LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Fall is officially under way, but there are still concerns about fire danger, with the National Weather Service issuing a fire weather watch for portions of Northern California including Lake County due to winds forecast over the next several days.

The agency said the watch is in effect from 2 p.m. Saturday through 5 a.m. Tuesday.

A fire weather watch means that critical fire weather conditions are forecast to occur, the National Weather Service said.

The forecast calls for gusty northerly or offshore winds to develop with warming and
drying conditions beginning Saturday over the region – with high winds particularly expected over the Sacramento Valley and southern Lake County.

The winds are then expected to expand southeastward late Sunday across portions of the Sierra Nevada, continuing through Monday night.

Forecasters said the combination of offshore winds and dry day and night air mass may generate critical fire weather conditions. Low daytime humidity of 12 to 20 percent with minimal humidity recovery overnight also is anticipated.

The specific Lake County forecast calls for clear condition and cooler daytime and nighttime temperatures this weekend and into next week.

Daytime temperatures across Lake County on Saturday are forecast to be in the high 70s, rising to the low 80s on Sunday and then into the high 80s through Thursday. Nighttime lows are expected to range from the high 40s into the mid 50s in that same timeframe.

The forecast calls for light winds in the Lakeport area and higher winds particularly in the south county, where north and north northeast winds are forecast to range up to 21 miles per hour – with up to 31-mile-per-hour gusts – on Saturday and 15 miles per hour on Saturday night, with gusts of up to 23 miles per hour.

On Sunday, winds are expected to continue, ranging up to around 16 miles per hour during the day, with gusts of up to 24 miles per hour, according to the forecast. At night, the winds are forecast to range between 10 and 14 miles per hour, with gusts of up to 21 miles per hour.

Weather condition updates will be posted as they become available.

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 Lake County Arts Council’s “Arts in School” effort has received a boost thanks to a donation from District 4 Supervisor Tina Scott.

Scott presented a check for $1,000 to Lake County Arts Council President Conni Lemen-Kosla for the Arts in School program.

The funds are the proceeds of Scott’s winnings from the recent Lake County Chamber of Commerce’s “Kiss My Clear Lake Bass” contest, plus her own generous matching donation.

Arts in School is working to bring more arts education into Lake County’s schools.

Research has proven that arts education increases test scores across every subject area, lowers dropout rates and closes the achievement gap regardless of socioeconomic status.

Most importantly, is it the basis for developing the top attributes sought by today's and future employers – innovation and creativity.

Arts in School is a part of a larger project, the Arts Council’s Rural Arts Initiative, which will use the arts as a way to both support children’s’ success, and the economy of Lake County.

The “economy” part of the Rural Arts Initiative is supporting and promoting Lake County as an art destination.

Becoming an art destination is a proven way to create economic success, bringing tourism – as well as revenue and jobs – and attracting new people and businesses.

As part of that effort, be on the lookout for the Lake County Arts Council’s mural contest, which will kick off the “Mural Trail.”

The Mural Trail will have sponsored, Lake County-themed murals that, along with the county’s quilt trail and existing murals, will be a unique attraction as part of making Lake County an arts destination.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Ladies of the Lake Quilt Guild will present Lynn Wilder as the featured quilter at the 16th annual Falling Leaves Quilt Show.

The show takes place in Lewis Hall at the Lake County Fairgrounds, 401 Martin St. in Lakeport, on Saturday, Oct. 7, and Sunday, Oct. 8. The hours on Saturday are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Wilder is a quilter, quilt instructor, blogger and pattern designer.

As a blogger, her well-established blog, http://sewnwildoaks.blogspot.com, is where you can find current and past projects, quilt patterns, classes she’s teaching, helpful quilting tutorials and other delightful ideas.

Prior to retirement, Wilder was a geographic information systems analyst at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Her work making maps using color and math transferred directly to quilting. It is no surprise then that Wilder is the author of “Patch Work Math” a resource manual containing formulas and piecing techniques.

Wilder will be demonstrating basic quilting math formulas and techniques throughout each day of the show.

She will be available to talk with attendees about her quilts on display. Wilder enjoys designing and making traditional quilts combining her love of appliqué with pieced blocks.

For information call show chair Linda Morrison, 707-245-5217. More information can also be found on the Web site at http://www.LLQG.org/quilt-show.html.

