The man accused of allowing the overcrowding of an Oakland Warehouse that caught on fire looks to be getting house arrest. 36 people died in the 2017 Ghost Ship Fire. Derick Almena, the master tenant of the warehouse was on house arrest due to the pandemic. Now the judge in his ongoing case sentenced him to 12 years in prison, but he probably won’t be in jail. He’s already served some time. And his last trial ended in a hung jury. The judge apologized to families saying she knew they wouldn’t find it acceptable. And families had urged for the judge to say no to the plea deal after Almena pleaded guilty to 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter in exchange for that 12-year sentence.
A plan for thousands of new oil and gas wells in the next 15 years in Kern County has passed that Board of Supervisors. Environmentalists and others had been calling for the board to say no. But the board said it could mean thousands of jobs. Last night they approved the deal supported by the petroleum industry. The new ordinance creates a blanket environmental impact report so as many as 2,700 new wells a year get approved in the oil rich area of the state. They had to revise the ordinance from 2015 because an appeals court ruled that violated the California Environmental Quality Act, and there were no new drilling permits allowed until now.
If you volunteer at a vaccination site, you might get to get yourself a shot, or two. The state has a new program, you can sign up to volunteer at MyTurnVolunteer, an online tool so residents can search for clinics and mass vaccine sites, using your zip code, to find a site who need help. They need medical staff, but also, non-medical staff to help with language support, to greet vaccine recipients, sanitize surfaces, direct traffic, and registration. If you work four or more hours, you’ll be eligible for a vaccine if the clinic administrator allows, even if you’re not in an eligible tier right now.
Police in Fort Bragg have arrested a woman for DUI after she rams her car into a power pole. Police got a call Sunday night to a gray colored Ford Fusion, potentially on fire. On their way they heard the driver was trying to leave the scene. They found the woman, and inside the car, an open container of alcohol. Police say Rhonjene Ammerman appeared drunk and when they ran a check on her driver’s license they found it was suspended for a prior DUI. So they did a field sobriety test and then arrested her for DUI and driving while having a suspended license. She was booked into jail.
A man from Rohnert Park driving on Highway 20 has been in a car accident, with the pickup he was driving going off the road and abutting up to a home near Clearlake Oaks. Lake Co News reports 51 year old Everette Reep was in the crash in his 2020 Ford F350 pickup Saturday night. The CHP reports Reep was headed east on the Highway, west of Garden Court, at an unknown speed when for some reason he went off the road. The truck rolled and partially ejected the man. The truck ended up on its side on the driver’s side against a home and pinned him inside. He had to be extricated by the Northshore Fire Department. The CHP reports he had major injuries and was flown to a Cal Fire station in Clearlake Oaks then to Santa Rosa Memorial in an air ambulance. They say he did not have on a seatbelt at the time of the crash and they do not suspect drugs or alcohol as factors in the accident.
Another online town hall this week with Congressman Mike Thompson. The meeting Thursday night at 7pm on Zoom and the Congressman’s Facebook page is the third since the new congress was seated. Thompson will talk about the latest stimulus package which is bringing more unemployment insurance and direct payments to some for $1,400. As you probably know Thompson represents the Fifth District in the state, including all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.
Calif is gaining on getting as many teachers who want to get the vaccine, vaccinated. In the last week the state has reportedly tripled its goal with over 200,000 teachers, school staff and childcare workers getting their shots. That’s way above what the state wanted, to administer 75,000 vaccines/week. 10% of the supply is going to school staff. The Gov. said it’s welcome news for “teachers, students and parents as more and more schools reopen safely across the state”. Calif. came out with its school safety plan at the end of last year. So far 10.5 million vaccines have been given in the state. Over one in 10 people in Calif are fully vaccinated and more than one in four over 65 are also fully vaccinated.
The latest unemployment data has been released by the state of Calif. showing nearly 21 million claims have been processed since the coronavirus pandemic started. The agency has been called out for taking too long, for fraud and other issues too. And now they say they’re taking action to get initial claims done quicker, to work harder to strengthen customer service, fight back fraud, and help victims of identity theft. The dept. has paid out $126 billion in unemployment benefits in the last year. That is five times the amount during the worst year of the Great Recession.
New guidelines from the CDC say vaccinated grandparents who haven’t seen their children and grandchildren for the last year, can now. Yesterday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put out new guidelines on anyone past their second dose is able to visit indoors with unvaccinated members of a single household if they’re low risk of severe disease and don’t have any symptoms. They do not need to wear a mask or physically distance themselves indoors. Also the CDC says fully vaccinated people can gather indoors with others also fully vaccinated. Also those who’ve been fully vaccinated do not need to quarantine, or be tested after exposure to the coronavirus.
A man accused of murdering his daughter in Hidden Valley almost 4 years ago is finally going to trial. Steven Russell Miller had a remote court appearance related to the shooting death of his daughter in May of 2017. A court trial has been set for April 6th after the court vacated his previous not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity pleas. Miller was deemed competent to stand trial last year after previously being evaluated and found incompetent. The court has ruled that the defense failed to prove Miller was still incompetent to understand the proceedings against him and that he has been restored to mental competency. He was in a state hospital, now that he’s found competent, he’s been ordered to be at all court dates. He’s due back April 6th.
A large amount of money could be coming to Calif. in the next stimulus package even though the state actually has a more than 25 billion dollar surplus. California’s state and local governments could be getting as much as $40 billion from the $1.9 trillion recovery that’s about to be signed by the President after a final vote by the House. The Senate passed it on party lines over the weekend. Gov. Newsom has asked President Biden for emergency funding for state and local governments after it wasn’t part of the package before he became president. The American Rescue Plan also extends unemployment benefits with $300/week more and a $1,400 direct payment for some Americans.
