Tuesday, 07 May 2024

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The Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce’s latest operation sized more than $42 million of illegal cannabis. Courtesy photo.

Continuing its strong first quarter momentum, the Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce, or UCETF, conducted a highly coordinated operation in Kern, Tulare and Kings counties on May 11 and 12.

The extensive multiagency operation served 51 search warrants on 52 illicit cannabis cultivation sites, resulting in over 50,000 illicit cannabis plants being eradicated and over 1,300 pounds of processed cannabis destroyed.

The estimated cash value of the illegal cannabis is over $42 million. Along with this large seizure, officers located six sites with banned pesticides/chemicals that illegal growers were using on their cannabis crops. Thirteen firearms were also seized along with 125 grams of cocaine.

Personnel from 13 different state and local agencies, including 130 officers, participated in the operation, which had been coordinated for many preceding weeks.

“The support, dedication and hard work of this multiagency taskforce speaks volumes to the success of this operation, which prevented a huge amount of illicit cannabis from entering the supply chain,” said David Bess, Chief of Enforcement for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). “This is disruption at its finest. These communities can sleep better knowing these illicit operations have been shut down.”

Several criminal charges will be filed with the Superior Courts for various crimes related to illegal cultivation of cannabis, felon in possession of a firearm and environmental crimes, which ranged from use of banned pesticides to allowing pollutants to enter ground aquifers.

Participating agencies included: CDFW, Department of Cannabis Control (DCC), California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, California Department of Toxic Substances Control, California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, California State Water Resources Control Board, Kern County Sheriff’s Department, Kern County Probation Department, Tulare Sheriff’s Department and the National Guard Counter Drug Operations.

Between Jan. 1 and March 31, 2023, UCETF seized 31,912 pounds of cannabis and other cannabis products that had an estimated retail value of $52,644,020. In addition, 52,529 cannabis plants were destroyed, $95,646 in cash was confiscated and four firearms were seized. Read more about the Q1 results.

Created in 2022, UCETF has been charged by Governor Newsom to better align state efforts and increase cannabis enforcement coordination among state, local and federal partners. The taskforce is co-chaired by the DCC and CDFW and coordinated by the Homeland Security Division of Cal OES. The taskforce includes more than two dozen local, state and federal partners working together to disrupt the illegal cannabis market.
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A roadwork project will result in travel delays on Highway 70 in Butte County, California. Photo courtesy of Caltrans.

BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. — Caltrans is alerting motorists to expect travel delays over the next two years on Highway 70 through the Cresta area of the Feather River Canyon due to construction.

Crews have set up an automated traffic signal to manage one-way traffic control from the Shady Rest area to one mile south of the end of the construction zone. Motorists can expect up to a five-minute delay.

In June and July, motorists can expect long delays because of rock blasting operations. Rock blasting may occur anytime from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays starting Thursday, June 1.

During these operations, motorists may expect a temporary closure of the highway and up to a three-hour delay around the construction area to allow the contractor to clear debris and ensure the roadway is safe for travel.

The rock blasting operations are part of a project to raise the existing roadway by five feet, shore up the embankment with rock material to protect against future flood damage and build a retaining wall along the hillside.

Caltrans advises motorists to expect travel delays along the Highway 70 corridor between Jarbo Gap in Butte County and the Greenville Wye in Plumas County. Caltrans and PG&E have projects scheduled at various locations in both counties.

Caltrans advises motorists to “Be Work Zone Alert.” The department will issue construction updates on Twitter @CaltransDist3 and on Facebook at CaltransDistrict3.

For real-time traffic, click on Caltrans’ QuickMap quickmap.dot.ca.gov/ or download the QuickMap app from the App Store or Google Play.

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From left to right, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Director Charlton H. Bonham, Winnemem Wintu Chief Caleen Sisk and Cathy Marcinkevage, assistant regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region, on Monday, May 1, 2023. Photo courtesy of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife, NOAA Fisheries and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe signed agreements to restore Chinook salmon to the mountains north of Redding, California, on May 1, 2023.

The agreements support a joint effort to return Chinook salmon to their original spawning areas in cold mountain rivers now blocked by Shasta Reservoir in northern California.

