KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Authorities arrested a Kelseyville man on Friday for driving under the influence and hit and run after he fled the scene of a crash that left another driver with major injuries.

Cesar Arroyo Ceja, 22, was arrested following the wreck, which occurred shortly before 9:45 a.m. Friday on Highway 29 south of Bottle Rock Road, according to the California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office.

The CHP said Arroyo Ceja, driving a 2009 Dodge, was traveling southbound on Highway 29 in a left curve south of Bottle Rock Road when, due to his level of intoxication, he failed to negotiate the curve in the road and spun out of control within the curve.

The back of Arroyo Ceja’s vehicle collided with the front of a 1991 Toyota pickup driven by Lower Lake resident Douglas D. Anthony, 47, who the CHP said was traveling northbound through the same curve.

Immediately after the collision, Arroyo Ceja fled the scene in his badly damaged vehicle. The CHP said that after Arroyo Ceja traveled approximately half a mile south of the crash scene, he drove into a ditch adjacent to Highway 29’s west edge.

When CHP officers arrived at the crash scene, they found an off-duty paramedic attending to Anthony’s injuries, the CHP reported.

Anthony subsequently was flown via a REACH air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for suspected serious head trauma, the CHP said.

The CHP report said Officer Rob Hearn then located Arroyo Ceja a short distance south of the crash scene.

When Hearn contacted Arroyo Ceja, he observed signs of alcohol intoxication and then performed an investigation for driving under the influence, the CHP said.

Hearn then arrested Arroyo Ceja for felony DUI and felony hit and run. The CHP said Arroyo Ceja was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital where he was cleared for booking.

Arroyo Ceja’s booking sheet at the Lake County Jail showed he was booked for three felonies, one for hit and run resulting in injury and two related to DUI causing bodily injury, with bail set at $50,000.

Jail records indicated he later posted the required percentage of bail and was released. He’s tentatively scheduled to appear in Lake County Superior Court on Feb. 8.

Arroyo Ceja was arrested for being drunk in public in February, according to arrest records.

The CHP said both drivers were wearing their seat belts at the time of the wreck.

Officer Hearn is leading the investigation into the Friday crash, the CHP said.

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. – A Lincoln woman has entered a plea in a perjury case involving a custody fight over her young child.

Shannon M. Mick, 33, pleaded no contest to one count of perjury on Dec. 1, according to the Lake County District Attorney’s Office’s Perjury Intervention Unit.

The District Attorney’s Office said a Lake County resident filed an affidavit on June 3, 2015, requesting full legal and physical custody of his 3-year-old child, alleging that Mick – his ex-wife and mother of the child – had subjected the child to domestic violence from her boyfriend, Mike Alexander, as well as alcohol abuse.

It was alleged in the family law case that the environment was a danger to his minor child, the District Attorney’s Office reported.

The report said Mick vehemently denied such claims, and in an affidavit dated June 6, 2015, she declared under penalty of perjury, “I deny all allegations of abuse between Mike and I.”

She further testified in court under the penalty of perjury that there was no domestic violence in their home. However, there was substantial evidence presented by the father in the family law trial that supported his assertion of active domestic violence and alcohol abuse, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Officials said there was evidence at the trial from a Sutter County Sheriff’s deputy that documented an incident that took place on Jan. 21, 2015, in which Alexander allegedly took hold of Mick by her ankles and dragged her outside of the house and locked the door.

The report stated that Mick then ran to the home of her neighbor, who happened to be an off-duty police officer, and reported that she had been involved in a domestic violence incident with her boyfriend.

That report highlighted that Mick “appeared upset, intoxicated and presented the odor of alcoholic beverages.” The Sutter County Sheriff’s deputy also testified that there were other instances of domestic violence at the Mick/Alexander residence.

Additionally, the District Attorney’s Office said that during the trial Mick testified she had never seen the June 3, 2015, declaration and that she had not signed the document, contending her then attorney wrote the document and forged her name. However, forgetting about her prior testimony, she later admitted to drafting and signing the document.

