News 6/30/2022

The Sheriff’s office reports having to use NARCAN on a man who seemed to be overdosing. Last week Deputies reported to a possible overdose in Ukiah. Emergency Medical Personnel asked for law enforcement to go out first to secure the scene because the man might be violent. When Deputies went to the home, they found all doors locked, they announced their presence then saw a man approach, but fall down near the door. They forced their way in, finding the man unresponsive. He also had bleeding superficial wounds on his face and neck and believed he may have been about to die from taking opioids. They gave him two doses of NARCAN which is an antidote that can reverse the effects of an overdose. The Sheriff reports they’ve saved 14 people using NARCAN since they started using it in 2019.

After reports of a data breach at the California Dept. of Justice for people with concealed carry permits, the State Sheriffs’ Association says they’re sending an alert out to permit holders. The Association says it’s “infuriating” folks complying with the law have been put at risk by the Breach. The president of the group says they’re concerned about the risk for permit holders but will work with the Dept. of Justice to be sure such a thing doesn’t happen again in the future.  The data breach happened around the time the DOJ launched its “2022 Firearms Dashboard Portal.” Info accidentally leaked included names, ages, and addresses of those who have CCW permits in California.

After calls to a domestic violence situation in Willits, Deputies found a woman who said her partner hit her while they were driving. The woman lives with Daniel Arancibiaaranciba, and they have two kids together. She says while they were driving on Highway 101 north of Willits they got into a fight and he slugged her in the chest causing a visible bruise. They went home but Arancibiaaranciba left before police arrived. Deputies found him nearby and arrested him and held him on $25,000.00 bail.

The Mendocino Land Trust reports their biggest conservation easement to date. They’ve secured 5,620 acres in the Eel River watershed. The land also includes an area around Lake Pillsbury, which the Land Trust says will be forever protected now from further development and habitat degradation. By adding the new easement, they’ve helped to protect almost 25,000 acres since 1976.  The new addition is by the river supports Chinook salmon and steelhead, where bald eagles and osprey can be spotted around Lake Pillsbury, and where a herd of wild tule elk can sometimes be seen at the northern end of the lake.

Sheriff Matt Kendall has put out a Letter to the Editor thanking residents for his re-election. Mendo Fever has the letter posted where Kendall says during his new term his goal, with the community’s help, is to rebuild safer communities by restoring patrol levels across the county to meet public safety needs. He reminded that he grew up in Mendocino County and it’s his home too as it has been for generations before him. He also spoke about staffing issues nationwide, COVID related closures, recent legislation and government spending having impacted his job.

Police in Ukiah are on the lookout for someone they say was connected to a shooting that put a youngster in the hospital with a gunshot wound to their head. Police say the male juvenile who was shot was hit on Mulberry Street. They got a description of the suspect and started searching as medics tended to the injured boy who they say was alert and conscious. Yokayo Elementary was on lockdown during the incident. Police say they’re still searching for the suspect, but don’t think they are armed anymore due to evidence at the scene. The only description they have was the suspect was a thin, white male wearing a camouflage sweatshirt.

Quick work by firefighters after reports of flames near the intersection of Canyon Drive and Rosemary Lane in Ukiah. Mendo Fever reported there were ground and air resources there yesterday for a ½ acre fire that grew to an acre and a half in grass and oak woodland. The fire had been reported to be burning at a moderate rate of spread with the potential to grow to 3-5 acres, but was out after retardant was dumped on it. The Laws Fire had some roads closed, but there were no evacuations or injuries.

Lake County’s in the running to receive millions of dollars from the federal government. Congressman Mike Thompson reported all the requests were submitted for the Fiscal Year 2023 funding legislation released by the House Appropriations Subcommittees. Lake Co News reports that included the Lakeport Armory Facility Repurposing Project, the Middle Creek Flood Damage Reduction and Ecosystem Restoration Project, and the Clearlake Burns Valley Sports Complex & Recreation Center Project. The projects add up to over 3.5 million dollars.

A new report says community college faculty groups who say money’s being spent wrong by local officials should have gone to hire more full-time professors. So, lawmakers ordered an audit to pick through what might have happened with as much as $100 million lawmakers approved last year to hire more full timers. But the money didn’t have a lot of oversight, like no requirement to report to the state community college chancellor’s office about how the money was spent. The Legislature has now asked the California State Auditor to investigate.

Lawmakers have passed a new energy bill championed by the Governor. Republican members say they were not allowed into the negotiations to manage California’s electricity grid in the hottest months of summer. Democrats say the bill relied too heavily on dirty energy sources to prop up power. But even the lawmakers who ended up supporting the legislation called it “lousy” and “crappy”. The Governor’s administration added new and unexpected wording to it after, so they had to debate more for the addendum, or trailer bill. The new wording reportedly expands authority of the Dept. of Water Resources, adding to the language there to expand the authority of the state’s Energy Commission. It would also help continue operation of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant

A man from Southern California has been killed in a crash near Redwood Valley on Hwy 101. The CHP reports a 36-year-old man from Burbank was in a 2006 Toyota Prius headed north on the 101 Monday night when for some reason he went into the center median and drove into southbound lanes by West Road. He was hit by a 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee, who was not injured. But that driver’s passenger had major injuries and had to be taken to Santa Rosa for treatment. The Prius driver was not identified yet.

Intro: California is about to become the first state in the nation to give health care to all income-eligible residents, regardless of their immigration status. The Legislature is scheduled to pass their final budget bills this week, which should be signed by the Governor soon after. Cynthia Buiza with the California Immigrant Policy Center says this is the fulfillment of an almost decade-long push by the Health4All campaign.

            :14  “This is very timely, but also long overdue, because for many, many years, many of our immigrant workers who have contributed tremendously to what makes California California have gone on without this very important safety net.”

Tag:  The budget deal represents a huge step toward universal healthcare and is expected to benefit about 700-thousand people, starting in 2024. Opponents say the cost is too high. The budget includes $625 million to cover the first six months of 2024, and allocates 2-point-1 billion per year after that.

***

Second Cut: Beatriz Hernandez is an organizer with the California Immigrant Policy Center from the Central Valley. She says this will make a huge difference in people’s quality of life.

            :10  “This means that they will finally be able to get the health care that they need to care for the chronic illnesses that they’ve been suffering for many years, and also be able to get the checkups that they need.”

Tag:  The deal was the final push to expand Medi-Cal to all low-income Californians. In 2015, the state expanded Medi-Cal to include undocumented children. In 2020 the program grew to include young adults, up to 26 years old. And this year the program began to accept undocumented adults, age 50 and older.

News 6/29/2022

Attendees at the former Lucerne Castle participated in a two-day workshop on how to prevent wildfires. The Lake County Risk Reduction Authority was at the old New Paradigm College for the event last Thursday and Friday, working with local and national organizations and the Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network. Cal Fire was in attendance along with the Red Cross, North Coast Opportunities, various fire councils and others. There were breakout groups with Ideas including a fire safety summer camp, fire safety in your workforce and continuing these kinds of workshop events and discussions.

Round Valley Tribal members take to the Capitol in support of an Assembly Bill to establish a “Feather Alert” notification system. Like the Amber Alert or the Silver Alert system, “Feather Alerts” would help to locate Native Americans who are either missing or may have been murdered. If that person disappears under suspicious circumstances, then a Feather Alert would quickly go out to notify the public about vital information on the missing individual. A Round Valley Tribal Councilman appeared before lawmakers in Senate Chambers to say they had the Tribal Council’s full-fledged support for the “Feather Alert” notification system. Khadijah Britton’s granddad, Ronnie Hostler, his wife and their daughter Connie were also there and spoke about the failed searches since Khadijah’s 2018 disappearance.

