PM NEWS
The lights are gradually coming back on across Lake County as PG & E crews spent the day checking equipment and lines before flipping the switches to “on”. The utility hopes nearly everyone in the county will be back on by late tonight as the conditions that led to the public safety shutdown have eased. Still, several thousand customers across the PG & E service area are still without electricity heading into the evening.
Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman says his department had no major public safety problems with the power shutoffs, but that there are lessons to be learned:
ALLMAN 01-01 “..on us.” :16
He says the dispatch center did get a few calls from people with concerns, but he thinks most of the angry calls went to PG & E instead. Sheriff Allman also says while the county handled the situation the best it could, it has been a scary few days for residents with fresh memories of the fires of the past couple years.
The shutoff may have had a deadly result.Reports say one man who was on oxygen was found dead in the community of Pollock Pines, east of Sacramento, just minutes after the power went out at his home on Wednesday.
While there have been no reported wildfires in our area, there ARE some serious worries elsewhere in the state today. In Southern California, thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes, there are at least two deaths reported, and parts of major freeways around LA are closed as crews fight to contain several wind-fueled fires there.
The city of Lakeport is getting a cleanup. The city and Lakeport Disposal are planning a community wide cleanup day next Saturday, August 19th. Lakeport residents with proper ID can drop off trash and waste between 9 and 3 in the parking lot near the Fifth Street boat ramp. There are some restrictions—they wont take refrigerators, hot tubs or spas, construction debris or hazardous waste. There is information about the event on the city’s website.
Firefighters from CAL FIRE’s Mendocino unit will be on the street on Saturday for a good cause. They’ll be taking part in the annual “Fill the Boot” fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. You’ll spot them with boots out at the corner of North State Street and Ford Road in Ukiah from 10:00 AM until 2:00. All the loose change and bills tossed in by passing drivers and pedestrians will go to MDA’s programs and to research into neuromuscular diseases. The fill the boot drive has been going on for the last 65 years.
Governor Newsom has signed two major gun control bills. The first a bill that will let more people ask a court to take away guns from others they think are a threat. The law, which takes effect in January, will allow schools and employers to petition the court to request guns be taken from someone considered a danger to themselves or others. Current law only allow law enforcement and immediate family members to do that. The governor says it makes sense to do everything possible to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them. Several other states have similar laws on the books, but California’s will be the broadest in the US. Also today, the governor signed a bill that extends the state limit on gun purchases to one a month to include long guns, as well as handguns. Opponents plan to challenge the expanded sales limit in court, saying the law would violate the second ammendment.
