Tuesday, 07 May 2024

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NORTH COAST, Calif. — The California Highway Patrol’s Northern Division, having jurisdiction over the major transportation corridor of United States 101 throughout Northern California, will be executing a Major Corridor Enhanced Primary Collision Factor Enforcement Campaign on Thursday, Dec. 2.

This effort aims to reduce the number of injury and fatal traffic crashes on US-101 throughout Northern Division.

In 2019 and 2020, a total of 1521 crashes occurred on US-101 in Mendocino and Humboldt counties, causing 535 injuries and killing a total of 32 people. 

The primary causes for these crashes were determined to be speed, reckless driving, unsafe lane change, unsafe turning movement, following too close, distracted driving, and driving under the influence, with increased injuries and deaths from occupant restraint violations.

The mission of the California Highway Patrol is to provide the highest level of safety, service, and security.

This includes the prevention of loss of life, injuries, and property damage resulting from traffic crashes through enforcement, education, engineering, and partnerships.

The CHP is promoting awareness and safe driving along this major corridor route. During the enhanced enforcement campaign, the CHP Northern Division will target US-101 in Mendocino and Humboldt counties with increased traffic safety operations to educate and, if necessary, take appropriate enforcement action on drivers who violate traffic laws along this major corridor route.

“The US-101 corridor within Northern Division is winding and mountainous, with many areas of undivided highway, increasing the frequency of traffic crashes,” said Northern Division Chief Greg Baarts. “Increased visibility, aggressive enforcement, and public education within the Areas along this corridor will contribute to improved safety for motorists traveling on US-101.”

The CHP reminds motorists to follow these basic traffic safety rules: always wear a seat belt, drive at a speed safe for conditions, eliminate distractions while driving, and always designate a sober driver.
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Mendocino County Superintendent of Schools Michelle Hutchins. Courtesy photo.

NORTH COAST, Calif. — On Friday, Oct. 8, the Mendocino County Office of Education and Mendocino County Public Health Department hosted a meeting of local K-12 educators where Public Health Officer Dr. Andy Coren complimented educators, saying that schools have effectively “stopped COVID at the door.”

As education and public health leaders reviewed COVID transmission data, they noted that of the 33 COVID cases identified in schools, all were attributable to community spread — not transmission at school.

“This is important because people need to know schools are safe for students and staff,” said Mendocino County Superintendent of Schools Michelle Hutchins.

She explained that since the beginning of the current school year, the goal of the California Department of Education, or CDE, has been to assure that students have access to safe, full in-person instruction.

During the 2020-21 school year, state education and health officials mandated at least six feet of distancing between students, requiring schools to implement a hybrid model where only half of students were allowed on campus at any given time.

When COVID transmission rates did not increase, the minimum distance between students was reduced to four feet. Again, thanks to risk-mitigation strategies such as vaccines, screening, quarantines, masks and hand-washing, transmission rates did not increase.

This school year, there is no minimum physical distancing requirement, and again, transmission rates have not increased. Therefore, on Nov. 1, Gov. Gavin Newsom has agreed to revisit the mask requirement in schools.

Hutchins said, “No one expects the governor to remove the mask mandate immediately, but he is looking at the data and assessing the options. Even after events such as Homecoming at some of our biggest schools, we haven’t seen an uptick in cases. We appear to be transitioning from a world in the midst of a pandemic to a world where COVID-19 is endemic. As more and more people are vaccinated, the hope is that we will be able to return to life without masks, as long as we keep washing our hands and staying home when we’re sick.”

Hutchins hopes people will recognize how safe schools are and consider applying for the many positions currently available. As of Oct. 11, there were almost 200 education-related vacancies in Mendocino County.

“If you’re looking for work, whether you have a high school diploma, a college degree, or a teaching credential, there are jobs available. Go to www.edjoin.org for details,” she said.
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A new advance warning sign south of Chico, California. Photo courtesy of Caltrans.

BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. — Caltrans has installed a permanent advance warning system at the intersection of northbound State Highway 99 and Neal Road south of Chico.