There’s been a breach of some Calif. Dept. of Justice databases that shows the private information of those permitted to carry a concealed weapon in the state. The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office announced the leak on its Facebook page. And the Attorney General Rob Bonta put out a statement saying how the public could look themselves at the agency’s 2022 Firearms Dashboard Portal, because transparency is key to the public trust. But then the dashboard was immediately shut down after the leak. Bonta’s office has reportedly spoken to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office and says they’re trying to figure out the scope of the breach and will be in touch with those impacted.

A home close to Hopland has burned in a fire. Mendo Fever reports it happened just before midnight last night in the 12000 block of Highway 101. A single-story home was gutted, power lines reported down, but it was out in less than a half hour. No injuries were reported, or a cause known yet.

The Mendocino County Registrar of Voters reports the final results of the June 7th primary are in. Not much changed as the results were finalized. The major races being watched, Superintendent of Schools, Supervisors in the 3rd and 5th Districts and the Sheriff, all stayed the same. 5th District Supervisor and Board Chair Ted Williams kept his lead and seat. The 3rd District Supervisor John Haschak, also way ahead election night, stayed that way. And the Sheriff, Matt Kendall, who had a last minute, write in challenger, held on strong. The surprise that night, was the Superintendent of Schools race, with Nicole Glentzer winning the seat over incumbent Michelle Hutchins. Hutchins was endorsed by the former Sheriff Tom Allman and current DA David Eyster. But, Hutchins lost with under 45% of the vote.

Fun for the whole family as the Round Valley Blackberry Festival returns in person this year. The 39th festival is August 21st and 22nd in Covelo. Organizers are trying to raise more money though to help defray the costs after two years of cancellations because of the COVID19 pandemic. They say they still had expenses because last year they canceled only one week before. Their GoFundMe account will pay for insurance, festival permits, mobile restrooms, renovations and maintaining the festival site, among other items. They hope to raise $5,000.

After the Hopkins Fire last summer, a handful of homeowners applied for permits to rebuild in the fire’s footprint. Mendo Voice reports the county’s division of Prevention, Recovery, Resiliency, & Mitigation said seven homes have applied for the rebuild permits. The fire burned in Calpella last Sept. Nearly a year later, items removed from 21 home sites by the state’s Consolidated Debris Removal Program included contaminated ash, asbestos, propane tanks, and hazardous trees. The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services also announced the county would get back about $60,000 for the removal of the debris. In all 36 homes were destroyed. So, some may not rebuild or are using private contractors for the work.

Since the last Public Health Officer in Lake County, Dr. Erik McLaughlin resigned, we have a new interim officer. Dr. Gary Pace who has held this position before as the permanent officer and interim, is back. McLaughlin resigned June 21^st after less than four months on the job, mostly working remotely. Dr. Pace went back to private practice over a year ago but was the interim officer on and off since then. The county had to get a health officer in place immediately to comply with state law. The board voted unanimously for Pace to join once again. The agreement for Pace’s services is from this week until the end of July, for now.

A small-ish earthquake has shaken California. It happened outside Cobb in Lake County. Only about 800 people live in Cobb, proper. The 4.2-temblor hit minutes before 5 a.m. yesterday morning. It was less than a mile deep. And multiple shake reports came in from all the way out to Santa Rosa and Petaluma. There were a bunch of aftershocks too, but they were each under 2.0-magnitude. Earthquakes under about 5.4 magnitude can feel pretty strong and are usually noticed, but usually don’t cause a lot of damage. And the smaller ones, under 2.5 are usually not noticed by most.

The cases of COVID are going up again as there are more variants of the omicron strain. The California Department of Public Health reported a statewide positivity rate at over 13%, up from 11.4% the week before. And the positivity rate has skyrocketed since April. The actual case rate is down, but testing rates are down, so it could be that there are more cases than we know. Hospitalizations are still going up, up 13% for the week of June 18th to June 25th. The BA.4 and BA.5 omicron variants are now the dominant strains per the CDC.

The last bit of renovations are taking place at Willits City Hall. The city council met last week, and the city manager said it’s their final push. They were closing City Hall for a day to paint and move all the furniture in. He said even though the public has been patient with the make-over, they need to wait a tad longer for completion.

News 6/28/2022

Nine former cops from Chico got their badges back, they had lost them in the 2018 Camp Fire. The police chief presented the former officers with the badges last week, one way he says, to give them closure from the fire. Chief matt Madden says Chico and Paradise have always been a very close community. He looked at the unveiling of the badges as a way to help people still impacted by the fire and give them a chance to move on. Chico’s Faith Community Group put up the money and worked with others to get the badges replaced, since the police dept. couldn’t spend money to replace the former officers’ badges. The nine officers were two former chiefs, two community services officers, a lieutenant, a captain and three officers.

An agreement on an inflation relief package has been made with the Governor and lawmakers. The $17 billion package will provide Californians with up to $1,050 each from a new middle class tax rebate. The Governor tweeted it’s going to help folks buy gas and food. It works like this, those who make up to $75,000 a year, or joint filers at $150,000 are getting $350 each and $350 for one dependent for a maximum of $1,050. Anyone making up to $125,000, or $250,000 filing jointly, get $250 each plus $250 for one dependent for a maximum of $750. And for folks earning over $250,000, or $500,000 filing jointly, get $200 each plus $200 for one dependent for maximum of $600.

Chances are if you’re caught with pepper spray and give cops a fake name, you might end up in jail. That’s what happened last Thursday after Deputies on routine patrol in Ukiah find two people in a car, one of them gave a phony name to them. Deputies say Emmanuel Cazoriamejia had two active felony arrest warrants and one misdemeanor from Sonoma County. They say he seemed to be high on something. The passenger, Sarah Simon owned the car. Deputies searched and found drug paraphernalia and a pepper spray container, which she was not allowed to have. So the pair were arrested, Cazoriamejia for his warrants, false identification to a peace officer, and being under the influence of a controlled substance. He was being held on $56,000.00 bail. And Simon was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and being a prohibited person in possession of pepper spray and booked on $15,000.00 bail.

A man waving a gun around in Willits has been arrested. Police contacted Cody Caldwell and cuffed him. They say he was arguing with another man when the gun was revealed. Caldwell says that he felt threatened though, so he pointed the gun at the other guy. He was arrested after a witness told cops Caldwell was holding the firearm in a threatening manner. Plus, it was not a registered firearm, and it was first concealed. He’s charged with brandishing, carrying an un-registered firearm, and carrying a concealed weapon. On the way to jail he had a medical emergency and was taken to the hospital.

Seasonal fire restrictions are in place for Mendocino County. The Bureau of Land Management Ukiah field office issued seasonal fire restrictions for public lands effective immediately. The Ukiah Field Manager says there’s an increased risk of wildfires throughout the Northern California region, so they must do everything they can to prevent fires. So there’s no setting, building, maintaining, attending, or using a campfire or open flame of any kind, except within approved fire pits and grills with a valid California campfire permit. No target shooting, no chainsaws or other such equipment in forest lands. No smoking unless in a car or RV or designated areas. No welding or open flame torches or fireworks.

For more info about how you can prevent wildfires visit http://www.readyforwildfire.org.

A former, beloved teacher will be remembered at Yokayo School. The school’s Site Council unanimously voted to call the library the “Carl Morgensen Library”. The trustees voted unanimously at their meeting this month. The trustees president says they’re overjoyed by the naming for former principal Morgensen, who was devoted to teaching thousands of kids in Ukiah how to read and hundreds of teachers how to teach reading. Morgensen was first the Principal at Frank Zeek Elementary until he retired in June 1994. He left for Utah, but came back a couple years later and worked as a reading resource teacher at Hopland and Yokayo Elementary schools. And at the end of his 2^nd time around, was the Principal of Yokayo. He died in August of 2020.

A death by drowning has been reported at Lake Berryessa. Mendo Fever reports there was a request yesterday afternoon around, 1:20 p.m. for a water rescue for a possible drowning by the Oak Shores Day Use Area. 20 minutes later an air ambulance was canceled along with other resources. They announced a recovery effort instead of a rescue, and a dive team came out.

