Dogs often react with great fear to July 4th celebrations. Border collies such as this dog are especially sensitive to loud noises. Leigh Prather/Shutterstock.com
The Fourth of July can be a miserable day for dogs. The fireworks make scaredy-cats out of many canines.
That’s because dogs, like humans, are hardwired to be afraid of sudden, loud noises. It is what keeps them safe. Some dogs, though, take that fear to the extreme with panting, howling, pacing, whining, hiding, trembling and even self-injury or escape. And, unlike humans, they don’t know that the fanfare on the Fourth is not a threat. Dogs hear the fireworks and process it as if their world is under siege.
How a dog responds to noises may be influenced by breed, with German shepherd dogs more likely to pace, while border collies or Australian cattle dogs are more likely to show their fear by hiding.
While we veterinarians don’t know exactly why some dogs are afraid of fireworks and others not, many dogs that react to one noise often react to others. Therefore, early intervention and treatment are essential in protecting the welfare of these terrified dogs. Here’s how you can protect your dog from fireworks.
Take your pet to the vet. If your dog is afraid of fireworks, the first step is to have your veterinarian evaluate him or her, especially if your dog’s noise sensitivity is relatively new. One 2018 study found a link between pain and noise sensitivities in older dogs, indicating that muscle tension or sudden movements in response to a loud noise may aggravate a tender area on the body and thus create an association between the loud noise and pain, causing fear of that particular noise to develop or escalate.
Create a “safe haven” in your home with a secure door or gate, preferably away from outside windows or doors. Close the blinds or curtains to reduce outside noises, and play some classical music to help reduce stress by creating a relaxing environment for your dog during the show. A white noise machine or box fan may also help reduce anxiety, along with a pheromone like Adaptil sprayed on bedding, a bandanna, a collar or from a diffuser plugged into the wall.
Consider noise-canceling headphones such as Mutt Muffs to muffle the sounds and further reduce noise sensitivities.
Find a food your pet will love. This could be cut pieces of boiled chicken or squeeze cheese. Sit with your pet and feed him with each boom. You can also use a long-lasting food-dispensing or puzzle toy to release food continuously during the show. This is to help your dog make a positive association with the noises for the future.
Consider anxiety wraps, fabric wraps that exert a gentle pressure on your dog’s body. These may help to lower heart rate and other clinical signs of fear and anxiety, operating on the belief that they swaddle a scared animal and thus calm its fears. These work best, however, in conjunction with a complete behavior treatment plan including medication or behavior modification, or both.
When it comes to comforting your dog, the jury is still out. It is difficult, however, to reinforce an emotional response with comfort. Therefore, it is OK to pet your dog when frightened by a noise event so long as the dog appears to be comforted and not more distressed by the attention.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. — California State Parks reported that it has reached a milestone in the Clear Lake State Park General Plan process and will hold a meeting this month to share information on the plan and take input from the community.
The park will host an interactive in-person open house workshop to gather community feedback on planning alternatives from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 16, at the park, 5300 Soda Bay Road.
The park entrance fee will be waived after 5 p.m. for attendees. Light refreshments will be provided.
The park’s planning team will present different draft alternatives, each outlining a different direction for Clear Lake State Park’s future.
“The alternatives phase takes us from big-picture ideas to specific actions for Clear Lake State Park’s future. There are three draft alternatives, each presenting a unique vision and set of management strategies — emphasizing recreation, natural and cultural resource management, or a blend of both,” the park said in its meeting announcement.
The alternatives to consider include:
Recreation emphasis alternative: Prioritizes public use and enjoyment by focusing on expanding outdoor recreational opportunities, supporting visitor facility improvements, and increasing operational and maintenance capacity.
Blended recreation and resource management alternative: Combines elements of the Recreation and Resource Management alternatives to support public use while protecting sensitive resources.
Resource management emphasis alternative: Focuses on protecting sensitive natural and cultural resources and improving ecological processes.
Drop in any time during the open house to review detailed maps of each alternative and supporting park improvements, speak directly with the planning team and provide specific feedback that will help shape the final general plan.
Feedback on these alternatives will help planners shape a general plan that reflects the shared priorities of the public.
