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Lakeport Police logs: Saturday, Jan. 10
Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026
00:00 EXTRA PATROL 2601100001
Occurred at Lake County Law Library on 3D....
Council to discuss telecommunications facility rules, consider committee for exploring road improvement revenue
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council this week will hold public hearings on telecommunication facilities rules and administrative penalties, and consider forming an ad hoc committee to seek funds for improving the city's roads.
The council will meet in closed session at 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13, to discuss litigation as well as property negotiations with Katz Kirkpatrick Properties regarding a potential sale of the city's 26-acre former airport property and a possible property purchase adjacent to Highlands Visitor Center before convening in open session at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
At the start of the meeting, the council will honor retiring Clearlake Police Sgt. Nick Bennett for his years of service and Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen will present new police department employees.
The council will hold a public hearing to consider a draft amendment to the zoning ordinance to add a new article and provisions to regulate telecommunications towers, antennae and related systems.
City Manager Greg Folsom's report to the council explains that the city has recently received several wireless facility applications “consisting mostly of proposals to install large cellular transmission towers.”
However, the city does not have any regulations in place currently to deal with such applications, Folsom noted.
The city's contract planner has drafted a set of regulations that currently are being reviewed by the Clearlake Planning Commission, which will hold a public hearing on the regulations on Aug. 18, according to Folsom.
Folsom's report said the council is being asked to review the draft regulations and provide any technical questions to staff ahead of the next council meeting on Aug. 27.
The council also will hold a public hearing to confirm assessments totaling $87,500 for administrative penalties for failure to abate nuisances on a number of properties.
In council business, council members will consider creating an ad hoc committee to explore sources of revenue for road improvements.
The item was placed on the agenda at the request of Vice Mayor Gina Fortino Dickson during the July 23 meeting.
The council has made several attempts over the last few years to pass a sales tax ballot measure to fund road improvements, but all have failed.
On the meeting's consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are warrant registers and the July 23 meeting minutes.
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MATH to discuss thanking firefighters, Dollar General proposal
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Area Town Hall this week will discuss a show of thanks to the firefighters who have been working to safeguard the county against the massive wildland fires in its borders and also will get a report from a committee exploring a new Dollar General store proposal.
MATH will meet in the activity room at the Middletown Community Center, 21256 Washington St., beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13.
Meetings are open to the community.
One of the main items of the night is approval of a letter expressing gratitude to Cal Fire and other responding agencies for their efforts on the recent wildland fires.
In other key items of business, Monica Rosenthal will give a report from the committee MATH formed to assess a proposal for a new Dollar General store in the town.
Cross Development is proposing to build the 9,100-square-foot store at 20900 S. Highway 29.
Also on Thursday, Marlene Elder will give an update on the monthly movies in Middletown Square Park. The family event kicked off in July and has had two showings so far.
Other items on the agenda will include public input, traffic on Santa Clara Street, road conditions on Big Canyon Road from the bridge the “Y,” MATH's bylaws, approval of the July 9 regular meeting minutes and items on the Sept. 10 agenda.
The board of directors includes Chairman Fletcher Thornton, Vice Chair Claude Brown, Secretary Ken Gonzales, and members Charlotte Kubiak and Mike Tabacchi.
MATH – established by resolution of the Lake County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 12, 2006 – is a municipal advisory council serving the residents of Anderson Springs, Cobb, Coyote Valley (including Hidden Valley Lake), Long Valley and Middletown.
Meetings are subject to videotaping.
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Jerusalem fire grows by 2,000 acres, triggers new mandatory evacuations
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – With the Jerusalem fire pushing aggressively to the north, firefighters continued their efforts to hold the fire's growth with ground and air resources, while local officials called for new mandatory evacuations on Tuesday evening.
During the course of Tuesday the fire grew another 2,000 acres, hitting the 14,000-acre mark by evening, at which point Cal Fire said it was 5-percent contained.
The fire began Sunday afternoon in the Jerusalem Valley area northeast of Middletown, south of the perimeter of the Rocky fire, which remained at 69,636 acres and 88-percent containment on Tuesday. The causes of both fires are being actively investigated.
More resources continue to be moved to the Jerusalem fire, which had 1,660 personnel assigned on Tuesday, along with 118 engines, 53 hand crews, 28 dozers, 22 water tenders, 18 helicopters and four air tankers also committed, Cal Fire said.
Based on Cal Fire's maps of the incident, a spur of the Jerusalem fire moved into Napa County some time during the past day.
Cal Fire said the Jerusalem fire is burning in heavy brush, with lack of roads and erratic winds continuing to hamper firefighters' efforts to contain the blaze.
On Tuesday evening, because of the fire's movement and continued growth, the Lake County Sheriff's Office issued new mandatory evacuations for all residents along Morgan Valley Road from the Rocky Fire burn area, which is near the Reiff Road intersection, east to the Napa County line, and for Reiff Road from the Morgan Valley Road intersection east to the Yolo County line, as Lake County News has reported.
Previously placed under mandatory evacuation was the Jerusalem Valley area east of Spruce Grove, including Tinilyn Road, Nicholas Way, Jaclyn Road, June Bug Drive, Jerusalem Grade, Jerusalem Valley Road, Jerusalem Road, W Jerusalem Road, Canyon Road, Coon Flat Road and Daly Place.
