The Lakeport City Council is meeting tomorrow at 6pm for a public hearing on utility fees. In their agenda the council will hear from the assistant city manager on adopting a change in capacity charges for water and sewer fees. The city manager will also ask the council to nominate voting delegates for the League of California Cities Annual Conference in September. According to Lake County News, other items include the filing of third quarter finances and revision of the Master Pay Schedule.
There was a fatal ATV crash in Cloverdale over the weekend. A man died, and another injured when an ATV crashed through a fence and into a power pole, according to the Press Democrat. Officials posted on social media that the driver of the ATV was found dead at the scene on Saturday night, with the passenger having minor injuries. Neither rider wore a helmet according to the CHP posting on Facebook. The fatality happened to a 40 year old man, with the passenger reportedly his uncle. It happened Saturday after 7pm on River Road near Highland Ranch Road.
The Ladoga Fire is burning north of Clearlake. According to CalFire this morning, it began last night and is burning about 16 acres. The Cal Fire Sonoma Lake Napa Unit are on scene with the All Hazards Type 3 Incident Management Team. The blaze is in Colusa County on Lodoga and Ladoga Stonyford Roads. There were 2 crews with 7 engines and 4 dozers reported working there to contain the fire on a remote ridge.
The Lake County Board of Supervisors meets tomorrow at 9am and will go over economic development and workforce issues as well as a report on military equipment by the sheriff’s office. Lake County News reports the board will discuss property for the Hill Road Slide Repair and Restoration Project in Lakeport. They plan to approve an agreement with Redwood Community Services for the Lake County Family Stabilization Program for the next 3 fiscal years for just under $800,000. The Lake County Watershed Protection District will be authorized for work with the California Rural Water Agency and an engineering firm with Lakeport and Clearlake. They’ll accept and begin a California Department of Pesticide Regulation Alliance Grant for about $350,000 to quote, create strong and sustainable shorelines on Clear Lake.
Crescent Bay Improvement Company has been purchased by the Golden State Water Company. It will become part of the Clearlake Customer Service Area. Crescent Bay had been unable to finance infrastructure improvements, according to Lake County News. Golden State Water will be able to upgrade small water systems in California with funding help from the State Water Resources Control Board and the Public Utilities Commission. Part of the upgrades will include adding fire hydrants and replace tanks and treatment plants. Crescent Bay customers will get free bottled water until the upgraded water system meets state and federal water standards.
A man seen on a security camera in Fort Bragg was carrying an ax and duct tape. Officials say he was seen near the old firehouse at the intersection of State Route 20 and Babcock Lane, according to MendoFever. Saturday morning, a resident reported the trespasser was diverted from their home when their security camera alerted the man he was being taped. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is looking for the white man in a baseball hat, in a blue hoodie, blue/gray pants and black and white shoes carrying a backpack in addition to the ax. Call the County Sheriff is you have any information on the Fort Bragg intruder.
There was a fatal traffic accident south of Ukiah Sunday morning. CHP reports it happened around 9:30am when a car drove off the road and rolled over. MendoFever reports some saw the vehicle swerving erratically before driving off the road. One person was pronounced dead at the scene, another was rushed from Ukiah hospital in an air ambulance. The accident happened near Highway 101 and State Route 253.
A couple of fires were reported over the weekend. A 6 acre blaze Northeast of Covelo near Mendocino Pass Road was contained by ground and air resources Saturday night. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department sent an evacuation warning to those in the Covelo area around 8pm. Within the hour the fire was stopped with resources mopping up. Friday a wildfire was put out in the Piercy Red Mountain Area near Highway 271 as reported by the Mendocino Sheriff.
Mendocino County leaders and residents were brought together by the Community Foundation of Mendocino County to discuss the animal shelter capacity situation at a retreat in Willits. A shortage nationwide of veterinarians and volunteers are concerning animal advocates and communities dealing with overcrowded shelters. During the meeting, the group planned out strategies to face the dire situation. MendoVoice reports getting a mobile spay and neuter service started is one strategy the group agreed upon, as well as enlisting more volunteers and finding more vets. The Humane Society gave the county a proposal for cooperation and funding last week. UC Davis is donating a surgical trailer to the Coast Humane Society and gave a $100,000 grant to help fund the mobile veterinary trailer with the county allotting $250,000 to the cost.