Upon review of all of the evidence, the court ruled that, “there clearly was an incident of domestic violence that occurred at that time involving intoxication by alcohol.” The court further stated, “Ms. Mick, you and Mr. Alexander were not candid with the Court with respect to your declarations and your presentation at the time of the hearing … It appears that there have been, all things being considered, some level of deliberate falsehoods rendered by each Mr. Alexander and Respondent, mother (Shannon Mick).”

The Lake County District Attorney’s Office subsequently charged Mick with perjury, alleging that she both declared in written affidavits and testified under oath to material facts she knew to be false.

Deputy District Attorney Daniel Flesch, who handles all perjury cases, said that Mick pleaded no contest to one count of perjury.

Mick is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 29. The District Attorney’s Office said perjury carries a maximum sentence of four years in local prison.

Lake County District Attorney Don Anderson established the unit to take on the widespread problem of perjury that the courts face all the time.

The Lake County District Attorney’s Office has received national attention for its Perjury Intervention Unit, which is believed to be the only such unit in the United States.

Anderson said he’s hopeful that people will think twice before lying in court or in affidavits.

“We are committed to curtailing some of the falsehoods testified to in court in the criminal, civil and family law arena,” he said.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Rotary District 5130 Fire Relief Fund is making available a grant program to small businesses located in Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma counties that have been affected by the recent devastating fires.

The Rotary Business Grant Recovery Program began in 2015 in Lake County in response to the devastation created during the Valley fire and then again with the Clayton fire a year later.

It’s offered with the support of the Redwood Credit Union Community Fund Inc. and their partnership with the Press Democrat and the office of Sen. Mike McGuire.

“We are proud to once again support the efforts of Rotary in assisting businesses rebuild just as we did during the fires in Lake County,” said Brett Martinez, president of Redwood Credit Union. “The program has been incredibly successful over the past couple of years and we are confident that it will continue to help our business communities recover.”

The goal of the grant program is to assist in fire recovery with an emphasis on getting storefronts, agriculture and home businesses back into operation to prevent potential closure due to losses suffered as a result of the fires.

Losses can be economic or physical and grants of up to $5,000 will be made based upon need to businesses with 25 or less employees.

According to Bob Rogers, district governor for Rotary District 5130, “Businesses are the heart of a community and we believe that it’s important to support them in the rebuilding process while helping them get back on their feet during these unprecedented times”.

In addition to the business recovery grants, the Rotary District 5130 Fire Relief Fund is also taking general assistance grant requests to assist the recovery in the areas of youth services, tree reforestation and grief counseling.

For additional information on the Rotary District 5130 Fire Relief Fund, to make donations or submit a grant request please go to www.larca5130.org.

Grant applications may also be submitted to Rotary District 5130 Fire Relief Fund, P. O. Box 2921, Clearlake, CA 95422, or emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

NORTH COAST, Calif. – On Sept. 20, after years of planning and coordination, Rural Communities Housing Development Corp. was awarded more than $8 million in funding from the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program to build permanent supportive housing for low-income, seriously mentally ill homeless people in Ukiah.

Construction on the 38-unit apartment building is scheduled to begin in March 2018.

Since 2015, when Mendocino County Health and Human Services selected Rural Communities Housing Development Corp., or RCHDC, to develop affordable housing for this population, RCHDC has been collaborating with funders and service providers to leverage $1.3 million in seed money from the California Mental Health Services Act to build this $10.6 million project.

According to RCHDC CEO Brad McDonald, one of the most important partners in this project has been Community First Credit Union (formerly Mendo Lake Credit Union).

To apply for Low-Income Housing Tax Credit funding, RCHDC needed a partner who could help RCHDC acquire $1.3 million in Affordable Housing Program funds through the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. As a member institution, Community First Credit Union made this possible.

“We are extremely pleased that we could help RCHDC obtain the Federal Home Loan Bank funding. Community First is a federally designated Community Development Financial Institution – we focus on serving underserved populations and making our community a better place to live and work. Safe and affordable housing is a top priority,” said CEO Todd Sheffield.

RCHDC, a local nonprofit serving Northern California with a mission to provide affordable housing for low-income families and the elderly, has more than 40 years of experience developing affordable housing, providing property management services, helping low-income individuals become homeowners, and building community.

“They were the perfect partners for Willow Terrace,” said HHSA Director Tammy Moss Chandler, naming the project.

