The power came on, then it was back out for over 1,100 people in Ukiah. The city’s utility reported 1,135 customers went dark in the northwest corner of Ukiah yesterday morning after a line failed on North State Street. Apparently it was the line feeding the hydro-electric plant near Lake Mendocino. A couple of employees were on the scene and repaired the line in under an hour. The utility reported crews were investigating the outage to discover the exact location and why the line failed to begin with.
A red flag warning had firefighters at the ready as PGE conducted a historical Public Safety Power Shutoff. The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District was in position, something they credit for jumping into action early last Thursday in Moraga. A fire was threatening 100 homes and evacuations took place for 150 more as winds were whipping the area and the power was down. The fire reportedly got within 40 feet of some homes but was surrounded after charring 50 acres. No homes were damaged.
A decision by the Planning Commission turned over by the Ukiah City Council to deny a waiver for a cannabis microbusiness. The City Council considered the waiver by Jay Donnellan of Wine Country Cannasseurs regarding the city’s zoning rules. He wants to set up near a church and mobile home park. The commission thought it was the wrong location due to fencing by the park. But the City Council didn’t agree. Only 2 council members voted against the proposal, the mayor and vice mayor supported it along with another council member. It doesn’t mean the business gets approval, but it can move along the process.
Power to 100% of Mendocino County PG&E customers back on. The utility claimed to have everyone restored Saturday after several days without power in red flag warning weather. But at the same time there were still customers in Lake County in the dark Saturday morning. By that afternoon, just a handful in the Cobb area. The company reported they had 738,000 customers without power “from the Northern Sierra to the Greater Bay Area to Kern County.” They said there were as many as 50 reports of weather-related damage to their system in the PSPS-impacted areas, that included downed power lines or damaged infrastructure.
Clearlake is moving closer to allowing cannabis gardens outdoors in unincorporated areas that are within 1,000 feet of city limits. The city council barely passing the plan to have staff start allowing proposed pot grows within a 1,000 foot exclusionary zone on the perimeter of the city boundary on a case by case basis. There could be no growing within 1,000 feet of a city’s sphere of influence. 3 members wanted the idea to move forward, but two, including the mayor were opposed.
Numbers up in Calif. for sexually transmitted diseases. The California Department of Public Health releasing numbers for last year, showing syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia cases were up across the state, and at the highest levels in 30 years. Lake Co News reports in Lake County, the cases were also up with Chlamydia cases jumping 89% over the last few years, Gonorrhea up 151% and Syphilis up for men 100 percent since 2016, ranked 5th in Calif., and for women 15 to 44: no data was available or was suppressed.
Red Flag warnings continuing in Humboldt County for a week. Kym Kemp reporting the area had warnings for critical fire danger because of gusty north winds and low relative humidity. Now CAL FIRE’s Humboldt- Del Norte Unit is thanking community members for helping to prevent fires. With that there was only one fire reported in the county, but they say there were several reports of illegal debris burning during the Red Flag warnings. It is still not burning season, but Cal Fire says it will be allowing burns soon. Those burning dry vegetation are responsible to meet the rules on their burn permit, including proper clearance around piles and enough water to put the fire out. A reminder not to burn on windy days and to call first to verify burn day status.
The waterfowl hunting season opens in Calif this weekend. Hunters are being told though they better stock up on duck and goose ammo as new ammunition buying laws have gone into effect. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says they don’t want any waterfowl hunters to miss out on because of difficulty finding or buying ammunition the night before their hunt so you shouldn’t wait. The new ammunition purchasing regulations started July 1st. There are now background checks and you have to present your record in the California Department of Justice’s Automated Firearms System. Also if you don’t have a shotgun or rifle, it may be more difficult to buy ammunition. More information is available at the California Department of Justice website.
The first report of a death due to the power shutoff to prevent wildfires. A man died the day after because he needed oxygen to live. The man in El Dorado County died about 12 minutes after the shutdown, but the Fire Chief says they can’t say if it was caused by the shutoff, only that his oxygen equipment required power. The Governor says it’s devastating beyond words. He says he hope’s it’s investigated and whoever’s responsible is held accountable.
The Gov. has signed legislation so school starts for most middle and high schoolers later. Governor Newsom going against the state’s largest teacher’s union and other groups that represent school boards and superintendents, siding instead with pediatricians and the PTA. It’s said Calif. is now the first state to mandate later start times after medical research showed teenagers are sleep deprived because of changes to their biological clocks preventing them from hitting the hay earlier.
Looks it might have been electric utility equipment that started another Calif. wildfire. Arson investigators trying to figure out how the Saddleridge fire started in Sylmar say it started under an electrical tower. One resident of the area says he noticed flames at the foot of a transmission tower near his house last Thursday. The LA Fire Dept. reports they don’t have an official point of origin. Sounds like what happened with the Camp Fire, folks in the neighborhood said it started by PG&E equipment. The utility company may be on the hook for billions for that fire and more than a dozen more in October of 2017. Between those two fires, more than 120 people died in the fires and PG&E claimed bankruptcy this year ahead of any claims against them.
There will be no more smoking at state parks and beaches after the governor signs a new law into place. The bill also banned tossing cigar and cigarette waste at parks and beaches and those who violate the new law could be fined up to $25. It’s for cigarettes and vapes. It will still be legal though in parking lots at beaches and parks. One caveat though, those producing film and TV shows can allow folks to smoke on state property with proper permits. There are nearly 300 state parks in Calif and hundreds of miles of coastline.
