Ukiah police have arrested a man they say was driving a stolen rental car who had threatened to kill himself. Officers say they got a hit through the FLOCK license plate reader on Saturday afternoon that showed a Mazda CX-5 that had been stolen from Enterprise Rental Car. Officers say the Driver, identified as George Rathwick of Riverside spotted the officers and pulled into the Chase Bank Parking lot, where during a standoff with police, he said he had a gun and was going to shoot himself. He eventually gave up peacefully–officers say he had no gun, but they report he DID have a baggie of Meth. He reportedly told them he had a record and would rather die than go back to prison. He was booked into the county jail on several charges. The car was returned to Enterprise.
The Lake County Public Library is offering a new program to help people trying to learn English as a Second Language. The Library library is planning ESL classes at the Redbud Library in Clearlake starting March 7th. The classes and material are all free–to anyone at any level of any language The library is also offering tutors to folks who need a bit more intensive help getting the language down. If you are fluent in English AND another language, you can help too–as a volunteer. Training is provided along with support and once you’re trained, you’ll be matched up with a student–sessions are about an hour on average. The library says your skills could change the life of someone who’s struggling with something that most of us take for granted. The California Library Literacy Services and the Lake County Literacy Coalition are supporting the programs.
Tribal issues are the focus of a new package of bills introduced in the assembly. Assemblymember James Ramos of San Bernardino is the first and only native american serving in the legislature. He’s introduced several bills he says will address the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people and further knowledge and acceptance of the state’s tribes. Specifically, the bill would give additional tribal peace officers the same status as other officers in the state and let them help police in jurisdictions near reservations. Ramos would also like to require the California State University to develop a policy to identify available CSU-owned land for the burial of Native American human remains and establish three tribal burial sites — one in the Northern, Central, and Southern regions of the state. Also up for discussion is a bill to establish the fourth Friday in September as Native American Day as a paid day off for state workers, and to clarify high school students’ rights to wear traditional regalia at high school graduations.