“Willow Terrace is an outstanding example of local government working closely with public partners towards a solution for a very complex problem in our community,” McDonald said. “It will offer housing for the chronically mentally ill and homeless, providing wrap-around services through HHSA and other service providers. The project really exemplifies the significance of ‘housing first’ as a solution for homelessness.”

As often happens with complex projects like this, RCHDC encountered several challenges, according to project manager Mike Pallesen. The team spent 21 months identifying an appropriate site, for example.

“Usually, land is donated for these types of projects,” he explained.

Without donated land, the funding was more difficult to acquire. To enable the project to move forward, RCHDC sold a piece of property it owned, discounting the property to RCHDC’s 1984 purchase price of $120,000 rather than selling it for its current appraised value of $420,000.

The project also faced some political hurdles, with local business owners expressing concerns to county supervisors about potential problems that could arise from having a nearby housing complex for mentally ill residents.

When community members learned that Ukiah already has several such housing units, and disturbances are less frequent there than at other apartment complexes, their worries faded, according to RCHDC Development Director Ryan LaRue.

LaRue continued, “In addition to providing better care for this population, the Willow Terrace project will likely save taxpayers money. The apartment complex will include small residences, group rooms, a garden, and a community area where residents can support each other and receive mental healthcare services onsite. When residents receive the treatment they need, whether it’s therapy, medication or other types of support, they are less likely to require expensive resources like law enforcement, emergency first responders, and hospital emergency care. With its supportive services, Willow Terrace uses both a compassionate and an economically sound approach.”

The funding for the project is enough to pay for construction and it includes a capitalized operating subsidy reserve of $2.7 million to supplement rents, allowing the facility to be economically viable for 20 years.

The site is located near Mendocino County Health and Human Services and Redwood Community Services, so service providers are conveniently close, and RCHDC will provide a full-time, onsite manager who will live there to provide additional assistance.

“We see this as a model development,” McDonald said.

When RCHDC was awarded the Mendocino County project, they had just finished a similar project in Humboldt County – Arcata Bay Crossing, the first project of its kind in the state.

Willow Terrace incorporates refinements on the Humboldt County project, and could be used as a prototype for cost-effective housing for the severely mentally ill statewide.

“We were able to leverage funds so that for every dollar we brought to the table, we received seven dollars to build the project – using tax credit financing for permanent supportive housing is a great way to get these projects built,” Pallesen said.

With tax credit financing, investors buy income tax credits in qualified properties that have received state allocation, creating cash equity for owners that reduces project development debt burden.

In exchange, the owner agrees to rent a specific number of units to qualified tenants at specified rents, usually below-market.

The RCHDC team noted that this project will provide housing for almost 40 people, which is a great start, but it does not eliminate the homeless problem in Ukiah or Mendocino County.

RCHDC supports the county’s desire to work with community partners to provide more mental health care services and to further reduce homelessness.

Pallesen expressed enthusiasm about the Willow Terrace project and wanted to be sure the public is aware that RCHDC uses local contractors whenever possible. “Right now, the architect is going like crazy. We have local contractors lined up, and we’re excited to get this project off the ground.”

Maybe you've already seen a bright meteor streak across the December sky? The annual Geminid meteor shower has arrived. It's a good time to bundle up, go outside and let the universe blow your mind!

"With August's Perseids obscured by bright moonlight, the Geminids will be the best shower this year," said Bill Cooke with NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "The thin, waning crescent Moon won't spoil the show."

The shower will peak overnight Dec. 13 to 14 with rates around one per minute under good conditions, according to Cooke. Geminids can be seen on nights before and after the Dec. 14 peak, although they will appear less frequently.

"Geminid activity is broad," said Cooke. "Good rates will be seen between 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 13 and dawn local time the morning of Dec. 14, with the most meteors visible from midnight to 4 a.m. on Dec. 14, when the radiant is highest in the sky."

About the Geminid shower

The Geminids are active every December, when Earth passes through a massive trail of dusty debris shed by a weird, rocky object named 3200 Phaethon. The dust and grit burn up when they run into Earth's atmosphere in a flurry of "shooting stars."

"Phaethon's nature is debated," said Cooke. "It's either a near-Earth asteroid or an extinct comet, sometimes called a rock comet."

As an added bonus this year, astronomers will have a chance to study Phaethon up close in mid-December, when it passes nearest to Earth since its discovery in 1983.

Meteor showers are named after the location of the radiant, usually a star or constellation close to where they appear in the night sky. The Geminid radiant is in the constellation Gemini.

The Geminids can be seen with the naked eye under clear, dark skies over most of the world, though the best view is from the Northern Hemisphere. Observers will see fewer Geminids in the Southern Hemisphere, where the radiant doesn't climb very high over the horizon.

Observing the Geminids

Skywatching is easy. Just get away from bright lights and look up in any direction! Give your eyes time to adjust to the dark. Meteors appear all over the sky.

Not all the meteors you might see belong to the Geminid shower, however. Some might be sporadic background meteors, and some might be from weaker, active showers like the Monocerotids, Sigma Hydrids and the Comae Berenicids.

"When you see a meteor, try to trace it backwards," said Cooke. "If you end up in the constellation Gemini there's a good chance you've seen a Geminid."

Learn more about the Geminids

Cooke and other meteor experts from NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office will be live on Facebook to discuss the Geminids and why meteors and meteoroids are important to NASA beginning at 8 p.m. EST on Dec. 12.

And if it's cloudy where you are, NASA will broadcast the Geminid shower live via Ustream starting at sunset Dec. 13 from the Automated Lunar and Meteor Observatory at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

You can also see Geminid meteors on NASA’s All Sky Fireball network page. Follow NASA Meteor Watch on Facebook for information about meteor showers and fireballs throughout the year.

Molly Porter is with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said it has identified a female student as the source of a threat made at two Middletown schools on Thursday, with authorities still to determine if any charges will be filed against the girl.

Lt. Corey Paulich said that, with the help of students and parents, the individual responsible for writing the threat on a school wall between the Middletown High and Middle Schools has been identified as a 13-year-old girl.

The girl’s name has not been released due to her juvenile status.

Authorities said a “vague threat” was discovered written on a school wall between the Middletown High and Middletown Middle school campuses on Thursday afternoon, with Middletown HIgh School officials reporting it to the sheriff’s office.

Paulich told Lake County News that the threat was found written on a sign on the wall.

It was small and handwritten, and stated, “I’m shooting up the skool @ 8 a.m.,” Paulich said.

Paulich said school officials were not sure exactly when the threat was written.

“We treated it like it was today,” as to when the threat was intended to be carried out, Paulich said Friday.

As a result, on Friday, the sheriff’s office had an increased presence on the Middletown High and Middletown Middle School campuses, Paulich said.

Paulich said the sheriff's office worked in cooperation with school officials to investigate the threat, with authorities interviewing the involved students and their parents.

With help from students and parents, Paulich said the individual responsible for writing the threat was identified as the 13-year-old girl.

Based on the investigation, Paulich said the sheriff's office does not believe there’s any further threat.

He said the completed investigation will be forwarded to the Lake County Probation Department for review and possible prosecution.

Probation, not the District Attorney’s Office, handles juvenile-related cases, he explained.

In addition, Paulich said school officials are evaluating how they want to proceed and whether they’ll take any disciplinary action against the student.

The sheriff’s office said the partnership between the Middletown schools, students and parents allowed this threat to be addressed and identified quickly, and the agency thanked all of those who were involved.

Paulich said the sheriff's office and the Middletown Unified School District will continue to take all threats seriously.

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. – Come out and celebrate the holidays with the annual Christmas parade and tree lighting ceremony in Clearlake on Saturday, Dec. 9.

The lighted parade will begin at 6 p.m. from Redbud Park and end at Austin Park.

This year the grand marshals are Lower Lake High School seniors Haylee Wade and Hoku-Lani Wickard, who were chosen due to their great academic and athletic achievements.

Wade has been cheerleading for four years at Lower Lake High School. Her team recently qualified for the California state and the national cheer competitions this year. They will travel to Bakersfield for the state competition and Las Vegas for the National competition. Her team is working hard so that they can bring another national title back to our community in 2018.

She was the runner up for the Cheerleader of the Year in Cheerleader magazine in 2015. Her competition cheer team just won first place in San Francisco at the Slam City cheer competition on Dec. 2.

