The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors will hold their regular meeting tomorrow. The meeting is scheduled for 9am in the Board Chambers on Low Gap Road in Ukiah. Agenda items include the discussion of a new interim County Health Officer, and the discussion of the new budget for the Community Corrections Partnership. Board members will also discuss the proposed Mendocino County Comprehensive Multi-Agency Juvenile Justice Plan. The meeting will be open to the public and available on Zoom. For the full agenda and Zoom link, visit MendocinoCounty.gov
A salmonella outbreak is prompting Trader Joe’s to pull its fresh basil from shelves in 29 states. The California-based company says “Infinite Herbs” basil has sickened at least a dozen people. The product was sold between February 1st and April 6th. The CDC is telling consumers to throw it away or return it to Trader Joe’s.
The oversight agency assigned by the state to assess the situation of the Palace Hotel is standing firm, even after an appeal from Guidiville Rancheria. Mendo Fever reports that newly released documents show the oversight agency still thinks the Palace Hotel does not need to be torn down in order to finish ground contamination studies and do remedial work. Guidiville Rancheria sent another appeal to the state after they decided not to spend over 5 million dollars of taxpayer money to take down the Palace. The Rancheria and other investors want to clear the site to make way for a new hotel and event center. Heidi Bauer, who works for the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, and who is the chief of the oversight agency’s clean up unit, says she’s seen no proof that there is a high level of dangerous chemicals in the soil under the Palace Hotel. She said if there is, traditional methods can be used to remediate them without tearing down the historical structure. In the meantime, the current owner of the Palace has been given a hard deadline of May 14th to hire an independent structural engineer and show proof of their contract to the Ukiah City Council. If the owner doesn’t comply, he’s facing fines and possible jail time.
The Lake County Board of Supervisors will meet tomorrow in the board chambers at the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport. The meeting is scheduled for 9am and is open to the public. You can also watch the meeting on Channel 8, or live on the County’s Facebook page. It will also be available on Zoom. Agenda items include a discussion on whether the BOS should overturn the Lake County Planning Commission’s decision to deny a large cannabis grow next to the historic Kelsey Creek Schoolhouse in Kelseyville. The Planning Commission voted the project down in January. See the full agenda and get the Zoom link at LakeCountyCA.gov
California is about to take new action in the fight for abortion rights. Governor Newsom revealed yesterday that an emergency bill will be introduced this week so Arizona doctors can come here and provide reproductive care. He says he wants to give access to women and girls fleeing that state over a new abortion ban. Newsom also unveiled an ad that will air today in Alabama. It’s aimed at Republican lawmakers there who are pushing to prosecute women who travel elsewhere to end their pregnancy.
Impossible Foods is unveiling Impossible Ranch. The California based company will make meat from plants on 70 acres of farmland in South Carolina. The project involves rescuing cattle and repurposing the land to grow the same crops used to make Impossible’s meat from plants.
Sonoma County is spending up to a half a million dollars on a consultant to help evaluate and overhaul its public records system. The county’s Information Systems Department says the goal is to create a centralized system for processing public records requests. The current system requires a request to pass through several county employees and departments. That can lead to long wait times for residents and duplicate work for county employees. The county is spending just over $200,000 on hiring Deloitte as the consultant. Should more work be needed, the contract can go up to half a million dollars.
Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport is getting ready for a busy May that will see it add more flights and bigger planes. Houston-based Avelo Airlines will be launching its planned base operations at the airport on May 1st. Avelo is also beginning nonstop flights from Sonoma County to several cities, including Boise, Idaho, Kalispell, Montana, Salem, Oregon and Pasco, Washington. Starting on May 6th, American Airlines will resume its seasonal flights from Sonoma County to Dallas. This year, it will be using bigger planes. It is upgrading from a 76-seat to a 128-seat model.
