Another Mendocino County Drought Task Force Meeting is set. This Thursday, July 8th at 4:00 pm with Mendocino County Supervisors John Haschak and Glenn McGourty along with Executive Office Staff and Transportation Staff on Zoom. They’re also streaming the meeting on the county’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.
(https://www.youtube.com/mendocinocountyvideo) and the County’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/mendocinocounty/).
Please send comments or questions to: drought@mendocinocounty.org or call the Drought Hotline at (707) 234-6363.
Another plan to try to arrest a man wanted for a couple of burglaries in Elk goes awry. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office reports a search set for last week ended without WILLIAM ALLAN EVERS, the so-called Red Bearded burglar. He’s described as a 40 year-old white man, about, 6 foot 1, 180 pounds with brown eyes, brown hair and reddish facial hair, a skull or skulls tattoo on his right upper arm, “Demon face” tattoo on his upper left arm and unknown prominent tattoo on his chest. He’s wanted on no bail for making Criminal Threats and should be considered ARMED AND DANGEROUS. The Sheriff’s office says they’ll continue smaller searches and to try working with other regional law enforcement to find the guy.
Here we go again, another illegal marijuana grow is found in Ukiah, and another in Covelo. The Sheriff’s dept. says their Marijuana Enforcement Team and Department of Fish & Wildlife Wardens with a search warrant went to the illegal cultivation sites, one on tribal land. They had been at the Ukiah site and detained three people and eradicated over 2,400 plants and found 80 pounds of freshly harvested marijuana “bud” that was destroyed too. In Covelo, the team with National Guard members found three men and marijuana cultivation sites, they detained the men, but another ran away. On that property they eradicated and destroyed over 4,200 plants and found 3 guns.
Early last week a trio of local sex offenders get arrested again. Mendocino Detectives along with Parole Agents were out doing compliance checks of registered sex offenders to confirm their place of residence and make sure they were following their court ordered Probation or Parole conditions. Many were found in compliance and released, but three were not. They are Brian Hurtado who officers say was in Willits and found in violation and arrested and booked on $75,000.00 bail. Then there was Walter Jesse Creed Jr. also in Willits and found in possession of items in violation of his terms and conditions, so he was arrested and also held on $75,000.00 bail. And finally there was David Legrand Cook in Redwood Valley, California. He was also found in possession of items in violation of his Parole terms and conditions and held though on $100,000.00 bail.
A man in Laytonville has been arrested for Domestic Violence Battery. Deputies say a woman called about Glenn Clutts saying they were in an argument and it got physical. She says he grabbed her while she sat on a couch by her ankles then dragged her off the couch and spit on her and threw a sheathed knife at her which missed her. They observed visible injuries on one of her arms and arrested Clutts for felony domestic violence battery and booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held in lieu of $25,000.00 bail.
A man on the run, another in the hospital after he was shot in the chest. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office reports getting a call to Round Valley over the holiday weekend after there was a shooting following an argument with two men driving on Highway 162. The Sheriff’s dept. says the victim was taken to the Covelo Cal Fire station with a gunshot wound to the chest and said it happened on the side of the highway. They have not released info on the suspect as they are still on the run. But the scanner reported he might have been driving a blue truck. The two were not residents of Covelo or Mendocino County where the event was reported.
A man in Covelo’s been arrested after being spotted walking away from a parked car in a vacant lot. Deputies say there was Steve Zimmerman who they knew had an outstanding felony warrant for a violation of probation. The officers also say they saw ammunition in the vehicle Zimmerman was seen walking away from, so they searched the vehicle finding a .45 ACP caliber pistol and a loaded ammo magazine under the driver’s seat, but since he’s a convicted felon, he’s prohibited from possessing any firearms or ammunition. They say it was obvious it was his car, so they arrested him and held him in jail on no bail. The firearm was later found to be stolen, so more charges were tacked on, possession of stolen property.
Lake County Board of Supervisors looking into paying some incentives to get people to come to work in the county. Lake Co News reports during the same meeting there were a bunch of members of In-Home Supportive Services rallying outside on the courthouse steps. They also came and spoke to the board during public comment about wanting better working conditions and wages. They are part of the California United Homecare Workers Union Local 4034 who also had closed negotiations with the board. The board also got COVID19 updates, then moved on to approve drafts of their hiring incentive policy, to pay cash to new employees due to being challenged finding new people. The county vacancy rate is 21%. The jobs that are hard to fill would get signing bonuses of up to $10,000.
A person in a wheelchair is recovering after being hit by a car by the Willits Arch. Mendo Fever reports hearing about the incident on the scanner yesterday that the crash happened in front of Safeway. The southbound number one lane of Main Street had to be closed so emergency workers could get thru. That included Willits police and California Fish and Game officers. The driver was identified only as a female with an expired driver’s license.
A call for help from Frog Woman Rock off the 101 brings out fire crews. Mendo Fever reports first responders were on the scene in Hopland after a call for help. That brought out Hopland Fire, Cloverdale Fire, and a CalStar helicopter. The victim was apparently “several hundred feet up the face” screaming for help, but rescuers were able to get them out of the area.
A grant program’s been started by PG&E for vulnerable communities so those in public safety power shut offs are taken care of. They’re calling it the Resilience Hubs Grant Program and the utility company has allocated $400,000 for organizations whose grant proposals meet the program’s criteria. They will give out chunks of money between $25,000 to $100,000 to pay for an evaluation to see if a community needs extreme weather-related shelter. Company officials say the grant program is needed as temperatures get hotter which increases the company’s potential for shutting off power.
There will be competition for the Sonoma County Sheriff as one of his former colleagues files to run for office. Retired Capt. Dave Edmonds says he wants the top job and his 3 decades of experience have prepared him to take over. He ran before but the current Sheriff, Mark Essick won the deputy sheriffs endorsement. So he dropped out. Edmonds retired from the Sheriff’s Office six years ago. He says it has nothing to do with ambition and more to do with the way the Sheriff’s Office is being run. He says there’s a quality staff, but they don’t have top level leadership, which is imperative.
