It was a shaky weekend. There were hundreds of shakes reported after a 4.5 magnitude earthquake rattled Sonoma and Lake Counties early Saturday morning. Just after 5am, about 3.5 miles southwest of Cobb a shallow quake hit the area will several people in Kelseyville feeling the rocking. USGS received about 224 reports of shaking between 5am and 10am Saturday morning. In the minutes after 5am, the 4.5 was followed by a 2.6, and a couple of 2.8 magnitude aftershocks. The epicenter was in Sonoma County, according to Lake County News. The quakes were near the Geysers geothermal steamfield.
Caltrans is planning a ribbon cutting for the completion of the first phase in the Konocti Corridor Project on Wednesday. The ceremony will be in Kelseyville off of Hwy 29 at Konocti Rock Company Road, according to a release on KymKemp. The $85 million project between Lower Lake and Kelseyville widened State Route 29 into a four lane expressway. The cooperative project was funded by Caltrans, the Lake County Area Planning Council and the Federal Highway Administration. Ribbon cutting will happen on June 7th, Wednesday at 7am.
A woman swinging a pole in a blackberry thicket in Covelo was held at gunpoint by police and pepper sprayed. It happened Saturday evening around 11pm near Mendocino Pass Road. After a chase on foot, officers surrounded the reportedly aggressive woman, in a blackberry thicket when they surrounded and pepper sprayed her. According to KymKemp online, emergency personnel were called in to help the woman after she was sprayed.
Highway 20 was blocked off Friday night, after a car hit a guard rail near Lake Mendocino. The crash blocked the eastbound lane just before 10pm, when the car flew over the guard rail just east of Marina Drive along the Russian River. The crash halted traffic as police and first responders closed the highway down to one lane using flares to warn oncoming drivers. 185 feet of the guard rail was damaged, with debris from the crash strewn across the road. In Mendofever online, no one was injured in the accident that had traffic back-up through about 11pm.
The City of Fort Bragg announced some street repairs this summer. They will also ask voters to renew a half-cent tax for another decade. The tax has already helped fix badly needed road repairs, and the city hopes the continuation of the tax will put them in an even better spot to upkeep road infrastructure. In MendoVoice, the work parts that remain among the area roads are alleys. This summer, road renovation crews will work north of Fort Bragg to finish a project on North Franklin Street and Stewart Street. The half-cent tax proposal will be heard by the City Council this month. The project fund of $3 million dollars for street repair was matched by state grant funds. Once the city approves a project contract, road work may begin next month.
People who have religious or cultural head coverings don’t have to wear helmets on their motorcycles, thanks to a bill that just passed the California state Senate. The LA Times is reporting that the bill was introduced by a state senator who was asked by Sikh riders to allow them to continue to wear their faith-driven head-dresses. According to Sikhism, men must wear a turban as a symbol of humanity. In California, there are over $200,000 Sikhs according to US Census data. In the Press Democrat, the bill is headed to the assembly now. Automobile clubs and health organizations oppose the law, citing that helmets reduce the risk of head injures by nearly 70 percent. California would become the first state to allow Sikhs to wear turbans instead of helmets. The UK, India, and in provinces in Canada do allow for the Sikh population to ride without fear of motorcycle helmet law enforcement.
Brookside Elementary School will change to a full day of class this upcoming school year. In the Willits News, the transitional kindergarten had been a half day class. According to teachers there, it will help young students build social skills, reading, math and other things to better prepare them for kindergarten. You can enroll eligible tots if they are 5 years old by September of this year and April of next year. For registration and more information, the school has details at willitsunified.com.
The Clearlake City Council met Thursday and approved extending the temporary road closures in Clearlake for another year and a half. In the Lake County Record Bee, officials say the aim is to stop illegal dumping while protecting the public and environment. The Public Works Director for Clearlake authorized closing roads to stop people from dumping there. The area, also known as the Gobi Desert is west of Acacia, north of Sonoma. So far, officials say the project is working and that more time is needed to continue. The closures are from Oleander Street from Eastlake and Mint Street to Sonoma Avenue. Also, Peony and Toyon Streets from Eastlake south to Oregon Avenue will remain closed.
