California Sen. Dianne Feinstein returned to the Senate today after a two-and-a-half-month absence due to a bad case of shingles. Her return is giving majority Democrats a much-needed final vote as they seek to confirm the president’s nominees and raise the debt ceiling in the coming weeks. Feinstein looked a bit frail, and is using a wheelchair to get around the Capitol. She missed the Senate’s first votes this morning but arrived outside the Senate for an afternoon vote. In her statement, Feinstein said that the “most pressing” issue facing the Senate is to raise the debt ceiling and avoid default.
The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to repeal Ordinance No. 4507, which authorized the county to charge for public information. The fee was up to $150/hour charged for staff to gather public information under the California Public Records Act. The law, passed last July, received widespread condemnation from the public, journalists, and more. One local media organization, the Mendocino Voice, has been assessed fees in excess of $76,000 since the law was passed, according to a group called the First Amendment Coalition. A Senior Staff Attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California said “It’s good to see that Mendocino finally did the right thing after starting off in the wrong direction.”
The Clearlake Police Department is looking for a missing man. Colten Grauman was last seen at Adventist Health Clear Lake Hospital. He is a 29 year-old white man with dark hair and blue eyes. Grauman is about 5 feet 7 inches tall, and is around 145 pounds. If you have any information regarding his whereabouts, please contact Clearlake Police Department.
A man has been arrested in Mendocino County for possession of illicit drugs and more. Tommy Lee Taylor Junior had a warrant for possession of meth and is wanted in another county for attempted murder. In MendoFever online, Taylor has a criminal record that reaches across the state. The 45-year-old was recently arrested by Manteca Police for suspected retail and identity theft at a local Kohl’s this week. Taylor allegedly gave a false name to authorities to hide his identity. Records from the Mendocino Superior Court Case show Taylor was charged in Mendocino County in February with possession of methamphetamine. After being let out on bail he failed to return to court, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Taylor and a woman with him were booked in the Stanislaus County Jail for identity theft, retail theft, and possession of fentanyl and drug paraphernalia.
Anti-Semitism is on the rise across the nation and in the state. In the Associated Press today, more than 500 anti-Semitic acts, including assault, vandalism and harassment, were committed in California last year, an increase of more than 40% from 2021. California saw at least six murders by members of extremist groups in 2021 and 2022, the most in the nation. In an ADL report at least 518 anti-Semitic acts were committed last year, second only to New York with 580 incidents. The civil rights organization’s report, called “Hate in the Golden State”, shows groups like the Proud Boys continue to target local LGBTQ+ events. Last year, the Anti-Defamation League recorded 296 instances of white supremacist propaganda being distributed in California, a jump of 91 percent in 2021. Lawmakers are attempting to address the trend. Last week, the Civil Rights Department unveiled a statewide non-emergency hate crime hotline. There is a new bill lawmakers are working on, that would create a hate crime intervention unit.
The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors announced an end to a couple of emergency ordinances that were adopted during the COVID and drought emergencies. Ordinance No. 4472 allowing temporary tents, expanded outdoor seating areas, covered patios. Businesses have 3 months to apply for the proper permitting if they want to keep those modifications. Ordinance No. 4494 allowed temporary water storage tanks. Residents who want to keep the tanks have one month to remove them or apply for permits if they’d like to hang on to them.
The Lakeport Fire Protection District Board was going to consider a no confidence letter against Lake County’s Health Services director, but the item was pulled from the agenda at the Tuesday evening meeting. The Fire Chief said he wanted to pull the letter, saying he wasn’t fully ready to bring it forward. He told Lake County News that he may bring it back in the future. The health services director was said to have issue with the fire district’s work, but says public reports were not totally accurate.
This weekend is the debut of Mendocino County’s new mobile buyback facility, county recycling and waste collector. Redwood Waste Solutions (RWS) announced that collection at the mobile facility will run from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday in Mendocino at the K-8 School, and for those same hours on Monday in Caspar, at the Community Center. Fort Bragg and Mendocino County’s new initiative is one of only 10 pilot projects in mobile buyback allotted in California, according to MendoVoice online today. It is a pilot project that things may change as they look for a permanent CRV center and the mobile centers continue.
Lake County announced that E Center WIC is the first organization the County that has achieved designation as Blue Zones Project Approved The organization worked with a Blue Zones Project team to curate best practices for health and well-being. The approval happened at the end of March, with local Blue Zones Project celebrating the first approved in the county. They can seek to become fully certified in about three years. The project began with help from Adventist Health as a community improvement initiative made to help residents live longer, fuller lives with lower rates of chronic disease.
The governor responded to the California reparations task force yesterday after it recommended how the state compensate and apologize to Black residents after decades of discrimination. In a statement to KCRA 3, Newsom said many of the recommendations are things the state has already been addressing. “Dealing with that legacy is about much more than cash payments,” Newsom said in the statement. He said that the task force and legislators need to continue to advance systemic changes for an equitable future for all Californians. Parts of the recommendations include payments to Black Californians that some estimate nearly $800 billion in payments. The task force voted to limit reparations to descendants of enslaved or free Black people who were in the country by the end of the 19th century.
The Mendocino County city was named to Trips to Discover’s list of “16 Best Small Beach Towns in the U.S. for Summer.” In the Press Democrat, the city is one of three California beach towns to make the list posted early this month. Fort Bragg’s beaches with tide pools and sea lions lounging on the rocks dotting the coastline were some reasons why the city topped Trips to Discover’s list. The list also emphasizes Fort Bragg’s location, with nearby outdoor attractions like the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden and the Skunk Train, which carries tourists to nearby redwoods.
The Clearlake Oaks Catfish Derby is returning to Lake County this year. Large crowds are expected for the family-oriented fishing derby known as the biggest derby of its kind west of the Mississippi. In Lake County News, Derby Committee Chair Dennis Locke says “There’s still time to sign up online,” saying if you apply by the 18th, you can get a discounted ticket. Derby fishing starts at noon on Saturday, May 19 and ends at noon on Sunday, May 21 with awards up to $10,000. Onsite registration and fish weigh-ins will again be at the Northshore Fire District Station on East Highway 20 in Clearlake Oaks. The fundraiser is sponsored by the Clearlake Oaks-Glenhaven Business Association. All proceeds go back into the community, supporting education and in Lake County and more.
CHP Garberville is inviting the public to have coffee and talk this Friday. All community members are invited to attend. Coffee with local highway patrol begins at 11:00 am at the Walnut Grove Café in Covelo. Troopers are hoping to interact with the community in a relaxing atmosphere to get to know officers in one-on-one interactions. Coffee with a Cop is a national initiative supported by the US Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. Similar events are being held across the country.
The Lake County First Responder Memorial Ceremony is this Friday at the lake County Museum Park beginning at 5:30pm. Local leaders will honor Lake County’s fallen heroes, Sheriff George Kemp, Deputy Henry Valentine Snowbelt, Deputy William Hoyt, Sgt. Richard Helbush, Deputy Robert Rumfelt, and firefighters Michael Mattioda and Matthew Black.
