The mercury is climbing in California with an excessive heat watch headed into the weekend. Dry conditions also mean an increased risk for wildfire. Temperatures are slated to heat up to around 110 degrees in Mendocino and Lake Counties. The heat can be dangerous to anyone without hydrating or finding cool spaces. The US National Weather Service warns people to consider making plans indoors as we look ahead to Friday through Sunday. Agencies are also warning of ground temperatures as, for example, if it is about 102 degrees, a blacktop could rise to a scorching 167 degrees. Keep in mind bare human feet can burn, and so to can your pets. It may be best to stay close to home, and inside this weekend and make sure all outdoor animals have plenty of water and shade. And as always, follow CalFire’s precautions on operating outdoor equipment.
Fort Bragg City Hall was evacuated yesterday morning when a bomb threat was received. Law enforcement searched the area and cleared it finding nothing explosive. KymKemp reports a call came in Tuesday morning around 10:40am. Authorities are investigating the call and anything connected to the threat.
There was a 4 acre fire yesterday afternoon northwest of Cloverdale. Cal Fire reported the Hog Fire began on Highway 128 around 4pm, heading uphill with winds charging it. 3 Firefighting tankers and three copters were brought in to extinguish the fire with dozers and handlines working to contain it. The Press Democrat reports firefighters remained on scene through the night and are monitoring the area for a few days.
A hitch hiker was given a ride to the Power Mart in Lakeport but then stole the drivers car after the ride. Lakeport Police report the victim went inside the store around 8pm and came out to find his car had been stolen by the man, who was identified as Samuel Rhea of Clearlake. Minutes later, a Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy spotted the stolen car going south on Highway 29 speeding away. A high-speed car chase ensued, with the deputy following. Authorities used spike strips that worked to slow the chase, as Rhea continued recklessly driving and hitting a utility truck, ending his ride. Rhea began to run away, but a deputy with his K9 partner caught him in Lower Lake. Rhea was booked into jail for a felony vehicle theft, evading with wanton disregard and more.
The California Water Commission is creating strategies to help communities and fish and wildlife in case of drought and is looking for public input at several virtual public workshops. Lake County News reports next week, Wednesday the 19th from noon to 3pm the commission hopes to discuss drought impacts, response and feedback. The plan is to increase capacity, scale up groundwater recharge, perform watershed level planning to aid the ecosystem’s impacts of drought and to help communities respond to drought emergencies. The commission is also asking the public to participate in a survey open through today. For more information and details of next weeks meeting, and meetings on the 25th and 27, visit cwc.ca.gov
The Larry Spring Museum in Fort Bragg is getting a $25,000 grant from the California Humanities For All Project. The project “Redwood Time” began July 8th.and includes local histories with a different perspective. Fort Bragg’s surrounding redwoods have been part of the city’s history and dedicated in 1943. The project encourages people to critically think about the narratives of settlement and resource development on the North Coast, according to a release in MendoVoice. The project will run for two years with a series of live performances, public art installations, gatherings and more.
A follower of Charles Manson was released out of a California prison yesterday. Leslie Van Houten was released after serving more than 5 decades for her part in two murders. Van Houten was released to parole according to a Department of Corrections statement. The Press Democrat reports she had been at the California Institution for Women in Corona east of LA. Governor Newsom announced he would not fight an appeals court ruling that she should be paroled. She had been sentenced to life in prison for helping murder Leno LiBianca and his wife Rosemary. Van Houten is slated to spend a year in a halfway house, and spend about 3 years on probation.
Advocates for affordable health care are backing a bill (AB 716) in the California Legislature to make sure people don’t get hit with surprise bills when they need to be transported in an ambulance. The bill would guarantee that patients with insurance would only have to pay the in-network cost-sharing amount. The California News Service reports people without insurance would be charged the Medi-Cal or Medicare rate for that service. And if the ambulance provided doesn’t have a contract with a health plan, the ambulance company would be paid a rate set by local authorities.
Clearlake City Hall is getting some work done, after nearly 3 decades in service. Lake County News reports last week the City Council approved the City Hall Remodel Project. During the approximately $1.2 million project, the Planning, Public Works, Administration and Finance Departments will temporarily move to the Lake County Campus of Woodland Community College on Dam Road. Operations will be closed tomorrow as employees move to the college to reopen there next Monday. The Planning Commission and City Council meeting will still be in the City Council chambers during the renovation. Funding for the rehab comes from the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund that will help the city of Clearlake with over $2.8 million, according to the City Clerk.
