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Posts published in “News”

Steve Ahl vs. Ukiah

Just after noon on a slow, sunny Sunday afternoon last March, the famous Ukiah policeman, Peter Hoyle, was sitting in his patrol car at 1040 North State Street. Officer Hoyle was monitoring passing traffic with…

The Dogs Ate the House

Houses get old. Their roofs leak, foundations shift, pipes rust, but her dogs ate a Willits’ woman’s house. “My house was already quite damaged when I bought it,” Lydia Dittmeier, 45, begins, “but I don’t…

Mendo Hometowns a Little Guy Logger

On September 5th, the Mendocino County DA’s office issued this press release called: “Timber Operator Convicted of Violating Forest Practice Rules.” “On August 31, 2001, Licensed Timber Operator CURTIS JOHNSON, of Tri-Tower Logging Company, was…

Four Boonville Boys and the Cop’s Wife

Nobody disagrees on the basic facts.  There is fundamental disagreement on the particulars. The facts.  It was Tuesday, the last day of July, two weeks ago, that four Boonville boys set out for Ukiah a…

Where Is Jaime Vasquez?

Two Saturday nights ago, at about 10pm, Jaime Vasquez, 29, was taken from his car at gunpoint by four masked men. The abduction of the youthful farmworker occurred on a lonely dirt road less than…

Doing It for the Kids

Gov. Gray Davis “steered public schooling in a decidedly pro-business direction yesterday” with his appointment of Donald Fisher, big daddy of The Gap, Inc., to the California Board of Education. So wrote SF Chronicle reporter…

Judge Lechowick, Indian Killer

This Friday (December 15) expect retiring judge Vincent T. Lechowick to order the dissolution and sale of the disputed Pinoleville Tribal land as his final act as a Mendo judge. Lechowick did not run for…

Who Burned Fort Bragg & Why (Part 4)

Superior Janitorial's distinctive red van was a familiar sight in late night Fort Bragg. Peter Durigan, Superior's owner, went to work about midnight with his wife Irene, formerly Irene Specie. The two Durigans were assisted by a series of young people who helped the couple sweep, mop, scrub, and tidy up businesses as various as several restaurants and bars, both branches of the Savings Bank of Mendocino in Mendocino and Fort Bragg, and even the Pacific Bell Telephone facility in downtown Fort Bragg.

Bully Boy Developer’s Fort Bragg Rampage

Last Thursday wasn’t the first time Dominic Affinito had physically attacked Dan Gjerde, the just-elected Fort Bragg City councilman. The blustery Fort Bragg developer laid a big lick on the slightly-built Gjerde last September at…

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