A state of emergency has been declared in Humboldt County after a 6.4 earthquake. Governor Newsom’s state of emergency will help with response after the earthquake and multiple aftershocks. The epicenter for the major quake at about 2:30 yesterday morning was near the City of Ferndale. Two people were killed and many were injured. There were power outages and boil water advisories. Damage was found on roads, bridges, buildings and critical infrastructure. The Governor’s proclamation came with a statement yesterday saying he had activated the State Operations Center which would work with local and tribal governments and make sure anyone who needed shelter, food and water or other aid was taken care of.
A man reported missing and possibly in Ukiah has still not been found. 24-year-old Angel Salgado’s wife says he left their home near Berkeley early Sunday morning and was tracked near Ukiah before the phone was powered off. His wife says there have been three reports of people seeing him, but none of the sightings have been confirmed. She says he was reportedly seen at Forks Market in Ukiah Sunday. The Sheriff’s Office says they got a report he was seen, but they also have not confirmed it. There were also reports Monday he may have been in Nice at a gas station and Dollar General store. He’s described as driving a blue/gray 2017 four-door Toyota Corolla, and last seen wearing a black puffer jacket, blk pants, and Nike Vapors. He’s 5’4”, 160 pounds.
After deliberations in a DUI case, the 32-year-old defendeant from Willits has been found not guilty. Antonio La Piccarella had been charged with a misdemeanor driving a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol of .08 or greater. The incident last year near Calpella. The CHP and representatives from the Department of Justice crime lab were the witnesses. But after a two day trial, he was found not guilty.
That earthquake that hit near the City of Ferndale in Humboldt County has left rubble behind for some. Some of the reports on social media or to local reporters said some folks had damage inside their homes. Some homes reportedly lifted off their foundations. Power outages hit right away yesterday morning, leaving tens of thousands in the dark. Then there were boil water advisories and broken gas lines. Shake reports came from as far as Redding to the east and the Bay Area to the south. Rio Dell was reportedly hit hard with damage to other nearby cities including Fortuna and Eureka. Two people died due to medical emergencies during or after the shaker, a 72-year-old and an 83-year-old. No other info was released about them. 11 other people were injured, including one person who fell and broke their hip. At least 40 aftershocks were reported.
The early warning system for an earthquake was reportedly in working order during the Ferndale quake. The USGS ShakeAlert team says over 3 million people were notified over the phone yesterday, and many got the alerts before the shaking. As many as 270,000 MyShake app users got a notification too, but most of the 3 million were notified through Google or Android phones which are preprogrammed with the notification system. The ShakeAlert operations team says it was a “big success” for them. They use seismometers which feel an earthquake as it reaches the surface. It then turns around and informs processors who take the info and send it as user-friendly alerts. And iPhone users may have received a Wireless Emergency Alerts system notification, like an Amber Alert.
PG&E customers may have to pay more… again… because the utility company has asked state regulators if they can charge more due to wildfires and other catastrophes. The company is looking to get back in the black after money spent to stop wildfires before they start and work to avert other disasters. This means customers could see price hikes over three years, the first in the last part of next year, potentially. PG&E reports in state filings they need to recover $1.36 billion in costs. The company claimed bankruptcy and has been criminally charged for wildfires and that fatal gas explosion in San Bruno over a decade ago. If this goes through, a typical customer would pay about $10 more/month when all is said and done. Most people pay over $200/mo for gas and electric from the company.
There’s a new Sheriff in Lake County. Sheriff Brian Martin is set to leave at the end of the year, and the Board of Supervisors gave the thumbs up for the head of the county’s Probation Department to take over for Martin for the remainder of his term. Rob Howe will be in the position for two years, until the next election. Howe was with the sheriff’s office for nearly 2 decades before he took the job as chief probation officer in 2011. Lake County News reports he was also the Sheriff’s Dept. chief of staff at one point. During the Supes meeting yesterday, the Board also interviewed Lt. Lucas Bingham, but ultimately chose Howe for the opening.
Two new Lakeport City Council members have been sworn in and new leadership selected. In the last meeting for the council this year, the mayor and mayor pro-tem along with one other councilmember were there. They picked up the certification of the general election and resignation from Mireya Turner who accepted a position this summer to be the Lake County Community Development director. There were special meetings earlier this month to fill Turner’s seat and another, left empty because Michael Green was appointed to the Board of Supervisors. The council took up other business and agreed to the city manager’s employment agreement for a raise.
There’s a couple of special meetings planned to take up the matter of the intended purchase of the Lucerne Hotel by the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians. The Pomo’s are looking to buy the old Hotel with a state grant and flip it into a youth homeless facility. The Special meetings by the Lake County Board of Education and the Lucerne Area Town Hall to discuss the $5.2 million Tribal Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention Program grant to use for the hotel purchase and renovation. The Office of Education was noted as a partner in the project, but the Superintendent of Schools was reportedly unaware. Apparently, there are other partners named too who were unaware. The Town Hall meeting is supposed to include cancelling this deal somehow.
There’s still no power for over ten thousand people in Humboldt County after the earthquake outside of Ferndale. There were over 72,000 without lights yesterday morning and this morning PG&E still noted as many as 14,000 still without power a day later. Most of the reports came out of Fortuna, Ferndale and Rio Dell. There were boil water advisories in Rio Dell, and parts of Fortuna starting yesterday too, due to damaged water systems. The epicenter of the 6.4 quake was around 10 miles beneath the earth and 7.5 miles out of the City of Ferndale. 2 people died due to the earthquake and at least another 11 were injured. The Governor has declared a state of emergency for Humboldt County.
It’ll cost more than 8 billion dollars a year to rid the state of homelessness. That’s according to a new report which shows the state will only spend about one-eighth of that amount on the crisis that you can see as you drive down some streets in the state. The Corporation for Supportive Housing and the California Housing Partnership put out the report which says the $8.1 billion dollars they feel could solve the crisis with various solutions is only 2.5% of California’s yearly budget. The national organization supporting homeless housing says Calif. needs to spend billions of dollars for more housing for over 225,000 homeless households in the next decade or so. But that’s over what the state is already spending. It could include building more low-income housing, subsidize rents for homeless families already living in private apartments and help with permanent supportive housing where unsheltered folks who are disabled can get counseling, healthcare and more.
After the earthquake in Humboldt County reports circulated about looting in Eureka. The report from yesterday after the quake hit. A local optician says his store was broken into at about 3 am, that’s less than a half hour after the 6.4 temblor roared through. The owner said cash and products were stolen and they told police. Redheaded Blackbelt reports Eureka Police telling them they were investigating a half-dozen burglaries. The police dept. told the news site that due to earthquake damage and widespread power outages, business owners should be extra vigilant, board up broken windows if they can and keep merchandise away from windows.