Here’s a new event… urchin harvesting. Folks gathered 2 Saturdays ago at Van Damme State Beach for a live demonstration and hear about the overpopulation of purple urchin, strangling kelp and abalone populations along the coast. The inaugural UniFest was triggered by the COVID lockdown. The main organizer, Cally Dym says it was important to create events that wouldn’t need to be canceled due to the pandemic. MendoParks helps with the exhibits and educational programming in local parks, of which Dym is a member. She says they started with three events, the outdoor demo, a sake seminar and an uni lunch at Harbor House Inn. But they added more to it, with music and a screening of a trailer of a documentary about kelp deforestation.

Community members are needed by the Mendocino-Lake Community College District board. Elections for trustee area #2 and #5 in Mendocino County, and area #6 in Lake County are open. It’s a four-year term. Those interested should apply between July 18^th and August 12^th.  The Board of Trustees of the Mendocino-Lake Community College District has seven members who serve the educational needs of the citizens of the district, regardless of national origin, religion, age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, race or ethnicity, color, medical condition, genetic information, ancestry, immigration status, sexual orientation, marital status, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, or military and veteran status.

For additional information please visit http://www.mendocino.edu/elections or email Mary Lamb, Executive Assistant to the President at mlamb@mendocino.edu or 707-468-3071.

The Lake County Board of Supervisors says yes to the latest budget for the new fiscal year, but there was concern raised about lower cannabis tax revenues. Lake Co News reports Supervisor Bruno Sabatier voted against the recommended budget because of staffing increases and a lack of an economic development plan. It’s been standard operating procedure for the board to accept the budget draft in June and approve the final budget by September.  This year they’re looking at a general fund of just over $76,237,000, down nearly $7M. The cannabis cultivation and business tax was $6,704,000 at the beginning of the month, off about 1.6M from 2020-21.

They’re formally unveiling a new mural in downtown Lakeport with a nod to front line, essential workers. This Friday will be a ribbon cutting ceremony at 5pm by the Meals on Wheels Thrift Store. The mural was a gift to the community coordinated by the Lake County Arts Council in partnership with the City of Lakeport, Lake Family Resource Center, Lake County Rural Arts Initiative, Lakeport Main Street Association and others. The Lakeport Mayor Pro Tem says the COVID pandemic hit the community hard in many ways, and now is the perfect time to come together and thank those who couldn’t stay at home, like so many others, because they had to keep the economy and community moving. The mural was painted by a recent San Francisco State Univ. grad, Emma Wakefield of Loch Lomond.

As a reminder once again, Cal Fire Mendocino says fireworks are illegal in Mendocino County. The agency says as the Fourth of July holiday continues to be synonymous with sun, fun, barbecuing, and fireworks, two out of five fires during the holiday are caused by fireworks. They say fireworks are inherently dangerous, and children are at the greatest risk of injury. As we previously reported the CAL FIRE Unit Chief Luke Kendall is asking again to do your part to have a safe holiday, help prevent wildfires and injuries caused by fireworks. The risk of starting a fire after years of drought and with the current dry conditions is extremely high.

News 6/27/2022

A request for a permit to have beehive in Ukiah is on the city’s Zoning docket. Resident Bruce Foster has reportedly applied for a Minor Use Permit for the hive in his backyard on Jones Street. The application is near his garden, but he has not asked to produce honey. The city allows one beehive per parcel in residential zones with this permit. The Zoning Administrator will look at the application at their meeting Thursday afternoon.

A man from Middletown charged with two counts of DUI, hit and run with permanent injury or death and two counts of resisting a public officer is back in court. The sentencing judge was not available at the last scheduled time, so they meet this morning for Joshua Cody Ferrell’s case. He’s accused of driving on Highway 175 in May of 2019, crossing the solid double yellow lines then crashing into Cole Jensen on the other side of the highway. The two drivers had major injuries, but Ferrell took off. He was caught after a brief chase and arrested but released due to his injuries. He pleaded not guilty last fall.

Tens of thousands of dollars in prize money for small businesses in Lake County. The business competition, 1Team 1Dream is sponsoring the “Hands Up Lake County” Small Business Competition. The deadline to try to get some of the $85,000 is this Thursday. It’s the third year to choose the best start up business. They will choose 12 businesses and a couple of alternates who move on and learn how to put together a sustainable business plan in a 1-day business training workshop. Then they have a mini competition where six small businesses and one alternate are chosen by a panel. Then the final stage decides who gets how much. The $85,000 is spread out with awards ranging from $25,000 for 1st place to $5,000 for 5th.

Intro: The California state Legislature is expected to vote, as early as today, to put a measure on the November ballot to enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution. This comes after Friday’s Supreme Court ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade and lift federal abortion protections. Nearly half the states were expected to immediately make abortion illegal. State Attorney General Rob Bonta slammed the ruling.

 :11  "This decision is an attack on privacy, on freedom, on self-determination, on equality. This decision is an attack on women. "

Tag: Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1666 Friday. That protects California abortion providers from civil liability based on laws in other states that may prohibit people from traveling to get abortion care.

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Second Cut: State Senate President Pro-Tem Toni Atkins vowed to help abortion seekers from other states.

 :18  "Those inhumane laws will not cross California borders. We will not leave women and families impacted by the fall of Roe v. Wade and the backward, reckless policies of other states without options. We will not do that. We are here to further rights, not take them away. "

Third Cut: After the Supreme Court decision leaked in May, Gov. Newsom proposed a $125-million-dollar package to bolster the state’s ability to handle an influx of patients from other states. First partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, spoke out strongly against the court’s rollback of women’s rights.

 :14  "This is toxic masculinities at work in the highest court, in the country. Domination and control of women's bodily autonomy is so deeply ingrained in the patriarchy that unfortunately still rules our country."

Tag: A package of other bills designed to increase access is expected to cross the governor’s desk in the next few weeks. People looking for help paying for an abortion or traveling to get one can find information at abortionfunds.org.

To get folks who may not be aware familiar with certain mussels and their harm to the environment, the county has a public event during free fishing day. This Friday, the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District along with county staff are hosting the event at Upper Mill Creek Pond. They hope to talk to anglers and others to help prevent invasive mussels from infiltrating our water bodies. They can reproduce quickly, and once here, they can destroy water pipes, and boat hulls, altering the water chemistry, water clarity, and aquatic habitat. The event is being co-sponsored by the Mendocino County Water Agency, the California Division of Boating and Waterways, and the conservation district. As a reminder when you exit a water body with a boat or other vessel, clean it off of all plant material and thoroughly dry all equipment before launching anywhere else.

The yearly Frontier Days Parade is being held in the City of Willits. And police are out with a message to help folks along the parade route, by not parking on the parade route, detour route and parade staging areas. This week, they’ll be putting up signs and going door to door to give more signs to those who live along the route or in any of the other parade areas. The city says it’s a friendly reminder for residents about the special parking requirements on July 4th.

The following streets with be affected by the parade:
E. Commercial St., S. Main St., E. Valley St. and S. Lenore.
The following streets will be affected by the detour:
W. Commercial St., School St., Pine St., Coast St. and W. Valley St.

An explosive device has been taken from near a church in Lakeport. Yesterday during worship services, as parishioners left Saint John’s Episcopal Church, they saw police on the scene, who quickly called for the area to be evacuated. The Napa County Sheriff’s Office bomb squad came to the church and dismantled the device. And the Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen says there was an accelerant, a power source, and some sort of shrapnel all scrunched together in the device. But they weren’t sure when it was found if it could be detonated. Police connected 27 year old Kayden Collins to the device, arresting him. They say they’re not sure what his motive was or if the church was the intended target.

Wild pig hunts were all the rage this year. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says the latest Wild Pig Take Report had Mendocino County with the fifth highest Take. Out of the 58 counties in the state for the 2020-2021 season, Monterey County was number one. The agency reported 195 wild pigs were killed in Mendocino, only about a tenth of what Monterey brought in. In all, the state of California harvested 3,950 wild pigs that year. Areas to hunt locally include the Upper Lake Ranger District, the Red Mountain Ranger District, the Jackson State Forest, Cow Mountain Recreation Area, and Covelo Ranger District.

