The personal information of around 96 thousand California state workers was compromised after a massive ransomware attack last month. California’s largest employee union says data compromised in the attack may include home addresses, birth dates, Social Security numbers and other information. SEIU Local 1000 officials haven’t said whether or not they paid the ransom. Security experts are assessing just how much data was compromised, and who has been affected.
PG & E is still working to resolve tens of thousands of storm-related power outages in the area. Officials say the bomb cyclone that hit is the “largest single storm event” in the company’s 120-year history. As of Wednesday night, more than 18-thousand customers in Sonoma, Napa, Lake and Mendocino Counties still had no power. Close to 3,000 of those customers are in Mendocino County. And there’s about 900 more in Lake County still waiting for the lights to come back on. Strong winds took down several trees and powerlines in both counties, and crews are still working hard to assess the damage and clean up debris.
PG & E has released updated damage numbers for its equipment in Northern and Central California. Extreme winds from Sunday’s bomb cyclone have damaged more than two-thousand strands of power lines, 357 cross arms at the top of power poles, and 247 transformers. And, about 730 power poles either broke or came down, as of Wednesday night’s update. The totals are from surveys taken in PG & E’s Northern and Central California service area. In Sonoma County, seven roads are still closed thanks to fallen trees and other issues.
Sonoma County leaders say they’re trying to return the county to its pre-pandemic job vacancy rate of about nine-percent. At this week’s Board of Supervisors meeting, officials said that could be achieved by filling 150 vacant positions. Those positions include juvenile hall counselors, jail deputies, behavioral health clinicians and social services workers. In August of 2023, county-funded positions had a 13-percent vacancy rate, which was the highest staffing deficit they’ve seen in at least four years.
The chaos caused by the storms this week in Mendocino County seems to be far from over. Ukiah Valley Fire Authority reports the department is still dealing with a lot in the aftermath. Sunday’s storm left trees and power lines down, and even resulted in the evacuation of a few homes in Ukiah. Mendo Fever reports 3 buildings in Ukiah had to be evacuated after trees fell on them. Varying degrees of damage are keeping those residents from getting back into their homes and apartments. Red and Yellow tags signify whether someone is allowed back into a damaged structure. Red tags mean the building has been damaged so badly it’s not safe to be inside. A Yellow tag can mean some parts of the building are safe, while others are not. There was even a minor earthquake on Sunday, in the Boonville area. According to officials it was a 3.2 magnitude quake, no one was hurt, and it does not appear to have caused any damage.
California State Parks has recommended $6.7 million to the Federal Highway Administration’s Recreation Trails grant program. The money will be earmarked for seven local non-motorized trail projects. In Mendocino County, the Save the Redwoods League of Ukiah will get just over $600,000 to build 534 feet of new trail. The new trail will feature elevated walkways and gathering areas. The money will also go to revegetate some areas of the Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve. The money for the grants comes from the Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021.
Celebrate the Lunar New Year with the Ukiah Branch Library. The library is getting together with Instilling Goodness and Developing Virtue Schools for a community celebration next Friday, the 15th. The celebration starts at 3pm and will welcome in the Year of the Dragon with traditional Chinese Art, performances, and snacks. It’s free and open to the public. Grab more details at MendoLibrary.org.
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