A crash on the 101 in Cloverdale has killed a man from Upper Lake. The CHP reports the crash happened yesterday morning just north of the Highway 128 offramp and ended up blocking the northbound lanes of the freeway for almost five hours. The patrol reports the man who died had been driving a Kia Forte, hit a guardrail and rolled after losing control of the vehicle. There were two passengers in the small car too. Then apparently another vehicle slammed head on into the Kia as the men were emerging from the car, the driver was thrown to the ground. He was pronounced dead on the scene. His name has not been released. His passengers were taken to the hospital, one with moderate injuries and the other with major injuries, but not life-threatening.
A burglary has been reported by a Chiropractor in Ukiah. The police dept. reports getting a call from Barr Family Chiropractic Tuesday that they had been burglarized, vandalized and money was taken too. Police say an outside door was forced open that morning, $2,000.00 was taken and the business had been ransacked. When police went and checked other businesses they found a couple others also had their doors forced open. Body Glow Tanning had surveillance equipment running at the time their business was also ransacked. Police say the footage from their video cam showed a man inside. He’s identified as Donald Morin who they say used a crow bar to break into desks and cabinets and take items worth about $1,000.00. They found a third business was also hit. They eventually arrested Morin and found he had the stolen items. He’s booked into jail for burglary/looting during a state of emergency and held on $45,000.00.
A woman in Covelo’s been arrested after a routine vehicle check where she was found slumped over. Deputies say they saw a suspicious vehicle and contacted the driver, Shareen Marrufo, who was having a difficult time staying awake. They spotted a booze bottle and conducted Field Sobriety Tests. Sheriff’s Dispatch told the deputy the woman had a warrant, so she was arrested. They found pepper spray on her and couple of used glass pipes, usually used for methamphetamine. She’s booked into jail for possession of pepper spray and possession of drug paraphernalia and held on $15,000.00 bail.
A 60 year old man from Willits has been arrested on weapons charges. A Mendocino deputy conducted a traffic stop and found Jerry Degurse and a female passenger. He was found to be on probation and not allowed to own or possess firearms or ammunition. A search of his car ensued since he was also found to have 6 arrest warrants. The deputy found an ice chest filled with a bunch of ammunition in various calibers. So he was arrested for all the warrants and additionally charged with being in possession of ammunition by a prohibited person and held on $72,000.00 bail.
A man in Calpella has been arrested for creating mayhem. The Sheriff’s office reports 37 year old Jose Villela from Kelseyville was stopped for a vehicle code violation. It was found he had warrants for his arrest, and was on probation. The warrant was for Mayhem out of Lake County with Clear Lake Police. He was arrested and held on $1,000,000.00 bail.
Lookout for a Tsunami warning. The communications test is next Wednesday at 11 am in De Norte, Humboldt and Mendocino Counties. The Sheriff’s Dept. reports there will be emergency interruptions of TV and Radio programs and activation of NOAA Weather Radios and Outdoor Sirens. It’s just a test and not a real emergency. You’ll hear a voice telling you it’s a test, like the old emergency broadcast interruptions. There will not be a cell phone alert though.
Assemblyman Jim Wood is speaking out after it came out that some Eureka Police officers had been sending vulgar and violent texts back and forth. Wood called the revelation in the Sacramento Bee newspaper despicable. The Police Chief has started an investigation and put the two officers on leave. The newspaper reports Sgt. Rodrigo Reyna-Sanchez and Officer Mark Meftah are accused, but it’s not known how the paper got ahold of the texts which featured violence against their own teammates including women and their body parts. They also texted about homeless people, the mentally ill and imagined them being shot in the face. There’s an independent investigation into the texts and the police chief says none of the texts reflect the values, they’ve been hammering home, to police with respect, calling it a slap in the face.
The first case of COVID19 reported one year ago this week in Mendocino County. The Public Health Dept. announced the case March 17th while the county had already been sheltering in place as the virus spread rampantly across the state of Calif. Schools and businesses closed to slow the spread. The first case the Public Health Officer at the time said, was not a shock and they’d been preparing for it since January, as many surrounding counties had already had cases and community spread. Since yesterday, there have been 46 deaths to the pandemic and almost 3,900 cases. Half in the Hispanic/Latino population, and 65% were in the Ukiah Valley.
