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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Caltrans on Tuesday awarded $51.4 million in planning grants for 89 sustainable, climate-resilient transportation projects throughout California to help communities better withstand the impacts of extreme weather events fueled by climate change.
Among those awards was a grant for a zero emission vehicle plan in Lake County.
Caltrans said the selected projects will help reduce planet-warming pollution, improve resiliency of the state highway system, enhance access to safe walkways and bike paths, and expand natural disaster preparedness.
Nearly $29 million comes from one-time state and federal sources made possible by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $15 billion clean transportation package in the 2022-23 state budget to further the state’s ambitious climate goals.
Another $12.4 million comes from Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017. The awards will fund project planning and conceptual design efforts, helping move the projects closer to construction.
“California is at the forefront of planning transportation projects built to help underserved communities withstand the effects of climate change,” said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares. “By working closely with local partners, we can maintain a sustainable, adaptable and resilient transportation system that will serve all Californians far into the future.”
In total, Caltrans will fund:
• $28.8 million in Climate Adaptation Planning Grants – all from Gov. Newsom’s clean transportation infrastructure package – to 30 local, regional and transit agencies to identify transportation-related climate vulnerabilities through the development of climate adaptation plans, as well as project-level adaptation planning to address climate impacts to transportation infrastructure. Ninety-seven percent of these projects will benefit disadvantaged communities.
• $19.2 million in Sustainable Communities Competitive and Technical Grants to 50 local, regional and transit agencies for transportation and land use planning, as well as planning for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. This includes more than $6 million to fund planning for 16 projects that improve safety and access for people who walk and bike. Ninety-two percent of these projects will benefit disadvantaged communities.
• $3.4 million in federally funded Strategic Partnerships Grants to nine projects that will plan for managed lanes, training and certification for local elected officials, comprehensive multimodal corridors, transit network and comprehensive operational analyses, improve interregional ADA paratransit coordination, develop airport passenger transportation recommendations, develop a zero-emissions bus fleet, coordinate multimodal transportation and land use compatibility.
Among the Sustainable Communities Competitive and Technical Grants is the Lake County/City Area Planning Council’s Lake County Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Plan, which will receive $177,060.
The project aims to develop a zero emission vehicle, or ZEV, charging/fueling infrastructure plan. It will allow Lake County to join a larger energy network with neighboring jurisdictions that have already developed an electric vehicle charging network with future expansion, while Lake County’s budget constraints have limited such progress, according to the grant information.
Aligned with the State’s 2021 Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure, the project emphasizes investment in ZEV infrastructure, especially in rural areas. It involves collaboration with local Lake County agencies, including planning and public works, as well as tribal governments, to assess ZEV infrastructure needs and integrate these into land use and planning tools.
The project also is supported by the 2022 Regional Transportation Plan for the Lake County region, which include policies and objectives that support the purpose of this project, including support for planning projects that further greenhouse gas reducing efforts and plans that facilitate a transition to ZEV consistent with Newsom’s executive order N-79-20.
Caltrans awards transportation planning grants each year through a competitive process to encourage local and regional projects.
Applications are evaluated on how projects advance state transportation and climate goals by identifying and addressing statewide, interregional, or regional transportation deficiencies on the highway system.
The grant program began in the 2015-16 fiscal year. Since then, Caltrans has awarded 685 planning grants totaling $266 million, and more than 60 percent of those projects have been completed.
SB 1 provides $5 billion in transportation funding annually that is shared between state and local agencies. Road projects progress through construction phases more quickly based on the availability of SB 1 funds, including projects that are partially funded by SB 1.
Find more projects that are building California’s climate-friendly future at https://build.ca.gov/ and https://rebuildingca.ca.gov/.
Among those awards was a grant for a zero emission vehicle plan in Lake County.
Caltrans said the selected projects will help reduce planet-warming pollution, improve resiliency of the state highway system, enhance access to safe walkways and bike paths, and expand natural disaster preparedness.
Nearly $29 million comes from one-time state and federal sources made possible by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $15 billion clean transportation package in the 2022-23 state budget to further the state’s ambitious climate goals.
Another $12.4 million comes from Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017. The awards will fund project planning and conceptual design efforts, helping move the projects closer to construction.
“California is at the forefront of planning transportation projects built to help underserved communities withstand the effects of climate change,” said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares. “By working closely with local partners, we can maintain a sustainable, adaptable and resilient transportation system that will serve all Californians far into the future.”
In total, Caltrans will fund:
• $28.8 million in Climate Adaptation Planning Grants – all from Gov. Newsom’s clean transportation infrastructure package – to 30 local, regional and transit agencies to identify transportation-related climate vulnerabilities through the development of climate adaptation plans, as well as project-level adaptation planning to address climate impacts to transportation infrastructure. Ninety-seven percent of these projects will benefit disadvantaged communities.
