The Mendocino County Office of Emergency Services wants you to know your evacuation zone, especially during fire season. By the way, evacuations can also happen thanks to floods, earthquakes, gas leaks, or hazardous spills. To streamline evacuations and reduce traffic congestion, the county is divided into specific zones: for example, Laytonville High is 1LAY06; Mendocino College is 2UKV14. The Mendocino Voice says if you don’t know your zone, you can find it on an interactive map online at mendoready.org, which was developed in partnership with the Sheriff’s Office and local fire agencies. You should also sign up for MendoAlert, a law enforcement tool used to notify residents of emergencies and evacuations by text message.
Two Republican California lawmakers are advocating for a 2026 ballot measure mandating voter ID and proof of citizenship. The proposal comes from Republican Assembly members Carl DeMaio and Bill Essayli, and includes verifying citizenship during registration and requiring voter ID at polling locations. Mail-in voters would be required to include the last four digits of their Social Security number or another government-issued ID. California is one of 14 states, along with the District of Columbia, that do not require voter ID.
A domestic violence incident in Ukiah led to the arrest of a man and his mother following the deployment of a SWAT team. Police say it happened around 3 in the morning. on July 8. Officers responded to a report of possible domestic violence on South State Street. A 19-year-old woman told police she had been in a relationship with 21 year old Jaime Gregg, and during several arguments, he allegedly slapped her and held a loaded gun to her head, threatening to kill her and himself. She says Gregg eventually put the gun down. Gregg’s 44 year old mother Kcaj Larson allegedly assaulted the victim. The Mendocino Voice says Gregg was booked into the Mendocino County Jail on suspicion of four felonies, including being in possession of a stolen firearm and misdemeanor charges related to domestic violence. Larson was booked on suspicion of child abuse, possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia, and battery, all misdemeanors. Gregg’s being held on $100,000 bond.
This weekend, Hopland will celebrate a new housing development. It’s for homeless members of the Hopland Band of Pomo Indians. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held Saturday at the tribe’s Rancheria to mark the opening of a fourplex for tribal members experiencing chronic homelessness. The project was led by the Northern Circle Indian Housing Authority, which supports eight tribes in Northern California. Deputy Director Moriah McGill called the event a celebration and said it’s a tribute to the dedication, commitment, and tenacity of the project team. The Mendocino Voice says the fourplex has two two-bedroom units and two three-bedroom units and that the project received funding from both federal and state sources.
Tomorrow, Ghilotti Construction Company will start grinding the west side of North Main Street, moving from Norton towards Gobbi. That is expected to take around four work days and wrap up toward the middle of next week. It will be followed by the installation of base rock. Paving of Main Street is currently set for between July 31 and August 5, followed by about three days of “conforms”, which are the sections of pavement that extend onto the side streets to help blend the seams. Striping will most likely happen at the end of July/beginning of August.
The Civil Grand Jury’s July 7 report warns that the Big Valley Basin in Lake County could face a groundwater deficit of up to 25,000 acre-feet annually by 2042 without intervention. In order to address this, the report recommends groundwater recharge methods like flood-managed aquifer recharge and rainwater harvesting using hydro infiltrators. The Record Bee says Angela De Palma-Dow, Executive Director of the Lake County Land Trust and former County Water Resources official, stressed these strategies are key to meeting Sustainable Groundwater Act goals.
