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To decrease deaths and injuries caused by speed and aggressive driving, two of California’s main contributors in traffic collisions, the California Highway Patrol has begun a year-long, grant-funded education and enforcement campaign.
The primary goal of the Regulate Aggressive Driving and Reduce Speed, or RADARS, III grant is to reduce the number of collisions where speed, improper turning, and driving on the wrong side of the road are the primary factors leading to death or injury.
This grant will enable the CHP to provide more enforcement and education to motorists about the dangers of aggressive driving.
“Speed is the number one cause of traffic collisions in California,” CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley said. “With this grant, the California Highway Patrol will strive to change this dangerous behavior through increased enforcement and education.”
In Federal Fiscal Year 2015-2016, speed was a factor in approximately 45 percent of all fatal and injury collisions in the state. That year, more than 36,000 speed-related collisions resulted in the death of more than 370 people and the injury of nearly 53,000 people.
Street racing and sideshows, an increasing problem now spreading to major traffic arteries, are also addressed through the RADARS III grant.
An active public awareness campaign and enhanced enforcement, which will deploy additional officers to provide more patrols to affected areas, will focus on the expanding problem.
Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The primary goal of the Regulate Aggressive Driving and Reduce Speed, or RADARS, III grant is to reduce the number of collisions where speed, improper turning, and driving on the wrong side of the road are the primary factors leading to death or injury.
This grant will enable the CHP to provide more enforcement and education to motorists about the dangers of aggressive driving.
“Speed is the number one cause of traffic collisions in California,” CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley said. “With this grant, the California Highway Patrol will strive to change this dangerous behavior through increased enforcement and education.”
In Federal Fiscal Year 2015-2016, speed was a factor in approximately 45 percent of all fatal and injury collisions in the state. That year, more than 36,000 speed-related collisions resulted in the death of more than 370 people and the injury of nearly 53,000 people.
Street racing and sideshows, an increasing problem now spreading to major traffic arteries, are also addressed through the RADARS III grant.
An active public awareness campaign and enhanced enforcement, which will deploy additional officers to provide more patrols to affected areas, will focus on the expanding problem.
Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Tuesday, Lake County’s voters elected the second woman to serve as judge in the county’s 157-year history.
Shanda Harry, a deputy county counsel for the county of Lake, ended the night with a preliminary vote count that gave her an 18-percent lead over District Attorney Don Anderson in the race for Lake County Superior Court judge.
“I think it’s incredible,” she said of the results late Tuesday night, adding, “I’m going from cautiously optimistic to being extremely optimistic.”
She said she started out with “nobody knowing who I was,” which made the Tuesday outcome all the more exciting.
With early absentees and 70 precincts counted, Harry received 7,333 votes, or 58.8 percent, while Anderson received 5,080 votes, or 40.8 percent.
The results remain preliminary until the official canvass is completed in one month, but even with thousands of ballots remaining to be counted, Harry’s lead over Anderson appears to be statistically insurmountable.
Lake County News was unable to reach Anderson for comment late Tuesday.
Harry, 45, now becomes the second woman elected judge in Lake County. The first was Judge Betty Irwin, elected in 1982 as a write-in candidate to the justice court. Irwin died in 2013.
In the race to succeed Judge Stephen Hedstrom – who chose not to run for reelection after this third term ends this year – Harry had been the top vote-getter over Anderson and attorney Andre Ross in the June primary.
In the months since, as she and Anderson went into a runoff, she had attended a seemingly endless stream of events in an effort to get to know Lake County’s voters and participated in debates with Anderson, including one Lake County News hosted on Oct. 3.
“It’s been kind of crazy,” she said of her schedule, estimating she attended about 10 events a week – including spending several nights a week campaigning – while holding down a full-time job and raising a young daughter.
Harry said her challenge from the beginning was name recognition. That was not a small concern, considering her opponent was Anderson, now nearing the end of his second term as Lake County’s district attorney.
She said she was convinced that if she could sit down and talk with every voter and explain her qualifications, she could convince them to vote for her.
She had help from her family in the campaign, with her father creating her signs and her mother handling the accounting.
Harry said her mother isn’t a crier, but in watching the Tuesday night results come in, she said her mother wept with relief and, more importantly, told her that she was thankful she had run for judge because it exposed her to many new things as well.
