It’s gonna be hot. The first massive heat push is coming. Temperatures should be in the 105-110 degree range, but PG&E says they have no public safety power shutoffs planned. The utility company’s own meteorologists say there’s some heat developing over the Southwest desert which means temps over the century mark in some places. In Lake County and Mendocino County various cities not far apart, with highs tomorrow from the mid-nineties up into the 104-108 range. PG&E says they have other plans for possible outages, and they’ll be monitoring and are prepared. The California Independent Operator, which runs the state’s grid has also issued a heat bulletin but said they didn’t foresee any outages or power disruptions currently, but that was last Friday.
Police from Ukiah arrest a woman they say tried to kidnap an infant. They say they got a call Monday from a woman who says she parked her car in front of North Coast Opportunities and jumped out, leaving her one year old strapped in the back seat. She knocked on the front door of the business, asking for help, when suspect Christina Rojas hopped into the driver’s seat and took off. The victim asked North Coast Opportunities staff to call police who say got a call that a woman had tried to leave the baby with them, they said no and called police. The car was found under a half hour later and the baby was still inside. Rojas was arrested for car theft, kidnapping, and child endangerment and booked into jail. Possible charges against mom could be coming too, for child endangerment.
OptumServe in Lakeport is closing its testing and vaccination site. Apparently, there is building maintenance needed where they were housed, so the closure is effective already. Anyone with an appointment yesterday was still going to be allowed, but others with vaccination appointments for a second dose this week are told to go tomorrow instead to the Lakeport Elementary School Cafeteria from 12-4pm. Anyone with appointments next weekend, the 25th out until July 12th is also supposed to go to Lakeport Elementary. There were no other appointments set. If you cannot get to your new appointment time and place, you’re told to go schedule a new appointment, and if you still have issues, to call the public health office in Lake County.
Since the state has reopened, Mendocino County Elected Officials and Department Heads are still keeping some offices closed to the public to slow the spread of the virus. Cal/OSHA regulates the safety requirements for Mendocino County and as of yet has not changed anything. They meet tomorrow and further guidance on mask wearing and social distancing is expected. So some departments still have limited in person access or by appointment only. It’s suggested you call ahead to see if you can come in person, or by appointment, if you need a mask, or if you can do your business by email or telephone.
Another restaurant who says they had a coronavirus case in a staff member, says they were “blind-sided” by the public announcement. On Monday, the Mendocino County Public Health Office sent out notice to local press that Ellie’s Mutt Hutt had a positive test in a staffer and warned the public if they’d been there a couple days last week to get tested. One of the owners says even though public health said they were fully cooperating, they had not been contacted before the press release went out. They say business was just beginning to pick up again when they lost a bunch of business all over again. Owners of the restaurant The Office say the same thing happened to them. For his part, the Public Health Officer, Dr. Andy Coren says the announcements are not meant to be punitive, just a tool to slow the spread of the virus.
Students and staff members of any University of California campus are going to have to be vaccinated to work or attend classes this fall. The UC President Michael Drake says the vaccine mandate is something they’re planning for fall classes, which is a change in what they had said a couple months ago. One of the UC Regents told the San Francisco Chronicle they’ll be briefed on the plan when they meet next month. There are more than a half million people, students, faculty and other staff expected to return this fall, to mostly in person class at 10 campuses. There will be exemptions for medical or religious reasons. A tad different for California State University, officials there say they’re waiting on full FDA approval before mandating COVID vaccinations.
State lawmakers looking to infuse the legal marijuana industry with some cash as it struggles to compete with the black market. The Legislature is considering a $100 million dollar package to distribute amongst cities and counties to help prop up cannabis businesses. Apparently they have not gone from provisional, temporary licenses to permanent ones because of the cost and red tape to get there. So most of the state’s marijuana business have the temporary licenses still. The Governor was reportedly looking to give the businesses a six month extension, but several environmental groups say that goes against what voters were promised when weed was legalized. Industry officials agree and say throwing money at the problem doesn’t really do that much to help.
There’s a new executive director for the Mendocino Film Festival. The Board of Directors has hired Phoenix Trent, a past volunteer coordinator for the festival to take over. He lives in Little River and apparently has loads of experience in nonprofits and public interest advocacy. He was also the vice president of the Arts Council of Mendocino County and former director of Development at the Mendocino Woodlands.
A man from Clearlake accused of hitting and killing a pedestrian then leaving the scene is going to prison. Thomas Magee appeared on video for his sentencing for the September 2019 incident. He was charged with vehicular manslaughter, murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder and hit and run. The two victims also appeared and provided victim impact statements. The court also found Magee had a history of drug use, and found him guilty of most charges. So he received 11 years for Voluntary Manslaughter, one year of Assault with a Deadly Weapon, another year for hit and run with Permanent Injury or Death, for a total of 13 years. He also has to find a way to pay restitution to the victims of nearly $6,400 plus 10% interest per year to the Victim’s Compensation and Government Claim Board. Another victim Joseph Symond Jackson of Lucerne died from injuries after he was hit by Magee.
California community colleges are reportedly losing students to for profit colleges. A new report says television advertising is luring students from once affordable and local, community colleges. Federal data shows too that Black people, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders are more likely now to pick for profits first, or transfer later. But the report also says it takes many people six years to graduate and that almost 9 out of 10 Black and Native American enrollees won’t get their degree at the for-profit colleges in that time frame. So the Community College Chancellors’ Office says they’re doing a bunch of PSA’s to try to reach out to those communities. For-profit schools fared better than public colleges in enrolling and retaining students during the pandemic, but community colleges lost 12% of their enrollment. For-profits lost only 1.5%.
The Highlands Senior Center in Lake County is staying closed because of the still present pandemic. The Lake County Public Health office apparently consulting with the center located in Clearlake, and because of coronavirus and different variants in the community, and the vulnerability of seniors, they’ve opted to stay closed for an undetermined time period. They’re still offering Grab and Go lunches by donation. They say if you know a senior who may need some help, to give them a call.
A river cleanup is planned in Willits. Community members are invited to attend the river and stream cleanup Friday and Saturday. They ask you to meet them in the big gravel parking lot on the northwest corner of Main and Commercial streets at 10 a.m. They’re planning to hit up several sites and built up debris and trash in the salmon spawning grounds. You will need to bring your own supplies, but they will have some on a limited basis. The event is sponsored by Baby Shark and the Leopold Art Gallery of Willits.
94.5 K-Wine / Max 93.5 FM 