It was a fast fire that burned in Clearlake this weekend. The Boyle Fire was threatening structures and triggered evacuations. The fire ended up burning under 21 acres. Ground and air forces were fighting the fire which was first reported in the afternoon by 8th Street and Boyles Avenue, with winds driving the fire east. But firefighters were able to quickly slow forward movement after just a few hours.

Protestors took to the streets across Mendocino County after Friday’s Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The Mendocino Voice reported people of all ages were out in Ukiah, Willits and Fort Bragg Friday night along with massive protests elsewhere across the country. The decision triggered by Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. The newspaper reported a couple dozen people at the Ukiah courthouse with signs with slogans like, “My Body My Choice” and “Women’s Rights are Human’s Rights.” There were about 15 more in front of the Ten Mile Courthouse in Fort Bragg Friday and a bunch of high school students outside town hall too. There was also a group in Willits outside the Book Juggler on Main St.

The Lake County Board of Supervisors is at it again, looking for a new Public Health Officer. Dr. Erik McLaughlin, the last, and short lived, permanent officer tendered his resignation. So the Board is going to hire an employment firm to help. The meeting is tomorrow morning. The board to consider a $29,000 contract with Mosaic Public Partners to help find a new Public Health Officer after McLaughlin’s resignation last week. The Board is also considering a resolution to  authorize an application for a permanent local housing allocation program in Nice. There they hope to house Behavioral Health Services clients with mental health issues.

A home in Paradise is the first in the state to be designated as a Wildfire Prepared Home. It comes after the massive 2018 Camp Fire. The brand-new home in the fire’s scar, where you can still see signs of the devastation. The fire killed 85 people and took down almost 19,000 homes. The Wildfire Prepared Home is owned by Casey Taylor, who lost her home to the fire in Paradise, which was pretty much totally devastated. The program is being managed by the Insurance Institute for Building and Home Safety, in partnership with town officials to help homeowners protect their properties from wildfire and help lower insurance rates.

The long-suffering, former mayor of Windsor is now being accused of raping a young Montana woman. Dominic Foppoli was already accused by several women of sexual misconduct, which got him tossed from office. The new allegation, by an 18-year-old, identified as Jane Doe. She claims between May and September of 2020, the then-sitting mayor sexually assaulted her several times at events put on at his family’s winery, Christopher Creek. She claims the assaults included rape, forced oral copulation and groping. The woman, who is now 20 is represented by a lawyer in Calif. She says the young woman’s family contacted her in the fall of 2021. She did file a police report in Montana with a statement also given to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office. Seven other women have accused Foppoli of sexual assault or harassment between 2001 and 2020, all of which, he has denied.

The state of Calif. is about to hire a bunch of bilingual teachers who are fluent in Asian languages. The School Districts, Ed Source reports, want to either begin or expand dual immersion programs in Asian languages due to “dire shortages”. The latest budget from the state Legislature includes $5 million for the Asian Language Bilingual Teacher Education Program Consortium. They’re going to be able to have the program at ten Cal State campuses, covering Vietnamese, Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese and Hmong. Students enrolled on any of the campuses can get a bilingual authorization to teach English language development for students learning English, and to teach primary instruction in a language other than English.

A cry for help heeded at the Mendocino County Animal Shelter. The Executive Director, Richard Molinari, says a post on Facebook saying they were at 100% capacity and might have to euthanize dogs to get more kennel space helped. The Inland Humane Society took 6 dogs and 11 more were adopted after the post. He says they could still use help from residents to manage their pets, and possibly consider adopting more. It comes as more and more people had to surrender their pets when the pandemic hit. And Molinari says there are hundreds of shelters and rescue organizations nationwide, in the same boat. He says they’ve been running at 100 percent capacity for six months. It’s also considered to be close to kitten season, so they really need folks to step up as they expect more kittens to be surrendered.

News 6/24/2022

It doesn’t look like a lot will change for women who want an abortion after today’s historic U S Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v Wade. California WILL likely experience more women from out of state coming here because abortion is illegal where they live. The state has been anticipating the influx of patients by budgeting services for the uninsured, programs to increase the number of providers, and to help with the cost of traveling from other states. Just today, lawmakers passed a bill that would shield providers from civil lawsuits if they care for patients from states where abortion is banned. Governor Newsom is likely to sign it.

The Bureau of Land Management has an updated fire prevention order prohibiting numerous activities on public lands. It now includes Lake County an earlier ban that covered Mendocino County and several others in Northern California. The order basically bans ANY burning on federal land—including cigarettes as well as target shooting, target practice, and welding torches. The Bureau says most wildfires have a human spark, so it is important to be proactive to STOP fires before they even start. That ban went into effect today.

It’s a no for a proposed water and fire tax for the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors. At Tuesday’s meeting the Board considered a proposal for a three-eighths of a cent sales tax, where 40% of it would pay for water resiliency projects and the other 60% would go to fire services. Altogether, the projection was that would bring the county $7 million a year. One supervisor was vehemently against the water tax and came with backup information on money spent on the Potter Valley Project which cost the county a bundle. A couple of local news sites report they’re against the tax, but Mendo Fever reports fire chiefs around the county are all for it. And there are others supporting the proposed tax, but no matter, the board instead asked the county’s lawyer to draw up an ordinance with a quarter cent tax for fire services alone. The tax would last a decade.

A woman from Willits has been arrested after being found with a bunch of drugs that looked to be for sale. Amanda Sizemore was stopped by Deputies who say she was alone and they noticed a plastic baggie with more than an ounce of marijuana in it. They searched the car and also found meth, two more pounds of marijuana, LSD and drug paraphernalia associated with selling illicit drugs. They also say she was not allowed to have pepper spray, but they found some of that. She was arrested and held on $25,000.00 bail.

A man in Hopland’s arrested after Deputies got a report of a drunk guy on Highway 101. Deputies found Mark Pivec standing in front of the Hopland Tap House and say he seemed drunk. They also noticed a café across the street had shattered windows and a car was parked in front of it. They say there was mustard splashed over the outside of the car, and blood in front of the broken window and on top of a newspaper stand. Pivec also had a severe cut on his hand, so he was detained. They say Pivec threw the nearby newspaper stand through the window of the Blue Bird Cafe, and threw mustard on the car, causing damage to the paint and dents in the body panels. He’s charged with Felony Vandalism and Misdemeanor Public Intoxication and held on $15,000.00 bail.

Awards for those growing Cannabis are a thing. And for the first time at the California State Fair cannabis cultivators were honored. Mendocino County was a big winner with local farms winning more than half of the 19 awards, including “most unique” and five out of the top 10 all-around winners, for ten awards in all. And also in the Emerald Triangle, no surprise, farms in Humboldt and Trinity counties took home prices, as did others in Lake and Sonoma counties. The inclusion of the flower awards at the California State Fair was announced in Sacramento last fall. Those who won get to go to a special awards ceremony next month and will go on a promotional tour. They will not be selling cannabis at the fair though. Farms from Redwood Valley, Laytonville, Hopland, Willits, and others listed simply as “Mendocino County” were honored.

Attorney General Rob Bonta has his Republican competitor for November’s General Election. Nathan Hochman will compete against the incumbent after he won 18% of the vote in the primary. He’s also the candidate the Republican party was supporting. Bonta was the only Democrat running in the June 7th primary. The top two vote getters, no matter what party they’re from move forward to the General, Bonta won nearly 55% of the vote. The favorite of many law enforcement organizations Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, running without party affiliation, only received 7.7% of the vote.