Park officials said the alternatives are not final decisions but discussion points to help them explore a range of possible directions for the general plan.
After reviewing input on the draft alternatives, California State Parks will develop a draft general plan based on a selected alternative or a combination of elements from multiple alternatives.
The first in-person open house, held on Aug. 21, 2024, marked an important step in reimagining the future of Clear Lake State Park, park officials said.
Community members shared ideas, identified opportunities and constraints, and helped shape the foundation for the draft alternative phase of the planning process.
Have questions or want to learn more about the Clear Lake State Park General Plan process? Visit the project website.
For more information, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
As millions of Californians prepare to celebrate Independence Day, the California Highway Patrol will launch a statewide holiday enforcement period, or HEP, to crack down on dangerous driving behaviors and help prevent injuries and deaths on the road.
The Independence Day HEP begins at 6:01 p.m. Thursday, July 3, and continues through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, July 6.
All available CHP officers will be out in full force throughout the holiday weekend, focusing on impaired, distracted and aggressive drivers.
CHP said the goal is simple: to save lives.
“Reckless driving and speeding have deadly consequences,” said CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee. “It’s every driver’s responsibility to make safe choices behind the wheel. Let’s work together to prevent tragedies by always designating a sober driver and keeping our roads safe for everyone.”
To underscore the ongoing need for heightened enforcement, consider this: During a recent statewide 24-hour enforcement effort from 6 a.m. Saturday, June 7, to 5:59 a.m., Sunday, June 8, CHP officers issued nearly 18,000 citations.
Of those:
• More than 12,100 were for excessive speed. • Nearly 860 were for distracted driving. • Close to 500 were for seat belt violations.
Officers also made nearly 400 arrests for driving under the influence. Tragically, 11 people lost their lives in crashes during that same period.
Whether heading to a fireworks show or returning home from a family gathering, the CHP urges everyone to buckle up, slow down, designate a sober driver and in case of an emergency, call 9-1-1.
Kassem Fawaz, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Jack West, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Many apps and social media platforms collect detailed information about you as you use them, and sometimes even when you’re not using them. Malte Mueller/fStop via Getty images
You wake up in the morning and, first thing, you open your weather app. You close that pesky ad that opens first and check the forecast. You like your weather app, which shows hourly weather forecasts for your location. And the app is free!
But do you know why it’s free? Look at the app’s privacy settings. You help keep it free by allowing it to collect your information, including:
What devices you use and their IP and Media Access Control addresses.
Information you provide when signing up, such as your name, email address and home address.
App settings, such as whether you choose Celsius or Fahrenheit.
Your interactions with the app, including what content you view and what ads you click.
Inferences based on your interactions with the app.
Your location at a given time, including, depending on your settings, continuous tracking.
What websites or apps that you interact with after you use the weather app.
Information you give to ad vendors.
Information gleaned by analytics vendors that analyze and optimize the app.
This type of data collection is standard fare. The app company can use this to customize ads and content. The more customized and personalized an ad is, the more money it generates for the app owner. The owner might also sell your data to other companies.
Many apps, including the weather channel app, send you targeted advertising and sell your personal data by default.Jack West, CC BY-ND
You might also check a social media account like Instagram. The subtle price that you pay is, again, your data. Many “free” mobile apps gather information about you as you interact with them.
As an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and a doctoral student in computer science, we follow the ways software collects information about people. Your data allows companies to learn about your habits and exploit them.
It’s no secret that social media and mobile applications collect information about you. Meta’s business model depends on it. The company, which operates Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is worth US$1.48 trillion. Just under 98% of its profits come from advertising, which leverages user data from more than 7 billion monthly users.
What your data is worth
Before mobile phones gained apps and social media became ubiquitous, companies conducted large-scale demographic surveys to assess how well a product performed and to get information about the best places to sell it. They used the information to create coarsely targeted ads that they placed on billboards, print ads and TV spots.
Mobile apps and social media platforms now let companies gather much more fine-grained information about people at a lower cost. Through apps and social media, people willingly trade personal information for convenience. In 2007 – a year after the introduction of targeted ads – Facebook made over $153 million, triple the previous year’s revenue. In the past 17 years, that number has increased by more than 1,000 times.