Suzanne Lee is a member of the Ladies of the Lake Quilt Guild and publicity chair for the quilt show.

Banks and credit unions are required to report both known and reasonably suspected cases of financial elder abuse when such cases present themselves within the scope of banking activities (section 15630.1 of its Welfare and Institutions Code).

Reports are made either to law enforcement or Adult Protective Services immediately, or as soon as possible.

California Legislature recently amended the same law to allow banks and credit unions the right to refuse to honor a power of attorney to prevent financial elder abuse involving elders and dependent adults.

Powers of attorney are important legal instruments that can be used properly to manage the financial, property and legal affairs of a person in their best interests when that person later becomes incapacitated.

An adult who has legal capacity – i.e., understands the significance of the power of attorney and appreciates the rights, risks and alternatives involved – can authorize an agent to manage their finances.

A power of attorney can, therefore, be used to avoid going to court to manage a person’s assets and affairs when that person later becomes incapacitated.

Unfortunately, powers of attorney are sometimes obtained in wrongful circumstances (such as when the person lacks capacity or is being coerced) and also can sometimes be misused to embezzle money from the elder’s or dependent adult’s financial accounts.

Now, a bank or credit union may refuse to honor the power of attorney of an elder or dependent adult where they either know or suspect elder abuse.

They already have discretion whether or not to honor a power of attorney when the elder, or someone else, tells them elder abuse is occurring if the bank has neither any corroborating evidence showing elder abuse nor has a reasonable belief that, under the facts and circumstances, elder abuse is occurring.

Any alternative agents who are named in the power of attorney can still use the power of attorney if they are not themselves known or suspected of elder abuse.

The named alternative agents may be trustworthy persons who would act in the best interests of the elder or dependent adult and should be allowed to do so.

If an agent believes that their authority was wrongly dishonored by a bank or credit union then the agent can petition the court to enforce the power of attorney.

The court can award attorney fees to be paid by the bank to the attorney in fact. Clearly, banks and credit unions have an incentive to act responsibility under the circumstances.

The foregoing legislative amendment is a fine-tuning of California’s existing statutory laws regarding financial elder abuse.

It is specifically drafted to prevent financial abuse of its elders and dependent adults when their powers of attorney and banking activities are concerned.

Dennis A. Fordham, attorney, is a State Bar-Certified Specialist in estate planning, probate and trust law. His office is at 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, Calif. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and 707-263-3235. His Web site is www.DennisFordhamLaw.com.

We’re all familiar with vehicles that move by using wind, solar energy, gas, or electricity. But occasionally, vehicles are able to use the most efficient and powerful force of all. Gravity.

Gravity’s pull is being used to help propel a small spacecraft known as OSIRIS-REx to a near-Earth asteroid called Bennu.

The mission? Bring back at least a couple ounces of the asteroid so scientists can explore how planets formed and life began.

Gravity is the key to getting this spacecraft to Bennu. For decades, astronomers observed how a planet’s gravity could move large objects, like comets, out of their orbit.

Then, in 1974, NASA’s Mariner 10 became the first spacecraft to employ the slingshot effect, also known as a gravity assist, to reach another planet.

The gravity of Venus was used to help Mariner 10 reach Mercury. Now, NASA scientists and engineers are using Earth’s gravity to slingshot OSIRIS-REx on to Bennu, a relatively small asteroid about the height of the Empire State Building.

There are a number of benefits to using gravity to propel OSIRIS-REx to Bennu.

“Using the Earth Gravity Assist opens up trajectory options that use less fuel,” Mike Moreau, the OSIRIS-REx Flight Dynamics Manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland said. “In this case, the Earth flyby is changing the plane of OSIRIS-REx’s orbit by approximately 6 degrees, which will align the spacecraft with the orbit of Bennu.”

Jeff Grossman, OSIRIS-REx Program Scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, added, “The spacecraft’s long path to Bennu, including the Earth Gravity Assist, was carefully chosen to allow it to reach the asteroid, conduct all of the necessary rendezvous maneuvers, and get back to Earth within the amount of fuel the spacecraft can carry onboard.”

As the spacecraft approaches Earth, it will receive an increasing gravitational tug from our planet. It will essentially steal some momentum from the planet and in the process, change its speed and direction.

In the months leading up to the gravity assist, the spacecraft’s thrusters were fired on two different occasions to adjust the precise target and time of the flyby.

