3 men in Laytonville have been arrested after an armed robbery in a random woman’s home. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office reports getting a call last Monday to the home. The victim at the home says someone knocked on her door and pointed a gun at her face, demanding cash and drugs. She told them she had neither so they pistol whipped her. The woman apparently has a medical marijuana recommendation and had a few plants but they were harvested. Willits Police and Cal-Fire ended up catching the three men after reports of reckless driving. D’wan Porter-Walker, James Richardson and Johnny Walker III all arrested and the victim ID’s them as the suspects. They’re charged for multiple crimes including Kidnapping for ransom or to commit Robbery, Assault with a deadly weapon firearm and Burglary.
More changes to the city of Ukiah’s pot growing rules. The City Council is reportedly making changes to comply with state law. The Asst. City Attorney was at the council meeting earlier this month explaining the changes are to reduce the number of plants that will be allowed to be grown for personal use indoors, to half what’s currently allowed, six mature plants and 12 immature plants. The Daily Journal reports after Prop. 64 was passed six plants for non medical use were allowed. The new rules will outline exactly that.
A fire has destroyed an outbuilding behind the old Water Trough on South State Street. The Ukiah Valley Fire Authority reports getting a call last Friday around 3-30 in the morning to the 1500 block of South State Street and found the outbuilding engulfed in flames. They say there was nobody inside at the time but there was evidence there may have been some transients living in the area. Someone nearby had reported hearing noises, possibly fireworks. Firefighters let the building burn after its roof collapsed as they tried to stop the fire from spreading. They say a bus stop and car were nearby. They stopped forward movement and no injuries were reported. They say there was no electricity or gas going to the building and that means it must have been human caused.
Lake County’s health officer is retiring. So the Board of Supervisors will have a going away ceremony of sorts at their regular meeting along with a discussion on the Lucerne Hotel and possibly forming a tourism improvement district. Lake Co News reports the board is presenting Dr. Karen Tait with a proclamation to honor her for her many years of outstanding service as the health officer of Lake County. The board has to also consider the continuation of the local health emergency for the October Sulphur fire, and hear an update on fire recovery. Then the board will take up the status of the Lucerne Hotel, which was being used by the Marymount California University, but they abruptly left. They’ll then consider an agreement for the county and Civitas to form a Lake County Tourism Improvement District which generally means collecting lodging tax dollars to be used to promote local tourism.
Holiday box registration happening to care for the less fortunate this holiday season. The Lake County Holiday Fund is putting together holiday food boxes to those in need. Signups to help, start today at the Lake Family Resource Center in Kelseyville for residents in Finley, Glenhaven, Kelseyville, Lakeport, Lucerne, Nice and Upper Lake. And for residents of Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Clearlake Park, Lower Lake and Spring Valley at NCO Community Action in Clearlake. For the full schedule check our Facebook page or Lake Co News dot com. You have to show up in person with a photo I-D and proof of physical residence. The boxes will go out before the holidays next month. Donations are also being accepted at any branch of WestAmerica or Umpqua Banks.
The wine harvest is done early after a hot summer that followed a lot of rain. Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties hit by fires, but apparently most of the vineyards weren’t that affected. They grow about 12 percent of California’s winegrapes. 90 percent of the Napa and Sonoma harvest and 85 percent in Mendocino had been harvested before the big October fires broke out. The President and CEO of the Wine Institute says the vintage should be excellent and says this year will be remembered as a harvest of the heart. Fruit hung longer on the vine due to cooler weather starting in mid-Sept.
The second of two inmates who escaped a courthouse in Northern Calif. Has been caught. The Santa Clara County sheriff’s office reports U.S. marshals arrested John Bivins in San Leandro southeast of San Francisco. He and Tramel McClough took off Nov. 6th, somehow getting away from deputies who were escorting them in court in the Silicon Valley. The ran out an emergency exit and into to a waiting car outside. The two were being held without bail for a robbery at a Verizon store. Their getaway car found ditched at a Walmart where McClough was caught, but Bivins took the car and took off. No word exactly where deputies found him.
A freshman Assemblymember who was elect last year is heading up the legislature’s sexual harassment investigation. Former movie producer Laura Friedman of Glendale has been named the chairwoman of a subcommittee put together to evaluate the Legislature’s anti-harassment policies and recommend how to strengthen them. She was assigned the job well before there were any public allegations of harassment at the capitol. It comes as several dozen politicians, Hollywood executives and actors, and media personalities were outed for alleged sexual misconduct. The Assembly Rules Subcommittee on Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation Prevention and Response was coincidentally going to check the chamber’s policies, a once in a decade update already…
The Calif. Supreme Court is poised to rule on a dispute between a labor union and one of the country’s biggest fruit farms. The decision is expected today on whether or not the state can order unions and farming companies to use binding contracts, or if the practice is unconstitutional. Labor activists calling mandatory mediation and conciliation key to allowing farm workers to improve labor conditions but the other side says it’s government overreach depriving farm employers and workers a say in pay and other terms of employment.
A man in Northern California’s been arrested after a five car crash ended in four people dying and the injury of six others. The CHP reports arresting Fred Lowe of Sacramento over the holiday weekend for felony vehicular manslaughter, felony hit-and-run and felony DUI. They say the man left the scene of the crash on I-80 in the East Bay. He was spotted in his blue Mercedes soon after and arrested by Contra Costa County Sheriff’s deputies. The crash Saturday night caused another car to flip and crash into three other cars on the opposite side of the highway. The first car hit was a Nissan, all four of its passengers were killed and the driver was hospitalized. Lowe was held at the Martinez Detention Facility on $1.15 million bail.
A couple from Arkansas who was so broke they had to eat every day at an Olive Garden is naming their first born after the restaurant. Justin and Jordan Garton, of Fort Smith, say they bought never ending pasta passes after getting married. $100 will get you unlimited pasta and soft drinks. So they ate there every day for about a month and a half. Then when they got pregnant, the Garton’s decided to name their baby Olivia. They say instead of Olive, which would have been too obvious. But her middle name is Michelle, so her initials are O.M.G.
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