The Lake County Library Literacy Program has scheduled a free New Tutor Training for the new year. Training will be offered in-person on Saturday February 22, at the Lakeport Library. The free training is set to take place from 10 am to 4 pm. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided. For more information or to register for tutor training, please call 707-263-7633 or email literacy.
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Civil Division will be closed this Friday for any Civil process matters. The Sheriff’s Office Civil Division will resume normal hours of operation on Monday morning from 8 A.M. to 5 P.M.
A landslide ripped apart a home rebuilt after the Tubbs fire in Santa Rosa Tuesday night. The slide severely damaged the home, collapsing part of its walls and roof and causing the home to buckle with the second floor separating from the bottom portion of the home. Crews from both the Santa Rosa Fire and Sonoma County Fire Protection District were able to safely remove the two residents trapped inside the home. The house is perched against a hillside, making it especially vulnerable to heavy rain. It was the second to be damaged or destroyed in Sonoma County on Tuesday because of the effects of the atmospheric river-fueled storm. Three other homes were evacuated and two were red tagged. Out of an abundance of caution, notifications of the slide were sent to 17 homes in the general vicinity.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, or (DEA) in a joint operation with the Sonoma Sheriff’s Narcotics Unit made two arrests last week in Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park. Marco Hernandez and Robert James Strzelecki were arrested for state and federal charges related to the sale and distribution of narcotics. Officials identified Hernandez and Strzelecki as major narcotic distributors in Sonoma County. Special Agents and Detectives searched the suspects’ homes and discovered 11 pounds of M30 Fentanyl pills and 3.5 pounds of methamphetamine. Both suspects were booked into the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility, pending transfer to federal authorities. Strzelecki has since posted bail.
Be careful what you say. The Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office says that a Redwood Valley man has been convicted this week on one of two counts. According to DA David Eyster, a jury in Mendocino County Superior Court found 26-year-old defendant Shelson Cabada guilty of felony criminal threats. The jury found Cabada not guilty of a separate misdemeanor count of battery. At the time of his arrest back in October, he was booked into Mendocino County Jail on suspicion of both threats and battery. Cabada, who remains in custody unless and until he posts bail, was ordered to return to court for sentencing in March.
The Lake County Air Quality Management District reported that it has reopened the district office to walk-in traffic on Monday. The district office will be open to walk-in traffic Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon to allow for paperwork drop-offs and limited services. The agency says its district office was closed to walk-in traffic recently due to a staffing shortage, and while the staffing issue has not been fixed, they will be open with limited days and hours.
A San Francisco Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit earlier this week, which challenged the approval of a new Grocery Outlet store in Fort Bragg. Fort Bragg Local Business Matters sued the California Coastal Commission, seeking to overturn the commission’s decision that an appeal of the project failed to raise substantial issues. The San Francisco judge ruled in favor of the commission, the city of Fort Bragg, and the project’s developer, Best Development Group. The ruling clears a major legal hurdle for the project, though opponents may still appeal.
