In Lake County, the Board of Supervisors is considering a new cannabis garden, and a potential place for folks to go when there are public safety power shutoffs. At their meeting tomorrow, Supervisors are looking at using Northshore Park as a community center during intentional power downs. And what of the old juvenile hall, could that be a much-needed homeless shelter? The board’s also looking into a plan for a mental health treatment center for children too. But first the board will mull over a plan for an appeal of the Planning Commission’s approval for a major use permit and initial study for a cannabis cultivation project in Kelseyville. As usual the meeting starts at 9, with the option to join over Zoom.
Not a no in the room, from the Clearlake City Council to buy a piece of land for a new road to get to a major commercial development at Pearce Field. The City Manager asked the council to buy the land on Old Highway 53 from AmeriGas for $110,000 so the city can build a new road and future commercial development at the old airport. The city already bought a couple of pieces of property very near the airport property. The piece of property they’re buying now is necessary to finish the plans for the commercial development. The council voted unanimously on the plan and there was no comment from the public.
A small fire has broken out in Lower Lake. The fire started Saturday night and was pegged at between 15-25 acres. But Cal Fire reported last night it burned 14 acres and was already 90% contained. There were some hasty evacuation orders through Saturday night as there was concern the fire could blow up overnight.
The Mendocino County Public Health Dept. is reporting on measures to be taken by the county in the event of any Monkeypox cases. At the same time, the state has decided to rename the virus, Mpox. The agency says they’re ready to start contact tracing if Mpox arrives in Mendocino County. There have been no cases so far. Some ideas, that may sound familiar after the pandemic: monitor your health, if you get flu like symptoms that don’t end in a week, then a rash, you should isolate yourself from others and see your doctor, get vaccinated because the supply is scarce, so do it while you can. If you get it, stay away from others. It spreads by direct contact with the rash and any soiled objects from the open lesions, and by droplets in the air after a face-to-face conversation. You can be contagious until the rash is healed completely.
As Mpox, or Monkeypox is the new scare on the horizon, there seems to be some good news on the COVID19 front in Mendocino County. The Public Health Officer Dr. Andy Coren reports local case numbers are declining. Coren says the county is no longer in the highest transmission level though, now it’s the median community level, which he calls excellent progress. He did however mention another new strain causing concern nationwide, called BA.4.6, a sub-stain of omicron. In the county the test positivity rate is at 9.5 percent, and the state is at 11.4 percent. On Friday the county had two people in the hospital with the virus, and so far, Dr. Coren confirmed 134 Mendocino County residents have died from the virus.
A teenager reported missing in Northern Calif. after a party near Truckee has been found dead. A group of diving volunteers out searching for 16-year-old Kiely Rodni found her car upside down in about 14 feet of water at Prosser Reservoir. The group Adventures with Purpose an underwater sonar rescue group posted on Facebook, they CONFIRMED Kiely is inside the car and notified her family. The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office later also posted on social media they were headed to the area. The girl disappeared Aug. 6th after midnight after going to a party at Prosser Family Campground with hundreds of other teens and young adults.
It’s doors closed for the Elijah House. The lone homeless shelter in Lakeport inside the old Juvenile Hall facility is closing for good Labor Day weekend. The program manager at Lake County Behavioral Health says they’re trying to find housing for those still there. They’ve been struggling apparently with staffing shortages as they close down and clean out the building as their contract was ending. A group that was helping with operations per a contract with the county says there were about a dozen or so residents left at the shelter who the group says should have other housing by the end of the month.
After months of town halls and discussions with community members, tribal leaders, conservation organizations and forest operators, Cal Fire has a new vision for the management of the Jackson Demonstration State Forest in the age of climate change. The agency says they’ve already taken some steps and there will be more, as they work with the Jackson Advisory Group on future management plans, saying there is a new foundation of science and equity. One of the most prominent additions is adopting a new co-management team with sovereign tribal nations who call the area their ancestral home. Cal Fire is also putting in another $10 million to support forest operations, removing any potential pressure on timber harvests to cover costs. They’ll update the ten year management plan, expand the advisory group, establish a Tribal Advisory Council and change up timber management plans focusing on smaller trees only.
We keep hearing about staffing shortages across industries. It’s hitting firefighters in Calif. as they are calling for help from across the globe. But there are programs utilizing prison inmates, who upon being released are getting hired permanently. But a new report says that hasn’t helped as much as was hoped for. The Associated Press reports a $30 million effort has only been able to offer jobs to a little over 100 firefighters, just about a third of the inmates who applied. Inmates only earn a few bucks a day when they’re not professionals, but after they get out, they can take part in a training program. The U.S. Forest Service reports being down by about 1,200 firefighters, 500 in California, and the Interior Department needs to find 450 firefighters, 150 in California.
The state Assembly has greenlighted a bill by Sen. Bill Dodd related to prescribed fires. The burns help clear brush out, Dodd says, which he touts as a cost-effective way to “minimize the intensity and scope of wildfires”. His bill would encourage more prescribed fires and adds $20 million dollars to the work. Controlled burning has been used for hundreds of years to clear dead and dying trees and brush, so it they don’t add fuel to fires. The bill would create standards for a fund to help cover the costs. It’s paired with another Dodd bill from last year to protect landowners and prescribed fire managers so they are not liable for fire suppression costs unless they acted with gross negligence.
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