While the local judicial race had its specific issues, Harry acknowledged the larger nationwide canvas her race is set against, as more women have sought – and been elected to – public office in 2018.
She said she heard from a lot of people that they were glad women were stepping up. “I do think that in general people were looking for diversity,” she said.
Noting that women are well represented in the judiciary across the state, but not so locally, Harry said, “It was time for Lake County to have a female judge on the bench.”
Even if she hadn’t won, Harry said she would have found the experience of getting to know Lake County better as worthwhile.
However, now she is focusing on what has to come next as she prepares to take on her new role as judge early in the new year.
Harry said she needs to spend the next month closing out projects in the County Counsel’s Office. “That’s really my focus right now, is to make sure I don’t leave anything hanging.”
She said she will meet with the local judges to find out what the plan is in terms of what type of cases she will be handling so she can get a jumpstart on being ready.
Harry said she’s spoken several times already to Judge Hedstrom – in whose court she practices most often – and expects to do so again in the coming weeks.
If she were to take over Hedstrom’s docket, it would be the most familiar for her, but Harry said that when she last spoke to Presiding Judge Andrew Blum, he had indicated there would be changes in assignments.
In the last months before she takes the bench, there will also be some focused family time with her daughter. “My daughter is really happy to have me back in the evenings,” Harry said.
And, admitting that it will sound like what winning athletes say after big competitions, she added, “I am taking my daughter to Disneyland because she has been a trooper through all of this.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Tuesday’s preliminary results in the race for Clearlake City Council show a city planning commissioner and a recently appointed councilman as the top vote-getters.
With early absentees and nine precincts reporting, Dirk Slooten and Russell Cremer were ahead of Russell Perdock in the race to gain two available seats on the five-member council.
The results reported overnight by the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office are preliminary until the official canvass is completed in one month.
Slooten, a planning commissioner, retired businessman and Rotarian who has been instrumental in raising money for community fire relief, led the field based on Tuesday night’s returns.
He led in the early absentee count, with his lead growing as precinct ballots were counted, for a total preliminary tally of 1,144 ballots, or 40 percent.
Cremer came in with 1,015 votes, or 35.5 percent, followed by Perdock with 688 votes, or 24 percent.
Perdock served just over three years of a four-year term on the council before he resigned in February in order to pursue the Clearlake Police chief job, as Lake County News has reported. Both Slooten and Cremer and applied to fill the vacancy, with the council ultimately appointing Cremer.
On the ballot Tuesday were the two seats currently held by Cremer as well as Mayor Bruno Sabatier, who in June was elected to be District 2’s next representative on the Lake County Board of Supervisors.
Also on the ballot in Clearlake on Tuesday was the city treasurer’s job, for which no candidates applied. It has been filled by city staff for several years and city voters so far haven’t approved making it an appointed position, as they did for the city clerk’s job.
In other election news, early results showed that in the race for the Redbud Health Care District’s Zone 2 director’s seat, Sandra M. Richards led the voting with 362 ballots, or 58.2 percent, followed by Brice Trask, 162 votes or 26 percent, and Mark Burkdoll, with 97 votes or 15.6 percent.
Email Elizabeth Larson atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
With early absentees and nine precincts reporting, Dirk Slooten and Russell Cremer were ahead of Russell Perdock in the race to gain two available seats on the five-member council.
The results reported overnight by the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office are preliminary until the official canvass is completed in one month.
Slooten, a planning commissioner, retired businessman and Rotarian who has been instrumental in raising money for community fire relief, led the field based on Tuesday night’s returns.
He led in the early absentee count, with his lead growing as precinct ballots were counted, for a total preliminary tally of 1,144 ballots, or 40 percent.
Cremer came in with 1,015 votes, or 35.5 percent, followed by Perdock with 688 votes, or 24 percent.
Perdock served just over three years of a four-year term on the council before he resigned in February in order to pursue the Clearlake Police chief job, as Lake County News has reported. Both Slooten and Cremer and applied to fill the vacancy, with the council ultimately appointing Cremer.
On the ballot Tuesday were the two seats currently held by Cremer as well as Mayor Bruno Sabatier, who in June was elected to be District 2’s next representative on the Lake County Board of Supervisors.
