THIS JUST IN (a little after 5pm):
(Second hand info, so take with grain of salt...)
Crews are working in Philo to in anticipation for power restoration in Anderson Valley on Wednesday. Other parts of Mendocino County may come shortly thereafter. (But ultimately still dependent on PG&E).
=======================
FROM SUPERVISOR TED WILIAMS
LATE Tuesday afternoon:
Our south coast (county line north to Point Arena) might be restored first with Anderson Valley to Elk next. I won’t be surprised if some west county customers come
on tonight or by morning. PG&E will be attempting to bring on segments, but the grid wasn’t designed for flipping off and on. Monitoring for stability inherently has unknown delays, making an exact schedule difficult to predict. I expect other areas to trail a day or so behind. (For slightly earlier comments by Supervisor Williams please see also his comment at the end of this post.)
=============================
(Assembled by Mark Scaramella)
DECLARING THE POWER SHUTOFF A “BIG FAILURE,” Supervisor Ted Williams said Tuesday morning on KZYX that the County planned to do a “post mortem” with a list of problems caused by or related to PG&E. Williams asked the public to keep notes on problems they’ve experienced and send them in when things settle down. He offered his county number, 972-3993, and home phone, 937-3500, for people who may want to call in with reports or problems — medical, phone, internet, water, generators, gas, recharging stations, showers, water storage, oxygen. Williams email address is: williamst@mendocinocounty.org. We’re pretty sure all the Super would be happy to accept such reports.
WILLIAMS bluntly added, “NO FIRES!” The high fire risk continues and people should be very watchful. Williams said anyone with a generator should never leave it unattended while on, and if anyone sees smoke or fire, don’t hesitate to call it in to 911.
CEO CARMEL ANGELO complained about PG&E Tuesday morning as well, saying that the County has been unable to get accurate info out of them. Especially, regarding “re-energization.”
EMERGENCY SERVICES COORDINATOR, Sheriff’s Lieutenant Shannon Barney was so frustrated with PG&E silence, inaccuracies and changing info and predictions that on Tuesday he was heard to exclaim, “We’re getting better info off of Facebook than we are from PG&E.”
NEVERTHELESS, PG&E “says” they expect the current (and last for now?) wind event to be over Wednesday morning. But nobody knows how soon power will be turned back on. Apparently, two of the three major trunk lines into Mendo need work in the aftermath of the winds, so power restoration may be as late as Friday, or Saturday, although there’s still “hope” that it will back on by Thursday.
MANY LAND LINE PHONES have been off as well because ATT’s backup batteries ran down as the power outage stretched out. Apparently, ATT is bringing in generators to re-power the phone lines and some improvements were noticed by Tuesday.
SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED around the County. No one has any organized childcare.
EVACUATION WARNINGS are still in place for the “Compost” or “Burris” fire in Potter Valley. As of Tuesday noon it was 65% contained at under 1,000 acres. The fire reported in Willits on Monday was a “small vegetation fire” which burned one structure and was taken care of there by quick responding local resources. Unfortunately, there was an immediate “evacuation order” given out and some Willits residents started leaving their workplaces in Ukiah to get home to evacuate only to discover that within about half-an hour the “order” was downgraded to a “warning” — but people had already left. Damn.
ROSSI HARDWARE in Boonville is open for supplies like flashlights and batteries. It looks like the Redwood Drive-in/Gas Station got another load of fuel Tuesday morning and a line was again forming for fuel by Tuesday afternoon.
THE SOUTH COAST OF Mendo has reported receiving a contingent of Sonoma County evacuees from the Sonoma Coast. They seem to be accommodating them
A COUPLE OF PEOPLE at the AV Community Services District were not shy about pointing out that this power outage is yet another reason to develop the water and sewer systems for Boonville. Plans include a heavy duty back-up generator to keep water and sewer running when PG&E goes out again — as they most assuredly will.
NOT TO BE DETERRED, the Groovies at KZYX/the AV Grange are proceeding with their big Halloween “Dark Carnival” at the Philo Grange. “On Halloween Night, Thursday, October 31, at the Anderson Valley Grange we proudly present the return of the Dark Carnival Halloween costume party. We’ll scare ourselves dancing to popular electro swing and jazz band, High Step Society. The event’s producers tell us the theme will be ‘Monster Mash, Creature Feature, Live Popcorn Theater.’ There will be on-stage theatrics and a no-host bar. Past Dark Carnivals have been a blast, and this event is well worth the journey to Anderson Valley. The Dark Carnival, a benefit for KZYX, will run from 6:00 to 11:00 pm. All ages invited.”