The Lake County Board of Education met last month and voted to fill a vacancy on the board with Itzia Rico who will represent Area 5 around Kelseyville. A recent death created the open seat. Lake County News reports the board went through three applications and chose Rico who was sworn in. Her term will go through December of next year. She owns Studebakers Coffee Shop in downtown Kelseyville and is part of the Kelseyville Business Association. Her children go to schools in the district.
A man was arrested for drunk driving in Ukiah after hitting parked cars and injuring his passenger. Ukiah Police issued a release naming Antonio Amador of Willits, who was arrested and charged. His female passenger had a gash in her head that emergency medics helped her with before taking her to a trauma center. It happened around 2am Saturday in Ukiah, with cars struck on Mendocino Drive.
The plans for Ukiah’s Palace Hotel have drastically changed. In MendoFever, the details were laid out showing the owner, Jitu Ishwar, suddenly decided to go a different course that he had worked with the city and community leaders on. Instead, he is reportedly working with a new group of investors. The City of Ukiah had spent countless hours and resources planning, developing reviews and studies as well as design work by experts for a historic renovation. Some have worked on the project for years, and were disappointed and surprised by Ishwar’s change of plans. The plan was to create a diverse commercial center for the city. The new investors and Ishwar haven’t yet provided city leaders with a new plan. According to an attorney with Duncan James Law Firm, who is representing the new group the quick resale purchase has a confidentiality clause.
There will be nighttime lane closures at the Pudding Creek Bridge project this week in Fort Bragg. Tomorrow and Wednesday, full closures will be in effect from 10pm to 4am. One way traffic control will continue on Route 1 in north Fort Bragg thru the end of August. MendoFever reports drivers can continue to expect one-way traffic with 20 minute delays with longer delays on the weekends. The next full overnight closures will be in September.
The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors will meet today and give an update to the Local Coastal Plan. According to the Press Democrat, the report is 1,000 pages of land management with coastal zoning, mapping and more. The new provisions stop desalination plants and offshore wind farms, discourages pesticide use, with priorities of climate change effects, and sea levels. The plan includes the reintroduction of sea otters to the coast as well as kelp bed protections. Pumped storage hydropower facility construction plans are included. The newly announced hydropower plant will pump water from the ocean to a reservoir to turn turbines to supplement wind and solar power. The plan covers 55 miles from the border of Mendocino to Marin. It must be approved by the county and reviewed by the California Coastal Commission before supervisors can continue the second phase of implementation.
There was an outbreak of COVID in Clearlake at Hope Center. The transitional housing building on Emerson Street put a temporary hold on admissions a few weeks ago. Lake County News reports the facility is owned by Adventist Health Clear Lake and operates 24/7. Six people housed there tested positive on July 5th. They had mild symptoms as hospital staff followed infection control protocols. As of this weekend, no new cases were reported and all who did have the infection tested negative. The outbreak may have been part of the 14 percent increase in test positivity reported in Lake County on Friday that listed only one person in the ICU within the last 10 days.
California’s medical aid-in-dying law is still under fire this week. The California News Service reports Friday is the deadline for the state to respond to a federal lawsuit seeking to invalidate it. The California End of Life Option Act allows terminally ill patients with less than six months to live to get a prescription they could use to end their suffering. The plaintiffs include the disability rights group “Not Dead Yet,” which opposes medical aid in dying. The California Department of Health reports more than 28-hundred terminally ill residents received prescriptions from 2016 to 2020, and about 18-hundred opted to use the medication. A new film on the subject has just been nominated for an Emmy. “Last Flight Home” tells the story of Eli Timoner, a terminally-ill California man who used the law to die peacefully.
