Two men from Colorado have been arrested in Fort Bragg for multiple sex crimes. Fort Bragg police say Jeffery Wiggins had a felony nation-wide extraditable warrant out of Colorado for various sex crimes with children. Local police found the guy was in Fort Bragg with his brother, Steven. Officers found Jeffery and arrested him without incident. Brother Steven Wiggins was also found to be a registered sex offender out of Colorado, so he was arrested too because he was out of compliance with sex offender registration requirements in Calif. The two were taken to Mendocino County Jail. Jeffery will be extradited to Colorado.
It’s been a very dry year. The US Army Corp of Engineers says it’s the third driest year for Lake Mendocino. The year runs from Oct. 1, 2019 to Sept. 3, 2020. By Sept. 3rd the Corps says, the Russian River Basin had only received about 37.5 inches of precipitation, that’s about 48 percent of average. The records for the Lake go all the way back to 1894. 1977 was the driest ever Water Year, and 1924 was the second driest, then this year. The National Weather Service in Eureka says we won’t be seeing rain for the next week at least in Ukiah.
Preparations for voting in the midst of a pandemic in Mendocino County. The Mendocino Voice reports the Assessor-Clerk-Recorder Katrina Bartolomie says they’ve already received around 32,000 ballots, either by mail or drop boxes from about 53,697 registered voters or 59% of all registered voters. Bartolomie says poll workers will wear facial coverings, and those voting will also be required to do the same and socially distance. There will be free masks there just in case. They can only have 25% capacity indoors and will sanitize each booth after each voter. The Mendocino County Public Health Officer Dr. Andy Coren also spoke to the news site saying it’s also important to use hand sanitizers before and after voting in person and if you’re in isolation or quarantine to stay away from the polls.
Ballots have been arriving in the Mendocino Election Division since they left there at the beginning of October. The Assessor reports more than 32,000 ballots have arrived as opposed to years past which averaged about 9,000 early ballots. But we’re in the midst of a pandemic. Mendocino Voice reports the Assessor says they have a new vote counting system which is expediting counting which could mean faster results than ever before. They expect to have their first tally just after the polls close at 8pm. All in person ballots will be brought to the election office in Ukiah. Any remaining mail in ballots can be dropped off at post offices or polling sites. Ballots that are mailed must have today’s date post-marked on them.
Proposition 18 appears on the ballot to allow 17-year-olds to vote in a primary election and special elections if they’re going to be 18 by that general election. California would not be the first, in fact there are 18 other states along with Washington, DC, who allow 17-year-olds to vote in primaries. It’s also the sixth time it’s being considered in the state. Lawmakers have previously tried but this is the first year voters get a voice on the matter. Those against the idea say minors don’t have “no real-world experience” and decisions may be influenced by teachers or their families.
Thousands have already voted in Lake County due to the pandemic. Polls are open for in person voting until 8 p.m. You can also bring your voted mail in ballot to a polling station or any post office, watch for the deadline on the drop boxes at post offices. In Lake County, there are 22 polling sites, no different than in the past. The Registrar of Voters has put COVID-19 safety guidelines in place and will be working out of the Board of Supervisors chambers today so they can be sure they have enough space for social distancing for in-person voting. You can still register to vote today today, you will get a provisional ballot. Tallying will begin at the time the polls close at 8.
Law enforcement across the country and locally area talking about beefed up patrols and what sort of enforcement actions will be taken if there’s any unusual behavior on election day. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office reported yesterday they will have more patrols around polling sites. Lakeport Police, the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center also put out messages. There are no known threats right now, but they are asking for the public’s help to make sure anyone who thinks they can disrupt the election is reported.
A report has been released on that 5 car crash on Highway 29 that killed a man from Clearlake. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office identified the victim as 32 year old Anthony Wolfsmith. They say the crash last Thursday happened when Wolfsmith, in a Honda pickup headed north on Highway 29, south of C Street was hit head on by someone on the opposite side of the highway. That started a chain of cars crashing into the head on crash. The man who reportedly came from the other direction into Wolfsmith and another driver had minor injuries. 2 others were uninjured and Wolfsmith died. All five had on their seatbelts and drugs and alcohol are not suspected as factors.
