MENDOCINO CO., 2/5/17 — Here at The Mendocino Voice we think independent local journalism is very important—particularly when that reporting takes a look at controversial issues that impact our community, like cannabis regulation or asphalt production plants. That’s why we were very happy to work with the journalists on the KZYX News team to bring you the following stories, which aired on the radio in the last few weeks.
We’ll be collaborating on radio stories in the future, so stay tuned! We also encourage you to check out KZYX’s new website, where you can now more easily find the local news stories you’re looking for.
The first story looks at one aspect of cannabis regulations that has many residents of the Little Lake Valley showing up to city council meetings in droves to share their opinion. Over the last several months, the City of Willits has been discussing overturning the current cannabis ban within city limits and considering licensing some types of cannabis businesses to operate in town. After the November elections brought two new city councilmembers into power, a newly formed Ad Hoc committee will be looking at how to develop such cannabiz regulations.
The Mendocino Voice’s Managing Editor, Adrian Fernandez Baumann, talked with KZYX’s News Director Sheri Quinn about the most recent meeting, you can listen to the radio piece here.
We also spoke with Sheri about the recent developments concerning the Grist Creek asphalt plant, located on Highway 162 near Outlet Creek. The plant is currently closed, but neighbors have been concerned about potential contamination to the river since December and January’s heavy rains, and it’s unclear if the regional waterboard is checking on the potential impacts from reported flooding. In addition, in December the plant’s owners rejected the Mendocino County Air Quality Management District’s final offer to settle the notices of public health violations the plant received while operating in the fall of 2015, and have requested intervention from the California Air Resources Board in bringing the plant into compliance.
We published these stories and then gave KZYX the update, which you can listen to here.
Stay tuned for more radio broadcasts, we’ll post them here and link to the stories for more info!