Congressman Mike Thompson, a gun advocate, says the Supreme Court overruling a NY carry conceal law “dealt a blow” for states to protect residents against gun violence. Thompson commented to the Press Democrat after the ruling was announced that he felt “troubled”. The NY law requires people who apply for a license to carry in public show why they need to. And just after several mass shootings, including one in NY in the City of Buffalo, just weeks ago. Thompson said the NY law had been on the books for more than a century and the Supremes “extreme ruling undermines the authority of states to responsibly regulate the use of firearms and will lead to more gun violence.” He says he’s committed to passing legislation to respect Second Amendment rights at the same time, protecting kids, schools, and communities.

The Lake County Planning Commission just said no to a proposal for cannabis growing quite close to a vineyard in Clearlake Oaks. The Commission was looking at Monte Cristo Vineyards cannabis project yesterday with only three commissioners at the meeting, so all of them needed to support the idea. One voted against it. There were complaints from neighbors who said the grow would be too close to small neighborhoods. The owners were proposing 40 acres of their vineyard be separated and 22 acres be dedicated to cannabis growing. They also said they would be planting the farthest they could from their neighbors. Neighbors were concerned about noise, dust, traffic, fire danger and crime, and especially the amount of water to be used.

Independence Day celebrations are on for the Lakeshore Lions Club. Their annual parade, carnival and fireworks show will happen next Saturday. The group’s 64th annual Redbud Parade and Festival starts at 11 am July 2nd with the theme this year, “Rocking Lake County.” There will be a marching band, floats, vintage cars, fire and police vehicles and more. The fireworks display is on at dusk after a free concert at 7pm. It’s the Lakeshore Lions Club’s largest fundraiser. Money goes to support eyeglasses and vision care for the needy, high school sports, sober graduation, scholarships and many other school activities, the fire and police departments, the senior center, South Shore Little League and many other causes.

A former resident of Covelo is going to prison as part of a plea deal on two counts of murder. The DA reports Samson Musselini Little Bear Joaquin was supposed to go to trial last Monday, but there were not enough jurors for jury selection, but this week while the two sides gathered witnesses before a new trial date could be set, they settled and Little Bear Joaquin admitted he intentionally killed Kyle McCartney and Traci Bland with a splitting maul/fire axe in November of 2020 in a remote area north of Covelo. They agreed to the 31 years to life sentence, the maximum allowed by law. There was no credit for time already served and he will be sentenced next month. He had five co-defendants, who were all convicted for different roles in the double murder.

News 6/23/2022

A new report says even though Calif., is one of the richest states in the nation, it has some of the poorest residents. The Public Policy Institute of California reports last July, 1 in 6 Californians were not “in poverty but lived fairly close to the poverty line” and that 34% of the state is “poor or near poor.” And the 25 lowest earning counties include some in the Emerald Triangle. Trinity County was the lowest earning in the state, Humboldt was the fifth lowest. Lake County is the sixth lowest earning county in California and Del Norte, seventh. Mendocino County was somewhat better, but still down there as the thirteenth lowest earning county in the state. But apparently Trinity, Humboldt, Del Norte, and Lake were better off during the worst days of the pandemic than Mendocino, and also Sonoma, Marin, and most Bay Area counties in general.

A woman walking along Highway 20 in Nice has been hit and killed. Later on, William Len was arrested after being connected to the 2013 Toyota Sienna that reportedly hit Amanda Arney.  Search warrants were served after an investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Len was found in Clearlake. He’s charged with felony hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter and booked into Lake County Jail.

Nearly 2 dozen projects have gotten the greenlight by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, including one in Lake County. Grant money from Proposition 1 will pay for projects to restore and protect multi-benefit ecosystem restoration and protection. $26 million dollars-worth of work, with almost all going to 15 projects across the state. About 5 more for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. That includes $350,000 for the Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians for work in the Kelsey Creek Fish Passage. There are more projects under consideration. You can read all about the Prop. 1 Restoration Grant Programs and apply for a grant at the agency’s website: http://www.wildlife.ca.gov/grants.

A new report under Proposition 13 shows it’s still an obstacle to buy a home in the state of Calif., if you’re not a white person. The report says white homeowners get yearly property tax benefits that people of color do not. The law works out to give a more than 80% higher break on average than Black homeowners and over twice the tax breaks for Latinos. The report shows unequal wealth building in Calif., which has the second-lowest rate of homeownership in the nation. The Opportunity Institute and Pivot Learning, a nonprofit, did the study. They looked at four decades of information about government revenue, the housing market and its impact on generations of homeowners.

Tens of thousands of public safety employees in California are finally getting pandemic bonuses. 42,000 workers are getting $1,500 each due to union agreements. The Newsom administration negotiated with unions for state correctional officers, California Highway Patrol officers and public safety employees, from park rangers to lifeguards. They’ve been campaigning for the bonuses since early on in the pandemic. Many state workers could work remotely, but public safety personnel were on the front lines, dealing with several outbreaks at prisons, hospitals and other state facilities. The money’s for those who are part of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, the California Association of Highway Patrolmen and the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association, according to agreements posted by the Human Resources Department.

At last weeks public health update in Mendocino County the office said there’s another wave of cases, but it shouldn’t peak until around 2 weeks from now. The Mendocino County Public Health Officer Dr. Andy Coren’s prediction of early July on top of the Independence Day holiday. Last Friday Dr. Coren said there’s clearly a wave, but not like previous surges, so that’s a good sign. He said the current wave is due to subvariants of the Omicron strain. He says if we follow what happened in other countries and in New York City, the cases look to be on the downward slope of the shoulder. He says Calif. has had less people in the hospital than New York, but there are even more sub strains now that are even more contagious. The county is in the medium risk tier of the CDC’s three tier system.

The Lake County Board of Supervisors looking at applicants for its Cannabis Task Force and worked on the Cannabis Grant Program with the Treasurer/Tax Collector at their last meeting. The list of applicants were to fill positions on the ad hoc committee. They had over a dozen by the June 15^th deadline, but no Tribal applicants. They had been hoping to have at least one before June 28^th. But there was confusion on the deadline and problems with the online application system. So they decided to extend the application deadline until July 12^th.

Nursing home advocates looking to reform the troubled system are against an amended bill in the Legislature they say is a step backwards. The executive director of the Calif. Advocates for Nursing Home Reform says the Assembly Bill “codifies and endorses the current system” which “nourished the worst operators in the state”. Patricia McGinnis wrote an opposition letter to the Chair of the Senate Health Committee who were set to hear the bill this week. Others say the amended bill is a step forward in regulating who owns and operates nursing homes. Assemblyman Jim Wood is one of the authors of the bill. He says he and his co-author are trying to move the bill forward. CalMatters reported last year the state licensing process featured indecision, confusion and years-long delays.

The latest budget has been adopted by the Little Lake Fire Protection District (LLF) board of directors. During their monthly meeting last week, the preliminary budget got a greenlight. They had to add more money into transportation due to skyrocketing prices of gas. They’ve been looking to add another firefighter with the application period set to close a week ago. The Fire Chief said he was hoping to have a chosen candidate by next week after looking over resumes and conducting interviews. They heard from various department heads on outside trainings, a visit by local kindergartners and say there will be a live burn ahead of fire season in Laytonville. They responded to 21 rescue calls, 25 traffic related calls, two hazardous conditions calls, seven service calls, two false alarms and one special incident.

News 6/22/2022

The latest doctor to be the public health officer for Lake County is out. The county put out a statement last night that after less than four months on the job, Dr. Erik McLaughlin, resigned. He was on the job the shortest amount of time than any other permanently appointed Public Health officer in Lake County in 20 years, starting in March. It comes after the last public health officer, Dr. Gary Pace resigned a year before, and he and a couple other docs were filling in as interim officers during some of the worst days of the pandemic. The Lake County Board Chair EJ Crandell said they were excited to have Dr. McLaughlin in the position, but it didn’t end up being a long-term fit. The county says they will announce next steps in the coming days.