• $19.2 million in Sustainable Communities Competitive and Technical Grants to 50 local, regional and transit agencies for transportation and land use planning, as well as planning for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. This includes more than $6 million to fund planning for 16 projects that improve safety and access for people who walk and bike. Ninety-two percent of these projects will benefit disadvantaged communities.
• $3.4 million in federally funded Strategic Partnerships Grants to nine projects that will plan for managed lanes, training and certification for local elected officials, comprehensive multimodal corridors, transit network and comprehensive operational analyses, improve interregional ADA paratransit coordination, develop airport passenger transportation recommendations, develop a zero-emissions bus fleet, coordinate multimodal transportation and land use compatibility.
Among the Sustainable Communities Competitive and Technical Grants is the Lake County/City Area Planning Council’s Lake County Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Plan, which will receive $177,060.
The project aims to develop a zero emission vehicle, or ZEV, charging/fueling infrastructure plan. It will allow Lake County to join a larger energy network with neighboring jurisdictions that have already developed an electric vehicle charging network with future expansion, while Lake County’s budget constraints have limited such progress, according to the grant information.
Aligned with the State’s 2021 Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure, the project emphasizes investment in ZEV infrastructure, especially in rural areas. It involves collaboration with local Lake County agencies, including planning and public works, as well as tribal governments, to assess ZEV infrastructure needs and integrate these into land use and planning tools.
The project also is supported by the 2022 Regional Transportation Plan for the Lake County region, which include policies and objectives that support the purpose of this project, including support for planning projects that further greenhouse gas reducing efforts and plans that facilitate a transition to ZEV consistent with Newsom’s executive order N-79-20.
Caltrans awards transportation planning grants each year through a competitive process to encourage local and regional projects.
Applications are evaluated on how projects advance state transportation and climate goals by identifying and addressing statewide, interregional, or regional transportation deficiencies on the highway system.
The grant program began in the 2015-16 fiscal year. Since then, Caltrans has awarded 685 planning grants totaling $266 million, and more than 60 percent of those projects have been completed.
SB 1 provides $5 billion in transportation funding annually that is shared between state and local agencies. Road projects progress through construction phases more quickly based on the availability of SB 1 funds, including projects that are partially funded by SB 1.
Find more projects that are building California’s climate-friendly future at https://build.ca.gov/ and https://rebuildingca.ca.gov/.
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Last week Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a proclamation terminating 22 open states of emergency for various prior fires, storms and other incidents for which a proclamation of a state of emergency is no longer necessary to facilitate response and recovery efforts.
Several of those emergencies, extending back to 2017, were for incidents in Lake County.
The full list is below, including the name of the emergency, the date proclaimed and the counties where the incidents occurred.
• I-10 Bridge Fire, Nov. 11, 2023: Los Angeles County.
• Humboldt Earthquake, Dec. 20, 2022: Humboldt County.
• Mill Fire, Sept. 2, 2022: Siskiyou County.
• McKinney, China 2 and Evans fires, July 30, 2022: Siskiyou County.
• Alisal Fire, July 1, 2022: Santa Barbara County.
• 2021 December Winter Storms, Jan. 8, 2022: Trinity County.
• 2021 December Winter Storms, Dec. 30, 2021: Alameda, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Humboldt, Lake, Los Angeles, Marin, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Sierra and Yuba counties.
• River, French, Washington, Windy, KNP Complex and Hopkins fires, Oct. 22, 2021: Siskiyou, Trinity, Kern, Tuolumne, Tulare and Mendocino counties.
• Fawn Fire, Sept. 27, 2021: Shasta County.
• Cache Fire, Sept. 7, 2021: Lake County.
• Caldor Fire, Aug. 30, 2021: Alpine, Amador and Placer counties.
• Caldor Fire, Aug. 17, 2021: El Dorado County.
• River and Antelope Fires, Aug. 5, 2021: Siskiyou, Placer and Nevada counties.
• Lava and Beckwourth Complex Fires, July 16, 2021: Siskiyou, Plumas and Lassen counties.
• High Winds,June 22, 2021: Madera and Mariposa counties.
• Glass and Zogg Fires, Sept. 28, 2020: Napa, Shasta and Sonoma counties.
• Slater and Other Siskiyou Fires, Sept. 10, 2020: Siskiyou County.
Creek, El Dorado and Valley fires, Sept. 6, 2020: Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties.
• Hill and Woolsey Fires, Nov. 9, 2018: Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
• Carr Fire, July 26, 2018: Shasta County.
• Thomas Fire, Dec. 7, 2017: Santa Barbara County.
