A man accused of being involved somehow in the death of an infant is refusing to appear in court. Edward “Two Feathers” Steele was accused earlier this week of abandoning two toddlers along the railroad tracks in Ukiah, one of which was found dead. He’s charged now with felony murder in the second degree. The man was ordered to go to court to hear the charges against him, but reportedly didn’t go into the video conference room at the Mendocino County jail for a remote hearing. The DA filed additional charges including “willfully and unlawfully with malice aforethought” killing the child, referred to as K.A. and child endangerment. Another child, a two-year-old boy, was also in the hospital for heat exhaustion after being abandoned. Steele is set to be arraigned today.
After the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors said they needed help with finances from the state, they’re being criticized by others. The meeting last week included talk about the price of the new jail, and it was even discussed that the county was dealing with a financial crisis, by at least one board member. Then the newly elected Treasurer-Tax Collector/Auditor-Controller reportedly sent a letter to the Board, pointing to misinformation at the meeting with no way to rebut that or have an open discussion. The last Treasurer Tax-Collector told at least one news outlet most of the board was “ill-equipped to comprehend the financial complexities” of running the county and there’s no way there’s a financial crisis.
A small fire is out after burning a building. Mendo Fever reports Ukiah Valley Fire Authority was called yesterday morning to the 400 block of Talmage Boulevard and found a commercial trailer on fire. They made quick work of it, so it didn’t spread to a nearby building. The battalion chief said it seemed suspicious in nature and was human-caused. The news site reminds us, the fire comes just three weeks after another blaze was determined to be suspicious too. That one gutted a couple of cars on the same block of Talmage Rd. But the battalion chief said so far they’re not connected to each other. But he did say there’s been an “unusually high number of human-caused and malicious fires. And that it’s a concerning trend during the drought.
The 29th annual Art in the Gardens event at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens was a success. The word after a weekend of local art at the gardens, featuring 30 artists. There was food and local vendors complimenting the art last weekend. The organizers told the Mendocino Voice people had a lot of fun. They sold out both days, and they could have maybe had more attendees, but there was limited parking. Pre-pandemic they had a one-day event, but this year opted for two days so folks could spread out more. And they say they’ll continue with that model.
More housing could be coming to Lakeport. The Planning Commission is considering a couple of projects at their next meeting. One of them is an application for architectural and design review to bring a nearly 3,600 square foot commercial metal building for storage/distribution of packaged snack foods; and the other for a zone change, environmental review and general plan amendment to bring in 128 apartments and 48 homes. The apartments would be situated inside ten two-story buildings. They would be two and three bedrooms. There would be 48 nearby attached homes too. They are also looking to put in a business office, parking and landscaping, and internal access roads. The meeting is tomorrow night.
The Lake County Registrar of Voters office is reminding about the General Election in November. It’s time to file for School and Special District elective offices for the November 8th ballot. The deadline is this Friday. The filing period opened July 18th. If you’d like to check out the list of offices up for election you can visit the Registrar’s website. It includes the calendar and handbook, filing requirements and all election processes.
The South Ukiah Rotary is trying to help curb the use of plastic in a campaign called “End Plastic Soup”, to make the rivers of the world clean and healthy. They have put out the word they’re joining other local partners this year cleaning rivers in our own communities. You can help them “Beat Plastic” by attending their next fundraiser. It’s happening, one week from Saturday, August 20th at Barra Winery. They say it’ll be a night of great food, entertainment & a live auction, with proceeds going to projects on the Russian River and an International Project in Bosnia on the River Drina.
The Middletown Area Town Hall is providing updates on local projects at their next meeting. It’s happening this Thursday at the Community Meeting Room in the Library. It’s also on Zoom. There will be a panel giving presentations on the Rabbit Hill water tanks beautification project; the Hidden Valley Lake Greenview Restaurant; and the Maha Gueno Project. The group will also consider a proposed amendment for their bylaws and discuss a clarification for the qualifications for board nominees. District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon will also be there to deliver a report. MATH is a municipal advisory council serving the residents of Anderson Springs, Cobb, Coyote Valley (including Hidden Valley Lake), Long Valley and Middletown.
Police are searching for anyone who may know what happened to a Northern California teen who disappeared from a campground. 16-year-old Kiely Rodni, of Truckee, has not been seen since Saturday when she was at the Prosser Family Campground where there were over 100 kids and young adults. The Placer County Sheriff’s Office reports her phone has no service, and her car vanished. They’re calling it an abduction because they cannot seem to find her vehicle. The family is offering a $50,000 reward and are pleading for anyone with information to come forward.
PG& E is holding another Wildfire Safety Webinar and is inviting customers to hear their wildfire prevention efforts. The company says in order to keep customers and communities safe while the risk of wildfires continue growing in Calif., they’re evolving their wildfire safety program to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. As part of that, the webinar is happening tomorrow night over Zoom from 5:30 to 7 p.m. with energy experts who will provide a brief presentation. Then those in attendance will have time to ask questions. The event can be accessed through a link or dial-in at PG& E’s website, pge.com/ firesafetywebinars.
Some folks in the footprint of the massive McKinney Fire say they were never alerted to leave. An announcement never came from Siskiyou County officials or by text message from the emergency alert system. Many interviewed for a story who live around the fire area said they never got the alerts even though they had signed up for them, or they didn’t know they had to sign up. Since the fire is still active, officials say they can’t review the system to see what happened with the evacuation warnings. It was after the fact, after massive fires in Sonoma and Butte counties that they put money into improving their alert systems. But the McKinney Fire area is apparently the home to survivalists, off-the-grid folks and retirees who live there so they’re not bothered. The fire is holding at just over 60,000 acres and is 55% contained. 4 people were killed in the fire, trying to escape the flames, including one long time fire lookout.