The flyby was designed to make the precise velocity change needed to arrive at Bennu in the fall of 2018.

Moreau notes, “OSIRIS-REx will fly by the Earth at an altitude of 10,700 miles (17,200 km) and will be traveling too fast to be completely captured by Earth’s gravity.”

So how much kick does Earth’s gravity add to the spacecraft? 8,500 miles an hour, without having to burn any fuel. Now that’s the ultimate ride.

For more eye-opening news sure to pull you in, visit http://science.nasa.gov.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Rotary Club of Lakeport will stage the 27th annual Konocti Challenge cycling event in Lakeport on Saturday, Oct. 7.

The event, which features four courses that suit riders of any skill level, has become one of the premier bicycle competitions in California, and it attracts hundreds of riders from all over the world.

Cycle CA! Magazine named the Konocti Challenge “The Best Metric Century of 2014” and awarded the event its “Excellence in Service” award in 2015.

The fun starts on Friday, Oct. 6, at 4 p.m., at the Skylark Shores Resort, which serves as “ride central,” with wine tasting and rider packet pick-up until 7 p.m.

More than 750 riders are expected to participate in this year’s challenge.

The real excitement begins the next morning at the Skylark Shores water’s edge when the 100- mile and 65-mile course riders are released between 7 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. That is followed by the release of the 40-mile and 20-mile family course riders between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.

All courses weave through some of Lake County’s most beautiful and picturesque settings.

“The ride occurs at one the most beautiful times of the year in Lake County,” said Jennifer Strong, Konocti Challenge ride director. “And the long-range weather forecast for this year’s ride looks to be excellent with temperatures in the high 70s to low 80s.”

Strong added, “This is an amazing event for our community and a great opportunity for us to show off our beautiful county and to encourage those riders from out of the area to visit us other times of year.”

The 100-mile and 65-mile courses traverse the east side of the lake to Middletown and then up and over Cobb Mountain.

The 40-mile and 20-mile routes run through Scotts Valley and Kelseyville.

All rides terminate at Lakeport’s Skylark Shores Resort where riders are greeted with an end-of-ride barbecue and refreshments.

One of the features that separates the Konocti Challenge from other cycling events is its rest stop competition.

Local nonprofit organizations that volunteer to man the ride’s rest stops compete for cash prizes that are awarded based on popularity as judged by the event’s riders.

The competition is fierce and rest stop decorations are creative and entertaining.

Konocti Challenge route maps, ride and registration information can be found at www.konoctichallenge.com.

Anyone wishing to volunteer can do so by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council meeting this week featured an appearance by Batman, approval of the city’s lakefront revitalization plan and the direction to staff to negotiate an agreement for solar and energy conservation projects.

The meeting got started with Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen and Mayor Stacey Mattina presenting certificates of appreciation to businesses and organizations that partnered to present the city’s National Night Out event in August.

Rasmussen said they assisted with providing advertising, prizes, equipment, cooking, food and more.

“We absolutely could not do it without the support of all of you,” Rasmussen said.

Those receiving certificates were Bruno’s Shop Smart, the Clear Lake High School Class of 2019, Country Air Properties, Lupoyoma Park Improvement Association, Esplanade Street Neighborhood Watch, Grocery Outlet, Face Painting by Kathy, Jeff Morin Art, Kiwanis Club of Lakeport, Kmart, KXBX, Lake County Amateur Radio Society, the Lake County Fair, Lake County News, Lake Event Design, Lakeport Cinema 5, Lakeport Main Street Association, Lakeport Pizza, Main Street Bicycles, Pak ‘N Mail, ServPro of Lake County, St. Mary Immaculate Parish, Susie Q’s Donuts, the Nerd Cave, Tony Barthel and Valerie Schweifler.

The last to appear was Batman, who received his certificate and a handshake from the mayor and chief.

City Manager Margaret Silveira said all of the contributions have allowed National Night Out to be completely free to the community. She added that Batman was a big hit with the children this year.

In other business, Community Development Director Kevin Ingram introduced the Lakeport Lakefront Revitalization Plan to the council.

The Lakeport Planning Commission unanimously recommended the plan to the council last month, as Lake County News has reported.

The plan covers the area along the waterfront bounded by Clearlake Avenue in the north to C Street in the south, including public and private property. Ingram called it an important planning tool.

