The latest on a murder investigation in Covelo. An autopsy report released over the weekend confirmed that the victim, 20-year-old Nicholas Whipple of Redwood Valley, was shot to death. Deputies found him with those deadly wounds early last Wednesday morning on Tabor Lane. Authorities have also identified a suspect. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office says Lee Anthony Joaquin is wanted for murder and should be considered armed and dangerous. The sheriff’s office says Joaquin is 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighs approximately 180 lbs. He has shoulder-length hair that is sometimes pulled back in a ponytail. The Round Valley tribe is pleading with anyone with information about the case to contact law enforcement. Any tips will stay confidential.
Several people have been arrested after police found them squatting in a condemned building in Willits. Police got a report of trespassers in the shack on Sherwood Road, where they found the eight people holed up inside. They are all facing a variety of charges, including two counts of animal cruelty. As the police searched the building, they found an emaciated Husky and four small German Shepherd mix pups living in squalor. Mendocino County Animal Control was called to rescue the abused dogs
Investigators say an alarm sprinkler likely saved a bowling alley in Windsor from ruin in a weekend fire. The fire started in a dryer at the Windsor Bowling Center on Conde Lane early Sunday and caused smoke and water damage to the building. No one was in the building, and there were no injuries to first responders.
You aren’t alone if you have ever been fascinated by the endless colors, markings, and variety of butterflies, which are among the first signs of California spring. Lake and Mendocino counties are home to literally hundreds of species, and the Lake County Agricultural Center has opened a new educational display about them. You can learn about large local butterflies—the Twin-Tailed Swallowtail is over three inches across—and small ones, like the Western Pygmy Blue, the smallest in the world at 12 inch across. The display of 325 butterflies, representing 254 different species, is on view at the Ag Center on Lakeport Blvd., in Lakeport, from Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
New guidance about masks from the California Department of Health takes effect today. Hospitals, nursing homes, and detention facilities will be free to stop requiring masks in most routine situations. Don’t look for an end to masking, though. Some hospitals are still requiring them, while others will only require them in certain locations or for certain procedures. Bottom line is, you’ll still have to follow hospital rules, but the state says it is ok for the rules to be less strict than they have been. The Department of Health has specific guidance on its website.
The Mendocino County Office of Education is investigating a potential data breach that might have affected some personal information stored in district computers. The investigation started when the IT department noticed a problem with its network on March 6th. Officials say an unauthorized user hacked into the system and had access to things like address, phone number, email address, student identification number, date of birth, Social Security number, and other sensitive private information. The district says it has changed passwords and reviewed policies and procedures related to data protection. The district is also offering potentially impacted individuals access to credit monitoring and identity protection services. You can find out more—including what to do if your data was breached—at the distinct website. There is no word on how many people may have been affected or if investigators have identified the cyberthief.
The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors has voted to move ahead with a plan to find money to help several water resilience projects around the county. Mendovoice.com reports the supervisors agreed to work with a consultant that has ranked several projects that could get grants. Five projects are listed as priorities based on the consultant’s ratings. Those projects include new reservoirs in Fort Bragg, modernization of the Mendocino City Community Services District’s Laytonville Community Water District’s water treatment plant repairs, MCCSD’s smart water meter project, and the North Gualala Water Company’s Gualala River Flow Bank Project that will provide residents with drinking water. Five other projects were ranked lower. The consultant, EKI Environment & Water, will now work with local governments and tribes to help them find money for those prioritized projects.
California is moving ahead with plans to phase out sales of heavy-duty diesel trucks and buses. The EPA has signed on to the plan that will require 100% heavy-duty vehicles in California, wherever feasible, by 2045. The governor says transitioning away from gas and diesel will protect millions of Californians from harmful pollution. Several other states are working on their own zero-emission vehicle goals. Along with California, those states make up 22 percent of the U.S. heavy-duty truck market.
The FAA has approved new rules that allow public land managers to list their properties as no-fly zones for drones in an FAA app for drone pilots. The California Fish and Wildlife Department and environmental groups had pushed for that rule to protect some sensitive habitat from drone overflights. The banned areas will now be added to the FAA app, which drone operators consult before putting up a flight. The FAA says its B4UFLY app is an important tool for drone pilots to understand where they can’t go. Back in 2021, a drone crashed into a Least Tern nesting area in Orange County, which disturbed the habitat of those endangered birds for months.
