Mendocino County Sheriffs Office is investigating a shooting in Albion early this morning that seriously injured one person. A Nixle alert went out around 3:00 AM asking people in the area Around the 28000 block of Albion Ridge Road to stay inside because of police activity. That advisory was later lifted with two suspects said to be in custody. Initial reports on Mendofever.com said the victim suffered life-threatening injuries. No other information has been released.
Two new members of the Middletown Unified School District Board of Trustees. Educator Annette Lee and businesswoman Allison Berlogar joined the board this week. They will replace former Board members La Trease Walker and Thad Owens. Walker resigned after a heated board meeting in October over the issue of Covid-19 related mandates. Walker opposed those requirements. Owens did not give a reason when he notified the board he was leaving. The board members who voted to appoint Lee and Berlongar say the pair will bring knowledge of the school district community and education policy to their new positions.
Commercial Dungeness crab season is underway, and it appears to be off to a slow start. Mendocino Voice reports that among crabbers it spoke to, the first couple of days of the new season were disappointing. Noyo Harbor harbormaster Anna Neuman says last year was what she called an atrocious season. That means prices are high at stores and restaurants. Neuman sees signs of hope. She says many crabs in the water now are too small to keep and could grow enough to make the grade in the future.
Some GOOD news about nature. Researchers say the Monarch Butterfly may be making a comeback in California. They have counted up to fifty times more butterflies this season than last, which they call a very encouraging sign after years of declining populations. The scientists aren’t sure why the numbers have made such a dramatic rebound. They hope the trend continues in the long butterfly migration in 2022.
Pacific Gas and Electric penalized again for another fire. This time it’s the 2019 Kincade fire. It burned almost 78,000 acres after being ignited by the electric company’s transmission equipment in a remote area of The Geysers. Calif. regulators voted to fine the energy giant $125 million dollars. That means shareholders will have to fork over $40 million for California’s General Fund and $85 million more to remove abandoned equipment. Nearly 200,000 Sonoma County residents were evacuated after the fire started and it destroyed 174 homes and about 200 other structures.
Reports of a crashed gyroplane along Clear Lake confirming the pilot died. The Press Democrat reports the crash was either in or near the water in south Lakeport. The newspaper reports the Federal Aviation Administration said it was a Vortex Gyroplane that crashed yesterday morning with one person inside. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed one person died at the scene. A coroner was investigating but didn’t release any more information. The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating, which is standard operating procedure.
The outgoing city manager in Fort Bragg reportedly sent an email to city staff about an oil spill on the Skunk Train tracks, but it wasn’t made public, it just leaked out. The internal email by City Manager Tabatha Miller reported the oil spill on the tracks at the Fort Bragg Depot yard and said the Skunk Train staff were not allowing Mendocino County Environmental Health staff inside saying since it has a federal rail designation, they didn’t have to. The Mendo Fever news site and Red Headed Blackbelt site both had pictures from a local man showing the oil spill left behind on Thanksgiving Day. Environmental Health’s Hazardous Materials Operations reported a six foot by four foot spill.
A meeting of the Joint Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) Forum and Quality Improvement Committee has been scheduled if the public’s interested. Next Wednesday, from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm the joint meeting to discuss Behavioral Health and Mental Health programs in Mendocino County. Members of the public, consumers, family members, service providers, and community agencies are encouraged to attend and ask questions, share ideas, give feedback and recommendations for improving the Behavioral Health system of care in the community.
For more information about QIC, or to have the Zoom Link emailed to you, please contact Caitlin Colby, by emailing CoblyC@mendocinocounty.org or by calling (707) 472-2369.
For more information about MHSA, or to have the Zoom Link emailed to you, please contact Rena Ford, by emailing FordRe@mendocinocounty.org or by calling (707) 472-2724.
A young woman in Ukiah is missing. The family of 23-year-old Kelly Erickson reported not seeing or hearing from her since last Saturday. Her sister said it was unusual for them not to hear from her and that she had last texted a friend saying she was going to her parents in Sebastopol. But she’s been unreachable. She was last seen in Ukiah November 23rd. She’s described as tall and thin, 5’10” tall with short black hair. Her sister told Mendo Fever she is on the Autism spectrum.
A fire that broke out at a home in Ukiah was arson. That’s the word from the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority Battalion Chief. The home on Gibson Street burned, then a 31 year old man from Redwood Valley was arrested. Police say Travis Humphrey was charged with arson of inhabited structure and arson during a state of insurrection. Apparently, it’s not his first dance with the law either. He has records of being arrested for drunk in public, trespassing and kicking another man in the head while lying in front of a laundromat in Ukiah. The home that burned was reportedly owned or rented by Redwood Community Services for substance abuse/behavioral health services.
Three men accused of child trafficking by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) were found to be driving family members to work, according to their lawyer. The charges in August of trafficking children “for the purpose of forced labor at a marijuana cultivation site” but their lawyer says the kids were theirs and they were not holding them against their will. The court documents released at a preliminary hearing yesterday in Ukiah where the charged men failed to show up. Avertano Diaz Martinez of Modesto, Fernando Francisco and Abraham Suman Cassilas from Santa Rosa were all arrested on the 101 south of Laytonville. Two teenage boys 15 and 16 were turned over to Child Protective Services and the men were booked into Mendocino County jail.
The Clearlake City Council is staying with who they have. At their final meeting of 2021, the council voted to keep the mayor and vice mayor in their jobs for another year. They voted unanimously for Dirk Slooten to continue as mayor and Russell Perdock as vice mayor. The two were praised for their work. There was some back and forth discussion about keeping the status quo, but ultimately they decided it was the right move ahead of next year.
Cal Fire is transitioning to winter in the Sonoma, Lake, Napa, Colusa, Yolo and Solano county region. As of Monday, Dec. 28th, which is about a month earlier than last year. They will maintain staff in case of any threats and move staff to areas where there is still a higher threat of fire. At the same time state, federal and local land management and fire agencies are also doing wildfire mitigation work, like prescribed burns to improve forest health on private and public lands, following the state’s Strategic Fire Plan and localized unit fire plans.
