JACKSON STATE FOREST â Early Monday morning a group of about 50 protesters gathered on a logging road that leads into Jackson Demonstration State Forest near Caspar, planning to barricading the road in the hopes of keeping loggers acting on a Cal Fire timber harvest plan from entering the forest and potentially closing the road themselves. This pre-dawn protest joins the already active tree-sit happening in Jackson, as the latest move against Cal Fireâs timber harvests in the forest, which is owned and operated by the department.
The action is a significant escalation in the struggle over the future of large tracts of redwood ecosystem within the demonstration forest. Protesters say that they are as of now primarily asking for a return to the active discussions, and a pause to the loggin â though due to the decentralized nature of the protests no single set of demands has been proffered and at least some groups are calling for the entire western portion of the Jackson
The day before vaccine eligibility expands to all residents age 16 and older, over half of that population has already received at least one dose of the vaccine in Ventura County, according to the latest public health data. That s really a major milestone and it shows we re hitting that tipping point towards getting toward herd immunity here in our county, said County Executive Officer Mike Powers during a public briefing.
As of Wednesday, Ventura County has seen a total of 539,570 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered, with 341,079 first doses and 198,491 second doses.
Two doses are required for peak immunity from vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna, while vaccines manufactured by Johnson & Johnson require one dose. However, Ventura County halted administering Johnson & Johnson vaccines Tuesday after federal and state officials warned of serious blood clot side effects observed in several recipients of the vaccine.
County moves to orange tier
Screenshot from County of Ventura
Ventura County Executive Officer Mike Powers speaks about the orange tier at the April 6 county COVID-19 press conference.
Austin Widger,
Ojai Valley News reporter
Ventura County moved to the COVID-19 orange tier of reopening April 7, meaning gyms, movie theaters and other businesses can now welcome more customers.
The county’s adjusted case rate as of April 6 is 3.9 cases per 100,000 residents, allowing it to move to the orange tier. The seven-day testing positivity rate is 1.6% (yellow) and the health equity seven-day testing positivity rate is 2.8% (orange).
“We welcome moving into the orange tier, not only because it increases capacity limits for restaurants, but it also allows for the opening of many businesses that have been required to remain closed up to this point,” said Jamie Fleming, CEO of the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce. “We definitely want everyone in the Ojai business community to be a
State officially closes Watertown Correctional Facility
WWNY State officially closes Watertown Correctional Facility By Brendan Straub | March 31, 2021 at 5:02 PM EDT - Updated March 31 at 9:17 PM
TOWN OF WATERTOWN, N.Y. (WWNY) - Itâs a decision that many in the north country opposed, but the state has officially closed the Watertown Correctional Facility.
Name plates have been stripped, flags have been removed, and what once was a packed parking lot is mostly empty.
The Department of Corrections officially shut down the Watertown Correctional Facility on Wednesday.
âItâs become a difficult day and, you know, here we are at the end of March with a new state budget looming that the governor is calling for additional closures,â said NYSCOPBA (New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association) President Mike Powers.