LAKEPORT, Calif. — After receiving approval in mid-June for a plan to move its Early Head Start program to a new location, Lake Family Resource Center said it is changing course and exploring other options.
At its June 11 meeting, the Lakeport Planning Commission approved the application by Lake Family Resource Center, or LFRC, to temporarily relocate its Early Head Start child development center to Clear Lake Baptist Church, located at 555 N. Forbes St.
Last year, LFRC’s Lakeport headquarters moved to its new location at the former Ruzicka Associates building on Parallel Drive from the Vista Point Shopping Center, now owned by the Lake County Tribal Health Consortium.
At that point, LFRC was still exploring options for where to relocate Early Head Start, which was set to remain at Vista Point through June 30.
After discussing LFRC’s plan on June 11, the commission voted to approve it.
Executive Director Lisa Morrow told Lake County News that they appreciated the commission’s approval.
“That was a big step, and we really appreciate the support from the City and the folks who helped move it forward,” Morrow said in an email.
However, in the weeks since the approval, Morrow said LFRC is now looking at taking another approach.
“Unfortunately, after digging deeper into the renovation costs at the church site, it just wasn’t feasible to bring it up to ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] and child care licensing standards — it’s simply too expensive,” Morrow wrote. “So now we’re pivoting to a new plan: temporarily relocating Early Head Start to our offices at 2495 Parallel Drive. That space will also need some work to meet licensing requirements and align with the use permit that was approved back in November 2024, but it’s a more manageable option.”
Morrow said the new plan still allowed them to remain on track to be out of the Lakeport Boulevard site by June 30. The last day of on-site child development services there was June 19.
She said Early Head Start is anticipated to be operating in temporary status on Parallel Drive for about 24 months.
That site will also eventually be home to LFRC’s new, permanent child development center once LFRC’s federal application for Head Start funding for the project is approved, Morrow said.
If all goes well, Morrow said construction for the new Head Start child development center will take about 18 to 24 months.
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.
Caltrans has awarded $26.5 million in planning grants for 65 local projects, including five projects in District 1, to strengthen climate resiliency, reduce planet-warming pollution, improve bicycle and pedestrian safety and increase natural disaster preparedness throughout California.
Including the grants announced, the Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant program has awarded more than $292 million to 750 projects since 2015.
Nearly $3 million of these funds comes from one-time state and federal sources made possible by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s historic $15 billion clean transportation package — part of the 2022-23 budget to further the state’s ambitious climate goals.
Another $12.4 million comes from Senate Bill (SB) 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.
“The Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant program continues to bring transportation planning funding to our area each year, and these grants often represent a critical first step in the project development process,” said Tatiana Ahlstrand, Caltrans District 1 Regional Planning Coordination Branch Chief. “With more than $1.5 million in planning funds being awarded in District 1 this cycle, the five awarded grants will support multimodal transportation planning, climate adaptation, and tribal transportation needs. We extend our congratulations to our partners and look forward to continued collaboration.”
Projects impacting District 1 include approximately $191,000 in Sustainable Communities Competitive Grant funding to the Lake County/City Area Planning Council for the Lake County Tribal Transportation Needs and Engineered Feasibility Study.
The project aims to identify and prioritize tribal transportation projects in the Lake County region, providing potential projects, estimated costs, and funding sources to support future improvements.
Caltrans said the project will explore the needs, priorities, and feasibility of improving identified deficiencies within tribal road systems and transportation networks, both within and adjacent to native lands in the Lake County region.
Features of the study would include a concise and detailed list of possible projects for each of the region’s tribes, estimated costs, and potential funding sources to implement future projects. The goals of the project would be to identify and prioritize tribal transportation projects. It would serve as a complement to existing tribal transportation plans, or in some cases help to provide information useful in developing or updating older plans.
Consistent with goals and policies of the Lake County Regional Transportation Plan, it will seek to develop partnering opportunities for future transportation projects that benefit both the tribes and the region as a whole.
Other projects in District 1 include approximately $310,000 in Sustainable Communities Competitive Grant funding to the Humboldt County Association of Governments, or HCAOG, for the Loleta Safe Routes to School and Connectivity to Tribal Lands. HCAOG will partner with local organizations and tribes to develop design plans and needs assessments for safe and sustainable transportation in Loleta, addressing pedestrian safety challenges near Loleta Elementary School and enhancing connectivity with the Wiyot Tribe and Bear River Rancheria.
Another award is for $279,000 in Sustainable Communities Competitive and Technical Grant to the Mendocino Council of Governments, or MCOG, for the Mendocino County Regional Vehicle Miles Traveled Mitigation Program. MCOG seeks to develop a program to help the county comply with SB 743, which requires CEQA lead agencies to evaluate Vehicle Miles Traveled impacts associated with land use development or transportation projects and implement mitigation measures when required. The program is expected to involve the County of Mendocino, incorporated cities (Ukiah, Fort Bragg, Point Arena, Willits), Mendocino County Air Quality Management District, Caltrans, and Native American Tribes.
The state has approved $442,000 in Climate Adaptation Planning Grant funding to the Mendocino County Department of Transportation for the Climate Adaptation Storm Drainage Vulnerability Analysis. The county experiences frequent flooding due to inadequate culvert capacities and climate change. This analysis will prioritize county owned and maintained culverts for replacement to better protect the county’s rural roadways.
Another $286,000 in Sustainable Communities Competitive Grant funding will go to the City of Ukiah for the East Perkins Street Multimodal Transportation Plan. The project aims to improve pedestrian, bicycle, and transit facilities on East Perkins Street and its connections with U.S. 101 by studying needs and recommending multimodal improvements. The plan seeks to create a safer, more efficient corridor that promotes active transportation, economic development, and accessible mobility options, while considering community input, and data collection.
Caltrans awards transportation planning grants each year through a competitive process to fund local and regional multimodal transportation and land use planning projects. These grants assist in achieving the Caltrans Mission and Grant Program Objectives. Applications are evaluated based on how projects advance state transportation and climate goals by identifying and addressing statewide, interregional or regional transportation deficiencies on the highway system.
SB 1 provides $5 billion in transportation funding annually that is shared equally 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.
To view the latest news and information on state and federal infrastructure investments, visit build.ca.gov.
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.
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.
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