Five ways to leave your data
App and social media companies collect your data in many ways. Meta is a representative case. The company’s privacy policy highlights five ways it gathers your data:
First, it collects the profile information you fill in. Second, it collects the actions you take on its social media platforms. Third, it collects the people you follow and friend. Fourth, it keeps track of each phone, tablet and computer you use to access its platforms. And fifth, it collects information about how you interact with apps that corporate partners connect to its platforms. Many apps and social media platforms follow similar privacy practices.
Your data and activity
When you create an account on an app or social media platform, you provide the company that owns it with information like your age, birth date, identified sex, location and workplace. In the early years of Facebook, selling profile information to advertisers was that company’s main source of revenue. This information is valuable because it allows advertisers to target specific demographics like age, identified gender and location.
And once you start using an app or social media platform, the company behind it can collect data about how you use the app or social media. Social media keeps you engaged as you interact with other people’s posts by liking, commenting or sharing them. Meanwhile, the social media company gains information about what content you view and how you communicate with other people.
Advertisers can find out how much time you spent reading a Facebook post or that you spent a few more seconds on a particular TikTok video. This activity information tells advertisers about your interests. Modern algorithms can quickly pick up subtleties and automatically change the content to engage you in a sponsored post, a targeted advertisement or general content.
Your devices and applications
Companies can also note what devices, including mobile phones, tablets and computers, you use to access their apps and social media platforms. This shows advertisers your brand loyalty, how old your devices are and how much they’re worth.
Because mobile devices travel with you, they have access to information about where you’re going, what you’re doing and who you’re near. In a lawsuit against Kochava Inc., the Federal Trade Commission called out the company for selling customer geolocation data in August 2022, shortly after Roe v Wade was overruled. The company’s customers, including people who had abortions after the ruling was overturned, often didn’t know that data tracking their movements was being collected, according to the commission. The FTC alleged that the data could be used to identify households.
Information that apps can gain from your mobile devices includes anything you have given an app permission to have, such as your location, who you have in your contact list or photos in your gallery.
If you give an app permission to see where you are while the app is running, for instance, the platform can access your location anytime the app is running. Providing access to contacts may provide an app with the phone numbers, names and emails of all the people that you know.
Cross-application data collection
Companies can also gain information about what you do across different apps by acquiring information collected by other apps and platforms.
The settings on an Android phone show that Meta uses information it collects about you to target ads it shows you in its apps – and also in other apps and on other platforms – by default.Jack West, CC BY-ND
This is common with social media companies. This allows companies to, for example, show you ads based on what you like or recently looked at on other apps. If you’ve searched for something on Amazon and then noticed an ad for it on Instagram, it’s probably because Amazon shared that information with Instagram.
Companies, including Google, Meta, X, TikTok and Snapchat, can build detailed user profiles based on collected information from all the apps and social media platforms you use. They use the profiles to show you ads and posts that match your interests to keep you engaged. They also sell the profile information to advertisers.
Meanwhile, researchers have found that Meta and Yandex, a Russian search engine, have overcome controls in mobile operating system software that ordinarily keep people’s web-browsing data anonymous. Each company puts code on its webpages that used local IPs to pass a person’s browsing history, which is supposed to remain private, to mobile apps installed on that person’s phone, de-anonymizing the data. Yandex has been conducting this tracking since 2017, while Meta began in September 2024, according to the researchers.
What you can do about it
If you use apps that collect your data in some way, including those that give you directions, track your workouts or help you contact someone, or if you use social media platforms, your privacy is at risk.
Aside from entirely abandoning modern technology, there are several steps you can take to limit access – at least in part – to your private information.
Read the privacy policy of each app or social media platform you use. Although privacy policy documents can be long, tedious and sometimes hard to read, they explain how social media platforms collect, process, store and share your data.
Check a policy by making sure it can answer three questions: what data does the app collect, how does it collect the data, and what is the data used for. If you can’t answer all three questions by reading the policy, or if any of the answers don’t sit well with you, consider skipping the app until there’s a change in its data practices.
Remove unnecessary permissions from mobile apps to limit the amount of information that applications can gather from you.
