Celebrations in the mountains as a spring storm brought several feet of snow. The Central Sierra Snow Lab at UC Berkeley reported the seven-day snow total was over 3 feet in some mountain areas Saturday. Mammoth got a foot of snow and says they’re staying open for recreational snow sports until Memorial Day. Lake Tahoe also reported a bunch of the fluffy white stuff. And the Bay Area got pummeled by much needed rain. The National Weather Service reports it could slow fire season but won’t really do much for the severe drought. The Sierra Nevada snowpack was at only 30% at the April 1st measurement.
Even though the pandemic is surging again, thanks to the latest omicron variant, the Governor’s office has not announced any new protocols to beat back the virus again. Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state’s top health official says there’s been a slow, but noticeable increase in case rates. The secretary of the state Health and Human Services Agency says there’s no plans to follow in Philadelphia’s footsteps, reinstating the indoor mask mandate. Cases did spike over 50% in 10 days in Philly, but Dr. Ghaly says we haven’t seen that kind of case rate increase in Calif. yet. Case rates are up in most states right now. After spring break, we could see even more cases as the state is focused on encouraging folks to get vaccinated and boosted and wear a mask.
A celebration to bring in the 100th anniversary of the Little Lake Grange in Willits. It was first built as a school back in 1920 with construction wrapped up in 1922. It became the Little Lake Grange in 1938 and has been the backdrop for various organizations and businesses ever since. There are also many community events hosted there and its kitchen is rented out for anyone in need of a commercial kitchen. There was asbestos found under the building when some repairs needed to be made, so they’re hosting a fundraiser to repay a loan they had to take out. So the 100-year celebration tabled due to the pandemic is being planned, but in the meantime there’s a gofundme.com account to raise $200,000.
Police in Ukiah are going to present their 2021 annual report to the City Council. The dept. says it was a challenging year once again due to Covid-19 related illnesses, quarantines and other restrictions, testing and vaccinations. Some of the expenditures included replacing body-worn cameras and in-car mobile data terminals. They struggled through some staffing shortages, and the Chief retired. There was an increase in calls last year. The agency reports 24,355 calls for service, about a 14-percent increase from 2020. The most common were thefts, then aggravated assault, burglaries, robberies, and there were 12 reports of rape. The City Council meeting is Wednesday, April 20 at 6pm in person and on Zoom.
https://zoom.us/j/97199426600
Two more people have died due to the pandemic. The county’s website posted the deaths Thursday, but didn’t give much more detail, except they were confirmed deaths, for a total now in the county of 122. The county has had over 13,100 cases as of last week, with the weekly average up slightly to 4.4 new cases per day over a seven-day period. The Public Health Office says the latest wave of the omicron strain is waning. At the same time, the office reported a new oral treatment available within 5 days of becoming ill with the virus. You have to have a prescription from a doctor for the new meds which are reported to curb serious illness, hospitalization, or death, and mostly important for those at elevated risk of severe Covid-19.
A bill in the state Assembly could mean community college and CSU student ID cards would include mental health hotlines on them. There are suicide prevention numbers on ID cards. That was required three years ago. And now some students support adding a 24-hour mental health hotline. The bill was introduced last month to require the number on the ID cards for local mental health services, either through the city, county or each college. But it can be optional for the University of California because the Legislature doesn’t have authority over UC.
Lake County’s Water Resources and Public Health Department considering private drinking water systems in Clearlake during the drought. Last week the two parties held a seminar on the topic with the coordinator of the Water Resources Invasive Species Program hosting. They talked about contaminants that can be identified in drinking water, like algal blooms. Apparently just over a decade ago residents started to notice their drinking water smelling funny. So as the level of Clear Lake goes down due to the drought, and the temperature goes up, there will possibly be more blooms. The webinar focused on what to do about that possibility, how it might harm humans and animals and where to report the illness if you or your pet ingests affected water.
To report blooms and human and animal illnesses, visit mywaterquality.ca.gov/habs. Remember to avoid contact with blooms and do not swim in areas with warning or danger signs. Control runoff of soils and fertilizers and manage septic tanks.
