News

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake Animal Control’s kennel is once again full with dogs in need of new homes.

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.

‘Cadbury’

“Cadbury” is a female Staffordshire Bull Terrier mix with a smooth medium-length beige coat.

She is No. 1215.

‘Chopper’

“Chopper” is a male Chihuahua mix with a short red coat.

He is No. 257.

‘Jason’

“Jason” is a male pit bull mix with a short blond and white coat.

He is No. 1663.

‘Mitsy’

“Mitsy” is a female pit bull terrier mix with a medium-length red coat.

She is No. 2084.

‘Snowflake’

“Snowflake” is a male Chihuahua with a white coat.

He is No. 1864.

‘Steve’

“Steve” is a pit bull mix with a medium-length brown coat.

He is No. 2093.

‘Tyson’

“Tyson” is a male American Staffordshire terrier mix with a medium-length gray and white coat.

He is No. 1863.

‘Wynn’

“Wynn” is a male American Staffordshire Terrier with a short brindle coat.

Staff said he has been at the shelter for a few months. He loves affection and is available for adoption or through the foster to adopt program.

He’s believed to be about 6 to 7 years old.

He is No. 969.

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

Hours of operation area noon to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The shelter is closed Sundays, Mondays and major holidays.

Call Clearlake Animal Control at 707-994-8251, Extension 1, 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.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office has identified the Ukiah woman who died in a wreck discovered on Tuesday afternoon near Hopland.

Suzanne Bentley, 69, was the victim of the crash, according to Capt. Greg Van Patten.

Authorities initially had not identified Bentley while contacting her family out of state.

Bentley’s 1997 Mercury Tracer was found overturned down an embankment and next to the Russian River near Frog Woman Rock late Tuesday afternoon, as Lake County News has reported.

Firefighters arriving at the scene found Bentley deceased in the vehicle, which the California Highway Patrol said had been traveling southbound on Highway 101 when it went off the roadway and off a dirt and grass embankment.

The CHP has been working to determine exactly when and why the crash took place.

Anyone who saw the crash or has any information can call the Ukiah Area CHP office at 707-467-4420.

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. – Late Thursday afternoon, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning and special weather statement in response to thunderstorms and torrential rain reported in some areas of Lake County.

The flash flood warning for southeastern Lake County is in effect until 6:45 p.m. Thursday, officials said.

The agency said that just before 4 p.m. the public reported thunderstorms producing heavy rain near Clear Lake, with up to 1 inch of rain having already fallen by that point.

The National Weather Service said flash flooding is expected, with areas of concern including Clearlake, Soda Bay, Mount Konocti, Konocti Bay, Finley, Kelseyville, Buckingham Park, Lower Lake and Clearlake Park.

The special weather statement that accompanied the flash flood warning said a strong thunderstorm will affect southwestern Lake County.

As of approximately 3:54 p.m., a strong thunderstorm was located over Knobcone Camp west of Lakeport, moving east at 15 miles per hour, the National Weather Service said.

Half-inch hail is possible with this storm, forecasters said.

Areas that could be impacted include Lakeport, Soda Bay, Adams, Loch Lomond, Mount Konocti, North Lakeport, Knobcone Camp, Konocti Bay, Finley, Kelseyville and Buckingham Park, according to the special weather statement.

Weather maps appeared to show two storm cells on either side of Clear Lake on Thursday afternoon.

Lake County residents were reporting rain, hail, thunder and lightning mid- to late Thursday afternoon, with residents of the Kelseyville and Lakeport areas noting particularly heavy rainfall.

The storm appeared headed for the Northshore as of 4 p.m.

Shortly after 4 p.m., the Lake County Sheriff’s Office issued an alert on the flash flood warning by phone and email through its LakeCoAlert system.

Additional information about conditions will be posted as they become available.

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 Memorial Day weekend once again saw a large number of fatalities and drunk driving arrests statewide and around the region.

The California Highway Patrol instituted its Memorial Day Maximum Enforcement Period, which ran from 6 p.m. Friday, May 24, to 11:59 p.m. Monday, May 27.

During that time period, the CHP reported that it investigated 21 fatal collisions statewide, which resulted in the deaths of 25 people.

The agency said that nearly 50 percent of those killed during the Memorial Day weekend crashes were not wearing a seat belt.

This year’s number of Memorial Day weekend fatal collisions statewide dropped by 9 percent, with the number of deaths down by 8 percent compared to last year, according to the CHP.

In the Northern Division, which covers 13 Northern California counties including Lake, there were two crashes resulting in two deaths, the CHP said.

One of those fatal wrecks occurred on Highway 20 in Lake County near Nice shortly after 11:30 p.m. on Memorial Day, when Josh Anthony Calderon, 29, of Santa Paula and Nice crashed his motorcycle and subsequently was run over by two vehicles, as Lake County News has reported.

Statewide, the CHP reported that it made 1,099 arrests for DUI over the Memorial Day weekend.

In the Northern Division, there were 47 arrests for DUI, and the CHP said the number of DUI arrests rose by nearly 4 percent over 2018.

