KUKI News

Willits High School was locked down yesterday. Officers were dispatched to the school for a second hand report of a student who was possibly in possession of a firearm. As Officers responded additional information was provided that the student was not on school grounds, but as a precaution, Willits High was placed on lockdown. The student was located and detained by Willits Police Officers who learned the juvenile had been in possession of an airsoft pistol. The juvenile did not threaten anyone, did not make any threats to the school and never entered on to school grounds.

A deputy district attorney is suing Lake County for harassment and discrimination. Senior Deputy District Attorney Daniel G. Flesch filed the suit against the district attorney’s office, supervisor Rob Brown, and other county personnel. Flesch says he’s endured antisemetic remarks from co-workers and has been the subject of “unwarranted investigations” based on false claims of unprofessionalism.

The Wildfire Assistance Program funded by Pacific Gas and Electric has distributed more than $25 million to people displaced by recent wildfires, including the 2017 Northern California wildfires. The $100 million dollar fund aims to help those who are uninsured, need assistance with alternate living expenses or other urgent needs. The deadline to apply is today. The Program claim form, is available at www.norcalwildfireassistanceprogram.com/.

PG&E is reminding customers that they are not and will not be billed for usage when their power was off for public safety because no energy was being consumed. For customers impacted by the Oct. 9 PSPS, the bill credit ($100 for residential customers, $250 for business customers) has started showing up in November bills. The credit will be listed as “Customer Satisfaction Adjustment” on bills. Get more information at pge.com and click “Your Account.”

Lake County’s registrar of voters has submitted her resignation. Catherine McMullen is leaving her position next week. The official canvass period for Northshore Fire Protection District’s Measure N fire tax runs until Dec. 5th. According to the last report released by McMullen, there were less than 50 ballots yet to count or check. Current interim deputy registrar, Marcy Harrison, is also leaving, after taking a job in the County Auditor-Controller’s Office. With local, state and federal elections coming next year, the Board of Supervisors will need to fill these key roles in the Elections office.

Lake County District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon was among those who testified before the California Public Utilities Commission yesterday about PG&E’s widespread outages last month. Regulators unanimously agreed to open a formal investigation into the Public Safety Power Outages that affected nearly 2.5 million residents. PG&E is being ordered to show state regulators why it should not be sanctioned for its missteps during the outages. They could be fined 100-thousand dollars a day for each violation found by the CPUC,

Details have been released about a fatal accident near Gualala. According to CHP, the accident happened Saturday night. The driver, 52-year-old Diane Maxwell and her passenger, 50-year-old Alan Ricioli, were traveling on Old Stage Rd, when Maxwell served left, crossed the double yellow line, and went off the highway, crashing into a tree. The accident was discovered Monday morning by a passing motorist.

Speaking before the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors this week, California Assemblymember Jim Wood called PG&E’s plan to continue to use preemptive power outages to prevent wildfires unacceptable. Wood said there is an urgency from the Governor’s Office and the state Legislature to come up with another solution.

During a special meeting last night, the Lakeport City Council approved a contract to rebuild the Library Park seawall. The seawall was damaged in the February 2017 storms, and has been fenced off ever since. The Public Works Department worked diligently to get funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and got it. As a result, FEMA will pay for most of the cost of the wall. The portion that the city is required to cover will come from its insurance. City officials say they expect that the new seawall project will be completed by the summer season.

Ukiah Police continue to investigate a drive-by shooting that happened in Ukiah Monday night. It happened at the intersection of Observatory Avenue and Helen Avenue. Surveillance video shows two vehicles traveling on Observatory Avenue: a light colored four-door sedan, and a light colored Toyota RAV4. At the intersection, the sedan makes a U-turn, and is facing the RAV4. Then several gunshots are fired from the sedan at the RAV4. Both vehicles then speed off. UPD says no bystanders were struck, and no gunshot victims have shown up at the hospital. Investigators are still actively looking for suspects and victims, or anyone with information or who may have additional surveillance footage of the incident.