Be aware of the privacy settings that might be offered by the apps or social media platforms you use, including any setting that allows your personal data to affect your experience or shares information about you with other users or applications.
These privacy settings can give you some control. We recommend that you disable “off-app activity” and “personalization” settings. “Off-app activity” allows an app to record which other apps are installed on your phone and what you do on them. Personalization settings allow an app to use your data to tailor what it shows you, including advertisements.
Review and update these settings regularly because permissions sometimes change when apps or your phone update. App updates may also add new features that can collect your data. Phone updates may also give apps new ways to collect your data or add new ways to preserve your privacy.
Use private browser windows or reputable virtual private networks software, commonly referred to as VPNs, when using apps that connect to the internet and social media platforms. Private browsers don’t store any account information, which limits the information that can be collected. VPNs change the IP address of your machine so that apps and platforms can’t discover your location.
Finally, ask yourself whether you really need every app that’s on your phone. And when using social media, consider how much information you want to reveal about yourself in liking and commenting on posts, sharing updates about your life, revealing locations you visited and following celebrities you like.
This article is part of a series on data privacy that explores who collects your data, what and how they collect, who sells and buys your data, what they all do with it, and what you can do about it.
Congressman Mike Thompson and Edgar Ontiveros, 2025 American Dream Award recipient for Lake County, California. Courtesy photo.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — On Sunday, Rep. Mike Thompson recognized Edgar Ontiveros as the 2025 American Dream Award recipient for Lake County.
Thompson presents the American Dream Award during Immigrant Heritage Month to residents of California’s Fourth District who have come to the United States and made outstanding contributions to our communities.
“Immigrants are our neighbors and colleagues, soldiers and first responders, doctors and lawyers, farmers, entrepreneurs, teachers and so much more. Our nation would not be the powerhouse of the world without their contributions to our country’s history, culture, and economy. This is evidenced by Mr. Ontiveros’s work in our community,” Thompson said.
“Through his work with the La Voz De la Esperanza community center, Mr. Ontiveros has contributed meaningfully to our community by breaking language barriers and improving access to mental health and well-being services. I am honored to recognize Mr. Ontiveros as this year’s Lake County American Dream Award recipient,” Thompson added.
Edgar Ontiveros grew up in Mexico, first making his way to the United States at 12 years old. He spent weekends visiting his uncle in Hidden Valley Lake and had the chance to explore the region, sparking his love for the Lake County community.
Eventually, he made his way to Clearlake where he purchased a home and has been an active member of our community ever since.
Ontiveros first joined the staff of Lake County Behavioral Health Services, or LCBHS, as a cultural specialist and ethnic services peer support specialist.
Five years later in 2014, LCBHS created the La Voz De la Esperanza community center, appointing Ontiveros as the center’s supervisor.
As supervisor, he works tirelessly to connect the Latino community to culturally relevant services and ensure that Spanish speakers are equipped with tools to navigate health and wellness services.
Outside of his professional duties, Ontiveros remains dedicated to public service. He has a history of springing into action to support our community following wildfires and he serves as an ordained minister.
Congressman Thompson’s American Dream Award honors immigrants who have excelled professionally in entrepreneurship and innovation, in the arts and culture, or in community service.
The full list of 2025 American Dream Award recipients for California’s Fourth District includes:
• Edgar Ontiveros: Lake County. • Cinthya Cisneros: Napa County. • Riitta DeAnda: Solano County. • Pemba Sherpa: Sonoma County. • Andres Olmedo: Yolo County.
Thompson represents California’s Fourth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
Before and after pictures of South Main Street. Photos courtesy of the city of Lakeport.
LAKEPORT, Calif. — The city of Lakeport has completed a significant series of infrastructure improvements along South Main Street, one of the city’s most heavily traveled corridors.
This multi-phase effort included sidewalk reconstruction, accessibility enhancements, and full roadway resurfacing from First Street to Lakeport Boulevard.
Additional rehabilitation work is scheduled to begin in September on Martin Street and Lakeshore Boulevard.
The South Main Sidewalk Project, completed earlier this year, addressed long-standing gaps in pedestrian safety and accessibility. The project included the removal of tree stumps and damaged concrete, relocation of utility poles, installation of new curbs and gutters, and the construction of ADA-compliant curb ramps at key intersections.
