A fire breaks out behind an ice cream shop in Ukiah, but firefighters stomped it pretty quick. Mendo Fever reports on the scanner the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority was dispatched to a vegetation fire behind the Baskin Robbins on East Perkins Street near the Pear Tree Shopping Center. The fire burned only an eighth of an acre and was just moving very show. Since it was in concrete parking lots, it didn’t spread much.
Temporary fire restrictions are in place at the Boggs Mtn. Demonstration State Forest. The CAL FIRE Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit reported hot, dry conditions and low fuel moisture and current fire activity led to the restrictions for any campfire across the forest except for propane stoves in one campground on the property, Calso Camp. They announced the new rules would start immediately to protect life and property.
For more information about the Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest please visit them at https://www. fire.ca.gov/programs/resource- management/resource- protection-improvement/ demonstration- stateforests/boggs/
Water rights for those taking from the upper and lower Russian River are being suspended to try to save whatever is left of storage in Lake Mendocino. Reports say it’s losing as much as 58 million gallons/day. That would mean curtailment for the upper river following emergency regulations put in place last month. The State Water Resources Control Board put emergency orders for the rest of the watershed in place too because of the drought. They have not said how many water rights holders would be impacted yet, but the Water Resources Control Board said they’d have more info gathered soon and orders would be sent out to rights holders by the end of next week. The Press Democrat reports it could affect over 4,000 water rights holders — ranchers, grape growers, community water districts and entire cities and towns.
That large homeless shelter in Sonoma County we’ve been telling you about that’s had multiple COVID cases, even in the unvaccinated, is adding more. The Press Democrat reports the Samuel L Jones Hall Shelter in Santa Rosa is overwhelmed with cases. They say about 70% of residents have tested positive and over half have been fully vaccinated. As of yesterday, the newspaper reports, 107 residents and 3 staffers had a positive test over one month time. And of those, at least 64 had their vaccination. But local health officials say that can happen when in close quarters with others who have not had the shots. Nine of the shelter residents ended up in the hospital, 6 have been released and they’ve not reported anyone dying.
More and more correctional officers at state prisons will be wearing body cameras. It’s all part of broader oversight of employees in the Governor’s latest budget. There was almost $91 million dollars earmarked to install security and body cams at five facilities, the Kern Valley State Prison; California Institution for Women; California State Prison, in Corcoran; the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, also in Corcoran; and the California State Prison, Los Angeles. There was a court order that demanded more cameras after the case of Armstrong v. Newsom. In the case multiple disabled inmates in San Diego said they were brutally victimized by corrections officers.
As we’ve been reporting warming California water bodies are killing off endangered salmon. Fishermen say it’s too hot in rivers and the drought is making it hotter, threatening fish from Idaho to California. The latest report in young salmon dying in the Klamath River because not only the warmer water and drought, but those conditions allowing a parasite to thrive. It may mean an end to the fishing season for anglers who depend on adult salmon for their livelihoods. The commercial salmon fishing industry is said to be worth about $1.4 billion. It could also mean crazy prices for salmon, higher than the current $35 per pound.
California Republicans looking to unseat Governor Newsom in the September recall election may soon have their leading candidate. They’ll vote virtually for who they’d like to see beat the Governor in the recall election. The party will take an endorsement vote Aug. 7th then get behind that candidate for the following month up to the election. The party’s executive committee got together this past Saturday to approve how they’ll move forward in the final weeks. Some delegates disagreed with the process though, saying the way forward will just divide their party, and that it will distract from their main goal, to oust the Democratic incumbent. Ballots for the Sept. 14th recall election should arrive in voter mailboxes by mid-August.
Will an upcoming weather system finally ease the continued drought across the West? Storms are coming, yes, but some may sweep through with moisture but no rain for parts of Nevada, California, Oregon and Idaho. There’s a drought emergency in Calif. The United States Drought Monitor has labeled it as exceptional for a third of the state. There’s a drought emergency in effect for 50 of California’s 58 counties which accounts for approximately 42% of our population. We are expecting gusty winds and dust which could spread burning fires, like the massive Bootleg and Dixie, and new lightning strikes could ignite more.
In Willits, they’re pretty close to getting their new firehouse. The new firehouse is in the last bit of construction, the chief says it’ll be ready for their planned grand opening on September 11th. Architect Dennis Dong designed the new station 54. They have about 300 square feet for recreation including a place for firefighters to exercise, four small dorms, ADA compliant bathrooms, a kitchen and day use area. They will also have a training room for meetings and such and of course a lobby and public restrooms.
The Mendocino Grand Jury has been keeping busy, releasing a report on affordable housing as of late, and the most recent on distance learning during the coronavirus pandemic. The was from March of 2021 on. The jury says the distance learning had an impact on students, one observation they say is that reports of children being mistreated to Child Protective Services were down because teachers or other mandated reporters weren’t able to observe children as much. The report said many students were not understanding core subjects, failures more than doubled and the whole idea of online learning was not practical for about a third of the student population. They did mention positive parts of distance learning, like technology lasting after the pandemic for remote teaching and learning, and teleconferencing cut travel time.