• February 2017 Storms, March 7, 2017: Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa,
Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yolo and Yuba counties.
Several of those emergencies, extending back to 2017, were for incidents in Lake County.
The full list is below, including the name of the emergency, the date proclaimed and the counties where the incidents occurred.
• I-10 Bridge Fire, Nov. 11, 2023: Los Angeles County.
• Humboldt Earthquake, Dec. 20, 2022: Humboldt County.
• Mill Fire, Sept. 2, 2022: Siskiyou County.
• McKinney, China 2 and Evans fires, July 30, 2022: Siskiyou County.
• Alisal Fire, July 1, 2022: Santa Barbara County.
• 2021 December Winter Storms, Jan. 8, 2022: Trinity County.
• 2021 December Winter Storms, Dec. 30, 2021: Alameda, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Humboldt, Lake, Los Angeles, Marin, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Sierra and Yuba counties.
• River, French, Washington, Windy, KNP Complex and Hopkins fires, Oct. 22, 2021: Siskiyou, Trinity, Kern, Tuolumne, Tulare and Mendocino counties.
• Fawn Fire, Sept. 27, 2021: Shasta County.
• Cache Fire, Sept. 7, 2021: Lake County.
• Caldor Fire, Aug. 30, 2021: Alpine, Amador and Placer counties.
• Caldor Fire, Aug. 17, 2021: El Dorado County.
• River and Antelope Fires, Aug. 5, 2021: Siskiyou, Placer and Nevada counties.
• Lava and Beckwourth Complex Fires, July 16, 2021: Siskiyou, Plumas and Lassen counties.
• High Winds,June 22, 2021: Madera and Mariposa counties.
• Glass and Zogg Fires, Sept. 28, 2020: Napa, Shasta and Sonoma counties.
• Slater and Other Siskiyou Fires, Sept. 10, 2020: Siskiyou County.
Creek, El Dorado and Valley fires, Sept. 6, 2020: Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties.
• Hill and Woolsey Fires, Nov. 9, 2018: Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
• Carr Fire, July 26, 2018: Shasta County.
• Thomas Fire, Dec. 7, 2017: Santa Barbara County.
• February 2017 Storms, March 7, 2017: Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa,
Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yolo and Yuba counties.
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKEPORT, Calif. — The effort to bring a new courthouse to Lake County had its milestone moment last week when state and court officials gathered to mark the groundbreaking for the new Lakeport court facility.
The new building will be located at 675 Lakeport Blvd., and will be three times the size of the current court facility, located on the fourth floor of the Lake County Courthouse at 255 N. Forbes St. in Lakeport.
Judge Andrew Blum, who opened the brief groundbreaking ceremony, was joined by colleagues Michael Lunas and Shanda Harry, and Commissioner John Langan. Judge J. David Markham was out of state.
The $83.8 million project is the work of the Judicial Council of California.
Pella McCormick, the Judicial Council’s director of facilities, thanked everyone for patiently waiting many years for the groundbreaking event.
She said the Judicial Council’s facilities program’s mission is working together to provide access to justice for all Californians.
McCormick said the new project will replace two antiquated facilities, and will provide four courtrooms and 46,000 square feet of space on a 5.7-acre site that will have parking for the public, jurors and court staff.
The project originally was conceptualized in the early 2000s. Then, in 2008, SB 1407 provided $5 billion in bond funding for new and renovated courthouses using court fees, penalties and assessments, McCormick said.
Lakeport’s courthouse was recognized then as one of most critically needed projects statewide, she added.
“In the intervening years, the project was started and stopped a couple of times,” McCormick said.
After several years’ delay, the 2021-22 state budget act included $83.8 million for the Lakeport courthouse project, including design and construction, she said.
McCormick said the new building will be beautiful, will relieve the current space shortfall, increase security, and provide a safe and efficient courthouse. It also will meet regulatory safety, seismic code and Judicial Council space standards.
She said it will have adequate space for a self-help center, jury assembly, attorney-client waiting rooms and separate secure hallways for in-custody defendants.
This project is a collaboration that McCormick said involved county and city partners over the course of many years. The Judicial Council worked closely with the Lake County Superior Court and an advisory group to determine the site.
“The new courthouse will be designed to address energy use and sustainability,” McCormick said, noting it will have water efficient landscaping and irrigation, LED lighting and solar arrays over the parking.
The project also will provide economic benefits to Lake County. McCormick said they made outreach to local subcontractors, and all qualified subcontractors were considered for work on the building.
Other benefits include improving in-custody transportation and detention, a state-of-the-art security system and improved public access to court services.
McCormick thanked Lake County’s judges, Court Executive Officer Krista LeVier, Judicial Council staff and the design-build team.
