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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake Animal Control has eight dogs ready for new homes this week.

The kennels also have many dogs that need to be reunited with their owners. To find the lost/found pet section, click here.

The following dogs are ready for adoption.

‘Burke’

“Burke” is a male Labrador Retriever with a short black coat with white markings.

He has been neutered.

He is dog No. 2628.

 

‘Charlotte’

“Charlotte” is a female Akita mix.

She is dog No. 3040.

‘Clarice’

“Clarice” is a female German Shepherd mix puppy.

She has been spayed.

She is dog No. 3402.

‘Fable’

“Fable” is a female Alaskan Malamute mix with a brown and buff coat.

She is dog No. 3044.

‘Linus’

“Linus” is a male Staffordshire Bull Terrier mix with a short gray and white coat.

He is dog No. 3255.

‘Precious’

“Precious” is a female Staffordshire Bull Terrier with a short black coat.

She is dog No. 3268.

‘Roxy’

“Roxy” is a female Miniature Pinscher with a short red coat.

She is dog No. 3406.

‘Woodrow’

“Woodrow” is a male Staffordshire Bull Terrier with a black and white coat.

He is dog No. 3281.

Clearlake Animal Control’s shelter is located at 6820 Old Highway 53, off Airport Road.

Hours of operation area noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The shelter is closed Sundays, Mondays and major holidays; the shelter offers appointments on the days it’s closed to accommodate people.

Call the Clearlake Animal Control shelter at 707-273-9440, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to inquire about adoptions.

Visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or at the city’s Web site.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

New trade legislation that has the support of agricultural groups also is receiving bipartisan support, with Lake County’s members of the House of Representatives voting to approve it.

On Thursday, Congressman John Garamendi (CA-03) and Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-05), voted to pass the improved United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, trade agreement to support workers, farmers, ranchers and manufacturing in the United States.

California Farm Bureau Federation President Jamie Johansson said the USMCA will benefit all of California – rural and urban – by allowing most California-grown agricultural products improved access to customers in Mexico and Canada.

“Farmers, ranchers and tens of thousands of Californians whose jobs hinge on agricultural exports will gain from the USMCA,” Johansson said. “We hope the Senate will approve the agreement early in the new year, so it can be implemented quickly.”

Johansson said more than 56,000 jobs rely on California food and agricultural exports to Canada and Mexico – the No. 2 and No. 5 foreign markets for the state’s food and farm products.

“The USMCA will bring benefits throughout the food chain,” he said. “Stronger ties with our North American neighbors will help California farmers, ranchers and agricultural businesses. The agreement will also maintain and add jobs for people at ports, marketing companies, food processors, trucking firms and other businesses that help move California farm products to customers.”

The bipartisan bill passed the House by a vote of 385-41 and is expected to pass the Senate and be signed into law by the president.

“This agreement includes the strongest possible enforcement mechanisms to support and protect American workers and improve market access for American farmers. As a rancher and a farmer, I know how critically important it is to correct the flaws in NAFTA and pass a trade agreement that supports America’s farmers and workers,” Garamendi said.

“I’m grateful for the months of negotiations House Democrats undertook to secure landmark changes to the USMCA that deliver for America’s workers, and our economy. The transformative changes House Democrats secured in this agreement earned the support of the AFL-CIO, the California Farm Bureau Federation, and other key stakeholders. I’m pleased this legislation has passed the House, and I will work to ensure it becomes law,” Garamendi concluded.

“The trade agreement originally presented to Congress earlier this year missed the mark, offering few benefits for American workers, lacking protections for our environment, and making prescription drugs more expensive. The original deal was unenforceable, a non-starter for me and my colleagues,” said Thompson, who also is a member of the eight-person United States Mexico Canada Working Group.

“After months of negotiations by me and others as members of the Working Group led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, we now have the best deal possible,” Thompson said. “This improved agreement truly protects labor rights, the future of our environment and the ability to lower the costs of medications. And for the first time in the history of our trade negotiations, this deal includes enforcement provisions, ensuring bad actors are held accountable. I was proud to vote yes today and urge Senate Majority Leader McConnell to schedule a vote quickly so we can get this done for the American people.”

