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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The excessive heat watch is in effect from Saturday morning through Tuesday afternoon.
Temperatures during that time period are expected to reach between 100 and 110 degrees, the National Weather Service said.
The Lake County forecast anticipates temperatures of up to 105 degrees on Labor Day.
On Wednesday, during a virtual community meeting on the August Complex in the Mendocino National Forest, incident meteorologist Chuck Redmond explained that a high-pressure system moving over the western United States will cause temperatures to rise to as much as 110 degrees in lower elevations and up to 95 degrees in higher elevations.
He said that the system also will bring very dry conditions and very low humidity.
This week, in addition to high temperatures, air quality remains a concern due to smoke from the area’s wildland fires.
The Lake County Air Quality Management District has issued an air quality alert in effect through Thursday night due to conditions rated as "unhealthy for sensitive individuals" to "unhealthy."
Air quality conditions are expected to be potentially unhealthy until the region’s wildland fires are fully contained, officials reported.
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The campaign will be run by the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, or BCSH, and kicks off with a new website and social media ads targeting vulnerable communities.
“Struggling tenants and landlords now have new protections and relief under the law – and it’s critical that all Californians learn their rights,” said Gov. Newsom. “It’s important that we reach renters across the state who might be one paycheck away from losing their homes and landlords who are short on their mortgages because of owed rent. Housing is Key will begin the public education campaign that will ramp up in the weeks to come and target vulnerable communities who have been hit the hardest by this pandemic.”
On Monday, Gov. Newsom signed AB 3088 to protect millions of tenants from eviction and property owners from foreclosure due to the economic impacts of COVID-19. These protections apply to tenants who declare an inability to pay all or part of the rent due to a COVID-related reason.
“Having a home is fundamental to all that we do,” said BCSH Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez. “During this pandemic and continued economic crisis it is more important than ever to provide people with the accurate, up-to-date information they need to connect to resources to stay housed or to access safe, stable, affordable housing.”
Tenants and landlords can learn more about the new Tenant, Homeowner and Small Landlord Relief and Stabilization Act of 2020 by visiting www.COVID19.ca.gov or going directly to www.HousingIsKey.com.
Later this week, BCSH will also launch a mobile and web-based app, available on the website, to help landlords and tenants. It will include a personalized, downloadable report that explains what protections or obligations apply under the new law by answering a few questions. The campaign will include targeted social media ads and digital materials in multiple languages to be rolled out in the coming weeks.
Under the new law, no tenant can be evicted before Feb. 1, 2021, as a result of rent owed due to a COVID-19 related hardship accrued between March 4 and Aug. 31, 2020, if the tenant provides a declaration of hardship according to the legislation’s timelines.
For a COVID-19-related hardship that accrues between Sept. 1, 2020, to Jan. 31, 2021, tenants must also pay at least 25 percent of the rent due to avoid eviction after Feb. 1, 2021, for the unpaid rent.
Tenants are still responsible for paying unpaid amounts to landlords, but those unpaid amounts cannot be the basis for an eviction. Landlords may begin to recover this debt on March 1, 2021, and small claims court jurisdiction is temporarily expanded to allow landlords to recover these amounts. Landlords who do not follow the court evictions process will face increased penalties under the Act.
The legislation also extends anti-foreclosure protections in the Homeowner Bill of Rights to small landlords; provides new accountability and transparency provisions to protect small landlord borrowers who request CARES-compliant forbearance; and provides the borrower who is harmed by a material violation with a cause of action.
Additional resources are on the way for struggling homeowners and renters.
Gov. Newsom and the Legislature made available $331 million from the National Mortgage Settlement for housing counseling, mortgage assistance and renter legal aid services.
A housing counseling program administered by the California Housing Finance Agency will launch this fall and mortgage assistance will be available to help distressed households next year.
The $31 million for renter legal aid services will be distributed by the Judicial Council to qualified legal aid organizations in the coming months.
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The name of the 41-year-old woman has not yet been released by officials pending notification of family.
Two other drivers – husband and wife Jesus R. Valdes, 53, of Novato and Elisha Valdes, 49, of Clearlake Oaks, who were in separate cars – also were injured in the wreck, the California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office reported.
