Crews have found a woman stranded in her car on Spyrock Road in Laytonville for three days. She and her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend had set out to evacuate another family member further up Spyock Road on Sunday. The younger couple walked several miles to seek shelter in a vacant home they had seen, but the woman stayed behind. She was able to get in touch with rescuers, who finally got to her at about 3:30 yesterday afternoon. The woman said she had prepared for the trip and had enough provisions to sustain herself. Her story was one of many that have been playing out over the region since the snow began. A father and daughter stuck in a car in Redwood Valley and a person in Laytonville who was running dangerously low on food and supplies were among those reached by crews from several agencies.
PG&E says it is working to get power back on to about 300 customers and hopes to have that done by today. Some people in the communities of Legette and Piercy have been without electricity for almost two weeks.
Our wild weather has caused things rarely seen. There was snow on the Point Arena Pier. According to MendoFever.com, there appear to be no other documented times when snow fell there. Some long-term residents in the hardest-hit areas say this is the worst snowfall they have ever seen The snowfall totals in the mountains are impressive. The upper mountain at the Palisades Tahoe resort got almost 2 feet of snow in 24 hours, and the snowpack there is almost 19 feet. That’s close to a record.
There is an ongoing concern in areas hard hit by the snow. Fire departments are reminding people to check their ventilation systems to make sure they aren’t blocked, potentially trapping deadly carbon monoxide gas inside.
Topping things off, forecasters are concerned about another of those atmospheric rivers late in the week. There is a lot of uncertainty about where the storm will end up, but it is a good idea to be prepared anywhere along the coast or at higher elevations.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has announced a major settlement in a case involving several owners and operators of gas stations, including some in Lake, Mendocino, and Sonoma Counties. The $1.7 million settlement resolves allegations the defendants broke state environmental laws while operating above-ground and underground storage tank systems at 14 gas stations. An investigation found a recurring failure to properly maintain, install, implement, and operate various spill prevention and safety measures since at least 2013. The settlement includes robust injunctive terms to improve the defendants’ operational safety and compliance with state laws to avoid potential contamination of soil and groundwater. California requires that all underground storage tank systems be designed and constructed with primary and secondary levels of containment, continuous monitoring systems, constant vacuum pressure, equipment to prevent spills and leaks, and automatic leak detectors. In addition to that civil fine, The settlement imposes more than a dozen conditions, including the employment of an environmental compliance coordinator and annual reporting requirements.
California is transferring its prescriptions from Walgreens after the pharmacy says it won’t sell abortion medication in 20 heavily Republican states. The governor says Walgreens has caved into pressure from the right, so California won’t do any business with the company. It’s not quite clear just how much that business is, as the governor’s office says it is still reviewing contracts between Walgreens and state health programs like MediCal and Covered California. In the governor’s words, “we’re done. The announcement hit Walgreens’ stocks, which fell by 1.6 percent.
When the Camp Fire devastated the community of Paradise in 2018, fire crews fought to save the only hospital in town. Now, that facility is closed. The Press Democrat reports that Adventist Health has decided not to reopen the Feather River Hospital in Butte County. Adventist Heath claimed nearly 1 billion dollars in damage against the trust fund set up to pay victims of the fire. It later settled for an undisclosed lesser amount. In addition to being a vital health resource, the hospital was the biggest employer in Paradise. Residents say the loss of their hospital means longer drives to other hospitals in the region. Adventist Health says even with the settlement, there aren’t enough residents to justify rebuilding Feather River. The company says it is not abandoning Paradise and is committed to restoring some level of care for the people who live there.
A man from Point Arena has been arrested after sheriff’s deputies say he tossed rocks at several people in the parking lot of the Point Arena City Park near the public bathrooms on Sunday afternoon. Two 67-year-old men were taken to the hospital; they were hit. Two others were hot but refused medical treatment. Police found the suspect, identified as 34-year-old Alejandro Ortiz, yelling at people nearby while holding a large rock. and quickly took him into custody. He is charged with assault, battery, and felony vandalism. He was booked into the county jail for $30,000.
The Lakeport City Council is meeting tonight with a full agenda. Among the items on it is a discussion of possible improvements to Lakeport Boulevard at Larracou Lane. Those changes would be in anticipation of the new courthouse project there. Options include signals at the intersection, a roundabout, or other traffic configurations. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers at city hall. The agenda is on the city website, as are instructions on how to join in by Zoom.
Here’s a reminder. It’s almost time to change the clocks. We move to daylight saving time this weekend, which means we spring forward early Sunday morning. We lose an hour of sleep. Bills in Congress to change the twice-a-year ritual haven’t gone anywhere, even though lots of people support them. One sticking point is whether we should stick with daylight saving for the long summer evenings or go with standard time year-round. We fall back on November 5th.
By this evening, some low level areas in Lake and Mendocino Counties see several inches of snow inches this evening. The snow will not stick around though. The forecast calls for a shift to a rainy pattern later in the week with another of those “atmospheric rivers” looming offshore. Meteorologists aren’t yet certain where the storm will hit and just how much rain will fall, but they suggest being prepared anywhere along the coast, just in case.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services and Lake County Community Development Department are requesting reports of residential and commercial buildings that sustained structural damage in the recent winter storms. Sheriff Rob Howe proclaimed a local emergency on February 24, due to impacts from the low elevation snow. This damage assessment will help find potential assistance from both the the State and Federal governments .If your home or business sustained moderate to major damage, you should report it as soon as possible but no later than Friday, March 24. The Lake County Sheriff’s Department’s website has the information.