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue also lauded the agreement’s passage.

“I’ve long said that support for USMCA crosses political parties, the bipartisan passage of the agreement today is proof of that,” Secretary Perdue said. “I am pleased the House finally brought this agreement to a vote and encourage quick passage in the Senate. President Trump delivered on his promise to replace NAFTA and USMCA is a huge success for America’s farmers and ranchers. This agreement will unleash the bounty of America’s agricultural harvest to two of our largest trading partners in the world and it is critical to the success of rural America.”

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday voted to take part in a process that’s proposed to assist it and the county of Lake arrive at an agreement on the South Lakeport annexation.

Annexation of the South Main Street corridor – reported to be the most lucrative commercial corridor in county jurisdiction – has long been a goal for the city of Lakeport.

Since the early 1980s, the city of Lakeport has included the area in its sphere of influence, defined as an area outside of a city’s legal boundaries that is the site of its probable future expansion.

The city of Lakeport provides wastewater treatment for the area, and its future plans include the installation of a water main throughout the annexation area in 2021 in conjunction with the South Main Street improvement project, city officials reported earlier this year.

In August, the council held a special meeting during which it approved a resolution to submit an application to the Lake Local Agency Formation Commission, or Lake LAFCo, to annex the 136-acre area along South Main Street, as Lake County News has reported.

The proposed annexation is a point of contention between the city and the county, so much so that two county supervisors – Tina Scott, who represents Lakeport, and Moke Simon, from Middletown – attended the August special meeting to ask that the council not approve the resolution.

However, the council voted unanimously at that time to move forward.

A key issue in the annexation is sharing of sales tax revenue for the annexation area. The city and the county entered into preannexation agreements in 1997, 2001 and 2002, and the city maintains they remain valid, while the county does not.

The 1997 agreement provides for the city to pay the county $210,000 in tax revenue over seven years to offset the loss of the sales tax.

At its Nov. 20 meeting, LAFCo deferred making a decision on that 1997 agreement.

Instead, as LAFCo considers the annexation application, it is proposing a path forward in which it wants to get both sides to the table to negotiate.

In a letter dated Dec. 4 and addressed to County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson and Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveira, Lake LAFCo Chair Bruno Sabatier – also the District 2 representative on the Lake County Board of Supervisors – asked the city and the county to participate in good faith in a process LAFCo is proposing.

Lakeport Community Development Director Kevin Ingram told the council on Tuesday that both the city and county have done their own fiscal analyses of the potential annexation, and Ingram said now LAFCo is proposing to do a third – and impartial – fiscal analysis, which it believes is the best way forward. LAFCo wants the city to pay for that study.

Sabatier’s letter notes, “It is apparent that the real dispute between the City and the County is over how the property and sales tax revenue from the Annexation area should be apportioned if it is annexed. Since there is substantial disagreement about the fiscal impact of the annexation, the Commission determined that a third fiscal analysis needs to be prepared by LAFCo to provide an objective more accurate determination of the revenue and service impacts of the annexation, for both the County and the City.”

He said LAFCo will retain an independent municipal economics consultant to review the previously prepared fiscal and service data prepared by both the city and the county.

“LAFCo’s consultant will prepare a report objectively setting forth the estimated service costs for each agency within the annexation area and make recommendations for an appropriate apportionment of tax revenue,” Sabatier said.

Ingram said the city recently conducted a revised fiscal analysis and said that would be provided to LAFCo.

Following the completion of the new fiscal analysis, Sabatier said LAFCo will schedule a facilitated meeting with representatives of the city, the county and LAFCo, with an independent facilitator to discuss the annexation and its fiscal impacts. Two members of each legislative body will be asked to participate.

“Working together in good faith, LAFCo is confident that this process will result in a resolution of the disagreements and result in a new tax sharing agreement that both parties can agree to. LAFCo will pay for the facilitation costs and retain a qualified independent facilitator from outside the area,” Sabatier wrote.

Sabatier asked that both the city and county put the matter on their next available agendas within 30 days of the date of the letter and provide a response as to their legislative bodies’ willingness to participate in good faith.

