Mendocino County has lost another cannabis program manager. Sean Connell started the job early this year and resigned last week. Just as “Phase One” of cannabis cultivation applications are submitted. Connell used to work elsewhere in County government and is a military vet. He tells Mendocino Voice he cares deeply about the program being successful, but had a conflict with leadership. He’s the second person in the position. Kelly Overton was his predecessor and only in the job four months.
More in law units could be coming if Gov. Newsom signs a bill into law. Lawmakers passed the measure allowing more units on large properties and some that are already standing may be able to stay with limitations. The Department of Housing and Community Development will manage the program. Lawmakers say they’re optimistic the governor will sign the bill into law. He has until Sunday.
A wind storm is coming and PG&E is ready. They’re planning a Public Safety Power Shutoff tomorrow across many areas of Northern Calif. In Lake County, several neighborhoods could lose power, so the County’s Health Services Department, Environmental Health Division is reminding you to toss Perishable foods like meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and leftovers if they’ve sat in 41 °F temps for over 4 hours. And if your refrigerator has been off for an extended amount of time, the food is bad.
PG&E is notifying county’s they’re initiating a power shut down because of red flag fire hazard conditions. Right now it covers Redwood Valley, Potter Valley, Hopland, Ukiah and the greater Ukiah Valley, but the areas could change before the shutoff which is set for midnight tonight. They say it will last thru Thursday afternoon at noon. But they’re also warning it may take several days to re-energize power lines.
Residents can go to the County of Mendocino’s website www.mendocinocounty.org/community/public-safety-power-shutoff and PG&E’s website www.prepareforpowerdown.com for power outage information, helpful preparedness tips and lists of markets, grocery stores and fueling stations that will be open during the outage in your area. For more information, please contact the Executive Office at 707-463-4441.
Weather conditions look erratic and with that Pacific Gas and Electric warns they’re monitoring but is planning a public safety power shutoff for 30 counties and more than 600,000 customers. The shutoff overnight could affect more than 26,000 medical baseline customers. PG&E has activated its Emergency Operations Center because of adverse weather and dry fuel conditions. In Lake County, the Sheriff has warned it could start early tomorrow until Thursday, but re-energization could take five days.
The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory started at 5 a.m. tomorrow until midnight Thursday. PG&E has reportedly warned customers directly by phone, text and email yesterday about the power shutoff due to the weather conditions. Schools could be open thru the day if the shutoff happens during the day, but could be canceled if the shutoff is outside school hours, for as long as the shutoff continues. 26,000 customers would be affected in Lake County, 6,000 in Mendocino County, 32,000 in Napa County and another 66,000 or so in Sonoma County. Also the county of Sonoma and the city of Santa Rosa have declared proclamations of local emergency.
Hazardous trees are being removed by Caltrans in Lake County along several state highways. The agency says they’ve tagged the trees because they’re hazardous and are a major safety threat. Caltrans reports most of the trees were damaged in the Valley Fire. After they took dead trees out after the fire cleanup, it was decided a certified arborist would reassess the damaged trees that were thought to have a chance at recovery at a later date. Caltrans will reach out to property owners for tree assessments along the right-of-way on their property.
Two women from the Bay Area have been killed and four others injured after a crash near Williams Sunday. Part of Highway 20 was closed down after the crash. The CHP in Williams reported the women who died were a 32 year old, who was driving, and the other, her 29-year-old passenger. Both of the women are from Oakland. The CHP reports the driver was going west on the Highway and lost control and rolled. The car went into the path of an SUV which was broadsided. That driver had minor injuries and went to a hospital in Chico for treatment. The other’s injured had minor to major injuries. The CHP reported all six crash victims had their seat belts on.
Absentee, vote by mail ballots on the way to voters in Lake County for the Measure N special election for the Northshore Fire Protection District. The special election is happening November 5th for a special property tax on parcels. The money to go to pay for local emergency medical and fire services, hiring firefighters, and replacing outdated equipment and apparatus. The voter registration deadline is Monday, Oct. 21st. You can now register online thru the Calif. state government site or hit the Registrar of Voters office, public library, DMV, post office or other local government offices.
It’s been exactly two years since the Redwood Complex Fire. A slew of fires broke out over two days, the notorious October 2017 firestorm that killed more than 40 people, included the Redwood Complex that started as two fires, the Potter Valley and Redwood Valley fires which ending up turning into one giant inferno. The fire killed nine people, took down 546 structures and burned more than 36,000 acres. Trees had fallen onto PG&E lines starting the fire. It was months before some people could rebuild and more than a year for others.
A man from Lakeport accused of killing his dad and trying to kill his mom was supposed to go to trial again, but it’s been put on hold. The 50 year old due in court Sept. 27th, but the hospital he’s been supposed to be admitted to was requesting another 48 hours to send a note to court. The case continued, but if Steven Michael Fredericks does not appear at the hospital before Oct. 16th, the court will need a written response as to why. The Department of State Hospitals had an anticipated admission date for Fredericks but apparently he has not been transported. His jury trial was waived over the summer.
Honors for three schools in Ukiah for positive behavior. The California PBIS Coalition for successful Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) implementation awarding Yokayo and Grace Hudson Elementary Schools for successful implementation at the Gold level. Pomolita Middle won a Silver level. All UUSD are reportedly working to Gold level implementation. The organization looks for schools that use evidence-based prevention and intervention practices supporting academic, social, emotional, and behavioral skills of all students.
More firefighters are getting ready for the forecasted extreme fire weather across California. Cal Fire announced since the most destructive and deadliest fires happen from October to December they’ve increased staffing. But with that the Cal Fire director is also warning Californians not to be complacent. Wind driven fires move fast so you need to be ready to leave your house at a moment’s notice in the event of a wildfire. It also happens to be Fire Prevention Week, a good time to come up with a fire ready, evacuation plan. Electricity may be shut off to hundreds of thousands across the state. Cal Fire can also request a power shut off from a utility company if there’s an active wildfire around powerlines firefighters are fighting.
To learn how you can be prepared for wildfires and evacuation steps, visit ReadyForWildfire.org and preventwildfireca.org.
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