AT THE TIME THAT WAS WRITTEN, they hadn’t anticipated the power outage or the possibility that “the journey” would require several gallons of hard-to-get gas.
MAYBE SOMEBODY WILL DRESS UP AS PG&E and scare the bejesus out of the local revelers.
PS. Around 3pm Tuesday afternoon a smoke column.was reported off of Peachland road northwest of Boonville. Responding local units were underway in hope that it wasn’t anything more than smoke check (which there have been several of already just in Anderson Valley.)
Update: Local responders couldn't find any smoke in the Peachland area and returned to the firehouse around 3:35pm.
===================
Betsy Cawn Writes:
Beloved Editoria et aliud,
- Continued “Public Safety Power Shutdown” with no reprieve, and worsening Kincade
disaster (see attached CalFire update as of 7 a.m.). - During the October 9/10/11 PSPS, all kinds of communication systems failed,
including ours — two grueling days without internet and access to info (KPFZ down
except for brief interludes, mostly dolts on the babblebox because even with the
internet and info availability they all smoke too much dope to remember what is
“information” and what is not. [Oh, no, please don’t print that — since I have to
live with these idiots who are mostly the big chieftans of the station’s board of
directors.]But AT&T must have “adjusted” their system to make phone and ‘net functional. Athome, with a wizard solar-powered backup generator, am able to get on line as long
as the battery in my CPU holds up (at 42% now after running since 5 am), and use
the phone (but few are up as early as I am, so will wait until later today to make
a handful of necessary calls). - PG&E has set up 4 (four!) “customer service centers, one of them a couple of
blocks away in Upper Lake, to which I repaired for a 3-hour re-charge session
yesterday morning, and then headed to KPFZ for a brief stint to report actual
information (interspersed with the typical callers in various states of agitation,
anxiety, superior knowledge, “advice,” and conjecture — all useless — about
when/if/how our peace will be restored.For the first time in four years, we are not in the midst of our own wildfiredisaster — yet, because there is still the imminent threat of the Kincade bursting
over the Myacamas and tearing through Cobb, or coming up from Calistoga:
Middletown has been told to evac (see attached CalFire bulletin). - Schools, restaurants, all manner of public services (library!) closed, but a
number of suppliers have remained open with their own generators, including a very
helpful “Sentry” market in Nice (our main Northshore communities’ grocery outlet).
Most folks interacting well, families with rare “downtime” and beautiful daytime
weather to enjoy. - Local Disaster Council meeting heard a report from the National Weather Service
that informed the few of us present that some time in the next year (perhaps in six
months, springtime) responsibility for transmitting NWS bulletins in Lake County
will derive from the Humboldt station, rather than Sacramento. HOWEVER, as it turns
out there is no NWS transmitter in Lake County, so the Homeland Security
Grant-funded purchase and distribution of NWS radios to Valley Fire survivors in
2016 was virtually wasted (Sheriff’s Office had to admit; we’ll see whether anyone
from DHS looks to see whether that public money was frivolously misspent — yeah,
right).NOAA/NWS no longer provides those transmitters for free, would cost us a mere $25Kto get one (25% match to total $100K grant), and County as usual poor-mouthing.
But WTF? This is how DUMB our County Office of Emergency Services either is or
pretends to be, on our dime and with our lives at stake.After reviewing the Mendo Supes discussion of your failing/frail communicationsystems on October 22, but seeing ZERO discussion by our officials — despite
certain knowledge of similar conditions here (or maybe not?) — I reminded the
Disaster Council that our 2018-approved Local Hazard Mitigation Plan calls for
quarterly review and updating under specified circumstances, clearly called for
following the River/Ranch Fires and the California Office of Emergency Management
(CalOES) issuance of the new (2019) California Disaster Recovery Framework, the
implementation of which is unknown. Blank looks and mini-shrugs from Council
members (OES Director, who is the Sheriff; OES Manager, on his third career as a
certifiable seat-warmer; Undersheriff who just hit his first 30 and can now
comfortably retire and take a new easy ride in some other agency underperforming as
usual, elected officials and department heads). Huh.Inquiries sent to CalOES regarding the poorly constructed but chock-full-o-nutsCDRF partially responded to [forwarding the three-part “exchange” in separate email
dated October 6]. Locally, all responsible parties are now blessed with yet
another excuse not to address public service capacity deficits.
