October 16, 2020: Trick-or-Treating and Election Ballot Boxes
Stanislaus County moves into Red Tier
Stanislaus County has been given the approval by the California Department of Public Health to move down one tier in the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, clearing the path for businesses to expand operations or in some instances reopen their doors. The primary changes allowed under the state order as Stanislaus moves into this tier include: Mall, outdoor malls, and other retail establishments opening indoors at 50% capacity; Museums, Zoos, Aquariums, Restaurants, Movie Theaters, and Places of Worship opening indoors at 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer; Gyms, Fitness Centers, Hotels and Lodging opening indoors with 10% capacity; and Personal care services opening indoors with modifications. Stanislaus County Public Health encourages the community to continue following recommendations and to get tested if they have been exposed to a person with COVID-19, have symptoms, or have gathered with others outside of their household. Free testing is available in Stanislaus County through partnerships with Optum Serve and Project Baseline.
Trick-or-treating ‘strongly discouraged’ in California this Halloween
Trick-or-treating and Halloween parties are “strongly discouraged” in California this year because they present a high risk of spreading COVID-19, according to California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly on Tuesday. The new California Halloween guidance suggests that families find safer ways to celebrate. It suggests meeting up for a distanced outdoor meal with up to two other households, online costume contests and drive-in scary movies. Californians are asked to keep gatherings with people from other households relatively small – just three households at a time. The state also asks people to stay six feet apart, to hold gatherings outside and to limit them to two hours.
Fall heat wave bringing California more fire danger
California’s siege of wildfires has significantly quieted but forecasters warned Tuesday that a fall heat wave will bring back high fire danger this week. According to the National Weather Service, red flag warnings were to go into effect in much of Northern California before dawn Wednesday due to high pressure producing hot and dry conditions with offshore gusts. The foremost concern is the likely development of critical fire weather conditions by Wednesday morning, and then becoming even more extreme Wednesday night into Thursday. It is likely some circuits will be turned off starting Wednesday evening to try to prevent fires from being started by damaged power lines. An estimated 50,000 customers in parts of 21 northern counties would be affected. Scientists say climate change has made California much drier, meaning trees and other plants are more flammable.
This is how you can help Stanislaus restaurants, churches and more reopen faster
We finally went from purple to red. Life isn’t back to pre-COVID normal — it may never be — but we’re making progress here in Stanislaus County. Stanislaus’ infection numbers dipped enough for the Tuesday announcement everyone had been waiting for, allowing us to slip from purple to red. Now that we’re finally in the red — remember, that’s a good thing in this context — but what must we do to stay there? Or even to progress to “moderate” orange status, which would allow 50% seating in restaurants? Actually, there is something just about all of us can do: get tested. So, if you want to do your part to help increase restaurant capacity or help schools reopen for in-class instruction rather than distance learning, increase capacity for gyms, stores, movie theaters, places of worship: get yourself tested. Proactive testing is a new way we can support our community. The more testing we do, the easier it is to pinpoint the disease and stop it. That’s our main goal. To schedule a quick, free, self-administered test in west Modesto, Salida or Turlock, go to schsa.org/corona-virus/testing/. Some pharmacies and commercial labs offer testing as well.
Stanislaus County elections office issues alert about unofficial ballot drop boxes
Stanislaus County election officials are alerting the public about unofficial ballot boxes and has issued warnings about use of the unauthorized boxes. Donna Linder, county registrar of voters said on Wednesday that three unauthorized ballot boxes have been reported to the election office. Her office sent the code section and information from the Secretary of State to three churches that were using unofficial boxes to collect ballots. In an Oct. 11 memo to county election offices, Secretary of State, Alex Padilla said only county election officials have authority to establish the location and hours for ballot drop boxes. Stanislaus County currently has 16 authorized indoor drop boxes and two outdoor ones for collecting ballots for the vote-by-mail election in progress. The locations are listed at Stanvote.com. The official boxes that voters are supposed to use bear the Stanislaus County logo and the words “official ballot box”, with instructions translated in different languages
Business Highlight: Turlock Dry Cleaners
If you are looking for professional dry-cleaning laundry and spot clean for your shirts, jeans, gowns, comforters, blankets, all size area rugs, hats of any type, you should check out Turlock Dry Cleaners. They have been providing dry cleaning professional service over 20 yrs in Turlock and other surrounding cities. They even do professional alteration hemming, sizing, and fixing. And now they add free pick up and delivery within 30 miles from Turlock.
- Located at: 1581 Geer Rd, Turlock, California
- Phone Number: 209 669 0244 / edvinfarhad@yahoo.com
- Operation Hours: 7:00 am – 6:00 pm
Call them to sign up and get a $10 coupon on your first pickup/delivery order!
Business Highlight: Cory’s Computer Repair
Having some technical issues with your computer? Cory’s Computer Repair is at your service. Cory makes sure to deliver excellent service to all his customers with any issues for pcs, printer, even your wifi. A certified tech savy and expert on what he does, he can fix your computer issues efficiently and thoroughly. He is a home based business so he caters virtual consultations and in person visits if necessary.
- Operation Hours: 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
- Phone Number: 209 573 0134
Coronavirus update, Oct. 15
Stanislaus County has now gone 30 straight days with at least one report of a COVID-19 death. The total stands at 388 residents with the death announced Wednesday by the Health Services Agency. Stanislaus added 43 positive tests for a total of 17,130 since the pandemic began. The county has 94,883 people who tested negative and 16,508 who are presumed recovered. Geographically: Modesto has 6,461 positive cases, Turlock with 2,322 cases, and Ceres has 2,160. The county moved Tuesday from the purple to the red tier in the state ranking system, indicating that COVID-19 is no longer widespread but still a serious concern. Businesses and other activities have relaxed rules.
