Mendocino County Today: August 24, 2012

THE NORTH PASS FIRES burning some 10 miles northeast of Covelo have now consumed 17,820 acres and are again only "10 percent contained," CalFire said Thursday afternoon, down a percentage point from yesterday when the flames seemed to briefly subside. As evacuation orders remained in place, the fires, driven by 100-degree heat, very low humidity and persistent winds, are racing east through the mostly uninhabited wilderness toward the Glenn and Tehama county lines.

962 firefighters are fighting the fires; they're reinforced by 93 engines, 37 bulldozers, 25 water tenders, six helicopters, and two air tankers. Covelo has been blanketed in thick clouds of smoke for three days. The blazes began with the lightning strikes of last Friday. (Photos, courtesy of Chris Rowney, CalFire Battalion Chief)

IT IS NOT yet known what the hazing consisted of beyond the drop-fall drinking now common on college campuses. Stay tuned.HUMBOLDT STATE in Arcata “has ordered the suspension with immediate effect of the 2012-13 season of the men’s soccer team in connection with a hazing investigation and an investigation has been launched of alleged hazing by HSU’s women’s soccer team.”

TUESDAY'S announcement by HSU's president was followed by this elaboration: “Over the last two weeks, HSU has been investigating troubling allegations of hazing and excessive alcohol consumption at a recent party held by many members of our men's soccer team. We have concluded that a hazing incident did indeed occur. Furthermore, this incident placed the lives of two students in real jeopardy. Because of this, I have decided to suspend the team's 2012-13 season effective immediately. The team will not participate in any California Collegiate Athletic Association games or any University-sanctioned games for the entire academic year. We have also begun an investigation of alleged hazing by members of the women's soccer team. That investigation is in its early stages. Given my understanding of what occurred with the men's team, I am immensely relieved that all of the students involved are safe. I hope that the team discipline, along with individual disciplinary actions, send a clear message that this was unacceptable. Hazing is not tolerated at Humboldt State, not in Athletics and not in any other area. It is vital that our student-athletes, and our entire campus community, understand the seriousness of the situation. Hazing is illegal, and it is prohibited by the student and student-athlete codes of conduct. It has no place at our University. Going forward, we will be implementing a series of additional steps to ensure that students learn about the risks involved with hazing. I will insist that every unit on campus participate in this effort as appropriate, and that they do so cooperatively and seriously.”

PLEASE, PEG, SPARE US: Regarding the hazing episode at Humboldt State, Peg Blake, HSU's Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs said Tuesday,  “I was truly taken aback by this incident and the number of students involved. It's just so counter to the culture of caring and social responsibility at HSU…”

THIS LADY has clearly never been to a football team party, or visited a jock dorm in the wee hours, and “the culture of caring and social responsibility”? Unless young people have changed radically since I was young, cultures of caring and responsibility were confined to a very, very small number, and completely foreign among athletes.

THE CHP REPORTED an horrific accident which occurred about noon Thursday. Three people died and four more were injured in a collision three miles south of Squaw Rock (now known as Frog Woman Rock) on Highway 101. The names of the persons involved have not been released, but passersby said a cover concealed most of a silver Honda Civic which had been broadsided by a red Chevy Tahoe.

ACCORDING TO THE CHP, the Civic was headed south at about noon when it crossed the double-yellow lines into the oncoming lanes and was struck broadside by the Tahoe. There were four persons, apparently a young family, in the Honda, three of whom were killed — the man, the woman, and an infant. A toddler in the Civic, secure in its car seat, was extracted from the wreckage and flown by air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

THREE PEOPLE in the Tahoe were injured, one of them badly. A woman and her daughter were taken by ambulance to Ukiah Valley Medical Center, and a younger man identified as the unnamed woman's son, was flown by air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

ALL PARTIES wore seat belts and, as stated, the toddler was secured in a car seat. It is unknown if alcohol was a factor in the collision.

THIS THRILLING headline appeared on the front page of Thursday's Ukiah Daily Journal: “Angled parking to be added near Hillside Health Center in Ukiah.” Yes, a story followed.