If they don’t choose to participate, Sabatier said LAFCo will have no alternative but to proceed to make a determination on the applicability of the 1997 tax exchange agreement to the annexation applications.

Ingram said city staff supported moving forward with LAFCo’s request.

Councilman Kenny Parlet, who is the city’s representative on LAFCo, said the commission’s recent meeting was very productive.

He pointed out that the city’s fiscal analysis was completed by an auditor recommended by John Benoit, the LAFCo executive office.

However, Parlet concluded that if another fiscal analysis solved the “old turf war” around the annexation, it’s worth it.

Silveira said that no financial impact for the study was listed in staff’s memorandum to the council because they don’t know what the cost will be.

Parlet moved to approve the request, which Councilman Tim Barnes seconded and the council approved 5-0.

The Board of Supervisors’ last meeting of the year was on Tuesday. So far, the annexation negotiations proposal has not been placed on an upcoming, published agenda.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol is investigating a traffic crash near Lakeport on Tuesday in which a pedestrian was killed.

The CHP’s Clear Lake Area office reported that the crash occurred at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Frances Pato, 76, of Lakeport was driving her beige 2004 Chevrolet Astro van eastbound on Soda Bay Road, east of the intersection with Mission Rancheria Road, at 35 miles per hour, the CHP said.

For unknown reasons, the CHP said an adult male pedestrian was walking within the eastbound lane where he was subsequently hit by the Chevrolet.

After the crash, the CHP said the pedestrian came to rest within the eastbound lane and Pato remained on scene in the Chevrolet for emergency personnel.

The CHP said the pedestrian was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital but was later pronounced deceased.

The man’s identification is pending, according to the CHP.

Neither Frances Pato nor her passenger, 79-year-old Rufino Pato, were injured, the CHP said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The two men who represent Lake County in Congress cast their votes on Wednesday to impeach the president of the United States.

Congressmen John Garamendi (CA-03) and Mike Thompson (CA-05), both Democrats, were among the majority of the House of Representatives that voted to approve the two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.

Following its weeks-long impeachment inquiry, the House Committee on the Judiciary offered the two articles of impeachment.

The first article charged the president with an abuse of power and the second with an obstruction of Congress.

In separate statements on Wednesday, both Garamendi and Thompson said impeaching a president is a solemn duty that they don’t take lightly.

“The investigations and hearings conducted by the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees provide overwhelming evidence that President Trump abused his power of office and endangered our national security when he coerced the president of Ukraine into investigating his likely rival in the 2020 presidential election by withholding $391 million in critical military aid and a White House meeting from the Ukrainian government. Withholding this military assistance to Ukraine as it enters the fifth year of its deadly war against Russia endangers Ukraine’s sovereignty and safety as well as the United States’ national security interests,” Garamendi said on his Facebook page in the hours before the vote.

“President Trump has also issued a blanket order prohibiting all executive office personnel from testifying in Congressional impeachment hearings, responding to subpoenas, and turning over documents. Therefore, he has obstructed the legitimate and Constitutional obligation Congress has to conduct an impeachment inquiry when there is evidence of wrongdoing by the President,” Garamendi said.

He added, “No one is above the law. The President’s actions leave me no choice.”

Following the vote, Thompson released a statement, explaining his votes.

“The two articles I voted to pass today outline serious breaches of the public trust committed by the president, rising to the bar of high crimes and misdemeanors spelled out in our Constitution. As a combat veteran and having served eight years on the Intelligence Committee, I understand the threat that foreign actors can play in our elections. Every elected official must dedicate themselves to protecting our democracy. No one should invite a foreign country to interfere with our most sacred act of voting,” he said.

“It was a severe abuse of power for the president to ask a foreign nation to interfere in our election to benefit his personal and political interest and to condition bipartisan and Congressionally-approved aid on that interference. And it was an unacceptable obstruction of Congress for the president to order his officials to defy legally-issued subpoenas,” Thompson said.

