Jury selection in the trial of a former Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy accused of killing someone during a traffic stop starts after the holiday weekend. The trial for former Deputy Charles Blount for the November 2019 in-custody death begins Monday. David Ward was killed after he was detained by officers, then put in a now-banned chokehold. Plus, his head was bashed into his car’s doorframe. In the video, you can hear Blount say “oh well” while Ward laid prone in handcuffs afterward. The car Ward was in had been reported stolen days earlier. Blount faces involuntary manslaughter and felony assault by a peace officer charges.
You’ve gotta wear a mask indoors in Sonoma County, vaccinated or not. Yesterday the county removed an exemption it had placed earlier this month that allowed vaccinated people to go without a mask in some indoor settings, like at gyms, in offices and at church. The new health order went into effect this morning at 12:01 a.m. The county’s public health officer, Dr. Sundari Mase says the vaccine works, but if you still get the virus, you can infect others. But you probably won’t become severely ill or die from the virus.
After a gang-related stabbing in Ukiah last month, an arrest has been made. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office reports Jaime Antonio Zambrano is accused of the attempted murder along with a special allegation, for knifing the victim November 28th at an apartment complex. Zambrano also gets a strike against him in the state’s “Three Strikes” law if he’s convicted. Zambrano has been in and out of jail for several years and is a suspected gang member.
After reports of negative tests at the Humboldt County Jail, some inmates are speaking out saying they’re concerned recent positive tests of inmates could mean they’re still contagious. Kym Kemp reports after some detainees were quarantined for ten days, and were returned to their dorm unit, but some say two recent positive cases were still ill. But a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Dept. says an inmate who was the first to test positive, in this latest surge was no longer symptomatic and was not tested again as that is not their protocol. And they are following CDPH/Public Health guidance regarding congregate living and mass isolation.
There are still several thousand PG&E customers in Southern Humboldt County without power. As of last night the energy company reported there were still some Garberville residents without power, but it should be resolved today. But they didn’t state how many would get their power back, and that it may only be temporary as the company’s got staff still working on the repairs. There was a transmission pole and some wiring down north of Garberville. There are folks also without power in northern Mendocino County too.
Some state prison inmates with one strike against them may be let out early. Early release credits are only allowed for some Strike inmates if they only have about 20% of their time left. But apparently the state’s considering changing it even though the Three Strikes law was last modified by voters. Prison administrators have reportedly been using “emergency” regulations to get around the voter-approved early release credit cap. Instead of serving 80% of their time, some are being released after only serving half.
A couple who have both been working in the Konocti Unified School District are leaving after several years, for new adventures. The School Board said their goodbyes earlier this month to Ed and Sarah Fuchs whose last day is tomorrow. Ed has been a PE teacher for 8th graders, a class adviser and the boys’ wrestling coach, and Sarah has worked as the College and Career Center adviser, testing coordinator and athletic director at Lower Lake High. They’re moving to Wisconsin.
Since the power went out for folks in Humboldt and Mendocino County, those in Covelo got theirs back with the help of generators. PG&E reported every one of the 1,300-plus customers in the Covelo area lost power Sunday night after a snowstorm. The energy company reported buying generators on Monday night and that power would be back on Tuesday night. They also reported a couple hundred customers in the Round Valley area would be covered by the generators too. Laytonville, Willits and Potter Valley also lost power after trees came down. Yesterday afternoon about 200 Mendocino County residents were still in the dark. You can check the status at the PG&E website.
A man from Ukiah has been arrested for violating a restraining order and violating his probation. The Sheriff’s Office reports Martin Paniagua-Moreno had a protective order against him and that a female had been getting repeated calls from him, her ex-boyfriend. Even when deputies were speaking to the woman, he called then too. Since that violated the protective order against him and he was on formal probation, Deputies went after him. He was arrested and booked into the Mendocino County Jail and held on a No Bail status due to the nature of the charges.
California is the victim of another COVID-19 surge. Hospitals are also seeing rapidly increasing cases, faster than ever before. It’s all due to the omicron variant which is ravaging the country, along with delta, which has not dissipated either. The Bay Area News Group reported a day-over-day increase in hospitalizations due to the virus, higher than at any time since the pandemic began. The most hospitalizations, the report found, were in Contra Costa County — up 76% in the last two weeks, but in Orange County, they’ve risen 89% recently. Health experts say the next two to three weeks will be a very dangerous time in California. And in the country, we are nearing the 300,000 case/day mark. The last record was 250,000 on Jan. 11th.
