Several school districts in Mendocino County want to get the FBI involved in yesterday’s unfounded reports of threats, which prompted a major police response. High schools in Fort Bragg, Ukiah, Willits, and Anderson Valley all got similar calls around 1:00—all hoaxes. The calls are a lot like others that have plagued schools nationwide in the past couple weeks. Fort Bragg Police Chief Neil Cervenka said the fake threat disrupted hundreds of lives and tied up emergency resources from the local, county, state, and federal levels.
It has been more than a week now since anyone has heard from 24-year-old Riley Hsieh from Brooktrails. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office thinks he may still be in the area. The department says if anyone spots Shieh, they should call 9-1-1 and not approach him. The MCSO is asking anyone in the Brooktrails area with outward-facing surveillance cameras to look over their images. Mendofever.com reports that Hsieh’s family thinks he may be experiencing a mental health crisis.
Unemployment in Lake County went up in January, according to the California Employment Development Department. It stood at 6.7 percent, up from 5.4 percent in December and 6.6 percent in January 2022. Lake County’s rate was 2.5 percent higher than the overall California rate of 4.2 percent; nationwide, it is 3.4 percent. The only job area that showed some month over month improvement was the category of private education and health services, which was up by 1.3 percent from December’s number. The state states the unemployment rate in Mendocino County in January was 5.4 percent.
California has issued a warning about being on or around the water this spring. The big snow and big rain of the past few months could lead to high water risks this spring. River and stream levels are already rising, and with the eventual thaw, those waters will become increasingly fast, cold, and dangerous. The state Division of Boating and Waterways, the Department of Water Resources, and CalFire are encouraging people to wait until summer to recreate when conditions are safer. They say even the most experienced swimmer could quickly get overwhelmed. DWR Director Kathy Nemeth says safety needs to be a priority when outdoors—especially this year when conditions are a lot different than we may be used to.
Here’s a number: 60 feet. That’s how much snow has fallen this season at some of the big resorts in the mountains. It is the snowiest winter into spring in Lake Tahoe since 1971–72. That means a longer season for skiers and puts smiles on the faces of ski area operators, who expect several more weeks of good conditions.
We have all done it. We’ve been distracted by our phones, glanced down at the radio, spilled hot coffee on ourselves—some of the many ways we can get distracted while driving. Police across the region will be cracking down as part of April’s distracted driving awareness month. It means offenses like texting while drivingthat might have gotten away with a warning from the cop will more likely get you a ticket instead. In 2020, there were reported 3,142 deaths blamed on distracted driving, not to mention thousands of injuries and damaged vehicles. There are ways to minimize the distractions—putting the phone on do not disturb, not scrolling on social media, and designating a passenger as a designated texter.
Talk about an expensive wine. A man from the Bay Area bought a bottle of back in the late 1970s for $250—a lot back then. It’s worth a lot more now. His 3-liter bottle—a jereboam—of 1971 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti La Tache, a Pinot Noir from France’s Burgundy region, could get more than $80,000 at an auction next week. At that price, a standard glass would cost about $4,000. Cheers!
PG&E lawyers are back in court this week trying to get manslaughter charges against the utility tossed out. PG&E is facing 11 different charges for the deaths of four people in the Shasta Fire in 2020. The judge in the case indicated he might dismiss two misdemeanor charges but not the more serious allegations. His ruling is expected later this week. The trial is scheduled for January. The case is one of many legal challenges facing PG&E for its role in the Shasta fire—and several others.
The National Weather Service is evaluating tests last week of its tsunami warning system in Mendocino and Humboldt counties. According to mendovoice.com, The NWS is overall pleased with the tests and the responses it got from social media. Meteorologist Ryan Aylward says there was one problem with a warning siren along the coast at Pudding Creek that didn’t work. The Mendocino County coast is generally not at risk from tsunamis, but officials say that it is still important that a warning system with several methods of notification be in place and working properly.
The city of Ukiah and the Coyote Valley band of Pomo Indians are getting some state money to defend against wildfires. Ukiah will use its 7.2 million dollar grant to inspect 200 defensible spaces, maintain existing fire breaks, conduct prescribed burns, and take several other steps to shore up the city’s fire defense. The Coyote Valley band will receive almost a million dollars to hire a mitigation specialist, come up with a tribal evacuation plan, and take other steps to make its community more fire resistant. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore says all of the projects are critical to protecting homes, property, businesses, and people’s lives from catastrophic wildfires.