“Unchecked, these actions could lead us down a path that will unravel the fabric of our nation. I am saddened to have had to vote in favor of these articles of impeachment. But, in the interest of defending our nation, I was compelled to vote to ensure our country holds the same values for our children and for generations to come. Ben Franklin, one of our most influential Founding Fathers, wrote that we have ‘a Republic, if you can keep it.’ I believe we must fight to keep it,” he concluded.

The two articles of impeachment that passed the House on Wednesday now head to the Senate where the chamber will hold a trial based on the charges in those articles.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday announced the launch of the Healthy California for All Commission and appointed health experts in business, philanthropy, academia and labor to serve.

The commission will work to develop a plan for advancing progress toward achieving a health care delivery system for California that provides coverage and access through a unified financing system, including, but not limited to a single payer financing system.

The commission will prepare an initial report to the governor and Legislature by July 2020 with a final report in February 2021.

The first meeting will take place Jan. 27 in Sacramento.

The announcement comes on the same day as Covered California, the state’s publicly run insurance exchange, announced that a total of 230,000 new consumers have selected a plan during open enrollment through Dec.16, which is an increase of 16 percent over this time last year.

In addition, more than 1.15 million existing consumers have had their plans renewed for the upcoming year.

California’s individual market consistently ranks among the healthiest in the nation, helping unsubsidized consumers save about $1,550 annually in 2018 on their premiums compared to consumers in the federal marketplace.

“California leads the nation in enacting progressive health care reforms – taking big steps toward universal coverage and passing first in the nation measures to make health care more affordable for families,” said Gov. Newsom. “As our march toward universal coverage continues I am calling on the brightest minds – from public and private sectors – to serve in the Healthy California for All Commission to improve the health of our state.

The commission has 13 voting members including Secretary Ghaly, eight gubernatorial appointees and four legislative appointees. There are also five ex-officio, non-voting members.

“We believe that every Californian should have a right to affordable health care regardless of wealth, zip code, race, disability or gender. Yet, despite many gains in coverage, nearly 3 million Californians lack health care and high costs burden too many families,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly, who will chair the commission. “The role of the Healthy California for All Commission will be to provide policy recommendations that will set us on the path toward high-quality, affordable universal coverage for all.”

Throughout his first year in office the governor and legislature worked to move California closer to universal health care coverage by expanding coverage, increasing Covered California subsidies for middle-income Californians and taking on rising prescription drug prices.

The 2019-20 Budget invests $1.45 billion over three years to increase Covered California health insurance premium support for low-income Californians – and provides premium support for the first time to qualified middle-income individuals earning up to $72,000 and families of four earning up to $150,000, partially funded by restoration of an enforceable Individual Mandate.

It expands Medi-Cal coverage to all income-eligible undocumented young adults ages 19 through 25 and includes an increase of $1 billion, using Prop 56 funding, to support increased rates to Medi-Cal providers, expanded family planning services, and value-based payments that encourage more effective treatment of patients with chronic conditions.

The governor’s appointees to the Healthy California for All Commission are:

Carmen Comsti, 35, of Oakland, has been appointed to the Healthy California for All Commission. Comsti has been a regulatory policy specialist at the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United since 2016. She was legal counsel at the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United from 2014 to 2016. Comsti was an attorney fellow at the Employee Rights Advocacy Institute for Law and Policy from 2012 to 2014. She is a member of the National Employment Lawyers Association. Comsti earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Comsti is a Democrat.

Jennie C. Hansen, 71, of San Francisco, has been appointed to the Healthy California for All Commission. Hansen has been an independent consultant at Hirsch and Associates LLC since 2018. She was chief executive officer at the American Geriatrics Society from 2010 to 2015. Hansen was a federal commissioner of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission from 2005 to 2011. She held several positions at On Lok Senior Health Services in San Francisco from 1980 to 2004, including chief executive officer, director of programs, and research associate. She is a member of the California Master Plan for Aging, the National Committee for Quality Assurance Geriatric Measures Committee and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on Gerontology and Geriatrics. Hansen is a board member of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the SCAN Foundation, SCAN Plan and the Altarum Institute. Hansen earned a Master of Science degree in nursing from the University of California, San Francisco. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Hansen is a Democrat.