Wade has always kept a 4.0 grade point average throughout high school and plans on attending college where she would like to study nursing and sports medicine. Part of her college decision will be based on the cheer team at the school as she plans on continuing cheerleading while in college.

She has applied to several University of California and California State Universities. She has also been in contact with colleges outside of California that offer athletic scholarships to cheerleaders as well.

A competition cheer team practices almost year round. Getting a team ready to compete with the best high schools out there takes a lot of time and dedication. When not in practice, she spends her time either in the gym, studying or helping the youth cheer program with tumbling and choreographing their competition routines and mixing music to go along with them.

Wickard is a senior at Lower Lake High School. He has a 4.2 grade point average and he plays three sports: football, basketball and track.

Wickard’s main sport is football and he plans on going to a four-year college to play on scholarship, of which he currently has three.

His plan is to major in either psychology or sociology.

He has helped out with youth football, as well as youth basketball in the community to teach kids that they must be good people as well as good athletes.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said it is investigating a threat made at area schools on Thursday.

On Thursday afternoon a “vague threat” was discovered written on a school wall between the Middletown High and Middletown Middle schools, officials said.

They did not give additional details about the threat.

The Lake County Sheriff's Office said it is working with school officials to investigate the threat.

As a result, there will be Lake County Sheriff's deputies on the school campuses on Friday morning.

If you have information about this threat please contact Lake County Sheriff's Deputy Stephen Wright at 707-262-4200, Extension 4450.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Dozens of community members gathered in Lakeport on Thursday morning to participate in the annual commemoration of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

The ceremony began at the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association’s memorial mast in Lakeport’s Library Park at 9 a.m.

There, the American flag was raised on the mast, Chaplain Woody Hughes gave the invocation, and the Military Funeral Honors Team performed a rifle volley and played “Taps.”

Master of ceremonies Ronnie Bogner, who along with wife Janeane has organized the event for many years, then led the group to the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, where a slide show was presented along with a video honoring many of Lake County’s well-known survivors.

The county’s remaining Pearl Harbor survivor, 93-year-old Bill Slater of Lakeport, was unable to attend due to ill health.

A video of the outdoor ceremony is featured above, while the video commemorating survivors – created by John Jensen of Lake County News – is shown below.

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. – The Lake County Sheriff's Office has joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Wildfire Disaster Fraud Task Force.

As a result of the recent wildfire disaster in Northern California, the FBI has established an ad hoc Wildfire Disaster Fraud Task Force to address fraud related to the relief and recovery efforts following the wildfires.

The Lake County Sheriff's Office is a member of this task force which includes federal, state, and local agencies with responsibility for investigating and prosecuting disaster-related fraud in the four counties primarily impacted by the wildfires – Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma counties.

Agencies represented on the task force include the California Highway Patrol, the Clearlake Police Department, Contractors State License Board, Department of Homeland Security - Office of the Inspector General, FBI, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Lake County Sheriff's Office, Napa County Sheriff's Office, Napa County District Attorney's Office, Santa Rosa Police Department, Small Business Administration, Sonoma County District Attorney's Office, Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the United States Attorney's Office.

This task force is a cooperative effort between local, state, and federal agencies to share and disseminate information and collaborate on investigations in an effort to streamline the process for preventing and addressing disaster-related fraud.

A primary goal of this task force will be to utilize intelligence obtained from previous disasters, such as the hurricanes in Houston, Florida, and Puerto Rico, to identify trends in fraudulent activity in an effort to prevent and deter disaster-related fraud in the counties impacted by the wildfires.

This task force also will provide a platform for referring complaints and reports of disaster-related fraud to the appropriate local, state, or federal agencies, and collaborating on investigative and prosecutive efforts.

Additionally, the task force will ensure that information and intelligence related to disaster fraud is disseminated to Northern California communities impacted by the wildfire disaster, in an effort to inform and advise the public of schemes to defraud and instruct the public on how to avoid falling victim to those schemes.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – In the wake of this fall’s devastating wildland fires, state legislators representing the North Coast are introducing a bill aimed at setting statewide emergency alert protocols in order to increase the safety of residents.

California is experiencing a fire season like none other in its history. The unprecedented devastation during the October firestorm in Northern California is now ranked as the most destructive and deadly in American history, and the state is facing the huge fires raging in southern California.

