A hearing has started in the long-running case involving Mendocino County Auditor Chamise Cubbison and former county Payroll Manager Paula Kennedy who are accused of felony misappropriation of public funds for allegedly overpaying Kennedy about $68,000 during the pandemic. A Mendocino County Superior Court Judge is hearing testimony to determine whether the case will actually go to trial. Mendo Fever reports Mendocino County CEO Darcie Antle testified Wednesday that Kennedy did work extremely long hours to do payroll for 1,200 county employees all by herself. Antle called it “exhausting work” and called Kennedy’s required hours “alarming”.
The former mayor of Willits is back on the City Council. On Wednesday the Willits City Council chose Bruce Burton to fill the seat left open following the resignation of Councilmember Greta Kanne in December. The Mendocino Voice reports the council interviewed eight people looking to take the seat and chose Burton on a 3-1 vote. Burton will serve the remaining two years of Kanne’s term. The council was also supposed to discuss giving themselves a raise but decided it wouldn’t look good since so many of them are new. Currently the Willits City Council members get a $200 monthly stipend which has not gone up since 2019.
A man who police say walked through a restraining order has been arrested for threatening police with a machete. Ukiah Police were called to home last week after a call that Javier Ramirez was there after allegedly violating several orders to stay away. Officers say Ramirez started waving a machete at them in what they say was a threatening way and reportedly kept asking them to shoot him. After tasing him twice they got him into custody. After he was checked out by medics he was taken to the jail.
Work continues on a bunch of upgrades along East Gobbi Street. The stretch of East Gobbi between Main and Orchard is getting new ADA compliant curb ramps as well as storm drain and median construction. The medians will be planted with native plants and be designed to include spaces for art installations or other design elements. Meanwhile electric work is happening throughout the area to accommodate irrigation boxes and in preparation for the traffic signal at Main Street and lighted crosswalks.
We’re learning more about the major cuts to programs at Sonoma State University. As we reported yesterday SSU announced it was eliminating several academic departments and all athletics in order to meet a nearly $24 million budget deficit fueled by inflation and a decline in enrollment. The Press Democrat reports the faculty cuts account for nearly 10% of all tenure-track faculty and lecturers with nearly 60 faculty and staff positions eliminated. Six academic departments will close, killing more than 20 major degrees, 13 minors and four extended education programs. Officials say students enrolled in discontinued programs who are within 60 units of graduating will be allowed to finish those degrees but everyone else will have to switch majors by May 25.
While rain in the forecast for Southern California has the potential to help firefighters, it is also raising concerns about the possibility of mudslides in the burn areas. The Governor’s office says specialized teams and equipment have been prepositioned to help protect the communities near the burn scars that could be in the path of mudslide. In January of 2018, 23 people died from mudslides in Montecito that followed the Thomas Fire there. Cal OES says the Department of Conservation has mobilized a team of geologists working to identify the riskiest spots and has several engineers doing some preventive work. The National Guard is also on scene with resources.
