Ukiah Valley Fire Authority says they need more firefighters. The Fire Chief telling the Authority’s Board of Directors a fire reported about a week and a half ago had overlapping calls and they couldn’t respond to them all. Two of those were medical calls. Chief Doug Hutchison told the board almost 40-percent of their calls over the last month were overlapping. Hutchison says it comes down to what kind of level of service they can provide and at what cost. He says he’s looking at hiring volunteers and more paid staff. They’ll also consider revisions to their volunteer policy and training programs so they can have a bigger pool of people to draw from.
The last fire survivors camping at Lake Mendocino have left. The trailers at Kyen Campground after the Redwood Complex Fire. FEMA and Army Corps of Engineers working with the Mendocino County Housing Task Force for the use of the Campground in early 2018 for temporary trailers for those impacted by the fires. Some survivors were there more than a year and during that time other potential campers didn’t use Kyen Campground because it had been closed for wildfire survivors. Now the cleanup there begins to prepare for the 2020 camping season. The Campground won’t be open in the winter due to storms and possible tree limbs coming down onto the campground area.
It’s that time of year, the Salvation Army in Ukiah reaching out to the public to get volunteers for its ‘Red Kettle Campaign’. It starts Nov. 15th and runs thru Christmas Eve. The campaign is one of their main fundraising efforts that helps them support services and programs like feeding the less fortunate, sheltering them, providing toys at Christmas and Xmas dinner for disadvantaged youth. They also host after-school programs for needy kids, and summer programs. Contact Ukiah Service Coordinator Mary Glanders during October at mary.glanders@usw.salvationarmy. org), 707-5101103 or by mail at P.O. Box 2046, Ukiah, CA 95482.
Lake County businesses report being at a loss financially after the PG&E Public Safety Power Shutoff. The Record Bee reports more than 37,000 were in the dark in Lake County. The Grocery Outlet tells the newspaper their losses were in the $100,000 range after five days with no power. The manager of the store says all in all, there were about 30 Grocery Outlet stores affected. The newspaper reporting there were also other retailers and businesses affected. The City Manager of Clearlake Alan Flora says businesses can find resources to help ease the burden of their losses. The owner of Oak’s Red & White says they lost about $20,000 over two days they had to close. Lakeview Market in Lucerne says they probably lost about $8,000 during the shutoff.
Multiple arrests in Clearlake and Lakeport reported. The Record Bee reports a Clearlake Police Officer on routine patrol Sunday saw a pickup not stop at two stop signs. They pulled the driver over, 30 year old John Brott and his passenger. Brott found to be a convicted felon, found with a loaded .45 caliber semiautomatic handgun, so he was arrested on multiple charges. Next, yesterday, a Clearlake police officer on routine patrol saw someone near People Services while it was closed for the day. But two men, Salvatore Barrett and Bogat Cardenascacho had a wooden storage container. They said they were taking it because it was being trashed, but they were arrested for petty theft and prowling. One of them also had metal knuckles on him. And in Lakeport, a driver pulled over for speeding was found with drugs in the car. They found 13 grams of suspected meth, scales and baggies used in the sales of drugs. The driver was arrested for drug sales violations, their name was not released.
One of the biggest hospital companies in Calif. reaching a settlement with the state for overcharging patients. The announcement made yesterday that Sutter Health agreed to a deal with the state to avoid a trial. Lawyers on both sides were apparently preparing their opening statements for today. The California attorney general filed suit last year after a six year long investigation alleging Sutter was using anticompetitive practices, eventually becoming the largest hospital system in Northern California. Sutter Health denies any wrongdoing.
The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services has announced early-warning alerts for Earthquakes is publicly available across California. Starting today, the system’s wider availability coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake that devastated San Francisco. The ShakeAlert warnings will show up on smartphones with the ShakeAlert app. Similar to an Amber Alert. It was developed at UC Berkeley. It of course does not predict earthquakes, but can detect if an earthquake is starting. It also calculates location, intensity and sends alerts to areas where shaking may hit if it’s 4.5 or greater.
The City of Red Bluff letting residents know their water’s safe after a rumor it was unsafe after the PG&E Public Safety Power Shutoff. The City Manager Richard Crabtree says the rumor is false. The water flowed during the shutoff, but Crabtree says it may have been a lower flow than normal, but there was no contamination of the water which is regularly tested by the California State Water Board. He went on to say the city’s water pumps and tanks are properly functioning since the power was turned back on. Most of the city had their lights back on by Thursday night.
Lakeport School District is reporting a new resource officer. District officials and the city’s police dept. report Officer Ryan Cooley has been assigned to the position after Officer Victor Rico was promoted. Rico will reportedly still teach the Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program, known as DARE, for the rest of the school year. Officer Cooley has been with the dept. since July, arriving here from the Modoc County Sheriff’s Office. His first day as the resource officer is today.
A major grant has been announced by the Cobb Area Council. The council getting a $200,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco after natural disasters in the bank’s district. Community First Credit Union helped move the grant thru the application process. Cobb is one of five recipients in the tri-state area. The Chair of the Cobb Area Council on Economic Development says they’re going to use the money to reinvigorate the area and make sure Cobb reemerges stronger than ever after the Valley Fire.
A fire in McKinleyville has gutted a home. The Arcata Fire District reports getting a call to the fire last night before midnight. At first it was thought to be a mobile home fire, but when firefighters responded they found a single story home in flames. They say it was threatening nearby homes too with strong heat and flames reaching towards homes on either side. Firefighters worked to keep the fire contained to the one structure. It took under twenty minutes to bring the fire under control, and fully extinguished in about two hours. The house was apparently empty for a few months, but squatters had been inside since then. Fire investigators say at first glance it seems it came from the garage or the back of the house. There was serious smoke and heat damage on the first floor of the home. Damage was estimated at around $200,000.
The Lake County Sheriff’s office has announced the next Coffee with a Cop. Next Friday, October 25th Dirty Girl Donuts is hosting the event. They’re at 18990 Coyote Valley Road, in Hidden Valley Lake. The event goes from 7-9 AM. The Sheriff’s Office is inviting the public for some conversation, coffee, and donuts and they say it’s a great opportunity for one on one interaction with deputies who are serving in the community.
The Fort Bragg Police Dept. is hosting a drug take back event with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. This is the 18th time in nine years for the local event to prevent pill abuse and theft by residents emptying their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. So they invite you to bring pills for disposal to the Fort Bragg Police Department at 250 Cypress Street. It’s free and anonymous, no questions asked. The department reports across the country last fall, Americans turned in almost 469 tons of prescription meds at nearly 6,300 sites operated by the DEA and nearly 5,000 of its state and local law enforcement partners.
