More than fifty projects are being funded by the state for mental healthcare for children and adolescents. The Governor announced $480.5 million for his Master Plan for Kids’ Mental Health, grant funding for new facilities and the expansion of existing ones for children, youth, transition-age youth, and perinatal people with mental health and/or substance use disorders. Newsom says the whole system is getting an overhaul so youngsters in Calif. get the care and support they need and that it will be covered by Medi-Cal. The projects for more care focusing on community wellness/youth prevention centers, outpatient treatment for substance use disorders, school-linked health centers, and outpatient community mental health clinics.
Another lively Board of Supervisors meeting in Mendocino County. First thing was a request to limit public comment regarding items on the agenda related to cannabis after a fee schedule was approved for public records requests. They also heard from cannabis industry stakeholders about the Local Jurisdiction Assistance Grant manual. We heard from the caregiver’s union where they talked about needing more money so they can hire and retain caregivers. The Public Health Officer reminded about flu and COVID vaccines, with the community at higher risk this week, than a week ago. He says the healthcare system is strained right now because of all of the respiratory illnesses.
2 people involved in a crash in Clearlake end up in the hospital. The driver, who just had minor injuries, was arrested for DUI, and his two passengers had major injuries after the driver lost control and crashed into a tree. Word is the passengers were not wearing seatbelts at the time.
Intro: The state’s first-ever auction of offshore wind leases just brought in more than 757 million dollars in bids. The Department of the Interior announced the winning bids yesterday on five sites off Morro Bay and Humboldt County. David Chiu is San Francisco City Attorney and a former Assembly member who authored a bill to kickstart offshore wind.
:19 "When you walk over to the coast and feel the wind blowing on you 20 to 30 miles off the California coast from our Oregon border all the way down to Mexico, there is enough offshore wind to power the entire electrical grid: clean, green, 100% renewable, which is remarkable."
Tag: Chiu’s one of a hundred local officials who gathered this week at the California Climate Emergency and Energy Security Summit, hosted by the California Energy Commission in Sacramento. In a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom, the group praised the state’s efforts to support offshore wind, and in particular – the 45-million-dollar ` allocation made to expand California’s ports.
Second Cut: Another speaker at the conference, Dr. Habib Dagher from the University of Maine, has invented the first floating wind turbine that can provide power to the grid. He said California needs a statewide plan to facilitate offshore wind while protecting the environment, local communities, the fisheries, and indigenous communities.
:08 "I think the U.S. has an opportunity to lead in the floating space. I think what we need to do is work together. We need to work together on permitting. Permitting slows things down more than anything else."
Tag: The Biden administration set a goal to build 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030 and 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind capacity by 2035.
The latest Public Health Officer in Lake County updating the Board of Supervisors on seasonal flu and COVID. Flu is on the rise statewide and Dr. Karl Sporer says it’s the same for Lake County, and same for COVID-19. He noted there’s a triple epidemic currently, that includes respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. But Sporer says hospitals are in ok shape for the moment. He said county health officials check in with hospitals every two weeks. There’s been a 25% increase in hospitalizations related to the flu and 10-15% for COVID patients. Also at the meeting we heard Adventist Health will open an urgent care clinic the second week in January.
The state will start the new Feather Alert system soon. The governor signed the public notification system into law this fall, and it will begin next month. It’s just like the Amber Alert or Silver Alert systems, but for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People alerts. Lake Co News reports the Sovereign Bodies Institute says only about 9% of the murders of Indigenous women in California have been solved. Washington State and Colorado have also recently enacted similar notification systems.
The Mendocino Board of Supervisors has a budget workshop where it’s reportedly unearthed that the county’s got a gaping budget hole. The workshop Tuesday had the county CEO admitting the budget gap for the fiscal year was estimated at $6.1 million. That included the expansion of the new jail and staffing thereto, computer upgrades, the health plan deficit and lower cannabis tax revenues. The budget ad hoc committee includes Supervisors Glen McGourty and Ted Williams. Some of their ideas to save money were less county vehicles and deferred facilities maintenance, but without estimates as to how much that would save. Supervisors also considered having locals run local parks, workout new math for present and future pension payments. Discussions continue next week.
There’s a free holiday concert happening at the Mendocino Presbyterian Church in Mendocino. The Redwood Community Chorus is paying a new piece of music written last year during COVID days. Unconditional Love was composed they say as a love letter to those we lost, the sacrifices made, and the triumphs made surviving the pandemic. And of course, to bring it all home, they will play special holiday songs too. Donations are being accepted and no tickets are needed. You must wear a mask inside the church. They will have some available at the church.
The first year for the Skunk Train to bring back their full holiday schedule. The Magical Christmas Train has started its first weekend runs and will be bolstering operations to 7 days/week starting Sunday, December 18th. The 2-hour route takes passengers to see, what they call, the world’s tallest decorated Christmas Tree, at 222 feet tall. Those who delivered the tree say they’ve put in a request to the Guinness Book of World Records about the tree. The train leaves the Willits station, and a holiday-themed train is running out of Fort Bragg, to a brand new pavilion. They also offer a four-hour rail bike experience too through Noyo Canyon and Pudding Creek.
For reservations and more information visit https://www.skunktrain.com/magical-christmas-train/ or phone (707) 964-6371.
The Lake County Board of Supervisors is considering higher fees for sewers in Middletown. At their meeting Tuesday the board also heard the annual crop report. For the sewer rates, the board heard from staffers on revenue, the cost of services and a rate analysis for all properties, except for Anderson Springs. There are 480 residential and 78 commercial accounts. Management says the price of operating has gone up with inflation and if they don’t raise fees, they will go into debt. They’re looking at a nearly 100% increase, starting in February, something noted as still below the regional average. As far as the crop report, Lake
County’s gross value was just over $83,452,360, 11 percent higher than last year.
Lawmakers are considering home building on church, synagogue and mosque properties. The bill allowing construction in “God’s backyard,” would allow building in areas not normally zoned residential. State Senator Scott Wiener of San Francisco introduced the bill, the “Affordable Housing on Faith Lands Act” which he says would remove red tape for religious groups and nonprofit colleges who want to build affordable housing in a time where the housing market is tight. This bill would allow building in parking lots not being used by the religious institutions. It’s Weiners 3rd attempt at the idea.
