Mendocino supervisor’s daughter busted on pot charges

 Law Enforcement
Sep 292011
 

The Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force on Wednesday seized more more than 100 marijuana plants from the the home of Angela Pinches, daughter of a member of the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, authorities said. The search of the Redwood Valley property was based on evidence found during a Sheriff’s Office incident earlier in the month, said Task Force commander Bob Nishiyama. At that time, sheriff’s officers did not arrest Pinches, who has a medical recommendation for pot, but confiscated the outdoor plants growing in excess of the 25 allowed per land parcel under the [...]

Mendocino officials testify for dispensary workers

 Courts
Sep 162011
 

A member of the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors and a sheriff’s sergeant testified Thursday in a Santa Rosa courtroom on behalf of two employees of a Ukiah medical marijuana cooperative charged with transporting pot through Sonoma County. Supervisor John McCowen and Sgt. Randy Johnson testified in the preliminary hearing for Daniel Harwood, 33, of Willits and Timothy Tangney, 29, of Lucerne. The employees of Northstone Organics were stopped twice in two days on Highway 101 near Cloverdale while delivering marijuana to people in the Bay Area. About three pounds of marijuana was seized and [...]

Dispensary plan fuels talk of Mendocino moratorium

 Dispensaries
Sep 142011
 

The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors will consider a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries that would last until burgeoning regulations for the dispensaries are in place, Tiffany Revelle reports in the Ukiah Daily Journal. The item wasn’t on the board’s agenda, but 1st District Supervisor Carre Brown suggested putting the discussion on the board’s Sept. 20 meeting agenda after 18 people voiced strong opposition to a dispensary proposed in downtown Boonville. “It’s a sacrilege to even consider having a dispensary in our community, and I think it’s a disgrace,” Boonville resident Donna Reily said, noting [...]

Humboldt to hear report on Mendocino cultivation law

 Cultivation
Sep 052011
 

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors will hear from Mendocino officials Tuesday regarding that county’s seemingly successful medical marijuana ordinance. Mendocino County 2nd District Supervisor John McCowen, Mendocino Sheriff Tom Allman and Mendocino County Counsel Jeanine Nadel will make a presentation to the board at 1:30 p.m., Donna Tam reports in the Eureka Times-Standard. McCowen said the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors set out to find a balanced approach to address issues related to illegal grow operations. The ordinance, originally adopted in 2008 before significant changes were adopted in June 2010, sets restrictions on the [...]

Fort Bragg shooting suspect sighted; manhunt expands

 Crime
Sep 052011
 
Fort Bragg shooting suspect sighted; manhunt expands

FORT BRAGG — More than 50 law enforcement officers combed an area east of Fort Bragg on Sunday after Mendocino County sheriff’s deputies reported spotting the man suspected of killing City Councilman Jere Melo. The deputies caught sight of Aaron Bassler around 8:15 a.m. Sunday near his mother’s home along Sherwood Road, said Capt. Kurt Smallcomb. The sighting triggered a manhunt that continued into the evening, involving officers from several local state and federal agencies. Bassler, 35, may have been trying to reach the home only to be scared off, said his father, James Bassler. [...]

Fort Bragg councilman killed after finding pot garden

 Marijuana News
Aug 292011
 
Fort Bragg councilman killed after finding pot garden

FORT BRAGG — Mendocino County authorities were hunting Sunday for a gunman suspected of shooting and killing a Fort Bragg councilman who had stumbled onto a remote marijuana operation east of the coastal city, officials said. Jere Melo, a longtime forester who served as mayor from 2000 to 2004, was killed just after 10 a.m. Saturday on rugged timber company land near the Noyo River and the historic Skunk Train, said the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office. Ukiah Daily Journal update: Suspect was growing opium poppies Melo, who worked for Campbell Timber Management, was with a [...]

Environmentalist Coleman killed on Mendocino ranch

 Marijuana News
Aug 222011
 

The details of Mendocino County environmentalist Matthew Coleman’s death are made for media: Described by friends and co-workers as a hardworking, likable “big puppy dog,” Coleman, 45, may have stumbled upon a marijuana plantation protected by men with guns when he was shot multiple times in his torso and died on the night of Aug. 11 in Westport. Coleman, a volunteer for the Mendocino Land Trust, had been doing work on the 400-acre ocean-front ranch owned by Save the Redwoods League. His body was found next to his car, Ed Murrieta reports in Pot Appetit. [...]

Hopland dispensary opens doors for Mendocino media

 Collectives
Aug 152011
 

What’s offered over the counter at a medical marijuana dispensary isn’t limited to bud, or even starter plants, as evidenced by the array of products available at one of Mendocino County’s newest dispensaries. Nestled in downtown Hopland, Collective Conscious Apothecary sells smokable, edible and topical forms of medical marijuana — adamantly called cannabis by the staff. “We want to show that there are all different forms of cannabis available as medicine without having to smoke it, and without a psychoactive reaction,” dispensary CEO John C. Oliver said. With local regulations looming on the horizon for [...]

Supervisor criticizes Mendocino County drug sweep

 Marijuana News
Aug 092011
 

Fifth District Mendocino County Supervisor Dan Hamburg on Tuesday publicly criticized Operation Full Court Press, a multi-agency push to oust drug cartels growing marijuana on public land in the six counties that share the Mendocino National Forest, calling it part of the failed war on drugs. “I think we all know that the war on drugs has failed. This is just another aspect of that,” Hamburg said, referring to the operation, which got under way July 15. “This is not a winnable fight … It’s going to come out somewhere else.” The issue came up [...]

77 arrests so far in Mendocino forest pot-growing raids

 Marijuana News
Aug 032011
 

A massive, six-county marijuana eradication operation aimed at ridding the Mendocino National Forest of illegal pot cultivation is in full swing, Mendocino County officials have confirmed. As of Monday, the multi-agency law enforcement operation had yielded about 292,000 plants and 77 arrests, said Michelle Gregory, a Department of Justice spokeswoman. “At this point, the operation is going as planned. We’re making very good progress,” said Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman, who was instrumental in organizing the operation. Citing officer safety concerns, officials declined to give details of the operation, which began early last week but [...]

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