Sun’s up, battery’s low, and heading for juice joint and a dose of HEAT (have
everything comfy but that, which these old bones groan over, but fingers still
working, so happy to have the ability to send you love from Upper Lake, and wish you
well, everyone).
Betsy
P.S. — So happily grateful to find the smidgeon of AVA updates this morning.
Hesse’s loving thoughts most delightfully poignant on this day.
====================
FROM KATHY WYLIE:
This was written by a retired and former Chief Communications Officer for
PG&E. It is his version of ‘the rest of the story’ simply and completely.
From Tim Fitzpatrick:
Even as the flames are advancing, I see that California's politicians are
continuing to slam PG&E for "greed and mismanagement," saying the company
prioritized "profits over safety" instead of investing in a grid they say
is in a shambles.
Nice slogans but here are a few inconvenient facts:
- Historically, PG&E has spent something on the order of $6 billion every
year upgrading its electric and gas systems. We can argue about which
investments are best to make at what point in time but the idea that the
company doesn't invest in continually upgrading its system is just
ludicrous. - I don't recall these same politicians calling out PG&E for not spending
enough money prior to now. In fact, the California Public Utilities
Commission routinely rejects about half of what PG&E seeks in its rate
cases and TURN (The Utility Reform Network) fights every penny in every
rate case tooth and nail. I'm not blaming them. Nobody wants higher bills
but let's not make up history. - In fact, PG&E's rates are the highest in the country largely because of
state-mandated clean energy projects that seek to address climate change.
I'm not faulting the state for projects that seek to reduce greenhouse
gases -- that goes to the root of the problem that the state is facing
right now -- but, again, let's be honest about where we wanted PG&E to
spend big chunks of cash historically. - Earlier this year, over a four-month period, PG&E conducted an in-depth
inspection of its entire electrical system. Not surprisingly given the
size of the grid, it found stuff that needed to be fixed and it fixed those
things. However, the new CEO characterized the grid as being in pretty
good shape going into wildfire season as a result of the intensive
inspection and repair process. Since he's new, he would have absolutely no
reason to say that if he didn't believe it to be true. - Some critics are saying PG&E should have undergrounded all of its grid
in areas subject to wildfires. That sounds nice but it would cost billions
of dollars and everybody would end up with the proverbial $10,000 a month
electric bill. Now, there are certainly strategic areas where
undergrounding could help along with a myriad of other actions that need to
take place but let's be clear -- the magic wand everybody wants doesn't
exist. - The politicians also are continuing to criticize PG&E for implementing
Public Safety Power Shutoffs in an attempt to head off more wildfires.
They wish the company had the ability to be more targeted in where it shut
off power. I'm sure the company wishes that too and someday it certainly
will. But here's another inconvenient fact. A 102-mph wind gust was
recorded in Sonoma County. The National Weather Service forecaster noted
the wind speed and shared that sustained winds had also "officially broke
Hurricane Force (78 mph)." So, yeah, the company is going to do what it has
to do.
The reality is that federal, state and local governments all will have to
take more action -- just like PG&E -- to address new levels of wildfire
risk in California. There are no quick fixes.
Earlier this year, a state "Strike Force" assembled a host of
recommendations for addressing wildfires. Those included actions that must
be taken by the state's electric companies. It also covered a wide range of
other recommendations, including, for example:
• Improve fire detection technologies.
• Upgrade "antiquated" 9-1-1 sytems.
• Update the state's climate change modeling.
• Convene an emergency preparedness summit.
• Develop best practices for evacuations.
• Better assess communities at risk for wildfires.
• Incorporate fire risk issues into local planning.
• Advance cost-effective home retrofits.
• Increase defensible space and protect forests and rangeland.
The list goes on but you get the idea. Everybody has a piece of this, including those who criticize the loudest and longest.