Also on the ballot in Clearlake on Tuesday was the city treasurer’s job, for which no candidates applied. It has been filled by city staff for several years and city voters so far haven’t approved making it an appointed position, as they did for the city clerk’s job.
In other election news, early results showed that in the race for the Redbud Health Care District’s Zone 2 director’s seat, Sandra M. Richards led the voting with 362 ballots, or 58.2 percent, followed by Brice Trask, 162 votes or 26 percent, and Mark Burkdoll, with 97 votes or 15.6 percent.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Voters on Tuesday voted for board seats in school and college districts around Lake County, and in one heated race favored three challengers over longtime incumbents.
The results from Tuesday’s election that were reported overnight by the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office are preliminary until the official canvass is completed in one month.
While there were numerous education-related races on the ballot, the one that emerged as the most contentious was that of the Lakeport Unified School District, with issues ranging from the district’s failure to use bond funds to build a new swimming pool to matters of discipline and personnel.
Carly Alvord, Jennifer Hanson and Dan Buffalo ran together on a platform aimed at fixing the district, and the early numbers – including early absentees and all 12 precincts – suggest that the three will win their seats on the board.
Alvord and Hanson raced along with incumbent Tom Powers for two four-year seats. Alvord received 1,583 votes, or 39.2 percent, followed by Hanson with 1,507 votes, or 37.3 percent, and Powers, 753 votes, or 18.6 percent.
Dan Camacho ran as a write-in candidate for the four-year seats. There were 197 votes, or 4.9 percent, cast for write-ins, although the Tuesday night returns did not specify how many of those votes were for Camacho.
Buffalo and incumbent Dennis Darling were in the running for a seat with two years remaining from an unexpired term. Buffalo received 1,418 votes, or 58.3 percent, to Darling’s 1,002 votes, or 41.2 percent.
In the race for three seats on the Konocti Unified School District Board of Trustees, with 28 precincts reporting, Joan Mingori was the top vote-getter with 1,881 votes or 26.5 percent, followed by Bill Diener, 1,834 votes, 25.8 percent; Pamela Bening-Hale, 1,822 votes, 25.7 percent; and Herb Gura, 1,539 votes, 21.7 percent.
The Middletown Unified School District Board has three available seats and a four-person race. With 11 precincts reporting, Larry Allen led the field with 1,270 votes or 30.6 percent, followed by Latrease Walker, 1,068 votes, 25.8 percent; Thad R. Owens, 1,037 votes, 25 percent; and Christina Braden, 763 votes, 18.4 percent.
The Upper Lake Unified School District Board had all five of its seats on the ballot, and six people seeking them.
The preliminary count of early absentees and 12 precincts saw Ron Raetz bring in the most votes, 1,009, with 19.8 percent, followed by Ana Santana, 940 votes, 18.4 percent; Diane Tomkins Plante, 880 votes, 17.3 percent; Frank Gudmundson, 780 votes, 15.3 percent; Claudine Pedroncelli, 758 votes, 14.9 percent; and Don Meri, 712 votes, 14 percent.
In other education races, the preliminary voting results show Denise Loustalot leading Joanne Breton in the race for Trustee Area No. 3 on the Lake County Board of Education. With 18 precincts reporting, Loustalot had 1,164 votes, or 50.3 percent, with Breton receiving 1,139 votes, or 49.2 percent.
Madelene Lyon, incumbent for Trustee Area No. 5 on the Lake County Board of Education, received 1,300 votes or 50 percent of the vote in her reelection bid, followed closely by challenger Anna Rose Ravenwood with 1,285 votes, or 49.4 percent.
For the Mendocino-Lake Community College District Trustee Area No. 5, Philip “Ed” Nickerman led with 532 votes, or 55.2 percent, followed by Camille Schraeder, with 426 votes, or 44.2 percent.
Also on the ballot was the seat representing the Mendocino-Lake Community College District Trustee Area No. 6. Incumbent John H. Tomkins appears to have been reelected, with 1,583 votes, or 58.6 percent, to the 1,103 votes, or 40.9 percent, received by challenger Andy Anderson.
Email Elizabeth Larson atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
The results from Tuesday’s election that were reported overnight by the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office are preliminary until the official canvass is completed in one month.
While there were numerous education-related races on the ballot, the one that emerged as the most contentious was that of the Lakeport Unified School District, with issues ranging from the district’s failure to use bond funds to build a new swimming pool to matters of discipline and personnel.
