The Lake County Planning Commission will meet starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 22, in the board chambers at the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

The commission will hold a public hearing, set to start at 9:05 a.m., on the final environmental impact report and environmental assessment on Bottle Rock Power Steam's proposed geothermal field expansion project.

The project is located within the Binkley and Francisco Leaseholds at 6743, 6825, 7358, 7385 and 7500 High Valley Road, Cobb.

Bottle Rock Power LLC is seeking a use permit, rezone and proposing modifications to its existing use permit and associated traffic control and road maintenance plan, as Lake County News has reported.

The company wants to rezone 60 acres of the property so that it can build two new geothermal well pads along with an access road, and 1.3 miles of new pipeline to connect to the existing pipeline serving the power plant, according to planning documents.

As part of the project, the company is proposing constructing up to 22 production and injection wells, which would be drilled on the two proposed well pads over the life of the project.

The county's planning department reported that the primary purpose for the proposed modifications to the existing permit and plan is to allow for relocation of the guard that is required during construction activities, and to update agency names and miscellaneous, obsolete provisions.

During the hearing the commission will consider certifying the final EIR and decide on the permit requests, as well as make a recommendation on the rezone proposal to the Board of Supervisors.

The commission held a Nov. 3 hearing on the draft environmental document, during which it took several hours of public testimony from residents of the area, who are concerned not only about the project but about Bottle Rock Power's adherence to its current permits and operational guidelines.

Those concerns have been the focus of several community meetings in Cobb over the last few years, as Lake County News has reported.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

The service will begin at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 24.

It will be a time of celebrating the birth of Jesus with the youth choir doing some fun songs and all singing carols and other songs.

They will have coffee, treats and hot cider afterwards. Everyone is welcome.

City Gate Church is located at 9980 Mill St., Lower Lake.

For more information, call Pastor Bert or Amy Galli at 707-701-4491.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 21, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

Staff reports for the agenda can be found at www.cityoflakeport.com/departments/docs.aspx?deptID=88&catID=102 .

City staff is asking Mayor Suzanne Lyons to make the annual appointments of council members to commissions, boards and committees.

Those groups include Lakeport Parks and Recreation, Lakeport Fire Protection District, Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce, Lakeport Main Street Association, Lake County/City Area Planning Council, Lake County Solid Waste Management Task Force, Lake County Abandoned Vehicle Abatement Service Authority, Lake County Vector Control, Clear Lake Advisory Committee, Local Agency Formation Commission, Lake County Airport Land Use Commission, Invasive Species Task Force Committee and the Clean Water Program Committee.

In other council news, a proclamation will be presented to William Mooney and Public Works Director Doug Grider will make a presentation regarding Westshore Pool.

Redevelopment, Housing and Economic Development Director Richard Knoll will ask the council to approve the city's Community Development Block Grant Housing Rehabilitation Program guidelines.

City Engineer Scott Harter will take to the council contract change orders and notices of completion for the South Main Street pedestrian improvement project and the Armstrong Street box culvert project.

The council will hold a closed session to discuss labor negotiations with the Lakeport Employees Association and Lakeport Police Officers Association.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

Jeri Spittler pictured in December 2009 with bags collected for The Joshua Project, named in honor of her late son. Photo courtesy of Jeri Spittler.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Children facing tough personal circumstances are the focus of an annual gift-gathering effort.

The Joshua Project collects bags of items for teens in Lake County Juvenile Hall and probation placement, as well as foster care and programs for at-risk youth.

This year they collected 42 bags of goods, according to businesswoman and newly sworn Clearlake City Council member Jeri Spittler.

“It's just amazing, really,” she said.

The bags collected for boys have socks, slippers, a sweat suit, T-shirts, blankets and toiletries, and the girls get pajamas, slippers, toiletries, blankets and even stuffed animals. Spittler said the teens also received MP3 players and snacks, with the bags costing about $100 to fill on average.

“Those bags are huge, they're heavy to pick up,” she said.

Spittler started the effort to collect Christmas gifts for teens seven years ago, after having started a Christmas stocking program for children. That effort started with 200 stockings a year and ended up giving out 900 stockings filled with gifts.

When her son, Joshua, died six years ago, Spittler said she wanted to remember him as part of the holiday project.

She was having lunch at the Soroptimists meeting one day and mentioned her ideas to Joy Swetnam of Lake Family Resource Center, who suggested she call it “The Joshua Project” in his honor. It was a name that just fit, said Spittler.

Since then, the project has focused increasingly on what Spittler called “a circle of kids that gets passed around” – those in foster care or who find themselves in juvenile hall.

She said the annual project has helped her not just address children in need but heal herself in the wake of her son's death.

After his death she found in a backpack a letter he had written explaining some of the things he'd dealt with in the years before he died, including drug abuse and other personal challenges with the family he lived with out of the area.

“As I read on I realized that my son's story was not so uncommon,” she said.

She added, “I recognized that children in our community were living the same sad story my own son described in his letter.”

Spittler said she has received support and assistance from Marlene Wentz, who purchased the first 300 bags, and Rebecca Whitmire, who she said “is the power that gets me going with her generosity every year.”

Cheri Johnson of Hidden Valley Lake took 120 bags to fill and renamed that effort Totes for Teens. Spittler said it's been gratifying to see that effort take place.

