Historic Palace Hotel Has New, Local Owners

The Historic Palace Hotel in Ukiah has a new, local owner who plans to renovate the landmark building.  Paru and Jitu Ishtar, a couple from Ukiah Valley who owns local lodging operations purchased the building for just under a million dollars in 2019, with plans to make it an upscale boutique hotel with restaurant and … Read more

Ukiah Inspecting City Utility Grid With Drones

The City of Ukiah is beginning a new program to inspect utilities by drone this month, using an infrared thermal camera to detect hot spots and loose connections over distribution and transmission lines as well as substation equipment, in order to better repair and maintain the city-owned electrical infrastructure.

PG&E To Conduct Helicopter Pre-Patrols of Power Grid

Starting tomorrow, PG & E will begin conducting practice patrol flights in the area, as part of efforts to reduce the impact of Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events on customers. Pre-patrols improve safety, help execute regular patrols more efficiently, and provide key information to determine service restoration timing – all to reduce the impact … Read more

Fire Chief Says Fire Season Is Now Year-Round

With so little precipitation this year, incoming  Mendocino County Fire Chief Luke Kendall says fire season no longer exists, and area residents must be vigilant year-round.  Multiple burn pile fires escaped and started small wildfires in March, and Kendall points out that the forested areas are much drier in the hills around Ukiah, which normally … Read more

Mendocino County Has New COVID-19 Dashboard, Cases Dropping

Mendocino County Public Health has implemented a new Covid-19 data dashboard. The new dashboard will include more details about certain types of data, such as vaccinations and fatalities, as well as changes like using California’s statewide data for hospitalizations and deaths. Dr. Andy Coren reports as of March 31, only one Mendocino County resident was … Read more

Two Involved in Fatal Head-On On Hwy 20 Identified

Two of the three people involved in the crash on Hwy 20 that interrupted the afternoon commute yesterday near Blue Lake have been identified. Jennifer Peters of Ukah and her passenger, Ronald Hoel Jr. of Redwood Valley, were driving westbound when they crossed the center lines and collided head-on with an as of yet unidentified … Read more