The old Masonite site may turn into a winery. Plans got a boost after the Ukiah Valley Sanitation District said yes to new sewer hook-ups for the project. The site has a pipe manufacturer there, Factory Pipe. There are 43 acres of vacant land the owner, Ross Liberty says he wants to turn into an industrial park. The name of the winery has not been released, but word is they have vineyards in northern Mendocino County and a winery in Paso Robles already. They are in the negotiations stage right now. The sewer hookups happened after the director of water and sewer utilities for the city of Ukiah gave a presentation to the City Council.
A police officer recovering after a dog bite that happened during a call to a disturbance at the Ukiah Community Center. Police say an officer got a call to the Food Bank and Community Center due to a man with 2 dogs causing a disturbance and that he wouldn’t leave. The officer spoke to the man who he says was drunk and arrested him on suspicion of public intoxication. One of the man’s dogs bit the officer on the leg and forearm, then the dogs were put into quarantine at the Mendocino County Animal Shelter. The cop was treated at Ukiah Valley Medical Center for his injuries.
A man from San Leandro has been arrested after a 9 year old girl was molested on a commuter train. The Mercury News reports (http://bayareane.ws/2gqeg2C) the girl was headed to San Francisco and the man sat next to her, touching her inappropriately on the leg and buttocks. A family member got in the middle of the two and called police when they got off the train at the Bay Fair Station. BART police got on at another stop and caught the guy, Marcus Brown, who was still on the train. They also found someone else who witnessed the whole thing. Brown’s charged with suspicion of sexual battery and annoying or molesting a child. He’s also been given a prohibition order that forbids him from riding BART for up to a year.
The Ukiah Winter Shelter needs volunteers in order to get up and running in a timely manner. The shelter to open mid-December as half the volunteers it needs. Homeless Services Action Group says they have 17 volunteers of the 40 they need. The volunteers job will be to interview incoming residents at a couple of intake centers not at the shelter. The info will got into a statewide database and direct applicants to the shelter if space is available. Those who are the most vulnerable, those who are disabled, have young children or are elderly—will be given priority, with the rest served on a first-come-first-served basis. The intake centers are separate so the nearby neighborhood won’t experience emotional tension from the intake process.
Police on the lookout for whoever was involved in the armed robbery of a convenience store in Middletown Monday. Police looking for an unknown man who went into the Store 24 after 10 p.m. A clerk at the shop tells police the man had a gun and demanded cash. Surveillance photos show the suspect wearing all black with a full face mask, with only his eyes showing. He got away with some cash and took off on foot, last seen south along Highway 29. The man is described as about 5’10” 200 pounds. They ask anyone with info to call the Lake County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit.
A multi year project investigating the gene flow of Tule Elk at UC Davis involves a swath of land in Lake and Colusa counties. Researchers are picking up elk poop in their multi-year project with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Scientists at UCDavis School of Veterinary Medicine are analyzing the poop for genetic data. They say they hope that will help them come up with their range in the area and how their genes move across the landscape. It will also help identify if and where barriers to elk migration exist and to help give conservation planners a clearer idea of where to focus their efforts.
A massive project is proposed to fix the San Francisco Bay and the Delta network of rivers and marshes. Many native fish are now extinct, known as a so-called “sixth extinction,” which is said to be the most dire definition of ecosystem collapse. The Delta has been shrinking over the last 100 years or so as rivers and mountain tributaries are diverted to irrigate Central Valley farms and areas of the San Francisco Bay. Orcas are said to be starving because of a lack of Chinook salmon. Seals and fish-eating birds are also starving. So some state agencies are working on a way to replumb the region which supplies about half of California’s water. The work to recalibrate water flows, but the plan’s been stagnant for twenty years or more. The first part of the plan is not expected to be done until next summer.
A massive payout by Pacific Gas & Electric for neighboring cities and a school district that’ll be affected by the closure of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. The utility announced its $85 million dollar deal for economic support in the region when the plant in the Central Coast shuts down in 2025. That means the area will lose income in the form of property taxes and a loss of plant workers that could affect local businesses. The agreement for San Luis Obispo County, a coalition of local cities and the San Luis Coastal Unified School District. The California Public Utilities Commission still has to approve the deal.
Police in Northern Calif. have found a couple from Yuba City who got stuck in the snow on their way to a mountainous area last weekend. The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office reports searchers finding Rory and Susan Holloter in their truck Monday. The couple, both in their 60’s got stuck Sunday. They had texted relatives saying they got stuck in the snow. The couple had 2 sleeping bags and some food on them.
A fat cat in California named “Fat Boy” has been rescued from a power pole. The black and white fatty rescued from 45 feet up in Fresno where he was hanging out for nine days. His owner says he’s not sure how the cat got up there, and when they called him, he’d just meow, but stay. The fire department along with P,G & E went to where the cat was stuck, climbed up, put Fat Boy in a crate and lowered him down. They had to de-energize the 12,000 volt power line before heading up. 250 homes lost power for a few hours too.
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