A young man from Ukiah has been arrested after a brief chase with police. The police dept. reports an officer on routine patrol saw a car fly by on the opposite side of the street so he stopped the driver, but also noticed another car going pretty fast too. After the stop of one car a woman in another car pulled up and said her boyfriend had her phone. Police say Trinidad Magdaleno-Pulido gave the phone to them, which they gave to the woman. Pulido was in the car that was pulled over, in the passenger seat with his dad driving. The Sergeant who pulled them over was familiar with all involved and knew there had been a weapons and drugs case connected to Pulido who was on probation. More cops came as backup and Pulido was found with a gun and arrested. And in the car were 100 live rounds of ammo and a sawed off shotgun.
Intro: Even people with health coverage are challenged to find a primary care doctor. And a new report from the National Association of Community Health Centers found a-quarter of “medically disenfranchised” people are children. Joe Dunn with the association says one-third of the nation struggles to get an appointment – a percentage that has risen over the past decade.
:13 "That's largely due to the consolidation across the health-care system, and the worsening shortage of primary-care providers. Our health centers, especially in this post-COVID environment, they want to retain and recruit new providers, but it's just a real challenge."
Tag: The state estimates we need around 47-hundred additional primary-care clinicians in 2025 and about 41-hundred additional providers in 2030 to meet demand. California has multiple programs designed to attract more medical students to choose primary care – and then to practice in rural areas, where the need is greatest.
Second Cut: Dunn says 3 million low-income patients per year depend on community health centers.
:16 "40% of health centers are in rural areas. And those are often in communities where there's little other kind of network infrastructure to take care of the patients that typically go to a health center. 90% of the patients are at or below the 200% of the federal poverty level."
Third Cut: Denise Nix is a spokesperson for Physicians Retraining and Reentry – an education company started by a professor at UC San Diego that helps specialists re-train to serve as primary care physicians. She says we need more hands on deck to lighten the load.
:15 "Physicians today are struggling with large caseloads, requirements to keep exams short, administrative demands, insurance requirements. And then there's the burnout that comes with working in a deadly pandemic for the last few years."
Tag: A state program called Let’s Get Healthy California has mapped out the physician shortage, and finds that Alpine, Calaveras, Glenn, San Benito and Sierra counties have the biggest deficit.
A rare species of beetle is being named after the former California Gov. Jerry Brown after one was found at his ranch. The Bembidion brownorum hasn’t been seen in California since 1966. However it was never named or described until the one found on Brown’s ranch in Colusa County was picked up by a creek. The University of California, Berkeley announced the brown beetle is tiny, just a quarter inch or less long, but still bigger than other beetles like it. Scientists also say it glows with a green and gold metallic shimmer under a microscope.
A man from Fort Bragg is winning accolades for a home build. Civil Engineer Michael Butler has picked up the Most Innovative Product Award at the 2023 World of Concrete International Exhibition. In his category — concrete construction materials. Butler used something he came up with on his own, a 3D-Admix product for concrete. He received the most votes in that field. There were 19 others competing including BASF, one of the largest corporations in the world. Butler says it was all an experiment to get away from expensive concrete construction.
The dams on the Klamath River marked for removal are about to be gone. The removal work has started on four dams. There will be upgrades to fortify areas around the dams, including bridge work, new roads and help for salmon. It won’t be until the end of next year that the dams are fully down on a 38-mile stretch of the river. The agreement between the last dam owner PacifiCorp, the State of California, the State of Oregon, the Yurok Tribe, the Karuk Tribe and several environmental groups. A spokesperson for the Karuk Tribe says they’ve broken ground on what could be the “world’s biggest salmon restoration project to date”.
Since there’s been development in areas that are a fire risk, millions in Calif. are vulnerable to wildfire and flooding. A coalition of environmentalists and housing advocates is reportedly supporting a bill to slow growth in some remote areas that are at high risk of fires and floods. At the same time they want more multifamily housing where many homes already exist. An assemblymember from San Diego has introduced a bill to try to limit or even suspend more development in areas that are too risky. Some say the state needs to deprioritize building homes in hazard zones and prioritize developing in areas closer to jobs and services.
The nonprofit Northshore Fire Fund is collecting donations to buy firefighter safety equipment. After a pair of failed ballot measures for higher property taxes to bolster up services for the Northshore Fire District, the nonprofit came to life. It was formed pre-pandemic and is now just getting its fundraising legs. They’ve been collecting donations for nearly two years and have raised over $93,000 for firefighter safety reflective helmet badges, structure gear, station equipment, EMS Training kits and Supplies. They need matching funds to get even more so they’re planning the 2023 Northshore Ready Fest. It’s all happening Saturday, April 29th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Lucerne at the corner of 11th Ave and Hwy 20.
A program to add more Native American women firefighters is looking for trainees. The Yurok Tribe is partnering with Redwood National Park to train four female firefighters with the Yurok Fire Department for the National Park Service’s Women in Fire Program. The Yurok Fire Chief says they’re looking forward to training four Native American women “the skills and experience they need to acquire good-paying jobs with tribal, federal or state wildland fire departments.” The National Park Service is putting up $100,000 for the training.
To apply, reach out to the tribe for an employment application.
The US Justice Dept. is looking for people who want a certificate of proof they got pardoned for marijuana-related offenses. It comes after President Biden’s Oct. 6th 2022, proclamation for a full, unconditional and categorical pardon for prior federal and D.C. offenses of simple possession of marijuana. This can help those with related criminal records find housing, employment and educational opportunities. The online application can be found on the Office of the Pardon Attorney’s website: Application for Certificate of Pardon. Those who apply can receive a certificate showing they were pardoned.
