There are still protestors trying to get the cutting and logging stopped at the Jackson Demonstration State Forest. Nearly 200 people were at the forest, many Tribal members who had shirts on that said “Pomo Land Back”. There were also traditional dancers performing to ancestral songs. The Coyote Valley Band Tribal Chair has been raising concern about the logged areas of the forest to protect cultural sites and artifacts. They’ve also asked for talks with the Governor’s office and have been working with the California Natural Resources Agency to improve access to ancestral lands owned or controlled by the state. They’re looking for a co-management agreement with the state for the forest. A logging operation known as the Caspar 500 has been protested and was stopped in June but looks to start again next month. The Tribal Chair says he wants the plan stopped altogether.
A couple of groups who say healthcare is too expensive in the state and sued a massive hospital system got a split result. The cases were over a decade long and may have been a trigger for the Governor looking to hospitals, doctors’ offices and insurance companies to keep their costs down. The Office of Health Care Affordability appears in the Governor’s nearly $300 billion dollar budget proposal, following four other states with similar offices. California would be slinging hefty fines at the entities potentially. Monthly health premiums have seriously spiked over the last 15 years. Folks who are insured through their job saw a 249% increase over that time. Some healthcare entities are cheering the idea of the office saying the two lawsuits showed the need.
What’s become an all too familiar scene, a fire burned in Covelo after a power line went down. Mendo Fever reports the fire burned yesterday morning in the 22000 block of Refuse Road. The Incident Commander said a power line snapped and flames ignited creating a “life/safety hazard”, but it was out in about a half hour of their arrival.
Sheriff Matt Kendall and District Atty. David Eyster are here to stay, as there are no candidates filing to run against either in the June primary election. Sheriff Kendall was appointed Sheriff after Tom Allman retired, so he was never elected to the job. It looks like he’s staying through at least 2026 as the filing deadline passed. The DA looks to also be running unopposed. He’s been in the job since he was elected in 2010, and ran again, unopposed in both 2014 and 2018. The county’s clerk, assessor, recorder and elections administrator is also running unopposed, so she looks to be in for a second term after winning in something of a landslide in 2018.
The Lake County clerk/auditor-controller is not running for office again. Lake Co News reports
Cathy Saderlund confirmed to them she won’t run for re-election in the June primary after working for the county for over 4 decades. She started with the county as an account clerk. She was appointed by the Board of Supervisors to her current job in October of 2011. She filled another person’s spot and then was on the ballot two times, in 2014 and 18, running unopposed. She told the news site that personal reasons in the last month had her deciding to leave the job. And her assistant has reportedly filed papers before the deadline to run in her place.
Since there’s a seat open on the Middletown Unified School Board, and thus, a special election for the seat, a mom and school volunteer says she’s running. Charise Reynolds announced she would run. She’s one of 10 applicants who interviewed previously for the spot after LaTrease Walker left. Annette Lee was appointed to the seat, but there was a petition circulated pretty soon thereafter to have her removed. There was also another open seat, but that board member, Thad Owens has become the district’s new superintendent. And Allison Berlogar was appointed for that seat.
Seven properties to be demolished as the Clearlake City Council considers abatements at their next meeting. At their regular meeting Thursday the council will hear from the Code Enforcement Supervisor about the properties that were deemed health and safety hazards and public nuisances. There have been notices of violation sent to the property owners who haven’t done anything to rectify the issues. So the city is set to advertise for bids to demo the properties, the bids should be opened before the meeting. The council is also set to consider a way to finance more road repairs, something they looked at a couple of weeks ago too.
The latest “State of the County” report has been released by Lake County. There are five sections which were presented by various agency leaders. The County Administrative Officer says the county received tens of millions of dollars in grant funding, there’s greater strength and stability in the county workforce and a renewed commitment to be sure services the county provides promote the well-being of every Lake County resident. She says there’s been “real, meaningful progress in areas where we have struggled for decades.” The Sheriff spoke about human trafficking and illegal marijuana and a new headquarters. Many department heads talked about the pandemic and how they had to change how they serviced the community and all and all, the message was that the county remained strong.
The state is reportedly considering offering workers at Juvenile Justice centers significant bonuses to stay in their positions. CalMatters is reporting up to $50,000 bonuses may be offered to some Division of Juvenile Justice staff members as the state is closing some facilities. The Governor’s office is negotiating with at least a half dozen worker unions for the pay increases to keep folks on the job until the June 30th 2023 closures. The bonuses as some staff members started to resign after the Governor announced closure plans which caused staffing shortages. CalMatters reports all direct care employees, which includes youth prison guards, plumbers, teachers and chaplains could get the $50,000 in additional pay and non-direct care employees could get up to $25,000.
The communications company, Mediacom has announced they’re upgrading download speeds for those using their most popular Xtream tier of internet. More than 900,000 customers will have access for free. Those getting their Access Internet 60 will see a 67% increase in download speeds, the Internet 100 users will get a 100% increase and the Internet 300 uses will get a 33% bump. The company also announced double download speeds for Connect2Compete Plus users, but that’s for $30 more/month. As a reminder if you’ve ordered the changes, you should probably reboot your modem for the speed changes to take effect, and those with older modems may need to turn them in for a newer model.
Cases of COVID are dropping in Calif. but experts say not to get too comfortable like we’re in before times, as there could be new variants in the future, triggering new mask and social distancing protocols. Hospitalizations and positive tests are dropping statewide, taking us down to numbers we were at last summer, pre Delta and Omicron. The test positivity rate was under 2% at last check. It was 22% just two months ago. The state is seeing a seven day average of about 3,000 new cases a day, still a lot higher than the record low in the summer of 2021, when we were at a third of that. Hospitalizations are also way down, just under 3,000 patients for the first time since July of 2021.
As cannabis growers and retailers say they’re suffering due to high taxes, a couple hundred protestors have gone to the state Capitol. Assemblyman Jim Wood is looking to get a bill passed for cannabis growers to sell at events. He says the only way small growers can survive is if they are in the money already or can sell at certain venues. Growers say they can’t get investors to help, they cannot sell across state lines, giant corporations are moving into the industry, there is more and more market saturation, the federal government still looks down on recreational sales and more challenges. A recent study though, shows the black market and legal markets together bring in about $100 billion in national sales.
