Sonoma County has landed on the state’s coronavirus watchlist. The Press Democrat reports starting today the state and the county will try to find a way to slow the spread after a surge in new cases in recent weeks. There will be three days of talks, but no word to the public so far about what may come of that, like potential rollbacks of the reopening of the county like indoor dining at restaurants, bars and tasting rooms for at least three weeks. The Board of Supervisors also voted unanimously to look at stricter enforcement of the local health orders, on mask wearing. The Mendocino County Board unanimously approved fines for those caught without a mask of up to $500 for a third offense. But no word from the board about how or who will enforce it.
The Gov. focusing on wildfire season announcing sheltering for wildfire evacuees in hotels will require temperature checks and other changes during the pandemic. The Press Democrat reports there’s a potential for the virus to spread at fire camps and shelters so the Governor’s administration is reimagining sheltering firefighters and evacuees. The news as the state hits almost 300,000 cases. The new evacuation protocols include health screenings when you enter a shelter, more cleaning staff, prepackaged meals, separating sick evacuees from healthy evacuees and medical and mental health professionals on site. Firefighters will also have to physically distance, have remote briefings and alternate shifts to slow the spread of COVID-19 during wildfire season.
The home and workshop of a local artist has burned. Larry Fuentes creative workshop of more than 5 decades was gutted. The fire July 3rd in a van, where someone was inside and burned. They were treated for serious injuries and flown after to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. The artistic work stored there was lost in the fire. Fuente was not injured in the fire that was believed to have spread from the van to his metal warehouse, which pretty much melted. CAL Fire brought out a helicopter as ground crews surrounded the fire so it didn’t spread to surrounding grass and vegetation. Fuente’s last exhibit “New World Hoarder” was held at the Mendocino Art Center Gallery from August to September last year. He’s best known for his 1960 era “Mad Cad” Cadillac which was saved from the fire. The Willits Shake Park has a new shelter.
A local couple Alan Grossman and Deborah Frank paid for a new metal shade canopy. The two are frequent visitors of the park. Grossman says his grandkids go there and he realized then it was too hot not to have shade. He says they were grateful to contribute. On Monday the public works department put the shade structure up. The city donated the labor to erect the structure. Grossman says he’ll continue working with the city to bring other improvements to the park and he’s hopeful the city will plant some trees for further shade.
12 scholarships for students of color at Willits High have been handed out. A GoFundMe campaign was started in June to raise $2,000 for two scholarships, but it turned into $12,000. Holli and Noel Woodhouse of Willits started the GoFundMe. And to raise awareness, Noel biked from Willits High UC Davis, both his alma mater’s. They say several dozen students were nominated by their classmates, teachers, and by community members.
The Lake County Public Health Officer out with an update on the surge of infections. Dr. Gary Pace says there are currently 101 cases of COVID-19 which have been continuing to rise since the end of June. Dr. Pace says the local cases doubled in less than two weeks. There are currently 19 active cases, one in the hospital and another outside the county, also hospitalized. He says there is good news though as the active count was 44 a week ago and its dropped by more than half. He says the local healthcare system could respond and contact tracing was challenging, but Public Health Nurses rose to the occasion. He says the local situation has stayed manageable as opposed to 26 counties on the State’s watchlist. He reminds to wear a mask, avoid large gatherings, socially distance.
Three COVID positive inmates heading back to Lake County. The Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace confirmed the release from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. And the Sheriff confirmed the same to Lake County News, but says they’re not in jail, they’re in the community after an outbreak in the state prison system. The releases are part of a new program that started July 1st. Inmates with less than 180 days on their sentences can be freed. Those who test positive for the virus before they leave get five masks for protection during transfer. And the dept. of corrections says they work with state and local public health and law enforcement so the now former inmates are isolated and then monitored.
The Lake County Public Health Officer says they’re still monitoring cases that came from an outbreak in a farmworker community. About 35 cases arose from workers or their close contacts. Dr. Pace says most of those are now off isolation and no longer considered contagious, and any remaining cases in the cluster are diminishing. He says they quickly identified the outbreak, and tested 300 people who were at high risk for exposure. Dr. Pace says the employers, workers and their contacts did a good job of implementing precautions recommended by Public Health staff which he says seems to have slowed any potential growth. Dr. Pace also says July 4th get togethers may have led to exposure and is encouraging folks get tested. There’s one confirmed case Pace says from a large, private 4th celebration on Tribal lands, where multiple people may have been exposed. This person was not at this celebration, but several of their close contacts were.
The Lake County Public Health Office is warning of a phone scam. Someone calling saying they’re Mr. Smith from the Health Dept. and it’s about mask wearing. A local business owner says they received one such call, the person claiming they would fine the business and close them down if they didn’t make everyone entering the store wear a facial covering. The public health office says they make no such calls and may call a business to remind about safety procedures like masking or social distancing if they receive a complaint about the business. But he says their goal is education and encouraging compliance. There are no fines or other enforcement measures at this time for businesses.
The Mendocino County Board has passed an urgency ordinance. So you can get a ticket for not wearing a mask. CEO Carmel Angelo says they want to first educate as to why it’s important to wear a mask, but they’re also prepared to hand an incident over to the enforcement team.
There’s a new public health officer candidate in Mendocino County. The CEO says they’ll interview the candidate behind closed doors on the 21st. CEO Angelo says for now Dr. Doohan is still the health officer and they had brought in a second Dr. as a deputy to help her, but that was on a temporary basis.
There have been 108 cases of COVID in Mendocino County, 2 are active and there are 2 hospitalizations. Dr. Doohan says she would like schools to open with spacing of 3-6 feet between children.
There was an inmate released to the County and they will be isolated in a hotel alone for 14 days. Any other inmates released will also be put up in a hotel unless they were isolated for two weeks before returning to the county. The Dept. of Corrections started to release inmates with less than 6 months on their sentences July 1st after a surge of cases at the Mens Prison in Chino and subsequently at San Quentin.
Clearlake City leaders say the latest Grand Jury report critical of the tax collectors office is not an accurate depiction of incidents. The Grand Jury report out last week with an area for “Tax Default Auctions” showing what it calls a “sizable ‘backlog’ of property tax default parcels for several years. The jury recommended county administration review and enact “enhanced controls over data dissemination” between departments and to add a couple more trained positions in the Treasurer/Tax Collector’s office for the sole purpose of tax default auctions. The report says there are 5,448 tax defaulted properties. The city council says they’ll release a full, detailed response, but it’s deficient in its finding. Per state law the city must respond within 3 months to a Grand Jury’s findings.
Guidelines about how children will head back to school in the fall in Lake County have been released. The “Back to School Protocols” include mask wearing, temperature taking and physical distancing. The school district Superintendent says they’re looking at other county plans but it may not apply here. They’re taking medical exceptions into account and are reassessing whether the youngest children will need to wear masks. Lakeport has put together an ad hoc committee for the planned reopening of schools.
A jury in Mendocino County has convicted a woman from Crescent City for violating an assault with a deadly weapon charge against her. Vickie Bell’s verdict however was downgraded by the judge to a misdemeanor over the prosecutors objection. So Bell got informal probation and credit for two days of jail time previously served. The case stems from a 911 domestic violence call last November where police found a man down with a chest wound. Police said Bell plunged scissors or a knife into the man for playing video games after she asked him to refrain.
A phone scam reported in Lakeport. Police say the scammer in the form of a robo call advising the person who answers they’re late on their utility bills. They direct the resident to call an 800 number or pay online. Cops say this doesn’t actually happen and the city doesn’t use a third party online payment collector.