Spittler said she starts passing out the bags before the holidays. People come into her salon, Girlfriends, on Lakeshore Drive and pick up the bags, returning them when they're filled with goodies.

“It really is a nice presentation of the people that live here,” said Spittler, adding that it illustrates the positive things going on in the community.

“I love this time of year,” shes aid. “I love seeing this side of people.”

Spittler thanked everyone who has made the project a success every year. “We can help these teens have a Happy Holiday and feel like we really do care.”

It's important to reach out to children at any age. ““Kids are kids for a long time,” Spittler said.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

We must move forward in a positive way. Many years of negativity have gone on, it is time to stop the negativity and work together as a community, to move our city forward.

Clearlake will not survive if we do not come together. It is the community that is the glue to our book. If we lose that glue, then the book falls apart. Let’s not let that happen. My hope is that this council will allow committee’s to help look into all the things that need to happen in Clearlake.

As I have said before, a plan is just a dream, but a plan with an implement plan, is a dream come true. So let’s come together and make this dream for Clearlake come true for all of us.

We do not have time to wait until after the holidays to start things moving. We have a lot to consider and little time to make that happen. So please watch the PEG station and the newspapers for town hall meeting dates and time.

Our first town hall meeting will be on at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 20, at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive. This is regarding the use of redevelopment money for the police department. This is a new concept and there will be a PowerPoint presentation and a question and answer session.

Mission statement

“My promise to the citizens of Clearlake is that I will do everything in my power to, develop the best professional council and staff that is possible, and to improve our exiting business community with input and community involvement.”

Objectives

1. To develop and implement the best security force that is possible, to reduce crime and provide the best protection possible for our community.

2. Develop our existing staff and recruit the best staff we can afford.

3. To have an open dialogue with the community about its future. By this I plan on having town hall meetings regarding the airport property, Lakeshore Drive, the police department and redevelopment agency monies.

4. Start a junior council. This is where high school students run for office in the school. They then participate at the council meetings. It is a great way to bring the youth into our government process. These young children need to be more involved in the city, and how government works. I believe this is a great way to start that dialogue. They are our future.

May the new year bring happiness and prosperity to all in our community.

I look forward to serving you in the year 2011 as your mayor.

Joyce Overton is mayor of the city of Clearlake, Calif. She is in her second term on the Clearlake City Council.

A synopsis of the 170-page 2010 Health Needs Assessment was presented to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

County Health Services Department Director Jim Brown along with Public Health Officer Karen Tait and officials with St. Helena Hospital Clearlake and Sutter Lakeside Hospital offered the findings to the board.

The assessment is meant to present an overview of the state of health-related needs and benchmarks from which to gauge progress, which can help health care organizations improve community health and maximizing resources, according to a report from the group of health care agencies and groups that collaborated on the report.

Brown told the board that the last comprehensive assessment was completed in 2002. He credited St. Helena Hospital Clearlake with taking the lead on the project in 2009 and making it happen.

The report included a comprehensive assessment of primary data that came, in part, from 869 surveys and six community focus groups.

The data showed that 21 percent of Lake County's population is over age 65, compared with an 11.3 percent over-65 population across the rest of the state as a whole.

In Lake County, that group is expected to grow more, which the report suggested “will put a larger burden on the health care system and local economy, which may not have sufficient community services or tax base to support it.”

The overall population, now around 65,000, also is expected to increase by 45 percent by the year 2050.

In 2008, four in 10 Lake County households lacked enough income to cover “bare bones” living expenses, while one-third of the population was reported to be “food insecure,” the report said. In 2009, two-thirds of students were receiving free-reduced price lunches.

In addition, Lake County has the highest percentage of seniors covered by a combination of Medicare and Medi-Cal in the northern and Sierra Counties region, and the second lowest percentage of seniors that have private supplemental coverage in addition to Medicare.

Lake County’s high school dropout rate rose 5 percentage points from 2005 to 2008, rising to 16.7 percent, similar to that of the state rate, the report found. In general, dropout rates among Hispanic, African American and Native American students in Lake County were higher than the overall county rate.

Some statistics of concern involved smoking.

In Lake County, 17 percent of youth ages 12 to 17 reported that they smoke, compared to 4.8 percent of youth in the same age group statewide. Among adults, 14.5 percent statewide reported being smokers, compared to 25.9 percent in Lake County.

Compared to other Californians, Lake County residents are more likely to have annual dental visits for children, are less likely to die from diabetes and also are less likely to die from female breast cancer, the assessment found.

However, when compared to other Californians, Lake County residents are more likely to be obese and be an adult arrested for alcohol violations.

The assessment identified four key areas of focus for health partners in the years ahead, including preventive health, senior support services, substance use and abuse, and community-based mental health services.

The Community Health Needs Assessment was conducted by Barbara Aved and Associates and a partnership of the The Lake County Collaborative of Health Organizations and Funders, which includes representatives from St. Helena Hospital Clearlake, Sutter Lakeside Hospital, Lake County Public Health, First 5 Lake County, Lake Family Resource Center, Lake Country Tribal Health Consortium, United Way of the Wine Country, Mendocino Community Health Clinic, Inc., Lake County Mental Health, Health Leadership Network and the Area Agency on Aging.

The Lake County Community Health Needs Assessment can be found at http://health.co.lake.ca.us.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .