LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Forecasters have issued a winter storm warning for Lake County and other parts of Northern California as new storms headed toward the region are expected to bring still more snow.
The warning goes into effect at 4 p.m. Friday and will remain active until 4 p.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
The National Weather Service said two cold storms are forecast to bring significant snowfall to the Northern California mountains and higher foothills over the weekend, which also will result in periods of dangerous winter driving conditions.
Forecasters expected the first storm will bring light mountain snow as early on Friday, followed by moderate snowfall Friday night through early Saturday.
A second and stronger storm will bring heavy snowfall Saturday afternoon through Sunday night, the National Weather Service said.
The National Weather Service said these cold systems will bring low snow levels with many foothill locations seeing snowfall again throughout the weekend.
Heavy snowfall is expected above 2,500 feet, with light accumulations down to 1,000 feet, based on the forecast.
For much of Lake County, snow is in the forecast from Friday through Tuesday. New snow accumulations are predicted to be half an inch a day from Friday through Saturday, with 1 to 2 inches possible on Sunday.
Daytime temperatures through the weekend will range from the high 30s to the mid-40s, while nighttime temperatures will drop into the mid-20s on Sunday night and rise slightly into the 30s the rest of the week.
There also will be light winds in the single digits on Saturday, with predictions of winds into the low 20s – and gusts into the 30s – on Saturday night in the south county.
With the Cobb area expected to get significant snowfall all day Friday, ahead of much of Lake County, on Thursday night the Middletown Unified School District canceled school in Cobb on Friday.
In a message posted on the district’s Facebook page, Middletown Superintendent Catherine Stone said that because of the snow the district also will not be able to send buses up the mountain to pick up Middletown Middle School and Middletown High School students, so Friday will be an excused absense.
Stone said all other schools will be in session and other buses will run as normal.
District officials will watch the weather next week closely as “we are concerned that we may need to have a late start due to ice on Monday morning,” Stone said. She urged parents to check the district Facebook page or Web site, or to call the district at 707-987-4149 for updated information.
All other Lake County schools will be open on Friday, according to the Lake County Office of Education.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors has directed county Community Development Department staff to begin contacting Valley fire area property owners whose temporary dwelling permits, offered under direction of the governor, have expired.
Community Development Director Michalyn DelValle and Chief Building Official Mary Jane Montana appeared before the board on Tuesday morning to discuss the issue.
DelValle said former Gov. Jerry Brown’s executive order – issued at the start of October 2015, just days before the fire, which ravaged the south county, was fully contained – suspended all land use and zoning ordinances for a period of three years, allowing for temporary dwellings.
She said that executive order expired Oct. 1.
Community Development records show the department issued 152 Valley fire temporary dwelling permits, 19 of which are still being used, DelValle said.
DelValle said she and her staff wanted the board’s guidance on how to move forward now that the governor’s executive order has expired and the rules it suspended in the county’s zoning ordinance are back in effect.
“We wanted to find out if we need to notify these 19 temporary dwelling permit holders that their permits have expired,” she said.
Supervisor Moke Simon, whose district includes most of the fire area, said he attended the Anderson Springs Community Alliance meeting last month, “And it definitely is an issue that keeps coming up,” both in Anderson Springs and across the entire Valley fire footprint.
Simon asked if an inventory had been done of the 19 remaining dwellings to see if they are in the process of rebuilding, or in any process at all. “What we don’t need is long term, which I think we’re getting.”
If those property owners aren’t doing anything, Simon said the county needed to send them a letter and encourage them to move forward. He said he thought the county had potentially been going to go on a case-by-case basis to look at the different properties.
“Those 19 remaining have not started the building permit process,” Montana replied.
Supervisor Rob Brown, who formerly served on the board of Hammers for Hope, one of the organizations that received state grant funding to assist fire survivors with rebuilding, said some applicants for that program were waiting to be approved through that process and were waiting to apply to the county for permits.
Simon said it was a similar situation with Hope City, another organization assisting with the rebuild. “I do believe that we need to get notice out to them, we need to let them know that the three years is up, you need to be in process,” and that the county can then slowly work through each case. He said he was willing to help make contact with the individuals involved.
Montana said Community Development is proposing to send a letter to those 19 permit holders letting them know that their temporary permits have expired and that in order to comply with county regulations they need to submit a building permit so they can stay there while the new house is being constructed.
She said they also would remind the 19 that the county recently had reduced the minimum square footage – from 720 to 360 square feet – which will be less of a financial challenge to rebuild for some, and then give them a timeframe to comply. She proposed six months, or 180 days, to submit a building permit application.
Montana said that plan doesn’t include the people living on properties in RVs who never got the temporary dwelling permits in the first place. She said they will be handled separately, and notified that they don’t comply with county rules and that they need to take action.
“They need to be notified that that’s no longer an option for them until they submit their building permit,” she said.