Sandra R. Hernandez, 62, of San Francisco, has been appointed to the Healthy California for All Commission. Hernandez has been president and chief executive officer at the California Health Care Foundation since 2014. She was chief executive officer at the San Francisco Foundation from 1997 to 2013. Hernandez was assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco from 1988 to 2016. She is a member of the Covered California Board of Directors and the UC Regents Health Services Committee. Hernandez is a former co-chair of San Francisco’s Universal Healthcare Council. She earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Tufts School of Medicine. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Hernandez is a Democrat.

William C. Hsiao, 83, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been appointed to the Healthy California for All Commission. Hsiao has served as a research professor of economics at the department of health policy management and the department of global health and population at Harvard University since 1974. Gates Foundation supported his research from 2008 through 2014. Vermont commissioned him to develop a single-payer health system in 2010. Hsiao was an advisor for the International Monetary Fund in 1996 and 2006. Hsiao was an advisor to the International Labor Organization from 1999 to 2003. He was an advisor for the World Health Organization from 1999 to 2000. He has served as an advisor to the World Bank since 1983. Hsiao was an advisor at the White House from 1970 to 1979. He was an advisor for Congress from 1974 to 1987. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine for the United States National Academy of Science. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Hsiao is a Democrat.

Rupa Marya, 44, of Oakland, has been appointed to the Healthy California for All Commission. Marya is an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, where she has been on faculty since 2007. Marya is a member of the Board of The Mni Wiconi Health Clinic and Farm at Standing Rock. She was co-investigator of the Justice Study from 2016 to 2019 and is faculty director of the Do No Harm Coalition. Marya earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Georgetown University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Marya is a registered without party preference.

Robert Ross, 65, of Altadena, has been appointed to the Healthy California for All Commission. Ross has been president and chief executive officer of the California Endowment since 2000. He was director of the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency from 1993 to 2000. Ross was commissioner of public health at the City of Philadelphia from 1990 to 1993. He was founding medical director at the LINK school-based clinic program from 1986 to 1990. Ross was an instructor of clinical medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia from 1984 to 1990. He was a diplomate at the American Academy of Pediatrics from 1983 to 1993. He is a board member of California Health Benefit Exchange and the National Executives’ Alliance on Boys and Young Men of Color. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Ross is a Democrat.

Richard Scheffler, 76, of Berkeley, has been appointed to the Healthy California for All Commission. Scheffler has served as a professor at the School of Public Health and the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley since 2018. He was a professor of health economics and public policy at the University of California, Berkeley from 1981 to 2018. He held the Health Care Markets and Consumer Welfare Chair endowed by Office of the California Attorney General from 1999 to 2018. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Scheffler is a Democrat.

Andy Schneider, 71, of Washington, D.C., has been appointed to the Healthy California for All Commission. Schneider has been research professor of practice at the Center for Children and Families in the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy since 2017. He was senior advisor at the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services from 2014 to 2017. Schneider was an independent consultant from 2011 to 2014. Schneider was chief health counsel for the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce from 2009 to 2010 and for the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform from 2007 to 2009. He was health counsel at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in 1997 and an independent Medicaid consultant from 1998 to 2006. Schneider was policy advisor for Medicaid at the Office of the House Minority Leader from 1995 to 1996. He was health counsel to the subcommittee on health and environment at the House Committee on Energy and Commerce from 1979 to 1994. Schneider earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Schneider is a Democrat.

The Legislature’s appointees are:

– Sara Flocks, policy coordinator with the California Labor Federation (Senate appointee);
– Janice Rocco, deputy commissioner, health policy and reform, Department of Insurance (Senate appointee);
– Antonia Hernandez, CEO of the California Community Foundation (Assembly appointee); and
– Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access (Assembly appointee).

The commission’s ex officio members are:

– Richard Figueroa, acting director of the Department of Health Care Services;
– Peter V. Lee, executive director of Covered California;
– Don Moulds, chief health director of CalPERS;
– Senator Richard Pan, chair of the Senate Health Committee; and
– Assemblymember Jim Wood, chair of the Assembly Health Committee.