It’s for the birds… that giant Ponderosa pine in Potter Valley, where bald eagles nest, will not be felled. After residents protested for months, PG&E has relented and will not move the nest and take down the tree which is too close to power lines. PG&E says they will instead bury the powerlines to be safe, even though the pine tree is dying and has beetle infestation. But the tree stood strong during recent storms as other trees came down. A property owner nearby had started a GoFundMe campaign so the powerlines could be undergrounded, to save the eagles, which many said probably would not have gone to a new nest.
We are another step closer to the new Mendocino County Courthouse in Ukiah. The state Department of Finance approved of the new construction, but there are still months of regulatory review ahead. The new site is planned for the south side of Perkins Street. The seven-courtroom, 82,000-square-foot building is pegged at a cost of $144 million. It had been $118 million, but supply chain issues have upped the price, not any changes to the project. The builders are still awaiting approvals from the state Public Works Committee, and the state Fire Marshal.
Several community workshops are planned across Mendocino County for a transportation study. The Mendocino Council of Governments (MCOG) is considering the needs and ways to can serve Covelo, Laytonville, Brooktrails, Potter Valley and Hopland, all inland, and rural, with no public transit. All next week are town-halls on the matter. The council is asking residents to attend as they present the findings of the needs assessment and preview potential mobility solutions. Virtual Workshops will be held at the following dates and times:
Brooktrails: February 7, 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Covelo: February 8, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Potter Valley: February 9, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Laytonville: February 9, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
Hopland: February 9, 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Links to the virtual community workshops can be found on the project website at bit.ly/MCOGMobility.
Several fires have been reported across Sonoma County. The Press Democrat reports one fire in Rohnert Park last weekend was started in a garage. Then in Sebastopol, the same sort of debris was in the front yard of a home, Christmas décor, blankets, and trash. Two people died in that fire. A resident of Lucerne and another from Santa Rosa. These two were part of a group of five fires last weekend. Another home in Santa Rosa, and a vacant warehouse also went up in flames, and a home in Petaluma. But local firefighters say they don’t think any of the fires were related, just a coincidence. But they’re investigating, of course.
A resident living near the Navarro River is reporting it looks as though there could be some backup flooding of Hwy 128 east of the Hwy 1 bridge. They reported to the Anderson Valley Advertiser that the sandbar of the river looks to be narrowing, causing the level of the estuary to rise, which could mean flooding by the weekend. The news site also reported from the same reader, the river level and flow looked to be steadily drying up since the atmospheric river storms ended a couple of weeks ago.
The Calif. Legislature is reportedly looking into corruption in the state’s legal marijuana industry. They are having hearings to look into reports of exploitation of farmworkers. They are said to be considering laws to stop trafficking people in for work, which has led to abuse and even worker deaths. This comes after investigations by the Los Angeles Times which showed the legalization of cannabis triggered “political corruption”, explosive growth in illegal grows and worker abuses, including wage theft and “squalid, sometimes lethal conditions”. The articles also showed that even though workers went to the Department of Cannabis Control for help, there were no policies to handle abuse, even though the agency has sworn law enforcement officers.
There are reports that some folks who are getting aid from the state by way of food stamps are losing their benefits due to crime. CalMatters reports millions of dollars were somehow drained from the accounts of unknowing, and needy individuals who depend on cash aid and food stamps they receive on electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards each month. The state is reportedly looking into an upgrade for the way the cards are secured, which could cost $50 million in next year’s budget.
Lake County supervisors are in the money. After several meetings on the matter, the Board are getting a 40% salary increase. They voted in December and earlier this month, so the increases will go into effect in early March. The board voted 4-1 to approve, but Supervisor Bruno Sabatier voted no. The new salary is to match the pay rate from the region, about $63,700 up to just over $89,233. Since the ordinance involves supervisorial pay, it doesn’t go into effect for sixty days, instead of the usual 30 for ordinances. There could still be a challenge to the pay hike though, by referendum. Under state law that requires a petition with 10% of the entire votes cast in Lake County on it. That would appear to be just over 2,000 signatures.
The Clearlake City Council is considering an appeal to a hotel and hear about a possible new skatepark too. At the meeting council members are having a public hearing to hear the appeal of the Planning Commission’s decision last month for a conditional use permit, design review and environmental analysis for a hotel at the old Pearce Field airport property. But the Koi Nation of Northern California is appealing, claiming their consultation process violates the California Environmental Quality Act. It comes after the City Council had unanimously voted to sell the property to be developed with a Marriott Hotel. Also at Thursday night’s meeting, the council will consider a memorandum of understanding between the county of Lake and city of Clearlake for design costs for the regional skate park in Austin Park.