California is acting as millions try to keep cool during this dangerous heat wave. Watches and warnings are in place through tomorrow, with more triple digits expected today. The state is in phase two of its Extreme Temperature Response Plan. Counties are opening cooling centers, messaging is going out to those most at risk, and work sites are being inspected. The Health Department also created a Heat and Summer Safety tool kit. Governor Newsom is urging everyone to take their own steps to stay safe.
It is possible California’s biggest wildfire could be contained today. Crews are now at 92-percent in San Joaquin County and holding the fire at 14-thousand acres as they also battle triple digit temperatures. Flames sparked Saturday near a test site for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, destroying one home. Officials say firefighters have already responded to more than 12-hundred wildfires across the state this year.
A state labor board is again refusing to stop a strike at UC campuses. Thousands of graduate student workers have walked off the job in the past two weeks over how colleges are handling protests against the Middle East war in Gaza. The strike has spread to six schools so far. University of California officials want it declared illegal. They sued the union this week, asking a judge to step in. No word yet when a hearing will be scheduled to present evidence.
Emergency repairs are underway after another hole was found in the main runway at Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport. The repair work started Tuesday night. The same runway was shut down for 16 hours last Thursday and Friday after the discovery of a sinkhole on its north end. That caused Alaska Airlines to divert two of its flights scheduled to land in Santa Rosa to other airports. Officials say a culvert under the runway is failing.
Lake County has announced the launch of a new county-wide digital newsletter. Residents can sign up to get the newsletter in their email once a month. It’ll be available in both English and Spanish. Officials say it will be full of information and important updates, news and events. The newsletter is live as of today. Lake County residents can sign up for the newsletter at CountyofLakeNews.com/Join
The City of Fort Bragg Finance and Administration Committee has cancelled their meeting that was scheduled for June 12th. The next regular meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 10th at 4pm. See the full agenda and meeting details on the City of Fort Bragg website.
If you live in the Sherwood Corridor, look for a special ballot coming this Friday. You’ll be asked to decide on an assessment that is meant to maintain a pair of emergency access routes at the north and south ends of the community. Mendo Fever reports the plan is to raise enough funds to keep FirCo Road and Willits Creet Trail maintained so that fire engines can make it through in case of emergency. The roads are private and not paved. Officials say the roads need about 120 thousand dollars in maintenance work over the next decade. The assessment will need a simple majority to pass, and you must cast your vote by July 23rd.
Sacramento police are searching for a 17-year-old girl who is believed to be a victim of human trafficking. Isabel Gallego was last seen on April 19th. Detectives say, after leaving Sacramento, she spent several days in Portland, Oregon, then traveled to Seattle. Gallego was believed to be traveling with 25-year-old Kyree Jackson. She was last seen with green hair and facial piercings. Anyone with information is asked to call police.
Some folks in our area are in for dangerous and deadly heat the next few days. Dr. Don Bucklin with Work Care says heat-related illnesses are not something you can endure. Heat illnesses include heat rash, muscle cramps, fainting, heat exhaustion, and heatstroke. As soon as you see a rash, get indoors and hydrate. Heat exhaustion is an emergency and can quickly turn into heat stroke, which is deadly. Heat stroke is a complete failure of your body to cool itself. Bucklin says that with heat stroke, your body generally stops sweating. Your body has given up, and your core temperature quickly rises to 106 degrees, essentially cooking your internal organs, including your brain and your heart. Nausea is the telltale sign of both heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Those with heat stroke will appear almost comatose and delirious and find it difficult to speak.
Big Oil is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block dozens of climate change lawsuits from California and across the nation. Oil and gas companies are urging the court to rule that climate change is a global phenomenon and a matter for federal law, not for state-by-state claims. The appeal comes before the court on Thursday. The lawsuits seek to hold the industry accountable for billions of dollars of climate change-caused damage. California Governor Gavin Newsom and State Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit last year against Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and BP, as well the American Petroleum Institute, claiming decades of deception and damage that have cost California taxpayers billions of dollars in health and environmental impacts.