Carly Alvord, Jennifer Hanson and Dan Buffalo ran together on a platform aimed at fixing the district, and the early numbers – including early absentees and all 12 precincts – suggest that the three will win their seats on the board.
Alvord and Hanson raced along with incumbent Tom Powers for two four-year seats. Alvord received 1,583 votes, or 39.2 percent, followed by Hanson with 1,507 votes, or 37.3 percent, and Powers, 753 votes, or 18.6 percent.
Dan Camacho ran as a write-in candidate for the four-year seats. There were 197 votes, or 4.9 percent, cast for write-ins, although the Tuesday night returns did not specify how many of those votes were for Camacho.
Buffalo and incumbent Dennis Darling were in the running for a seat with two years remaining from an unexpired term. Buffalo received 1,418 votes, or 58.3 percent, to Darling’s 1,002 votes, or 41.2 percent.
In the race for three seats on the Konocti Unified School District Board of Trustees, with 28 precincts reporting, Joan Mingori was the top vote-getter with 1,881 votes or 26.5 percent, followed by Bill Diener, 1,834 votes, 25.8 percent; Pamela Bening-Hale, 1,822 votes, 25.7 percent; and Herb Gura, 1,539 votes, 21.7 percent.
The Middletown Unified School District Board has three available seats and a four-person race. With 11 precincts reporting, Larry Allen led the field with 1,270 votes or 30.6 percent, followed by Latrease Walker, 1,068 votes, 25.8 percent; Thad R. Owens, 1,037 votes, 25 percent; and Christina Braden, 763 votes, 18.4 percent.
The Upper Lake Unified School District Board had all five of its seats on the ballot, and six people seeking them.
The preliminary count of early absentees and 12 precincts saw Ron Raetz bring in the most votes, 1,009, with 19.8 percent, followed by Ana Santana, 940 votes, 18.4 percent; Diane Tomkins Plante, 880 votes, 17.3 percent; Frank Gudmundson, 780 votes, 15.3 percent; Claudine Pedroncelli, 758 votes, 14.9 percent; and Don Meri, 712 votes, 14 percent.
In other education races, the preliminary voting results show Denise Loustalot leading Joanne Breton in the race for Trustee Area No. 3 on the Lake County Board of Education. With 18 precincts reporting, Loustalot had 1,164 votes, or 50.3 percent, with Breton receiving 1,139 votes, or 49.2 percent.
Madelene Lyon, incumbent for Trustee Area No. 5 on the Lake County Board of Education, received 1,300 votes or 50 percent of the vote in her reelection bid, followed closely by challenger Anna Rose Ravenwood with 1,285 votes, or 49.4 percent.
For the Mendocino-Lake Community College District Trustee Area No. 5, Philip “Ed” Nickerman led with 532 votes, or 55.2 percent, followed by Camille Schraeder, with 426 votes, or 44.2 percent.
Also on the ballot was the seat representing the Mendocino-Lake Community College District Trustee Area No. 6. Incumbent John H. Tomkins appears to have been reelected, with 1,583 votes, or 58.6 percent, to the 1,103 votes, or 40.9 percent, received by challenger Andy Anderson.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Pacific Gas and Electric Co. reported on Tuesday night that it may once again shut off power to thousands of Northern California customers – including many in parts of Lake County – due to weather conditions.
The company said it was considering the action – beginning on Thursday, Nov. 8 – due to expected extreme fire danger conditions, including the red flag warning from the National Weather Service and several other weather factors.
Counties that could be impacted are Butte, Lake, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sierra, Sonoma and Yuba, PG&E said.
Gusty northeast winds are expected late Wednesday through Thursday primarily in the Sacramento Valley, western slopes of northern Sierra and the North Bay hills.
Customers can visit www.pge.com/wildfiresafety to determine whether their home or business is served by an electric line that may be turned off for safety.
PG&E had carried out its first-ever “public safety power shutoff” from Oct. 14 to 17, as Lake County News has reported due to a forecast of extreme fire danger.
"We know how much our customers rely on electric service and the impacts these events can have on our customers, their families and communities. We will only consider temporarily turning off power in the interest of safety and as a last resort during extreme weather conditions to reduce the risk of wildfire," said Pat Hogan, senior vice president of Electric Operations.
