How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
Lake Family Resource Center to relocate Lakeport office and child care program
LAKEPORT, Calif. — Lake Family Resource Center is preparing to relocate its Lakeport facilities, including its child care services, from the Vista Point Shopping Center to a new site on Parallel Drive.The relocation plan is moving forward thanks to a use permit approval by the Lakeport Planning Commission last Wednesday, allowing the new location — formerly an office building for Ruzicka Associates and owned by Nancy Ruzicka, who submitted the permit application — to house a day care facility.
The permit approval will allow the center to proceed with its plans to design and build a new child care center for its Early Head Start program, which serves children aged zero to 3 and their families.
Lake Family Resource Center, or LFRC, will first move its Lakeport offices and administrative staff to the new site by mid-December. Those offices will enter full operation in the new year, said Executive Director Lisa Morrow.
However, “Right this minute, the babies aren’t moving,” said Morrow at the Nov. 13 Planning Commission meeting, adding that the children in the Early Head Start program will stay at the Vista Point location until the end of June of 2025 when LFRC’s lease expires.
This delay in moving the children is due to the time required for funding applications, permitting and licensing, and building code-compliant facilities for children at the new location, Morrow explained in an interview after the meeting.
The Early Head Start program, once moved to the new facility, will serve a maximum of 23 infants and toddlers across four classrooms, according to Lakeport associate planner Victor Fernandez in his presentation at the planning meeting.
The facility will host 20 staff members onsite and have 22 to 24 parking spaces, operating Mondays through Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The plan also includes play structures for children. Fencing will be required around the play structures for safety.
Conditions for the project’s approval include installing fire infrastructure such as sprinklers and submitting a new parking plan with a clear layout, said Fernandez, who also emphasized that the permit is only for the existing building.
For any future expansion or new infrastructure, “They will have to go through new additional permits,” he said.
Toward the end of the discussion, planning commissioners voiced concerns over the driving speed limit near the new location.
Commissioner Nathan Maxman asked if the facility would have a school zone marking with the reduced speed limit.
Fernandez said he would need to look into it with the Public Works Department on “the process of adding those zones in there.”
Commissioner Kurt Combs suggested reducing the speed limit at the zone to 35 miles per hour.
“We would have to coordinate with the other city departments on those items. We weren't prepared to speak on that,” said Lakeport Community Development Director Joey Hejnowicz. “We can definitely look into it.”
Planning for moving children to the new location
“The children are not allowed to go into the current building as it is,” Hejnowicz reiterated in response to a public comment through Zoom regarding children’s move-in.
“We must follow child care licensing regulations, the Head Start Act, all building codes that would be involved with new construction etc,” Morrow told Lake County News following the meeting.
Morrow said completing the required procedures will likely exceed the current lease term. Accommodating the children after the lease ends remains a challenge for now.
By June 30, 2025, “We have to be out of there,” Morrow said. “I don’t anticipate that the new facility will be built by then."
Morrow said the center will be applying for funding to build the new child care facility from the Administration for Children and Families, which is already funding the Early Head Start program.
“They have about 120 days once we get that submitted, but we can’t submit it until we have all the plans and architectural drawings and all of that stuff in place,” Morrow said, explaining how the various steps are tied to each other.
“We do have a plan,” Morrow said of the center hiring an experienced project manager who’s working on the design, adding that “with the holidays, it’s going to take a little bit of time.”
Morrow expected the child care portion of the relocation project to be completed by September 2026, more than a year after the lease ends.
“The wheels of government turn slow,” Morrow said.
She added with a smile, “At least they are turning.”
Now LFRC is evaluating “alternatives to the space we're not going to be able to occupy," said Morrow about finding a location for the children during the gap year.
"In the next few months, we should have a solid plan," she said.
The necessity to move: An expiring lease and safety concerns
Morrow said the final decision for LFRC to move out of the current location that it has occupied for the past 27 years was prompted by Vista Point’s change of ownership.
Tribal Health purchased the property in February.
“When the building was sold to Tribal Health, they let us know that they would not be renewing our lease in June of 2025,” said Morrow. That notice came immediately after the purchase.
“They attempted to give us as much time as they possibly could,” Morrow said.
