A retired firefighter and former colleagues on their toes as a controlled burn on his property in the Santa Cruz mountains got away from them. The retired Cal Fire battalion chief had more than a dozen current Cal Fire firefighters on his land supervising the burn, when sudden gusts of wind sent embers flying. The former chief says he and his son tried to help, but there were so many spot fires, hundreds of other firefighters had to be brought in to help. Firefighters from Mendocino County joined along with others from Placer County. There were also four air tankers and four helicopters on the fire Saturday. In the end the fire burned 148 acres near the Santa Cruz-Santa Clara county line. They reported it was under control yesterday, but only 35% contained.
It’s walnut harvest time and of course this time of year, a warning unharvested trees may be vulnerable to freeze damage as they still recover from last spring’s damage. Irrigated trees actually do better than trees that are dry, experts say and as the harvest is in full swing, some older orchards don’t have enough crop to harvest. Across the state walnut advisors have offered farmers advice on the freeze after last year. They have a survey regarding freeze damage so University of Calif. Cooperative Extension can get a better idea what’s happening statewide. And they’re having a webinar in the next couple of weeks with a panel of UC experts on the best practices for freeze mitigation and recovery. At the same time, the UC has received 32 million dollars from lawmakers to hire more advisors and staff, 2 will be in Lake and Mendocino Counties in Lakeport and Hopland.
More than 2 billion dollars has been set aside by the Calif. Transportation Commission to repair and improve transportation infrastructure across the state. The Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 is a large part of the money, $696 million of it. The Cal Trans director says the money is going to local and regional transportation projects “that carry significant community benefits”. $960 million to more than 600 cities, counties, and regional agencies, including 1,100 new projects/year. There are also 15 repair projects to extend the life of 76 bridges, prevent future costly repairs, and improve ride quality for the public. Two projects in Mendocino County include nearly a million in pavement work, barrier replacement, upgrading drainage and signs and lights on Route 1 north of Willits. The other is pavement and guardrail improvements on highway 101 near Willits.
A call to the Sheriff’s office leads to the arrest of a woman in Ukiah after a domestic dispute. Deputies say they found a man and Lateefah Glover at the apartments Friday, the two had been living together. Apparently an argument between the couple got physical and Glover was arrested. Deputies say she threw books at the man, and hit him with a metal rod several times, causing him visible injuries. She was arrested and held on $25,000.00 bail.
A wrong way driver has reported caused a crash on Highway 29. Mendo Fever reports hearing on the scanner it happened in Lakeport at Hill Road and 2 people were killed. Two other people apparently had major injuries too. The accident last night closed the highway down as an air ambulance was brought in, but could not land, due to the weather. Early reports say one of the people in one of the crashed cars was trapped inside of it, another was ejected out. One of them was pregnant. No other information was immediately available.
Reports of a snake infestation under a home in Northern Calif. have gone viral. The photo of a pile of snakes after a woman called to say she saw a bunch of rattlesnakes under her house, 90 to be exact. The home in Santa Rosa visited by Sonoma County Reptile Rescue. The story made it to Associated Press National headlines. The rescue company crawling underneath the home finding the snakes. The company says they were at the home about four hours October 2nd. They say they took out 22 adult rattlesnakes and 59 baby snakes underneath the home in the Mayacamas Mountains. They came back again, finding 11 more snakes, and a dead cat and dead possum.
In the High Valley area of Lake County, County Supervisors consider a marijuana operation. The Lake County Supervisors are listening to an appeal of the project tomorrow morning from the Lake County Planning Commission for Sourz HVR Inc./Aviona LLC. The company owns the High Valley Ranch in Clearlake. A 1,640-acre piece of land that used to house PSI World. They want to put 80 acres of cultivation in, as well as a spot for processing and distribution on 649-acres of the ranch. The Planning Commission approved it already, but some neighbors are not into it, saying there’s potential problems with grading, air quality, odor, water availability and too much more to list here.
The Ukiah City Council is considering banning the sale of nitrous oxide canisters. The cans are sometimes used by folks to get high. The gas is used to sedate people getting medical procedures or dental work. But you can buy small canisters over the counter. There was a presentation for the council last month from the Ukiah Valley Youth Leadership Coalition. The hits of the nitrous oxide are referred to as “Whipits”. Some of the negative effects include breathing issues, dizziness and possibly a weakening of the heart muscle, and a Vitamin B12 deficiency which can block nerve impulses and cause paralysis.
Water and Sewer rates could be going up in Lakeport. The City Council is set to review rates at their meeting tomorrow night. They’re also meeting a new police officer and declaring October 2021 Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The public hearing for the rate increases will come after the other issues and could take effect as soon as Nov. 1st. But the full increase wouldn’t be felt until five years from now when an average single family residence would pay nearly $20/more per month. Later in the meeting the city manager will bring a proposal to the council for a one year lease for the Clear Lake Environmental Research Center to use the Carnegie Library building to develop an environmental research center along with labs and offices.
A bunch of new police dogs to be on patrol across the state with the Calif. Highway Patrol. The ten new K-9 teams were sworn in Friday. The ceremony happened in Sacramento for the teams after 400-600 hours of training. The CHP Commissioner said after weeks of “rigorous training”, the new teams were ready to get out on the streets. Commissioner Amanda Ray said the dogs were a huge asset to the department and are credited with improving safety and the effectiveness of their human partners and save time and money for the agency. All of the handlers have been CHP officers with at least four years of experience.
The graduating teams now are part of 48 canine teams deployed throughout the state.
As we’ve been hearing nationwide from Public Health Officers and even the federal government, get your vaccinations, for flu and COVID. Now the California Department of Public Health is urging residents to get your shots now to protect yourself and your friends and families. They are warning that the flu could cause a twin pandemic which could be devastating to Californians. Flu season generally starts in October and goes out until May. It generally peaks in late November or December. The vaccination generally takes effect about two weeks after the jab. So getting shots now is the best time to protect yourself, family and the community. They recommend the flu shot for all who are six months of age and older.
Absences aplenty in the Bay Area as parents and some teachers against vaccine mandates walked out. The sit-out was pre-planned after the mandate was first announced for in person learning. The vaccines for kids and adults have been approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and millions have received their shots. There’s a Parents of Freedom group on Facebook with all sorts of comments on the mandates, nationwide, many saying they didn’t appreciate the government co-parenting with them. The Gov. Gavin Newsom says our mandate won’t be in effect until the U.S. government has formally approved the vaccine for kids 5 to 15 years old. So it could mean students in 7th to 12th grade won’t need to be inoculated until next July.
Some people in the North Bay without power as a rainstorm barrels thru. PG&E reported nearly 12,000 were without power in multiple counties of the Bay Area this morning. Over 215 in the North Bay. The outages occurred last night about 7:30 p.m. with crews out overnight and into early this morning. At one point 20,000 customers were in the dark. The energy company said the rain caused fires to start on electrical poles and that shut down the power. They had workers out at multiple sites last night.
Kaiser Permanente has put thousands of workers on unpaid leave due to their vaccination status. It’s a nationwide mandate for staff to be fully vaccinated. They made the announcement in August and gave workers and doctors 2 months to get their inoculations across the country. The rate then went up from 78% vaccinated, to 92%. But as of today, there were still 2,200 workers nationwide who had not responded to the mandate. The healthcare company placed them on unpaid administrative leave until December and if they don’t comply, they will be laid off. The San Francisco Chronicle reports the company saying they hoped none of their employees would choose to leave their jobs, but they won’t know for sure until December. They also said they’d continue working with staff to address any concerns about the shots and to avail them time to educate themselves.
