Wire fraud and bogus vaccination cards could send a naturopathic doctor from Napa to prison. Juli Mazi pleaded guilty to charges against her. This was the first case of its kind in federal court regarding bogus Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccination cards for COVID-19. The US Justice Dept. reports the woman faked vax cards for as many as 200 people and gave them instructions about how to complete the cards and make them look like they got the Moderna vaccine. At the same time she was selling homeopathic remedies she claimed would provide patients “lifelong immunity to COVID-19.” She’s set to be sentenced at the end of July.
Seven women are now part of a lawsuit against the ex-mayor of Windsor, saying he sexually assaulted them. The group accuse former Mayor Dominic Foppoli of using his Healdsburg winery and a local service club for his misconduct. They say Foppoli used his “power and connnections” and plied them with booze. They claim in their court papers they’ve been patiently waiting for some justice, but it keeps getting delayed which is taking an emotional toll on them. He and others blamed for being a party to his crimes, have been served the documents. The women, who are seeking damages and restraining orders say they were raped, groped or otherwise manhandled by Foppoli.
The details of the murder of a woman from Nevada are coming out now that a suspect has been charged in the case. Troy Driver, a former Mendocino County resident is accused of kidnapping, shooting and killing 18-year-old Naomi Irion who disappeared a few weeks ago. The Churchill County, Nevada Sheriff’s Office reported her official cause of death was murder, by gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Driver was reportedly seen getting into Irion’s car in a Walmart Parking lot and taking the wheel. She was never seen alive again. He was also involved in a Willits 1997 murder and served time for that. He now faces murder charges again, along with felony kidnapping charges and robbery.
State fisheries are opening in California. The Department of Fish and Wildlife announced nearly every fishery is reopening to the public today after nearly 2 yearlong closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic. There are 22 fisheries, all but one are opened. The one in Kern County is closed for maintenance but will reopen soon. Most are about an hour away from most California residents. Information about specific hatcheries, including locations, hours, directions and safety guidelines can be found on the CDFW website. There are no indoor activities at the moment, and most indoor spaces are staying closed, there may also still be some public safety restrictions in place because of the ongoing pandemic.
In a stunning turn of events, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors unanimously said yes to allow the Sheriff to offer $20,000 hiring bonuses for new sheriff’s deputies. Sheriff Kendall had been decrying the ability to hire and keep staff members. He also asked for other incentives too. He said it would be less expensive to offer the bonuses, than to put a new recruit through the academy. And he says going to the academy takes six months, so a lateral hire, someone who’s already a deputy elsewhere, makes more sense. The move mirrors what the Ukiah Police Department does, also offering $20,000 hiring bonuses. Some supervisors were curious to know how the Sheriff intended to find the lateral recruits, but signed on to the idea anyway.
Drones will be buzzing around the skies of Ukiah thanks to a new Electric Utility Dept. agreement. The city’s starting a program for utilities to be inspected by drone so they can get up close to city-owned electrical infrastructure. The drones will take a look at distribution and transmission lines and substation equipment. The planned flyovers go through October and will continue each year. The flying machines use an infrared thermal camera to detect hot spots and loose connections. The city of Ukiah’s Public Works Department will also use the drone to document progress on other projects. The utility inspections start this month and will fly from 8:00a.m. to 4:00p.m.
If you want to see what’s up with the pandemic in Mendocino County, the Public Health Dept. has launched a new Covid-19 data dashboard. It has various bits of information, including where you can get vaccinated, and how many deaths we’ve suffered. There will also be detailed state information on hospitalizations and deaths. The announcement on the new dashboard by the Public Health Officer, Dr. Andy Coren at his regular meeting last Friday. Also noted, the OptumServe facility at the fairgrounds in Ukiah is offering PCR and rapid tests. Coren also noted the county would continue providing pop-up testing and vaccine events.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office has received a grant from the state Justice Dept. to help find and reduce the amount of illegally owned and possessed firearms in Lake County. Lake Co News reports the Sheriff’s Office started to look in the Upper Lake area for illegal firearms, and potential criminal thefts, and found 48-year-old convicted felon Shawn Rorabaugh who was not allowed to own firearms, had them. After a search warrant was served, Deputies say they found a bunch of ammo, body armor and multiple firearms. He was not there at the time; cops say he probably took off to avoid arrest. They’re asking anyone who may know where Rorabaugh is to call the Sheriff’s Dept.
The Commercial Dungeness season is off after the state determined there was too high a risk for humpback whale entanglements. The Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) says under the state’s Risk Assessment Mitigation Program, they’ve closed the fishery at the Sonoma/Mendocino county line to the Oregon state line, effective at noon on April 20th. That’s for Zones 1 & 2. The agency says they also closed Zones 3 through 6 after three recent humpback whale entanglements in Dungeness crab fishing gear. So all crab traps have to be taken out. And the Lost and Abandoned Gear Retrieval Program will start to remove commercial Dungeness crab traps left in the water next week.
Word in Ukiah there’s been an abundance of cats rounded up, and possibly tossed in the garbage after a resident complained. The Daily Journal reports a local told them she found her cat in a trap in the back of a car. The woman told police she was searching her neighborhood for one of her cats which disappeared about a month ago. She says she heard a cat crying and found another of her cats in the trap near one of her neighbor’s houses. She says she retrieved the 10 year old, named Roo and confronted the person who owned the car, and called police. A Community Services Officer responded and the woman says they told her it wasn’t illegal to trap strays if they enter someone else’s property, if they’re taken to the animal shelter. She says her cats had collars and were well-fed, and obviously not strays. Police would only tell the newspaper this was an active investigation they couldn’t comment on.
