It’s been five days and counting in the dark for around 4,000 PG&E customers in Mendocino and Lake Counties. Governor Newsom is thanking first responders who have helped the state cope with the unprecedented storms. Twelve people in California have died because of the weather since January.
PG&E has reversed course and will no longer include water diversion in its plans to decommission the Porter Valley Project. Supporters of the diversion say they’re surprised but not deterred. The Ukiah Daily Journal reports that members of the new Russian River Project Joint Powers Authority, who eventually plan to run Porter Valley will follow their path, even if PG & E has its own ideas.. The utility says it is changing its plan to speed up Federal approval of the decommissioning.
The California presidential primary is not until March 5th, but they have started processing the ballots at the Lake County Registrar of Voters office. The mail-in ballots went out this week and now the registrar’s staff is taking in those being returned. They won’t start counting and adjudicating them until February 27th. That process will continue right up until 8 PM on election day. Then starting early the next morning they’ll canvass the ballots and plan to work at least six hours a day, Monday through Friday – even on weekends – to finish by the state deadline. Observers are welcome as long as they don’t interfere. You can contact the registrar’s office if you want to sit in.
The Lake County DPW is releasing a draft evacuation plan for the Soda Bay Corridor. You can go to the county website to look it over or pick up a copy at the DPW office. There will be a public hearing on the evacuation plan later this month and you can make comments until March 9th. The plan covers primary evacuation routes for the densely populated Riviera communities along Soda Bay Road and Point Lakeview Road