Factors that PG&E considers when deciding to initiate a public safety power shutoff include strong winds, very low humidity levels, critically dry vegetation and on-the-ground observations.
PG&E is working closely with first responders and state and local agencies to keep them apprised of our response to the evolving weather conditions.
The company said it started sending out automated voice messages, texts and emails to customers on Tuesday alerting them to a potential power shutoff.
Due to forecasted high winds and dry vegetation, PG&E may temporarily turn off power in portions of the following communities:
PG&E meteorologists will continue to monitor weather conditions as they evolve. The company said it will have additional details on affected areas as weather reports become available.
Customers are urged to make sure their contact information is up-to-date by visiting www.pge.com/mywildfirealerts, or by calling 1-866-743-6589 during normal business hours.
The company said it was considering the action – beginning on Thursday, Nov. 8 – due to expected extreme fire danger conditions, including the red flag warning from the National Weather Service and several other weather factors.
Counties that could be impacted are Butte, Lake, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sierra, Sonoma and Yuba, PG&E said.
Gusty northeast winds are expected late Wednesday through Thursday primarily in the Sacramento Valley, western slopes of northern Sierra and the North Bay hills.
Customers can visit www.pge.com/wildfiresafety to determine whether their home or business is served by an electric line that may be turned off for safety.
PG&E had carried out its first-ever “public safety power shutoff” from Oct. 14 to 17, as Lake County News has reported due to a forecast of extreme fire danger.
"We know how much our customers rely on electric service and the impacts these events can have on our customers, their families and communities. We will only consider temporarily turning off power in the interest of safety and as a last resort during extreme weather conditions to reduce the risk of wildfire," said Pat Hogan, senior vice president of Electric Operations.
Factors that PG&E considers when deciding to initiate a public safety power shutoff include strong winds, very low humidity levels, critically dry vegetation and on-the-ground observations.
PG&E is working closely with first responders and state and local agencies to keep them apprised of our response to the evolving weather conditions.
The company said it started sending out automated voice messages, texts and emails to customers on Tuesday alerting them to a potential power shutoff.
Due to forecasted high winds and dry vegetation, PG&E may temporarily turn off power in portions of the following communities:
PG&E meteorologists will continue to monitor weather conditions as they evolve. The company said it will have additional details on affected areas as weather reports become available.
Customers are urged to make sure their contact information is up-to-date by visiting www.pge.com/mywildfirealerts, or by calling 1-866-743-6589 during normal business hours.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Lake County Campus of Woodland Community College is hosting a celebration this week to honor our veterans.
The event will take place beginning at noon on Thursday, Nov. 8, at the campus, located at 15880 Dam Road Extension between the administration office and Aromas Café.
To start the event, Alexa Olemdo will sing the national anthem.
Next, Chris Taliaferro, Employment Development Department specialist, and Jessica Taliaferro, Lower Lake High School principal, will be speaking about what Veterans Day means to them.
Veteran student Jared Thompson will also be sharing his experience in the armed forces as well as the benefits he has obtained through the GI Bill.
Lake County Campus, along with other college campuses around the nation, offer veteran support to help guide them through the paperwork to access their benefits and further their education.
Aromas Café will be serving food during the event. Food will be served at 25 percent off on entrees for those who are veterans.
Come join the celebration as Lake County Campus honors those who have served their country.
For more information call 707-995-7900 or visit http://LCC.yccd.edu.
The event will take place beginning at noon on Thursday, Nov. 8, at the campus, located at 15880 Dam Road Extension between the administration office and Aromas Café.
To start the event, Alexa Olemdo will sing the national anthem.
Next, Chris Taliaferro, Employment Development Department specialist, and Jessica Taliaferro, Lower Lake High School principal, will be speaking about what Veterans Day means to them.
Veteran student Jared Thompson will also be sharing his experience in the armed forces as well as the benefits he has obtained through the GI Bill.
Lake County Campus, along with other college campuses around the nation, offer veteran support to help guide them through the paperwork to access their benefits and further their education.
Aromas Café will be serving food during the event. Food will be served at 25 percent off on entrees for those who are veterans.
Come join the celebration as Lake County Campus honors those who have served their country.
For more information call 707-995-7900 or visit http://LCC.yccd.edu.