Simon asked if she had a number for those unpermitted RVs. She didn’t, but offered an educated guess of between 20 and 25, based on what she’s seen in the field.
Brown said it would be worth cross-referencing the temporary permit holders with those who have applied to Hammers for Hope, Hope City and Habitat for Humanity, noting that there had been some challenges getting people qualified for the rebuilding assistance. He said it’s not happening that fast for them due to no fault of their own.
Board Chair Tina Scott asked Montana if staff could add language to that effect, and Montana said they could ask in the letter if they have applications in place and, if so, to let Community Development know.
Brown said that, overall, 19 isn’t a huge number, and only about 1 percent of the structures lost in the Valley fire. “I’m with moke, we can’t go on forever with it. But, I know that, people are doing the best they can in a lot of cases.”
Special Districts Administrator Jan Coppinger said she’s working on the new sewer system project in Anderson Springs. She has about 15 people in that area that she’s not sure will qualify for state assistance in upgrading their systems because she doesn’t know if they have gone through the permit process. She said she knows who is on the list for Hope City and the state because they’ve contacted her.
However, there are a few people living in situations that are not legal, some of them letting sewage spill on the ground. “I don’t want to legitimize that,” Coppinger said.
“We need to deal with that right away,” said Brown.
Coppinger said she has sent pictures and information to Environmental Health, but that the people say they have no place to go.
Supervisor Bruno Sabatier said he approved of the idea of the letter and how to address the situation. He said people are proposing different types of dwellings, like conex boxes, or cargo containers. But he agreed that something needed to be done separately with those who weren’t permitted in the first place and are creating health hazards.
“We’ve got to start somewhere,” and the letter is a great place to start, said Simon. He said he and Brown likely will be the first to get the phone calls, and they can work to find if the remaining 19 qualify for help and hopefully get them moved in the right direction. He said some people are just now getting building permits after three years, and others are still in the approval stages.
Brown suggested including contact information for Hammers for Hope and Hope City in the letter, since the property owners may not know that’s an option.
Simon also asked to see a draft of the letter before it goes out.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LUCERNE, Calif. – The Lucerne Area Town Hall is planning a special Saturday meeting in order to discuss possible action in response to a proposed 16-percent rate increase by California Water Service Co., which will be topic of a Monday hearing.
The town hall will meet at 6 p.m. Saturday at the First Lutheran Church of Lucerne, 3863 County Club Drive.
Members will hear a presentation about Cal Water’s general rate case that is currently before the California Public Utilities Commission.
The town hall also will consider possibly taking action in response to Lucerne’s water rates.
The California Public Utilities Commission will hold a public forum on Cal Water’s rate increase request from 6 to 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11, at the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center, 3985 Country Club Drive.
Cal Water’s rate case is seeking a total 16.4-percent increase over three years, totaling approximately $115,136,100, across all of its systems statewide.
The rate increase breaks down as follows:
– $50,673,500 (or 7.6 percent) in 2020; – $31,461,900 (or 4.4 percent) beginning on Jan. 1, 2021; and – $33,000,700 (or 4.4 percent) beginning on Jan. 1, 2022.
Community members are welcome to come and give input at the Feb. 11 public participation hearing.
The CPUC reported that public comments will help it reach an informed decision in Cal Water’s rate case.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Konocti Unified School District Board held a special meeting Wednesday afternoon with a consulting firm to discuss the recruitment process as it begins the search for a new superintendent.
The meeting at the district office included the approval of the contract with Education Leadership Solutions LLC, which the board had voted last month to hire to lead the recruitment, as Lake County News has reported.
The firm is led by Wally Holbrook, a retired Lake County superintendent of schools, and Dr. Richard Smith, also a retired school superintendent.
President Sue Burton, Clerk Mary Silva, and members Joan Mingori and Patricia Bening-Hale were present for the special meeting. Member Bill Diener was absent.
Also in attendance was district Superintendent Donna Becnel, who is retiring at the end of the school year.
The board voted 4-0 to approve the contract, which is not to exceed $12,000.
Holbrook said he and Smith consult with school boards and administrators, especially in small rural districts, where they do leadership and board trainings.
They wanted to give the board an outline of what the process will look like along with a draft timeline. “We'd really like to hit the ground running on this,” Holbrook said.
Smith emphasized the need to have a positive hiring process to help get off on the right foot with the new superintendent.
“We believe that small school districts have special needs that are very difficult to meet,” Smith said.
This will be their first time leading a superintendent recruitment process. “And to be honest with you, that's why we're so excited about this,” said Holbrook.
The process to be used this time will closely resemble one the district has used previously, with one if its key aspects including two interview teams – one team consisting of the board and the second a community group of up to 17 members.
Smith and Holbrook recommended a structured interview process, with questions determined in advance and all of the candidates asked the same questions in order to be able to compare their answers.
“it takes a lot of guesswork out of the process,” Smith said.