Motorists will see an electronic board displaying the message “Caution Slow Traffic Ahead” when vehicle speed slows to 25 miles per hour or less at the traffic signal-controlled intersection.

The message will stay on until vehicles resume traveling above 25 miles per hour.

“Caltrans has worked with the California Highway Patrol and local partners to implement a series of safety measures on northbound Highway 99,” said Amarjeet S. Benipal, Caltrans District 3 director. “The new intersection advance warning system upholds our commitment to help motorists arrive safely to their destinations.”

Other safety countermeasures include the installation of two traffic signal warning signs with flashing beacons and rumble stripes placed across the two northbound traffic lanes.

These transverse rumble stripes are made of thermoplastic material which, when driven over, create noticeable sound and vibrations to warn drivers of an approaching intersection where they may be required to slow down or stop.

Caltrans District 3 maintains more than 4,385 lane miles of state highway in 11 Sacramento Valley and Northern Sierra counties.
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Fall leaf color at the Chico Seed Orchard in Chico, California.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA — Beginning Monday, Nov. 8, the pedestrian gate at the Chico Seed Orchard will be open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except on federal holidays.

These hours coordinate with sunrise and sundown after daylight savings ends on Sunday, Nov. 7.

The hours for the drive-through gate remain the same throughout the year, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visitors are not allowed on the property after dark.

The Chico Seed Orchard is located on 209 acres at 2741 Cramer Lane in Chico.

There is a one-mile, self-guided and accessible nature trail that meanders through a unique botanical area in Edgar Slough.

Officials would like to remind pet owners that dogs must be on a leash at all times.

The orchard is part of the Mendocino National Forest. Please see Forest Order 08-20-01 and the associated map for public use, parking and closed areas at the Chico Seed Orchard.
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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA — The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation has partnered with the Sierra Club, Yolo County Farm Bureau, and local residents in a lawsuit to challenge a Yolo County cannabis ordinance.

Proponents said the lawsuit does not seek to stop cannabis cultivation and related businesses in Yolo County, or to prevent county residents from profiting from the cannabis industry.

Instead, they said it would simply require the county to comply with California environmental law by evaluating the full and real impacts of cannabis cultivation, and mitigate those impacts, before adopting an ordinance regulating it.

Adhering to this process is what the California Environmental Quality Act requires, and these same requirements apply to every other regulated land use.

“The cannabis industry has a place in Yolo County, just as cannabis has a place in the medicine cabinets of many people in California,” the Tribal Council of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation said in a statement on the lawsuit. “But sensible cannabis permitting can’t happen until the county is clear-eyed about the problems overconcentration creates, especially in sensitive areas around schools, near cultural heritage sites, and in smaller communities like those in the Capay Valley.”

The “green rush” to the Capay Valley — which is composed of rural communities west of Interstate 505 from Madison through Rumsey — created widespread blight and land uses incompatible with the organic farming practices and ecotourism for which the area is known.

Additionally, the Capay Valley’s location in the northernmost part of the county makes cannabis farms there difficult to reach and more expensive to regulate for inspectors and sheriff deputies, including deputies subsidized by the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation.

With more than half of the grows concentrated in the Capay Valley, local residents have become unduly burdened, the lawsuit’s proponents said.

The suit stems from what the proponents said are flaws in the environmental review process that produced a cannabis land use ordinance the Yolo County Board of Supervisors adopted.

One key flaw cited by the groups who are suing is the county's refusal to compare the impacts of cannabis cultivation to Yolo County's rural environment and agricultural landscape before the grows existed.

By proceeding in this fashion, the county's environmental document necessarily missed significant cannabis industry impacts, the proponents said.

While the county agreed it made sense to protect the upper Capay Valley from an over concentration of grows, its ordinance allows cannabis grows to now concentrate in the lower Capay Valley, burdening small rural communities, schools and businesses, particularly in Madison and Esparto, the lawsuit proponents said.

