The City of Ukiah is officially hauling water to Fort Bragg so it can be used in unincorporated parts of the coast. The program started last Wednesday, September 8th with the state’s blessing. Only one truck though was bringing in just 10k gallons/day. They were able to secure a second truck this week adding another 13k gallons. And apparently, they’re expecting to add onto that at about 55k gallons total/day. The project is happening thanks to agreements with the County and the cities of Ukiah and Fort Bragg due to the drought emergency. Separately the city of Fort Bragg voted to move into a Stage 4 Water Emergency so residents cut their water use by 30-40% .
Two people from Covelo have been arrested after a probation visit turned into a drugs and weapons bust. Mendocino Deputies at a home last Friday where Jovan Campos who was on formal probation was located. Deputies found cocaine, several rounds of firearm ammunition and drug paraphernalia. They say they found Bryan Sanchez hiding in the bathroom there too. And he also had an outstanding felony arrest warrant for burglary. Since Campos is a convicted felon and prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition he was arrested, and Sanchez was arrested for the warrant. Both were held without bail.
A man from Minnesota has been arrested in connection to the murder of another man in Westport. Deputies say they got a call for a welfare check after a threatening text message was sent by Mark Schwinghammer to family members and that his half-brother was seen wandering away from a home. He was identified as Timothy Sweet. Mendocino Mental Health was also called due to the nature of the situation. Deputies spoke to Schwinghammer who claimed Sweet was missing after looking for mussels near Wages Creek. Deputies found his body below a rocky cliff. Firefighters and cliff rescuers were able to get Sweet’s body out and say he was murdered. There was an autopsy done showing a physical assault and Schwinghammer was arrested and booked on $500,000.00 bail.
A woman at a Motel 6 in Ukiah has been arrested on several drug and weapons charges after police contacted two people there for a car registration violation. Police say the passenger, Victoria Lowe told them she had a gun in her sweatshirt. Officers found a loaded, unregistered Ruger 9mm, semi-automatic. The driver then consented to a search too, but nothing was apparently found so he was released. But Lowe was arrested for weapons violations, drug dealing and other charges after 25 individually packaged drug packages were found hidden on her.
A man from Gualala has been arrested after reports of a home burglary. Deputies say Michah Pilgram forced his way into a 96 year old woman’s home. A neighbor had reported a residential burglary nearby after seeing it on a home surveillance system, just before the elderly woman was stolen from. Deputies and a Sonoma Deputy and his police dog went to the second home but didn’t find anyone there, but saw an empty firearm case. The homeowner later confirmed a loaded handgun was missing. Deputies looked at surveillance video and identified Pilgram, who’s currently on probation for another burglary in Point Arena in March. He was arrested soon after and found with that stolen loaded handgun. He’s charged with various crimes including residential burglary, possession of stolen property and possession of a concealed firearm by a convicted felon. More charges could be coming. He was held without bail.
Record high levels of cyanotoxin on Clear Lake after routine testing triggered Lake County Public Health to send out a warning to people who get their drinking water out of the lake. The Public Health Officer, Dr. Gary Pace sent out notice last night that those on “private water systems whose tap water comes from their own private intake into the lake, in the Oaks Arm and Lower Arm of Clear Lake should not drink the water.” He says tests at 15 sites revealed very high levels of cyanotoxin and that public health was concerned there may be health impacts if private water systems are not effectively filtering out the toxins. He says he’ll give more info at some point today. The Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians has been routinely testing the water since 2014. They also posted on their Clear Lake Water Quality Facebook page with the same info from their samples done Sept. 7th.