Officials said advisory evacuations remain in effect for Grange Road from Luchetti Ranch Road east to Bucksnort Creek, and Butts Canyon Road from Bucksnort Creek east to the Napa County line.
Altogether, Cal Fire said 50 structures remain threatened, but none have been burned or damaged thus far, with reports from the fire lines indicating firefighters have been working on structure protection.
Evacuees are being directed to Middletown High School, 20932 Big Canyon Road, where a Red Cross evacuation shelter remains open, telephone 415-971-0797.
The Lake County Office of Emergency Services reported that the Red Cross will close the Middletown shelter at noon on Wednesday and reopen the shelter at Kelseyville High School, 5480 Main St. That shelter can be reached at 415-307-4503.
Supervisors get fire update
The Board of Supervisors held a special meeting on Tuesday afternoon to discuss recovery efforts relating to the Rocky fire, with Supervisor Jim Comstock – in whose district the Jerusalem fire is burning – giving the board and a group of county and state officials an update on the incident.
Comstock noted during the report that he and his family have received an advisory evacuation notice because of the Jerusalem fire.
“It's expected to get a whole lot larger that it is now,” Comstock said of the fire, which at that point was still reported to be 12,000 acres.
He said the fire is burning into unpopulated areas, as well as the Rocky fire perimeter. “It's basically brush, rocks and rattlesnakes.”
Comstock cautioned that, due to conditions – including a forecast of hotter weather at week's end along with northwest winds – the fire could double in size again, as it did over Monday night and early Tuesday morning.
He said there is an effort to protect major power infrastructure in the area – which supplies electricity to much of the southern part of the county – from the fire.
Comstock said the fire is being driven by fuel and dry conditions, and has left some areas looking like moonscapes.
He credited firefighters for their jobs in protecting people and property.
Supervisor Jim Steele asked if there was any recorded burn history in the area. Comstock said yes, that much of the fire area has been burned previously. The site of the former US Coast Guard LORAN station, however, hasn't burned since the 1940s, he added.
Comstock had cautioned that a large plume of smoke was expected to be seen from the fire on Tuesday, and that was the case, with drift smoke that was seen as far away as Clearlake Oaks triggering calls to 911, based on radio reports.
He said he was remaining cautiously optimistic about progress on the fire as long as the winds come from the west.
Cal Fire said Jerusalem Valley Road is closed to all traffic at Spruce Grove Road, Morgan Valley Road from Reiff Road southeast to Napa County line and Reiff Road from Morgan Valley east to Yolo County line.
Per the Napa County Sheriff's Office, Berryessa Knoxville Road also is closed from Lake Berryessa north.
Cal Fire continues to estimate the Jerusalem fire will be fully contained on Aug. 17.
The Lake County Air Quality Management District reported that current weather patterns are carrying smoke from the Jerusalem fire to the east and north of Lake County, which so far has resulted in county air quality remaining in the good to moderate range.
However, the district said early forecasts for Friday and into the weekend indicate a change in the weather pattern that may bring smoke back into Lake County from the Jerusalem fire, causing air quality issues.
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Supervisors to discuss Rocky fire recovery in special meeting
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors will hold a special meeting this week to discuss the process for moving forward into the recovery phase of the Rocky fire.
The special meeting will be held beginning at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 11, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The Rocky fire is one of the largest wildland fires in Lake County's recorded history.
It has burned approximately 69,636 acres since it broke out on the afternoon of July 29 east of Lower Lake, eventually burning north of Highway 20 and east of Clearlake Oaks, and crossing into Colusa and Yolo counties.
At its height, the fire threatened nearly 7,000 structures, triggered evacuations near Lower Lake and Clearlake Oaks, and advisory evacuations in parts of Clearlake, and ultimately destroyed 43 homes and 53 outbuildings, damaging eight other structures as well, according to Cal Fire.
Cal Fire – which assembled a massive firefighting force on the incident that included personnel from across the nation – expects to fully contain the fire on Thursday.
Lake County Office of Emergency Services Manager Marisa Chilafoe told Lake County News in an interview late last week there are a number of high level policy decisions moving forward that ultimately will rest with the Board of Supervisor due to issues including liability.
As such, the Board of Supervisors will discuss and consider county policies in relation to the Rocky fire recovery process, including debris removal and environmental remediation in burn areas, building permit waivers and any other policies to assist fire victims, and temporary shelters for fire victims.
The board also will consider a resolution amending the county's recommended 2015-16 budget to appropriate funds for fire response and recovery.
For its part, the county already is moving to transition into the recovery, with a local assistance center – the LakeLAC – opening at 14092 Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake.
The LakeLAC will be open Monday, Aug. 10, through Wednesday, Aug. 12, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Additional hours will be evaluated based on need, officials said.
A virtual local assistance center also is available online at www.lakecountyLAC.com .
In addition, the around-the-clock Lake County Public Assistance Hotline is available at 1-800-325-9604 to help people get information about services including food pantries and shelters, counseling, damage assessment, disaster response and more.
The county also is partnering with North Coast Opportunities and Mendo Lake Credit Union on a Rocky fire relief fund. More information about the fund can be found at www.ncoinc.org/ and www.mlcu.org .
Email Elizabeth Larson at