Holbrook said the questions will be based on input from community members, the board and district certificated, classified and management staff. The board also will determine who is appointed to the community interview team.
The process timeline has them hosting the first meetings to gather input on desired superintendent attributes with classified and certificated staff on Thursday afternoon and meeting with management on Feb. 13.
The board will outline its superintendent attributes at a special meeting ahead of its regular board meeting on Feb. 20, with a special board meeting tentatively scheduled on Feb. 27 to develop its final attributes list.
Further meetings with certificated staff are planned on Feb. 20 and 21. Meetings with community group members haven’t yet been scheduled.
The superintendent’s position will be published in EdCal – a publication of the Association of California School Administrators – on March 4.
Applicants must fill out an online survey through TargetSuccess, an educational human development organization, by March 21, and that survey must be completed ahead of the application deadline at noon on March 22.
On March 30, the board will review the applicants and determine the candidates to be interviewed. The interviews will take place all day on April 6, with final interviews to take place the following day. The board can then schedule a site visit to the finalist’s school site on April 10, negotiate the contract through April 16, and have the contract document ready for board approval on April 17.
Holbrook went over how the interview day on April 6 will look, with the candidates being separately interviewed by both interview teams and the finalists being notified that night for a less-structured interview just by the board on April 7.
Regarding the TargetSuccess profile report to be completed by each of the candidates in an online survey, Holbrook explained that he helped develop the organization’s superintendent survey, so it is allowing him to use its survey for Konocti Unified at no charge.
“That provides you some more data. It's good, clear, measurable, informed data to make a decision,” he said, and will provide a detailed report on each candidate. He said they can also get the reports early and condense them, which is a new process.
He said it takes about a half hour to complete for each candidate, and then TargetSuccess generates a report and sends it to him.
Mingori asked if March 22 is too early for the application deadline.
Becnel said it has more to do with the length of advertising time. She explained that people seeking this type of job are looking in February and March. Traditionally, interviews are in April and contracts finalized in May.
The board finished the hour-and-a-half-long workshop by briefly going over the job announcement. Some of the key requirements will be a teaching credential, six references – three professional and three nonprofessional – and five years of teaching experience, desired.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Wednesday morning, a Lake County Superior Court judge sentenced an Upper Lake man to prison for the June strangling death of his wife in a case that saw members of both sides of the couple’s family asking for leniency.
Judge J. David Markham sentenced 64-year-old William “Bill” Morton Henry, to six years in state prison for the killing of his wife, 51-year-old Cindi Henry, on June 11 in their Elliot Street home.
In December, Henry reached an agreement with the District Attorney’s Office in which he pleaded to manslaughter, as Lake County News has reported.
A probation report prepared for the case recommended the low term of three years in state prison, and that was the sentence family members had asked the court to hand down.
However, Judge Markham gave Henry the middle term of six years because he found the crime to have a high degree of cruelty.
Henry’s sentencing had stretched over several court appearances beginning late last month, with some of the delays due to attorneys being held up in other proceedings. That was the case on Jan. 28, when Sullivan was delayed on a matter out of county. That led to the sentencing being held over to Monday.
On Monday, the case was delayed initially because Deputy District Attorney Rachel Abelson was in another courtroom handling a preliminary hearing.
At that point, District Attorney Susan Krones – who had overseen the plea agreement before she took office, while she was still a senior deputy district attorney – told Markham she had familiarity with the case and could handle it in Abelson’s absence.
Markham said he had received and read the Jan. 16 probation report and, at that point, intended to follow the low-term recommendation. But before making a final decision, he took victim impact statements from members of the family.
The judge and other members of the court heard from the couple’s family members about the suffering that all of them had endured since Cindi Henry’s killing, as well as their love for both Bill and Cindi Henry. There also was a remarkable and almost unanimous offering of forgiveness and hope that Bill Henry wouldn’t be sent to prison for a long time.
Bill Henry did not look directly at any of his family members as they spoke, but sat quietly next to Sullivan at the defense table, wearing an orange and white jail jumpsuit and handcuffed with waist shackles.
“It’s still really difficult to wrap my mind around the fact that we’re here in this situation under these circumstances,” said Josh Henry, Bill Henry’s son. “My dad has always been the kind of guy people come to when they need help or a kind word.”
He said his father and stepmother’s home was a place of music and laughter, but a few months before the killing, he said a change occurred. While he never saw anything violent, he said Cindi Henry – who used to welcome him at the door – had begun to turn off the lights and not answer the door when people came by. At the same time, his father would seem confused and repeat stories over and over.
Josh Henry said he stopped going to visit them very often, even though he lived a few blocks away, which he said he’ll regret for the rest of his life. He said they were strong people and he didn’t think it could come to a point where they couldn’t handle things.
“There are a lot of horrible, evil people in this world. I know my dad's not one of them,” he said, adding that no good would be done by putting his father away for the rest of his life. Rather, he said, the family needed him home so they could heal.