We just started Daylight Saving Time and Congressman Jared Huffman says he’s all for having it year round. Huffman says he’s co-sponsoring a bill with Republican Rob Bishop a Congressman from Utah. He says if they can get it passed and signed by whoever our next President is, it would allow states to keep daylight saving time all year round. Huffman told the Times Standard newspaper last weekend he’s been wanting to get this done for years, and says back when he was a state lawmaker someone talked him out of trying. Huffman says their bill was passed with bipartisan support.
You can bring your ballot to the polls or vote in person. Everyone in Calif. got a mail in ballot due to the coronavirus pandemic. If you come to the polls without your vote by mail ballot, you may have to vote provisionally, according to the Elections Office. Also you can still register to vote today and vote with a Provisional ballot. Polls opened at 7 and stay open until 8 p.m. There’s a drop box in Ukiah in front of the Mendocino County Administration Building, and others in Willits, Fort Bragg, Boonville, Point Arena and Covelo.
A group in Lake County trying to get a referendum on the ballot against COVID-19 safety requirements has failed. The Board of Supervisors first approved the guidelines in August, but a group against wearing masks or getting vaccines who the Record Bee reports are mostly in the south part of the county, turned in 2,555 signatures. They were checked by the Registrar of Voters 1,712 signatures were valid and 843 were not. The Board voted last month to send the referendum to the registrar of voters to check the signatures and some of the group members reportedly threatened Supervisors Moke Simon and Tina Scott with a recall if they didn’t repeal the ordinance.
The Gov. says there will be more testing and even gave the state until November 1st to expand testing sites. A new laboratory opened in Santa Clarita last Friday which the governor says can process 40,000 tests a day now and eventually can do 150,000, double what the state does. The $25 million price tag for the lab because the federal government had not helped. The Gov. says instead of finger pointing and thinking about what could have been across the nation, his administration decided to take matters into their own hands. The Gov. had a nose-swab test during a site visit Friday.
Fires and their ensuing evacuations led to more cases of Covid-19 in Sonoma County. And health officials report six more people have died due to the pandemic for a total now of 142. This time it was four women and two men, five older than 65 and two of them lived in senior care facilities. One victim died at a local hospital. Health officials say local evacuations during the Glass fire contributed to the spread of the virus, 22 people got the virus during the evacuations. Some, the Press Democrat reports were in people who stayed with friends or relatives who had the virus, or in evacuees who infected those they were staying with. A couple dozen people who were infected had to be evacuated due to the fire too. The Public Health Officer says she thinks it’s an underestimate, because they’re not done contact tracing.
There are 22 million registered voters so the secretary of state’s office is warning it could be a long night. There’s less money in the state budget for elections, even though the Governor had set aside a bunch of money for this election. There are growing numbers of people who are absentee voters. It’s grown a lot since the last presidential election too due to a law allowing traditional polling places to close and instead mail every registered voter a ballot. The ballot delivery deadline has also been extended this year, due to the pandemic, to Nov. 20th — 17 days after election day. The polling places that are open, and the last pick up of ballot boxes happens by 8pm with tallies coming in after that. There’s 30 days until any election is certified.
A Fort Bragg woman accused of sex crimes against a child in connection to her own toddler. Mendo Fever reports reviewing court papers against 20-year-old Lena Reid who’s accused with a man of lewd and lascivious acts, producing child pornography, and distributing the material exploiting her own 2-year-old. The man accused with her is Ramon Miguel Flores of Ukiah who faces possession of child pornography and violation of parole charges. Court documents say it happened from last December until May of this year. Reid faces “Sexual Acts with a Child 10 Years or Younger” charges, “Using a Child to Produce Pornography” and “Lewd and Lascivious” Acts on a Child under 14, all felonies. She also faces five misdemeanor charges. The two are due in court tomorrow.