A new teaching credential is being offered in Calif. The state Commission on Teacher Credentialing has given the greenlight to a credential for pre-k through third grade. Any teacher who receives the credential will have to prove they’re trained in how to teach reading. Apparently, there’s a similar credential but it does not include literacy instruction coursework. Lawmakers are considering legislation requiring the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing report back yearly on progress about teachers being able to teach reading with a literacy performance assessment by 2025.

The cost of gas is put a strain on big rig operators. A new report says the U.S. trucking industry is struggling due to inflation in diesel prices since the fall of 2020. Prices way higher than they were during the $5-a-gallon peak in the summer of 2008 during the global economic crisis. The average for a gallon of diesel has gone up over the last year nearly 70% to nearly $7/gallon. Now there are concerns there could be a fuel shortage. Truckers and others with fleets of diesel vehicles pay commercial fueling centers or get bulk deliveries, but still it’s around $7/gallon. Some companies also report losing drivers, as they want to work closer to home, causing a major headache for them.

Since the Lake County Board of Supervisors had to follow a court order and rescind permits for the planned Guenoc Valley resort, the company planning it, says it’s still on. Lotusland Investment Holdings reports they have not given up the planned 16,000-acre resort and housing development near Middletown. They apparently have consultants working on a plan for the surrounding area, with needed evacuation routes, traffic studies and a master plan for the community, after the judge looking over their plans voiced concerns. Look for a supplemental environmental impact report by the end of next month.

The world’s oldest profession might have new laws. A bill to decriminalize sex work is heading to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk. The L-A Times reports the measure would rescind the misdemeanor law against loitering in public for the purpose of engaging in prostitution. Newsom has 12 days to sign or veto the bill.

Something is fishy in San Francisco as people in several neighborhoods, say that small fish have been found in odd places-like roofs, on sidewalks, on park trails, and on windshields of parked cars. It doesn’t smell of crime though. Experts said they are smelt and they suspect that birds like pelicans are just dropping their huge loads of the four- to six-inch-fish as the fly toward their nests.

The decision on Roe Vs. Wade could be coming, so Calif. is allowing for the expansion of abortion care. The state’s also looking at ways to protect abortion providers as the state’s expecting a lot of demand from out-of-state women. The Bay Area News Group reports the procedures demand has been on the decline in Calif., but the state is seen as a safe haven for many who would have to leave their home state for the procedure. Leaked documents earlier this year showed the Supreme Court was likely overturning the law by ruling on a new Mississippi abortion law, expected this month or early next.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company says their Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings (EPSS) are protecting as many as 3 million people in high-risk fire areas in their service area. That adds up to about 1 million customers who will see immediate power downs, within one tenth of a second if something comes into contact with their equipment. The company said this would help reduce wildfires and now says there were 170 circuits with this ability last year. And with that, the company says they saw an 80% reduction in reportable ignitions in High Fire Threat Districts, compared to the previous three-year average.

A group of residents in the county have formed Climate Action Mendocino. They came together about four to five years ago to create the 2022 Climate Emergency Resolution for Ukiah. This declared a climate emergency, which the Ukiah City Council passed unanimously last week. Mendo Voice reports that means the city will beef up its renewable power sources and energy-efficient lighting; maintain wild lands; promote biodiversity and carbon sequestration; and expand sustainable water practices. One of the founding members of Climate Action Mendocino says the city was very receptive to them. So, they adapted resolutions from Sonoma County for Ukiah’s unique needs and circumstances. So now the city has a blueprint of how to move forward to protect the environment.

After the pandemic lockdown a bunch of people applied for unemployment in the state. And a lot of the claims turned out to be bogus. The state reports getting back as much as $1.1 billion in unused unemployment benefits this week. The money was parked in nearly 800,000 Bank of America debit cards that were never used. State officials got with officials at the bank to be sure the money wasn’t for legitimate claims and once all was confirmed, the state took the money back. State officials can’t confirm why the money wasn’t used. There were other fraudulent claims outside of the state too, but Calif. was reported to be the largest victim of fraudulent unemployment, with most of the money going back to the U.S. government, not the state.

In Clearlake, a bit of stinky work for police. One of the agency’s officers, Sergeant Ramirez came upon a stuck skunk. Mendo Fever reports the animal had stuffed itself into a bait box. The skunk’s head was stuck and it was dragging the box with it as it trotted around. Officer Ramirez along with his K9 partner Eagle got the skunk out of the box without spraying the pair.

Cal Fire reports being ready for peak wildfire season by staffing up across the state and working on fuel reduction and forest health projects. This means Cal Fire is staffed up 24/7. They also have all aircraft ready and staffed. They report nearly 111,000 acres have been prepared for the peak wildfire season, which is way more than their goal of 100,000 acres by 2025. The Cal Fire Chief says they’re ramping up for a year round fire season. And the Governor commented they are taking aggressive action to protect communities and make forests more resilient. But he says there’s still a lot of work to do.

News 6/21/2022

PG&E reports undergrounding equipment in many fire prone areas, including several projects in Lake County. The hardening work in the county is for about 15 miles of overhead distribution powerlines and 21 miles in high fire-threat areas to try to curb this year’s wildfire risk. The regional VP of the North Coast Region says they’re trying to evolve with California’s changing weather conditions, working year-round. Besides undergrounding work, he says they’re also installing stronger power poles with covered conductor. He says the undergrounding will reduce ignition risk by 99 percent on undergrounded circuits and save the energy company money on temporary repairs and recurring costs like vegetation management. They may also be able to cut back the amount of public safety power shutoffs too. The company’s been planning to bury 10,000 miles of distribution powerlines across the state.

A community workshop on the housing crisis is planned in Point Arena. Tonight at 6pm the city’s hosting a Zoom meeting to update residents and other stakeholders in its Local Coastal Program which they say will make it easier for developers to put up housing in Point Arena. The city’s housing team will be on hand. Those leading the meeting will talk about potential changes to the housing plan, talk timelines and allow time for comments, suggestions and ideas.

A free Large Item Dump Day is being held by Caltrans, the County of Mendocino, and Solid Waste of Willits in Gualala. It’s part of the governor’s $1.1 billion Clean California initiative. It pays for the event, and other similar campaigns to rid litter from public spaces across the state. Residents are being encouraged to dump unwanted, bulky items. This Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm, at the South Coast Transfer Station. They’re limiting items to furniture, appliances, tires (only 9 per load), and other large, bulky household items. They’re not accepting construction materials, business waste, e-waste, mattresses, hazardous waste, treated wood waste, or asbestos. Dump Days are also planned in Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties.

The Governor is putting money into Mental Health wellness work, saying the entire country is dealing with a crisis. He announced nearly $519 million dollars in grants for services and housing options for people with severe mental illness or substance abuse problems, including the unsheltered. It’s part of Governor Newsom’s CARE Court proposal, to deal with the homelessness crisis with a different approach to get people off the streets and cared for. There will be treatment beds for over 1,000 people at a time, and behavioral health services for others. The grants were announced during a meeting Newsom hosted with families of those who have a loved one in crisis, many that are homeless. As part of the campaign, Mendocino County is receiving just over $7,700,000.

The latest election results in Mendocino County have been released by the Mendocino County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder’s office. There have been 9,776 ballots tallied since the election 2 weeks ago and the office reports they have around “roughly 11,500” ballots left to count. Of the major measures and campaigns locally three of them are pretty much the same. For the 5th District Supervisor and Chair Ted Williams, 3rd District Supervisor John Haschak, and Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall. All of them were in major landslides. But in another race, a surprise winner emerges, the County Superintendent of Schools. The incumbent Michelle Hutchins looks to be out with challenger Nicole Glentzer ahead with about 10% of the vote. The Sheriff had a last-minute write-in opponent in a former Deputy, Trent James. He only grabbed about 11% of the vote. Incumbent Matt Kendall leads with 89% of the votes. The election will be certified in a couple weeks.