Following the sidewalk improvements, the city completed the South Main Street Paving Project, which involved nearly 3,000 tons of asphalt and resurfacing of the entire corridor between First Street and Lakeport Boulevard.
The project also included new striping, upgraded crosswalks at seven intersections, and the installation of rectangular rapid flashing beacons to improve pedestrian visibility and safety.
The next phase of roadway rehabilitation is scheduled to begin in September, with major work scheduled on Martin Street (from Main Street to Bevins Street) and Lakeshore Boulevard.
Prior to paving, the city said it has completed essential water and sewer system upgrades beneath both corridors, ensuring that aging underground infrastructure is addressed before surface restoration begins.
The upcoming paving work will include significant roadway reconstruction and surface restoration. Based on current engineering estimates:
• Martin Street will receive approximately 1,815 tons of new asphalt. • Lakeshore Boulevard will receive approximately 1,830 tons.
A total of 3,645 tons of new pavement will be installed this fall. Ghilotti Construction, the lowest responsive bidder, will complete the project.
City officials said these projects are part of the city’s “ongoing commitment to improving transportation infrastructure, enhancing safety, and extending the service life of Lakeport’s roadways.”
For more information about current and upcoming Public Works projects, contact the Lakeport Public Works Department at 707-263-5614 or visit www.cityoflakeport.com.
Safe and Sane firework sales start Tuesday at noon in some jurisdictions throughout California, resulting in fire officials emphasizing the dangers of fireworks.
Prevent fires and injuries and always check local regulations before buying.
Safe and sane fireworks are only legal in Lake County within the city of Lakeport.
Note that fireworks bought outside California are illegal without a license. Consider enjoying a professional display instead of purchasing fireworks.
If safe and sane fireworks are legal in your area and you choose to use them, it's important that you follow these safety tips:
• Use only state fire marshal approved fireworks. • Local ordinances should be verified before purchasing and/or using fireworks. • Always read directions. • Always have an adult present. • Only use fireworks outdoors. • Never use fireworks near dry grass or other flammable materials. • Light one firework at a time. • Have a bucket of water and a hose nearby. • It is recommended that you use a bucket of gray/reused water to submerge your fireworks after they are used to fully extinguish them. • It is illegal to transport safe and sane fireworks through any city or county where they are not allowed.
"Since 2024, fireworks have caused over $35 million in property damage across California, sparking 1,230 fires," said California State Fire Marshal Chief Daniel Berlant. "It is your responsibility to prevent fires and injuries. Don’t let your Fourth of July celebration end in flames."
California is now collecting more groundwater data than ever before as highlighted in the Semi-Annual Groundwater Conditions Update released by the Department of Water Resources, or DWR.
Made up of groundwater data gathered over the past year from various DWR tools and annual reports from local groundwater sustainability agencies, or GSAs, the update includes information on statewide groundwater levels, groundwater storage, recharge, land subsidence, well infrastructure and the status of California’s groundwater conditions.
“When it comes to water management in California, it’s important that state and local water decisions are made with the latest, most accurate data in mind. Thanks to the information collected from our local partners, we’re gaining more knowledge about the challenges our groundwater-dependent communities are facing and their progress towards meeting the overall goals set by the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act,” said Paul Gosselin, DWR deputy director of sustainable water management.
Water Year 2024 marked a significant milestone for groundwater management in California, as the state celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA, the statewide regulatory framework established to ensure the sustainability of our groundwater basins by 2040.
Over the course of 2024, the state received average precipitation, helping sustain recharge efforts after the exceptionally wet 2023.
These last three years (2023, 2024, and 2025) have seen continued increases in groundwater storage. Water Year 2024 increased by 2.2 million acre-feet reported across 98 basins — a direct result of state and local actions to capture and store more water underground.
However, the first five months of WY 2025 were notably dry across much of the state, especially in the Central Valley and southern regions.
In contrast, portions of Northern California experienced above-average or record-setting rainfall. These sharp contrasts highlight California’s weather shifts and increasing need for dynamic water management.