Kellie Henry, Josh Henry’s wife, wept as she explained having to discuss the situation with her children and watching her husband cope and take on more family responsibilities. “I want to ask this court not to take away any more time from my family.”
She added, “We have all lost so much already.”
Jaemi Nunn, an advocate in the Lake County District Attorney’s Office Victim-Witness Division, then came forward to read three victim impact statements – from Cindi Henry’s mother Margaret Foutch, her brother Mark Foutch, and her oldest daughter, Annie Peters, all of them asking for leniency for Bill Henry while also acknowledging their love for Cindi Henry.
Margaret Foutch said she couldn’t have asked for a better son-in-law, and Peters said Henry had always been a caring and supportive father figure. “He has always been a good man in the lives of my sister and I,” she wrote, adding, “I still support and have much admiration for Bill himself.”
Mark Foutch said he watched the couple live in harmony and peace for 14 years, and said they were his second parents, with Bill Henry helping him turn his life around. However, he said alcohol took over and changed their lives.
He added that Bill Henry will forever be tormented by the killing, and his sister’s death has caused turmoil in both the Henry and Foutch families, which have been intertwined for more than 100 years.
Whitney Peters, another daughter of Cindi Henry, wept as she read her own statement. She called Bill Henry her dad, and started off by saying how much she loved him and that what he did was an accident.
She said she would always love and miss her mother. “She was my best friend.” However, she said she had forgiven her father for what he had done.
“I want him to know when he comes home we will all be waiting,” Peters said, asking for the least punishment possible. She said her mother is in a better place, “with no more pain and anger,” and Peters alleged that her biological father’s abuse of her mother left her in a condition in which nothing could have helped her.
Another private statement from Suzanne Henry was submitted to the judge for consideration but was not read aloud in court. He read it and marked it as Exhibit A.
Krones said that while BIll Henry had no prior record, she argued for a higher prison term, noting the cruelty of the killing.
“He could have left the house, he could have done a lot of things, but instead he stayed in the house and when it got to the point to where it became a very heated argument he could have left at that time, but he didn’t,” Krones said.
Krones didn’t consider an argument between a husband and wife an unusual circumstance in great provocation, adding there was no evidence that Cindi Henry attacked Bill Henry physically, but that she berated him.
She said strangulation takes several minutes and the Bill Henry could have stopped and asked himself what he was doing. Krones also noted that he did not give the Probation Department a statement for its sentencing recommendation report.
Abelson, who arrived in court while the victim impact statements were being read, joined Krones to offer information about the aggravating factors. As she and Krones were discussing the violence of Cindi Henry’s death, two women from the three rows of family members abruptly got up and left the courtroom, weeping.
Henry’s attorney, Andrea Sullivan, asked the court to take into consideration what Cindi Henry’s own children and family suggested about a sentence with the least time possible.
She said last year’s preliminary hearing in the case had addressed the issues the prosecution had raised, and she went on to explain that the killing occurred after Cindi Henry became intoxicated and angry, and began to berate her husband, calling him horrible names and criticizing him for his sexual performance.
He told investigators that the argument went on longer than usual so Bill Henry went to bed. His wife followed him into the room and continued to berate him and scream at him, and based on the evidence, Sullivan said he snapped.
Sullivan said that the strangulation could be considered accidental, and stated that Bill Henry had no prior domestic violence incident lodged against him.
She said he also took immediate responsibility for killing his wife. While he left the area for a few days, he left a note and has maintained good relations with both families.
“He is very, very remorseful,” and his not giving a statement to the Probation Department shouldn’t be held against him because it is very raw for him, too, Sullivan said.
Sullivan said the statement submitted to the court by Suzanne Henry should not be considered and is inflammatory, and if any of the allegations it contained were true – which were not outlined in court but which Sullivan said later included a claim that Bill Henry has a temper – that she should have contacted law enforcement. As such, Sullivan asked the court to disregard it.
“I'm going to take all the statements seriously,” Markham replied.
Krones argued that Suzanne Henry’s statement should be considered just like the others, and she said that an argument between a husband and wife didn’t rise to the level of great provocation. She said that Bill Henry could have taken responsibility sooner and called law enforcement immediately, not disappear for a few days.
Markham found Bill Henry’s lack of a prior record a mitigating circumstance, but didn’t find his wife’s berating of him to be another factor of mitigation. “Like Ms. Krones stated, those are only words.”
At that point, it was the end of the day and Markham said he wanted to hold the matter over until Wednesday morning to further consider the case.
On Wednesday morning, the sentencing went forward as planned, with Markham giving the six-year term rather than three years because he considered Cindi Henry’s killing more vicious than other manslaughter cases, while at the same time taking Bill Henry’s lack of criminal history into consideration.
Sullivan said Henry will get a significant amount of custody credits that are expected to reduce his time in state prison.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lakeport Police’s chief on Tuesday gave the Lakeport City Council his annual update on response times and the call volume for the past year.