In Lake County, the Registrar of Voters Office reports they plan to certify the election results by July 7th, a month after the Primary. As a reminder all vote-by-mail voters who got a a “Signature Verification Statement” or an “Unsigned Ballot Envelope Statement”, the deadline for the Registrar of Voters office to receive the completed forms either by US Postal Service, fax, email, or in person is Tuesday July 5th as well. The office will not count any vote-by-mail ballot if the completed and signed Statement is not returned by then.

Cal Fire is reminding all that fireworks are illegal in Mendocino County. They say nearly half of all Independence Day fires are caused by fireworks, more than any other cause. And they say kids are at the greatest risk. The Cal Fire Unit Chief Luke Kendall is reminding folks in the county to do their part and help prevent wildfires and injuries caused by fireworks, especially when we are in a severe drought and current dry conditions make the risk extremely high. The state also has a zero tolerance for the use and sale of illegal fireworks. Cal Fire is working with law enforcement and firefighting agencies to take illegal fireworks away and prosecute anyone found to be in possession of them.

The Citizens’ Committee for the Library Initiative have reportedly submitted signatures on petitions for a renewal of Measure A. That’s for a one-eighth of a cent sales tax. They’re also requesting the sales tax from Measure B be extended for 40 percent for building improvements. The Friends of the Library have been trying to get folks to sign their petitions so the Measure appears on the November ballot. The committee was formed specifically to get Measure A passed to provide a permanent funding mechanism for the Library and Bookmobile.

PG&E is reminding folks to sign up for their Family Electric Rate Assistance Program. The company says thousands of income-eligible customers live in Lake, Mendocino and Humboldt counties, and that they could save as much as 18% on their monthly electric bill by enrolling. The program allows for discounts on electricity bills for households with three or more people who are income eligible but have yet to sign up. PG&E says there are as many as 3,199 households in the three counties who may be eligible and less than 25% of eligible PG&E households are enrolled in Northern and Central California.

The pandemic does not seem to be the reason this particularly popular Lake County event is canceled. The Lake County Chamber of Commerce sent out an email last week they were no longer sponsoring the Clear Lake Seaplane Splash In, so it’s canceled. It had been planned for June 24^th to 26^th, this weekend. It would have been the first time since the pandemic started the event would be held, and the 40^th Splash In. But the Splash In Facebook page said it looked as though the Chamber would not be the lead organization in future years, but there were a group of folks interested in carrying the event in future years.  Lake Co News reports organizers were reaching out to potential future participants for a 2023 revival of the event.

News 6/20/2022

A group of folks in a private Ukiah Facebook group decrying the cost of homeowners insurance. One said they had their rates raised twice as much as last year, and 2 dozen others responded pretty quick with the same or even more. One person posted that their rates quadrupled over the last year. Others chimed in that it was likely from wildfires. One of the respondents was an Insurance Agent and said if you live outside the city limits you may be required to buy the Calif. FAIR plan, he also said many would have probably lost theirs had the Insurance Commissioner not put a moratorium on cancellations for a year. He also said to call the Commissioner to complain about higher rates, it could help.

The Mendocino Cannabis Department has been approved to use tax waivers for delinquent taxes. The announcement for the LEEP Waivers last week will begin today. But there’s a catch, it’s as long as the entity being taxed pays all of the penalties and interest that’s due. To be eligible for the LEEP Waiver, you have to be LEEP Certified.  The last payment was due May 31^st. They are called true ups, and those who are delinquent on the true ups can be penalized up to 10% with monthly 1.5% interest starting June 1^st. If you don’t pay the 2021 true up amount and penalty by this June 30^th, that’s next Thursday, there will be an additional 25% penalty and 1.5% interest on July 1^st.

A man in Ukiah has been arrested after a Deputy noticed a non-working taillight on their car. Last Friday, someone parked on N. State Street was contacted by the Deputy. They checked the records on the driver, Nicholas Britton and the passenger, an adult female. Britton was found to be on formal probation with terms to obey all laws and submit to search. So, the Deputy searched and found drugs in a plastic baggie and arrested Britton. He’s charged with Felony Violation of Probation and Misdemeanor Possession of a Controlled Substance and held without bail.

A man from Ukiah who police say was illegally camping and using a fire to warm up has been arrested. A Deputy responded to neighbors complaining about Richard Cauckwell. They found him sitting next to a fire and burnt sticks. They say hot embers were within a couple of feet from dry bushes and trees. His clothes looked to be charred from the fire and Deputies said they believed it was because Cauckwell was not being cautious around the fire. He also had a torch lighter on him as burning is banned in the County. It was also in the area where the Hopkins fire burned last year.  Cauckwell was arrested for Felony Recklessly Causing Fire to Forest Land and Misdemeanor Careless Starting a Fire and held on $15,000.00 bail.

The Ukiah Police Chief is out for good. Chief Noble Waidelich was reportedly fired, but we haven’t a clue why. A couple of online newspapers are reporting Waidelich was terminated after receiving a press release from the city on Friday afternoon. The City Manager said Waidelich’s badge and service weapon were confiscated early last week after recent events showed the city the chief was not a good fit for the city, and the community deserved better. The City has not officially commented other than to say Waidelich may have violated police department policies, and it was not part of another criminal investigation by the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) requested by our Sheriff. The Mendocino Voice says they were told to check back in two weeks for more.

The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors had a meeting today, but due to the Federal Holiday for Juneteenth, has canceled.  Tomorrow there’s a packed agenda for the regular Tuesday meeting. Some of the items include discussion and possible action including directing staff about the proposed consolidation of the auditor-controller/treasurer-tax collector offices.  The staff’s recommended action is to move forward with consolidation. They’ll also discuss a bunch of road work, resolving any bid protests and awarding transportation contracts to the lowest bidder for work in the Willits/Brooktrails area.

PG&E has announced a new protocol during wildfire season and hot weather, automatic blackouts. The company announced on Friday, the sensitivity of over 1,000 circuit breakers for wildfire season have been sensitized even more to reduce fire risks. They’ve done it before. This will be the second season for the Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings Program. It started right after the Dixie Fire, about a year ago. How it works? Settings automatically turn off power for a region when PG&E equipment comes into contact with anything that might start a wildfire: like a tree branch or anything else suspicious. There were hundreds of instant power downs last summer. Even though folks were up in arms when they had immediate blackouts, sometimes for hours, PG&E responded that they were able to prevent wildfires and would expand the program this year.

Fire restrictions have been put into motion by the Bureau of Land Management on public lands. This is for their Arcata Field Office in Del Norte, Humboldt, Trinity, and Mendocino counties starting tomorrow, June 21st. And they will keep the restrictions in place to help prevent wildfires until further notice. This is on top of the BLM year-round statewide fire prevention order. The Northern Calif. District Manager says most wildfires in the state are human-caused, so, the fire restrictions are an important way to help protect public lands and nearby communities from wildfire. He says the National Interagency Fire Center predicted there might be large fires again this summer, above normal due to the drought.

Three new Cal Fire grants have been awarded to the Mendocino County Fire Safe Council. The $3.5 million dollars will be spread over three years to use for a bunch of projects to reinforce wildfire safety in areas around the county. Cal Fire’s been working with the Fire Safe Council to find which regions are the highest priorities. They found that almost the entire county is in high or very high fire-hazard severity zone. The biggest chunk of the grants was for $2.5 million to cover safer evacuation and firefighter access near Yorkville, Laytonville, Lake Mendocino, and Willits. There will be roadside clearing to remove branches and brush to make the roads safer for residents and responders and create a fuel break to stop advancing fires. The other two grants to study areas for future prescribed-burns and road-clearing projects, fuel breaks and environmental clearance and studies.

At the latest Mendocino Countywide Drought Task Force meeting they looked at possible curtailments being considered of water flowing to Russian River water users. They’re also considering a task force that would solely look at water issues, and an ordinance designed to monitor commercial wells. After the Board of Supervisors sent a letter to the Fed about the Potter Valley Project, word also came the State Water Board could begin sending notices for water curtailment to Russian River water users. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also ordered PG&E to start the surrender process of their Potter Valley license as some who depend on the water coming through the project are on the edge of their seat to see if they’ll have to curtail water use too. The committee heard that the water in Lake Pillsbury is considered a “normal” water year and the flow into Lake Mendocino is slowly filling.

