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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce and the city of Clearlake will present the third annual “State of the City” presentation on Wednesday, Sept. 5.
The event will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Clearlake Community Center, located at 3245 Bowers Ave.
“This is our third annual State of the City meeting. We have accomplished a lot and have a lot more in the planning stages and we want the community to know all that is happening,” said City Manager Greg Folsom, who helped introduce the concept when he joined the city.
Originally, the presentation had been scheduled for early August, but was postponed due to the Mendocino Complex, as Lake County News has reported.
The program will begin at 5 p.m. with an open house featuring the opportunity to interact with and ask questions to the Police Department, Code Enforcement, Public Works, Finance, Building Department, Administrative Services, Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce, PEG TV and more.
The formal presentation by the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce and the City of Clearlake will begin at 6 p.m.
The Highlands Senior Service Center’s Chatterbox Catering will provide appetizers for the event.
“The Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce is excited to be working with the city of Clearlake to help inform the local business community about the positive changes being made,” said Chamber President Denise Loustalot.
The public is invited to attend and is encouraged to come early in order to have time to interact with the different departments to find out what programs are being offered and to get questions answered.
The event will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Clearlake Community Center, located at 3245 Bowers Ave.
“This is our third annual State of the City meeting. We have accomplished a lot and have a lot more in the planning stages and we want the community to know all that is happening,” said City Manager Greg Folsom, who helped introduce the concept when he joined the city.
Originally, the presentation had been scheduled for early August, but was postponed due to the Mendocino Complex, as Lake County News has reported.
The program will begin at 5 p.m. with an open house featuring the opportunity to interact with and ask questions to the Police Department, Code Enforcement, Public Works, Finance, Building Department, Administrative Services, Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce, PEG TV and more.
The formal presentation by the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce and the City of Clearlake will begin at 6 p.m.
The Highlands Senior Service Center’s Chatterbox Catering will provide appetizers for the event.
“The Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce is excited to be working with the city of Clearlake to help inform the local business community about the positive changes being made,” said Chamber President Denise Loustalot.
The public is invited to attend and is encouraged to come early in order to have time to interact with the different departments to find out what programs are being offered and to get questions answered.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – There was minor growth on the Ranch fire portion of the Mendocino Complex on Wednesday, as some mandatory evacuations in neighboring Mendocino County were lifted.
The Mendocino Complex rose to 410,482 acres by Wednesday night, with containment unchanged over the past 24 hours at 74 percent, Cal Fire reported.
The Ranch fire, the active portion of the complex, reached 361,562 acres Wednesday night. Containment remains at 67 percent, according to Cal Fire’s report. The River fire was fully contained last week at 48,920 acres.
Damage assessment numbers on the complex rose slightly on Wednesday. Cal Fire said the number of structures destroyed is now 280 – 157 homes and 123 other buildings. Damaged structures now total 38, including 13 residences and 25 other buildings.
Resources assigned include 3,439 personnel, 210 engines, 86 water tenders, 21 helicopters, 82 hand crews and 68 dozers, according to Cal Fire.
The Forest Service reported that a new incident command post for the eastern zone of the fire has been set up at the Glenn County Fairgrounds in Orland. The base camp at Stonyford will continue to operate, reducing travel times for crews working on the northern portion of the Ranch Fire.
Cal Fire said there was minimal fire activity on the Ranch Fire; the complex has grown just under 4,000 acres in the past day.
Officials said constructed fireline is holding on the northwestern edge as crews continue
working to improve it.
Crews are continuing to conduct firing operations to build and improve existing containment lines. Cal Fire also is anticipating more favorable weather conditions – lower temperatures and humidity – overnight.
The southern portion of the Ranch fire, like the River fire, remains in patrol status, with suppression repairs taking place, Cal Fire said.
The conditions on Wednesday led to the cancellation of a mandatory evacuation for the Eel River Road area in Mendocino County, including all areas west of the Mendocino-Lake County line, south and east of Eel River Road and north of the 16000 block of Mid Mountain Road.
An advisory evacuation also was canceled for the Potter Valley area, also in Mendocino County.
In Glenn County, officials said Wednesday that while mandatory evacuation orders remain in effect for the area south of County Road 308 to the Colusa County Line and west of County Road 306 to the Lake County line, a number of roads had been reopened to allow access to critical transportation routes in this area.
Those roads include County Road 306, which is open to north and south bound traffic; all roads running west of County Road 306 to the Lake County line remain closed. County Road 308 is open to east and west bound traffic from County Road 306 to the Forest Boundary also has been reopened, but County Road 308 remains closed at the Forest Boundary west to its termination.
Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service said they will be hosting a Thursday evening community meeting in Elk Creek in Glenn County to discuss the current situation of the Mendocino Complex. Officials will give an operational overview, highlighting the current actions firefighters are taking on the fires.
The meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. at Elk Creek High School, 3430 County Road 309.
Mandatory evacuations remain in effect in the following areas:
• Lake County: East of the Lake-Mendocino County line, south of the Lake-Mendocino-Glenn County line, west of the Lake-Colusa County line, north of the fire perimeter and the Mendocino National Forest boundary.
• Colusa County: Areas south of the Colusa-Glenn County line, east of the Colusa-Lake County line, north of Goat Mountain Road extending to Sullivan Ridge and west of the Mendocino National Forest boundary including Fouts Springs Road (Forest Road M10).
• Glenn County: North of the Glenn-Colusa County line, east of the Glenn-Lake County line, south of County Road 308 and Forest Route 24N02, and west of County Road 306.
• The Bureau of Land Management closure of the Cow Mountain Recreation Area remains in effect.
Evacuation advisories are still in effect in two areas in Colusa County: All areas east of the Mendocino National Forest boundary and west of the East Park reservoir between the Glenn County line and Lodoga; and areas South of Goat Mountain Road extending to Sullivan Ridge east of the Colusa-Lake County line and West of the Mendocino National Forest boundary.
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FINLEY, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office has identified the Finley man who died in a Tuesday afternoon motorcycle wreck.
Lt. Corey Paulich identified the motorcyclist as Richard Peter Salkeld, 66.
Salkeld was riding his 2016 Harley Davidson motorcycle eastbound on Stone Drive East in Finley shortly after 12:30 p.m. Tuesday when 73-year-old Kenneth Lee Barr of Kelseyville, driving a 2016 Ford F250 pickup westbound, traveled into Salkeld’s path while turning into a driveway, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Salkeld hit Barr’s pickup head-on and died at the scene a short time later despite the efforts of first responders, according to the CHP and radio reports.
The CHP confirmed on Wednesday that Salkeld was using his safety equipment at the time of the crash. Barr, who was wearing a seat belt, was uninjured.
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.
Lt. Corey Paulich identified the motorcyclist as Richard Peter Salkeld, 66.
Salkeld was riding his 2016 Harley Davidson motorcycle eastbound on Stone Drive East in Finley shortly after 12:30 p.m. Tuesday when 73-year-old Kenneth Lee Barr of Kelseyville, driving a 2016 Ford F250 pickup westbound, traveled into Salkeld’s path while turning into a driveway, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Salkeld hit Barr’s pickup head-on and died at the scene a short time later despite the efforts of first responders, according to the CHP and radio reports.
The CHP confirmed on Wednesday that Salkeld was using his safety equipment at the time of the crash. Barr, who was wearing a seat belt, was uninjured.
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – Nearly eight years after the county of Lake purchased the historic Lucerne Hotel to protect and preserve it, on Tuesday the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a purchase offer for the building.
The Romero Institute, which proposes to locate its New Paradigm University there, was the lone bidder for the 90-year-old building.
The institute bid the minimum amount, $2.5 million.
The bid was submitted in writing and opened during the Tuesday morning board meeting.
The process also allowed for verbal bids to be submitted, but no one came forward to make an alternate offer.
County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson said the Romero Institute offer is subject to county staff verifying conditions of the sale.
By day’s end, the Romero Institute was required to deposit 4 percent of the purchase price in an escrow account. The remainder will be due at the end of escrow, Huchingson said.
The board voted unanimously to close the bid before holding a brief discussion.
Supervisor Jeff Smith said it was “tough” to sell the building for $2.5 million.
That was the minimum amount the board had approved when it ruled the building surplus last month and agreed to sell it. The last updated appraisal the county had last year valued the building at $3 million.
Board Chair Jim Steele said the building’s sale is “the end of an era.”
Supervisor Rob Brown countered, “I prefer to think of it as the beginning of an era, I really do,” adding that he thinks some good things are going to come of it, including vitally needed economic development.
Steele added that it would bring confidence to the community and he was comfortable with the sale.
Bill Stranger of the Romero Institute thanked the board and previous boards for their visionary understanding of the value of the facility and their work to bring four year education to Lake County.
He recognized their disappointment with the previous college attempt by Marymount.
However, he said the Romero Institute has expanded the vision for the building’s use, which will include a conference center and education extension program.
Stranger also encouraged the county to send a participant to the upcoming California Adaptation Forum in Sacramento, which looks at how communities prepare for climate change impacts.
He said the first major conference planned for the building under the Romero Institute’s ownership will address the issues of catastrophic wildfires such as those that have hit Lake County and how to turn the disaster into regeneration and renewal.
He thanked former Supervisor Denise Rushing – who had been on the Board of Supervisors at the time the county purchased the building and is now a principal member of the group forming the new college – for her pioneering work in creating the proposal, and said they are looking forward to a very full and productive partnership in creating a unique and visionary project.
