The Mendocino County Library System is pulling the plug on 6 online services. Officials say budget constraints are behind the decision to cut hoopla, Kanopy, Pronunciator, Pro Citizen, GrantFinder, and Kovels. From its digital menu. County librarian Melissa Hannum says it wasn’t easy to pull those resources, but it was necessary, given less tax revenue and higher expenses. Hoopla and Kanopy will go offline starting July 1st, while Pronuciator, Public Citizen, and Grant Finder will be available until November. Mendolibrary.org has the full text of the district’s news release about the changes.
The Middletown school district has agreed to a new contract with teachers. The vote was unanimous. Superintendent Jeff Crane says the deal is just what the district had been hoping for. It comes after negotiations broke down last month, with teachers threatening a strike. Now, both the union and the district say it is time to move past the disagreements. The union ratified the deal earlier in the week. Among the key points–new stipends for the teachers for the current school year and the potential for a raise, depending on district financial statements due later this year.
A fund that supports the LGBTQ community has given a grant to a Mendocino County group. The Rykken and Scull Memorial Fund has awarded money to the Mendocino County Safe Spaces Project for its programs. Since 2012, that fund has given thousands of dollars in grant money and scholarships. Mendocino County Safe Spaces says they will use their grant to enhance their local outreach and advocate for the community in Mendocino County.
And if you missed it, the big national story today–a new pope, and he is American. Cardinal Robert Prevost took the name of Pope Leo the 24th after he was selected at the conclave at the Vatican. He is from Chicago, but has spent most of his adult life as a missionary and catholic church leader in Peru. No American has ever been selected as pope before.
