The biggest wildfire in California is now fully contained. It burned more than 14-thousand acres along Alameda and San Joaquin counties, even during triple-digit temperatures. Flames sparked last weekend near a test site for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, destroying one home and injuring two firefighters. State officials are urging everyone to have a go-bag ready and be prepared with evacuation routes.
A drug trafficking network based in California is out of business. Federal authorities say it’s tied to a Mexican cartel. They took it down Wednesday, serving 25 warrants in the central and southern part of the state. One was at the home of a Border Patrol agent. He was among 36 people arrested for allegedly distributing fentanyl and methamphetamine. Eleven others are considered fugitives, but all have been indicted.
The state is marking another early milestone in its push for clean air. One out of every six new medium and heavy-duty vehicles bought here is zero-emission. A new report shows sales of trucks, buses and vans doubled last year and California is now selling five times the required amount. Governor Newsom says the fifth biggest economy in the world is protecting public health by moving away from dirty polluting big rigs and delivery fleets.
Sonoma-based real estate investor Tim LeFever is suing his former business partner, developer Ken Mattson. LeFever’s lawsuit is a counter-lawsuit to one Mattson filed against him earlier on Thursday. LeFever says Mattson breached contracts the two longtime business partners had together, committed fraud by hiding business transactions and opportunities and received stolen property. LeFever recently said Mattson, a childhood friend, bilked him and their investors in their joint real estate ventures. In nearly the past decade, LeFever and Mattson together bought at least 116 properties in Sonoma Valley valued at an estimated 250-million-dollars in total. An investor has also filed a federal lawsuit against Mattson and several of the associated LeFever-Mattson companies.
The annual NASCAR weekend at Sonoma Raceway is here. Today is the ARCA Menards Series race at 3:30 p.m., tomorrow is the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at 5:00 p.m. and Sunday is the NASCAR Cup Series race at 12:30 p.m. More than 50-thousand fans are expected to visit Sonoma Raceway in the next three days, which means heavy traffic on highways 37 and 121 and the surrounding streets. Racetrack officials are warning of traffic delays between today and Monday.
The CV Starr Leisure Pool has announced their pool heater has been repaired and they’re finally ready to re-open. The pool will open this Saturday. The public is invited to swim, slide, and splash from 1 to 4pm.
Lake County City Council has announced they’ve approved a project to replace water and sewer mains. City officials say the upgrades will impact a large area. According to Lake County News, the council approved the project at their meeting on Tuesday. City leaders said it’s a very large project and it’s taken about a year to finally get it approved. The scope of the project will include work along Lakeshore and Lakeport Boulevards, and several side streets. Work is expected to begin before the end of this month. The water and sewer main replacement will be covered by the water expansion reserve fund.
PG&E has announced plans to upgrade the Willits Substation this month. Work is scheduled for overnight on Saturday, June 22nd. The substation will have to be powered down while crews work, which means PG&E will have to suspend power to about 6,000 customers from 11:30pm on the 22nd to 5:30am on the 23rd. The customers who will be impacted have been notified.
