An emergency plan has been approved by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors to block debris from the Hopkins Fire from getting into the Russian River during upcoming and current rain. A staff member presented the supervisors with information on an imminent “public health and safety threat” to the watershed. And to nearly a dozen homes near the ignition point of the Hopkins. There’s been no mitigation work at the properties to keep hazardous materials, contaminants or debris flows from going into the watershed which could then impact hundreds of thousands of water users relying on the water out of the river in Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin counties. The supervisors approved a plan for immediate action at a cost of $48,000.
The driver of a jeep that crashed and burst into flames has been identified. 18 year old Giovanni Leon was the driver in the Jeep that crashed Monday in Redwood Valley. The CHP reports Leon’s 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee crashed into a tree just after 11 p.m. after he lost control. There was a 21 year old man with him, identified only as being from Covelo. A passerby helped the passenger out, but the flames were too intense for them to also reach Leon.
More personal protective equipment has been donated to the Mendocino County Library and County Museum. The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB), Dharma Realm Buddhist University (DRBU) and their parent company, Dharma Realm Buddhist Association (DRBA) donated the 6,000 surgical masks, 120 bottles of hand sanitizer and 10,000 vinyl gloves to the of library and museum staff and visitors. For the Library, all branches will receive the gear in Ukiah, Willits, Fort Bragg, Point Arena and Covelo and their Bookmobile. The president of the organization said they were honored to help.
After the US Census last year redistricting of political boundaries is taking place, but also for the Mendocino-Lake Community College District. They’re redistricting their seven trustee area boundaries and are inviting the public to help. You can go to a public meeting on the matter, the first is this coming Monday at the North County Center in Willits at 5pm. Another opportunity is October 28th at the Lake County Center in Lakeport, also at 5pm. And finally November 2nd at Mendocino College and November 3rd at the Coast Center in Fort Bragg.
For more information about the background of California Community College redistricting, criteria, key dates, and meeting information, please visit: https://www.mendocino. edu/redistricting.
$50,000 is being gifted to rural communities hit by catastrophic fires from Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) and the affiliated, Golden State Finance Authority (GSFA). The two agencies are working with the California Fire Foundation for the wildfire emergency relief for fire victims to buy needed items. The money in the form of gift cards for food, temporary housing, or clothing. There are 200 gift cards being distributed.
More info is available on the SAVE program is available at www.cafirefoundation.org.
Sonoma County has a plan to vaccinate 25% of all 5-11 year olds after approval of the Pfizer vaccine from the FDA. The county’s vaccine chief happens to also be a pediatrician. Dr. Urmila Shende says many parents are eager for their children to receive the inoculations, especially parents of children with chronic medical conditions. The FDA’s final approval is expected the first week of November. The federal government has promised to ship vaccine doses to as many as 25,000 pediatric or primary care offices, thousands of pharmacies and hundreds of schools and rural health clinics across the country as soon as the approval comes through.
Prescribed burns are planned by the Bureau of Land Management during fall and winter. The burn piles and broadcast burns in Humboldt and Mendocino counties as the weather and conditions allow. It’s all part of the BLM fuel management program using mechanical, biological, and chemical tools, and prescribed fire. The burns on up to 100-200 acres at a time locally. Projects on the Lost Coast Headlands west of Ferndale in the King Range National Conservation Area, and the Mike Thompson Wildlife Area, South Spit at Humboldt Bay. There are 55 fuel projects for the fiscal year 2021. So far the BLM has worked on almost 26,000 acres across Calif. to reduce hazardous fuels, modify wildfire behavior, create fire resilient landscapes, and protect communities and critical infrastructure.
Water infrastructure is getting a needed upgrade in Mendocino County since precipitation patterns are changing. County supervisors are working to modernize infrastructure and are trying to find money to do so. At their meeting this week, supervisors told staff to negotiate a contract of up to $25,000 with an environmental consulting firm. The same firm put the groundwater sustainability plan for the county together too. The Mendocino Voice reports grants could be available but they would go first to shovel ready projects. That’s where the consulting firm comes in. The payment to them will come out of the Pacific Gas & Electric disaster settlement funds the county got.
A couple of new cell towers are servicing Round Valley. State Senator Mike McGuire along with District 3 Supervisor John Hashak and the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office worked with US Cellular to upgrade the network due to spotty coverage. The new towers in the Mendocino National Forest on Big Signal Peak were approved nearly a year ago. Senator McGuire’s office put out a statement about the upgrade saying for the last few years Round Valley has been hit hard by wildfires and had no cell service, making emergency response a challenge. He says the inconsistent and at times, inoperable cell service needed to be addressed. So two 150-foot towers were built by the Round Valley Indian Tribe and Spy Ego Media. McGuire says the project was a team effort and is now complete, He says neighbors will also have clear access to 911.
A 74 year old woman from Clearlake has been reported missing. Police say Katherine Jackson did not return after going out for a walk yesterday afternoon. She apparently didn’t say where she was headed when she left her home around 1:30 p.m. Police say she was last seen in a plaid cape, a red and black shirt, and black pants, walking with a cane and carrying a cloth bag, possibly with shoes in it.
The Governor has signed an executive order to prohibit price gouging for communities recently impacted by wildfires. The order goes through the end of the year in areas where he had previously declared a state of emergency. That was for the Fawn fire, Cache fire, Caldor fire, McFarland and Monument fires, Antelope and River fires, Dixie, Fly and Tamarack fires and the Lava and Beckwourth Complex fires. The state also wrangled grants from FEMA in response to the massive Dixie Fire, the Caldor, Monument, River and Lava fires.
A woman accused of lighting three fires in Clearlake has to be evaluated for mental competency. Kayla Renee Main’s lawyer told the court at her preliminary hearing he doubted she was competent to stand trial. Main faces charges of arson of property, possessing material/device for arson and unlawful fire. Plus she was on probation at the time for resisting an executive officer, violating probation and vandalism. The whole case is now on hold while a doctor checks her out. She’s due back in court November 9th. She was already checked out once, this will be an additional evaluation as the court found she was competent last time.
