A jury convicted Billy Norbury of first degree murder in the shooting of his Redwood Valley neighbor, Jamal Andrews, back on January 24, 2012. The jury also found that Norbury used a gun, adding another 25 years to the 25 year sentence for the murder. Under the current verdict, Norbury, who is 33 years...
Prosecution and Defense locked horns in court, in the trial of Billy Norbury for the murder of Jamal Andrews in Redwood Valley early this year. At issue is the admission of expert witness testimony about the mental state of defendant Norbury. Defense attorney Al Kubanis wants to enter a report from mental health professional...
Grand Jury Critical of City’s Garbage Contract. The City of Ukiah signed off on a new garbage contract that is more beneficial to the contractor than for the city and its people. That’s the conclusion reached by the Mendocino County Grand Jury in their recently published inquiry. Councilmember Phil Baldwin was the...
The Ukiah City Council majority rallied to save most of the city jobs on the City Manager’s chopping block. The swinging axe came down when the state tossed out the Redevelopment Agencies. That RDA money was actually being used to pay city management. So management now has to draw their salaries from the city’s...
Walmart will not be expanding in Ukiah any time soon. The Ukiah Planning Commission denied the retail store’s proposed 47,621 square foot expansion, on April 11th, and Walmart chose not to appeal the denial. The Commission voted 4 – 1 to reject the project, with Commissioner Mike Whetzel dissenting. Whetzel disagreed that there would be...
Mendocino County District Attorney, David Eyster tells The Independent he will not seek a ‘hate crime’ enhancement in the murder case of Jamal Andrews. The January murder shocked the Redwood Valley Road B community, where Andrews was shot dead on his front lawn in front of his partner Miranda and 7-month-old son Kaidan. Initially...
The County Planning Commission unanimously okayed the Environmental Impact Report(EIR) for the Harris Quarry expansion south of Willits. That does not necessarily mean that the project itself will be approved. Owners Frank Dutra and Rancy Luchetti of Northern Aggregates want a zoning change that will allow them to operate an asphalt and concrete batch...
Occupy Ukiah and Occupy Mendocino joined forces on March 12 and demonstrated outside the Mendocino County Recorder’s Office as part of a statewide campaign to stop home foreclosures. About 25 people kept an informational line at the county administration building for several hours. They cordoned off an area with yellow ‘crime scene’ tape, but...
