Mendocino County has confirmed a positive case of Covid-19 at a restaurant in Ukiah. UNVACCINATED people who visited the Applebee’s Bar and Grill on Airport Park Boulevard between Thursday, July 29 and Saturday, July 31, should get tested. VACCINATED people should get a test if they show symptoms. The county says Applebee’s has contacted the patrons it can identify. All employees have been tested as well. Officials say restaurant management has been cooperating and that they are only releasing the name of the establishment because it is impossible to identify everyone who could have been exposed. County Health Officer Dr. Andy Cohen says people should stay vigilant and above all, get a shot if they haven’t already. The latest figures from the CDC show 51.7 percent of Mendocino County residents are fully vaccinated.
The Delta variant of Covid 19 is hitting Lake County hard. The Health Department says the county case rate is almost 58 per 100,000 which is more than 3 times the state average. The positive test rate is 17 percent, also well above the state average. 15 Lake County residents are hospitalized due to COVID-19, not including those in hospitals outside the County. No local ICU beds are available. The department is urging everyone—vaccinated or not—to wear masks when inside. It is also trying to convince the 56 percent of county residents who are NOT fully vaccinated to get their shots to help get the virus back under control.
The giant Dixie Wildfire is affecting air quality. Listeners tell us in inland Mendocino and Lake Counties visibility is down to barely a couple miles from the smoke, especially in the Ukiah valley. The EPA says the conditions could cause breathing problems for some people, but predicts Ozone and particulate matter levels in both Mendocino and Lake Counties should improve to the moderate range into the weekend.
The town of Greenville, a mountainous town in Northern Calif. is gone. The Dixie Fire has devastated the tiny town, much like the Camp Fire in Paradise 3 years ago. The fire left a path of destruction in the Sierra Nevada community of around 1,000 people leaving century old buildings in the downtown area in ash. The Plumas County Sheriff says probably more than 100 homes burned in and around the town. Another fire near Colfax, where only about 2,000 people live destroyed another 100 homes and other buildings. The River Fire started Wednesday and has not been contained. The Dixie Fire is just one of 100 active fires burning in over a dozen states, mostly in the West, where the historic drought has left dried up land. PG&E says they believe their equipment started the fire. There have been no deaths or injuries.
Lake Mendocino is drying some more. The drought has left the reservoir at its 2nd lowest level since it was first built, just about 24,000 acre feet of water due to critically low rainfall totals this year, and the last two before it. The storage could be at around 122,400 acre feet, its max. It’s only gone below 25,000 acre feet three times before now and under 24,000 acre feet one time. Back in 1977, it was at an astounding low of 12,081 acre feet, but then rain came down in Ukiah soon after. Ukiah has only had about 13.5 inches of rain this year and a total of just about 28 inches over this year and last.
Reports of helicopters hovering in the sky above Mendocino County had social media abuzz. Mendo Fever reports residents posting they saw the choppers above Ukiah, Redwood Valley, Potter Valley, Brooktrails, and Willits. So the news site called law enforcement and confirmed it was PG&E as well as cannabis enforcement operations. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office tells the news site they were working with the National Guard “gathering intelligence for marijuana enforcement” using helicopters. And a PG&E spokesperson says they were out doing inspections because of “extremely dry fuel conditions” and the possibility the fuels could ignite a fire that spreads rapidly. So the utility company is inspecting areas of high fire threat in Potter Valley, Redwood Valley, and Ukiah through tomorrow.
The Fort Bragg City Council is considering a declaration of a Stage 3 Water Emergency and putting Stage 3 Water Conservation Restrictions in place. The declaration is for a 20-30% decrease in seasonal water usage based on the last year water conservation measures were not required, which was reported as 2019. It’s also up 10% from the current Stage 2 Water restrictions, which are 10-20%. The changes are due to lower flows in the Noyo River, which have been recorded at under 1977 levels, higher tide events that have been predicted for this month and next and the forecast which continues to show lower than normal precipitation for the rest of 2021. The meeting happens Monday night in Town Hall where members of the public are invited, you can also attend online, via Zoom.
Unanimous thumbs up by the Clearlake City Council to sell the city’s franchise waste hauler. Clearlake Waste Solutions picks up garbage and recycling, but the company told the city manager they were selling to another company, Waste Connections. That company is in most of the United States and in Canada. They are in more than 2 dozen California communities too. The franchise agreement with the city and Clearlake Waste Solutions needs to get the city council’s approval for a sale. Lake Co News reports Clearlake Waste Solutions is reportedly selling because of the rising cost of doing business, and regulatory changes.
If you’re a healthcare worker in Calif. and not vaccinated, be prepared to be. The state’s going to be requiring more than 2 million health care and long term care workers to be fully vaccinated for coronavirus by Sept. 30th. The Governor announced last month it would be a requirement for a vaccination or weekly testing. But now a new order was issued by the California Department of Public Health, and it doesn’t say you can go without if you’re tested weekly
Sutter Health has announced all of their employees must be fully vaccinated by the end of next month if they want to continue to work for the company. The President and CEO of the healthcare company says they’re committed to protecting the health and safety of patients, and the communities they serve. They follow various nationwide companies who require a vaccination against COVID as the Delta variant continues to actively circulate. The company’s policy says that all employees, including physicians, plus volunteers and vendors who work onsite at a Sutter facility or provide patient care elsewhere must be fully vaccinated and have proof on file or have a valid medical contraindication or religious exemption.