While acknowledging that Tribal Health has been “very supportive,” Morrow said she did not want to speculate why they wouldn’t renew the lease with the center.
Morrow subsequently told Lake County News that the new owners are planning “a full demolition of the Shopping Center.”
In fact, the idea of finding a new home for its Lakeport office isn’t new to Morrow. Safety at the current location has long been a concern.
“We’ve been talking about it for a long time,” said Morrow.
In February 2023, a roof collapsed in winter storms on the “old bowling alley” at the Vista Point Shopping Center. LFRC’s facilities which were located at the other side of the same building were red-tagged by the city, Morrow said.
The city decided to “shut down everything in there and we were shut down for 90 days," Morrow said of the mandatory evacuation at that time. After that, the building was deemed safe for temporary occupation by the city.
The building’s former owner was Matt Riveras of Donica LLC. Riveras is the son-in-law of Buzz Bruns, Lakeport’s mayor in 2007 when the City Council voted to sell the property to him.
On Dec. 5, 2023, the Lakeport City Council conducted a public nuisance abatement hearing where city officials repeatedly brought up the concerns over the building’s safety and ability to withstand heavy winter rains. The discussion took up most of the meeting time.
The council then voted unanimously for moving forward on the abatement at the end of the three-and-a-half-hour-long hearing.
The abatement order came after 16 years of frustration during which city officials and residents felt that the blighted condition of the property had negatively affected the city’s ability to attract new businesses.
“It wasn’t a dilapidated shopping center when we moved in 27 years ago, but it was on its way, and it’s just, you know, fallen into disrepair over the years,” Morrow said.
For Morrow, the expiring lease is “necessitating an urgent and strategic response to secure a new, stable location to continue our vital services.”
Now LFRC has entered into a lease and purchase agreement with Nancy Ruzicka for the property on Parallel Drive, said Morrow.
“Plans are underway to construct a new child development center on the Parallel Drive property,” Morrow said.
Speaking about the new location, Morrow observed, “It’s going to be so much better.”
“It’s a beautiful building with a fountain out in front that never works,” said Ruzicka at Wednesday’s meeting. “It wasn’t the right thing to do because we had a water shortage.”
Email staff reporter Lingzi Chen at
Clearlake City Council to discuss tribal consultation guidelines, police chief contract
CLEARLAKE, Calif. — The Clearlake City Council is set to consider tribal consultation guidelines and an updated contract for the police chief.The council will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
The agenda can be found here.
The meeting will be broadcast live on the city's YouTube channel or the Lake County PEGTV YouTube Channel.
Community members also can participate via Zoom. The webinar ID is 833 4262 8911, the pass code is 355701. One tap mobile is available at +16694449171,,83342628911#, or join by phone at 669-444-9171 or 253-205-0468.
On Thursday’s agenda is a discussion and consideration of the council’s adoption of tribal consultation guidelines.
City Manager Alan Flora’s report to the council asks members to “consider amending the City’s current environmental guidelines to include more detail on management of tribal cultural resources and consultation.”
He said that in 2016 the city adopted a set of environmental guidelines that included an appendix titled, “Native American Tribal Consultation Program,” to implement the requirements of AB 52 from 2015.
He said the council has been in a consultation process on the updated guidelines since October 2022.
“While in large part consultation and coordination between the City as lead agency and the tribes has worked quite well, that has not always been the case,” said Flora, a reference to several lawsuits the city is in that were filed by the Koi Nation, one of three tribes with ancestral ties to the city.
“Staff hoped that by adopting a more comprehensive policy framework related to tribal cultural resources would result in more predictability, less room for disagreement, and a more streamlined and economical project completion,” Flora wrote.
“The draft policy before you has undergone many iterations, but has ultimately been brought back in a format that more comprehensively summarizes the existing requirements of the City under state and federal law, but does not significantly expand the City’s responsibilities beyond those requirements,” Flora’s report stated.
In other business on Thursday, the council will consider an amendment to the employment contract with Police Chief Tim Hobbs to add a longevity incentive.
Hobbs has been police chief since January 2023.
