The City of Fort Bragg is celebrating some wins from 2024. They’ve published their Year End Review of 2024 with highlights including the launch of the Fort Bragg Business Boost Fund of $650,000 to support entrepreneurs, approval of municipal broadband for the community and securing more than $25 million in grant funding for what they call vital infrastructure projects. They began transitioning the C.V. Starr Community Center to be run by the City which will take effect next month. And they’ve achieved a 30% General Fund reserve which is the highest in Fort Bragg history.
Work has started again on the Jack Peters Creek Bridge on Highway 1 near Mendocino. Caltrans will be closing the bridge tonight from 10pm until 6am tomorrow morning for the next phase of long-playing work to widen the bridge. The bridge, which was built in 1939, is being widened to two 12-foot wide lanes with two six-foot wide shoulders along with a six-foot wide separated pedestrian walkway on the west side of the bridge. Caltrans says the walkway will connect the California Coastal Trail from County Road 500 D to Lansing Drive. In all, the project is scheduled to be completed next fall.
There are some federal offices and services closed today for the National Day of Mourning to honor former President Jimmy Carter who passed away December 29. It is not an official federal holiday, so businesses and banks are not required to close but federal offices and courts are. Post offices are closed and you will not be getting mail but some US Postal Service package deliveries will continue. The Stock Market is also closed. Most state and local offices are open unless they have individually chosen to close for the day. Also you’ll see flags continue to fly at half-staff until January 28.
Mendocino County’s new Mobile Spay & Neuter Van will have its first public event next week. Last year the County did a trial run at the Humane Society where 34 surgeries were completed. With that under their belt, officials say the van is now ready to hit the road. On January 14 the van will be at JD Redhouse in Willits. The County says the spay and neuter surgeries are already fully booked for that day but some walk-in vaccine services will be available from 10am-2pm. Additional dates in February may include Laytonville and Hopland but on February 11 they will be back at JD Redhouse. For more information contact Mendocino County Animal Care Services.
California will soon have a new top public health officer. The California Department of Public Health says Dr. Erica Pan has been tapped as the next Director and state Public Health Officer, replacing Dr. Tomás Aragón who is retiring. Dr. Aragón has served as CDPH director and Public Health officer since 2021 but will retire January 31. Dr. Pan has been with CDPH since July 2020 as deputy director for the Center for Infectious Diseases and state epidemiologist. She is also a clinical professor in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC San Francisco and does clinical work at San Francisco General Hospital and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals.
It’s being called an “all-in state response” for resources to battle the explosive wildfires in Southern California. On Wednesday President Joe Biden approved Governor Gavin Newsom’s request for a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration to support ongoing response efforts and more than 7,500 California firefighting and emergency personnel from several counties and the National Guard have been deployed to the multiple fire sites. In addition the state has gotten commitments for 75 engines from Oregon, 45 engines from Washington, 5 engines from New Mexico, 10 engines from Utah and 25 engines from Idaho. And there are 600 Caltrans personnel helping to clear debris and restore power and burned traffic equipment to help move evacuees and resources.