Folks are littering the earth so Marin, Sonoma, and Mendocino Counties are working together for education to the public and tourists to reduce the amount of litter and waste in coastal regions and watersheds. The three counties have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the non-profit Leave No Trace. They will help with the campaign and help the counties work with federal and state agencies, federally recognized tribes, non-federally recognized tribes, local jurisdictions and land managers, Sonoma County Tourism, and other community-based groups across all three counties. The bilingual campaign starts before the end of the month to educate and influence visitors this summer to be courteous stewards of the land. It comes as state beaches and public parks have more visitors each year. More than 10 million visitors to the three counties, as over 55,000 pounds of trash were plucked from the coast in the three counties last year alone.

News 6/17/2022

Over 60 nonprofits have received a cash infusion from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and Arts Midwest, including the Lake County Library. Over one million dollars going to the NEA Big Read to spur people to read 15 different contemporary books. Their aim is to inspire meaningful conversations, artistic responses, and new discoveries and connections in participating communities through authors with different voices and perspectives. The Lake County Library received a $9,500 grant for the Big Read and picked Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz for 2023 programming. But they won’t get into it until next February.  The collection of poetry is the 2021 winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. Those supporting the Big Read in the county includes the Board of Supervisors, Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians, Mendocino College Lake Center and Lake County Campus of Woodland Community College.

For more info, visit arts.gov/neabigread for more information about the NEA Big Read. Organizations interested in applying for an NEA Big Read grant in the future should visit Arts Midwest’s website for more information

After Mendocino Deputies were tipped to a domestic argument on Highway 20 in Fort Bragg, they made an arrest. Apparently, a woman met Deputies in the driveway of the home, with bloody injuries. She told them she was in a fight with her partner and he threw her to the floor. Legen Dean Edge was contacted by Deputies, who say he had no injuries himself. But they arrested him for Domestic Violence Battery due to evidence at the home and booked him into jail on $25,000.00 bail.

Cal Poly Humboldt in partnership with Mendocino College and others are getting several million dollars for a new Redwood Coast K-16 Education Collaborative. Also involved, Sonoma State University, UC Davis, College of the Redwoods, the Offices of Education in four counties, and ProjectAttain! They’re all working together to increase access to education for underrepresented students in Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, and Lake counties. Those who attend will learn all about careers in health care and education. It’s all part of the state of California’s K-16 Education Collaboratives Grant Program.

A man from Boonville has been missing and was last seen with a group of other people walking into the woods. 25-year-old Jesus Mendoza’s family says they haven’t seen or heard from him since Tuesday. His sister says he was with an unknown group that included three men and five women in the Hendy Woods area. The family says he’s never been gone for more than one night and he has medical conditions. Plus, his sister says, he left his phone and wallet at home. He’s described as 5’11” with a thin build, about 150 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes and he has a tattoo of a broken heart behind his right ear. He was last seen in black shorts. He has multiple nicknames, “Junior”, “Shotgun”, and “Shotty”.

The chair of the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors has sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) in response to PG&E looking to vary the flow of water for the Potter Valley Project (the “PVP Project”). The company filed a variance request with FERC to reclassify the 2021- 22 water year type to Dry/Critically Dry which lowers the water flow from the East Fork Russian River, drastically reducing the amount of water, potentially damaging aquatic and riparian environments.  The county doesn’t think the energy company has demonstrated the need for the drastic curtailment, and the company didn’t consult the county’s Drought Working Group. The county is therefore asking for certain rules to be followed by PG&E during the severe drought.

Volunteers for the Point Cabrillo Lightkeepers Association and the Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 87 allowed visitors into the historic lighthouse for the first time in over 2 years. Visitors once again climbed to the top of Mendocino’s historic Lighthouse first lit in June of 1909. It’s the same Fresnel lens lit back in the day. The 1000-watt halogen bulb serves as an Active Federal Aid to Navigation and is owned and operated by the United States Coast Guard.  The lens is maintained by volunteer members of the local Coast Guard Auxiliary.

The City of Ukiah has an acting Police Chief. Captain Cedric Crook, a 24 year veteran of the department and an officer since 1998 will take over as interim Chief since Chief Noble Weidelich is under investigation. Weidelich is on paid leave as the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office investigates an unknown criminal matter. The Sheriff Matt Kendall reportedly asked Sonoma to investigate. He’s also being sued by his former fiancé and may be somehow embroiled in investigations into his former Deputy Kevin Murray who’s being investigated for sex assault, meth use and burglary. And yet another former Deputy is suing saying Murray attacked her. Supposedly this investigation is unrelated to the case by his ex fiancé, and is a new allegation against the chief.

The Fort Bragg City Manager, about to start the job soon, is asking to get out of his contract. John Ford of Humboldt County says it’s due to a conflict with his son’s middle school and his wife doesn’t want to move. Ford also said it would place “significant stress” on his family and not allow him to be “socially involved in the Fort Bragg community as the job mandates.” He also said it was a difficult realization after meeting locals and seeing how well run the city was. He said the city deserved a leader not torn between his family and the city. The mayor commented they were disappointed, but understood his priority of family first. The city has recently chosen a new police chief and says they’ll release more info on that shortly.  

Three new police officers have been hired by the Fort Bragg Police Department to reach full staffing levels. The three went to the College of the Redwoods Police Academy in Eureka for six months of training. The trio graduated last Friday, and on Monday they were sworn in at the City Council meeting. They are Antoinette Moore, David Franco and Tyler Baker, all from the local community. They now have to go thru intense Field Training.

A green light from the Mendocino County board of supervisors on a new sales tax measure for fire mitigation, fire emergency services and water retention. At their budget meeting last week, the board voted on a draft version of the measure and will take a final vote July 12^th. If they pass it next month, then it goes to voters in November. The Mendocino Voice reports speaking to the Board Chair, Ted Williams who says it’s part of public safety, and he thinks the county hasn’t done enough to support fire and ambulance. Supervisors didn’t specify the amount of the tax, which will no doubt come up in the ongoing negotiations in the next few weeks.

The Clearlake City Council gave their final approval to the latest budget, with much more money because of several million dollars in grants and increased revenue. The budget for the fiscal year 2022-23 at nearly $39,117,000 in expenses and around $37M in revenue. The general fund is about 8 mil and revenue, just under that. The council had a workshop before their regular meeting last night to go over the budget. They unanimously voted on it. Some of the items included almost $15.5M in grants from PG&E, due to the Sulphur fire, and property and sales taxes totaling $11.2 million.

A giant ugh coming your way as July 1^st the state is due to increase gas taxes. Gas is already ridiculously high, but a scheduled increase to the excise tax rate is starting anyway, at about 3 cents/gallon more. The average in the state for regular gas is $6.44 a gallon, compared to the national average of $5.01. But the governor has criticized the latest budget draft saying it failed to provide “more immediate, direct relief to help millions more families with rising gas, groceries and rent prices.” The governor mentioned tax relief for gas prices in his State of the State speech in March. Some lawmakers have called for a one year suspension of the gas excise tax so gas companies could pass 100% of the savings on to consumers, but that proposal was voted down.

So some juvenile prison workers can stay on the job, the governor and a ½ dozen labor unions have hammered out a bonus deal. CalMatters reports taxpayers will pay the $54.5 million for the incentive payments of up to $50,000 for some workers. It’s believed to be the biggest retention bonuses the state has ever given to employees. The Department of Finance reports the agreements for 1,019 direct care and 211 non-direct care employees. The state Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation manages the Division of Juvenile Justice. They say they hope the bonuses will keep workers on the job amidst widespread staffing shortages since the governor announced dismantling the division by June of next year.