Fire crews are mopping up and watching for spotting in a blaze near Clearlake. The Oak Fire burned near Clearlake Oaks and closed Highway 20 last night. According to KCRA news crews from Cal Fire’s Sonoma Lake Napa Unit were on the scene of the 26 acre blaze. Highway 20 was closed from New Long Valley Road to the Lake and Colusa County lines. It was 30 percent contained as of last night, and Cal Fire reports forward progress was stopped. It began just before 4pm yesterday afternoon. KymKemp reports the Walker Ridge Fire Camera showed multiple columns of smoke. Scanner traffic said a helicopter pilot saw two different fires growing at a moderate rate of spread with the wind. 14 fire engines, 5 crews, aerial resources and more are fighting the wildfire. In a social media post from Lake County, CA Emergency Warning and Preparedness on Facebook crews were still working on spotting and more as they maintain control.
An excessive heat warning is in place for Mendocino County. It began yesterday at 11am and will go through 11pm on Wednesday. Ukiah, Hopland, Redwood Valley, Willits, Potter Valley, Laytonville and Covelo are in areas that will experience temps over 100 degrees. The National Weather Service issued the warning saying extreme heat will increase the potential for heat related illnesses, especially those who work outside. Covelo and Round Valley will have highs between 104 and 106. MendoVoice reports unstable air created by Tropical Storm Eugene will usher in potentially dry thunderstorms, which means lightning is probable. Wildland fire risk is up from low to moderate. So far PG&E have not declared any power safety shutoffs, and the county has not yet announced any cooling centers. Residents should be prepared for the heat and potential fire risks.
The Fort Bragg City Council is meeting today at 6pm and will hear a presentation from Redwood Waste Solutions on CRV Redemption Centers and more. The agenda includes an update to the city’s personnel rules and regulations on catastrophic leave. The council is expected to approve the Community Development Block Grant COVID relief Business Assistance Loan Program. Fort Bragg will get a marketing boost as the council will consider work with The Idea Cooperative. In the closed session, the council will work with legal counsel on anticipate litigation of 3 cases.
Mendocino County is hosting a series of public meetings to target Jumpstart grants by Cal OES to build resiliency in high-hazard exposure and social vulnerability. IN a release, the county is announcing a meeting in Hopland set for this coming Thursday, the 17th from 5:30pm to 7pm at the Veteran’s Memorial Building. The county will host additional sessions in Boonville, Redwood Valley, Caspar, Covelo, Ukiah, Willits and Leggett in coming months. The listening sessions are intended to help target grant funding, in addition to the Jumpstart grant to help the communities become more resilient to disasters and weather events.
A law shortening the waiting period for medical aid in dying has led to a 47 percent jump in prescriptions for the medication, according to a new report from the California Department of Public Health. In 2021, lawmakers amended the End of Life Option Act to cut the mandatory waiting period between the two required oral requests for the medication from 15 days down to 48 hours. According to California News Service, the data also showed that almost 4 out of 5 terminally ill patients waited less than 15 days between the two verbal requests. A 2018 study from Kaiser showed that 21 percent of patients who requested to use the End of Life Option act died during the 15-day waiting period.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife will put the Rockfish Conservation Area boundary line in effect next Monday. It will be the first “offshore only” fishery in the Northern Groundfish management Area, according to a release issued in Lake County News. Boat based ground fishing is only be allowed seaward from the boundary line. The 50-fathom Rockfish Conservation Area, or RCA, defines a boundary set to help preserve the species. No gear is to be deployed shoreward of the boundary line when shelf rockfish, slope rockfish or lingcod are on the boat. Quillback rockfish are being monitored by the department for both recreational and commercial fishing in the state. Fishers should check the CDFW’s Marine Region Groundfish information on their webpage.
The Great Redwood Trail is being challenged by the Skunk Train. Supervisor McGourtney gave some notes to MendoFever, explaining what was discussed at the Redwood Valley Municipal Advisory Council meeting last week. Cannabis code enforcement, the Potter Valley Project, disaster prep and more were part of the meeting topics. McGourty is proposing relaxed construction codes for buildings less than 2,000 feet. The supervisor discussed bringing a code enforcement representative and the county sheriff to the next meeting. In a water update the Redwood Valley County Water District and Ukiah Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency lifted the 55-gallon per day domestic limit. There was an update to the Potter Valley Project, discussions and further study will continue. Disaster preparation was discussed and coordination with area residents to create a group to help oversee and contribute to disaster recovery in emergencies.
Ukiah Unified School District is dealing with its attempt to sell the Redwood Valley Elementary School property, with no bids yet received. The district had a bid deadline of August 10th. Board members will consider next steps in the near future to sell the property in a bidding process with a minimum bid of $900,000. The district voted to approve the resolution on the sale last June. The Ukiah Daily Journal reports the 12.4 acre property in an unincorporated area of Mendocino County sits vacant as the school district will have to decide what to do next in the process.
There’s a new wolf pack in California. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed wolves in the southernmost pack in the state in an announcement on Friday. The new pack is over 200 miles away from the known pack in northeastern California. The new pack was seen in the Sequoia National Forest in July. The new pack has at least five wolves that haven’t been id’d in the state, including two male and two female pups. It’s been over a decade since the first identified wolf crossed into the state from Oregon. The wolf was father to four pups in the Lassen Pack. According to SF Gate, the gray wolves remain under the protection of the California Endangered Species Act.
California workers on strike may be able to get unemployment benefits if legislation is approved in the last weeks of this legislative year. The Sac Bee reports hundreds of thousands of laborers are on strike, from writers to municipal employees. Senate Democrats are hoping to print up legislation that would allow benefits for those on strike within the next two weeks, according to Politico. Though no new bill can be created, legislators can chose to overhaul an existing bill to include the change in unemployment eligibility when lawmakers return from recess today.
Thanks to $15 billion in state and federal funding, school districts are ditching hot dogs, pizza and chicken nuggets for lunch. 6 million public school students will see organic salads, free-range grilled chicken, and vegan masala. California’s program is the first on the country to provide free breakfast, lunch and snacks to nearly 6 million students in California public schools, according to CalMatters. The move to fresh, made-from-scratch high-quality meals is very popular with students.
The Lake County Board of Supervisors will meet tomorrow at 9am and go over a new Pubic Health position and approve support for the expansion of Berryessa National Monument. Lake County News reports the board is considering former Public Health Officer for Mendocino County, Dr. Noemi Doohan as Lake County’s Public Health Officer. They will consider adding to the vehicle fleet with the Public Works Director. The board will approve an agreement for water and sediment sampling and sign the notice of completion for the Cooper Creek Witter Springs Road Bridge Replacement Project. The board is expected to support adding Molok Luyok, or Condor Ridge to the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. The board will continue its search for a Chief Public Defender. They plan to go over litigation including the Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project.
