A man from Covelo ended up in the hospital after an attack by a pack of dogs. 26-year-old Mario Montes says nine dogs attacked him Monday while he was walking to get some food from a local restaurant. He says his walk on Tabor Lane was met by the dogs who all surrounded him, biting his legs. He says he punched three of them in the face and they finally ran away. You can see pictures of his legs riddled with puncture wounds on Mendo Fever. The news site reports the Director of Mendocino County’s Animal Care Services had one of his officers meet the victim at the hospital. But they don’t know who owns the dogs. Animal Protection also called Round Valley Police because they are supposed to enforce the animal control ordinance. Someone else was attacked by a dog last month too. Also in Covelo.
The Anderson Valley School District is hosting a College and Career Dinner. It’s happening next Tuesday evening at 5 pm at the Junior/Senior High School. They’ll have dinner served as attendees learn about how to get high school credits for college, college prep and career options like apprenticeships and career technical programs. Parents and students from fourth grade on up are encouraged to attend. But call first to your school to let them know you will be there so they have enough food. They have nearly 200 reservations already. The deadline for reservations is this Thursday at 3:45 p.m.
The Mardi Gras in Mendocino County went off without a hitch. Folks were out Saturday night in the town of Ukiah at the County’s economic, political and government center. The yearly celebration locally for Mardi Gras benefits St. Mary’s School with as much as $80,000 raised in one night. The money helps offset tuition for local families. Local baker Zack Schat was there cooking for what’s reported as a delicious dinner for 450 attendees.
It’s not what it seems… A longtime local moving from Mendocino County to Hawaii needs your help. But it’s not about money for John Terwilliger, the former owner of the Elk Store. He needs help traveling to Hawaii and he will even pay your airfare…. What? John is on a fixed income and has enough to get someone over to Hawaii, help him settle into his new retirement spot, and get back. He doesn’t drive after a recent stroke. If you can help, call John Terwilliger (707) 353-0125
Congresswoman Barbara Lee is joining the crowded field to run for Senator Diane Feinstein’s seat after the 89-year-old long time politician announced her retirement. Lee posted a video to Twitter mentioning her background, her platforms like championing protections for survivors of domestic violence and being the only member of Congress to vote against military force after 9-11. Lee is also the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. She’s up against firebrand Democratic Congresswoman Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, the lead prosecutor in then-President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial.
The Legislature will consider a new bill to mandate the California State University system give employees a full semester off for parental leave after a birth, adoption or first fostering a child. The bill would affirm and solidify the commitment by the state to support parents and the well-being of families. That’s the word by the Assemblymember who introduced the Legislation, Dawn Addis, D-Morro Bay.
A state lawmaker has put forth a bill that would require all-gender restrooms in schools. Democratic Senator Josh Newman of Fullerton’s bill would mean all K-12 schools in the state have to provide students a way to use an all-gender restroom during school hours. Right now schools are required to give access to students consistent with their gender, but it’s not explicitly noted there must be gender-neutral restrooms anywhere. Newman’s bill, SB 760, looks to change that. He says “schools should provide a safe and inclusive environment for all students… so they can thrive academically, socially and emotionally”. Newman is the chair of the Senate’s education committee.
Congressman John Garamendi has returned from a trip to Ukraine. The Northern Calif. congressional member was at the border with Poland to check on weapons at the front lines. He says there have been concerns that American equipment was not getting to its destination to help Ukraine fight off Russian soldiers. But Garamendi says that was not what he saw with his own eyes. He says a plane landed and offloaded around 20 tons of weapons, rockets, artillery shells and much more.
We may soon have a new state mushroom. We don’t have one now, but there’s a bill being considered to make the Golden Chanterelle, only found under oak trees in California, as the state mushroom. The fungi recently picked in a poll put out by a nonprofit group in Berkeley. It beat five other choices winning 39-percent of the vote. The Chanterelle is often used by chefs and home cooks. Other state symbols include a bird, the Calif. Quail, or Valley Quail and of course, our flower is the California poppy.
A “Shelter Crisis”. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors has unanimously voted to put up managed encampments for the unsheltered. The area would be secured and fenced and located at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial building and, on the county’s, administrative campus. Both are county-owned. If it goes as planned, there could be as many as 80 tents spread across the parking lots at both spots. The county is apparently trying to rid itself once and for all of the unsanctioned homeless encampments that keep appearing along the Joe Rodota Trail in Santa Rosa.