These communities are among the poorest and most diverse in the county, with Esparto and Madison having the highest percentage of Latino residents (55.3% and 76%, respectively), and with Madison ranking as the most impoverished.

The groups bringing the suit said Yolo County’s rulemaking is unclear even on the issue of the Capay Valley’s boundaries, which is defined one way in some legal documents, and another way in the proposed ordinance.

The plaintiffs said cannabis cultivation poses adverse impacts for residential rural communities, also arguing that its production is fundamentally incompatible with traditional agriculture in Yolo County, and the county needs to account for that reality through appropriate mitigation.

The full extent of the increased costs and harms created by the industry cannot be known because the county refused to consider impacts of cannabis cultivation authorized as of 2017, without any environmental review. The lawsuit filed Thursday seeks to correct that error.
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Stolen mail recovered during the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office investigation. Courtesy photo.

NORTH COAST, Calif. — Authorities are investigating what they said is a massive fraud and mail theft case that they believe has more than 100 victims throughout inland Mendocino County.

Mendocino County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jay Vanoven said Sharon Kathleen Smith, 43, of Potter Valley and Charles Maxfield, 46, of Willits have been identified as the suspects in the case.

Shortly after 1 a.m. Sept. 25, Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle in the area of West Road and Spring Valley Road in Potter Valley, Vanoven said.

He said a resident noticed a vehicle parked near mail boxes in the area and believed the occupants may have been stealing mail. As the resident approached the vehicle, it sped away and was last seen in the area of Spring Valley Road.

The first responding deputy encountered the vehicle, a 2004 Ford Focus, on Spring Valley Road. Vanoven said the deputy noticed the vehicle came to an abrupt stop before he made contact with it.

As the deputy approached the vehicle on foot, he noticed the driver seat was vacant. When the deputy contacted the passenger, Sharon Smith, he heard what sounded like a person running away through the nearby brush, Vanoven said.

Vanoven said evidence later found within the vehicle identified the driver as Charles Maxfield, who was known to be on Post Release Community Supervision, or PRCS, for convictions related to mail theft. Maxfield was also known to have an outstanding arrest warrant for violating the terms of his PRCS.

Additional deputies arrived and searched the area for Maxfield but were unsuccessful, Vanoven said.

A search of the vehicle revealed a massive amount of mail and numerous identification documents, none of which were addressed or issued to Maxfield or Smith. Vanoven said deputies also located in the vehicle numerous blank checks, a laptop computer and a portable color printer.

Sharon Kathleen Smith, 43, of Potter Valley, California, was arrested on Saturday, September 25, 2021, on charges related to a fraud and mail theft case. Mendocino County Jail photo.

A photocopy of a California Identification Card depicting Maxfield was located with the printer. The ID card contained the full identification of a person other than Maxfield, Vanoven said.

Based on this initial investigation, deputies determined Maxfield and Smith were in fact actively stealing mail, and using the identifying information gathered from the mail, to commit fraudulent and felonious acts.

Smith was arrested and booked into the Mendocino County Jail on charges of felony defrauding or acquiring personal identifying information and conspiracy to commit a crime, and a misdemeanor probation violation.

A search warrant for Smith's residence, located in Potter Valley, was secured and served. Vanoven said no additional evidence was located.

Based on the nature of the crimes, a request to increase bail and to restrict the source of bail was granted by a Mendocino County Superior Court judge. Vanoven said Smith's bail was set at "no bail" and should bail be set, she will be required to prove that the funds used to post bail were not feloniously obtained before bail will be granted.

Maxfield remains outstanding at this time, Vanoven said.

Vanoven said further investigation of the evidence revealed no less than 100 separated victims' identifying information had been acquired by Smith and Maxfield.

This information likely had been used, or was being possessed with the intent to use, in the commission of multiple felonious offenses, Vanoven said.

Deputies, with the assistance of the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office Investigations Division, are continuing to follow up with victims related to this case, according to Vanoven’s report.

Vanoven said mail was found addressed to persons in Ukiah, Calpella, Potter Valley, Redwood Valley, Reeves Canyon and Willits.

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