I retired from my job as PG&E's chief communications officer on Nov. 2, I don't speak for the company and I don't ask the company for
permission to post my personal opinions. But I have not forgotten the good
people I worked with and I'm not going to stand by silently in the face of
hypocrisy by politicians.
It's time for everyone to work together for the
good of California.
Tuesday afternoon: PG&E had 400k customers off as of this morning. The count has crept up to 430k by mid day. They’re considering more areas for de-energization. Conditions of critical fire risk and outage producing winds are near thresholds now. Winds will subside around 6-8am tomorrow, allowing the entire day for inspections. Crews will only work during daylight hours. Alison Pernell reported (one residence in) Leggett being restored, but we believe this is because the circuit is supplied by Humboldt County. My guestimate remains Thursday with potential for an additional power shut off to be announced. This is a wake up call for us to better prepare, local government and our population.
I spoke to CalOES about our landline problems. They now understand the concern, our escalation attempts, AT&T’s response to date and they’ll apply additional pressure and/or assistance through mutual aid. I’m in contact with our Sonoma supervisor to the south about working together on south coast landline outages.
Other counties are complaining about cell coverage failures in light of coverage being an essential element in emergency response. The major carriers responded to the PSPS request for comment months ago stating they would be fine during outages. Coverage hasn’t been fine.
Kincade fire was at 75,415 acres this morning, 15% contained, especially active on the east flank near Mount Saint Helena where fuel loads are heavy with no recent past fire activity. Wind has intensified this afternoon. The south side of the fire is burning in the fire scar from 2017 Tubbs fire.
No new major fire incidents within the state.
Burris Fire remains at 350 acres, 65% contained, holding, all evacuations modified to warnings only.
Southern California will be experiencing the most intense Santa Ana wind year to date with 75MPH winds and single digit relative humidity. State resources are focused on Kincade, but southern California has potential to thin resources.
·
County CEO Carmel Angelo writes:
I don’t believe anything PG&E reports right now. Everything they told us was inaccurate. They have good staff (Alison Talbot) as liaisons but they don’t empower or inform their liaisons. PG&E is creating a public health emergency for the people in Northern California. Something MUST be done before someone dies due to Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS).
* * * * *
Candidate, 1st District Supervisor John Sakowicz writes:
Exactly how do we hold PG&E’s C-level leadership accountable? PG&E lower management and crews seem to be very good. But higher up the executive chain? Things are not so good.
When will the California Public Utilities Commission act?
Here is a sample of comments by PG&E workers that I found at various sites:
1. “Advancement? You guessed it – it’s who you know. Management and internal advancement is a ‘country club’. Advancement depends on who you know and your invitation into the club. It is scary of how many Directors and Senior Managers have (a) no management skills, (b) thrive on self glorification, and (c) do not believe in compliance and quality management.”
2. “Some business units have an inordinate amount of directors and senior managers. This company has too many chefs and not enough cooks.”
3. “Compensation is average to below average in the context of the hours you put in.”
4. “Poor management. No communication. Funky old computers and work stations. Prima donnas and weirdos. Proprietary processes hard to learn and obscure. Weird corporate culture.”
5. “The culture at PG&E is old school. Almost all retiring folks have been be racist and sexist at one point or another in their careers. HR says you should be able to work side by side with them, which is insane. Become a whistle blower and you have to be tough, because if you tell, your work life will be tough.”
6. “Too many meetings and ridiculous management procedures. Electrical Technicians should be left alone to complete their jobs and not be micromanaged by management.”
7. “PG&E offers great pay and benefits. On the other hand, they have put many supervisors and managers in positions where they are so disconnected from the actual work their teams are doing….it creates a lot of distrust and mismanagement of resources.”
8. “The company continues to make changes to departments which it has already downsized so much. The company continues to reallocate permanent employees or forces them into early retirement. PG&E now outsources everything. Who knows what will be left on this company? PG&E is now all contractors who do sub par work.”
* * * * *
https://www.facebook.com/jjsakowicz/
Political hypocrisy; I am shocked, shocked!
Saturday November 2nd is moving day. There is absolutely nothing further that I can offer in support of the Earth First! Media Center and the ongoing struggle for climate justice. I leave Andy Caffrey’s living room couch with no regrets, and am going to return to The Magic Ranch in Mendocino county for intermission.