The CHP said that at 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, the Clearlake woman was driving her 2005 Mercedes ML350 northbound on Highway 53, north of Ogulin Canyon Road, at approximately 70 miles per hour.
The CHP said the Mercedes driver crossed a broken yellow center line, entering into the southbound lane, and was passing a large vehicle when she collided head-on with a 2016 Toyota Camry driven by Jesus Valdes, who was traveling southbound on Highway 53.
Elisha Valdes was following her husband in her 2015 Nissan Altima. The CHP said her vehicle collided with the driver's side of her husband’s Toyota.
All three vehicles sustained major damage due to the collision and were disabled in the roadway, causing Highway 53 to be closed for several hours in both directions, the CHP said.
The CHP said the Lake County Sheriff's Office, Caltrans, the Lake County Fire Protection District and Clearlake Police Department responded to the scene to assist.
The CHP said the driver of the Mercedes was not wearing her seat belt and died of her injuries at the scene.
Jesus Valdes suffered major injuries and was transported to Kaiser Permanente Vacaville Medical Center for treatment, while Elisha Valdes had minor injuries and was transported to Adventist Health Clear Lake, the CHP said. Both Jesus and Elisha Valdes were wearing their seat belts.
At this time, drugs or alcohol are not suspected to be a factor in this collision, the CHP said.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Firefighters spent Tuesday continuing to strengthen containment lines and hold the LNU Lightning Complex to no new acreage.
Cal Fire said the 375,209-acre complex, burning for more than two weeks, rose to 74-percent containment on Tuesday evening. Its acreage has remained unchanged since Monday.
Within the complex, the 317,909-acre Hennessey fire, which has burned across five counties – Colusa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Yolo – is up to 70 percent containment, according to Cal Fire’s Tuesday night report.
On the Sonoma County side of the complex, the 54,940-acre Walbridge fire west of Healdsburg is up to 70 percent containment, while on Tuesday firefighters fully contained the Meyers fire north of Jenner at 2,360 acres, Cal Fire reported.
Total personnel assigned on Tuesday night included 2,539 personnel, 237 engines, 55 water tenders, 19 helicopters, 46 hand crews and 58 dozers.
Cal Fire said crews on Tuesday worked to bolster containment lines and mop up the fire perimeter.
Firefighters were to continue active patrol overnight, taking advantage of cooler night-time temperatures to build additional containment lines. Cal Fire said dry conditions and hotter weather will continue throughout the week.
Fire suppression repair teams remain active throughout the area repairing damage caused by fire suppression activities, Cal Fire said.
Officials said the number of threatened structures on Tuesday was reduced to 3,375.
Continuing damage assessments led to Cal Fire updating the number of destroyed structures to 1,449 and the structures damaged to 227. Lake County’s total – nine structures destroyed – remained unchanged.
Improving conditions led to more repopulations of communities across the complex on Tuesday.
In Lake County, some evacuation orders on Tuesday were reduced to warnings and some warnings lifted in the south county.
Those remaining in effect as of Tuesday night included the following:
– Evacuation order: East of Middletown area, including east of Highway 29 and north of the Lake-Napa County line up to the intersection of Highway 29 and West Road, and south of Butts Canyon Road at Callayomi Road.
Evacuation warnings are as follows:
– North of Lower Lake area: Including north of Morgan Valley Road, east of the intersection of Morgan Valley Road and Sky High Ridge Road, south of Highway 20, west of the Lake/Colusa/Yolo County lines.
– South of the Lower Lake area: South of Morgan Valley Road, east of Chimney Rock/Canyon Road, north of Jerusalem Grade Road Extending to Lake/Napa County line, west of the Lake/Napa County line.
– Middletown area: East of Guenoc Winery Road, north of Butts Canyon Road, south of Grange Road, west of Lake/Napa County line.
– Middletown area: South of Butts Canyon Road to Cailayomi Road, east of St. Helena Creek Road, north of Highway 29, west of Cailayomi Road extending to Western Mine Road.
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