The California Attorney General Xavier Becerra sticking it to the Trump administration nine more times. Yesterday the Democratic Atty. General filed nine lawsuits against President Trump’s administration. Becerra in a parting shot, as he is President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary. Becerra has taken the Trump administration to court 122 times. This latest against several environmental rule changes which Becerra says weaken protections for migratory birds, exempt some clothing washing and drying machines from energy efficiency standards, loosen regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas industry, and relax rules on toxic air pollutants.
A stabbing in Ukiah has left one person dead and another in jail. Deputies reporting to an apartment complex on Laws Avenue yesterday morning. Mendo Fever reports a neighbor said there was police presence outside the Greystone Apartments and yellow crime scene tape was seen on the balcony outside the second-story apartment. She reported being woken up by yelling and saw a handful of detective vehicles, and the coroner van.
The Mayor and Vice Mayor of Fort Bragg putting out a public statement denouncing the recent violence at the US Capitol and across the country. Mayor Bernie Norvell and Vice Mayor Jessica Morsell-Haye’s statement say the peaceful transfer of elected leadership is a core tenet of democracy, adding as public officials their oath is to protect the constitution against enemies both foreign and domestic. They called the US Capitol insurrection a direct assault on democratic processes and the constitution of the United States.
After the state reported some severe allergic reactions to a batch of the Moderna vaccine, Sonoma County has set aside 7,500 doses. Mendocino County apparently administered 100 doses from the potentially harmful lot of the vaccine. Sonoma County says it’s now an obstacle to get 100,000 residents over the age of 65 inoculated. The rest of that batch was put on administration pause by the state’s lead epidemiologist Sunday. Six people in San Diego experienced bad allergic reactions at a vaccination event at Petco Park. All of them reportedly landed in the hospital over a 24-hour period. The state received over 330,000 doses from the lot. The Mendocino County Public Health Officer says since these are new vaccines, these events are not unexpected, and should not stop the public from getting vaccinated.
Several dozen restaurants and wineries in both Sonoma and Napa counties are suing Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s public health officer because of public safety restrictions. The group has named itself Wine Country Coalition for Safe Reopening. The 50 businesses say the latest stay-home order which only allows takeout and delivery service is “draconian.” The group says their aim is to get the outdoor dining and outdoor wine tasting ban lifted calling the restrictions arbitrary and unfair. The group is also seeking financial compensation for unspecified economic losses due to the restrictions.
The state auditor has released a new report saying some of the coronavirus relief money received from the federal government did not reach enough smaller communities. Auditor Elaine Howle says the state finance department’s way of distributing the money was overly generous to several counties, giving them “nearly double the total per person amount of [federal] funding compared with California’s 42 other counties.” Howle says if more money comes to the state this year, it should be distributed in a more equitable way. Howle’s office says the process used by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services was to decide if cities defied state public health orders so they wouldn’t get a share of COVID-19 relief funds and it wasn’t a consistent process.
So many challenges, like across the country, with the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine in Lake County. The Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace in remarks to the Board of Supervisors yesterday as cases continue skyrocketing, almost 200 new cases since Friday. He also reported two new deaths. The county has reported over 2,600 cases of the disease and 30 deaths. Dr. Pace told the board that there was so much virus spreading that if you’re out in the community you’d come into contact with it. He says hospitals are quickly filling up and eight people were in ICU beds, which were also almost filled up. Dr. Pace also filled the board in on vaccinations, inoculating 400 people a week. Dr. Pace says based on the current distribution by the state, it would take until the end of 2022 to vaccinate only half the county.
The Lake County Board of Supervisors has held a special meeting after cases of COVID19 broke records. The board looking to stop in person services for the public to slow the spread. It’s just temporary, but it means county services for the public will be as limited as they were at the beginning of the pandemic. The board had closed its chambers two weeks ago. The County Administrative Officer reported “worsening pandemic conditions in recent weeks“ including more positive cases in county workers too. Also two weeks ago, the board created an ad hoc committee on the pandemic and Worksite Protection Protocol. The committee supporting closing services back down for right now until the pandemic can be reined in.
An ad hoc committee has been created in Clearlake to work on a youth sports complex plan. The city council to create the committee at their meeting tomorrow to consider the 31 acre property the city bought last year for the proposed complex. The council will also discuss concealed weapon permits and discuss an expansion of the Automated License Plate Recognition. That helps cops in criminal cases and to also find stolen vehicles. The meeting is tomorrow online only. You can catch it on the city’s YouTube channel or local cable and Zoom for whoever wants to participate.
Congressman Mike Thompson holding a virtual town hall again on the pandemic. Over nearly a year Thompson has been having guests join him in these town halls. It’ll be tomorrow night at 7p on Zoom and his Facebook page. It’s the second town hall this year and a day after the inauguration of the new President. Thompson’s town hall this week is a general one, with all topics welcome.
One of the new strains of coronavirus has arrived in Humboldt County. The state Department of Public Health made the announcement of the variant Sunday. It was apparently first detected in the state last May, but the agency says since November, the strain is surfacing more, in about 25% of the total cases in Calif. A study into the strain shows it may be more infectious and could affect the efficacy of the vaccines, but the study authors say it needs to be studied more.
A Northern Calif. environmental group says a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule put in place in the last days of the Trump administration may mean extinction for the northern spotted owl. A new rule published last week which stops a protection from logging on 3.4 million acres of the species’ habitat across Northern California, Oregon and Washington. The once protected area includes conservation territories and nearly half of the Pacific Northwest northern spotted owl’s deeply forested, critical habitat. The lands are managed by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. The state though could make a scientific decision on behalf of the owl.
The first day of popup vaccination clinics has taken place in Lake County. The Public Health Officer, Dr. Gary Pace says the region that includes the county is still at a “tipping point.” But Dr. Pace says the demand is higher than the supply of the vaccine. Pace is still calling on the public to stay inside, where a mask, have good hygiene and not to gather for the next several weeks. The comments as 2 more deaths are also confirmed. Right now, as doses allow, those in the Tier 1B, those 65 and older, teachers and school staff can get the vaccine in the county, following the federal and state guidance on distribution.