The city received more than 750 responses from the community through both meetings and an online survey.

Ingram said the only negative feedback he’s gotten was the lack of a funding component, however, he pointed out that adoption of the plan would add strength to future grant opportunities, which the city plans to start pursuing quickly.

The plan quantifies the importance to the community of a promenade or continuous walking path along the lakeshore. That part of the project is a highly popular feature, Ingram said.

Ingram said the plan would allow a developer to come in and see what the community would like to have. He said it’s also designed to be flexible and implementable in an incremental fashion.

He added that staff is excited to move forward into the implementation stage.

Steve Noll – a principal at the firm Design Workshop of Stateline, Nev., which prepared the plan for the city – presented an overview of the document.

He summarized challenges as circulation of traffic, private property and economic viability, with opportunities including connectivity between Main Street and the waterfront, enhancing local shops and amenities, existing uses, lakefront access, community events and collaboration with property owners, specifically, the Lakeport Unified School District, the owner of the Natural High property on the lakeshore.

Focus areas include the promenade; the city-owned Dutch Harbor property and Natural High; and parking and circulation in the area of Third Street.

The plan includes a number of preliminary concepts, shown in the staff report below from pages 64 to 73. Each is a variation with four key parts: the promenade, a combined use of the city and school property, parking and circulation and a hotel development.

Through working with community members and an economic assessment, the plan identified key priorities that the plan says “should all be kept at the forefront of the City’s future efforts.”

Those priorities are the promenade, additional restaurants and shopping, improved public open space, improved waterfront access, a hotel, improved circulation and connectivity to downtown, a community recreation center and water park.

Mattina said part of the process is looking at what the city has and considering what is the dream for that area, noting that not everything is going to happen right away.

“I’ve been dreaming of a promenade forever, and now at least we have one in writing,” she said.

Ingram explained that Main Street used to be a location of key activities, from the post office to the grocery store, which have since moved to the city’s fringes.

He said successful downtowns have rebuilt themselves as destinations, where people go for an experience – from the arts to enjoying an activity – and stay to shop. In Lakeport’s case, the city can offer the lake itself as a downtown activity.

During public comment, community member Nancy Ruzicka said that during the planning meetings, community members were clear about not wanting an 80-unit hotel at the small Dutch Harbor property, and that they liked better the proposal to build a hotel at Will-O-Point.

Lake County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Melissa Fulton advocated for keeping both Dutch Harbor and Natural High as open space.

She also said that seaplane pilots, who recently visited the city during the annual Seaplane Splash-In, have indicated willingness to invest in getting a permanent seaplane ramp at the location so they can fly in year-round.

Ingram noted that it became very clear during all the public outreach that Natural High is a very valuable aesthetic property thanks to its view of the lake.

Councilman Kenny Parlet moved to approve the plan, which the council supported 5-0.

The council on Tuesday also authorized Silveira to negotiate a program development agreement with OpTerra Energy Systems for solar and energy conservation projects.

Ingram said staff had moved forward at council direction with pursuing projects but found that some regulatory and legislative changes led to questions of feasibility.

He said he and City Engineer Paul Curren had a great meeting with the Yuba City Public Works director and also talked to others who worked with OpTerra, which has done an energy audit and a site visit.

OpTerra Senior Manager Ashu Jain said the proposed scope of work included LED lighting; solar installations at City Hall, the Lakeport Police Department, the wastewater treatment plant and the city corporation yard; outdoor and indoor lighting retrofits at city facilities; and new HVAC units at locations including the Carnegie Library.

The preliminary plans propose solar parking canopies at City Hall and the police department, with city hall also to get an electric vehicle car charging station, according to Jain.

The initial estimate for all of the parts of the project is $3.9 million, with the city expected to realize $266,000 a year, or about 50 percent of its overall consumption. Jain said they would return with more firm numbers.

Jain said the project proposes to create $15 million in net savings before lease payments over a 30-year period. His estimates also included maintenance that the company would provide.

If the project goes forward, Jain said program development will take place from September to January, and implementation from February 2018 to February 2019.

Mattina said the city now needs to figure out a way to pay for it.

Parlet said having such a project would put Lakeport out in front of other rural communities, and he believed financing can be discussed later, once they know if they will actually go forward with a project after further assessment is done.