Also on Thursday, there will be a presentation of certificates of appreciation to trunk or treat volunteers and donors, consideration of the 2024-25 salary schedule, and the introduction and first reading of three proposed new ordinances for fire mitigation fees, fire hydrant inspection and testing requirements and establishment of standards for relocation of underground utilities in the public right-of-way.
On the meeting's consent agenda — items that are considered routine in nature and usually adopted on a single vote — are warrants; City Council minutes; minutes of the Oct. 9 Lake County Vector Control District Board meeting; adoption of amendments to the council’s norms and procedures; the second reading and adoption of Ordinance No. 272-2024, an ordinance establishing Article 6-10 of the Clearlake Municipal Code regulating tobacco retailers; and continuation of the director of emergency services/city manager proclamation declaring a local emergency for winter storms.
The council also will hold a closed session to discuss Kathleen Sherlock’s liability claim against the city.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Registrar of Voters Office explains election canvass process
LAKEPORT, Calif. — In response to numerous requests for information from members of the media and public regarding the Nov. 5 election process and expectations for the canvass period, Lake County Registrar of Voters Maria Valadez provided an explanation of the process.Valadez said she was giving the statement “in the interest of ensuring staff can focus on delivering reliable election results as soon as possible.”
The following is Valadez’s complete statement.
California County Election Officials now provide all registered voters a Vote-By-Mail ballot, and my office is committed to ensuring every eligible resident is aware of their opportunities to vote. While some voters cast their ballots ahead of Election Day, many wait until campaigns have fully concluded.
Final certification of election results, particularly for Primary and General Presidential Elections, takes time. It is essential the public has full faith in the final reported election results, and the methods and means it takes to certify those results. The Lake County Registrar of Voters Office takes these responsibilities very seriously; while we work as quickly as we can within staffing and resource limitations, accuracy and reliability are our highest priorities.
Extra verification steps must be taken before each Vote-By-Mail ballot can be officially counted.
Each signature on a Vote-By-Mail ballot envelope must be compared with that voter’s signature on file before it can even be opened. If the signature does not match, or the voter failed to sign their ID envelope, additional review and extra steps must be undertaken to contact the voter to allow them the opportunity to cure the issue with their signature. These voters have until December 1, 2024, by 5 p.m., to respond to the notice (two days prior to final certification), and the volume of votes cast in this manner creates a significant workload for our relatively limited staff. Our four permanent full-time staff are working 40-70 hours per week, at present, and eight Extra Help staff are working 30-70 hours, to complete this work as quickly as possible.
Vote-By-Mail ballots received (and whose signatures were verified) early were included in the first batch of results released shortly after 8 p.m. on Election Night. Updates provided on Election Night reflected ballots cast in-person at polling places. Getting those ballots to our office required two election workers, from each location, to safely and reliably transport ballots back to our office for processing and counting. The last two poll workers reached our office shortly after 1:30 a.m. Over Election Night and the early morning hours following, staff processed and counted over 2,000 ballots.
Once the final Election Day unofficial results were posted, staff spent the next two days organizing and preparing for post-Election Day work to finalize results and ultimately certify the election. California State law provides for a post-Election Day Canvass period of up to 30 days to certify most elections, and 28 days for a Presidential Election. Therefore, the 2024 General Presidential Election must be certified no later than December 3, 2024.
During the Canvass period, staff continues processing Vote-By-Mail ballots and applying voter history to those who voted in-person at their assigned polling place. In addition, our office is required to conduct a 1% manual tally of the votes cast and reported on the final Election Day results. This process, alone, took two days for staff to complete.
Vote-By-Mail ballots mailed to our office at the last minute can, by law, be accepted up to seven days following Election Day, as long as the envelope has an Election Day postmark. Of course, voters are encouraged to mail their ballots early or drop them off at Official Drop Boxes or the Lake County Registrar of Voters’ office. California voters may also return their Vote-By-Mail ballot to any Elections Office, Official Drop Box, Polling Place or Vote Center in California, which adds time before election officials can certify results.