Clear Lake Area CHP Officer Joel Skeen said the CHP had seven DUI arrests in Lake County during the Memorial Day weekend, a number he said didn’t include statistics from the Lakeport or Clearlake police departments.

One of the local CHP’s DUI arrests was for a crash on Saturday night near Blue Lakes, when Shana Lee Smith, 42, of Clearlake was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol following a solo-vehicle wreck that injured her and her passenger.

Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said his agency had one DUI crash and arrest on Friday evening following a three-car crash in the city’s downtown. There was just one injury, a complaint of pain.

In the city of Clearlake, the Clearlake Police Department reported having a total of four crashes during the Memorial Day weekend, two resulting in injury and the other two being noninjury. None appeared to be related to DUI, based on its Citizen RIMS reporting program.

The Clearlake Police Department also reported that it had two DUI arrests during the holiday 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, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Boggs Mountain Copter 104 is now staffed for the 2019 fire season and will be conducting training throughout Lake County.

The helicopter will be frequently seen and heard flying around Lake County over the next few weeks.

Cal Fire advises county residents not to be alarmed, this is normal training activity in preparation for the upcoming fire season.

“Helicopter operations are critical to the Cal Fire’s mission of serving and safeguarding the people and protecting the property and resources of California,” said Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Chief Shana Jones. “It is vital for mission success that our Helitack Crews are properly trained to be effective, efficient and safe while conducting flight operations during fires, while performing rescues, and supporting prescribed burns.”

Cal Fire also encourages Lake County residents to prepare the defensible space around their homes before fire season is upon us.

If you need more information regarding defensible space please download the new Cal Fire “Ready for Wildfire” phone app or visit www.readyforwildfire.org .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council last week heard from the police chief on plans for dealing with illegal fireworks during the July 4 city celebration and got an update on services being offered to local businesses.

One of the main items of discussion during the half-hour meeting was Chief Brad Rasmussen's illegal fireworks operations plan, which he is required to present and have filed with the council by city code.

Rasmussen provided the council with the police operations plan for fireworks, patrol and enforcement for the 30-day period surrounding the holiday, from June 17 to July 16.

The report said that the police department has identified the city’s parklands and Will-O-Point as those areas most affected by illegal fireworks.

“The Police Department provides routine patrol to those areas which present the most problems on a daily basis when staffing levels permit and during the course of the patrol officer’s duties. Increased patrols with targeted enforcement will occur in specific areas when deemed necessary,” the report said.

The report also notes, “The Police Department will provide uniformed patrol to those areas described above through June 17 and July 16 when staffing levels permit. As it relates to Independence Day, the Police Department will set up a command post at City Hall and with the assistance of allied agencies and conduct a mass canvass of the ‘Parklands’ utilizing officers on foot patrol. Officers assigned to the ‘Parklands’ will directly target the troublesome areas and seek out illegal fireworks violators. Officers will also be assigned to the remaining areas of the City, not demeaned as troublesome, in patrol units.”

Rasmussen told the council that police expect to have issues similar to those they experienced last year, with a lot of people in town also a lot of use of illegal fireworks.

“We will try to do what we can to enforce and limit the use” of illegal fireworks, Rasmussen said, adding that it's very difficult. He said the police department will work with the Lakeport Fire Protection District on that effort.

Councilman Kenny Parlet asked about language included in the report about the use by the public in years past of the Safeway, Kmart, High Street Center, Shoreline Center and Vista Point parking lots for shooting off safe and sane fireworks.

The report notes, “these are private parking lots, and law enforcement does not have permission to allow such activities. Persons took it upon themselves to use these lots without expressed or written consent.”

Rasmussen said the intent of that language was to let people know that police can't specifically address the use of those private properties. He said the owners don't want the property used for the safe and sane fireworks but people use them anyway.

Over the last few years, the fireworks company providing the safe and sane fireworks to approved nonprofits for sale has been good at getting the groups who sell the fireworks to go out and clean up the areas in the city where those fireworks are used, so that the businesses aren't faced with cleaning up their big messes, Rasmussen said.

Councilman George Spurr moved to approve the report, which the council approved 5-0.

In other business, Maryanne Petrillo, chief executive officer of the West Business Development Center, gave the council an update on her organization, which hosts the Small Business Development Center and is funded by the federal Small Business Administration.

She said they can do free business advising to all businesses with less than 100 employees, which is most of the county's businesses.

They provide workshops including one coming up at 5:30 p.m. June 17 in Lakeport on fire preparedness. Petrillo said the center developed the workshop and a book based on what they saw local businesses were missing in facing the area's wildland fires.

“We are really here to serve you,” she said.

Petrillo said the organization has been in existence for 30 years and has sometimes talked people out of going into business, but those individuals have come back when they're actually ready. She said it is harder than ever to start, own and run a business.

Also at last week’s meeting, the Lakeport Main Street Association presented the Business of the Quarter Award to O'Meara Bros. and the council unanimously approved the purchase of granular activated carbon for two vessels at the surface water treatment plant.

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.