He moved to have Silveira start the negotiations, with Councilwoman Mireya Turner seconded and the council voting 5-0.

The council also unanimously approved a resolution authorizing Finance Director Nick Walker and Silveira to work with a team to refinance the prior bonds by issuing wastewater revenue refunding bonds with a principal amount of approximately $3 million, and authorized Silveira to execute the proposed professional services agreements for background investigations with James Bauman dba Pacific Quest Investigations; Gary R. Buchholz dba LACO Investigation; Cline Investigations, LLC; and Bob Nishiyama Investigations.

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.

091917 Lakeport City Council agenda packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council and Lakeport Planning Commission are planning a special October workshop to review possible amendments to the Lakeport Zoning Ordinance concerning the development of procedures for the allowance of commercial marijuana, or cannabis, uses within the city of Lakeport.

The meeting will take place beginning at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

The changes would reflect state regulations associated with the recently approved Proposition 64 that legalized the personal use of marijuana in California and other recent legislative changes concerning marijuana over the past couple of years.

At that meeting, the city council and planning commission will discuss:

• Discussion of recently approved legislation concerning commercial cannabis, including Proposition 64 and SB 94.

• Reviewing and developing standards for commercial cannabis uses including cultivation, manufacturing, testing and retail.

• Appropriate zoning districts for the allowance of commercial cannabis uses.

• Consideration of potential fees and taxes related to associated commercial cannabis uses.

The public is encouraged to attend and participate.

Following the workshop city staff will develop a draft ordinance for the regulations of commercial cannabis to be considered for adoption.

For further information on potential commercial cannabis regulations visit the city of Lakeport’s Web site at http://www.cityoflakeport.com/departments/page.aspx?deptID=36&id=229.

For questions and other concerns please contact the Community Development
Department at 707-263-5613 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

NORTH COAST, Calif. – Wildlife officers have arrested four suspects on charges of harvesting abalone with a recreational fishing license then selling it on the black market for profit, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced.

The arrests were preceded by a five-month investigation of the suspects, some of whom have been previously convicted of similar violations.

Arrested were Oakley resident Thepbangon Nonnarath, 48, El Sobrante resident Dennis Nonnarath, 45, and San Jose residents Thu Thi Tran, 45, and Cuong Huu Tran, 42.

The group came to the attention of CDFW wildlife officers in November 2016, when Thepbangon and Dennis Nonnarath and two associates were cited for multiple abalone violations at Moat Creek, a popular recreational abalone fishery in Mendocino County.

Thepbangon Nonnarath had previous abalone poaching convictions and the wildlife officers suspected the group may be engaged in the commercial sale of recreationally harvested abalone, which is unlawful.

Beginning in May 2017, wildlife officers observed suspicious activity by the same group of suspects in several popular recreational abalone diving locations in both Mendocino and Sonoma counties.

Further investigation revealed an extended group of people who were harvesting abalone and allegedly selling it on the black market.

The five-month investigation uncovered evidence of various poaching crimes among the group, including unlawful sale of sport caught abalone, take of abalone for personal profit, commercial possession of sport caught abalone, exceeding the seasonal limit of abalone, falsification of abalone tags and conspiracy to commit a crime, among others.

“The collective efforts of these suspected poachers show a blatant disregard for the regulations designed to protect California’s abalone resources,” said David Bess, chief of CDFW’s Law Enforcement Division. “Whether it be California abalone or African ivory, wildlife officers will not tolerate trafficking of our wildlife resources.”

The alleged abalone poaching crimes occurred at a time when abalone are facing significant threats to their populations due to unprecedented environmental and biological stressors.

As a result, the California Fish and Game Commission has readopted an emergency abalone regulation to continue the restriction of the annual abalone limit to 12 abalone per person and continue the reduced open season which is limited to May, June, August, September and October.

HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. – Investigators are working to determine the cause of a fire that destroyed two homes in Hidden Valley Lake early Thursday morning.

The fire in the 16000 block of Buckhorn Road of Hidden Valley Lake was first dispatched at 5:43 a.m. Thursday, according to South Lake Fire and Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mike Wink, who was the incident commander.

Hidden Valley Lake resident Eric Soderstrom’s home is located about 200 feet from where the fire occurred, in a part of Hidden Valley Lake that had largely escaped the impacts of the Valley fire two years ago this month.

