A man from Covelo’s been found guilty for criminal threats and possessing a shotgun, among other crimes. The Mendocino County DA reports 27 year old Cort Patterson Miller, Sr. was also found guilty of violating a domestic violence restraining order. It’s up to the probation department to decide how long he goes away after the state Legislature changed the long-standing sentencing practice of letting local judges decide if a case is aggravated or mitigated that use to be made at the sentencing hearing until the beginning of this year. Now an aggravated sentence has to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt unless a defendant waives their right to the jury deciding. So back to court they go in one week from Monday.
A couple of bills in the Legislature could change the way early education looks in Calif. One would make kindergarten mandatory, that one is in the state Senate. The other in the Assembly, would mandate school districts offer full-day kindergarten. Early childhood experts say there’s emerging studies on expanding the day for kindie’s would give them a head start later in life. It would also help close the state’s achievement gap, because there are some little one’s who skip kindergarten altogether, which teachers say gives them a struggle keeping up with others who have attended. The authors of the twin bills say voluntary kindergarten leaves children unprepared, and if it were mandatory they’d have better social skills too.
Changes afoot in the University of California system regarding critical race theory. Academics in the system are proposing setting certain criteria and content for high school ethnic studies courses like what the State Board of Education said was divisive two years ago. If a student wanted to go to a UC school, they’d have to take required classes that don’t necessarily coincide with state law or the current ethnic studies curriculum the state board adopted last year. The criteria as it stands now gives local districts authority to decide what should be taught in ethnic studies. But over 100 faculty members have sent a letter critical of the plan to UC’s Academic Council, saying it seems it’s an attempt to teach students a “particular take on a range of highly controversial issues”.
There’s been an expansion of restrictions on the Dungeness Crab season due to whale entanglement worries. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) director says the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program for the recreational crab fishery has shown there’s currently an increased risk of entanglement, so he’s restricting crab trap use for the rest of the recreational Dungeness crab fishing season. The season ends July 30th in Del Norte, Humboldt and Mendocino counties and June 30th in all other counties. The trap restriction begins April 24th which bans any recreational crab traps in the water.
There won’t be a moratorium on agriculture or cannabis cultivation projects in Lake County after all. This Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors gave the proposal a resounding thumbs down. They were considering a 45 day moratorium due to the drought and possible stress on water resources. Supervisor Bruno Sabatier said climate change was to blame. There had to be a 4/5 vote, but three board members were immediately against the idea even though Sabatier showed proof that Clear Lake may hit levels this year, not seen since the 1970’s. Other supervisors said to give staff some time to come back with ideas and planning over the next few weeks.
The cause of a Willits woman’s death is inconclusive says the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office. 33 year old Amber Dillon’s body was found in January in a remote grassy field near the northern county line north of Cloverdale. The Sheriff’s office report says Dillon had a pretty deep cut in her scalp and a couple needles found in her jacket pockets. But they’ve declared her death undetermined, with significant contributing factors: “hypothermia, blunt force injuries of the head and methamphetamine abuse.” Someone apparently flagged down a CHP officer in early January for her body near Geysers Rd. Her death was being investigated by the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, but the Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall said at the time, they believed it was murder. Another woman’s body was also found in January, and her death was due to “Acute Methamphetamine Toxicity, with no other significant contributory factors.”
A long time Lake County Board of Supervisors member is resigning. Tina Scott of the 4th District announced her resignation, effective July 31st. She says it was a great honor to be on the Board since she was elected in 2016. She says personal reasons keep her from continuing on the board and says when she ran for re-election in 2020, she didn’t plan to leave two years later. She says she still hopes for progress on South Lakeport Annexation after decades of disagreement. The announcement of her departure says she’s starting as an instructor at Clear Lake High School. The county will fill the vacancy and the person appointed will hold the position until the election and qualification of his or her successor. The Board is expected to take up the matter at their April 26th regular meeting.
A new budget has been approved by the Mendocino Lodging Business Improvement District Advisory Board along with the annual report. The Board is sending their work to the Board of Supervisors to be presented May 3rd and adopted May 17th. The report has info on the tourism industry in Mendocino and has recommendations to move forward in FY2022/2023. The Board is an oversight for the Board of Supervisors over the Mendocino County Tourism Commission (MCTC), also known as Visit Mendocino.
The woman from Nevada accused of starting a fire along a highway in Lake County has been denied securing a new lawyer. Nickelina Rose Williams of Fallon, Nevada was arrested by CHP officers last fall after a fire started along State Route 29. A group of motorists were trying to stomp the fire out when the CHP arrived. They found Williams there too with a lighter and ignition materials on her. She told the court she didn’t think her court appointed lawyer was correctly representing her. The judge is not allowing her to fire her lawyer. She will be back in court next month where they’ll discuss if Williams has been seen by a psychiatrist at a state hospital after she was found incompetent to stand trial. She’s currently being held on $35,000 bail in jail.
