Clearlake Police are investigating an attempted homicide. This morning at 7am, the Mendocino/Lake Regional SWAT team initiated a search warrant on East Highway 20 in Clearlake Oaks. A suspect in the investigation was taken into custody by the Clearlake Police Department. More information has yet to be released, but we will update you when details are available.
Former Mendocino County officials are scrutinizing the suspension of Auditor Chamise Cubbison. She is facing a felony charge of misappropriation of public funds. Even though Cubbison has not yet entered a plea in the case, the board voted to immediately suspend her without pay earlier this week. The Ukiah Daily Journal reports there are questions surrounding the suspension and her formal position title as Auditor, not Treasurer. As an elected official, Cubbison’s attorney says the code provision the board used to suspend her may have been the wrong choice. The former Treasurer, Shari Schapmire resigned in December of 2021 when the board consolidated county financial offices. The former county DA, Schapmire and Cubbison’s attorney point to the board’s consolidation as a cause for the county’s financial issues.
The California Transportation Commission is allocating over $3.7 billion for projects to rebuild the state’s transportation infrastructure. Most of the funding is going to over 600 cities, counties and regional agencies to fix bridges, reduce pollution, increase highway safety and provide transportation services. Projects include about $38 million toward roadway repairs and extension of the existing retaining wall as well as a dewatering system o n Route 1 near Westport south of Hillcrest Terrace in Mendocino County, along with nearly $2 million to road and culvert repairs on Route 162 east of the Middle Fork Eel River Bridge.
The Mendocino County Public Health Environmental Division has an advisory for Caspar Beach. During an ocean water quality sample the department found bacteria levels were too high. The enterococcus bacteria are at a level that is an increased risk to human health. Warning signs have been posted at Caspar Beach warning people to avoid the water for 50 yards on both sides of the drainage entering the ocean. The beach will remain closed with warning signs until water quality meets the minimum standards mandated by the state of California.
The Lake County Treasurer Tax Collectors Office issued an update on this years coming property taxes. Tax bills are set to be mailed out beginning next Monday. The return address on your property tax bill will show Whittier, California. It is a transition the office recently changed, to electronic check processing. Check received in office will be immediately deposited. The county aims to make paying your taxes easier, more efficient and significantly faster. You can still pay your bill in person at the Treasurer Tax Collector’s Office on Forbes Street in Lakeport or to the address in Whittier. Payments will be due on December 11th.
The Mendocino Unit of Cal Fire is planning a prescribed burn today in Hopland. The Ukiah Daily Journal reports the planned blaze will be controlled in cooperation with the Hopland Research Extension Center on the property on University Road. The burn is expected to start at around 9am through 6pm. Firecrews will be on hand to reduce burnable vegetation, improve wildlife habitat and decrease the chance of wildfires. Residents can expect to see smoke throughout the day. Fire officials will monitor conditions, weather and more and are expected to be there to mop up and make sure there are no spot fires.
It’s about 2 and a half weeks away from the special election in Fort Bragg. On November 7th, voters will decide on Measure Q. It would extend a one half percent tax on retail and use sales funding the city streets repair, maintenance and more. Measure Q must get a two-thirds vote of approval to effectively pass. The Advocate News reports the tax was approved in 2004 and in 2014 and is project to generate over $1.3 million if passed. Vote by Mail ballots were mailed out earlier this month to voters and are also available at the County Clerk’s Office on Low Gap Road.
The Fort Bragg City Council is approving an agreement with the Housing Mendocino Coast and work for the water treatment plant rehab project. The new work will improve reservoirs at the treatment plant and other water saving construction. The Advocate News reports the plant, built in 1958 was upgraded in 1986, with the latest upgrades done nearly 20 years ago. The Department of Housing and Community Development was approved to use funds from the state for a community land trust. The Mayor of Fort Bragg proclaimed honors for the late City Clerk and Assistant Fire Chief for the Fort Bragg Volunteer Fire Department.
Ukiah’s Purple Pipe project will impact traffic next week as the city updates infrastructure. The project includes adding a recycled water pipes to irrigate schools, the golf course and Todd Grove Park. The project will also help underground power lines and widen streets and sidewalks. The Ukiah Daily Journal reports the Public Works Director says much of the work that may congest traffic will be done during school breaks, so as to not disrupt students on their way to school at Low Gap Road and Bush Street. The improvement project includes ADA widening that will likely happen next summer when school is out. By mid-week, city officials forecast work will move to the section of Low Gap Road between State and Bush streets. Low Gap Road will be open to one way west bound traffic from 7am to 5pm next week.
