A woman has been arrested near Ukiah after breaking into a home, taking a bath, and trying to rip the home off. Apparently, Deputies got to the home a week ago Friday in the 700 block of Watson Road after the homeowner found a bunch of their personal items spread outside, more scattered inside and thought possibly someone had gotten inside the home. Deputies say they found Shannah Griffith about to take off, and in her possession where items taken from the home. The Sheriff’s office says she bathed and left a pile of trash behind. She was booked into the Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of burglary; and had been wanted on a warrant for possession of a controlled substance. She was being held on $20,000 bail.
So far this has been the driest year in Calif. History as we head into the third year of drought and the snowpack is lower than it needs to be. The state’s Natural Resources Agency is asking Californians to conserve more water now, so that it helps in the future. They’re recommending replacing grass with drought-tolerant plants or switching to water-saving appliances as the drought is worsening and is threatened by climate change. The Governor had asked for a 15% cut in usage last summer. But the state reported only about a 7.5% water savings over last year, which the chair of the State Water Resources Control Board says won’t nearly be enough.
A trio of fires have scorched some land in an area near the Mendocino/Sonoma County line between Geysers Road and Highway 101. The fires reportedly burned very near a known homeless encampment and fire officials called them “very suspicious” in nature. Mendo Fever reports they burned in CALFIRE’s state responsibility area, so CALFIRE is working to see how they may have started. One near the Russian River blew up pretty fast, which was unusual for this time of year. Hopland Fire was joined by Cloverdale Fire and CALFIRE.
A car chase ended when a suspect crashed into a CHP patrol vehicle after going up to
150 miles/hour. One person who was in the car near Clearlake was arrested after being held at gunpoint first. Another person in the car ran away and has not been caught. Officers say they saw a black lifted truck headed up Highway 29 crossing double yellow lines, weaving in and out of traffic so they blocked an area where the crash happened into a parked CHP SUV. The two inside the truck got out, one was taken to jail.
The Lake County Board of Supervisors considering what to do about drought conditions and living with the COVID-19 endemic in the workplace. The meeting is online and in person at the Lake County Courthouse. The board is considering an amendment to the pandemic work protocols now that things seem to have calmed down. As far as the drought goes, the Comprehensive Drought Workgroup, the Drought Emergency Operations Center, the Lake County Drought Task Force and the Tree Mortality Task Force will report on conditions.
Officials in Lakeport had a public forum on a proposal to annex south Lakeport into Lakeport city limits. The meeting last Thursday at the Lakeport Cinema with both city and county representatives and a public question and answer session on the 136-acre expansion. Lake Co News reports the annexation would mean the City of Lakeport would take control of water and sewage services, offer water hookups for those on well systems and add fire hydrants. And all of that would start in the summer of 23. Law enforcement would be covered by police instead of the Sheriff’s office.
A cannabis company is closing in Lake County, which means more than 50 people are out of work. PRO Farms announced they’re closing because of current market conditions, blaming over-taxing and over-regulation. The facility took up 60,000 square feet for processing, manufacturing and distribution. They were only open less than a year. They say they have recently expanded into the Central Valley, so they’re moving their processing and packaging operations there. The management of the company emailed the Record Bee saying they realize how it impacts locals who were working for them, and the community as a whole.
An informational picket, not a strike, is happening at Sutter Lakeside. Tomorrow nurses will carry signs and information for those interested across 15 facilities as they’re preparing for a new contract to improve staffing conditions and pandemic readiness. The Lakeport picket is only for ninety minutes tomorrow starting at 9am. The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United are organizing the picket. Unions for nurses say they’ve been negotiating with Sutter since June of last year. They are asking management to invest more in nursing staff, provide safe numbers of nurses, pandemic readiness, invest in personal protective equipment stockpiles and follow the state’s PPE stockpile law and comply with the state’s workplace violence prevention law.
Some state Legislators say they’re working on ways to ease gas prices due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Gas prices have been skyrocketing in some places in the state, and slowly creeping up in others. The average price per gallon of gas was $5.69 at last check, but that was up a dollar a gallon since a month before. The national average was $4.32. Here in Calif. our prices are higher due to gas taxes for infrastructure and environmental fees. State lawmakers raised the tax about 12 cents in 2017 to pay for roads, bridges, transit projects, and more. The Gov. already had a proposal on the table before the invasion, but economists say it’s tiny and won’t really put a dent in what we’re all dealing with currently. Republicans want to do away with a 51 cent tax temporarily which would amount to a loss to the state between $4 to $4.5 billion dollars. Lawmakers are also looking at just sending a rebate to taxpayers, which would be cheaper.
The Lake County Registrar of Voters Office has extended the nomination period to file for candidacy for certain elective county offices for the June Primary. Those interested in filing, who are not incumbent office holders now have until this Wednesday at 5:00 pm because of incumbent officeholders not filing for county offices. You will have to fill out your Nomination Papers and pay a nonrefundable fee. You may also need to file a Nomination Petition with 20 to 40 valid signatures of registered voters who live in your jurisdiction. For more info, you can call the Registrar’s Office (707)263-2372 or visit them before Wednesday’s 5:00pm deadline.
A man from Covelo’s in jail with a hefty bail set after he was arrested for committing crimes while out on bail for other crimes. The Sheriff’s Office reports Curtis Bettega’s car was seen parked in a parking lot at a motel on North State St. Friday after midnight. They found Bettega was wanted on five felony arrest warrants and two misdemeanor arrest warrants in Mendocino County. Deputies say there was a woman watching them from an upstairs motel room so they went to speak with her and found Bettega in the bathroom and arrested him. Inside the car they found a pump action shotgun, but he’s not allowed to have weapons. He was arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm and for committing a crime while out on bail. Plus he had those seven arrest warrants so he was held on $338,000.00 bail.