Supervisor Tina Scott said she was happy about the effort to bring quality education to the community. She said that would change the dynamic in the county, where there is a low percentage of people with degrees.
Steele passed the gavel so he could make the motion to approve the bid, which Smith seconded and the board approved 5-0.
In June the board had unanimously selected a proposal submitted by the Romero Institute for the purchase of the building, which led to the decision to put the building up for sale.
The 55,000-square-foot hotel building sits on seven acres at the end of 13th Avenue, or The Strand. With its seven story tower, it’s the tallest building in Lake County, and arguably its most impressive.
Over the years it had housed a hotel and restaurant, and was owned by a church group, Castlepoint Ministries, which used it for many years as a retreat before putting it up for sale in 2008.
The building was purchased by the county from Castlepoint Ministries in 2010 for $1.35 million.
Including the purchase prices and extensive renovations, the county’s total investment in the building – much of it redevelopment dollars, meant to help revitalize and restore the Northshore – totals about $4.2 million, according to county staff.
Marymount California University signed a lease with the county for the building in late 2012. Classes opened in the building in 2014.
For the next three years Lake County had its first four-year university, graduating about 30 people who earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees before Marymount abruptly left, without warning, in June 2017.
The lease between the county and Marymount called for the university to purchase the building within a specific time frame for a base price of $2.5 million, with an additional unspecified amount to be included to reimburse the county for improvements made to the building including the elevator, new classrooms and Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible bathrooms.
This is the fourth major property sale the county has carried out in the past nine months, and the third of those properties located on the Northshore.
In November, the county sold the former visitor information center in Lucerne for $263,500 and Holiday Harbor in Nice for $759,500, both to Bay Area real estate investor Ed Olson, who property records show owns more than 20 Lake County properties.
Then, last week, Lake County Tribal Health bought county-owned properties on Bevins Court in Lakeport for the minimum bid of $294,000, submitted verbally.
With the approval of the Lucerne Hotel sale, all four of those property transactions total approximately $3,817,000.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County residents have endured four years of some of the worst fires in our state’s history.
Wildfire has ravaged significant portions of the county and since 2015, 1,785 Lake County residents have lost their homes to wildfires. Unfortunately, with the Mendocino Complex Fire – the largest wildland fire in our state’s history – that number has grown.
These fires have been incredibly difficult on everyone, but the kids of Lake County have suffered tremendously.
State Sen. Mike McGuire has teamed up with North Coast Opportunities to give back to Lake County’s students who have been impacted by the Mendocino Complex Fire. Together, they launched the Lake County Students Fire Relief Fund with Redwood Credit Union playing a significant funding role.
On Wednesday, students in Lakeport, Lucerne and Upper Lake will head back to school after a two week delay due to the significant impacts of the Ranch and River fires.
Students in Lakeport and Upper Lake will be welcomed back to school by local public safety officials, community volunteers and teachers when they arrive in the morning with donuts, orange juice and milk to kick off their school year. The milk and orange juice has been generously donated by Clover Stornetta.
Students in Lucerne will be welcomed back to school by a welcome team from the community with a special lunch on the first day, including pasta, salad and fruit.
“Lake County families have faced unprecedented disasters year after year and the physical and emotional toll these events have had can be overwhelming, especially for kids. We’re proud to team up with Lake County schools, North Coast Opportunities and Redwood Credit Union to hold these special events, welcoming students back to school after facing the trauma of the Ranch and River Fires,” Sen. McGuire said.
Working with North Coast Opportunities, which has been the leading non-profit organization supporting residents after each of the devastating wildland fires that have impacted Lake and Mendocino counties, Sen. McGuire established a dedicated fund to help those students impacted by the Ranch and River fires and has secured support from Redwood Credit Union as the primary funder.
Redwood Credit Union is covering the costs of the welcome back events at each of three school districts.
“Lake County is a resilient community that has faced so many devastating disasters these past few years,” said NCO Executive Director Patty Bruder. “As we’ve done in the past, our team is ready to get to work to help our neighbors in need and we’re proud to partner with Senator McGuire and Redwood Credit Union on the Lake County Students Fire Relief Fund and Welcome Back to School events.”
With a history of partnering with Senator McGuire on fire relief over the past several years, Redwood Credit Union stepped up with immediate support for the student fund.
“Knowing the impact of these fires can deeply affect kids and teens, we want to support Lake County students and get them back into a routine and the stability of a classroom,” said Brett Martinez, president and CEO of Redwood Credit Union. “All of us at Redwood Credit Union are saddened that fires continue to devastate our communities, but we’re committed to helping those in need.”
In addition to the back to school events this week, all funds raised will benefit Lake County students (K-12 and college) including financial assistance for students who lost homes to replace school clothes, supplies, sports and musical equipment; and funds will be invested in mental health services for Lake County students impacted by the fires.
