A public manual tally for the Lakeport Fire Protection District Special Election is set. The Lake County Registrar of Voters office says any voters, observers or other members of the public can attend about a week after the special election on Thursday, May 16th starting at 9:00 a.m. The registrar’s office says they’ll select the precinct(s) for the manual tally randomly the same day. They’re also reporting there will be a test of the ballot tabulation software for the May 7th election. The Logic and Accuracy Test will be next Thursday, April 25th at 11:00 AM in the Registrar of Voters office. Anyone interested is invited to observe the test.
If you need to get rid of old meds, this Saturday, a no questions asked drop-off. There’s also a free community event for kids and information will be handed out to keep your family safe. The event at the Coyote Valley Gym in Redwood Valley from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday with a Basketball Tournament too. It’s hosted by Safe Rx Mendocino and the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians Education Department and sponsored by Mendocino County Public Health, Mendocino County Youth Project, the Arbor Drug Free Communities Coalition and local businesses.
Input needed by the Mendocino National Forest for a proposed restoration project in the Ranch Fire burn area on the Upper Lake Ranger District. The proposed project area in the Wildland Urban Interface on the north and east shores of Clear Lake. They will be taking out fire torched trees, look to improve forest health and promote desired conditions. The forest service working in collaboration with FireScape Mendocino, the Forest Service Regional Ecology program and the Pacific Northwest Research Station. There’s an open house for the public, Thursday, May 9th. Specific details about time and location will be released at a later date.
Information about the area, purpose and need and proposed action can be found on the forest website at: gurdahl.
California regulators questioning the new leaders of PG&E and their experience moving forward during bankruptcy and beyond. The California Public Utilities Commission reportedly peppering one of the board members with questions about the qualifications of the new CEO and 10 brand new board members. The questions for veteran PG&E board member Richard Kelly about everyone else’s safety qualifications. This at a commission meeting in San Francisco where the commissioners voiced concern about experience of the newcomers building corporate safety programs. The new CEO comes from the Tennessee Valley Authority, a publicly owned utility.
Celebrating 125 years with the Lakeport Fire Dept. Back in 1884, the fire boys started fighting fires locally. Lake Co News reports on the milestone for the Lakeport Fire Protection District on its 125th anniversary. The news site reporting the State Legislature passed a resolution to honor the district with Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry securing the legislature’s highest honor for the dept. And McGuire came to the station to present the framed resolution to the interim Chief, district firefighters, staff, and board members during a ceremony at the district’s headquarters Station 50 in downtown Lakeport.
A massive salary for the new CEO of PG&E. William or Bill Johnson’s getting a base salary of $2.5 million a year, plus he’s getting a one-time transition payment of $3 million the first day on the job. All of this made public in documents filed by PG&E with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Johnson’s agreed to run the utility for at least three years. He’s leaving as the CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority, a public utility. Johnson’s also getting stock in PG&E worth millions more. 65% of his salary will be based on safety metrics, 25 percent on PG&E’s financial performance and 10 percent on customer satisfaction.
Some Northern Calif. companies apparently getting away without paying federal taxes. A new report shows three of the Bay Area’s Fortune 500 companies — Chevron, Netflix and Salesforce didn’t pay any federal taxes last year. The report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal think tank also shows Chevron and Netflix got more than $200 million in tax rebates altogether. It also says Chevron made $4.5 billion in domestic income in 2018 and got a $181 million rebate. Netflix made $856 million in domestic income and got a $22 million rebate. The other side of the coin though, Facebook also in the Bay Area, paid $1.7 billion in federal income taxes on $8.8 billion in domestic profits. And Google paid $2.1 billion in state and federal income taxes on $15.8 billion in domestic income.
The Ukiah City Council to consider an agreement on how much waste the sewer plant can take. The capacity to be discussed at the regular council meeting tonight on the Ukiah Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant. They’re also considering which projects can be approved in their jurisdictions. It’s all apparently been going on for months, since the settlement of the lawsuit between the two sides. Some discrepancies between what the city and Sanitation District think the sewer plant can hold, an agreement on what the capacity was a requirement of the settlement agreement. The agreement discussion tonight after the budget workshop at 5:15 p.m.
Several grants being released by the state. California Volunteers and the Office of the Governor have nine grants for emergency preparedness. The Gov. announced the campaign during his state of emergency declaration on increased wildfire risks March 22nd. There’s $8 million from Cal OES for nonprofits for a half dozen “target counties” including Lake County. The money to organize for vulnerable and underserved communities so they can come up with preparedness strategies that suit the area’s unique needs and challenges. For more on the $50M in grants from the joint campaign between California Volunteers and the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) you can visit the California Volunteers’ website.
A green light for the zones of benefit in the Kelseyville area. The Lake County Board of Supervisors gave the idea the thumbs up at their meeting yesterday. Supervisor Rob Brown presented the idea last fall for the four benefit zones so money’s brought in from community members to reduce vegetation that might contribute to damaging wildfires. Lake Co News reports the new benefit zones cover 5,000 lots in the Clear Lake Riviera, Buckingham, Riviera West and Riviera Heights, and lots across from them too. Property owners contribute a one-time payment of $100 a lot for less than one acre, $200 for lots from one to five acres, and $300 for lots of five acres or more. That’s for cleanup, with the money being recouped thru liens.
A new study shows men who have beards can carry more germs than the average dog. The study author in Switzerland, apparently tested the facial hair of men and fur from dogs of various breeds. The researcher tells the BBC there was a significantly higher bacterial load in the beards than there was in the dogs’ fur. Some of the men even tested positive for some microbes that pose a human health threat. They didn’t specify what that was, but experts say men should probably consider shampooing their beards regularly.