The goal is ecological and cultural restoration which will one day renew fishing opportunities for the tribe that depended on the once-plentiful salmon for food and much more.

The tribe signed a co-management agreement with CDFW and a co-stewardship agreement with NOAA Fisheries, reflecting the way the two agencies describe accords with tribes. This three-way collaboration is a historic achievement that advances our common goals.

The agreements call for the agencies to include the tribe in decisions for salmon that have great meaning for the Winnemem Wintu. Three years of drought have taken a toll on endangered winter-run Chinook salmon, which migrate and spawn in the lower Sacramento River. The river can warm to temperatures that are lethal to their eggs.

During the summer of 2022, the tribe joined state and federal agencies in pursuing urgent measures to improve the odds for winter-run Chinook salmon, including transporting 40,000 fertilized eggs to the cold McCloud River above Shasta Reservoir.

Many hatched, swimming down the river for the first time since Shasta Dam was completed in the early 1940s. The tribe joined agency staff in collecting the juvenile fish before they reached the reservoir, which is populated with predators. Biologists then moved them downstream around the reservoir to continue to the ocean.

The agreements will advance recovery plans for the crucial species.

“This is an historic agreement that moves us one step closer to our goal of returning wild salmon from New Zealand and creating a volitional passage around Shasta Dam,” said Winnemem Wintu Chief Caleen Sisk. “It’s incredible that we can now share this vision with CDFW and NOAA. We have a long way to go, but there are now more good people working on it.”

“This is an historic day and it’s long overdue,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. “We can’t change the wrongs that were done in the past, but we have an obligation in the present to make it better. With this agreement we are bringing life back to the McCloud River.”

“By working together to share our knowledge and expertise, we can expand and accelerate our efforts to restore and recover Chinook salmon,” said Cathy Marcinkevage, Assistant Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region. “This species is in crisis, and I am confident that we can together drive solutions that will truly make a difference.”

The new agreements call for the tribe to contribute traditional ecological knowledge, sharing insight as the tribe once did for Livingston Stone, who established the nation’s first Chinook salmon hatchery on the McCloud in 1872.

The tribe's oral history and Stone’s reports from the time recount the tribe’s deep cultural connection to winter-run Chinook salmon, as well as practical knowledge of the species.

The agencies agreed to make the tribe a “co-equal decision-maker” and CDFW has awarded a $2.3 million grant to support the tribe’s participation in salmon measures. Agencies also agreed to evaluate the potential reintroduction of Chinook salmon that were moved from the McCloud River in California to streams in New Zealand more than 100 years ago and have strong cultural and spiritual significance for the tribe.

In 2022, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) tested an experimental system for collecting juvenile winter-run salmon that hatch in the McCloud River as part of a larger-scale future reintroduction program.

DWR plans continued testing late this year. Recovery plans for the species call for an ongoing program of annual transplants of winter-run Chinook salmon to spawning habitat in the McCloud River, where they will be safer from the rising temperatures of climate change.

NOAA Fisheries recognizes highly-endangered winter-run Chinook salmon as a “Species in the Spotlight,” in need of focused recovery actions.

Returning the species to the McCloud River is a central element of the 2021-2025 Action Plan for the species, which is also listed under California’s state endangered species act.
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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA — Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley on Wednesday announced the filing of murder charges against two Santa Rosa men accused of selling fentanyl to a Napa teenager resulting in her death.

The filing of charges against Alan Jazeel Martinez, age 22, and Luis Fajardo Melgoza, age 20, marks the first time in Napa County law enforcement history that the Napa DA has charged a supplier of fentanyl with murder in connection with a fentanyl-related death.

In addition to the murder charges, Martinez and Melgoza are charged with the sale of a controlled substance to a minor; transportation for sale a controlled substance; possession for sale of a controlled substance; conspiracy to commit a crime; and child abuse likely to cause great bodily injury or death.

Further, the District Attorney’s Office opted to charge the defendants with the following aggravating factors, recognizing the unique circumstances present in this case: violence, cruelty, viciousness, or callousness; vulnerable victim; inducing others to participate in a crime; inducing a minor to participate in a crime; and planning, sophistication, and professionalism.

