Over 300 more grape growers, ranchers and other landowners are no longer allowed to take water from the Russian River as drought conditions worsen. They join hundreds of others already not allowed the diversions from the river as its level slowly lowers along with Lake Mendocino. The 300 new curtailments start today for the lower river. Supplies released from Lake Mendocino are still coming but drying up. The Press Democrat reports dam managers outside of Ukiah were keeping the reservoir releases higher the last two weeks so there would only be a minimum flow in the river at Healdsburg, enough for basic human health and safety needs.
A flag has been replaced in Greenville after the Dixie Fire decimated the town. A couple of officers from Mendocino County helped replace the flag. The Ukiah Police Dept. posted on Facebook a picture of officer Matthew Stout and Mendocino County probation officer Todd Freitas who’ve been patrolling through Plumas County, help an out of state fire chief raise a new flag over the burned out gold-rush era town. The last flag was burned as the fire blew through with 65 mph winds.
The biggest fire ever in Calif. continues burning though dry brush, aided by hot temperatures and windy afternoon weather. The now month old Dixie Fire has taken down hundreds of homes and other buildings. Almost 900 homes were destroyed yesterday alone. Thousands of acres of new fire lines have been cut by fire crews in favorable weather. But today that’s supposed to change. The fire is over 490,000 acres with 27% containment. It’s currently around half the size of the August Complex, the state’s first Gigafire. But it was made up of various fires that merged. The Dixie is a solo fire. And yesterday the Gov. declared a state of emergency for northern Shasta, Trinity and Tehama counties.
2 doctors have presented the latest COVID information to the Lake County Board of Supervisors. Each has been the county’s Public Health officer at times, the latest, Dr. Gary Pace was there, as the county tries to find someone to fill his shoes. Pace informed the board that Lake is not the top county in the state for cases/100,000 people. Instead, they’re 4th with a case rate of 53/100,000. Del Norte has the most, with 79. Lake County was at 62 per 100,000 last week. Pace says vaccinations are slowly going up to about 100 shots/day. Twice as many as a month ago. Pace says hospitals are filling up which is concerning and that vaccinations are the most important way to fight the virus. Dr. Evan Bloom, the interim health officer and a current ER doc told the board, getting people vaccinated was paramount.
A list is being created to show which counties in the state have the worst water shortages. The worst is reportedly the Bay Area to the Oregon border. The State Water Resources Control Board said a few months ago that public water systems would likely have critical water supply issues by the end of August. It has 81 water systems for 132,559 people the most impacted, including Ukiah, Lakeport, Bolinas, Healdsburg, Cloverdale and Fort Bragg. The list compiled from areas that have informed the state they could run out of water or have severe shortages.
Over a quarter million dollars is available from the Community Foundation of Mendocino County from the Field-of-Interest grant program. Field-of-Interest for certain causes, like the environment or human services for nonprofits in the county. The funds are available for applicants in 13 fields of interest including Sustainable Forestry, Community Resiliency and Disaster Preparedness, the COVID-19 Non-Profit Relief Fund and the Fund and for Trails and Open Space. Grants of $500 to $100,000 are available. Visit www.communityfound.org.
A state of emergency has been declared by the Governor due to the Dixie Fire in Tehama County and in Trinity due to the McFarland and Monument fires; and Shasta County due to the McFarland Fire. Altogether the fires have burned nearly 600,000 acres, destroyed hundreds of homes and triggered the evacuation of thousands of residents. The Governor met with firefighters, local law enforcement and elected officials in the burned out town of Greenvile Saturday. The state has received money from the Federal Government for the River, Dixie and Lava Fires.
Several people on the side of the road next to a car with hazard lights on so CHP officers on patrol from Laytonville made a stop. Officers talked to those there to make sure they were okay, but say marijuana cultivation evidence and questioned them. They found 3 adult men with 2 teens who officers say were being forced to work for them. The kids were taken and turned over to Child Protective Services and the trio of adult men, 24-year-old Fernando Francisco of Santa Rosa, 36-year-old Sumano-Casillas of Santa Rosa, and 20-year-old Avertano Diaz-Martinez of Modesto were arrested for Human Trafficking and Child Endangerment.
Masks have to be worn, vaccinated or not in all indoor public setting in Mendocino County. The order from the Mendocino County Health Officer, Dr. Andy Coren went into effect yesterday. He put out the order with help to find which kind of mask works and wear they must be worn. They do not need to be worn while you’re eating or drinking, working alone in an office or room, swimming or showering at a gym, or have some sort of medical condition that prevents it. Also those who are deaf do not need to wear it or if it’s a risk in your performance of your job. The spread of the Delta variant is to blame for the new order due how high the transmission rate is in indoor settings. Plus, Dr. Coren says, not enough county residents have been vaccinated.
14 search warrants have been served by Fish and Wildlife officers in the Island Mountain Area, 12 more in Mendocino County and two in Trinity County looking for illegal marijuana grows. Officers were aided by environmental scientists, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, the State Water Board and the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP) program. The group found many environmental violations, evidence of a poached deer in Trinity County, illegal water diversions from the Eel River, many other water violations during the drought. Also a bunch of trash, human waste and other waste near streams. More than 52,000 illegal cannabis plants were eradicated and over 7,200 lbs. of illegal processed cannabis was destroyed.
A small vegetation fire stomped out pretty quick in Ukiah. Crews responded to a fire around lunch time yesterday near the Ukiah Gun Club on Vichy Springs Road. They reportedly got it under control fast and fire crews were released soon after. Some stayed for mop up and residents were told to steer clear of the area if possible to allow crews to quickly respond. A Nixle alert was sent out by the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office to tell people to avoid the area and allow crews to respond, but unfortunately the alert listed the wrong address, it was for another, previous fire on N. State Street. There was however a new alert sent out soon after with the correct location of the fire.
It’s a first for the nation… California is going to make it mandatory for all teachers and school staff to get vaccinated or be tested every week for COVID-19. Gov. Gavin Newsom made the announcement earlier Wednesday…
The mandate is for K-12 educators just before they head back to school for in person learning after the summer holiday and a year of Zoom or other online platforms for teaching. It also comes as the delta variant of the mother virus gets a foothold in the state. The Governor’s announcement after multiple large school districts already told teachers and other staff they had to be vaccinated. That included San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Long Beach Unified.
A Sonoma County college professor has been arrested for arson after multiple fires were started in remote forested areas of Northern California near the giant Dixie Fire. Gary Maynard reportedly worked at various colleges in the state, including Santa Clara and Sonoma State. He’s apparently listed there as a criminal justice studies lecturer who specializes in cults and deviant behavior. He was hauled in Saturday after a Forest Service agent put a tracking device under Maynard’s car after he was stopped briefly by Susanville police earlier this month. Court documents say he was caught in the midst of a “fire-setting spree”.