People are still skedaddling out of California. The population was down by more than 500,000 people between April 2020 and July 2022. The amount leaving has surpassed the amount coming in by almost 700,000. The decrease was second only to New York, which lost about 15,000 more people than California, according to census data. The COVID19 pandemic really had the population sinking in Calif, more than other parts of the country. Experts say the main reason is high housing costs, and long commutes, crowds, crime and pollution like most larger urban centers. Plus being allowed to work remotely has also changed the data.
The local communications service provider known as Mendocino Community Network (MCN), which is owned by the Mendocino Unified School District, says there won’t be any more Fusion plan available to new subscribers. They will however make the plan available for the current subscribers already getting Fusion plan services. It comes as a new deregulation from the FCC takes effect which means larger networks, like AT&T don’t have to provide wholesale prices for unbundled network pieces for local exchange purchasers.
The USDA’s Forest Service says they’ve completed their aerial survey of the of tree mortality. The 2022 Aerial Detection Survey Summary Report shows “estimates of tree mortality and damage and depict broad mortality trends.” The Lake County Board of Supervisors recently proclaimed a local emergency because of Pervasive Tree Mortality. Then Napa and Mendocino Counties followed with their own States of Emergency. The report from the USDA shows a troubling trend in Douglas Fir trees dying off… same for Tanoak, but not nearly as much. True fir, California and Shasta red, white and grand fir also effected but mostly light to moderate intensity. From 2019 to 2022 it went from 1,000 Acres, 3,000 dead trees to 31,000 Acres, 590,000 dead trees.
Lake County is looking for volunteers for an 8-week training as senior peer counselors. Those who apply would work with Lake County’s seniors who struggle with depression, anxiety and loneliness. Senior Peer Counseling is administered through Konocti Senior Support. Those who are hired as counselors work to give emotional support, by listening and guiding a person through hard times. They could be grieving the loss of a loved one, or a person who is home after receiving medical care and needs to restart their daily lives. Counselors and clients must be at least 55 years of age.
Car insurance is going up. The California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara had approved rate increases after breaks given during the COVID lockdowns. Insurance companies were saying they were losing money, so higher rates for Geico, Mercury and others are creeping in. Customers are seeing the rate hikes with their renewal letters, and the companies aren’t done. More hikes are planned even though some of the companies have not refunded for premium overcharges early on during the pandemic as folks drove less and were in less accidents. The next hikes could be anywhere from 4.5% to as much as 20%.
Redwood Credit Union has given a truck away to a woman at their Lower Lake branch. Two Sundays ago the bank had a truck giveaway at a block party and Alexandra Valencia won the Toyota Tacoma worth $44,000. There were other prizes too for those in attendance. Other finalists won a television, Apple Watch, $500 gift certificate, and more. The credit union got over 2,800 entries from Lake County residents who are new members of RCU, referred a friend, or applied for a loan between July 5, 2022 and Jan. 21st.
The state could be working out more kinks in broadband and how its regulated. Assemblymember Jim Wood has introduced legislation, calling broadband an essential service saying it was realized even more during the pandemic. People need internet for work in an office and at home, for virtual classrooms, to see a doctor and to do their banking. Wood’s bill would regulate necessary functions of broadband, like how strong it is, how reliable its backup power is, blackout prevention, network replacement and, to be prepared for emergencies.
The Yurok Tribe in northern California is teaming up with the U.S. Marshals Service Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Initiative. The tribe was chosen as a pilot location for the Marshal’s plans for public safety issues, especially for missing endangered children. They are conducting virtual and in-person meetings with tribe members and the Marshal Service sharing information, identifying goals, and developing strategies to improving public safety for Yurok Tribe members, and the broader community. The Yurok Tribe is a leader in criminal justice matters related to the Indian community and has led efforts to bring attention to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons.
Another sign up is scheduled by the Mendocino National Forest for its wildland fire training program. Forest staff are registering interested parties at their Chico office. Every year they sponsor about 10 on-call wildland firefighter type-2 hand crews. They help with wildfire suppression locally and nationally for the season, typically May-November. The crews each contain 18-20 team members, a crew boss and three squad bosses. Crewmembers get 10 days of paid training and can then work as sawyers, saw swampers, or firefighters type-1, type-1 trainees and type-2. You have to be 18 years or older to qualify.
Applicants can register for the OC program in advance at https://bit.ly/2023-OC-Fire-Training.
For more information about the OC program, please contact Forest Training Officer Adam Coronado at adam.coronado@usda.gov or by calling the office at (530) 934-3316.