The jury was waiting, in the case of a couple of former officers of a local gun club, then a no contest plea. The two defendants Audie Lee Norbury and Penny Renate Mathis, both of Ukiah, had been accused of stealing from the Ukiah Rifle and Pistol Club. Their plea for a misdemeanor, gets them 2 years of probation. They agreed to the deal and were given credit for time spent in jail and have to pay $10,000 restitution to the gun club and waived any claim of right to recovered property alleged by the prosecution to be stolen. They had a co-defendant, also from Ukiah, Jack Mathis who was found guilty last year of possessing two assault weapons. He got probation.
Reports of a car into a utility pole turns into a murder case. The CHP got a call Sunday morning to N. Lakeport for the crash. The Lakeport Fire Protection District also on the scene found 29 year old Yancy McCloud Jr., of Nice unresponsive. They tried CPR with no luck, and he was pronounced dead at a hospital. But they found his injuries didn’t match that of a car crash, but probably from a physical altercation with Wynona Starr Anderson, also of Nice, his girlfriend. The CHP and police started a homicide investigation, and gathering information discovered McCloud had been murdered, blaming Anderson, and arrested her. She was already in Jail for a DUI, driving without a license and an unrelated misdemeanor. She’s now held in jail on $1,000,000.00 bail.
A firefighter has died working in the Mendocino National Forest on the August Complex. The Forest Service only put out the report on the death yesterday, and said another firefighter was being treated, but no other information was available.
In Mendocino County, the cases of coronavirus keep coming. 8 more cases reported last night, after more than 20 over the weekend for a total of 704.
Not looking good for a last minute bill in the state Assembly to address climate change projects, including money for wildfire fights. The bill was introduced last week and the legislative session ended yesterday, some lawmakers say they didn’t have enough time to go over it as it was amended. There were those in both parties who were against the bill. The bill to help prevent more catastrophic wildfires and provide millions of dollars to restore some state parks, thin forests and conservation projects too. The Assembly Speaker’s office says leadership was not comfortable throwing the legislation in at the last minute and that much of the bill was for fire prevention instead of immediate suppression of fires already burning; and it could wait until the legislature is back in January.
The settlement and trial setting conference for a man accused of murder has been delayed. Mavrick Fisher due back in court next week and his jury trial’s set for the end of the month after it was supposed to happen in May. He’s accused of murdering his friend, Grant Whitaker from Mackinaw, Illinois. The two traveled to Calif to reportedly start a deaf camp together. A deaf media outlet reported Whitaker was missing last summer. His body was found on a remote property in Scotts Valley. The body found after the Lake County Sheriff’s office got a tip about Whitaker’s car possibly being found near a Dollar General store. Fisher reportedly admitted to the murder and directed police to Whitaker’s body. Bail has been denied.
You can go get a drive thru test at the Redwood Hotel Casino. Starting tomorrow, and weekly on Wednesdays, the Yurok Tribe is offering the COVID-19 tests in the Casino’s parking lot in partnership with Del Norte County. The tests are free from 9am and 2pm until the end of the month. It’s for both tribal and non-tribal residents, who currently have no symptoms. Those with symptoms have to go to their regular doctor. For assistance with registering for a screening, please call Melissa Jarnaghan at 707-457-7201 or email her at mjarnaghan@yuroktribe.nsn.us. Individuals can register at the site too if there are open appointments.
The August Complex has had a fatality. A firefighter has died and another injured, but there’s not a lot more information either. The fire’s been burning in the Mendocino National Forest, partly in the Grindstone and partly in the Upper Lake Ranger Districts. It started, like many other fires, with lightning and has been burning for 2 weeks. The fire has burned 236,288 acres and is 20 percent contained. It’s burning on the Ranch Fire scar, part of the Mendocino Complex 2 years ago.
A man from Clearlake has been sent to prison for a fire outside Clearlake Oaks in June. 27 year old Jose Feliciano Medina Jimenez got four years for arson on forest land and resisting executive officers by means of threat or violence. He also has to register as an arson offender for life. The fire reported June 20th, then Jimenez was seen waving his arms on Hwy 20 to get attention. When he was approached by deputies and Cal Fire, they say he had a large knife and when they commanded him to drop it, he didn’t listen. They say he continued thrashing around and resisting once in the patrol car. He was also found to be high on meth at the time. He later admitted he started the fire and was paranoid from the drugs. The fire burned six acres. Police also found and yanked some marijuana plants nearby during the investigation.
Containment growing and forward progress holding on the LNU Lightning Complex. The fire burning for two weeks after thousands of lightning strikes start hundreds of fires across the state, burning more than 375,200 acres. The fire is 66 percent contained. The fire made up of the largest fire, burning near Middletown still, the Hennessey, it’s burned over 317,600 acres and is 64-percent contained; then the fire burning in Sonoma County, the Walbridge fire west of Healdsburg, at just under 55,000 acres is now 70-percent contained. And the last which is nearly 100% contained, the Meyers fire north of Jenner, has burned 2,360 acres. 3,375 structures are still threatened, 1,209 were destroyed and another 193 damaged. Eight homes in Lake County were destroyed, the rest in Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.
Those still in danger of losing their home to eviction or foreclosure have another reprieve. The Gov. announced he’s signed legislation protecting millions because of the blowback from the pandemic. Gov. Newsom says tenants declaring they are unable to pay their rent, either in full, or partially will get help. He says it will also help homeowners not be foreclosed on for nonpayment. The Gov along with Senate and Assembly leaders made the announcement last week that tenants and homeowners cannot be thrown out of their homes before Feb. 1st because of financial hardship since the pandemic started. There are some restrictions though, like paying 25% in January.
Smokey skies persist As the Red Salmon and August Complex fires continue burning, with smoke drifting into Mendocino County. The Air Quality Management District has warned residents to stay indoors and the National Weather Service says the unhealthy air should continue into next week. The smoke could also start drifting into Humboldt County as winds shift and calm. The forecast calls for unhealthy air quality for most of Mendocino and Humboldt Counties today. The smoke is expected to stay stagnant until the fires are under control. It could cause eye and throat irritation, coughing and even problems breathing. As always those with respiratory diseases, heart disease, young children and older adults are most at risk.
More evacuation warnings have been lifted in Lake County put into place because of the LNU Lightning Complex. The area north of Butts Canyon Road, east of Hwy 29, south of Morgan Valley Road and west of the Lake/Napa County line seem to be safe along with a couple areas east of Hwy 53 and south of Hwy 20. Another fire in the Mendocino National Forest has killed a firefighter and injured another. Not a lot more info so far from the Forest Service except that it happened on the August Complex burning in the Grindstone and Upper Lake Ranger Districts. The fire has burned nearly 243,00 acres, growing about 6,000 acres since yesterday and remains just 20 percent contained. The fire was more than 3 dozen fires that all merged. The latest is the 5,500 acre Hopkins fire which is about 25 miles northeast of Covelo in the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness and the Shasta Trinity National Forest. And LNU Complex is at 69 percent containment.
