Community briefs

Cloverdale Rotary awarding $4,000 in scholarships
The Rotary Club of Cloverdale is awarding five scholarships valued at a total of $4,000 to graduating seniors at Cloverdale High School. Deadline for entries is May 15.
The scholarships will be awarded toward:
●    A Junior College education.
●    Vocational education.
●    Overcoming past obstacles and a path to achieve future goals.
●    Academic achievement.
●    Athletic education.
The applications generally require a short essay outlining the student’s goals and achievements.
Applications are available from high school counselor Kathryn Ulrich at ul*****@cu**.org   or from Cloverdale Rotary scholarship chair Ann Elston at an*******@lo*****.com
Curbside cleanup in Cloverdale, April 5-9
Recology is holding curbside clean-up dates in Cloverdale from April 5 to April 9.  Free of charge, Recology will be collecting items clean-up materials placed in bags, boxes or cans by 6 a.m. No hazardous waste. Bulky items like couches or dressers require appointments by April 2nd. Call 1-800-243-0291 to schedule.
More information can be found here.
Looking to get tested for COVID in Cloverdale?
Alexander Valley Healthcare is still doing COVID-19 testing every Monday from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at its Tarman Drive location. Appointments for testing are required, more information about testing (and about vaccinations) can be found here.
Sonoma County invests in artificial intelligence technology for wildfire camera system
The County of Sonoma is expanding its early wildfire detection capabilities through innovative artificial intelligence technology that will notify emergency crews when fires are spotted through fire cameras — regardless of whether anybody is watching. Through the Federal Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, the county was awarded $2.7 million for early detection system additions and improvements. The grant allocates $225,000 for artificial intelligence monitoring systems that will broaden detection capabilities through existing wildfire camera infrastructure. Remaining funds will be used to install additional cameras to the existing system and reinforce critical communication towers with fire-resilient measures.
In recent years, wildfires have had a devastating effect on human life, property and the environment throughout the state and especially in Sonoma County. Since the October 2017 Tubbs Fire, the county has partnered with other agencies in installing cameras on existing radio communication towers to provide wildfire surveillance throughout California. The ALERTWildfire system was developed and installed by a consortium of public and private entities and currently consists of 746 cameras in California alone. During recent wildfires, ALERTWildfire was a critical tool for command and control elements of regional fire and emergency services to respond quickly to wildfire locations and enable early evacuation warnings.
The addition of AI technology on Sonoma County cameras will deliver integration of optical detection programming through 24/7 monitoring, real-time data streams and automated email and text alerts for critical incidents.
“This early detection technology will provide emergency managers and first responders with round-the-clock monitoring, a sophisticated addition we are excited to add to our alert and warning toolkit,” said Lynda Hopkins, chair of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors in a statement.
As part of the program, the county this month awarded a $300,000 contract to South Korea-based Alchera Inc. who specializes in visual AI algorithm development and deployment. Alchera has been formulating smoke and fire detection sensors since 2018, working through the ALERTWildfire camera system. More than 10 million images have been collected from wildfire events between 2013 and 2020 to develop, test and train this technology.
Once the system is implemented, a detection would notify personnel of a possible fire scenario, either via email or text message and the responding officer would confirm or deny the detection of smoke.
Implementation and real-time monitoring of the AI technology will begin May 1. Training and modifications will take place through the summer months until November when the system will be able to direct alerts without human intervention. Alchera will continue to manage adjustments including false positive and false negative alerts through February 2023 at which point the county along with other planning partners, including CalFire and REDCOM, will participate in an evaluation of the program and decide on its future use.
Mayors, board chair issue statement in response to racial epithets
The following statement was issued by local mayors and members of the board of supervisors:
In response to a recent action taken by the Rohnert Park City Council to support a ban on the sale and use of fireworks within the city limits, racial epithets were directed toward Vice Mayor Elward for her decision on the controversial issue.
Sonoma County Mayors value the diversity of our residents and our elected officials who represent them and acknowledge that our diversity is critical to our collective cities’ cultural, social and economic well- being. The Mayors of Sonoma County remain resolute in a collective commitment to condemn racism, discrimination and all forms of hatred, none of which will be tolerated in our cities. We condemn all threats and racist behavior used as weapons to intimidate any member of our community including our locally elected officials.
Sonoma County Mayors stand with our community of Sonoma County, in particular our Black, Hispanic/Latinx, Indigenous and Asian community members and residents as well as members of our LGBTQI community. We stand in opposition to any and all racism in our cities. As leaders we are committed to supporting an inclusive community in Sonoma County grounded in equity, empathy and justice.
This statement has been approved by the mayors of the nine cities in Sonoma County and the Chairman of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.
Cloverdale Mayor Jason Turner
Cotati Mayor John C. Moore
Healdsburg Mayor Evelyn Mitchell
Petaluma Mayor Teresa Barrett
Rohnert Park Mayor Gerard Giudice
Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Rogers
Sebastopol Mayor Una Glass
Sonoma Mayor Logan Harvey
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Chair Lynda Hopkins
Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli