LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The National Weather Service’s updated forecast for Lake County says that there could be rain every day through Monday.
The forecast says two winter storms are bringing the potential for steady rain all through the week.
Possible breaks in the rain are expected on Tuesday night, and during the day on Saturday and Sunday, the National Weather Service said.
Nighttime temperatures this week are expected to dip into the high 30s and range into the low 40s, with daytime temperatures from the low 40s into the high 50s.
Rainfall on Monday night through early Tuesday proved heavier than originally forecast in some parts of the county
Rainfall totals at National Weather Service stations reported the following totals, in inches, through 2 a.m. Tuesday:
– Cache Creek near Lower Lake: 0.01. – High Glade Lookout: 0.32. – High Valley Road alert station: 0.18. – Indian Valley Reservoir: 0.15. – Kelseyville: 0.25. – Lakeport: 0.24. – Mira Vista Road in the Sulphur fire area: 0.15. – Soda Creek: 0.19. – Upper Lake: 0.20.
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 last of Lake County’s Pearl Harbor survivors was remembered in a heartfelt Sunday ceremony in Lakeport.
Wilbur Kenneth “Bill” Slater, 93, died on New Year’s Eve at his Lakeport home.
He was the last of a fascinating group of men who survived the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and later made Lake County their home.
At the time of the attack, Slater was a 17-year-old aboard the USS Pennsylvania. He had joined the Navy months earlier, as soon as he was able to leave the orphanage where his family had sent him due to not being able to care for him during the Great Depression.
About 100 community members, friends and family members attended the short ceremony for Slater, held at noon Sunday at the Pearl Harbor Survivors Memorial Mast in Library Park.
The memorial service was led by Ronnie Bogner, who along with wife Janeane has helped organize the Pearl Harbor-related commemorations and events for many years.
Also in attendance were members of the Military Funeral Honors Team, who performed a gun volley, and whose bugler performed the “church call” and the playing of “Taps.”
Chaplain Charles Schreiber gave the invocation and benediction, and the Patriot Guard Riders traveled to the event and stood throughout, holding American flags alongside the honors team.
Sheriff Brian Martin and Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen raised the United States flag on the mast, which also was festooned with the flags of the state, armed services and the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.
Next to the mast was a small table with a picture of Slater and his late wife, Helen, his Pearl Harbor hat and the golden memorial bell on which the names of Pearl Harbor Survivors who have died are engraved.
As the service began, Clear Lake – which had appeared still and had no wind to speak of on it – began to lap steadily against the shore. Small waves continued to ripple against the shore, sounding very much like an ocean tide.
And as retired District 1 Supervisor Jim Comstock was invited forward to lead the flag salute, three Canada geese flew by low and in a tight formation, honking loudly.
Bogner said the event was a mix of a memorial for Slater as well as for the Pearl Harbor survivors who had gone before him.
“He never considered himself a hero,” Bogner said of Slater, who nonetheless enjoyed his membership in the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.
While all of Lake County’s resident Pearl Harbor survivors have now died, Bogner said there are still three “sweethearts,” the fond name for widows of the men in the group.
They include Alice Darrow of Kelseyville, whose husband Dean Darrow was aboard the USS West Virginia and died in 1991; Charlotte Bower of Clearlake Oaks, whose husband Chuck was at the US Sub Base and died in 2011; and Vanya Leighton, whose husband Fred was aboard the USS Ramsay and died in 2008. Alice Darrow and Vanya Leighton, who now lives in Napa, were on hand for the event, while Charlotte Bower was unable to attend.
Bogner said Slater was a firm believer in luck, telling of how Slater had gone below decks on the Pennsylvania to bring up ammunition because the hoist was broken. While he was down retrieving the ammunition, a bomb hit where he had been standing, killing about two dozen men.
Later in the war, Slater would travel to Australia, and while on leave in San Francisco would meet his future wife, said Bogner. Slater was coming home and set for discharge aboard the USS Salt Lake City when it nearly capsized near Astoria, Oregon, in October 1945 after it was hit by huge waves at the mouth of the Columbia River. Slater called it the “worst day I ever had at sea.”
Bogner said Slater was a truck driver and a union member who lobbied long and hard to get rid of corruption in the union.
Jim Harris of Lucerne, a Pearl Harbor survivor who died in January 2011, had asked Slater to be the association president after he was gone. As it turned out, Slater would be “the last guy standing,” Bogner said.
Slater loved to talk to people and was a regular customer at Renee’s Cafe in Lakeport, where he often had total strangers buy him breakfast, Bogner said.
Slater’s daughter Leslie attended along with several other family members. Bogner noted that Slater also had a son who died in Hawaii on the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
Leslie Slater thanked everyone for attending. “I am in awe of all of you being here.”
She said of her father, “He was a very generous and honest person and he would have loved to see you all.”
Leslie Slater recalled her father coming to the Pearl Harbor events, and how he loved to talk to people. “He never lacked for something to say.”
The event’s other featured speaker was Chris Smith, a longtime Press Democrat columnist who has covered the Pearl Harbor survivors since 1991 and was given honorary membership in the association.
Smith said he was given the assignment in 1991 to interview Pearl Harbor survivors for the 50th anniversary of the attack. “I can truly say that assignment changed my life.”
That December, he traveled with about 30 survivor to Hawaii to return to Pearl Harbor. “I walked with them as they paraded down the main street of Waikiki.” He later made a second trip with them.
He recalled the Pearl Harbor survivors he came to know as some of the finest, most fun-loving and gracious men he had ever met.
Smith said he met Slater years later, and found him to be among the most joyful of the group.
He said the survivors didn’t just meet once a month for breakfast. “These guys loved each other. They were each others’ best friends.”
Smith said he often had to remind himself of who the men truly were. “They were boys on Dec. 7, 1941,” he said, and many had never seen the ocean until they joined the Navy.
“They witnessed the horror of that day, which I can’t even imagine,” and saw things they didn’t want to talk about, Smith said.
And yet, after the attack, they didn’t go home, but went off to four years of war. They won that war and came back to the United States, where they witnessed and took part in what Smith called one of the most momentous periods of American history, when the United States transformed itself following World War II.
“As members of the greatest generation they created the United States that we all know and that we all benefit from,” he said.
Smith concluded of the men who survived the attack, “They were a treasure beyond value to us.”
As the ceremony drew to a close, it was time to toll the memorial bell. “Bill was trying his damnedest to keep his name off this bell,” said Bogner, noting the engraving hadn’t yet been done.
The group heard a final prayer and sang one of Slater’s favorite songs, “God Bless America,” before Janeane Bogner tolled the bell in Slater’s memorial.
Ronnie Bogner said Pearl Harbor commemorations will continue. The Military Funeral Honors Team will participate in the brief ceremonies, which will be held each Dec. 7 at the memorial mast.
Bogner recalled how Slater often had a bloody Mary in hand at the Pearl Harbor commemorations.
And so he left them with Slater’s favorite toast: “Here’s looking up your old address.”
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.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Authorities are investigating the circumstances that led to the death of a Kelseyville man and the assault of a second individual on Saturday night.
Sheriff Brian Martin confirmed to Lake County News that his detectives are investigating the death of 37-year-old Jeremy Mullings.
Just after 9:30 p.m. Saturday Kelseyville Fire personnel were dispatched to a medical aid with “unknown circumstances” in the 5000 block of Tenino Way in the Clear Lake Riviera. At that time, sheriff’s deputies also were reported to be en route, according to radio reports.
“Deputies were called there for a report of an assault,” said Martin, noting that it was a “chaotic” scene. He said he was not sure if the residence was Mullings’.
Dispatch told firefighters that there were two injured parties, one down in the house – who Martin said was Mullings – and a second individual who was reported to be down in the driveway with head injuries.
A short time later, units were asked to close down the roadway at the corner of Tenino Way to Zuni Court and Zuni to Soda Bay, with additional units also requested from Lake County Fire, based on radio reports.
Martin said that Mullings died at the scene.
The sheriff said that, based on the investigation so far, there is nothing to indicate that a homicide took place.
He said it does not appear that Mullings was assaulted, and there was no evidence to indicate he was the victim of a crime.
The indications are that Mullings had several significant previous health conditions. “Those will be taken into consideration during the investigation,” Martin said.
The sheriff said an autopsy of Mullings is pending.
The second male, who was found outside the home on the ground – and whose name has so far not been released – appeared to have been assaulted with a frying pan or some other kitchen item, Martin said.
The firefighters at scene requested an air ambulance for the second man, but the air ambulance could not accept the flight because of weather, dispatch stated over the air.
Martin said that second man was taken to the hospital, treated and released.
He said April Renee Scobee, 38, of Kelseyville was arrested for assaulting the second man.
Martin said Scobee identified herself as Mullings’ wife, but they were not legally married.
Scobee was arrested shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday and booked into the Lake County Jail on Sunday evening, according to her booking sheet.
Her arrest record showed she was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and battery with serious injury, with her bail set at $30,000. She is tentatively scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.
She remained in custody early Monday, based on jail booking records.
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.
April Renee Scobee, 38, of Kelseyville, Calif., was arrested on Sunday, January 14, 2018, for the assault of a man on the previous night. Her boyfriend, Jeremy Mullings, was found dead at the same location but authorities said he did not appear to have been the victim of an assault. Lake County Jail photo.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council this week will discuss fees for processing commercial marijuana applications and hold the midyear budget review.
The council will meet beginning at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16, for a closed session to discuss negotiations related to properties located at 800 N. Main St. and 810 N. Main St. before the public portion of the meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
On Tuesday, an item at the top of the meeting is a proclamation honoring Robert Ray’s 45 years of service to the fire service in Lake County. He just retired from the Lakeport Fire Protection District.
The council on Tuesday will consider a proposed resolution establishing fees for the processing of commercial marijuana, or cannabis, permit applications consistent with processes outlined in the city’s municipal code.
Finance Director Nick Walker also will take to the council the midyear budget review and seek the council’s approval of an amendment to the 2017-18 city budget.
On Tuesday the council, sitting as the successor agency to the former Lakeport Redevelopment Agency, will consider approving the Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule 18-19 for the period of July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019, for presentation and adoption by the Lakeport Redevelopment Oversight Board.
In other business, the council will consider a purchase of a Weco Industries multi-conductor main line TV van for $242,672.04, which will be used to monitor the sewer collection system.
Council members also will take up a proposed resolution creating and affirming the city’s master pay schedule for all represented employee classifications and all unrepresented employees covered by a compensation plan so that the city is in compliance with California Public Employees’ Retirement System requirements.
Items on the consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances; minutes of the council’s regular meeting on Jan. 2; the Jan. 5 warrant register; retention schedule revisions; and a professional services agreement with Paul Curren dba Curren Consulting.
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.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake Planning Commission will meet this week to hold a study session on a proposed motel expansion project.
The commission will meet beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
On the agenda is a study session on the architecture and design for a future proposal to expand the motel at Clearlake Cottages, 13885 Lakeshore Drive.
The staff report for the discussion explains that the proposal is to construct three new two-story cottage buildings within an existing motel development that currently has 16 single-story building units for a total of 18 motel units.
The three new buildings – which would feature new, modern architecture – would total 3,000 square feet for an additional six motel units, the report said.
No action is to be taken as the meeting’s purpose is to study and review the design concepts for a future project application, according to staff.
Commission members are Chair Dirk Slooten and Vice Chair Russ Cremer, and commissioners Nathalie Antus, Richard Bean and Carl Webb.
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. – National Weather Service forecasters are predicting two winter storms will bring rain and mountain snow to Northern California this week.
The forecast calls for the first storm to arrive and continue through Tuesday, with the second to follow from Wednesday evening to Friday.
The specific Lake County forecast calls for sunny and warmer conditions on Sunday before a small amount of rain – totaling about a tenth of an inch – falls throughout the day on Monday and Monday night. Rain is expected to continue into Tuesday.
The weather is forecast to clear on Tuesday night, with partly sunny conditions on Wednesday.
Rain is forecast to return on Wednesday night. Forecasters say the rain will continue through Friday night and will clear on Saturday, when partly sunny conditions are anticipated.
Daytime temperatures this week will range from the low 60s during the day on Sunday down to the high 40s later in the week, forecasters said.
Nighttime temperatures will range from the high 40s to the low 50s, based on the forecast.
The forecast also calls for light winds in the single digits on Sunday and Monday.
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.
Judge J. David Markham. Courtesy photo. LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Superior Court will formally welcome its newest member of the bench in a ceremony next month.
The swearing-in ceremony of Judge J. David Markham will take place beginning at 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, in his Department 3 courtroom at the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St. in Lakeport.
Markham, 48, was appointed as Lake County’s newest judge by Gov. Jerry Brown in December, as Lake County News has reported.
He was appointed to succeed Judge Richard Martin, who retired in May.
Markham is a former deputy district attorney who has maintained a private practice for many years.
Last year he and fellow attorney Andrea Sullivan formed Lake Indigent Defense LLP and won the contract to administer the Lake County indigent defense contract.
The public is invited to attend Markham’s Feb. 9 swearing-in.
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 Caltrans brush clearing project along Highway 20 in Lucerne, Calif., has not just improved the view but made lake monitoring easier. Photo by Elizabeth Larson/Lake County News. LUCERNE, Calif. – The view of Clear Lake along Highway 20 in the Lucerne area has opened up thanks to a Caltrans brush clearing project.
Caltrans District 1 Public Information Officer Cori Reed said the project area included both ends of the town.
“The overall goal is to improve the aesthetics and to make it easier to monitor the lake water level for flooding issues,” Reed said.
She said Caltrans’ Lakeport maintenance crew led the work.
Crews were at work throughout December along the lakeshore, cutting trees and bushes and hauling away the cut vegetation. Work started on the west side of town before moving to the east side.
Reed said the work on both ends of town is now complete.
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. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has a mix of big dogs that are ready for adoption this week.
The dogs offered adoption this week include mixes of Akita, German Shepherd, pit bull, shepherd and terrier.
Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.
If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets hoping you'll choose them.
The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).
This female pit bull terrier is in kennel No. 6, ID No. 9235. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female pit bull
This female pit bull terrier has a short white and brown coat.
Shelter staff said she is good with other dogs.
She’s in kennel No. 6, ID No. 9235.
This female pit bull is in kennel No. 20, ID No. 9230. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female pit bull
This female pit bull has a short brown coat.
She’s in kennel No. 20, ID No. 9230.
This female German Shepherd-Akita mix is in kennel No. 22, ID No. 9219. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. German Shepherd-Akita mix
This female German Shepherd-Akita mix has a short black and tan coat.
She’s in kennel No. 22, ID No. 9219.
This female pit bull terrier is in kennel No. 23, ID No. 9082. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Pit bull terrier
This female pit bull terrier has a short gray and white coat.
Shelter staff said she is good with other dogs.
She’s in kennel No. 23, ID No. 9082.
This male pit bull terrier is in kennel No. 25, ID No. 9149. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male pit bull
This male pit bull terrier has a short tan and white coat.
He already has been neutered.
He’s in kennel No. 25, ID No. 9149.
This male pit bull terrier is in kennel No. 31, ID No. 9160. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male pit bull
This male pit bull terrier has a short brown and white coat.
He’s in kennel No. 31, ID No. 9160.
This male terrier-shepherd mix is in kennel No. 31, ID No. 9222. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Terrier-shepherd mix
This male terrier-shepherd mix has a short brown coat.
Shelter staff said he is good with other dogs.
He’s in kennel No. 31, ID No. 9222.
This male shepherd mix is in kennel No. 32, ID No. 9214. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Shepherd mix
This male shepherd mix has a short tricolor and brindle coat.
Shelter staff said he is good with female dogs.
He’s in kennel No. 32, ID No. 9214.
This female pit bull terrier is in kennel No. 33, ID No. 9197. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female pit bull terrier
This female pit bull terrier has a short gray and white coat.
Shelter staff said she is good with other dogs.
She’s in kennel No. 33, ID No. 9197.
This female pit bull terrier is in kennel No. 34, ID No. 9198. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female pit bull terrier
This female pit bull terrier has a short black and white coat.
Shelter staff said she is good with other dogs.
She’s in kennel No. 34, ID No. 9198.
Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.
Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.
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.
The fast radio burst FRB 121102 was detected by a new recording system developed by the Breakthrough Listen project and mounted on the 100-meter Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. The burst’s multiple bright peaks may be created by the burst emission process itself or imparted by the intervening plasma near the source. Image design by Danielle Futselaar.
BERKELEY, Calif. – Recent observations of a mysterious and distant object that emits intermittent bursts of radio waves so bright that they're visible across the universe provide new data about the source but fail to clear up the mystery of what causes them.
The observations by the Breakthrough Listen team at UC Berkeley using the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia show that the fast radio bursts from this object, called FRB 121102, are nearly 100 percent linearly polarized, an indication that the source of the bursts is embedded in strong magnetic fields like those around a massive black hole.
The measurements confirm observations by another team of astronomers from the Netherlands, which detected the polarized bursts using the William E. Gordon Telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
Both teams will report their findings during a media briefing on Jan. 10 at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, D.C. The results are detailed in a combined paper to be published online the same day by the journal Nature.
Fast radio bursts are brief, bright pulses of radio emission from distant but so far unknown sources, and FRB 121102 is the only one known to repeat: more than 200 high-energy bursts have been observed coming from this source, which is located in a dwarf galaxy about 3 billion light years from Earth.
The nearly 100 percent polarization of the radio bursts is unusual, and has only been seen in radio emissions from the extreme magnetic environments around massive black holes, such as those at the centers of galaxies.
The Dutch and Breakthrough Listen teams suggest that the fast radio bursts may come from a highly magnetized rotating neutron star – a magnetar – in the vicinity of a massive black hole that is still growing as gas and dust fall into it.
The short bursts, which range from 30 microseconds to 9 milliseconds in duration, indicate that the source could be as small as 10 kilometers across – the typical size of a neutron star.
Other possible sources are a magnetar interacting with the nebula of material shed when the original star exploded to produce the magnetar; or interactions with the highly magnetized wind from a rotating neutron star, or pulsar.
"At this point, we don't really know the mechanism. There are many questions, such as, how can a rotating neutron star produce the high amount of energy typical of an FRB?" said UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow Vishal Gajjar of Breakthrough Listen and the Berkeley SETI Research Center.
Gajjar will participate in the media briefing with three members of the Dutch ASTRON team: Daniele Michilli and Jason Hessels of the University of Amsterdam and Betsey Adams of the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute.
"This result is an excellent demonstration of the capabilities of the Breakthrough Listen instrumentation and the synergies between SETI and other types of astronomy," said Andrew Siemion, director of the Berkeley SETI Research Center and of the Breakthrough Listen program. "We look forward to working with the international scientific community to learn more about these enigmatic and dynamic sources.”
Are FRBs signals from advanced civilizations?
Another possibility, though remote, is that the FRB is a high-powered signal from an advanced civilization. Hence the interest of Breakthrough Listen, which looks for signs of intelligent life in the universe, funded by $100 million over 10 years from internet investor Yuri Milner.
"Although it's extremely unlikely that pulses we have detected from FRB 121102 were transmitted by ETs, we would like to test various ET hypotheses for the FRB type transient signals in general," Gajjar said.
Breakthrough Listen has to date recorded data from a dozen FRBs, including FRB 121102, and plans eventually to sample all 30-some known sources of fast radio bursts.
"We want a complete sample so that we can conduct our standard SETI analysis in search of modulation patterns or narrow-band signals – any kind of information-bearing signal emitted from their direction that we don't expect from nature," he said.
Breakthrough Listen allotted tens of hours of observational time on the Green Bank Telescope to recording radio emissions from FRB 121102, and last August 26 detected 15 bursts over a relatively short period of five hours. They analyzed the two brightest of these and found that the radio waves were nearly 100 percent linearly polarized.
The team plans a few more observations of FRB 121102 before moving on to other FRB sources. Gajjar said that they want to observe at higher frequencies – up to 12 gigahertz, versus the present Green Bank observations in the 4-8 GHZ range – to see if the energy drops off at higher frequencies. This could help narrow the range of possible sources, he said.
Robert Sanders writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A fire did damage to a room at the Skylark Motel in Lakeport on Friday evening.
The fire was reported at 5:25 p.m. at the motel, located at 1120 N. Main St.
Lakeport Fire Protection District Chief Doug Hutchison said the fire was located in one of the units in the motel’s single-story section.
He said firefighters were able to knock the fire in the unit down in less than five minutes.
Initially, Kelseyville Fire and Northshore Fire were asked to respond but were canceled before their arrival, Hutchison said. A Cal Fire engine in the area also responded but was returned after it was determined it wasn’t needed.
Minimal damage was done to the unit, and no other rooms were damaged, Hutchison said.
Firefighters remained on scene until the incident was terminated at 7 p.m. Hutchison said they were checking to see if the fire had extended into other areas, and made sure it hadn’t gotten into the attic.
There were no injuries, he said.
Exactly what led to the room fire remains under investigation by Lakeport Fire and Lakeport Police, Hutchison said.
“It’s possible that it was intentional but we’re not entirely sure,” he said.
He said he hadn’t interviewed the individual who may have been responsible, noting that would be up to police.
Hutchison said the Skylark Motel remained open and functioning following the incident.
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. – Lake County Library’s Know Lake County features Supervisor Moke Simon on Saturday, Jan. 20, at 2 p.m.
The free program will be a verbal tour of “Beautiful Lake County through Moke Simon’s Eyes” as he talks about tribal history, Middletown and life in Lake County.
The public is invited to listen and to meet Simon who has completed his first year as supervisor of District 1.
Simon, the first American Indian elected as a county supervisor in Lake County, also serves as tribal chairman of the Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians.
Simon and the Middletown Rancheria performed extensive fire relief work following 2015’s Valley fire.
Refreshments will be provided by the Friends of the Lake County Library.
The library is located at 1425 N. High St. For more information call 707-263-8817.
The monthly Know Lake County lectures feature speakers from a wide array of organizations and disciplines, each representing some aspect of Lake County.
Lake County PEG TV records each Know Lake County program, broadcasts it on cable Channel 8, posts it on YouTube and creates DVDs that become part of the Lake County Library’s circulation collection.
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