She said Lake County is an instrumental component of the state's history and economy.
“The new Lakeport courthouse will increase court efficiencies and improve access to justice for the people of the county for many decades to come,” McCormick said.
Judge Blum said the event was a long time coming, and had been in the works for 16 years.
“There were many times when we thought we would never get to this point today, so today is a real milestone,” Blum said.
He recognized retired Judge Art Mann, the only retired judge at the event, who was the presiding judge when the process started in 2008.
Blum also thanked retired judges Stephen Hedstrom, David Herrick and Rick Martin, all of whom put in a lot of effort into getting a new courthouse.
“This is not just a new building for the courts. It is a far better facility for the people of Lake County who use court services,” Blum said.
“Our current courthouse is officially the worst courthouse in the entire state of California. Yes, there is an official list, and we’re No. 1. So we do need a new courthouse,” Blum added.
Blum said he’d traveled to some of the new courthouses around California, finding them beautiful and well equipped.
“It’s time the people of Lake County had one of those facilities also,” he said.
Blum said the current courthouse on Forbes Street was built in the 1960s, when the county’s
population and caseloads were much smaller.
The new courthouse will be triple the size of the current facility, will have an on-site self-help center to help people file paperwork and there will be a comfortable place for jurors to wait before being called for service, as opposed to having to stand out in the hallway, Blum explained.
The building process is expected to take about two years, so Blum said the grand opening can be expected in 2026.
Before he and others picked up the ceremonial shovels for the groundbreaking, Blum recognized LeVier’s work.
“She has put more time into this project than the rest of us combined,” he said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKEPORT, Calif. — One person was seriously injured on July 4 following a late-night boat crash near Lakeport.
Lauren Berlinn, spokesperson for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, said the collision that night on Clear Lake involved two vessels and occurred shortly after the city of Lakeport’s fireworks display.
A 2019 Ranger bass boat, operated by a single individual, was traveling east on Clear Lake when it collided with a 2017 Sun Tracker Pontoon boat carrying eight occupants, Berlinn said.
As a result of the collision, the operator of the pontoon boat was ejected into the water, Berlinn said.
The sheriff’s office did not release the names of those involved in the crash.
The first call that came across the radio about the crash that night was just after 10:20 p.m.
Central Dispatch said multiple callers reported that people were in the water and at least one person was injured.
The location was given as Reeves Point, off of Reeves Lane near Konocti Vista Casino.
Dispatch sent Lakeport Fire personnel to the casino, where they were staging their units, while three Sheriff’s Marine Patrol boats responded. Cal Fire also was notified and staged, based on radio reports.
Fire personnel met the sheriff’s boat and responded out to the scene to conduct the rescue, while also requesting an air ambulance meet them at Lampson Field.
Radio reports indicated that it took nearly a half-hour to remove the injured boat driver from the water and transport them back to the waiting ambulance on shore.
Berlinn said the pontoon boat driver was transported by air ambulance to an out-of-county hospital for treatment.
The remaining seven occupants of the pontoon boat, as well as the operator of the bass boat, reported no injuries, Berlinn said.
At the time of Berlinn’s Monday report, alcohol was not suspected as having contributed to the boat collision.
She said the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Email Elizabeth Larson atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Lauren Berlinn, spokesperson for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, said the collision that night on Clear Lake involved two vessels and occurred shortly after the city of Lakeport’s fireworks display.
A 2019 Ranger bass boat, operated by a single individual, was traveling east on Clear Lake when it collided with a 2017 Sun Tracker Pontoon boat carrying eight occupants, Berlinn said.
As a result of the collision, the operator of the pontoon boat was ejected into the water, Berlinn said.
The sheriff’s office did not release the names of those involved in the crash.
The first call that came across the radio about the crash that night was just after 10:20 p.m.
Central Dispatch said multiple callers reported that people were in the water and at least one person was injured.
The location was given as Reeves Point, off of Reeves Lane near Konocti Vista Casino.
Dispatch sent Lakeport Fire personnel to the casino, where they were staging their units, while three Sheriff’s Marine Patrol boats responded. Cal Fire also was notified and staged, based on radio reports.
Fire personnel met the sheriff’s boat and responded out to the scene to conduct the rescue, while also requesting an air ambulance meet them at Lampson Field.
Radio reports indicated that it took nearly a half-hour to remove the injured boat driver from the water and transport them back to the waiting ambulance on shore.
Berlinn said the pontoon boat driver was transported by air ambulance to an out-of-county hospital for treatment.
The remaining seven occupants of the pontoon boat, as well as the operator of the bass boat, reported no injuries, Berlinn said.
At the time of Berlinn’s Monday report, alcohol was not suspected as having contributed to the boat collision.
She said the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson