Fort Bragg is in the initial phase of trying to get absentee property owners to take care of properties that are vacant most of the year, or for years on end. But a recent proposal by code enforcement, to require a registry of vacant properties, did not meet the approval of community members or the city council committee tasked with bringing a more fleshed-out proposal before the full council.

The Great Redwood Trail is getting some opposition, both from advocates for leaving the train tracks in, and tribal people whose villages were destroyed when the tracks went through the state in the mid-19th century.Kelly Lincoln, of KMUD news, reports on a meeting of the Great Redwood Trail Agency’s board on March 28.

A controversial gas station in Redwood Valley is due for another round before the Board of Supervisors next month, as county staff considers a last-minute traffic study submitted by the applicant.

Just before 10:00 on Wednesday night, the Ukiah City Council voted by a bare majority to table a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Council received over thirty letters on both sides of the question. Many supporters of the ceasefire resolution stated that they are Jewish, before citing their dismay over the Israeli bombing Gaza. But opponents advised the local governing body not to weigh in on international issues by passing a non-binding resolution. One questioned why the council was delving into foreign affairs when people are hungry and homeless in Ukiah.

Proponents of a post-dam diversion have decided what kind of structure they’ll ask for when PG&E submits its license surrender application for the Potter Valley Project. A number of questions have yet to be answered, especially about sediment management and how much water will continue to flow from the Eel into the Russian River. But after months of committee meetings and analyses across a wide spectrum of interest groups, a new joint powers authority decided unanimously on March 19 to pursue a pump station that would divert water from the Eel River into the Russian River during high flows.

At a meeting hosted by the Grass Roots Institute on March 14th, Mendocino County Planning and Building Services Director, Julia Krog and Fort Bragg, Special Projects Manager, Sarah McCormick provided updates on the municipality's Local Coastal Planning for Sea Level Rise. Point Arena, which received its funding before the county and Fort Bragg, announced their findings in September of last year.

The numbers of voters affected by the ballot mishaps in the recent election are coming into focus, with 880 ballots returned from the Antoni Lane misprint and 177 who received ballots for the wrong district.

The California Coastal Commission voted unanimously to ask for more information about a $31.4 million federal loan.

The Board of Supervisors wants to raise the transient occupancy tax on short term rentals by 2% to bring caregivers’ wages up to $20 an hour. They also agreed to research how to pay all county workers a livable wage, which, according to the MIT living wage calculator, is $23 an hour for a single adult living in Mendocino County.

The outcome of tight races is still uncertain as the ballot count continues.