News

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Economic Development Advisory Committee this week will put the finishing touches on new initiatives to help local businesses.

The committee, or LEDAC, will meet from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 14, at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

The meeting is open to the public.

The committee on Wednesday will finalize arrangements for the business walk activities which commence on March 16 and review the “Guide to Doing Business in Lakeport,” which will be available in print and on the city’s Web site.

Other items on the agenda include an update on city projects and other aspects of the city’s economic development strategic plan rollout.

Following the Wednesday meeting, the next LEDAC meeting will take place on May 9.

LEDAC advocates for a strong and positive Lakeport business community and acts as a conduit between the city and the community for communicating the goals, activities and progress of Lakeport’s economic and business programs.

Members are Chair Wilda Shock and Vice Chair Denise Combs, Secretary Terre Logsdon, Candy De Los Santos, Bill Eaton, Melissa Fulton, Pam Harpster, Judith Kanavle, Andy Lucas, Dan Peterson and Panette Talia. City staff who are members include City Manager Margaret Silveira and Community Development Director Kevin Ingram.

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.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an incident in which a Kelseyville resident shot and wounded another man who he found in an outbuilding on his property late Saturday night.

Lt. Corey Paulich said just after 11 p.m. sheriff’s deputies responded to a residence in the 4000 block of Gard Street in Kelseyville for a report of someone being shot at that location.

When deputies arrived, they contacted Bryon Manson, who told them he had shot a male subject in a shed on his property, Paulich said.

Deputies located the male subject in the shed and confirmed he had been shot, finding that he had small wounds consistent with shotgun pellets, Paulich said.

Medical personnel were dispatched and arrived at the scene. Radio reports indicated that an air ambulance was not available to transport the shooting victim, so a Kelseyville Fire ambulance transported him to Sutter Lakeside Hospital in Lakeport.

Paulich said the wounded man later was transported to an out-of-county medical facility with injuries that were not life-threatening.

Manson told deputies that he and his wife were upstairs getting ready for bed when they heard noises and thought someone was possibly in their house, Paulich said.

Paulich said Manson took his shotgun and began to check around his house. When he went outside he saw someone run from a storage room that was connected to his garage.

Manson then went to the doorway of the storage room. He heard noises coming from inside and believed someone was still in there. He told the person in the storage room that if they came toward him he would shoot them, according to Paulich’s report.

Manson felt someone was coming toward him and he felt threatened so he fired his shotgun, striking the male inside. Paulich said Manson told the male subject to not approach him; when the male subject tried to get up and come toward him, Manson shot him again.

Deputies determined the shotgun used by Manson had a sawed-off barrel that made it illegal to possess, Paulich said.

Paulich said detectives from the Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit responded to assist with the investigation.

He said additional interviews are taking place and further investigation is being conducted.

No arrests have been made and the case will be submitted to the District Attorney’s Office for review, he said.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to contact Sgt. John Gregore at 707-262-4238 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A second local educator has joined the race for Lake County superintendent of schools.

Patrick Iaccino of Lakeport, who retired in June from the Upper Lake Unified School District superintendent post, officially joined the race last week.

He’ll challenge first-term incumbent Brock Falkenberg, who also formally announced his candidacy last week, as Lake County News has reported.

The filing period for the county superintendent race closed on Friday at 5 p.m.

Iaccino, who turns 62 this Friday, said people began to approach him in recent months to ask him to consider running for the job.

Before joining the race, Iaccino said he started meeting with local superintendents to find out their concerns.

“Communication is a big issue for all of them,” he said, as well as being able to get support from the county office.

He said his perception of the county office is that it is meant to support the districts in their programs. “The districts know what they need.”

He’s now exploring what kind of support the local districts would want from him if he were elected county superintendent of schools.

Some areas Iaccino wants to see expanded in Lake County include programs for adult education and an increased emphasis on school safety.

He said he’d like to see the sheriff’s office, district attorney, other first responders and schools sit down together to discuss preparedness for local districts in case of emergencies. A conversation about school safety also needs to include community members at large, he added.

In his 11 years as superintendent in Upper Lake, that was never done, he said. Rather, the districts did their own separate preparation.

