Cal Fire’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa unit has suspended burn permits in the area it covers. The ban is in effect as of 8 am Monday. It covers all residential burning of landscape debris, including branches and leaves. Lake County already has its annual burn ban enforced by the County Air Quality Management District that started May 1st. Since the start of the year, Cal Fire says it has been dispatched to 124 fires, up from the first half of the last two years, but in line with the five-year average. Authorities are asking you to take the time now to prepare. That preparation includes creating a defensible space, especially in the first five feet around your home, by clearing dead or dying vegetation around all structures, up to 100 feet out if possible. The department can issue temporary burn permits for essential reasons like health and public safety. They’ll also allow special permits after a careful inspection deems the fire safe. The ban does not cover campfires in organized campgrounds or on private property as long as it is property maintained and you have a campfire permit. There is more on the bans and how to protect yourself at preventwildfireCA.org.
That suspension comes as Crews contained a small vegetation fire in Ukiah over the weekend. The fire Sunday afternoon burned about an acre word on what sparked the fire.on Vicchy Springs Road near the Gun Club.
CalFire will be busy this week with prescribed burns. The Sonoma-Lake -Napa Unit says among the activities–Highway 29 in Lakeport – 2.8-mile roadside prescribed burn between Lakeport and Upper Lake with Caltrans District 1 on Tuesday. Other burns are planned for Sonoma County.
Fort Bragg police are investigating a sexual assault. According to police, the suspect knocked on the victim’s window at a home on Harrison Street around 3 AM Saturday, then broke in and committed the assault. The person they’re looking for was last seen on On Harrison Street near Hazel Street between 1:30 and 3:30 Saturday morning. If you live in that area, police are asking you to review surveillance video and report anything unusual. The video they have so far shows a man wearing a neck-gator style mask, a hooded sweatshirt, and leggings. The Fort Bragg Facebook page has a link for you to anonymously submit any information about the attack.
The judge overseeing the civil case involving County Auditor Chamise Cubbison and Mendocino County has rejected a request that the trial be moved to Marin County. Cubison is suing the county after the criminal case alleging she misused county money was tossed out. Judge Ann Moorman says there’s no evidence that the civil suit wouldn’t get a fair hearing in her court because of publicity, and that she is not biased toward one side or the other. Next up, hearings are set for August, with the judge saying she wants the case resolved by fall. Cubbison was suspended without pay from when she was charged in October 2023 with conspiring to pay former county payroll manager Paula Kennedy for work never done until the judge tossed the case out earlier this year.
The city says people along part of East Gobbi Street in Ukiah can expect noise and dust this week as improvements there enter the home stretch. The city hopes to have repaving of Orchard and Dora done by Friday.. There could also be some traffic disruptions elsewhere in the project zone on West Gobbi Street this week, too. The timeline shows the paving work should last through the rest of June and all of July, with the final step–painting the stripes planned for mid-August.
The Mendo Food Network is celebrating the opening of a new warehouse in Willits. The new facility is part of a larger expansion of the Food Bank, started after the organization bought the location with a state grant in 2022. The Daily Journal reports M F N picked Willits for the warehouse because its central location will make it easier to ship goods to its partner organizations, with more space, allowing it to accept more donations. The Mendo Food Network supplies food banks, soup kitchens, and food pantries across the country. They’ll have a ribbon cutting at the new warehouse on June 28th. You can find more at the website mendofood.org.
