They are one step closer to a new chancellor at the Yuba Community College District. They’ve narrowed it down to four finalists who will be interviewed by a committee and the public can join. They are Dr. Beatriz Espinoza, who has been a faculty member, researcher, counselor, director, dean, vice president, vice chancellor and president in six states; Dr. Eugene Giovannini has been a chancellor overseeing six campuses and a president; Dr. Shouan Pan has also been a chancellor, president, provost and executive dean; and finally, Dr. Wei Zhou who has been a dean, vice president, president and assistant superintendent. The public, staff and students are invited to public forums April 3 thru 5 at both Yuba and Woodland Community Colleges.
The Governor has officially signed the gasoline price gouging act into law. Yesterday Newsom signed the strongest in the nation oversight and accountability measure on Big Oil. His office says it will spotlight corporations making record profits while ripping off families. Newsom says the legislation will protect families and loosen the “vice grip Big Oil has had on our politics for the last 100 years”. The bill was written by Senator Nancy Skinner of Berkeley and co-sponsored by Attorney General Rob Bonta. A supermajority in the Senate and Assembly also gave it approval.
An underwater volcano has been detected near Cape Mendocino. The 3,300-foot-tall volcano was just discovered 184 miles off the Northern California coast. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the so-called “seamount” looks like a circular tower, with near-vertical sides. It was detected in ocean mapping by an autonomous sailboat. Scientists say it’s now one of more than 60 identified seamounts off the California coast. But, they say, there are no others off the coast of Cape Mendocino. It has a 1,200-foot-deep crater, and is located around 2 miles under the ocean’s surface.
A new exhibition Gadgets Galore is opening at Mendocino County Museum. The museum says it’s a fun, hands-on family experience. It’s also a traveling exhibition from Exhibit Envoy and will be on display at Mendocino County Museum from this Saturday, April 1st through August 13th.
For more information, please visit www.mendocinocounty.org/museum or contact the Mendocino County Museum at (707) 459-2736 or museum@mendocinocounty.org
After the shooting massacre at a Christian school in Nashville, Congressman Mike Thompson is once again asking for universal background checks. Six people were killed in the shooting at Covenant School. Thompson and his colleague from Pennsylvania, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick had already reintroduced the Bipartisan Background Checks Act last month. Thompson says the latest shooting will leave a lasting impact on the community where it happened, which doesn’t need to happen. He says Congress can act and pass the legislation to save lives. He’s the chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. He’s introduced the same or similar legislation every year since 2012, when the Sandy Hook school massacre happened.
Don’t forget we have a Tsunami Warning Test happening. From this morning at 11 am – noon in Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del Norte counties. There’s also a test of the Emergency Alerting System (EAS) which will have interruptions on TV and Radio, and activation of NOAA Weather Radios along with the Tsunami Sirens. The Civil Air Patrol will also fly the coastline testing their public address system.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is asking residents to sign up their home cameras to their Camera Registration Program. This means you can send your footage to the Sheriff’s Office so if a crime happens Deputies can pour over your footage to follow up on possible leads. The program allows the Sheriff’s Dept. to directly contact registrants using video where a crime may have happened. They ask those participating to check their video footage on the specific date and time which could show activity involved with a crime, like a getaway car or the direction a person of interest was headed.
Register your camera today. Visit https://lakesheriff.com/ for more information.
A teen from Kelseyville has been arrested after reports of another man down with a gunshot wound. Lake County Sheriff Deputies were called to the Sentry Market, in Nice, for the reported gunshot victim. Deputies found the man shot in the arm. Deputies got him to the hospital then went to the original scene of the crime. Late yesterday morning the Major Crimes Unit found the suspect in the Lakeport area and served a search warrant there where they found evidence related to the shooting. With that 18-year-old Jesse Gonzalez was detained, then booked into jail for conspiracy to commit attempted murder and attempted robbery.
After a closed door session of the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, the Cannabis Dept. Director has resigned. Supervisor Glenn McGourty emerged from the meeting before the regular BOS meeting saying the board had voted unanimously to accept Kristin Nevedal’s resignation. She was in the position two years after Supervisor Ted Williams recommended her. There were three ag commissioners, three cannabis program managers, and a Planning and Building Director who also worked to administer the cannabis ordinance with permit applications hanging for years. The resignation a week after Supervisors voted to change the permitting process and lower rates for permits. Apparently Nevedal had admitted an accounting error in grant funds.
After five months of a boil water order in the tiny town of Weott, residents can once again access their water without fear. The boil water order was instituted in October of last year after multiple problems with the district. The Division of Drinking Water required the boil water notice after a broken pipe led to turbidity in water storage tanks. There was also no licensed operator. Yesterday the Weott Community Services District was able to tell residents the boil water notice was lifted. They said the health hazard after comprehensive testing of the water was over and the water was safe to drink.
A young man in Willits has been reported missing. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office reports 24-year-old Riley Hsieh (Shay) was missing from the Brooktrails area. They say the last his family heard from him was by telephone Sunday night. They say he’s been know to head to the end of Hawk Terrace to meditate, but Deputies checked the area and didn’t see him there or by his home. His family reports last seeing him on a surveillance camera by their home in the same area. He’s described as being 5 foot 10, 130 pounds. He was last seen in a gray robe, light blue pants (possibly flannel), carrying a light blue or green bag. Deputies say he’s at risk because of the circumstances around his disappearance.
Another meeting of on the Great Redwood Trail is planned online. After a healthy group of people showed up last week at the Willits Community Center, more meetings are planned. There were around 75 people there last Thursday offering feedback on the 316-mile connection stretching from San Francisco to Humboldt Bay. The stretch in Willits is about to start construction, so community members got to weigh in ahead of that with Coastal Conservancy staff and consultants working on the trail. The Willits piece is about 1.6-miles long. Construction is set for next year or the year after depending on permitting and right of way work. The next meeting is online April 4 at 6 p.m.
The Point Cabrillo Lighthouse is offering Lens Tours. Volunteer docents at the State Historic Park are offering folks an opportunity to climb to the top of the lighthouse tower and get up close to the historic 1909 Fresnel Lens. No reservation s are required, but tours are first-come, first-serve. The first is 10 am April 8th. No animals or infants are allowed and all children have to be at least 3.5 feet tall. Masks are required of guests at all times. You will be expected to climb three sets of steep ladders. It’s also a half mile walk from the parking lot to the lighthouse. The tours last between 20 – 40 minutes.
For more information, you can call the office at 707-937-6123 or email us at info@pointcabrillo.org.
There will be more lens tours on the second Saturdays of April through October 2023! April 8, May 13, June 10, July 8, August 12, September 9 and October 14, 2023.
A sad day for folks in Santa Cruz… the old wooden pier, actually located in Aptos was torn down. The pier, in place since 1930, was once the only connection between the beaches of Santa Cruz County and a World War 1-era steamship, the SS Palo Alto. But alas, the pier was irreparably damaged by giant waves that swept through the area January 5th. It was about to collapse, so excavators ripped it out Monday. Crowds of people were there at the time. The President also surveyed the pier’s damage during a trip January 19th to see storm damage and declare disasters statewide.