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is getting inmates at the jail vaccinated. The jail’s medical provider, NaphCare, is inoculating those who want the vaccine, it’s not mandatory. They’re getting the Johnson and Johnson single dose vaccine from the Mendocino County Public Health Dept. Extra nurses were brought in for the inoculations, then correctional and jail nursing staff monitored the inmates and an ambulance crew was there too in case of any allergic reactions. They reported 111 inmates and two staff members got their vaccinations.
A high speed chase in Middletown ends in the arrest of a man from Oakland. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office reports trying to stop a black Mercedes sedan for a traffic violation when they noticed a silver Saab behind the Mercedes. The deputy activated his lights and the driver of the Saab slowed, but the Mercedes took off on Hwy. 175 towards Cobb at speeds reaching 100 MPH. The deputy went after the car, then stopped in Cobb. Then he saw the Saab again and stopped it. The driver Daniel Anton Bennett said he was not connected to the other car, but he was arrested for DUI of a controlled substance. Deputies found meth, and arrested him, but he was released from jail with no bail due to the pandemic. Later the Mercedes was seen again driving too fast, they tossed spike strips and Hannah Joy Mizner-Welch of Kelseyville was arrested. That was a stolen car. She was also texting the other guy who was arrested and found her with meth, heroin and pot, plus cash. She’s arrested for various charges and held on $35,000 bail.
The county’s officially been in the Red Tier nearly a week, and with that secondary schools are allowed to start. As of today, the Ukiah School District allowed hybrid learning for older kids. The school district put out the word last night and thanked community members for their patience throughout the process.
Second year Mendocino College Nursing students helping to get the vaccine out, working with nurses from Adventist Health and other health care providers. They were involved with administering 1,000 COVID-19 vaccinations. Each nursing student got to inoculate 50-75 people themselves while being supervised by one of their instructors from the college. The Director of Nursing, Peggy Goebel says the students did a great job and they were complimented by staff from Adventist and by several community members who got their shots. The CDC says all students administering vaccinations have to complete their vaccinator course online and also got their vaccinations themselves at least two weeks before the clinic. They’re continuing at Friday clinics through mid-May.
California corrections officials are being sued related to the spread of coronavirus inside San Quentin that ended up killing nearly 30 inmates and a correctional officer last year. Daniel Ruiz was in for four years for possessing drugs for sale and for being a felon in possession of a firearm, he died July 10th, but was set for release this fall. The lawsuit claims he had several underlying conditions including asthma, obesity, Hepatitis C and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. The family says when they found out Ruiz had contracted the virus, he was already in an ICU for two weeks, on a ventilator, and near death. There’s already a class action lawsuit regarding the same, another inmate who got sick and 1,400 others infected in a transfer to the prison. Ruiz lawyer says the transfer was “the worst prison public health debacle in California history”.
A fire that started in a remote area of Anderson Marsh State Historic Park is being allowed to burn out on its own. The fire was started by State Parks staff to burn dry fuels on Slater Island near the ranch house. Lake County News reports the fire was 60 acres Tuesday night, but was up to 340 acres last night. They’re working with Cal Fire and the Lake County Fire Protection District and say the fire is not a threat, calling it a good time of year to do a controlled burn and will eventually provide good protection from wildfire this fall. Parks staff say it has good containment all around it, and water on some sides of the fire.
State Sen. Mike McGuire is hosting another of his virtual town halls to discuss the pandemic. The meeting online tonight at 6:30 p.m. He’s having guests, Dr. Timothy Brewer, from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and Geffen School of Medicine, and Lori Nezhura, deputy director of planning, preparedness and prevention from the State Office of Emergency Services. Nezhura is also co-chair of California’s COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force.
The state is looking at ways to continue standardized testing looking for a waiver from the federal government so they can do localized selected tests. The State Board of Education has voted unanimously for a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education so schools can bypass the Smarter Balanced statewide assessments, that are required by state and federal education law. The federal government requires the yearly tests in reading and math for kids in 3rd to 8th grades as part of the Every Student Succeeds Act. Plus California has the Smarter Balanced tests every spring. Last year testing was paused due to the pandemic.
A $10,000 grant has been awarded to the Robinson Rancheria of Pomo Indians for their local gardens as food work. The grant from the First Nations Development Institute of Longmont, Colorado for work on the “Good Earth Medicine” Garden Collective. The project is to help provide the tribe with healthy, nutritious, organic vegetables and fruit, and as support for food security. It’s mostly for elders in the tribe who will run the program and in the fall they will have a harvest feast for the tribal community, with what they’ve grown in the garden.