Contributions to support Lake County students may be made online at www.FireRelief.org.
Checks can be made to the Lake County Students Fire Relief Fund , memo line: North Coast Opportunities Inc., 413 North State St., Ukiah, CA 95482.
Wildfire has ravaged significant portions of the county and since 2015, 1,785 Lake County residents have lost their homes to wildfires. Unfortunately, with the Mendocino Complex Fire – the largest wildland fire in our state’s history – that number has grown.
These fires have been incredibly difficult on everyone, but the kids of Lake County have suffered tremendously.
State Sen. Mike McGuire has teamed up with North Coast Opportunities to give back to Lake County’s students who have been impacted by the Mendocino Complex Fire. Together, they launched the Lake County Students Fire Relief Fund with Redwood Credit Union playing a significant funding role.
On Wednesday, students in Lakeport, Lucerne and Upper Lake will head back to school after a two week delay due to the significant impacts of the Ranch and River fires.
Students in Lakeport and Upper Lake will be welcomed back to school by local public safety officials, community volunteers and teachers when they arrive in the morning with donuts, orange juice and milk to kick off their school year. The milk and orange juice has been generously donated by Clover Stornetta.
Students in Lucerne will be welcomed back to school by a welcome team from the community with a special lunch on the first day, including pasta, salad and fruit.
“Lake County families have faced unprecedented disasters year after year and the physical and emotional toll these events have had can be overwhelming, especially for kids. We’re proud to team up with Lake County schools, North Coast Opportunities and Redwood Credit Union to hold these special events, welcoming students back to school after facing the trauma of the Ranch and River Fires,” Sen. McGuire said.
Working with North Coast Opportunities, which has been the leading non-profit organization supporting residents after each of the devastating wildland fires that have impacted Lake and Mendocino counties, Sen. McGuire established a dedicated fund to help those students impacted by the Ranch and River fires and has secured support from Redwood Credit Union as the primary funder.
Redwood Credit Union is covering the costs of the welcome back events at each of three school districts.
“Lake County is a resilient community that has faced so many devastating disasters these past few years,” said NCO Executive Director Patty Bruder. “As we’ve done in the past, our team is ready to get to work to help our neighbors in need and we’re proud to partner with Senator McGuire and Redwood Credit Union on the Lake County Students Fire Relief Fund and Welcome Back to School events.”
With a history of partnering with Senator McGuire on fire relief over the past several years, Redwood Credit Union stepped up with immediate support for the student fund.
“Knowing the impact of these fires can deeply affect kids and teens, we want to support Lake County students and get them back into a routine and the stability of a classroom,” said Brett Martinez, president and CEO of Redwood Credit Union. “All of us at Redwood Credit Union are saddened that fires continue to devastate our communities, but we’re committed to helping those in need.”
In addition to the back to school events this week, all funds raised will benefit Lake County students (K-12 and college) including financial assistance for students who lost homes to replace school clothes, supplies, sports and musical equipment; and funds will be invested in mental health services for Lake County students impacted by the fires.
Contributions to support Lake County students may be made online at www.FireRelief.org.
Checks can be made to the Lake County Students Fire Relief Fund , memo line: North Coast Opportunities Inc., 413 North State St., Ukiah, CA 95482.
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Burned Area Emergency Response, or BAER, specialists from the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Interior recently completed their data gathering and field work of the Ranch fire burn area, part of the Mendocino Complex.
Their focus was to verify and finalize the soil burn severity map. Soil burn severity is classified into levels between unburned and high.
Due to the size of the fire, its activity, and the team’s inability to visit the northern portion of the fire, the BAER team assessed the southern portion of the fire, an area 191,068 acres in size.
The northern portion will be mapped at a future date once activity drops and the specialists are allowed into the burned area.
The analysis indicated that approximately seven percent of the area in the fire perimeter is considered unburned or very low (14,090 acres), 27 percent low (51,633 acres), 59 percent moderate (113,344 acres), and six percent high (12,000 acres) soil burn severity.
BAER post-fire assessment teams use the soil burn severity data to identify if there are areas of concern where increased soil erosion, accelerated surface water run-off, and debris flows have the potential to impact human life and safety, property, and critical natural and cultural resources from rain events.
BAER teams typically consist of scientists and specialists that consider emergency stabilization options for those critical resources.
The soil burn severity map is not an erosion risk map, but generally shows increases in the rates of erosion and runoff that are expected from steep hillslopes with high and moderate soil burn severity.
Areas located downstream from moderate and high soil burn severity, even within unburned areas, may experience increased rates of erosion, debris flows and surface runoff due to cumulative effects.
Information about the BAER team’s work can be found on Inciweb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6156.