Chief Brad Rasmussen said he was very pleased with the response times for calendar year 2018, which are better than 2017.
His report begins in the video above at the 4:56 mark.
Rasmussen broke down calls into different priority levels, and also outlined the types of crimes his officers investigated in 2018.
Regarding response times, he said priority one calls – which are emergencies – had an average of three minutes, while priority two, nonemergencies that need to be deal with as soon as possible, are 11 minutes, and priority three, which are cold calls to be handled when available, average 18 minutes.
Overall, Rasmussen said Lakeport Police officers responded to 9,971 incidents in 2018. Of those, 4,968 were community-generated calls for service, the other half were officer-initiated activity in which officers saw something, responded or assisted.
The incidents that were initiated by officers included 2,689 traffic stops and the remaining 2,314 included pedestrian contacts, helping community members or responding to suspicious activity, he said.
Regarding part one crimes, which the agency has to report to the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Department of Justice, Rasmussen offered the following statistics: homicide, 0; rape, 1; robberies, five; assaults, 62, of which 21 were aggravated; burglaries, 48; larcenies, 114; stolen vehicles, 13; arsons, 0; domestic violence cases, 34.
He said they made 91 felony arrests and 482 arrests on misdemeanor warrants.
Rasmussen said they investigated 147 crimes relating to driving under the influence and made 95 arrests. Almost half of those arrests were made by one officer, Casey DeBolt, who Rasmussen said is very skilled at dealing with DUI and for most of the year was working on the weekend night shift, which lends itself to more DUI arrests.
Debolt is going to be submitted for consideration for a law enforcement award from the California Mothers Against Drunk Drivers this spring, Rasmussen said.
Lakeport Police officers’ other traffic-related work included responding to 50 collisions, of which 35 required investigations and another 15 resulted in property damage only with no investigations. Rasmussen said there also were 289 moving citations, 50 other infractions and 123 parking cites.
He said their detective, Dale Stoebe, was referred 72 serious criminal investigations, “which most of the time are serious felony crimes, serious assaults, burglaries, sex offenses, things of that nature.”
In the course of investigating those 72 cases, Rasmussen said Stoebe wrote 20 affidavits for search warrants to seize evidence.
Councilman Kenny Parlet asked how many of the misdemeanors would formerly have been felonies but have been reduced due to proposition 47 and 57.
Rasmussen acknowledged that some would have been felonies, but he said he didn't have a breakdown.
“Great work,” Mayor Tim Barnes told Rasmussen.
Parlet also lauded Rasmussen’s agency for “great response times.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Flu activity in Lake County is expected to increase in coming weeks, according to Lake County interim Public Health Officer, Dr. Erin Gustafson.
“Flu is circulating at elevated levels throughout California, and it’s not too late to get a flu shot,” Dr. Gustafson said.
The California Department of Public Health recently announced that influenza activity is widespread and increasing throughout California.
Influenza has already claimed the lives of two children so far this season in Stanislaus and Riverside counties.
These tragedies serve as a reminder that influenza can be deadly. Last year, eight in 10 children who died from flu complications were unvaccinated, public health officials reported.
To limit illnesses and deaths attributed to influenza, CDPH recommends that everyone six months of age and older, including pregnant women, receive influenza vaccine every year.
Children 6 months through 8 years of age who have received fewer than two doses of influenza vaccine will typically need two doses this season spaced at least 4 weeks apart.
Influenza activity usually peaks in January and February but continues to spread through the spring. With most of the flu season still to come, it’s not too late to get vaccinated, officials said.
Since Sept. 30, 2018, there have been 151 deaths and 28 outbreaks statewide, according to the Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses Weekly Report from the Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses Weekly Report California Influenza Surveillance Program, for the week of Jan. 20 to 26.
Flu activity remains elevated in California, based on laboratory surveillance indicators.
Symptoms of the flu can include a fever, headache, fatigue, cough, nasal congestion, sore throat and body aches. Flu activity usually peaks between December and February each year, but can last until May.
This year’s flu shot is expected to be about 20 percent effective, according to tests by Rice University bioengineer Dr. Michael Deem. That means that among those who are vaccinated, 20 percent fewer will get the flu compared to those who are not vaccinated.
While 20 percent might not sound like much, that’s still enough to prevent 5.3 million infections and 85,000 flu-related hospitalizations nationwide, according to CDC estimates.
Doctors’ offices, pharmacies, Lake County’s local health departments and even many grocery stores all offer flu shots. The vaccine is recommended for everyone over the age of six months. Those at the highest risk of getting the flu – and of having complications if they do get it – are young children, pregnant women, people over the age of 65, and those with chronic health conditions.
Though most people recover from the flu in one to two weeks, it can lead to further complications such as pneumonia, bronchitis, and sinus and ear infections.
Please see the Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses Weekly Report here.
Lake County Public Health is offering seasonal flu vaccines for $2 while supplies last.