Additional findings from the report include:
Groundwater management
Groundwater storage increased by 2.2 million acre-feet reported across the 97 basins during water year 2024. This increase reflects actions such as capturing and recharging high flows during winter storms, expanding recharge basins, improving groundwater monitoring, and coordination among local agencies to reduce groundwater pumping.
SGMA implementation
Local GSAs are executing Groundwater Sustainability Plans, or GSPs, that incorporate recharge projects, demand reduction, efficiency programs, and land use coordination. GSAs are expanding monitoring networks and using annual reports to track key sustainability indicators such as groundwater levels, subsidence, use patterns, and recharge volumes.
DWR is investing in tools like InSAR, Airborne Electromagnetic surveys, advanced modeling, and telemetry to improve data quality and inform water management decisions.
Groundwater storage in the Central Valley remains highly sensitive to drought and wet periods.
Land subsidence
Active land subsidence continues to be observed in the Sacramento River, San Joaquin River, and Tulare Lake Hydrologic Regions. DWR continues to expand data collection on subsidence in these areas and plans to release guidance for GSAs later this year.
Dry wells
Fewer dry wells were reported in water year 2024 compared to water years 2021, 2022 and 2023.
DWR is now entering a new era of groundwater sustainability driven by action and implementation of GSPs. Throughout this process, DWR continues to provide support to help GSAs implement their plans through improved communications utilizing facilitation support for sensitive or challenging meetings, and translation services to improve critical information sharing.
Additionally, DWR will release guidance on depletions of interconnected surface water and subsidence later this year.
DWR’s goal with these two documents is to provide local groundwater sustainability partners with the information and direction they need to understand how to address the impacts of overdraft on our groundwater basins and support our water supply for future generations.
Across the state, 85 percent of Californians depend on groundwater for some portion of their water needs, with groundwater also acting as a buffer and supplying up to 60 percent of the state’s water supply during drought years.
While the water beneath our feet is unseen and often overlooked, sustainable management of this resource is critical for long-term water supply reliability.
By monitoring and tracking conditions and collecting new data, state and local agencies can better manage water resources during average and wet years to ensure groundwater will be available as a buffer during dry years.
LAKEPORT, Calif. — The Lakeport City Council will hold a special meeting on Monday to adopt the city’s final budget of $37 million for fiscal year 2025-2026, following its budget workshop presentations held June 17.
The council will meet Monday, June 30, at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
If you cannot attend in person, and would like to speak on an agenda item, you can access the Zoom meeting remotely at this link or join by phone by calling toll-free 669-900-9128 or 346-248-7799.
The webinar ID is 973 6820 1787, access code is 477973; the audio pin will be shown after joining the webinar. Those phoning in without using the web link will be in “listen mode” only and will not be able to participate or comment.
Comments can be submitted by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. To give the city clerk adequate time to print out comments for consideration at the meeting, please submit written comments before 3:30 p.m. on Monday, June 30.
By state law, June 30 is the city’s deadline for budget adoption.
The city’s recommended budget for fiscal year 2025-26 now sits at $37,289,272, an increase by more than 50% from the city’s 2024-25 estimated total expenditure of $24,060,022. Five years ago, it was $18,825,050.
The city’s revenue totals $31,970,097, despite lower than the recommended expenditure, showing an increase by about 100% from previous year’s revenue of $15,737,368.
The increase in revenue was not due to a growing local economy, but pumped up by special revenue funding streams such as $2.7 million from the state’s Permanent Local Housing Allocation program and $9.5 million from a federal Community Development Block Grant.
In total, these special funds came to $16,422,610, ten times the amount of $1,669,402 in 2024-25.
In the meantime, recommended General Fund allocation is $7,523,632, up from $6,285,887 last year.
Out of all expenditures proposed, salaries and benefits take up $7,288,627, increased from $6,571,328 in 2024-25.
Operation expenses take up $18,430,362, more than four times the $4,309,381 of 2024-25.
Allocations to Capital Improvement Projects, however, see a drop — from previous year’s $9,825,353 to the currently proposed $8,363,831.
The staff memo identified the “central theme” of this year’s budget: “the rapid acceleration of fixed costs outpacing revenue growth.”
The cost increase primarily stems from general liability and property insurance expenses, which have doubled over the past five years, and from rising pension obligations — significantly higher than last year and expected to double again within five years, the memo said.
Meanwhile, revenue growth remains “flat,” the staff memo noted.
Sales tax, which makes up two-thirds of Lakeport’s General Fund, has seen “modest recent gains” thanks to new retailers like Marshalls and Tractor Supply, and growth in the restaurant sector. But the memo called this core revenue source “highly volatile.”
One reason: 20% of Lakeport’s sales tax revenue comes from retail fuel sales — a source threatened as California continues its “transition away from gas-powered vehicles,” the memo said. “The most pressing challenge facing the city of Lakeport is the steep rise in fixed operating costs — particularly in insurance, pensions, and medical benefits — which are climbing at a pace far beyond that of the City’s revenue growth,” the staff memo said.
The memo highlighted some of the city’s key goals in the upcoming fiscal year:
The city looks to finalize design and funding strategies on the South Lakeport Water Resilience and Fire Suppression project, and maintain a fully staffed police department. It also aims to complete the 2024 water and sewer main replacement — a multiple-year project that is now more than halfway completed.
Also on the list is the city’s multi-year Pavement Management Program. Projects set to be executed during fiscal year 2025-26 include rehabilitation of Lakeport Boulevard, Martin Street and Lakeshore Boulevard.
Email Lingzi Chen atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for Monday and a fire weather watch for Tuesday due to concerns about potential fire weather conditions.
The red flag warning for northern Lake County and a portion of Northern California will be in effect from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday, with a fire weather watch to be in effect the same hours on Tuesday.
A red flag warning means that critical fire weather conditions — a combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures — are expected to occur and could contribute to extreme fire weather, the National Weather Service reported.
Forecasters were prompted to issue both the warning and the watch due to the potential for scattered dry lightning on Monday and Tuesday afternoon — and slighter chances of isolated thunderstorms overnight Monday into Tuesday — across the region’s interior mountains.
“A pulse of moisture moving up the Central Valley combined with very hot and dry surface conditions and moderate easterly winds will combine to create scattered dry thunderstorms over the interior mountains,” the National Weather Service forecast explained. “Any storms that do form will likely produce wetting rain in the cores but lightning is possible far from these cores in areas that will remain dry.”
The forecast also calls for gusty and erratic outflow winds — which are described as the cool winds that spread out along the ground from a thunderstorm as the air that’s been cooled by the rain descends — are possible, with speeds of up to 50 miles per hour.
In addition to the potential for thunderstorms, this week will be notable for temperatures in the high 90s during the day and mid 60s at night. Temperatures are forecast to drop into the mid 80s during the day and mid 50s at night by the weekend.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, and on Bluesky, @erlarson.bsky.social. Find Lake County News on the following platforms: Facebook, @LakeCoNews; X, @LakeCoNews; Threads, @lakeconews, and on Bluesky, @lakeconews.bsky.social.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The East Region Town Hall, or ERTH, will meet on Wednesday, July 2.
The meeting will begin at 4 p.m. at the Moose Lodge, located at 15900 Moose Lodge Lane in Clearlake Oaks.
The meeting will be available via Zoom. The meeting ID is 813 6295 6146, pass code is 917658.
ERTH’s guest speakers will be Lake County Director of Water Resources Pawan Upadhyay, who will give an update on the Water Resource Department, staff and current/upcoming projects, and Sarah Ryan, environmental director at Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians, with an update on cyanobacteria/toxins sampling results and water quality in the Clearlake Oaks arm of Clear Lake.
Also on the agenda is and update and consideration of ERTH activities/projects; District 3 MAC update, including consideration of a letter of support for Middle Creek Trails and District 3 Survey results and activities to-date; commercial cannabis report and cannabis ordinance update; update on safety issues on High Valley Road; Spring Valley updates; and a report on CalRecycle/County Free Dump Days in Clearlake Oaks.
ERTH’s next meeting will take place on Aug. 6.
Members are Angela Amaral, Jim Burton, Holly Harris, Maria Kann and Denise Loustalot.
For more information visit the group’s Facebook page.