That woman from Northern California who faked her own kidnapping and was actually with an ex-boyfriend is back to court. Sherri Papini, a married mom of two from Redding faces jail time for the phony abduction story in 2016. She claimed she was snatched by a couple of Hispanic women who branded her. But then admitted she was with her ex in San Diego. Her lawyer claims she is disturbed and feels disgraced, but should be able to serve at home, but prosecutors are looking at jail time of up to eight months along with $300,000 in restitution to pay for searchers and the whole operation to find her after her “well-planned and sophisticated scheme”.
It’s Suicide Prevention Month and Lake County health officials are reminding how important it is to have those sometimes uncomfortable, but important conversations with friends or family members about it. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. And nearly 46,000 people died due to self-directed injury in 2020 alone in the country. It was the second leading cause of death in people 10-14 and 25-32, third among those 15-24, and fourth for individuals aged 35-44. In Lake County untreated mental health or substance use conditions can contribute to suicides, and services are available. Information on Lake County Behavioral Health Services’ programs and offerings is accessible here:
http://www.lakecountyca.gov/Page776.aspx
Two local elementary schools have received prestigious recognition. Yokayo Elementary received Gold, and Grace Hudson Elementary received Silver from the California PBIS Coalition. The awards are for putting Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) programs in place in over 10,500 public schools for almost 6 million students in California; only 430 schools received a Gold level award, and 504 received Silver awards. PBIS helps administrators and faculty encourage good behavior and improve student learning. Yokayo implemented the national character education program called Character Counts ; and Grace Hudson’s program is focused on three rules: Be responsible/Ser responsable, Be respectful/Ser respetuoso, and Be Safe/Ser seguro.
It’s the final push for folks to fill out the disaster recovery study in Mendocino County. Prevention, Recovery, Resiliency, and Mitigation Division (PRRM) is requesting the survey be filled out by those who may have been victims of wildfires, past or present, and not only those who had direct impact caused by the 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2021 wildfire disasters. The agency wants the entire community to identify, track, and address remaining unmet needs, plan for future recovery, resiliency, and mitigation projects, and update the County Recovery Plan. Responses are totally anonymous and inform for what sorts of projects the recovery team pursues for the next three to five years. The survey is available until the end of this month.
To complete the survey, please visit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MendoDisasterRecovery
In Lake County, they have released the 2022 Draft Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). The Lake County Fire Safe Council, Lake County Community Risk Reduction Authority, Lake County Resource Conservation District (RCD), Clear Lake Environmental Research Center, Lake County’s Fire Protection Districts and members of the Lake County Fire Chiefs Association have all worked on the plan. While they worked on it in the early stages, they got feedback in public meetings of Municipal Advisory Councils and other community groups. You can check it out online and comment on it there.
http://www.lakecountyca.gov/Assets/County+Site/Fire+Safe+Council/cwpp/2022CCWPP_Draft.pdf
The county is also looking for Government-to-Government feedback. After a workshop last Wednesday with government entities interested in “Government-to-Government” after the Draft 2022 Lake County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). The county is looking for feedback for 2 weeks, ending at the end of the month.
For written Government-to-Government input to be considered prior to our upcoming Public-facing CWPP Workshop, please submit your comments to Matthew.Rothstein@lakecountyca.gov no later than Close of Business Friday, September 30.
The Mendocino County Public Health Officer is rescinding a public health order requiring certain workers to be vaccinated. The last health order was from April 25th requiring either inoculations to protect against COVID, or weekly testing. The new health order says employers, employees, and places of employment must follow Cal Osha guidelines. But effective on Saturday Dr. Andy Coren is rescinding mandated COVID-19 testing for workers who asked for exemptions for medical reasons or religious beliefs in certain settings. There are however some types of healthcare settings where workers will still need to follow the old restrictions. Coren also said he’d defer to the state for any new guidelines that may come out.