Two men busted for stealing a large amount of copper wiring from the Willits Redwood Company ordered to pay the company back. One of them was ordered to pay over $18,000 dollars, but not the other man. Logan Sperling of Belmont, one of the pair arrested for felony-level copper theft hired a lawyer to get his record expunged for supposedly paying the fines. He has submitted a document that he paid the restitution in full, but he never paid any of it in reality. So now Sperling owes nearly $34,000 with interest. So the Mendo DA has filed perjury charges against Sperling. He pleaded guilty Friday to avoid a trial. He’s due back in court in June for sentencing.
After a routine patrol by Mendocino County Deputies, a man they recognized from previous contacts was seen and arrested. But Orlando Munoz ran first. The man was wanted for a Post Release Community Supervision (PRCS) pick up order and was on probation. He’s now charged with Felony Violation County Parole, Felony Violation of Probation and Misdemeanor Resisting Obstructing Peace Officer. He’s held without bail.
A man from Ukiah’s been arrested after a routine traffic stop for a light violation. Glenn Jenkins
was on active Post Release Community Supervision (PRCS) with terms including “Do No Possess Dangerous Weapons Including Knives” and a “Fourth Amendment Waiver” so they could search him. They did and found a knife. He’s arrested and held on no bail.
A woman in Redwood Valley’s busted after being spotted exiting a liquor store with a paper bag. The deputies say they thought she looked familiar and knew she was on active felony probation with terms to include a “no alcohol” term. So she was contacted, found to be in possession of booze and arrested for violating her probation. She’s held without bail.
A Ukiah man has been arrested on a slew of charges after being seen in a stolen pickup. Police say Shane Miller had an arrest warrant as did Emily Christopher, who was with him. The truck was seen in the Orchard Shopping Center, so they stopped the duo and found three people with meth packaged for sale and oxycodone tablets. Miller was found to be in possession of a fixed blade knife and meth. Cops say he had picked up the other two in the stolen vehicle. Emily Christopher was with them and had a misdemeanor warrant for her arrest and was in possession of nearly 2 ounces of meth. And Scott Stone was in possession of a smaller amount of meth he said was for personal use that he got from Miller. The trio were arrested on various charges including drug and weapons possession and possession of a stolen vehicle.
A bill to require California schools to make all their salary information public goes to the state Senate appropriations committee. Right now only about a quarter of school districts comply with a request from the State Controller to turn over data on how much employees make, from the superintendent to principals, teachers and custodians. So Senate Bill 924, co-authored by state Senator Steven Glazer, would require school districts to comply.
:14 "These things only come out with transparency, with disclosure. I'm less interested in what we pay every school teacher because I think it's all too low; more interested in some of the excessive salaries that some school districts are paying their chief administrators."
Tag: The state would then make the database publicly available on the web. Some school districts complain that the requirement would be onerous, especially since they already are sending data on salary ranges to the state Department of Education.
Second Cut: Glazer notes that other local entities, such as special districts, counties and cities already are required to send in their payroll data.
:18 "Well, the legislation that created this transparency portal for salaries was done in 2014. It was the broad view of the Legislature and the governor that there should be no exceptions. The loophole that the schools are using to avoid that disclosure is not right. And my legislation seeks to correct it. "
Tag: Glazer is one of six candidates running for the office of state controller in the fall.
The Mendocino County Office of Education (MCOE) announces changes as schools and students have evolving needs. The Superintendent put out a statement about the office. They serve nearly 200 employees at 12 public school districts who serve over 112,000 students and 15 charter schools with 1,500 more students. The superintendent says they’ve come up with a new strategic plan which will serve as a guidepost for the future. So there will now be four main divisions: The Office of the County Superintendent, Business Services, Administrative Services, and Educational Services. Superintendent’s office will be responsible for total oversight; Educational Services to support school districts, including many of the most vulnerable students; Business Services will provide fiscal support and oversight for school districts; and finally the Administrative Services Division will be charged with human resource functions, emergency preparedness and technology support.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife has announced in person hunter safety training is back. The hunter education course is required for anyone looking to get out in the wilderness with a hunting license. The agency has only carried out online training since the pandemic hit. They will still offer the virtual study option as well. In person has hands-on training, including the safe handling of firearms, loading and unloading, storage, and more. They will pick up the traditional course, same as before the pandemic; a hybrid option, which is partly online and partly in person; and an online-only certification course which was put together when the pandemic first surfaced.
Prospective hunters may go to https://wildlife.ca.gov/Hunter-Education for more information on how to sign up for a course.