Another man in Mendocino County has been arrested in connection to starting a fire. A day after a 20 year old was arrested for arson related to the Hopkins fire, 27 year old Nathaniel Chim admitted he started a small fire this summer in a dumpster behind the Fairfield Inn. When the fire started to grow, he took off. He agreed to a plea deal though, which means he’s going to prison for 3 years. He will be formally sentenced next month. As far as the Hopkins fire goes, its still at 257 acres, but is now 95% contained. But Cal Fire finally released info on damage, confirming 30 homes and 16 other buildings burned. All of the area’s mandatory evacuations have been downgraded to warnings and residents have been able to return home. The charges against the 20 year old, identified as Devin Johnson were filed with the DA’s office for two counts of aggravated arson; one of which was the fire caused property damage and fire response expenses were over $8,300,000. The other count was the result of the fire causing damage to five or more inhabited structures.
The CHP reports being out for a campaign in Northern Calif. on the 101 to try to curb the amount of car crashes where someone dies. The effort throughout the Northern and Golden Gate Divisions today. Looking back at statistics from 2019 and 2020, there were 1,688 crashes along the 101 in Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del Norte counties which caused 682 injuries and killed 35 people. They say the crashes were mostly caused by speeding, reckless driving, unsafe lane changes, unsafe turning, following too close, distracted driving, and DUI and there were more injuries and deaths from seat belt violations.
Reports of a man in Covelo being shot in the neck came in late last night. We have not been able to independently verify, however both area reporters Kym Kemp and Matt LeFever have posted police and medics were headed to the Buckhorn Bar after reports of a male being shot in the neck at about 11:40 p.m. Their reporting goes on to say a dispatcher was told they were trying to coach whoever reported the shooting how to do CPR, but they were screaming, but CPR was eventually delivered. The reports also say whoever the shooter was ran from the scene. Deputies were warned by dispatchers, the suspect was dangerous.
All of the Mendocino National Forest has reopened after a closure related to wildfire safety. The USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region ended the California national forests closure last night just before midnight, two days ahead of the anticipated ending of Sept. 17th. There are however still five national forests that will stay closed, Angeles, Cleveland, Eldorado, Los Padres and San Bernardino National Forests. And there are fire restrictions still in place across all California national forests. That means visitors are told to check first with local Forest Service personnel for info on closures and restrictions specific to the forest being visited.
Over 200 victims of the Dixie Fire spanning five counties are suing PG&E claiming the behemoth fire was caused by the utility company’s equipment. It comes at the same time the company’s being charged with starting the Kincaid Fire by the Sonoma County DA. A law firm in San Diego is representing the plaintiffs even though Cal Fire has yet to determine a cause for the nearly 960,600 acre fire. The fire is considered the second largest in Calif. history. The utility company admitted there was a tree leaning on a conductor on a utility pole July 13th which was the day the fire started in the Feather River Canyon. The company says one of their workers also apparently saw fire burning at the base of the tree, but characterized it as a healthy green tree. There are two lawsuits, they claim “PG&E negligently, recklessly and wantonly failed to maintain and operate the electrical equipment in its utility infrastructure”.
With so many kids back in school amidst the pandemic, there is so-called pool testing for COVID19. This means nasal swabs from as many as 2 dozen asymptomatic students get submitted together for one PCR test. If the test for all is negative, the entire class who were tested is considered Covid free. If the test is positive, the individual rapid tests are given students and any students who test positive must leave to quarantine. Others in the class do not need to quarantine if they test negative two times in that week. The tests are given weekly to try to stem any outbreaks. The tests are paid for by the state. So far around 700 schools in California have signed up.
A young woman from Novato has been to court after being accused of killing someone while driving drunk. 22 year old Keilah Coyle had her preliminary hearing on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. After testimony from witnesses and evidence presented by the prosecution including autopsy reports on two victims, factual diagrams of the scene and a forensic alcohol analysis the court found there was sufficient evidence to take the case to trial. Coyle was released since she had no criminal record and was not considered a public safety risk, plus she’s in residential treatment. Coyle was charged after the incident in March on Highway 29 north of Middletown where she hit a van head on. 53 year old Cassandra Rolicheck and 47 year old Miguel Dominguez, both of Clearlake were pronounced dead at the scene. And Coyle was arrested for DUI.