He said his wife was up getting ready for work when she heard a boom. The noise caused their dogs to react, and when she came into their bedroom to calm the animals, she saw an orange glow coming from the window.

When she opened the drapes, she saw the fire and immediately awakened him to tell him that they needed to go.

Soderstrom said he took his first photo of the fire at 5:49 p.m. It’s shown above. At the same time, Wink said firefighters were responding.

Wink said the first units on scene, which came from the Hidden Valley Lake fire station, found a fully involved structure and several vehicles – one of which appeared to be a travel trailer or motor home – on fire, with a neighboring home also catching fire.

The fire also spread to the nearby vegetation, with multiple spot fires developing in the general area, Wink said.

Wink said power lines were down and firefighters had to establish a water supply, which they were able to do thanks to Hidden Valley Lake’s hydrant system.

He said South Lake County Fire and Cal Fire received mutual aid from Kelseyville Fire, Lake County Fire and Northshore Fire, with the latter sending its support team.

Pacific Gas and Electric responded to pull the meters, with AT&T also on scene. The local water district was there to make sure there was enough water supply, turning off the meters to the destroyed homes after the incident was completed, Wink said.

Other agencies responding included the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Hidden Valley Lake Security, as well as the Lake County Building Department, which Wink same arrived Thursday morning to secure and red-tag the buildings before they were turned back over to the property owners.

Soderstrom said he and his wife and dogs evacuated to Hardester’s temporarily until they could size up the situation and knew that they could safely return. As they had been preparing to leave, they had heard more pops, which he believes may have been propane tanks.

As Soderstrom and his wife were leaving, they encountered emergency vehicles coming up Buckhorn Road and had to loop around onto Greenridge to get out of the area.

He said they also had found that a fire gate to allow for access out of Hidden Valley Lake was closed. Soderstrom said he later questioned Hidden Valley Lake Security about why the gate wasn’t open, and was told that decision was up to Cal Fire.

Altogether, two homes were lost plus several vehicles, Wink said.

There were no injuries, as Wink said all of the homes’ occupants were able to get out safely.

A third home had been filled with smoke because of the fire but was not damaged, he added.

Wink said Red Cross was on scene right away to provide housing assistance, with occupants of one of the homes accepting and the residents of the other home declining.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, with Wink explaining that they didn’t yet know if the fire started in a structure or one of the vehicles.

He said South Lake County Fire and Cal Fire are conducting the investigation into the fire’s origin and cause.

“They have processed the scene,” he said.

Because of the fire, the Middletown Unified School District initially reported on its Facebook page Thursday morning that it wouldn’t be able to send a bus into the area to pick up children because Hidden Valley Lake Security said that the roads around the fire were closed.

A short time later, the district followed up with a message stating that the roads were reopened once district buses were on the way, “so we were able to send a bus up to get the kids who were up there,” the message stated.

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.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – A Texas firm is pushing ahead with a plan for a Dollar General store in Middletown.

Joe Dell of Plano, Texas-based Cross Development presented the latest building design to community members at the Middletown Area Town Hall meeting on Thursday evening at the Middletown Community Center. His presentation begins at the 1:04:50 mark in the video above.

Plans for the building, to be located at 20900 Highway 29, have met resistance from community members over the past two years.

This spring, the Board of Supervisors voted to uphold the Lake County Planning Commission’s January decision to deny a design review permit and mitigated negative declaration for the project.

County Counsel Anita Grant had said after the board’s action that the project lost its major use permit, which the planning commission had denied in 2016.

The board had previously granted Cross Development’s appeal of that 2016 planning commission decision on the major use permit, but made the permit contingent on the approval of the design review permit and mitigated negative declaration, as Lake County News has previously reported.

Lake County News reconfirmed with Grant this week that the major use permit was no longer in play because of the board denying the appeal earlier this year.

At Thursday’s meeting, Dell said the use permit for the project already has been approved.

However, because the previous permitting requirements were turned down, county planning staff have said Cross Development must submit a new application for the project.

The new plans call for reducing the store size to less than 8,000 square feet, which means the plan will not trigger a major use permit in the local commercial district zoning and can instead be approved under a minor use permit, based on county planning rules.

In an attempt to clarify the requirements, Lake County News contacted county planning staff.

Principal Planner Michalyn DelValle told Lake County News this week that, so far, she has no new application from Cross Development for the plan.