PG&E gave an update on the progress of their under grounding project at Blue Lakes on Thursday. In the Record-Bee, the program manager of underground regional delivery toured the construction and discussed how the project is expected to proceed. It began in January in Clearlake Oaks and in the Irvine neighborhood of Blue Lakes. In Blue Lakes, the project runs nearly 2 miles and should be done by July 7th. It took longer than expected due to the late winter storms. PG&E says the work will reduce wildfire risk by 99 percent. The goal for Lake County this year is to finish nearly 70 miles and another 21 next year. PG&E crews will restore roads after they underground the power lines.
There was a house fire in Cleaklake yesterday afternoon. According to reports on KymKemp, a fire took hold of a home and residents were evacuated as it grew near 4th Street and Sonoma Avenue about 2:30pm. There were multiple spot fires reported from what they called the Sonoma Fire. Within an hour firefighters contained the blaze. A different fire closed down Highway 101 north of Leggett on the west side of the highway at about 7:20pm Sunday. By 8:30pm, the highway reopened, but emergency vehicles remained there until about 10:30. The blaze burned about a quarter of an acre.
The Lake County Board of Supervisors will meet tomorrow morning and honor LGTQIA+ month and raise a pride flag at the courthouse. The board will also hear from a Cobb advisory group. The board is expected to adopt a resolution to support the “At Home” plan to address homelessness. In Lake County News, they are slated to consider authorizing Prop 64 Public Health and Safety Grant Program with the Board of State and Community Corrections for about $3 million for cannabis code enforcement. The board will meet tomorrow, June 6th at 9am in the courthouse.
Sonoma Water is returning its rubber dam to the Russian River. The agency begins installing the dam today and may take up to two weeks near Forestville, downstream of Wohler Bridge. In The Press Democrat, they use the dam to recharge groundwater. The dam would’ve been installed sooner in dryer years, but a wet spring returned the timing to what it used to be before drought conditions prevailed. Boaters will have to portage around the dam, and fishing is prohibited within 250 up and down stream. There is a fish ladder that allows migrating salmon and steelhead, monitored by an underwater video system.
California’s Attorney General says Florida arranged for a group of migrants who arrived in Texas to be flown to Sacramento. The migrants were left on a Catholic Church doorstep. The governor and attorney general met with the group of 16, and said they are working with Sacramento’s mayor to help the refugees. The migrants had no idea where they were and had little on them, but paperwork from the state of Florida, according to several media outlets. All the migrants have pending court appearances. Attorney General Bonta tweeted a statement saying “State-sanctioned kidnapping is not a public policy choice, it is immoral and disgusting.
Charles Nickerman, of Ukiah, was found guilty of assault by force inflicting great bodily injury, a felony. A Mendocino County Superior Court jury convened and decided the guilty verdict Thursday. They also decided that it was a special allegation because it was the second time Nickerman violently injured a person, making the latest charge a strike conviction. Nickerman’s latest victim was a 67 year old man. In 2011, he seriously injured a 68 year old woman. The judge who presided over the three day trial will also hear the Strike conviction hearing, which may effect his sentencing.
The Mendocino County Public Health Department as issued a release on updates to the virus knowns as Monkeypox. While the Monkeypox emergency was controlled last year, the CDC as reported the virus’ return in clusters. The department is urging those who are at-risk to get vaccinated. The virus is spread by close skin-to-skin contact, usually with sex and can be shared by handled clothing or bedding. The department is urging people to see a medical provider if you develop a rash or bumps in your mouth or anywhere else. The two-dose vaccine is available at the Rite-Aid in Ukiah on State Street.
A bill is moving through the legislature that would become part of California’s curriculum. AB 873 would incorporate media literacy into K-12 education in English, math, science, social studies and more. It would address misinformation and social media. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction would survey schools to measure media literacy education in the state and devise a model program statewide. Analyzing information online and in print would be the aim of the bill that passed the assembly and is headed to the senate. The bill would help students do informed research, plagiarism and copyright law. It would also give the students tools to find credible, accurate information and make them wary of their own privacy.
This week is Invasive Species Week. Through this Saturday, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has made the first week in June a time to inform the public on helping prevent harmful impacts to California’s natural resources by non-native plants and animals. The department has been recognizing Invasive Species week for a decade, with nonprofits and volunteer organizations hosting events this week, according go a release in the Lake County News. This year, there will be virtual event and activities like webinars from the University of California Cooperative Extension that will address efforts to stop invasive insects from entering the state. Other topics covered this week include landscaping with native plants, reporting invasive species and more.
