The food assistance program in the state just like so many other businesses, dealing with staffing shortages. It also means there are casework backlogs at CalFresh, people have to wait to be serviced, and reports of employee burnout. And it’s all happening as the state approved an expansion of the program for undocumented seniors. The Sacramento Bee reports complaints are coming from workers for the program providing benefits to over 4 and a half million Californians. Applications for the program have increased the last two years and workers say they’re overwhelmed. Many counties report a more than 15% vacancy rate in staffing with some senior staffers saying funding is still at 2001 levels.
Wine buying is still down in the hospitality sector, possibly due to inflation. A new report says a return to pre-pandemic buying of alcoholic beverages at restaurants, bars, nightclubs, hotels and other venues is not happening. SipSource, a data service run by the trade group Wine & Spirits Wholesales of America, has been tracking purchases of wine and spirts for the last two and a half years. The market bottomed out of course during lockdowns, and really hitting rock-bottom in February of 2021. Then in the three months that ended in May of 2022, wine and spirits on-premises were down again. The trade group says people are trying to save money, that includes eating out less often.
A business in Ukiah’s plowed into by a car. The business on South State Street hit by a guy in an Audi who police say drove right through stop signs into a residential area and the building. The building has a tax business and bridal store. Yasmín Mendoza, her husband, and their two children were there at the time. Mendo Fever reports the family felt the office shake and heard a loud noise, which was a crash into a wall. The wall then exploded, tossing glass and debris all around. Firefighters had to report to the scene due to a gas line embedded in the wall of the building. They say the driver got out and ran and police are asking for help locating the suspect, 23-year-old Malique West-Colvin.
A woman reported missing from Middletown over two months ago has still not been seen. Mendo Fever reports 38-year-old Goldie Lee Morse was picking blackberries with her roommate in Cobb and has not been seen since. She was barefoot and did not have her phone or wallet. The news site reports there have been reports of sightings, but Morse basically vanished. Lake County Sheriff’s Deputies have been actively searching for her, spending more than one thousand hours looking, pouring over surveillance footage and checking Morse’s phone and social media accounts.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office is reportedly searching for someone who attacked a teenager. Kym Kemp reports Deputies were called to a possible juvenile sexual assault in a wooded area near McKinleyville High School last Friday. The Major Crimes Division was following up on leads and say the alleged suspect was either a Hispanic or Native American man who may have been in his thirties, about 5’9” – 5’10”, had a physically fit build, dark wavy shoulder length hair and full beard, wearing a camouflage jacket, black sweatpants, and white shoes and a blue hiking style backpack. They are reaching out to the public for help.
Some local kids got to see what it would be like to be a welder, spending the day at METALfx Willits, a manufacturing business. Students from Covelo, Laytonville and Ukiah toured the facility with teachers from their high school’s Career and Technical Education Department. They also went out to Factory Pipe in Ukiah, which manufactures exhaust systems. The coordinator for the career department says they’re always looking for other businesses to show kids around. Contact Jonaca Vice at jvice@uusd.net
Reports of violence at No. California prisons, the latest two inmates killing another. There have been 3 murders in two weeks according to corrections officials. Inmates William Lutts and Timothy Smith reportedly attacked 51-year-old Terence Coleman at High Desert State Prison. Coleman was serving a life sentence out of Yolo County. Two inmates serving life sentences were killed at other prisons, one at Salinas Valley State Prison and the other at California State Prison, Sacramento, last week.
As we get closer to the General Election next month, Californians will get to decide if menthol and flavored tobacco products or vaping juice should be banned. The argument, besides it being unhealthy is that it’s marketed to kids. But even though it was banned two years ago by lawmakers, it never went into effect. And word is tobacco giants, like R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris spent millions on petitions so that voters had to take up the issue instead. Supporters say the law is a necessity to stop the explosion of teen smokers. Those opposed say it will be a huge loss in tax revenue.
PG&E has an outsider trying to help them improve their wildfire safety. A consulting firm has been hired by the state after fires started by their aging equipment, damaged power poles and trees that went down into their equipment after crews didn’t first notice it. The consultant says the utility company’s progress on wildfire safety has been slowed because of the supply chain issues many are experiencing worldwide. The consultant, Filsinger Energy Partners released their first report to the Public Utilities Commission last Monday.
The Mendocino County Sheriff has posted on social media about a massive haul of illegal marijuana. Sheriff Matt Kendall says the office has been hard at work this year with the Marijuana Enforcement Team finding more than 200,000 marijuana plants, almost 30 tons of processed marijuana and 43 weapons. The Sheriff says they have an extreme shortage in personnel so they’ve been focused on the most egregious violators and this haul was only a drop in the bucket. He says they’re constantly fielding calls from concerned citizens about violence and environmental degradation. Sheriff Kendall says Mendocino County cannot boast a safe, legal, or regulated cannabis market. Kendall says he’s working with his counterparts in Lake, Humboldt, Trinity, and Butte Counties to continue investigating these crimes.
You may see pillars of smoke in the air as Cal Fire Mendocino is conducting a major burn east of Fort Bragg. The burn today is planned north of Parlin Fork Conservation Camp, north of Highway 20, and west of Willits. They plan to continue burning all the way through a week from Friday, October 28th. The burns will be from noon to 5 p.m. if weather and air quality conditions permit. They remind to stay out of the area but say the burns will of course be conducted under very tight restrictions. The main reasons for the burn is to reintroduce fire as a natural element of the ecosystem, to improve wildlife habitat, and of course reduce fuel to hopefully reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires in the future.
The public power provider for Sonoma and Mendocino Counties is putting in more electric vehicle chargers. Mendo Fever reports Sonoma Clean Power is putting in Level 2 and direct current, fast chargers. A few years ago the power company won a $6.75 million grant from the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) California Electric Vehicle Incentive Program (CALeVIP) so they could expand the amount of chargers they had. So the company partnered with businesses, nonprofits, multi-family properties, tribal governments, and government entities for locations. Those sites got rebates for the equipment and installation costs. There are now 72 more charging stations in the two counties including 9 DC fast chargers and 63 Level 2 chargers. There will be well over 100 more next year, for a total of a 20% increase in the region.
