Marchers calling for an end to police violence and more mental health services.
April 5, 2021 A little over a dozen people marched on Civic Center in Ukiah Saturday, calling for an end to police brutality and more mental health services in the wake of Gerardo Magdaleno’s beating at the hands of Ukiah police officers. On April first, Magdaleno, a schizophrenic bipolar man, took some non-prescription drugs after running out of his psychiatric medications. He was wandering nude on south state street when an encounter with Ukiah Police Officers escalated into officers tear-gassing, Tasing, kicking, and punching Magdaleno multiple times in the head. Videos began circulating online almost immediately. Magdelano was taken to jail after a medical clearance, but returned to the hospital the next morning. By Saturday night, he was at home with his family after his sister posted bail. He was charged with public intoxication, possession of drug paraphernalia, and felony resisting or threate
February 10, 2021 A covid-19 outbreak at a Ukiah nursing home has infected eighteen people, according to Bekkie Emery, of the county’s Department Operations Center. The outbreak was identified at Mountain View Assisted Living and Memory Care on Saturday. Twelve residents and six staff have tested positive, and another staff member is considered a close contact and is in quarantine.
Alyson Bailey, the program manager for the Measure B Citizens Oversight Committee, is no longer working in that position. Dr Jenine Miller, who heads the county’s Behavioral Health department, said in a statement that her department will be taking over Measure B clerical tasks, monitoring fiscal activities related to Measure B, and continuing the development of the training center and the crisis residential treatment facility.
Jan 29, 2021 A renewed interest in using the old Howard Hospital in Willits as a psychiatric health facility revived community outcry and intimations of NIMBYism.
The half-cent mental health sales tax enacted by Measure B has been in effect for about three of its five years. So far, a little over twenty one and a half million dollars have been collected. Some of the money has been used to purchase a training center in Redwood Valley and hire a contractor to remodel it. The architect Nacht and Lewis, which is also designing a new jail for the county, is almost finished with architectural plans for a Crisis Residential Treatment facility in Ukiah.