The Historical Society of Mendocino County held it’s grand opening last Friday. The Ukiah Daily Journal reports the non profit aims to preserve the history of Mendocino County at the location on Dora Street at the William J. and Molly Toney Archival Building and the Held-Poage Memorial Home. The historical society has been working together for over a half century, with the Little Red Schoolhouse on Highway 20 as one of their first projects, completed 60 years ago, and it’s still standing. Since then, the collection has grown as they built an additional archival building. Now with the new space, formal archival and cataloguing can continue. The group is digitizing memorabilia and more to preserve the county history for decades to come.
Book bans have been on the rise recently across the country, but a bill in California may make it more difficult to censor and remove books from schools. The Bay Area News Group reports AB 1078, approved by the assembly requires a two-thirds vote from a school board to remove books. It would also fine districts that do not provide materials that provide “inclusive and diverse” perspectives. The new bill was made in response to a Southern California district Temecula Valley Unified began banning a social studies curriculum that included information on gay rights. The Temecula board removed it after a 3 to 2 vote, with 11,000 students left with no social studies curriculum their next year. The bill passed through the Senate Education Committee last week.
TikTok Challenges have created havoc worldwide. Last week, a man got his Nissan stuck in a drive-thru redwood tree in the Avenue of the Giants. He thought he made it all the way through, but lost a side-view mirror. SF Gate reports signs have been posted along the drive for years warning people of the dimensions of the path through the giant tree, but the driver wasn’t that careful. The opening is 7 x7 feet tall and wide. Other TikTok videos show a Chevy Suburban and a Cadillac Escalade making it through the Shrine Drive-Thru intact. There are other trees in Northern California that may be a bit easier for people to drive through.
California is one of nine states to get part of over $207 million in grant funding to improve the state’s electrical grid. The North Bay Journal reports as a heat wave moves over the state with triple digit temps the current grid will be put to the test. California will get more than $67 million for projects aimed at the state’s infrastructure as part of the president’s Investing in America agenda. The funds will be granted next year, after work on grant acceptance is set up by the energy commission that will host public workshops this fall. The state program called Community Energy Resilience Investments help projects that will decrease the frequency and duration of power outages. Project candidates include fire resistant technologies, utility pole management, undergrouding of electrical lines and equipment and weatherization techniques.
Tribal law enforcement in California may get access to a national network of local and state authorities to help investigate crimes and more. The system maintained by the FBI, the DMV and other agencies would give access to tribes under AB44 that passed the Senate Public Safety Committee yesterday. The bill would give tribal governments access to the California Law Enforcement Telecommunication System and more. Tribal governing bodies will need to adopt the resolution to comply with procedures and policies to use the network.
Decommissioning is imminent for the Cape Horn and Scott Dams. The two aging dams in the Eel River are about to be shut down and removed as PG&E steps away from the projects. The Potter Valley Project provided irrigation to the valley and water for Lake Pillsbury. Diversion now, is the focus of the watershed as organizations and residents have to creatively sustain the new pathways for the Russian and the Eel Rivers. The Public Policy Institute of California writes in a release this week, that the dams’ removal will open up 150 square miles of coldwater habitat to the struggling species of salmon, trout and other animals. After decades of infrastructure was built to support the dams, the Russian River is now dependent on them, and dealing with the dam removals will be the challenge faced by many groups, including the Russian River Water Forum and others.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife just finished this year’s waterfowl breeding population survey. In a report in Lake County News, the data shows breeding ducks have increased by about a third. Though the total number of ducks has increased by a little over 100,000, they estimate the number is still about 8 percent below the average, long-term. Loss of habitat and the drought may have been part of the decline. The Breed Population Survey Report is available on the CDFW website that illustrates waterfowl habits and breeding areas along the Pacific Flyway.
Veterans who are eligible for the health care and benefit expansion known as the PACT Act should apply for retroactive coverage by the 9th of August. Representative Mike Thompson made an announcement in local media today urging veterans to apply. Thompson said the PACT Act fulfills a promise made to veterans to help them financially and with more resources dedicated to their health. The act expands and extends health care for Veterans with toxic exposures during the Vietnam conflict, the Gulf War and post 9-11 events. It ads more than 20 conditions related to burn pits, Agent Orange and radiation. Veterans or survivors can file claims to apply for the expanded benefits.
The more than 170,000 homeless in the state cannot find adequate medical care, until their condition makes them seek out emergency care at the last minute. CalMatters reports more than half of the MediCal budget of $133 billion funds the top 5 percent of high needs users. Street Medicine Teams may help California’s Health Care Services Department. Bringing medical care to the homeless may help lower those dire conditions that cost so much to a homeless person, and to California’s medical services. Street Medicine Teams can now get reimbursed and help guide the homeless in their MediCal benefits. In an all encompassing report, CalMatters and Catchlight followed street teams to document the process in the Press Democrat.