PG&E is offering free-in-home safety checks as the seasons change. The utility offered the service in a press release issued in KymKemp. The safety checks will help customers operate furnaces and water heaters efficiently and reduce the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. The gas can be dangerous as it can’t be seen, smelled or heard. The CDC reports year over 400 Americans die from unintentional CO poisoning with over 100,000 visiting the ER and 14,000 hospitalized. This year, PG&E has responded to over 6,000 incidents where carbon monoxide was suspected. Officials say residents should have carbon monoxide detectors in their homes on every floor and should be tested twice annually. Generators, grills and propane heaters should never be used inside.
A special meeting is planned within a few weeks for an update to the Palace Hotel in Ukiah. The City Council met this week, when staff announced they are planning on an update regarding the condition of the Palace Hotel soon. The Ukiah Daily Journal reports the hotel has been vacant and decaying for years and was recently about to sell before the proposal fell through this earlier this year. Also at the council meeting this week, the council considered an appeal to the permit granted for a new car wash on Talmage Road. On that property staff found some procedural issues and have reached out to the applicant with a resolution to move the proposed new car wash to be compatible near the Ukiah Municipal Airport. The Council also discussed the future of water diversions surrounding the Potter Valley Project. The water resources director says there are details yet to be worked out.
Law enforcement officials are investigating human remains in the Mendocino National Forest. Earlier this month the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office got a report of an abandoned truck in a remote area off of Road 20N59. MendoFever reports officials ran a check and discovered that Donald Stockwell Jr. had been reported as an at-risk missing person with dementia in January. He was last seen in the truck at a gas station in Willows in February. Detectives searched the area and found human remains near the truck. They are working with the family as they continue to determine what happened.
A Clearlake man is in jail for setting a fire in Lakeport. Lakeport Police arrested Cameron Bates yesterday on charges including arson, drug possession and receipt of stolen property. Lake County News reports he was arrested after being released from Lake County Jail earlier the same day. The wildland fire was reported around Lakeport Boulevard and Highway 29 around noon Thursday. Local fire protection districts quickly contained the blaze at about a quarter of an acre according to police. Officials say there were multiple witnesses who saw a person walking away from the fire who also say the person tried to start another fire on the northeast side of the Chamber of Commerce.
A lawsuit against Clearlake by the Koi Nation Tribe is set to go to trial today. The Clearlake City Council approved additional funding for the litigation and legal challenges surrounding major park and road projects. Lake County News reports at a meeting earlier this month the council approved doubling the city’s expenditures with their law firm to half a million dollars. The Koi Tribe, whose territory includes the city of Clearlake and Lower Lake began the suit in March to stop the city’s projects on the 18th Avenue extension, related to a new hotel. An additional suit this summer was filed on the Burns Valley Sports Complex and Recreation Center project, saying the city did not conduct state required consultation with the tribal government.
The Planning Group for the Russian River Water Forum continues to discuss PG&E’s “non-binding acceptance in concept” of a Proposal to take control over the Potter Valley Project and more. MendoFever reports on the latest Russian River Water Forum update. The proposal has two options for the Cape Horn Dam. An official from the Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission said the group is happy PG&E accepted the proposal and are seeing the move as a step forward in the complex process. More work is yet to be done on the future of the hydroelectric facility including water rights. The Water Rights working group is set to meet on November 2nd. Discussion over the future of Lake Pillsbury was included in the latest meeting as the group weighs the pros and cons of dam removal versus rehabilitation.
The late Senator Diane Feinstein’s replacement, Laphonza Butler says she is not seeking election to a full term next year. Butler said she made the decision after thinking about what kind of life she wants to have. She does plan to continue in public service, but not at the level some expected her to. There is a crowd of candidates for the full term including US Representatives Katie Porter, Adam Schiff and Barbara Lee as well as Republican Steve Garvey.
A federal judge is ruling that California’s prohibition of semiautomatic gun sales violates the constitutional right to bear arms. The AP reports US District Judge Benitez said that firearms like AR-15 rifles are commonly used by criminals, but are also owned by people who obey the law. His ruling is similar to his decision in 2021 where he called the state’s ban on assault weapons a failed experiment. His decision may overturn several state statues across the country related to assault weapons. California has 10 days to seek a stay as part of an appeal to the US 9th Circuit Court. Attorney General Rob Bonta has said he has already filed that notice of appeal.
