old hydropower facility in Mendocino County is being decommissioned after PG&E filed to surrender its federal license. The Potter Valley Project includes Scott and Cape Horn dams, which will…
In places like Brooktrails, this is the time of year when people start looking down a little more carefully. The grass is up. The days are warming. Kids run ahead…
Up on the ridges above Willits, Steve Amato has been counting lights. "These hills used to light up at night," the president of the Mendocino Cannabis Alliance said last spring,…
Drive north through Hopland this spring, past Ukiah into Redwood Valley. You'll notice gaps. Where Cabernet and Zinfandel twisted toward the sun last October, now there's bare dirt, stacked rootstock,…
At the Mendocino County Fish and Game Commission's April grant hearing, commissioners spent the better part of an afternoon listening to some of the most ambitious habitat restoration pitches the…
Drive south on Highway 101 toward Hopland, and you'll pass a turnoff for McNab Ranch Road. Most people zip by without noticing. But that little road is the namesake of…
A sweeping plan to remove two century-old dams on Northern California’s Eel River promises to revive native fish runs – but it also raises alarms for the wildlife that has…
Here’s the plain‑English version of what’s about to happen — and what it means if you grow grapes or buy fruit in Sonoma County.
Here’s the summer rumor, cleaned up for daylight: “Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) is draining Lake Pillsbury, so the upper river’s toast.” Catchy, dramatic and not quite right. What’s…
Bears. Fast, agile, hungry, smart bears. Mud. Snow. Hornets. Mountain lions and wild boars. Mildew. Driving a tractor between steep sloping muddy rows in the dark. Mendocino Ridge is not…
Hope Nastri, associate winemaker at Twomey Cellars’ Anderson Valley estate in Philo, shares her journey from math teacher to winemaker, her minimalist winemaking philosophy, and the sustainable practices that define…
Wandering through the newly reconstructed Frey Vineyards winery in Mendocino County’s Redwood Valley, one can’t help but marvel at the synergy between state-of-the-art technology and age-old winemaking traditions. Jonathan and…
In the oak-covered foothills of Hopland, in eastern Mendocino County, you’ll find a unique property called Campovida. This farm and winery isn’t just a place; it’s a testament to vision,…
The wine industry of Mendocino County, and indeed the broader Northern California region, has lost one of its most influential figures. Paul Egan Dolan III, a trailblazer in sustainable winemaking,…
Guinness McFadden, founder and owner of Blue Quail Wines and McFadden Farm in Mendocino County’s Potter Valley, is a pioneer in organic wine growing and farming. McFadden began farming 50…
Mendocino County is known for wine, waves and wilderness, but lovers of fine brandy, whiskey, gin and other artisan spirits know that some of the best drinkables in the world…