Activity-wise, it is all about focusing the mind at its Source and anchoring it there. If you understand this, then you are very fortunate. If not…well, how about if you finish the sentence?
Special thanks to all of the friendly people whom I have met in Garberville, a sportspersons stop off of highway 101 with a half dozen motels and three gas stations plus a supermarket, all on a stretch of four blocks (between highway entrances). If you ever find yourself here, check out Chautauqua Natural Foods for all of your essential needs.
I’ll skip any further typing, because everybody is suggesting that I not continue repeating myself advocating the formation of a spiritual direct action group to destroy the demonic and return the world to righteousness. Okay, so I won’t say it anymore. I’ll just accept Pay Pal donations to go to Washington, D.C. and fuck with them. ~Peaceout~
Craig Louis Stehr
October 30, 2019
Paypal.me/craiglouisstehr
Email: craiglouisstehr@gmail.com
Lake County Sheriff Martin declared a “state of emergency” yesterday (10/29/19), around mid-day. Lakeport PD Chief Rasmussen followed suit immediately, and when I visited the City Hall at about 1:45, the Incident Command team was assembled in their main conference room as usual.
Lake County Board of Supervisors will meet in an emergency meeting on Thursday, October 31. More info when that arrives (and availability of wi-fi prevails). Meanwhile, here is the Sheriff’s official declaration:
An urgent and important message from the Lake County Sheriff, Brian L. Martin.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
EMERGENCY DECLARATION
The Public is hereby advised Lake County Sheriff, Brian L. Martin, has Declared a State of Emergency in Lake County, in response to “Repeated, extended and continuing Public Safety Power Shutoffs,” particularly in light of the threat of the regionally active Kincade and Burris Wildfire Events, by issuing the following Proclamation:
WHEREAS, Section 6-5 of the Lake County Code empowers the Director of Emergency Services to proclaim the existence or threatened existence of a local emergency when Lake County is affected or likely to be affected by a public calamity and the County Board of Supervisors is not in session, and;
WHEREAS, the Sheriff, as Director of Emergency Services of Lake County does hereby find that conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property have arisen within the County of Lake, caused by the repeated, extended and continuing Public Safety Power ShutOffs. These events have affected all of Lake County, resulting in the loss of primary and critical public services, including water, sewer, communications and public safety services; and have curtailed the ability of schools to remain in session, and;
WHEREAS, the County is currently under threat from the Kincade Fire to the south which started on October 23rd, 2019 and has spread from Sonoma County into Lake County, and;
WHEREAS, the County is currently under threat from the Burris Fire to the West in Mendocino County, and;
WHEREAS, the County has suffered from, and currently suffers from, repeated, extended and continuing Public Safety Power Shut-Offs which have affected the ability of Cities, Tribes and businesses to provide services to their citizens and customers, and;
WHEREAS, the County was subject to a Public Safety Power Shutoff on October 9th, 2019, and;
WHEREAS, the County was subject to a Public Safety Power Shutoff on October 23rd, 2019, and;
WHEREAS, the County was subject to a Public Safety Power Shutoff on October 25th, 2019, and;
WHEREAS, the County is currently subject to a Public Safety Power Shutoff effective on today’s date, after 93% of customers in Lake County have not had their power restored from the October 25th Public Safety Power Shutoff, and;
WHEREAS, the Director of Emergency Services hereby finds:
THAT, the compounding effects of the simultaneously occurring fires and Public Safety Power Shutoffs have exacerbated the negative effects to our County to include, forcing residents to leave their homes, causing spoilage of food, imposing immeasurable financial impacts to local businesses, the inability of residents to heat their homes as nighttime temperatures drop into the 30’s which can be especially harmful to children and elderly populations, and leaving people who rely on life-saving medical equipment without power, and;
THAT, these conditions are beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of Lake County, and;
THAT, the County Board of Supervisors of the County of Lake is not in session and cannot immediately be called into session;
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY PROCLAIMED AND ORDERED that a local emergency now exists throughout Lake County, and;
IT IS FURTHER PROCLAIMED AND ORDERED that during the existence of said local emergency the powers, functions, and duties of the emergency organization of Lake County shall be those prescribed by state law, by ordinances, and resolutions of the County; and that this emergency proclamation shall expire 7 days after issuance unless confirmed and ratified by the Lake County Board of Supervisors, and;
IT IS FURTHER PROCLAIMED AND ORDERED that said local emergency shall be deemed to continue to exist until its termination is proclaimed by the Lake County Board of Supervisors.
By: Brian L. Martin Date: October 29, 2019
Sheriff/Coroner/Director of OES
Brian L. Martin
1220 Martin Street
Lakeport, CA 95453
And this, from the County of Lake’s Chief Administrative Office at 6:41 p.m. yesterday evening:
Good evening, Media Partners!
Here is an update from the Tuesday, 10/29, 7:30pm PG&E Situational Awareness Conference Call:
As previously reported by Carol, Lake County’s actual de-energization time for the 10/29 PSPS Event was at 6:43am, 10/29. Only 7% of Lake County residents had power restored from the 10/26 PSPS Event for any amount of time prior to the start of the 10/29 Event. The All Clear remains expected at 8am tomorrow, 10/30, though it will be issued at the earliest possible opportunity.
With gasoline supplies waning in many affected Counties due to the duration and footprint of the three recent PSPS events, it is good news that a key Kern County oil substation, previously expected to be subject to a late stage of the 10/29 PSPS Event, is expected to remain energized.
General Situational Update
440,000 PG&E customers are currently without power, and that number is changing as the affected regions move through stages of the current PSPS Event.
PG&E has been coordinating with CalOES to provide generation to two Lake County facilities, after working with County leaders throughout the past two days to identify the most critical facilities.
District 1 Supervisor, Moke Simon, spoke on behalf of Lake County’s needs, and the ongoing need for additional generation support for some of our critical facilities, saying, “From the County’s standpoint, we appreciate your pushing hard to meet extra generation needs. Get that figured out sooner, rather than later.”
300,000 Customers have been out continuously since the onset of the 10/26 Event; a subset of those in Lake County were affected by the 10/23 PG&E PSPS Event, as well.
The All Clear is expected for Lake County at 8am tomorrow morning, Wednesday, 10/30. Timelines have been holding firm with PG&E’s expectations; those that have moved have moved up, abbreviating the expected timeframe for the event in some regions.
In some North Valley areas, 40mph wind gusts have been reported. This event was not anticipated to be as strong as the previous event, but critically dry fuel load conditions remain present, with 5-8% humidity levels reported. The current dry conditions were affected by the two previous significant weather events since 10/23.
Restoration
PG&E has seen a significant mutual aid increase, with 300 new people committed today. North of 500 more are en route, and committed to assist with restoration efforts over the next couple of days, augmenting PG&E’s own 3,000 qualified electrical workers. 13 mutual aid helicopters are being added to PG&E’s fleet, as well. PG&E recognizes the urgency of restoration, given 300,000 customers have been continuously out of power for a lengthy period.
Those who have been out of power the longest will be granted preference in restoration. No specifics were provided, but many Lake County residents have been out of power for a lengthy period.
Unfortunately, PG&E has not been able to parse their data on a County-by-County basis for this event, so we are unable to provide a definite sense of how Lake County customers may compare in PG&E’s priorities for restoration.
PG&E’s estimated total time for restoration has been 48-72 hours, but they are hoping to beat that timeline for full restoration, as suggested by the influx of additional resources.
Three PG&E Community Resource Centers remain open in Lake County:
65 total CRC locations have been visited by 24,000 total individuals since the onset of the 10/23 Event.
Today, 52 locations visited by 2,000 customers.
Three CRCs remain open in Lake County, from 8am-8pm until power is restored.
Some additional frustration has been reported at CRCs in some portions of PG&E’s service area, with 300,000 residents out of power for such a lengthy period.
We greatly appreciate Lake County residents continuing to be kind to PG&E’s workers in the field. They do not make the policy decisions that result in disruptions to availability of power, and must be able to do their work efficiently to limit the duration of PSPS Events.
Thank you for showing PG&E employees and all people the best of consideration!
Here are the three locations of Lake County’s CRCs:
Konocti Vista Casino
2755 Mission Rancheria Rd
Lakeport, CA 95453
Clearlake Senior Community Center
3245 Bowers Ave
Clearlake, CA 95422
Upper Lake Unified School District (Middle School)
725 Old Lucerne Rd
Upper Lake, CA 95485
As a reminder, the Twin Pine Casino CRC is closed, and not expected to reopen at this time. Supervisor Simon advocated on behalf of District 1 residents, as some in the communities surrounding Twin Pine have been subject to all three recent PSPS Events. PG&E acknowledges this concern, and will continue to evaluate the situation.
PG&E CRCs are open 8am-8pm. They are not disaster shelters and do not provide overnight lodging.
Here is some additional information on what to expect at a PG&E CRC:
http://www.lakecountyca.gov/Assets/Departments/Administration/PSPS/Docs/CRCAug2019.pdf
If you have been personally affected by any PG&E PSPS Event, you can communicate non-emergency concerns to the Lake a County Board of Supervisors by writing to vision@lakecountyca.gov.
Thanks,
Matthew
Matthew T. Rothstein
Deputy County Administrative Officer
Public Information Officer
Matthew.Rothstein@lakecountyca.gov
707-263-2580 (phone)
707-263-1012 (fax)
Folks at the Upper Lake “Customer Service Center” provided by PG&E are most gracious, helpful, and friendly — tight spacing, but neighbors, friends, and families making the best of it and we are grateful for the ability to warm up in the morning (I’ll be there shortly), and recharge this cpu in comfort.
KPFZ continues its “emergency” broadcast schedule: 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily until the PSPS is over (and until the next one, of course). I’ll be working the phone lines with one of our two reliable board engineers (we three call ourselves the “Q crew”) on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. This foreshortened schedule is a result of (1) having the use of a 2200W gas-powered generator during those hours, on loan from Solar Scott Nuttall — a solar power business owner here; and (2) difficulties related to shortage of available volunteer programmers.
Thus far, frequently announced advice for our listeners informs them that they can get current updates from KZYX — which is being referred to as our “sister station” (no comment), at either one of their broadcast frequencies, at the top of the hour and on the half-hour. We have no idea how effective or helpful that is, but many of our callers express near despair at our absence on the airwaves due to our limited capacities.
KPFZ’s board of directors, “in charge” of our all volunteer station (with a true shoestring budget) prohibit discussion on the air of “management” issues; the new “policies” are published on the website page for VOLUNTEERS:
https://kpfz.org/Volunteers/Volunteers
So much for “free speech,” eh? Long live the AVA!
With much love and affection from Upper Lake.
In the wee hours of yesterday am (early am only time able to access the internet), i discovered the only news service source in this region, which our lake and mendo radio stations are completely failing at: a facebook group with newsman Ted Williams working around the clock. Wild.
T Mobile had only intermittent phone and text service on Sunday afternoon and evening.
All stores ran out of size D and C batteries.
Otherwise, it has been a wonderful meditation retreat.
Though i havent seen Rachel Maddow in days, etc.
Finally some good news from the professional beggar :
I’ll skip any further typing!
Thank you Craig.
Good luck with the remainder of your present human incarnation. Be kind, be compassionate, seek fame for the hell of it, and keep playing LOTTO. It works for me. And go to church…the potlucks are excellent! P.S. If you have time left after all of this, read the poetry at the website Warrior Poets Society. ~DON’T WORRY…BE HAPPY~
The silver lining around the gray cloud caused by the power shutoff is we now have a test of what a real emergency will be like, and what are the essentials we need but don’t have. The retailers have learned somethings, too. So have our emergency services. This has been a good dry run. Thanks to the CPUC, and PG&E.
California has appointed a new Surgeon General.
The country’s newest state Surgeon General has tapped toxic stress.
If you see a person being verbally abused, STEP UP! Offer the INJURED person your assistance. This offsets the trauma caused by the abuser.
For example: A elder lady is told, in public: “Get out of the way”. Instead of confronting the abuser, ask the elder lady, directly, if you can help her.
Participate in the new movement: from Trauma to Resilience.
STEP UP!
STEP UP!
We need your help! Thank you.
This is what I’ve learned from this PGE crisis.
Correction: an elder…
The new movement is the result of the Surgeon General’s influence. In my local town, people are meeting to discuss, and prepare for a brighter future. “It takes a village” (African Proverb)