An anonymous artist dubbed the Velvet Bandit has spread artwork across Mendocino County. Mendo Fever reports the paste-up street artist has often erected pieces in the county even though she lives in Santa Rosa. Her work can be seen in Fort Bragg, Boonville, Ukiah, Willits, and Hopland, with the two latest installations across from Real Goodz in Hopland and by the Van Motel in Willits. The news site reports the Velvet Bandit has a strong social media following and has garnered a lot of press coverage because of her unique street art which is often features a call to action. Velvet’s day job is as a lunch aide at a Santa Rosa School.
Another mountain lion sighting in Redwood Valley and a warning for those living near the train tracks to be on the lookout. First a resident saw a lion carry off a cat, then another saw one slinking around her home where her kids regularly feed their family farm animals. Last week another said he saw one on his property, now Mendo Fever reports, yet another, this time a cub. That was after midnight Saturday. The animal seen on home surveillance video stalking an area previously visited by a bigger lion. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has info for you to learn what to do in case a mountain lion comes onto your property, call or visit their website for their Human-Wildlife Conflict Toolkit.
Several hundred homes in northern Mendocino and southern Humboldt counties without power. PG&E first reported the outage for 1,300 customers around 1:20 yesterday afternoon with an estimated restoration 4 hours later. But it wasn’t until seven hours later that the power was back on after a power pole south of Garberville somehow caught fire.
The married woman who admitted she faked an abduction to go hang with her ex boyfriend has been served divorce papers. Sherri Papini’s husband reportedly filed for divorce last week. Five years ago the 39 year old disappeared, then reappeared emaciated, with some sort of skin branding. She blamed it on two Hispanic women after a nationwide search. She also accepted more than $30,000 from a state assistance fund for kidnapping victims. Her husband called 911 after finding her phone down the street from their house, and some of her hair tangled around earbuds. In actuality she spent three weeks away from her Redding home with her husband and children, in San Diego with her ex. She pleaded guilty for the scheme and will be sentenced in July.
A proposal for a new gas station, convenience store and fast food joint on the agenda for the next Clearlake Planning Commission meeting. A conditional use permit application along with an environmental assessment will be considered tomorrow night. They would sell alcohol at the convenience store, there would be office space and there would be a drive through car wash too in the Clearlake Shopping Center. The applicant says she plans to start construction in the fall.
A continuing fundraiser has been organized by the Art Center Ukiah and the Corner Gallery for residents of Ukraine. The handmade items are traditional Ukrainian wax working decorations of Easter eggs. But they’re all done by local artists and are one-of-a-kind. The artwork has been practiced for centuries in Ukraine, where they make eggs for Easter, then decorate them with nature symbols representing the rebirth of the earth after the long, hard winter. The fundraiser is to show solidarity to Ukraine with 100% of the proceeds going to the World Central Kitchen. They help prepare food for Ukrainian shelters, hospitals, transit stations and more.
The Clean Up Clearlake campaign has gotten underway. The city’s working to get rid of blight due to years of illegal dumping. On Saturday, Clean Up Clearlake took over the area known as the “The Avenues.” One neighbor told the Record Bee he had spent a couple years after he moved in clearing out hazardous vegetation on two side streets. Then after a while he and other neighbors started clearing out the whole neighborhood of trash. Neighbors have been talking about this with city and county leaders at meetings and code enforcement has come out and cleaned two properties in Clearlake Oaks and Nice after several requests and giving out citations. The sites, mostly in tax default and possibly set for auction which will be held May 27th. Their owners have until May 26th to get up to date on their payments or forfeit them to the sale.
A campaign to save water in Calif. by getting our neighbors to turn off their sprinklers in the hopes it will rain. Save Our Water reminding of rainy weather tips as a storm is expected to bring some precipitation. Turn off your irrigation system when there is rain in the forecast and let nature do its part, watering your yard. Then they say to allow soil to dry between rain and watering, not to overwater your trees, especially drought-tolerant species. And if you can, install drip irrigation & add a smart controller. Also, use mulch which can save 20 – 30 gallons of water per 1000 sq. ft.
After reports of a stabbing in Clearlake, Deputies found a male victim at Adventist Health Hospital. They say the victim was attacked outside Maynard’s Sports Bar in Lower Lake by several people. They were moved to an out-of-county hospital and reported in stable condition. Major Crimes at the Sheriff’s Office is investigating and says they do have some leads but would like anyone who may have seen something to call Detective Jeff Mora at (707)262-4224 or by email at Jeffrey.mora@lakecountyca.gov
A new grant has been announced by Lake County for those who’ve been negatively impacted due to the criminalization of cannabis. The Cannabis Local Equity Program Grants are compliments of a partnership of the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz). They will first offer direct grants which will go to smaller cultivators. More programs are going to be offered, but not quite yet. They will take applications and get back to folks who apply when the grants are available.
http://www.lakecountyca.gov/Government/Directory/Administration/Cannabis.htm
A man from Covelo has been arrested after a domestic incident. The Sheriff’s office reports 32-year-old Lee Anthony Joaquin was arrested after a call to a home on Highway 162. Deputies say the woman and Joaquin had been in a relationship for a long time, but recently separated. She says during a child exchange, he became upset and hit her several times with his hands and kicked her in the ribs causing visible injuries. Since he was on probation, he was arrested for violating that, and domestic violence and held without bail.
A 75-year-old man has been arrested in Fort Bragg after reports of sex assault on a child under 12. The Sheriff’s Office reports getting a call regarding possible oral copulation of a 10-year-old child. Deputies met Steven Helm and a witness to the incident. After several interviews, detectives found Helm was the responsible party of the alleged abuse as he had continuous access to the child who was known to him. He’s charged with oral copulation of a child under 10 years-old and continuous sexual abuse of child under 14 years-old. He’s being held on $200,000 bail. Detectives are also asking anyone else who may have had contact with Helm to call them at 707-463-4086 or the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Tip-line at 707-234-2100.
After the “People’s Convoy” protest in Canada, a similar group headed to Calif. When the group protested in Oakland, they were not well-received. Angry neighbors pelted the passing vehicles with eggs and yelled for them to leave. The incident went viral after the convoy passed a Safeway supermarket Friday. Some of the people driving the big rigs had their windows rolled down and got hit by the eggs. SFGate reported some in the convoy were overheard on CB radios saying they had to go get their vehicles washed after the egging. They went into the Bay Area to head over to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home to put up US flags on her lawn. Apparently they couldn’t figure out where her home was so they went to a member of the state Legislature’s home instead.
A new report says the state had more rain this month then all of the three preceding months. The California Data Exchange Center and Dept. of Water Resources reported double the amount of precipitation in April than January, February and March together. Some Tahoe area ski resorts were able to stay open as snowstorms hit the higher mountainous regions.