For the month of February Public Health will be offering flu vaccines on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Public Health Division, 922 Bevins Court in Lakeport.
Appointments are required for Tuesdays, walk-ins are accepted on Thursdays.
Please call 707-263-1090 or 800-794-9291 to schedule.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday night to approve a budget adjustment to pay for a fiscal analysis that’s a key part of moving forward with the proposed annexation of the South Main Street corridor.
The corridor – the most lucrative commercial area in county jurisdiction – has been in the city’s sphere of influence since at least the 1980s, and the city’s more recent attempts to move toward annexing it has led to clashes with the county, which has been loath to part with the area for financial reasons.
The county remains unwilling to give up the corridor, according to county Supervisor Tina Scott, and based on Tuesday’s meeting it appears that the city and county are headed into another struggle over the area, with officials on both sides giving divergent versions of previous negotiation attempts.
Lakeport Community Development Director Kevin Ingram said one of the council’s stated goals is the completion of the annexation this year.
In addition to giving an overall update on the annexation plans on Tuesday night, Ingram said staff also was asking for a $17,980 budget adjustment to do the fiscal analysis.
He said the proposed annexation area is 125 acres south of the city limits, consisting of 52 parcels.
In 2016, the Lake Local Area Formation Commission, or LAFCo, the agency responsible for the review and approval of spheres of influence and annexations within Lake County, reviewed and approved the city’s sphere of influence, he said.
“It would be an understatement to say that this annexation is controversial,” said Ingram.
He said the city has attempted to meet with the county regarding the matter, but the county has said they are not interested. The county also has threatened to cancel encroachments in the area and asked LAFCo to remove the area from the city’s sphere of influence in 2016, according to Ingram.
The importance of moving forward is due to needing to provide public drinking water, fire prevention through hydrants and water laterals, and other water infrastructure because a large road widening project is slated to constructed in the area in 2021 and that water system work needs to be done ahead of, or in concert with, the road project, he said.
Ingram said there also have been several notices of violation by the California Department of Water Resources for water systems in the area due to inadequate infrastructure or poor water quality. Some of those properties have been told that they need to hook into a public water system or make serious improvements.
He said staff has been working diligently on the LAFCo application, which they intend to submit this spring.
The LAFCo submission includes the application, statement of justification, plan of services, legal description, property tax sharing agreement between city and county, California Environmental Quality Act environmental documentation and a resolution of application from the city council, according to Ingram’s written report. Due to the history and controversy associated with the matter, the LAFCo executive director recommended the city conduct a fiscal analysis that looks at the annexation’s impact on both the county and city.
Ingram said the controversy over a tax sharing agreement between the city and county has been a problem.
He said the city plans to move forward with agreements established with the county in 2001 and 2002, in which the city agreed not to annex the South Main Street area for a period of 10 years unless it entered into a new revenue sharing agreement for property tax.
Ingram gave a brief outline of the steps involved in the annexation process, including the council passing a resolution of application and filing the application with LAFCo; the LAFCo executive officer reviewing the city’s application documents and the resolutions effecting the property tax exchange and, if all is in order, issuing a certificate of filing and providing written notice to all affected local agencies; Lake LAFCo conducting the first public hearing and adopting a resolution making determinations either approving, denying or modifying the annexation proposal, and if the application is approved, LAFCo will establish the date for the second public hearing also called the “protest hearing.”
During the protest hearing, written and oral testimony is received. Ingram’s report said that, depending on the number of written protests received from registered voters and landowners, the commission orders the annexation, orders the annexation subject to an election or terminates the annexation.
Should LAFCo order the annexation, the executive officer issues a certificate of completion after receipt and review of the required documents, records the certificate with the county recorder, and files a statement of boundary change with the State Board of Equalization.
Supervisor, business owners speak against annexation
During public comment, Supervisor Scott told the council, “I inherited this situation.”
Scott offered a different version of events than Ingram’s. “The county did sit down with the city many times.”
She said they thought they had a tax sharing agreement, but when she and County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson returned later for a followup meeting, she said Councilwoman Stacey Mattina explained what the city was offering, and Scott said it wasn’t what they had agreed to previously.
“The county is in no position to give up any tax revenue,” said Scott.
She said she had many phone calls from people demanding that she go to city hall and fight for them. “They have no interest in being annexed with the city.”
Scott said the county has been working diligently to figure out a proper water source for South Main Street in order to get the pipes in the ground before the road project. She said they have some money set aside and also have submitted an application to the US Department of Agriculture.
“We have every intention to bring water to South Main,” said Scott.
Scott added that they had many property owners there who wanted to speak.
In all, five people spoke; two of them asked questions about the process, two property owners spoke against it and another man who doesn’t live in the annexation area but worked for the county said he didn’t support it.
Suzanne Lyons, LAFCo’s alternate public representative, said it gets very confusing when they’re talking about tax sharing.