The Governor has signed a package of bills into law to fight back the climate crisis. As some spots across the state a couple of weeks ago rose to at least 10 degrees over normal for September days, Newsom signed 40 climate bills into law. Some require 90% of the state’s electricity comes from renewable energy and zero-carbon sources. That’s up from the current 59%. The bills also cut all new oil and gas drilling if it’s within 3,200 feet of schools, homes, apartments, parks, and public-facing businesses; and the package sets goals for the state to be totally carbon neutral by 2045.
For the second month in a row, the Lucerne Area Town Hall has asked for the public to weigh in on the Elijah House. They voted unanimously to put a formal complaint into the Lake County Civil Grand Jury on behalf of the Northshore based Advisory Council. It comes after some employees were suspended without a pay for more than a week and the shelter closed abruptly last month leaving several residents without shelter. A victim advocate came to speak out at the town hall about the issue. Apparently there were several residents at the home which provides transitional jobs in several Northern California counties including Mendocino, Contra Costa and Humboldt. All of the suspended employees were allowed to return to work a week later.
The Pear Festival is back in Kelseyville. The Kelseyville Pear Festival which uses the slogan, “Catch the Magic” has re-emerged after the pandemic lockdown days. The event started as a small street fair nearly 30 years ago. Organizers say they get more then 10,000 people/year visiting the village of Kelseyville for the annual event. The Kelseyville Pear Festival is also coined as the largest one-day event in Lake County and it’s all happening this Saturday. There’s even a billboard outside of town now, touting Kelseyville as the “Pear Capital of the World”. The Kelseyville Pear Festival Committee had to cancel back in 2020 due to lockdowns, then again in 2021 after consulting with medical experts. This year is the 28th Kelseyville Pear Festival, after the first ever back in 1993.
A man who attacked an elderly woman in a shopping center in Willits a year ago has been sentenced to 15 years behind bars. Last Friday 24 year old Jose Miguel Perez was sent to prison for the October 2021 incident, caught on surveillance cameras in the area. It showed Perez attacked a frail woman unknown to him, and viciously beat her, then drag her behind a grocery store at the shopping center. He apparently tried to rape her and left her for dead, but someone came along on a bike and called 911 to get her help. Perez was found guilty in April for felony kidnapping with the intent to commit rape and felony assault by force likely to cause great bodily injury. He also admitted a sentencing enhancement of inflicting great bodily injury that caused the victim to lose consciousness due to a traumatic brain injury. The victim was present during the sentencing Friday and made a statement.
The City of Ukiah’s Draft 2040 General Plan has been released. The city’s asking for the public’s input during a public review this Thursday between 5:30 and 7:00 p.m. It’s at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center on 200 South School Street with the presentation starting about 5:45 p.m. with a Q & A after with 2040 General Plan staff planners. The notes taken at the meeting will then be sent off to the Planning Commission and City Council. You can check it all out at the city’s General Plan update site, www.Ukiah2040.com.
Police are searching for whoever may have shot at a window of a home in Fort Bragg. Mendo Fever reports it happened Friday night about 8 pm on Myrtle St., then not that much later, another report of shots fired on Main St. where a business reported two of their windows were hit by bullets. Later, a car was also reportedly hit. Police have not found much in the way of evidence so far, but they did find it was one firearm that was used. They’re not sure if it came from a car, or someone was walking with a weapon.
The Lake County Board of Supervisors will be taking up the idea of incentives for the sheriff’s dept. to hire new staff members. The board is considering a resolution brought to them by the Sheriff himself to offer incentives to get more staff on board for patrol and to work in dispatch and at the jail. The board is reportedly considering using cannabis money to pay for it. They will also take a stab at a response to the 2021-22 Grand Jury Final Report.
It’s back to the drawing board again for the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors on finances. In the morning, the board is hearing a presentation on the Fiscal Year 2020/21 Financial Report. The Board will give direction to staff if needed. Then it’s on to the possibility of Mendocino County Public Employees getting new health plans from PRISMHealth. The Board is looking at buying Fully Funded Health Care Plans and Membership in the PRISM Employee Benefits Program for a dental program for employees and their dependents. They’re also going department by department to see if any positions that have not been filled due to staffing shortages can just be eliminated entirely.
