Any residents of Humboldt County with damage due to earthquakes have a reprieve on the deadline to file for disaster loans. The Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Disaster Loan Outreach Center is moving to Rio Dell until a week from this Friday, Feb. 10th. Starting today, the will be at the Rio Dell Community Resource Center. Homeowners, renters, business owners and some non-profits may be able to get low-interest disaster loans through the SBA for losses due to earthquakes. The last report was that more than $3 million in disaster loans had already been issued to Humboldt County residents and more than $330,000 for businesses for earthquake repair and recovery purposes.
In person application assistance is available at the SBA Disaster Loan Outreach Center. Applicants may also apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information and download applications at https://disasterloanassistance.sba.gov/.
Siren tests are planned for Lake County. In one week from today, at 11 am, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office is doing a full-length test of the warning sirens in Middletown, Anderson Springs, Cobb, Loch Lomond, and Kelseyville Riviera (formerly known as the Clear Lake Riviera for a full three minutes. They remind, if there was an actual emergency, the siren is a way to alert the entire community to danger from a catastrophe like a wildfire, earthquake, or other hazard. There will be monthly tests on the first Monday of the month from March until January, those are :30 seconds long. The yearly February is the only 3 minute activation. There will be a message that goes out through LakeCoAlerts and Nixle to remind residents about the test.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office encourages all residents of Lake County to sign up for LakeCoAlerts at: https://lakesheriff.com/869/LakeCoAlerts and follow both the Office of Emergency Services and the Lake County Sheriff on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/lakecountyOES and http://www.facebook.com/lakesheriff.
The City of Ukiah is getting almost 54 million dollars for its Water Recycling Project. The money will help the city expand the capacity for the recycled water project from 1,000 acre-feet per year to 1,500 acre-feet. The recycled water is used at parks, on sports fields, and at schools, and for agricultural and industrial uses to help take the load off the Russian River and Lake Mendocino and groundwater resources. The city built three phases of the system in 2019 with funding from the State Water Resources Control Board, with $9 million in grants and a low interest loan. Now phase 4 is in the works since more grant money came through.
ChargePoint, a manufacturer of EV chargers is working with the Mendocino Council of Governments (MCOG) to find where it would be beneficial to install EV chargers. The company has received a “Rural Electric Vehicle” grant from the California Energy Commission to place 25 chargers in the greater Ukiah/Redwood Valley/Hopland area. There will be five sites for the chargers, including a fast-charging hub in central Ukiah. Each site will have around five chargers. The Council of Governments is asking the community where they think the chargers should go at virtual workshops. The first is Thursday, February 16 at 5:30 p.m. To attend this workshop, visit http://www.mendocinocog.org and click on the Zoom meeting link which will be posted by February 9th.
Additional opportunities for public input will be available beginning February 15, 2023 through an interactive survey and map on MCOG’s website, where individuals may pin their preferred charging location and provide comment. Comments may also be mailed to the MCOG office at 525 S. Main Street, Suite G; Ukiah, CA 95482, or emailed to lellard@dbcteam.net.
The bridge for residents to get out of the Creekside Cabins RV Park, and away from the sinkhole and other damage from floods near Willits, is gone. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office reports residents were given some time Friday morning to evacuate, since the facility was declared a “public health menace”. A temporary bridge was taken out Friday morning. Some residents had to leave belongings behind, others were able to get out. United Disaster Relief of Northern California was helping residents leave, and gave some basic necessities. As of last Thursday night, the county’s Social Services department said out of the 27 households at the park, 13 were given vouchers to an alternate RV Park, five checked in to those sites, two households were given hotel vouchers and checked in. Three more reported to the county, they had other plans and eight did not report anything to the county, or ask for help.
Student housing will be added at three Cal State campuses – CSU Dominguez Hills, Cal Poly Humboldt, and San Francisco State. The Cal State Board of Trustees gave the green light for three projects which had already been funded through the Higher Education Student Housing Grant program. Lawmakers awarded over $492 million for nearly 3,100 affordable units on nine campuses last year due to the continued high price of rent, and the crunch of no housing. The majority of CSU campuses don’t give a guarantee to incoming students they will have a place to live. Cal Poly Humboldt will have almost 1,000 more beds, SF State is using their money for a health center and dining space for now, and dorms by the end of 2024. And at Dominguez Hills, they’re getting a six-story residence hall and a one-story dining facility.
More time has been give to residents who live in high fire areas on the draft fire hazard severity zone map. Cal Fire is giving more comment time on the new map, after groups said there wasn’t enough time or clarity. The League of California Cities and California State Association of Counties complained so Cal Fire obliged. So now the public comment period is until April 4th, instead of this Friday, February 3rd. This replaces the map created in 2007 for the State Responsibility Area, or SRA, managed by Cal Fire, which they call officially the “unincorporated, rural areas, where wildfires tend to be frequent.” At the same time the Board of Supervisors, Lakeport Fire Protection District chief and some residents said the new map may need some revising because of challenges already getting fire insurance.
Lake County is getting much needed road work. Millions of dollars have been approved from the California Transportation Commission. Almost a billion dollars was approved last week for the state. The Caltrans Director says this will help shore up infrastructure and help to bolster transit and active transportation options. Lake Co News reports about $21 million to Lake County and about $34 million to Mendocino County. Plus, more to neighboring counties for hazardous tree removal.
A young man from Lakeport has been arrested after reports of a string of burglaries and thefts. Police say 18-year-old Jordan Alger was connected to a series of crimes over the last several weeks. Police say there were two vehicles, stolen items worth thousands of dollars that included tools, firearms and more. Police had several officers on the case and arrested the teen for burglary, conspiracy, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. They also say he’s a suspect for five other cases.
A man from Fort Bragg who was about to go to trial for committing sex acts on a minor has decided to admit guilt instead. Antonio David Borrero-Ginel was supposed to be in court today, but then changed his not guilty plea, and admitted sex acts on a child under 10 years of age. That means he faces 15 years to life in prison. He also pleaded guilty to another felony, lewd and lascivious acts on a child, which tacks on another three years. Now the case goes to the Adult Probation Department for a sentencing recommendation. That will be used to determine the sentence. Borrero-Ginel is due back in court March 23rd for formal sentencing in Ukiah.