In addition to voting by mail and voting in-person at a polling place, California offers Provisional Voting and Conditional Voter Registration (also known as Same Day Registration). Polls Provisional Ballots are cast at the Polling Places on Election Day. Reasons a voter may be issued a Provisional Ballot include:
• The voter is unable to surrender their Vote-By-Mail ballot to be issued a polls ballot;
• The voter’s name is not printed on the Roster-Index and/or the voter has moved and did not re-register to vote at their new residence address;
• A voter presents to a precinct other than their assigned voting precinct;
• A first-time voter required to provide ID is unable to do so; or
• The voter’s eligibility cannot be confirmed by the poll worker.
Conditional Voter Registration ballots are issued those who missed the regular voter registration deadline of October 21, but retain the option to vote in an Election by conditionally registering and casting a conditional ballot (i.e., “same-day voter registration”).
Provisional and Conditional ballots cannot be processed until after all Vote-By-Mail ballots have been processed and in-person history has been applied to ensure no voter has voted more than once.
As described here, there are many steps our office must complete to complete to certify an election. We provided unofficial election results on November 14, and will continue doing so once a week throughout the Canvass period, until the election is certified.
Staff and leadership are working evenings, weekends and holidays, and are committed to accurate and timely completion of our final certified results. We are committed to ensuring all legal requirements are met, and the integrity and transparency of the election process meets the highest of standards.
We understand and appreciate the interest many have in certified election results being delivered as soon as possible; as Registrar, I can confirm staff are working as quickly as possible while ensuring the results are reliable and accurate.
While all California Counties face the same requirements, Lake County’s resource limitations have meant our process regularly takes longer. Thank you for your continued patience as the Canvass process is dutifully completed.
California’s fentanyl task force helps seize over 1.7 million fentanyl pills in October
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced the continuation of the state’s effort to address the fentanyl crisis, with the California National Guard’s Counterdrug Task Force supporting the seizure of 1,541 pounds of illicit fentanyl in October. These seizures included over 1.7 million fentanyl pills at an estimated street value of $11.9 million.“California continues the intensive work of keeping fentanyl out of our communities, helping law enforcement seize over 204% more fentanyl last month than the month prior,” said Newsom. “I thank the California National Guard and law enforcement for their diligent and lifesaving work at our ports of entry and across the state.”
In June, Newsom increased the number of Cal Guard’s Counterdrug Task Force service members supporting fentanyl interdiction and seizing other drugs at California ports of entry from 155 to nearly 400.
In 2023, the governor increased the number of Cal Guard service members deployed to support drug interdiction at California ports of entry along the border by approximately 50%.
Fentanyl is primarily smuggled into the country by U.S. citizens through ports of entry.
Cal Guard’s coordinated drug interdiction efforts in the state are funded in part by California’s $60 million investment over four years to expand Cal Guard’s work to prevent drug trafficking by transnational criminal organizations.
This adds to the governor’s efforts to address fentanyl within California, including by cracking down on fentanyl in communities across the state, including San Francisco.
Addressing the opioid crisis
California is taking aggressive action to end the fentanyl and opioid crisis.
The Governor’s Master Plan for Tackling the Fentanyl and Opioid Crisis provides a comprehensive framework to deepen the impact of these investments, including aggressive steps to support overdose prevention efforts, hold the opioid pharmaceutical industry accountable, crack down on drug trafficking, and raise awareness about the dangers of opioids, including fentanyl.
The state launched opioids.ca.gov, a one-stop tool for Californians seeking resources for prevention and treatment, as well as information on how California is working to hold Big Pharma and drug traffickers accountable in this crisis.
In August, California launched the Facts Fight Fentanyl campaign to educate Californians on the dangers of fentanyl and how to prevent overdoses and deaths. This effort will provide critical information about fentanyl and life-saving tools such as naloxone.
As part of Gov. Newsom’s Master Plan for Tackling the Fentanyl and Opioid Crisis, over-the-counter CalRx-branded naloxone is now becoming available across the state.
Through the Naloxone Distribution Project, CalRx-branded over-the-counter naloxone HCL nasal spray, 4 mg, will be available for free to eligible organizations through the state or for sale for $24 per twin-pack through Amneal.
In support of President Joe Biden’s bilateral cooperation agreement with China on counternarcotics, the governor spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping in October about combating the transnational shipping of precursor chemicals used to create fentanyl.
