Fort Bragg man sentenced for girl’s rape
A Fort Bragg man was sentenced Friday to six years in state prison for raping the 13-year-old daughter of what had been a close family friend.
‘Santa Rosa Press Democrat’ Articles
$58 million committed for new Willits hospital
Adventist Health has committed $58 million to build a new Howard Memorial Hospital in Willits, allowing plans to proceed after six years of fund raising. “I’m ecstatic,” said Margie Handley, who heads the hospital foundation’s board and whose family donated 33 acres south of town for the hospital.
Mendocino, Lake Courts May Leave Downtown
State court officials in December announced they’re moving forward with plans to build a new Mendocino County Courthouse, and there’s every likelihood the $119.9 million project won’t be downtown, potentially sucking some of the life from Ukiah’s core.
But after 19 years of running a booming business across from the Ukiah courthouse, Zach Schat is worried.
Laytonville Man Arrested in Murder of Man Reported Missing
Mendocino County authorities have arrested a Laytonville man for suspicion of murder after finding the dead remains of a man reported missing two weeks earlier on the property where both lived.
Preserving Coastal History
It’s a race against time to save Capt. Fletcher’s Inn, a dilapidated but important remnant of the bustling 1800s logging town that once thrived where the Navarro River meets the Pacific Ocean in Mendocino County.
Record $1 million spent on Mendocino fight over big-box development
Developers spent a record-breaking $917,375 on a failed ballot measure that would have allowed them to bypass Mendocino County’s planning process and build the county’s largest commercial development.
Quake Rattles The Geysers
The largest in a series of small earthquakes that shook The Geysers area early Saturday was a magnitude 3.4, according to preliminary reports from the U.S. Geological Survey.
State Bestows Historic Status on Confusion Hill
The state Historical Resources Commission on Friday officially deemed Confusion Hill, the gravity-defying tourist stop in northern Mendocino County, a California Point of Historical Interest.
Brothers Arrested for Ukiah-area Home Invasion
Two brothers were arrested Thursday in connection with a vandalism-triggered home invasion robbery north of Ukiah Jan. 17, law officials said.
Point Arena Man Victim of ‘unprovoked’ Pepper Spray Assault
A Point Arena man was arrested Thursday afternoon in connection with an unprovoked pepper spray assault, law officials said. Marucs Meloy, 19, allegedly walked up to Emilio Rivera, 29, as he stood in the doorway of his Port Road apartment and sprayed him in the face, said Mendocino County Sheriff’s Capt. Kurt Smallcomb.
PG&E Predicts More Shutoffs With New Meters
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. predicts more customers who are delinquent on their bills will have their power shut off once the utility completes the installation of new meters. The so-called SmartMeters allow the company to cut power without sending a crew to a customer’s home.
Thousands of Inmates to Get Early Release
Thousands of non-violent California prison and jail inmates become eligible Monday to have their sentences reduced substantially by getting greater credit for time served time. Generally, qualifying inmates will half their sentences, and in some cases less, instead of the current two-thirds.
Medical Pot Limits Thrown Out by California Supreme Court
The California Supreme Court on Thursday tossed out limits on how much pot that medical marijuana patients can possess, but the ruling spread confusion among law enforcement agencies.
North Coast Power Outages Continue
About 600 customers were without power in both Sonoma and Mendocino counties on Thursday morning as trees continued to uproot themselves from soil left soggy by recent storms.
Phones Down, Power Back in Mendocino County Towns
Telephone land lines were silent Wednesday in the northeastern Mendocino County communities of Covelo and Laytonville as the weather continued to pound the North Coast. The phone-line loss affected 911 emergency phone service, a cause of concern for law and emergency officials. But it had little effect on most people.