Broadband carriers are asking for a six month delay before they implement requirements of the state public utility commission. But Mendocino Broadband sent the commission a letter against the delay saying other carriers exceeded the delay request, but the commission said okay anyway. The other carriers apparently requesting a stay so they can get a rehearing on the entire matter. Some lawmakers are also supporting gut and amend bills to re-authorize the state broadband infrastructure program. The next Broadband Alliance meeting is next Friday at the Community Foundation in Ukiah.
A woman in Ukiah appealing her DUI drive thru a neighbors fence had the conviction affirmed. Joan Rainville appealed her conviction for her May 2013 incident of two felonies for the drive thru the fence nearly hitting two people. At the time Rainville was found to have a blood alcohol content of more than .26, more than 3 times the legal limit. She was found guilty by a jury of two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon. She also had three prior alcohol-related driving convictions before the incident, so she was on probation.
Some reminders from the Lake County Sheriff’s office if your home or business has been flooded. They remind to wear protective clothing like rubber gloves and boots because of possible water contamination, try not to put your hands near your face or mouth when working, turn all power sources off, look for any foundation shifting or cracks, open the doors and windows so the building or property can dry out, remove standing water, hose down walls ASAP and dilute some w/bleach to disinfect walls and other surfaces. Any items that have been soaked should be cleaned and some should be professionally cleaned. Food items that got wet should be tossed unless they’re in cans or commercially sealed glass jars that were undamaged. Finally, sanitize pots, pans, utensils, dishes, glassware and other items you intend to keep.
The Fort Bragg Unified School District has been burglarized. The district office lost several laptops, monitors and keys last Friday. Staff coming to work found the office was broken into. The superintendent says all of the info contained on the computers was password protected and no vital student records were on the computers. Fort Bragg Police say there were no surveillance cameras at the office or any witnesses to the crime, but they say there was some evidence left behind.
Ukiah High students have won two awards at the state Robotics competition. The kids from the Ukiah High School Science Club members got first- and second-place at the SeaPerch competition. SeaPerch is under water robotics that’s sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. The students were at West Valley College in San Jose where more than 300 students from 13 schools and 18 teams competed. 3 teams from Ukiah were at the competition where they needed to create underwater remotely-operated vehicles out of a basic kit.
The city of Lakeport says it could take weeks before residents told to leave their homes because of rising water, can go home again. A local emergency was declared earlier this week due to flooding and on Monday several mandatory evacuations were announced. The next day more advisory evacuations were also announced. Yesterday in Clearlake, the city had local advisory evacuations too. Several homes on the Lake were first flooded out then others in surrounding areas started to take on water, several roads were also blocked and down to one lane. They warn about contaminated water as sewage drains and manholes were also overwhelmed. Yesterday Clear Lake hit 10.6 feet Rumsey, 9 is flood stage. It’s supposed to recede down to 10.5 feet today.
At a meeting of the Clearlake City Council the G.M. of the Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District gave an update. The district controls the water rights to Clear Lake and operates the Cache Creek Dam. He says the dam’s going to be temporarily taken offline today so they can take out debris. He says everything you can imagine, from trees to refrigerators is stuck there. The GM says they’ll just close it for a few hours.
Lakeport city representatives say they don’t anticipate any more evacuations but they’re keeping an eye on an apartment complex on Royale Avenue and a condo complex at Royale Shores. They’re also asking residents not to drive on Royale Avenue which is flooded because flood water enters apartments. So far 225 people have been evacuated in Lakeport. Lakeport Police are also asking people to stay away from evacuated areas. They’re patrolling some areas by boat. The city is also trying to get a high clearance vehicle so Public Works staff can maintain utilities. They’re also working on damage estimates to turn into the California Office of Emergency Services and the Lake County Office of Emergency Services.
State Sen. Mike McGuire says he’s trying to protect the state against the Trump administration so he’s introduced a package of bills to shield California Wildlands. McGuire says California has the most to lose under the dangerous policies of President Trump, noting nearly 46 million acres or nearly half of Calif. is federal land. His new legislation to make current federal clean air, climate, clean water, worker safety, and endangered species standards enforceable by the state even if the Fed looks to roll back or weaken the current law. It would direct the state to use its authority to make sure current standards are enforced and make sure the state doesn’t suffer if the federal government does rollback protections. Another part of the package makes sure developers cannot get a hold of federal land. And federal workers who report cover ups, destruction of information, or other wrongdoing are protected under Calif law.
Ukiah Unified School District says it will be a sanctuary for undocumented students against the federal government. The school district board of trustees has passed a resolution to declare all schools in the district are a “Safe Haven.” Apparently some concerned citizens came forward regarding possible immigration roundups. The California State School Superintendent also looking for all school districts to pass the same kinds of resolutions. The local Safe Haven resolution follows part of the ACLU’s Model Campus Safe Zones Resolution. The Daily Journal reports the California Department of Education saying about 1.5 million of 6.2 million students in Calif. schools are covered by school districts which have put similar Safe Haven declarations in place.
Mendocino Land Trust has received national recognition, becoming an accredited land trust. The Land Trust announced its now one of 372 accredited land trusts in the U-S showing their commitment to professional excellence and for maintaining the public’s trust. The Exec. Director of the Land Trust says it’s an honor for the Mendocino County community. She says it makes sure donors, their partners and the public know they’re committed to their work.
A self-driving car company that’s part of Google is suing Uber saying a former engineer stole important technology. A lawsuit’s been filed by Waymo who says they started working on technology for self-driving cars eight years ago, which was a secret Google project. Waymo now part of Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. The lawsuit says Anthony Levandowski, an ex manager for Google’s self-driving car project took thousands of private files from a laptop before he left to start his own company, later bought by Uber for $680 million.
The rain’s done one good thing, brought amazing snow to mountain resorts, with one saying they plan to stay open until July 4th. Representatives at Squaw Valley say they’re staying open until Independence Day after getting almost 38 feet of snow far this year already. Some of the other local resorts have also extended their seasons, but not thru July, Heavenly and Northstar stay open to at least mid April and maybe beyond.
A 91 year old woman who died in Ohio had a unique wish in her Obituary, she asked people to wait an appropriate amount of time before taking her stuff. Jean Oddi’s obit read, “I was born. I lived. I died.” She went on to say some of her favorite activities were playing cards and teaching her granddaughter “dirty songs.” Her daughter says mom was a blunt woman who lived unapologetically. She also called for a party after her funeral and told sick people not to come, saying “I might be dead, but I still don’t want your germs”.
Dancing’s legal again in Henryetta, Oklahoma. City representatives have voted out an old ordinance saying you could be fined $25 for dancing. There were no dance halls allowed within 500 feet of a church or public school until this week. Someone wanting to host a dance event earlier this month had it canceled which led the town mayor to look over the years old ordinance. The city’s first female mayor said before the cancelled event, she had never heard of the ordinance preventing dancing because before that they always had dances at city’s churches and schools without repercussions.
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