“It's a big project that’s being taken on down there,” she said. She added that the cost benefits to the different agencies aren’t clear, and she questioned if anyone actually had done the short- and long-term analysis.
City Manager Margaret Silveira said that’s what was on the agenda, working with a consultant to conduct that fiscal analysis.
Lyons said she had been waiting for that a long time, then returned to her seat in the audience and said, “There’s no meat on the bone.” To which Scott, sitting near her, replied, “There’s meat, that’s why they want it.”
Business owners Paul Breunig and Ron Rose said they were against the annexation, and Rose said the property owners would go to former Supervisor Anthony Farrington – who had been meeting with property owners to rally against the annexation – and have him file a class action lawsuit on their behalf.
John DelSignore, a retired county well expert, said the annexation “has been an ongoing problem,” and said he’s opposed to it, calling it a money grab. DelSignore does not live in the annexation area.
Council members defend city plans
Councilman Kenny Parlet said Farrington previously was responsible for an extremely aggressive campaign to give a one-sided depiction of what was going on with the annexation. “He's the go-to guy if you're against annexation.”
Parlet said the city now has a necessity and obligation to grow, noting the sphere of influence and the water problems.
“The county, they love it the way it is,” he said, accusing the county of taking the money from the corridor’s tax base and doing nothing with it for that area, while the city has plans to improve the water line. “I don't think today is the time we talk about that because we've kind of been hornswoggled.”
He disputed Scott’s portrayal of the city and county having many meetings. He said there were maybe two, and by the third meeting – which city officials later clarified happened last year – county officials refused to discuss the matter further after Mattina told the county what the city was offering.
“We were prepared to do whatever was necessary to get this done,” said Parlet, who explained that Supervisor Rob Brown told the city at that final meeting that the county was done talking about the matter.
“They're worried about losing their revenue, that's all they cared about,” Parlet said, adding that the city had been willing to offer the county much of the property tax income.
“There's two sides, and you've only been given one side,” he said.
He said it’s an extremely complicated issue, but he maintained that citizens would see more benefits if they were in city jurisdiction. “This will be our town and we will take care of it better than the county ever did.”
Councilwoman Mireya Turner said the council will have plenty of opportunities in the future to discuss the benefits of annexation, but that what was before them on Tuesday night was the opportunity to gain more solid data to help them and the public in moving forward.
“It's unfortunate how much misinformation is still out there. It's mind-boggling,” said Mattina.
Mayor Tim Barnes asked if the fiscal analysis would be a comprehensive study on the financial consequences for the city and county. Silveira said yes.
Mattina moved to approve the budget adjustment for the fiscal analysis, with Parlet seconding and the council approving it 4-0. Councilman George Spurr was absent for the meeting.
Following the vote – which occurred about two-thirds of the way through the meeting – Scott, who usually remains throughout the council meetings she attends, left the chambers along with the others who had come to speak against the annexation and didn’t return.
Supervisor Brown explains his role in negotiations
Lake County News later contacted Supervisor Brown to ask him about the statements made about city-county negotiations.
Brown denied calling off the negotiations, as Parlet had claimed, and said that last year when they went to discuss the matter, it was the city who said they wouldn’t negotiate as they already had an agreement that would allow them to move forward. That agreement is likely one of those from 2001 or 2002 mentioned by city staff at the meeting.
“Whatever the agreement was in 2001 really doesn’t make any difference now,” said Brown.
He said at that last meeting involving city and county officials last year, Mattina and Parlet were present, and by that time the county “had already agreed on what it was that we needed and we couldn’t take anything less.”
Brown added, “They weren’t willing to negotiate so I asked if we can hold off until we did a little more research as to what it was we could, or would be willing to do.”
He said at one point city officials told the county that they could sue them over the annexation, which he said he told them changed the situation.
He said Special Districts Administrator Jan Coppinger is working on designing a system for the area and, like Scott, he related that Coppinger is working on grant funding through the USDA, which was slowed by the shutdown.
Brown said the city taking over the area would be a “big loss” of much-needed revenue for the county, which is already facing major fiscal challenges.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
A field trip to Trailside Park in Middletown, Calif., with Cathy Koehler in 2018. Photo courtesy of Middletown Art Center staff. MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Art Center is pleased to announce that the EcoArts Sculpture Walk, formerly held annually at the Middletown Trailside Park, will reopen with a reception June 1.
The 107-acre park, a county preserve, was burned in the Valley fire. Nine of 10 directors and half of the members of EcoArts and Middletown Art Center lost their homes. This means the 14th year of the EcoArts Sculpture Walk will be exceptionally challenging but also a unique opportunity to revitalize a local cultural and recreational gem.
On Feb. 9 from noon to 2 p.m, Cathy Koehler, ecologist and resident director at UC Davis McLaughlin Reserve, will lead a group tour of the park with focus on the 2019 Sculpture Walk location. Artists are encouraged to join the tour to gain firsthand exposure to the changed environment.