Community Development Director Bob Massarelli, who was on hand for Thursday’s presentation, told Lake County News that, “To the best of my knowledge our only comments to Cross Development has been that they need to apply for a design review permit. The work that they are doing as present(ed) at last week’s MATH meeting appears to (be) their preliminary work prior to submitting an application.”

At last Thursday’s meeting, Dell said he did not want to get into issues about people’s feelings about Dollar General.

“We are here simply to work on design,” Dell said.

Dell said all of the previous designs the company has presented have been denied by the community. So he said the goal is to have a design that the community will support.

He refused to discuss the building’s tenant – Dollar General – and wanted to focus instead on the look of the building and the site plan.

Nevertheless, several community members in the audience did bring up Dollar General, the Tennessee-based small box retailer that Cross Development is building stores for in Lake County.

So far, Dollar General has opened stores in Clearlake Oaks and Nice, and thanks to Dell’s efforts has gotten the go-ahead from the city of Lakeport for another store. There also have been efforts to get a store approved in Kelseyville, with Cross Development additionally seeking a site in Lucerne.

During the meeting, Dell’s presentation was interrupted a few times by audience members telling him that they didn’t want the store.

Dell showed comparisons to previous plans, noting that the biggest change is that the building’s size has been reduced from the formula 9,100-square-foot store common among Dollar Generals to a store that’s now 7,225 square feet.

“That’s a huge positive,” he said.

Dell said the entire building will have a roof overhang, wood gables, some exterior rock decoration, faux shutters and more windows.

“The overall look and design of the building has changed drastically,” he said, noting the new design is what they are proposing to take back to the county.

He said the color scheme for the building is completely optional. Dell said they could do purple, blue or burgundy, or more earth tone colors, noting the latter was frowned upon by the Lake County Planning Commission despite earth tones being used in other buildings in Middletown.

“Just go away,” one woman in the audience said at that point.

What won’t change is the building’s signage, Dell said.

One community member who said he had called Dell to offer input on design said he never got a call back, and suggested that the building would be a “heat sink” because it hasn’t been designed to deal either with the area’s heat or its rain.

Dell said there will be landscaping at the back of the project that will go far above the county’s landscaping requirement in order to screen it from nearby homes. He said there also will be parking lot lighting and trees.

John Hess, the District 1 representative on the Lake County Planning Commission, added that Cross Development will have to comply with lighting rules to uphold dark sky protections.

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. – A Clearlake man arrested last week for animal cruelty after police said he left his dog to die along Highway 53 has entered a plea in the case and is set for preliminary hearing.

On Tuesday, James Harley Miranda, 40, pleaded not guilty to felony animal cruelty and a misdemeanor charge of being under the influence of a controlled substance, according to Deputy District Attorney Rachel Abelson.

Miranda was arrested early on the morning of Sept. 12, about 18 hours after his dog “Cocoa” was found dead by a passerby on the side of Highway 53 in Clearlake, as Lake County News has reported.

The Clearlake Police Department said the dog was tied by a homemade leash to a hand cart and had an elastic band wrapped around its jaw.

When police later found Miranda, he said Cocoa had been hit by a vehicle while off leash and that he muzzled the dog after it attempted to bite him.

He also admitted to police that he left Cocoa on the roadway and went to a friend's residence to use methamphetamine, according to the initial police report.

Miranda “denies any allegations that he in any way physically abused his dog, Cocoa,” Andrea Sullivan, Miranda’s attorney, told Lake County News.

“Evidence in this case is still being collected and the cause of death of the animal is as of yet undetermined,” said Sullivan, who added that she was not sure if further examination of Cocoa’s body is planned by investigators.

Miranda, who has remained in jail since his arrest, also had his bail reduced on Tuesday, Sullivan said.

Sullivan said that Miranda's bail was lowered to $15,000 from $25,000, with $15,000 being the standard bail for the animal cruelty charge.

“Several members of the audience made audible sounds disapproving of the reduced bail amount and were admonished by the Judge Hedstrom for disrupting the proceedings,” she said.

Sullivan said Miranda has a misdemeanor criminal history with no violence and no similar cases to the one involving Cocoa.

Abelson said Miranda waived his right to have a preliminary hearing within 10 days, so his preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 16.

If convicted, Miranda faces three years in the county jail, Sullivan 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.