Some of the weather-related services provided by Lake County are being suspended. The County announced after the massive snowfall, life-threatening temperatures, and other challenges related to the weather, including power outages, there were added community services, like warming centers and a 24/7 Hotline for Homebound Individuals. Storm activity is tapering off so the warming centers in Lower Lake and Middletown are closed as of today. The hotline is also being turned off. But anyone needing support can call the Sheriff’s Office Dispatch, not 911. There is more rain and sleet forecasted this weekend. The County will reassess if any of the services need to be opened or started again.
A man from Fort Bragg has been arrested after Deputies were called to Adventist Health Coast Hospital’s ER for an assault. Deputies say a man had been admitted with several blunt force injuries to his body, but the 53-year-old wouldn’t help. As he finally decided to work with Deputies, they headed to another location where there was supposedly a man with a gunshot wound to his leg. They couldn’t find him, but he too, ended up in the same hospital as the other guy. Deputies found the two incidents were related and eventually found David Appier beat the 53-year-old, who pulled a gun on him. Appier was treated then arrested for Assault with a Deadly Weapon and Battery with Serious Bodily Injury. He was held on $30,000.00 bail.
Major work could soon begin on the Great Redwood Trail. The Great Redwood Trail Agency has filed an official application with the federal Surface Transportation Board to build the trail which will be from Willits to Humboldt Bay. The agency is planning to railbank the line with the approval of the federal government. That means the area can be preserved as a public trail after it was closed down for freight a quarter century ago. The second segment of railbanking starts from Willits to Cloverdale and trail planning follows for the 50-mile stretch across from scenic vineyard lands and next to sections of the Russian River.
The end of an era… the former Howard Hospital in Willits has been demolished. The nearly 100 year old building sat on three acres and was nearly 30,000 square feet before you add up all the smaller buildings. The hospital was empty for about seven years and the tear down started at the beginning of the year. A demolition company from Ukiah won the contract. The buildings were on the market for a while, but there were no bites as the cost to retrofit the old building may have cost more than tearing it down, and starting it over.
The Governor has made it official, signaling the next phase of the pandemic with a proclamation to end the COVID emergency. The state is now moving into the so-called SMARTER Plan to support communities and respond to outbreaks. The goal is to continue increasing vaccination rates, especially among children and find patients who need them, effective treatments. Cases will also be tracked to monitor spikes and identify new variants.
Yosemite National Park is still closed because of too much snow. It was supposed to reopen today, but there’s as much as 15-feet of snow in some areas. Pictures of the area have been posted, with some showing snow blocking the doorway of a building. The park closed Saturday during a powerful winter storm as crews are working on restoring critical services so guests can safely return. But currently they have not set a reopening date.
An ex-Deputy DA in Lake County has settled a federal discrimination lawsuit with the County. Daniel Flesch claimed he was discriminated and retaliated against while a Senior Deputy DA because he’s Jewish and complained there was sexism and racism going on in the workplace. An $825,000 settlement was reportedly reached in December. Lake County News reports Flesh voluntarily resigned in January after about a decade. He filed suit about a year ago after complaining about décor in the office that was offensive to women, Jewish and Black people.
It could be a first, ski resorts closing because of too much powder. A pair of resorts in Lake Tahoe are closed, Palisades Tahoe ski resort said it would close all ski lifts for “the safety of our employees and of our guests.” The resort says it got over three feet in one day, and they still expected the same again the next day. Kirkwood Mountain Resort also tweeted they were closing yesterday because of the intense winter storm. And Heavenly tweeted they were open, but would delay the day yesterday, calling the conditions, dynamic.
An oversight hearing is set by a committee of lawmakers regarding how the state handles toxic soil from industrial, military or other cleanup sites . CalMatters reported last month there were businesses and government agencies which were dumping contaminated soil at landfills on the regular in Arizona and Utah. Those states don’t have as strong of environmental regulation and oversight as California. The news report says California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control was one of the biggest out-of-state dumpers though, sending toxic waste to Arizona. The hearing of the Senate’s Environmental Quality Committee will reportedly investigate.
The Konocti Fire Safe Countil has won a $20,000 grant from the California Fire Safe Council. The Community Fire-Safe Capacity-Building Grant applied for one of the 14 projects the grants were going to. The money comes from Edison International and the California Department of Conservation. The grant money will go to buy equipment and help expand the council’s community outreach program, upgrade communication technologies, and provide development of fire safety and mitigation projects. The council works mostly for the Soda Bay corridor including Kelseyville Riviera, Riviera Estates, Lakeview Estates, Konocti Shores, Riviera West, Buckingham and Riviera Heights.
As expected, the Lake County Board of Supervisors gave the greenlight to the Sheriff’s local emergency declaration related to the winter storms. The Board ratified the Sheriff’s declaration of a local emergency last Friday because of the snow at low elevations, power outages and extremely cold temperatures last week. Several hundred PG&E customers were still without power yesterday. Many county services were impacted by the weather, and schools were closed yesterday. But some opened after closing on Friday and Monday. Most services were suspended by the county, but Sunrise Services Foundation’s warming center in Lakeport was staying open. There is still a freeze warning in effect for Lake County, with temperatures well below freezing in the early morning hours.
Multiple incidents reported on roads due to remaining wet or icy conditions. The incidents this morning in Hopland, one crash was reported and a couple others in the area on Highway 101. There was also a single car crash reported near the Redwood Rancheria. Earlier today we still had many road closures. Those included State Route 175 between Hopland and Lakeport due to winter weather hazards, Road B in Redwood Valley and East Road were both closed due to a downed tree last night which took down utility lines with it. The main route between the Ukiah Valley and Lake Pillsbury – Eel River Road/Van Arsdale Road was also closed after multiple trees fell during the recent storms. Highway 1 between Rockport and Leggett was also closed.
Hwy 128 was reopened though after CalTrans, a local construction company and PG&E worked together to clear the highway from Boonville to Cloverdale. Power is also back on to much of Yorkville. And Highway 253 has also reopened.
