A former Ukiah cop accused of sex crimes and intimidation has copped a plea. Kevin Murray was facing seven felonies and a misdemeanor. During a pretrial conference Murray pleaded no contest to one felony and one misdemeanor and faces up to four years behind bars, at the most, and two year’s probation, the least. Murray was set to start a jury trial in two weeks, but that was canceled. He was ordered instead to report to a probation officer. He’s served two months already and the judge said she didn’t think she’d add more time. He also pleaded no contest for false imprisonment and had been charged with forcible rape, but that was dropped, as were other charges including burglary and possession of a controlled substance. Murray is still being sued by a former police officer for sexual harassment and other charges. He will be sentenced in his criminal case August 24th.
Hospice is expanding in Mendocino County. The program for those near the end of their life to keep them comfortable as they near the end. Adventist Health Hospice of Mendocino County has been servicing Willits and Ukiah and has expanded from Laytonville, south to Hopland, into Potter Valley, and now out to the Mendocino Coast. They also have plans to expand into Covelo and Anderson Valley. They have nurses, a chaplain, home health aides and a social worker.
Bad news for those making minimum wage, hoping for a raise to $18/hr. The subject won’t be on the November ballot. The Secretary of State’s office reported petitions for the plan didn’t garner enough verified signatures by the deadline to qualify the measure. By January the minimum wage will increase to $15.50/hr. driven by inflation. The California Living Wage Act looked to increase the wage to $16 next January instead, then up to $18 by 2025. The plan was to adjust it each year to align with the cost of living.
Kiddos in Boonville who raised Monarch butterflies have released them into the air. The Anderson Valley Unified School District Superintendent says the newly hatched butterflies were magical to watch with the kids. The project for second graders started with butterfly larva, which arrived at the school with their food in a container. The students raised them as they formed the Chrysalis in the cap of the container. When they are solid, the teacher pinned them to a butterfly net and students witnessed the metamorphosis over several days.
The Electra Fire in Gold Country is now the second largest fire of the season. It’s burning in the Sierra Nevada foothills straddling Amador and Calaveras counties. Nearly 4,300 acres have been charred by the fire which started on July 4th along the Mokelumne River. Cal Fire reports the fire is currently 60% contained. And while no structures have been damaged, one firefighter has been injured. There are still evacuations in place in both counties. The fire’s burning across the 2015 Butte Fire scar. That fire killed two people, burned almost 71,000 acres and destroyed 877 structures.
Farm and food production workers on the front lines during the darkest days of the pandemic had their rights violated. That’s the word from a new report by the California Institute for Rural Studies. The report says not only were Cal/OSHA guidelines ignored, but farm and food production employers frequently didn’t provide face masks, enforce physical distancing or tell workers if there were COVID outbreaks at worksites. The study used data gathered from April 2020 through December 2021. Not only that, but the penalties for the companies were puny even though the farm and food companies had the most violations.
A Native American art exhibit is opening to the public in Middletown. The opening of Earth Sky and Everything in Between featuring the work of Pomo basket weaver and cultural educator Corine Pearce is tomorrow night. The Middletown Art Center is hosting Pearce with an introduction and blessing at 6:30 pm. There you will find baskets, paintings, photos, digital media, and other art installations. The Record Bee reports it will highlight current, and long-time challenges and issues like colonialism, land access, intergenerational trauma, Missing and Murdered Indigenous women, identity, and blood quantum.
Congressman Mike Thompson working with his counterpart in Washington, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal have introduced a bill to protect the right to contraception. The Protecting Access to Contraception Act of 2022 looks to codify the right of Americans to access contraception. It comes after the overturning by the US Supreme Court of Roe v. Wade, in which Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ opinion said there should also be other precedent rulings reconsidered, including Griswold v. Connecticut, a 1965 court decision recognizing the constitutional right of married adults to access contraception without government restriction. Thompson’s legislation would prevent states or localities from prohibiting or restricting the sale, purchase, possession, transportation, or use of contraception.
In case you missed it, the Fourth of July parade in Mendocino County came back this year, but there was a wrinkle. There were people picketing in the crowd at the first in person parade for the holiday since the COVID-19 pandemic started. The theme was “Forward, Together”, but some folks in the crowd weren’t holding signs related to the theme, instead they said stuff like “mind your own uterus’, “I make my own decisions” and other reproductive freedom slogans. All of course related to the recent Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade. There were floats though in alignment with the theme and holiday and those protesting didn’t seem to take away from the fun.
It was one and done for firefighters in the tiny hamlet of Mendocino. A fire broke out in the 9000 block of Highway 1 near the Brewery Gulch Inn, but aircraft descended on the fire, dropping retardant and squelching it before it could spread. A power line was reported down in the area. 4 aircraft headed to the fire, but two quickly returned. The fire was reported to be 100’x100′.
A new report says the COVID19 pandemic laid bare racial and economic health disparities and that led to lower life expectancies for some groups. The UCLA and Calif. Policy Lab researchers said between 2019 and 2021, the life expectancy for Latino Californians went down nearly six years, from 82.5 years to 76.8. That was twice the amount for all Californians where it was pegged at six years and three times more than white Californians of close to two years. It was also down by almost four years for Black Californians, from 74.8 years to 71, and by three years for Asian Californians, from 86.6 years to 83.5.
A mistrial declared in the case of a man charged with sex crimes against kids in Mendocino County. 54-year-old Tomas Pool will go back to court in two weeks after jurors deadlocked in the case against him, leading to the mistrial. He’s charged with six felony counts and two special allegations.
A bunch of PG&E customers in the dark along State Route 128. Hundreds of customers in Yorkville, Boonville, and Philo had no power. The energy company reported 2,125 customers lost power yesterday afternoon for several hours. They were investigating how it started, but no word yet…