The firestorm that ravaged Sonoma, Napa, Lake and Mendocino counties destroyed more than 6,000 homes, scorched more than 170,000 acres, causing billions in damage and resulting in the death of 44 residents, with officials reporting that there are still residents registered as missing from the fires.

Thousands of neighbors, in the middle of the night on a Sunday evening, were caught unaware and their lives were saved by brave neighbors, friends, police and firemen going door to door.

Residents reported that they did not receive emergency alerts during the peak of the evacuations, and after initial review, it's become obvious a statewide standard for emergency alerts must be established.

In response, California’s North Bay legislative delegation will be introducing a bill setting statewide emergency alert protocols.

There are several different emergency warning systems available to counties that alert residents through cell phone calls, text messages, and landline recordings.

Some systems require residents to “opt-in” to the alert notifications, and others have limitations on how they can be targeted in specific areas.

Legislation being introduced by Senator McGuire and the entire North Bay California Legislative Delegation in January will require every county in California to adopt the up-to-date Wireless Emergency Alert system with trained operators who can implement an evacuation order using the alert system.

The legislation will also set out standards for when counties should use the system, the legislation will mandate that alerts have to be sent out via landline telephones, mobile phone devices and other mediums as well as guidelines and protocols for when and how the alerts should be sent.

“The size and scope of wildland fire events in California are only getting worse. It's clear there are shortcomings in our emergency alert system and residents deserve timely notifications and up-to-date information,” Sen. Mike McGuire (D-North Bay) said. “Lives depend on the Legislature and Governor taking swift action to ensure statewide emergency alert standards are adopted, training is implemented and funding is secured to ensure communities big and small have reliable alert systems deployed.”

“When wildfires and other disasters strike, it’s critical that impacted residents get emergency alerts as quickly as possible,” said Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa). “Regardless of where you live in California, everyone should be able to rely on a comprehensive, modern warning systems that gets information to the people who need it, when they need it. Emergency alerts can save lives, which is why Sen. McGuire and I are partnering with our colleagues in the state Assembly to advance a system that meets our 21st century needs.”

“The raging wildfires endangering Californians across the state is without precedent. Lawmakers must protect our communities with the best safety notifications available to prevent loss of life during emergency situations,” said Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-Marin County). “All California communities should have dependable emergency alert systems and be notified when lives are in danger.”

“The recent devastating fires in Northern California have put laser focus on our need to fix our emergency notification system,” said Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg). As we now see with the fires in Southern California, the time is now to protect our residents with a system that works for everyone, both urban and rural.”

“As a member of the Joint Committee on Emergency Management, we heard testimony this week on how critical it is for local governments to alert our mutual constituents in times of crisis,” said Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters). “I’m happy to join in this effort with my legislative and local government colleagues, and I look forward to continuing our work together that started during the North Bay wildfires. As the recovery continues, we must also stay vigilant to protect people in the event of future emergencies.”

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. and First Lady Anne Gust Brown hosted the 86th annual Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony Thursday evening on the West Steps of the State Capitol.

"Tonight we have the joy of lighting this Christmas tree,” said Gov. Brown. "We celebrate the children who put the ornaments together and all of you here on this wonderful occasion – a tradition thousands of years old and one we all remember with great fondness.”

This year, the governor and first lady lit the Capitol Christmas tree with 7-year-old Sofia Garcia of Los Angeles.

The tree is illuminated by approximately 10,000 ultra-low wattage LED lights and decorated with more than 900 hand-crafted ornaments made by children and adults with developmental disabilities who receive services and support from the state’s development centers and 21 nonprofit regional centers.

This year’s tree is a 65-foot-tall white fir from the Latour Demonstration State Forest located near Redding in Shasta County, the sixth Capitol Christmas tree to come from a state forest managed by Cal Fire on behalf of the public.

Kitty O’Neal of KFBK Radio emceed the ceremony, which included feature performances by the California Army National Guard’s DET 1, 40th Infantry Division Band, Brass Quintet, the Governor’s Own; students from the Oakland Military Institute and Oakland School for the Arts; Mariachi Puente; and St. Paul’s Baptist Church Choir.