In a reversal for the Board of Supervisors they’ve decided against the Dollar General Store for Kelseyville. Cross Development was trying to get the store into town, but the Planning Commission said no so the development company appealed. The Lake County Board originally went against the planning commission and looked to be leaning toward giving the major use permit for the store anyway, but in a stunning reversal Tuesday, the board denied the Permit for the store saying there were too many possible negative impacts on the community. They named possible financial harm to other small businesses, traffic issues, safety, noise and a single use for a building in the Rivieras on Highway 281.
A couple of local Olive Oil producers have won gold medals at an International and state competition. Lou Ann Bauer won a gold at the Los Angeles International Olive Oil Competition and Chacewater won best of show at the California Olive Oil Council Annual Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition in Monterey. Their Sevillano which is an extra virgin out of a Spanish varietal, one of many from the Kelseyville winery. But Bauer’s gold from the competition in Los Angeles is her only oil, it’s a Tuscan blend from the Hill Creek Vineyard label out of San Francisco.
A seat is open on the board of trustees for the Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation Improvement District. The district is looking for interested parties to apply after the former board president resigned. His current four year term was supposed to end this year, so that means whoever fills it will have to run for an election in November. Those interested can send a letter of interest and resume to the district office in Ukiah. The Mendocino County Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation Improvement District manages all of the water resources in the upper Russian River.
The first set of bills have gone out from Sonoma Clean Power who took over as Mendocino county’s main electric supplier last August. The bills explain to consumers they will automatically be enrolled starting June 1st. All homes and business except for those in Ukiah, will get their power from Sonoma Clean Power. This comes after a vote last August by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors to join the company who’s offering cheaper energy. The board of the power company made up of local elected officials from regional cities, including Cloverdale and Fort Bragg. If you have an outage you will still call in to P, G & E.
A middle school girl reports an attempted abduction. The girl a student at Pomolita Middle School apparently told police she was walking home from school in the 600 block of Dora Avenue when she saw a white van on the street which she passed. The 12 year old says the driver asked her to get inside and she said no and kept walking. She says she ignored the driver but the van followed her and kept trying to tell her to get in the van. So she ran back to school. The driver of the van described as a white man between 30 and 40, with a full beard, dark hair, wearing dark sunglasses and a dark leather jacket. The van apparently had a broken rear tail-light and the driver had porcelain dolls on the front passenger seat. Ukiah police are investigating and have beefed up patrols at local schools.
President Trump is looking at National Monuments including an outdoor recreation area from Solano County to Mendocino County. The 330,780-acre Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument one of five monuments in Calif. in an executive order for review out of a larger group of 24 that had been created by three presidents since 1996. Trump having his Interior Secretary review the monuments which could include rescinding them entirely, downsizing them or changing the uses of the monuments to open them up for all sorts of development options. The monuments together cover about 230 million acres. Congressman Mike Thompson of St. Helena was part of the creation of the Berryessa Snow Mountain monument in 2015. He says he thinks the Trump administration is trying to convince people it’s the right thing to do. The Berryessa monument covers 100 miles from the Lake Berryessa area to Snow Mountain in the Mendocino National Forest. It’s open to hikers, hunters, anglers, mountain bikers, horse riders and off-road vehicle drivers.
A fire destroys a building in Fort Bragg. The fire moving quickly thru the building with artist galleries and studios, a woodshop, and other businesses. Neighbors apparently smelled smoke yesterday around lunchtime then reported seeing smoke and flames on the north side of Fort Bragg. Firefighters and CalTrans and Fort Bragg police on the scene at the intersection of Main and Fir streets. The fire was out in a few hours. A restaurant in the building apparently not hit that badly, but there looked to be smoke damage.
Unemployment numbers looking up in Lake County and across the state. Lake Co News reports the California Employment Development Department’s last report has Lake County at 6.5 percent unemployed, down one tenth from February and nearly a whole percentage point from a year ago. The state was at 4.9 percent, a tenth lower than February and about a half point lower than last year at the same time. The county’s rate was down too, at 4.5 percent in March, down from 4.7 percent in February and 5 percent in March of last year. Mendocino County was at 5.4 percent, the same as a month before and about 3/4 of a point lower than a year ago.
Sales are up, but prices down in the Lake County real estate market. The Lake County Association of Realtors reports single family home sales up by a whopping 51 percent in March over February sales.
The median sale price for a home in March was $210,000, almost 7 percent less than the February median of $225,000. Sales in March of this year were 15.5 percent lower though than a year before. The March median this year was 12.3 percent less than March of last year. Sales were up 4 percent across the state for the month of March and nearly 7 percent higher than a year ago.
The 2017 Friends of the Lake County Library are having their inaugural book sale. The event next Saturday at 10 AM until 3 PM at the Library on 1425 North High Street in Lakeport.
Diversity of Dance is the theme for the Mendocino College Spring Dance Festival celebrates. In its 16th year, the college says it’s celebrating the diversity of dance and how it unites people of all ages and ethnicities. The dance next Friday and Saturday, May 5 & 6 at 7:30 PM and Sunday too at 2:00 PM. It’ll be held on the Mendocino College stage where they’ll share hip hop, jazz, contemporary, ballet, tap dance, and Middle Eastern dance. Tickets are $10 general, $5 for students/seniors at the door or at the college bookstore, the Mendocino Book Company in Ukiah or online. Check our website for the link.
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2906190
The state auditor says some top administrators for the University of California administrators have hidden a bunch of money from the public and the state legislature. Auditor Elaine Howle says the office of UC President Janet Napolitano had an undisclosed budget for four years so they could spend the money without any oversight. The auditor claims it’s in the neighborhood of $175 million, but Napolitano says it’s a bogus claim. She says the amount of money in reserves is actually more like $38 million, which is about 10 percent of the University’s operating and administrative budget which is says is set aside for unexpected expenses and says the audit was unfairly mischaracterizing her office’s budget processes and practices.
An off-duty cop from Pawtucket arrested after police say he punched an elderly bathroom attendant at a casino. Michael Tousignant has been charged by local tribal police with the assault of the 73-year-old attendant at Foxwoods Resort Casino because he felt the water was just too cold. He’s charged with a Class A misdemeanor in the case. The Tribal Police Chief says the attack looked to be unprovoked saying Tousignant was in a bathroom April 1st and lost it after washing his hands, complaining it was too cold, so he smacked the attendant then left. Witnesses called for help. The attendant had a bloody nose, and facial injuries and his attacker was arrested. Cops say while they were arresting him he said he was an off duty officer in Pawtucket. Turns out he’s been with the dept. 10 years and was a military cop before that.
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