For those who can’t be there, a video of the tour will be available on the Web site. Everyone is welcome. Please RSVP to the Middletown Art Center if you plan to join.
They will meet at the center at 11:50 a.m. Call 707-809-8118, for further information or to confirm the trip due to weather.
“Recovery is the word we use when we refer to what happens after an ecosystem is disturbed like the park, which is part of a valley oak woodland ecosystem,” said Koehler. “What we hope to see is the native plants and animals returning. Thoughtful intervention on our part can assist the natural recovery.”
Artworks will address the park environment in its current state through thoughtful artistry and/or restoration including animal habitat, vegetation and our place in nature. Healing is helped through creation.
Middletown Trailside Park is located off Dry Creek Cutoff on Highway 175 approximately a mile north of Middletown. The Sculpture Walk exhibit will be located along a small portion of the south side trail of the park, encompassing about five acres once dotted with trees, shrubs and meadows.
“We are so pleased that this piece of Middletown’s cultural heritage will return,” said Middletown Art Center Director Lisa Kaplan. “Fire has informed life in Lake County for far too long. We have an exceptional opportunity to help reinvigorate the park through creative action. Projects will integrate the spirit and materials of the park and the sense of place that is Lake County.”
This year’s Sculpture Walk will exhibit art in response to an ecosystem in distress. A team of experts in ecology, land management and art has been assembled. With the return of the annual exhibit, EcoArts will focus on a more disciplined approach to ecological stewardship and the environmental part of our mission.
A call for proposals for this years’ EcoArts Sculpture Walk is available at www.middletownartcenter.org/artists. Submissions are due March 1. Installation will begin mid-May and a free public reception will be held on June 1.
The 2019 Walk is a collaboration between artists, ecologists, Lake County Public Services and the community.
Community members interested in working with exhibiting artists in fabrication and installation are invited to visit the MAC website for further details, or contact the MAC at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
A sculpture at Trailside Park in Middletown, Calif. Photo courtesy of Middletown Art Center staff.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol will offer a free “Start Smart” traffic safety class for soon to-be-licensed, newly licensed, and teenage drivers and their parents or guardians on Thursday, Feb. 28.
The class will take place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Clear Lake Area CHP office, located at 5700 Live Oak Drive in Kelseyville.
The CHP said a teenager is killed in a traffic collision every four hours nationwide. That equates to more than 1,870 teenagers killed each year. Another 184,000 teenagers are injured in traffic collisions.
These deaths and injuries can be substantially reduced or prevented by eliminating high-risk driving behaviors through education, and the CHP said its “Start Smart” program can help prevent these tragedies.
The Start Smart program focuses on providing comprehensive traffic safety education classes for teenagers and their parents.
Start Smart employs innovative techniques to capture the attention of teenagers and parents, providing a lasting experience.
The curriculum includes information on collision statistics, teen driver and passenger behaviors, graduated driver’s license laws, cultural changes in today’s society and the need for stronger parental involvement in a teenager’s driving experience.
Space is limited for this class. For more information or reservations, call Officer Joel Skeen at the CHP office, 707-279-0103, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
One of Lake County’s members of Congress was critical of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech on Wednesday night, faulting the president for not mentioning key national concerns.
Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) was present for the address, and took as his guest Dr. Joseph V. Sakran, assistant professor of surgery, associate chief of the division of acute care surgery, and director of emergency general surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Dr. Sakran was nearly killed by a gunshot wound as a teenager and has spent his life working to care for trauma victims, including those injured by gun violence.
Thompson is chaif of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, and said Sakran’s presence “will send a message that Congress will act to help prevent gun violence and to honor those victims like Dr. Sakran and his patients.”
In response to the address, Thompson said Tuesday night, “Tonight’s address was what we have come to expect from this president – empty rhetoric aimed at fulfilling useless campaign promises and calls for unity that are not reflected with action. I was disappointed the president did not even mention gun violence prevention or efforts to combat climate change. I was also disappointed with continued discussion of the wall on our southern border. I have said before and will say again – there is no need for a border wall that is just a seventh century solution to a 21st century problem. Democrats are ready to work to fund smart, effective and technologically-advanced security solutions to keep our nation safe, just not a useless wall.
“The president discussed several areas where he would like to work in a bipartisan manner – including health care, infrastructure and growing our middle class – issues I have long worked on in Congress. While I welcome his ideas and participation, our new majority is not waiting around. In fact, we have already started, and we will continue to work to make health care more affordable and accessible, and modernize our infrastructure for the 21st century, no matter what the president tweets about tomorrow,” he said.
“As with anything this president does, the proof is in his action and not just his words. It remains to be seen what action he will take. I said after the election and I say again tonight – I will always work with anyone, regardless of party, who has ideas to help our district and our nation. Regardless of what was said tonight, I will keep working to advance policies that put our community first and help our district move forward,” Thompson said.
Thompson represents California’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.
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