News

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County’s “Poetry Out Loud” competition for student poets will take place at the Soper Reese Theatre on Saturday, Jan. 26.

The competition will begin at 2 p.m.

It will feature competitors from high schools around the county. Winners at this event will go on to compete at the state level.

The public is invited to attend; entry is free of charge.

The event is supported and promoted by the Lake County Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Foundation and the California Arts Council.

Poetry Out Loud is national program intended to help students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, learn about their literary heritage and compete for college scholarship funding.

Millions of high school students participate across the country with California as one of the largest.

Students begin with poetry recitations at the classroom level. Classroom winners advance to a schoolwide competition and each school’s champion competes at the county level.

Winners of the Jan. 26 Lake County competition advance to the state finals to be held March 10 and 11 in Sacramento. The National Finals will be held in Washington D.C, from April 30 through May 1.

Check out www.poetryoutloud.org for more information.

The Soper Reese Theatre is located at 275 S. Main St. in Lakeport and can be reached at 707-263-0577.

LUCERNE, Calif. – The Lucerne Town Hall Council will hold its first meeting of the year next week, and community members are invited to apply to fill the leadership seats.

The town hall will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 9, at the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center, located at the corner of 10th Avenue and Country Club Drive.

The meeting is open to the public.

New District 3 Supervisor EJ Crandell, set to take his seat on the Board of Supervisors next week, will be in attendance at the meeting.

The Lucerne Town Hall Council was established in January 2017 as a way of increasing the participation of residents of the Lucerne community growth boundary in decisions affecting the community.

The council has five board members – chair, vice chair, records keeper and two members at-large – all of which serve two-year terms.

The Board of Supervisors is inviting applicants for all five seats.

To be eligible, individuals must live within the community growth boundary, be a registered voter in Lake County and have attended at least two of the town hall council’s meetings in the preceding year.

Town hall council applications may be obtained from the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, Lake County Courthouse, Room 109, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport or access the application online here.

Any resident interested in becoming a Lucerne Town Hall Council member is urged to download the application on the county website and bring it to the January meeting.

For further information about applying, call the Clerk of the Board’s Office at 707-263-2368.

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 new year has gotten off to a dry and sunny start, but forecasters are predicting rain ahead.

The National Weather Service said a weather system is expected to bring rain to Northern California this weekend.

The in-depth forecast said the system’s cool airmass will bring not just rain but snow levels down to the 3,500 to 4,500 foot level, with mountain snow totals totaling between 1 to 3 feet.

This week’s sunny skies are forecast to continue until Thursday, with clouds coming in on Thursday night and continuing through the next day.

On Friday night there is a chance of showers, with rain expected on Saturday. The National Weather Service said the heaviest precipitation is expected to occur on Saturday afternoon and evening, with a potential also for winds.

There are chances of rain on Sunday and Monday. The likelihood of showers is expected to increase on Tuesday, based on the forecast.

The forecast calls for temperatures this week remaining in the low 30s at night and the mid-50s during the daytime.

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.

LUCERNE, Calif. – Many residents of the Lucerne area continued to be impacted overnight by a power outage that began Tuesday morning in the wake of a vehicle crash involving a power pole.

Late on Tuesday, Pacific Gas and Electric said approximately 273 customers – in the north end of the town – continued to be impacted by the outage, first reported at approximately 11:11 a.m.

The outage began at the same time as a Chevy Silverado pickup hit a power pole at Highway 20 and First Avenue, snapping it in two, as Lake County News has reported.

Originally, more than 2,800 customers from Lucerne to Glenhaven and Kelseyville were impacted, according to PG&E.

A number of customers – including many in Lucerne – began having their power restored at about 2 p.m.

However, the pole replacement took time and PG&E said it anticipated the remaining customers not having their power back on until 9 a.m. Wednesday.

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.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake Police Department said it its investigation into a Dec. 3 assault that left a man seriously injured has resulted in an arrest.

On Monday, the Clearlake Police Department’s Investigations Bureau arrested 28-year-old Paul John Mendez Jr. of Clearlake for probable cause in the attack on Nicholas Vining, 29, known as “Caveman,” according to Det. Ryan Peterson.

The attack was reported to the Clearlake Police Department on Dec. 4 and was believed to have occurred in the area of the 6800 block of Old Highway 53, Peterson said.

Peterson said Vining was transported to the UCSF Medical Center where he was placed into a medically induced coma due to his severe injuries. Due to Vining’s condition, he initially was unable to be interviewed by investigators.

Based on statements Vining’s family and friends posted on social media, it was initially believed that juveniles from the Clearlake Creativity School located in the area might have been involved in the attack. Staff were contacted by investigators, but no leads were obtained through those contacts nor from a search of the area where the incident was reported to have occurred, Peterson said.

At the time, Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg said he directed school staff to reach out to the school resource officer to make available surveillance camera footage, but they were told at the time that the attack didn’t take place near the school, nor was it related to the school, as Lake County News has reported.

However, Peterson said last week Vining’s condition improved and a detective was able to interview him, which led to the latest development.

Through the investigation, Peterson said Mendez was identified as one of the subjects who assaulted Vining.

Mendez is a known subject to law enforcement, is on active California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation parole for sexual battery and is a registered sex offender with ankle monitoring, Peterson said. In 2009, Mendez was prosecuted for sexually assaulting a child under age 14, as Lake County News has reported.

Peterson said investigators contacted Mendez’s parole officer and she provided them with his location. On Monday afternoon they found him walking along Highway 20 in Clearlake Oaks, where he was placed under arrest.

Mendez was interviewed by investigators and admitted to the assault of Vining. Peterson said Mendez was booked into the Lake County Jail on Monday night for probable cause for the violations of assault with a deadly weapon, felony battery, robbery and a parole violation.

Due to the parole violation, Mendez is being held without bond, Peterson said.

Peterson said that, based on the investigation, it is believed that the information from social media identifying the involvement of juveniles from the Clearlake Creativity School was inaccurate. Additionally, the area where the attack actually occurred is not believed to be where it was originally reported.

He said investigators also believe that other subjects may have been involved or witnessed the attack of Vining.

The investigation is still ongoing. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Det. Peterson at 707-994-8251, Extension 320.

LUCERNE, Calif. – A vehicle crash involving a power pole on New Year’s Day morning has left thousands of Northshore and Kelseyville residents temporarily out of power.

The crash occurred at 11:11 a.m. Tuesday at Highway 20 and First Avenue in Lucerne, according to the California Highway Patrol.

A newer model red Chevy Silverado pickup hit a power pole on the side of the highway. The pole was broken in half, with one part leaning over and the other part suspended in the air, with lines sagging over the First Avenue intersection.

The CHP said the male driver was uninjured.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. reported that the outage began at the same time as the crash.

The outage is reported to be impacting 2,827 customers from Lucerne to Glenhaven and across the lake in the Soda Bay and Buckingham Park areas of Kelseyville.

PG&E’s initial estimate for the time of power restoration is 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.

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.