A search and rescue continues for a man from Humboldt County believed to be in Covelo. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office and Mendocino County Search & Rescue are looking for 48 year old John Davis who they say disappeared in the area of Highway 162 at the 8-mile bridge Sunday morning. He was reportedly out camping and hunting with family members. His dog was found, but he was nowhere to be seen. They describe Davis as a White man, 5 foot 11, 220 lbs with brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen in a Camouflage Rain Jacket and Neon Green pants with a reflective stripe.
More information is being gathered by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office into two deaths in the Blue Lake area. However investigators released some info and say they’re not sure the deaths, that happened a month apart, are related. But since they were close to each other, they’re not ruling it out. The first on September 11th, a man was found near a trail in the Trinidad area. Eugene Steven Segal had been known as a local transient, who deputies say was murdered. The second death, 29 year old Harold Hernandez Howard, who was found October 10th, also murdered, and found near the Mad River Levee. He had been living as a transient in the Blue Lake Area. The cause of death in both victims was with held due to the ongoing investigations.
Police in Clearlake say a man has been found dead behind the Burns Valley Shopping Center. The body found a week ago Saturday night in the rear parking lot of the shopping mall. Police and Paramedics were sent to the area, finding the man down and tried to give him CPR, without luck. He was identified later as 44 year old Steven Chrisman of Clearlake, who had been assaulted. Detectives are investigating. No word on a possible suspect or motive.
A woman in Lakeport has been reported missing. Police say Shirley Schield left her Northport Trailer Park home on foot very early yesterday morning, during the storm. The 75 year-old was last seen in a light blue / pink sweater with light blue pants carrying a dog leash. They say she may have dementia and respond to “Carol” or “Shirley”. She’s further described as a White woman, about 5’ 6” and 130 Lbs with blue eyes and short white hair.
Congressman Jared Huffman is on the lookout for a Wounded Warrior to apply to be a Fellow in his offices, in either San Rafael, Petaluma, Ukiah, or Eureka. It’s the first time his office is accepting folx into the program. The Fellowship program provides veterans a way to use their unique skillsets from service and helps them with a new career in Congress to start, and possibly beyond. Congressman Huffman says he’s “incredibly honored to be able to participate in this program and welcome a former servicemember to our district team”. The program is to offer jobs to veterans in the US House of Representatives. It’s a two-year fellowship which is offered in congressional Member District Offices nationwide.
Another death has been reported in a Mendocino County resident who contracted the coronavirus. The Public Health Dept. reported an 81 year old unvaccinated woman from Willits was the county’s 87th death. The agency continues to ask residents to consider ways they can protect themselves and their families from COVID-19. They say vaccination, masking, and social distancing remain the best tools for combating COVID-19. Those over 65 who are fully vaccinated may be able to get their booster shots too. And those over 50 with certain health conditions, also. Visit the Public Health website at:
http://www.mendocinocounty.org/covid19
Some homeowners in Ukiah were out before the rains, clearing out a culvert so they didn’t have to deal with flooding after finding out city crews couldn’t get out there until the rain was over. The citizens near their home on Lorraine Street Saturday after receiving a Friday Nixle alert about the potential for flooding. There was a Flood Watch issued by the National Weather Service saying the heavy rain and saturated ground would possibly flood some areas. And that low lying areas, creeks, streams, culverts, and parts of urban areas could experience flooding due to heavy rainfall. The neighbors told the Daily Journal they called the non-emergency line at the police station to report blockage of the culvert but was told city crews would not respond until Monday.
A man and his dog had to be pulled from Orr Creek due to fast moving flood waters. The Ukiah Valley Fire Authority reports getting a call to the Ford Street Bridge early Sunday morning for a man and his dog stuck in the creek bed. Apparently, he was asleep in a tent and awakened to find two feet of water. The water was reported to be rising rapidly to four feet high in some areas. He was taken to the hospital to be checked out. The fire department was warning people to stay away from waterways during heavy downpours and said they will be checking under bridges that they know people sleep under and tell those there to leave in heavy rain.
The final results are in for the Recall Election, showing a pretty identical showing as the 2018 General Election, Gov. Newsom winning with over 62% of the vote. The Secretary of State’s office released the certification results for the Sept. 14th special election this week. Almost 8 million residents voted to keep the Governor in office and 4.8 million wanted him out. Republican Larry Elder, a radio talk show host was ahead of all the other Republicans vying for the position. He won over 3.5 million or 48.4% of the votes. The second place winner just behind Elder was a Democrat, Kevin Paffrath. Former Olympian and Reality Show star, Republican Caitlyn Jenner was 13th with 1% of the vote.
A restoration project is planned in the Mendocino National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service announced the massive project on about 2,000 of 600,000 acres of forest land that was scorched by 2020’s August Complex Fire. Phase 1 of the project will be felling dead and dying trees on 2,163 acres to reduce hazards from possible falling trees, mostly near roadways; reduce the potential for more wildfires and recover any potential economic value from selling the fire scarred timber; and study the short- and long-term impacts of salvage logging.
The Gov. says developing new oil and gas leases near schools, hospitals and homes could create health issues. Last week he spoke about it in Wilmington, a town where there’s a lot of oil business. A proposal by state regulators to prevent new oil and gas wells was by the Department of Conservation’s Geologic Energy Management Division, but it could be revised. The Gov. says it’s about “morality… environmental justice and economic justice, public health, safety and dignity”. The president and CEO of the Western States Petroleum Association says the move is “an activist assault on California’s way of life, economy and people”. And environmentalists say it’s a “strong step in the right direction”, but doesn’t go far enough.
Fort Bragg will be selling lease revenue bonds to restructure some pension debt and buy part of a mill site. The city council approved selling the bonds to raise $11 million. The city intends to use the cash to restructure debt with CalPERS, and acquire the southern end of the Mill Site. The city’s going to investigate its General Fund credit rating in the next few weeks then begin the selling of the bonds. After that they’ll first dive into the CalPERS debt, which, if you didn’t know is the pension for California’s public employees. Fort Bragg owes $11 million, but it’s been discounted to somewhere between $8.4 and $9.8 million, so around $7.5 million in bond proceeds will go to that debt.
Once again Butte County is suing PG&E due to a fire. First it was the Camp Fire, which devastated the town of Paradise and killed 85 people. Now Butte and four other counties are suing the utility company because of the Dixie Fire. Plumas, Lassen, Shasta and Tehama are Butte’s co-plaintiffs. The same court has also heard cases for the North Bay, Kincade and Zogg fires. This lawsuit demanded the utility company pay the counties damages for injuries to public resources, natural resources, lost revenues, increased expenses, lost assets, injury to infrastructure, and more. The Dixie Fire burned over 963,300 acres and was just contained yesterday due to the rain.
Since we got hammered by rain in Northern California, Cal Fire announced the Dixie Fire, California’s second-largest fire in history, was fully contained. The fire burned 963,309 acres, that’s over 1,505 square miles. It was the state’s single largest fire, not a complex of merged fires. It straddled Butte, Lassen, Shasta and Tehama counties after starting July 13th pretty close to the Camp Fire ignition point. Those counties are all suing PG&E for the fire. The utility had already admitted they believed their equipment may have been to blame. The Dixie destroyed over 1,300 structures, including more than 700 homes.
