A man’s been busted in Ukiah with a slew of meth. A Mendocino Deputy saw a car with an expired registration go into a parking lot and contacted him. James Harnett gave the Deputy permission to search the car and found about an ounce of suspected meth in a black baggie on the front passenger side floorboard. There was also drug paraphernalia, a digital scale, and packaging for the drug. So, Harnett was arrested for possession of a controlled substance for sale (11378 H&S), transportation of a controlled substance (11379 H&S), and an active misdemeanor warrant for his arrest out of Mendocino County. He was held on $26,500.00 bail.
3 more people have died from coronavirus in Mendocino County. The Public Health Office put out a statement that the 101st death was in a fully vaccinated 77 year old woman from Fort Bragg. The 102nd death was in a 53 year old unvaccinated man from Willits, and the 103rd death was a 79 year old unvaccinated man from Ukiah. They remind of the state’s reinstated masking guidance in all indoor settings and that vaccination, masking, and social distancing are still the best way to fight the virus.
Some companies in Sonoma County are now joining the city of San Francisco, getting exemptions for masking indoors. The Governor reinstated the indoor mask mandate until January 15th. But Sonoma County has mask rules allowing certain vaccinated groups to go maskless in some workplaces. The state’s rules do not mean the county cannot rely on its own guidelines. The state mandate says anyone in a public space, like an office, retail store and government meeting, has to wear masks regardless of their vaccination status. Sonoma County had that already, but changed it to allow “stable cohorts” of vaccinated people who regularly gather and don’t come into contact with others much, to go maskless.
The Governor has announced a more than one billion dollar initiative to clean the state. Newsom was picking up litter himself and joined in painting over graffiti in Los Angeles yesterday as part of the announcement of the $1.1 billion initiative to clean near highways, roads and other public spaces, part of a promise he made to deal with growing homeless encampments. He announced his Clean California plan last May and now announced an expansion for next year.
The Middletown Unified School District has tabled their decision on whether or not to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for students and staff. The board was considering the idea to mirror language instituted by school boards at Lucerne Elementary, Konocti Unified and Lakeport Unified. They’re because of Gov. Newsom’s order in October for a COVID-19 vaccine to be added to the list of required vaccinations for students for in-person learning. He also said school employees would have to also be vaccinated. But the schools are asking the state for a recommend, not require mandate instead. Lake Co News reports Public Health reported six districts out of more than 1,000 across the state have asked for modifications.
The Bureau of Land Management has wiped out over a million illegal marijuana plants. The rangers, special agents, and various other law enforcement partners pulled the plants and over 180,000 pounds of processed marijuana this year. It was all part of the California Department of Justice’s yearly Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, or CAMP, program. They also found a bunch of chemicals, ammo and weapons. Plus they cleared trash including 300 miles of waterline, 583 propane tanks and over 67,000 pounds of grow site infrastructure.
A man has died in Willits after driving off the side of a road. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office reports a car was found down a steep hillside Tuesday afternoon, where they found the driver had died in a solo car crash. They said they were trying to locate family to inform them of the man’s death.
Anderson Valley High Schoolers are getting a donation to help protect the goats on school property after a mountain lion attack. The Mountain Lion Foundation reports they’ll donate and install two livestock pens at the Boonville school tomorrow. The 10 by 20-foot, predator-proof livestock pens were offered after the school Superintendent asked the public for help after three goats were attacked by a mountain lion, two died. A California Department of Fish and Wildlife Biologist who is working with the foundation has also volunteered to help put up the pens.
A report says Mendocino County is in the top five, per capita, for opioid related deaths in Calif. The Calif. Overdose Surveillance Dashboard had Mendocino County with 20 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2020, that is about 26 per 100,000 residents, and over 62,360 prescriptions for opioids were written in the county last year. In comparison, Napa County, with about 40,000 more residents had just under 61,600 prescriptions for opioids but only eight related deaths, for a 5 per 100,000 rate of people dying. Lake County was third ahead of Mendocino County as fourth, Sonoma was sixth, and Humboldt County was 11th.
A landslide has been reported along with the drenching rain. With the latest storm that came through yesterday, the US Forest Service announced the landslide had closed Forest Road “M10”, which is about a quarter mile west of Fout Springs. They report it will take several days of dry weather for crews to clear the road and are asking folks to avoid the area if possible. Areas where fires have burned recently in Northern California have been flooded, including where the massive August Complex and Ranch Fires burned.
The latest agriculture report for Lake County showed for the first time in about six years, the gross value of production was under $100 million. The Record Bee reports that’s the biggest downturn in a decade. The newspaper reports the county’s 2020 commodities were at $75,471,368, down 29% from 2019 because the value of wine grapes, timber, walnuts and field crops were down. The report delivered to the Board of Supervisors showing the 29% drop in 2020, a 5% drop in 2019, and 8% in 2018, for a 42% decline over the last three years.
