A Ukiah man has been killed after apparently crashing his e-bike on the Great Redwood Trail. Witnesses told Ukiah Police the man was going very fast on the electric bike around 230pm Thursday between East Gobbi and Cleveland when he hit some kind of object on the trail. He was thrown from the bike and although he had a helmet, police say it was not secured tightly and he suffered head trauma. UPD says their detectives and the Sheriff’s Office are investigating the Coroner’s Case.
It’s 15 years in prison for the man found guilty last month of setting the Hopkins Fire which destroyed 30 homes in Calpella in 2021. Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster says the sentence was handed down yesterday for Devin L. Johnson who was found guilty of arson on August 1. Eyster says Johnson was found not guilty of aggravated arson which would have required proof that he’d intended to burn several homes when he started two grass fires behind McFarland Trucking. This was Johnson’s second trial – his first trial ended with a hung jury in May. Johnson has also been ordered to pay over $4 million in restitution to families who lost their homes.
You can meet the candidates running for Fort Bragg City Council at a candidates forum this week. The League of Women Voters of Mendocino County is hosting the forum Thursday from 6-7:30 p.m at Fort Bragg Town Hall. A League of Women Voters member will moderate the forum. Candidates will give opening statements and then written questions will be taken from the audience. In the race for two seats in the November 5 election are incumbent Lindy Peters, Melissa “Mel” Salazar, Bethany Brewer, Ryan Bushnell and Scott Hockett. The council will also be choosing a new mayor with Mayor Bernie Norvell elected earlier this year to the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors.
Today is National Voter Registration Day and the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office wants to remind you to make sure you are registered to vote and update your voter registration information if necessary. To help out, County elections staff will have a booth at the Lake County Farmer’s Market today, which is at Library Park in Lakeport from 10am to 1pm. You can also register online at https://registertovote.ca.gov or find a form at all Lake County Libraries and post offices. If you are homebound, call the elections office and they can mail you one.
Shanel Valley Academy’s agriculture program has won a $50,000 grant. Known as Ag Alley, the money is from Kubota Tractor Corporation’s Hometown Proud program and is coming thanks to Garton Tractor. Mendo Fever reports Ag Alley was one of just 10 winners out of nearly 1600 applications from across the US. Ag Alley promotes agricultural learning and sustainability and Shanel Valley Academy says they will use the grant to provide more students with hands-on learning opportunities they say will benefit the entire community. Since the Kubota Hometown Proud program started it has distributed nearly $2 million to agriculture centers, community gardens, and youth vocational projects nationwide.
Four Ukiah Unified School District elementary schools have been recognized by the state for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports known as California PBIS. Grace Hudson Language Academy and Yokayo Elementary received the Platinum Award and Nokomis Elementary and Calpella Elementary were honored with Silver Awards. The District says PBIS is a proven, research-based approach that helps schools create a positive learning climate by reinforcing appropriate behavior, improving academic performance, and reducing behavior-related problems.
