Legislators are considering a bill to reduce plastic pollution said to be one of the strongest in the country. One of the bills wouldn’t start for more than ten years, calling for all single use packaging and food products like plates, straws and silverware to be recyclable or made of materials that decompose when composted; another of the bills would require a 75% reduction of the single-use packaging waste in the state, also by 2030; and the third bill requires plastic cups to be made of 10% recycled plastic by 2021, 25% by 2025, and 50% recycled plastic by 2030.
The last body after that Southern Calif. diving boat fire has been recovered. 34 people were killed in the accident last week. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office reported on the final victim being found on twitter yesterday. And DNA tests are being done to confirm seven of the victims’ identities. There’s no cause determined so far for the Sept. 2nd fire and the boat has not been pulled from the water yet because of weather conditions. There were six crew members from the boat who survived and say they tried several times to save people trapped below deck to no avail.
Even though the Gov. has put a moratorium on the death penalty while in office, the state Supreme Court is not blocking any death penalty cases. Yesterday the justices said no to arguments by defense lawyers who say imposing the death sentence wouldn’t be taken seriously, because it would never be carried out. The death penalty is however still legal in the state, just not while Newsom’s Gov. Right now, the lawyers for a couple of men who face trials separately for several murders, said potential for capital punishment was hypothetical.
An initial report’s been released after that seaplane crashed at the Clear Lake Seaplane Splash In last week. The Federal Aviation Administration has put the report on their website related to last Saturday’s crash, damaging the plane and injuring the couple flying it. The FAA concluded the pilot lost control, like what witnesses said, it looked like heavy winds were a factor, leading to the plane nose diving and somersaulting on the surface of the lake, but landing on its pontoons. The pilot reportedly uninjured, with his wife suffering minor injuries.
Another entity signs on to try to take over the Potter Valley Project from PG&E. The Round Valley Indian Tribes say they too have signed an agreement for the “Two-Basin Solution” to re-license the Hydroelectric Project which moves water out of the Eel River into the Russian River. The president of the Tribe says they’re committed to working with others to look at all of the options. A Notice of Intent was filed by the nonprofit California Trout along with the County of Humboldt, Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission, and Sonoma County Water Agency.
The state of California hopping on the bandwagon to potentially regulate e-cigarettes and Vapes. The legislature is taking up the matter, but the California Department of Public Health says it may actually help sell more products. The bill in the Senate would demand all manufacturers selling e-cigarettes send a written physical description and picture of what they’re selling to the Department of Public Health who would in turn place it on their website, then charge them for that. They would also need to work with the Department of Education, so school administrators can see it. The state Assembly unanimously passed the bill which heads back to the Senate for a final vote.
Final work on the legislature’s renter protection bill then it’s off to the Gov. The Assembly Bill caps yearly rent increases for some and protects renters with stricter eviction protections. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon speaking on the floor yesterday about the new tenant protections… The vote yesterday after the Gov. announced last month there was final agreement on wording in the bill to cap yearly rent increases up to ten percent in coming years. It would only stay in place ten years.
Coffee With a Cop in Fort Bragg is happening. It’ll be October 2 at 7 am at Starbucks. Fort Bragg. Police partnering with the coffee giant for the National Coffee with a Cop Day first established in 2011 by police in Hawthorne who were looking for ways to interact more successfully with citizens. The event in a more relaxed environment with those there encouraged to speak up and have honest conversations about their communities. Starbucks is even providing coffee and snacks. The FB Police Department says they also hope to have some newer Officers there with some veterans so they can hear community expectations.
A new report on the response to the massive Mendocino Complex Fire last year by a nonprofit says things could have gone much better. The fire last August made up of the Ranch and River fires became the largest ever in Calif. history. The Ranch fire burning more than 600 square miles started in Mendocino County then burned into northern Lake County. The report says a federal risk management team wanted Cal Fire and the US Forest Service to attack the fire differently and had they followed, injuries could have been avoided. The ask was that firefighters keep the fire out of the Cold Creek drainage so it didn’t burn toward communities. Six members of a strike team got caught in the fire, all injured. Risk management experts recommended letting the fire expand into wildland. Those who authored the report are former firefighters in Oregon. The fire started by a rancher trying to plug a yellow jacket hole in his land drove a metal stake into the ground with a metal hammer.
A wine truck topples on the 101 leaving a messy, stain on the highway. A semi trailer filled with grapes hit a Subaru Baja and overturned in Hopland with grapes dumping on the southbound lane causing a snarl up.
Fort Bragg trying to get some new housing units built. The City Council took up the matter at its meeting Monday with a housing plan for the next eight years. The Housing Element has policies following some state regulations and others after meetings of the City Council and Planning Commission along with public input sessions. The main goal of the element was to get 201 units of new housing built in Fort Bragg by 2024, 65 of which would be rehabilitated, and 35 would be preserved. Of the total, 141 would be new units for extremely low to low-income residents.
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