It is alleged that on May 10, 2022, and again on May 16, 2022, Martinez and Melgoza sold the victim fentanyl-laced pills that killed her.

The case involves 17-year-old Monica Flores, who was found deceased in the bedroom of her Napa home by members of her family on the morning of May 25, 2022.

Martinez and Melgoza are being held at the Napa jail without bail and are due today at the Napa County Superior Court for an arraignment hearing scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

A third defendant in this case, Erika Garcia Chavez, age 23, is being charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and possession for sale of a controlled substance.
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Carlos Villatoro. Courtesy photo.

NAPA COUNTY, Calif. — Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley announced on Thursday the hiring of former Napa Valley Register reporter Carlos Villatoro as the Napa County DA’s Office’s new public relations and media officer.

Villatoro comes to the DA’s Office from the Medical Board of California, where he led the board’s communication efforts as its public information manager.

As the DA’s new public information officer, or PIO, Villatoro will lead media relations and digital and in-person outreach efforts for the agency.

The newly created position is a critical part of the DA’s management team.

“Bringing Carlos onto our team signals our intentional efforts to keep the public informed, engaged and apprised about what we do to keep our community safe,” Haley said. “This includes case updates, public safety tips and crime trends. His technical skills will also help modernize and streamline the presentation of evidence in the courtroom, allowing the Napa DA’s Office to advocate for the public and crime survivors with increased sophistication.”

Villatoro is no stranger to Napa. He graduated from Napa High School in 1994 and worked as a general assignment reporter for the Napa Valley Register for nearly seven years before becoming the editor of the Patch website in Dixon.

During his time with the Register, Villatoro also served as the editor of Napa Valley Hispanos Unidos, the Register’s Spanish-bilingual newspaper.

Prior to his career in government communications, Villatoro served as a social media assignment editor for CBS 13 (KOVR-TV, West Sacramento).

Villatoro graduated from California State University at Sacramento with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and communications and is bilingual and bicultural.

In 2010, Villatoro was named Napa Valley’s Hispanic Citizen of the Year.
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POINT ARENA, Calif. — The Bureau of Land Management invites the public to participate in “Celebrate the Coast,” from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Saturday, May 6, at Point Arena.

The event is free to the public and activities will be happening along the coastal trail between City Hall and the Lighthouse.

Mendocino College Field Station, found along the trail, will be offering an open house.

The BLM Ukiah Field Office is hosting the event in partnership with the Friends of Point Arena-Stornetta Lands, Point Arena Lighthouse, city of Point Arena and Mendocino College.

"Our coastal partners are vital in managing Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands,” said Ukiah Field Manager Nicholas Lavrov. “Their dedicated stewardship is an inspiration to visitors in caring for the Monument for future generations."

Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands was the first shoreline unit of the California Coastal National Monument. In 2014, the California Coastal National Monument Gateway Partners successfully advocated for these public lands to be added to the Monument.

This is a celebration of grassroots efforts to expand the Monument to include these coastal bluffs, tide pools, dunes, coastal prairies, riverbanks, and the mouth and estuary of the Garcia River.

The public can begin at either Point Arena Lighthouse, 45500 Lighthouse Road (just north of Point Arena), or the Point Arena City Hall, 451 School St.

More details about “Celebrate the Coast” can be found online here.

Situated along the rugged Mendocino County coastline adjacent to the town of Point Arena, the Point Arena-Stornetta unit offers spectacular views of coastal bluffs, sea arches, the estuary of the Garcia River and sandy beaches and dunes with eight miles of marked paths.

For more information about the California Coastal National Monument, please visit online at https://www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/california/california-coastal.

Upcoming Calendar

8May
8May
05.08.2024 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Fire preparedness town hall
11May
05.11.2024 8:30 am - 10:30 am
Guided nature walk
12May
05.12.2024
Mother's Day
27May
05.27.2024
Memorial Day
14Jun
06.14.2024
Flag Day
16Jun
06.16.2024
Father's Day
19Jun
06.19.2024
Juneteenth

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