By the time he retired on June 30, Iaccino had amassed 38 years of experience in education, working his way up from a teacher to superintendent.

He graduated from the University of San Diego with degrees in psychology and sociology, and began his career in 1979 at age 23, making $9,000 a year as a teacher.

The first six years of his career were spent as a teacher and coach at St. Genevieve’s High School in Van Nuys, a Catholic high school where he also had been a student.

He would then move on to the Antelope Valley Union High School District, where he spent the next 21 years on large campuses of up to 4,000 students.

Iaccino started as a teacher and coached several sports before moving into administration as dean of students at Palmdale High School. He then worked at Antelope Valley High School for seven years in roles including vice principal, athletic director and assistant principal.

He then became principal of Desert Winds Continuation School, the largest continuation school in the state serving 1,800 students over three campuses. Iaccino spent four years there, and also opened the district’s first community schools for students that had been expelled.

Iaccino’s last year in the Antelope Valley Union High School District was as principal of Desert Pathways, a school for emotionally disturbed students. He oversaw their special education needs from 2005 to 2006.

In 2006, Iaccino arrived in Upper Lake, taking over as superintendent of the high school district.

Before his retirement last year, Iaccino helped lead the unification of the Upper Lake High School and Upper Lake Elementary School districts.

He believes the effort has worked out well, adding that in a few years people won’t remember that it hasn’t always been a unified district.

In the long run, he said, he believes unification will benefit the educational process for students.

Education, he said, has been his love. “I’ve enjoyed it immensely.”

Iaccino said education is important to his entire family, including his wife and three adult children. “We’re all in education one way or another.”

His wife, Kristy, works in food services for Upper Lake Unified. His son is a chiropractor in Boise who also teaches at the university level, one of his daughters teaches at Upper Lake Elementary and his other daughter lives and teaches in Montana.

Iaccino said he plans to hold a series of upcoming meet and greet events around the county. Dates and times will be announced.

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 second reading of an ordinance that will regulate the cultivation of commercial cannabis in Lake County will go before the Board of Supervisors this week.

The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 13, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

The meeting can be watched live on Channel 8 and online at https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx. Accompanying board documents, the agenda and archived board meeting videos also are available at that link.

In an item timed for 10 a.m., the board will hold a second reading of the ordinance that will amend Chapter 21, Article 27 of the Lake County Code to regulate the cultivation of cannabis.

“This ordinance regulates the cultivation of commercial cannabis. The regulation takes place through conditional use permits, depending on the type and size of cultivation proposed,” the staff report for the meeting explains.

“The ordinance includes provisions for development standards, site standards, compliance monitoring, reporting requirements, prohibited activities, protection of minors, commercial cannabis cultivation exclusion zones, and enforcement procedures,” according to the staff report.

The board approved the first reading of ordinance last week.

The full agenda follows.

CONSENT AGENDA

7.1: Approve reissuance of tax refund check from FY 2009/2010 to Martha Brooklan in the amount of $43.21.

7.2: Approve Amendment No. 1 to the agreement between the county of Lake and North American Mental Health Services for TelePsychiatric Services for an increase of $180,000 for a new contract maximum in the amount of $380,000 for Fiscal Year 2017-18 and authorize the board chair to sign the amendment.

7.3: Adopt resolution setting rate of pay for election officers for the April 10, 2018, Northshore Fire Protection District’s special election.

7.4: Adopt resolution to appropriate revenue for the Lake County Health Services Department in the amount of $100,000 in support of the Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA) for Fiscal Year 2017 Through 2018 and authorize the director of Health Services to sign the grant agreement.

7.5: Adopt resolution temporarily prohibiting parking and authorizing removal of vehicles and ordering the Department of Public Works to post signs.

7.6: Adopt resolution to support Proposition 69 and oppose the SB1 repeal.

7.7: (a) Waive the normal bidding requirements per Ordinance No. 2406, Purchasing Code 38.4 Cooperative Purchases; and (b) authorize the Public Works director/assistant purchasing agent to issue purchase orders for the purchase and reconditioning of two Kenworth T-470 two axle dump trucks for county road maintenance.

7.8: Adopt resolution approving the Lake County Sheriff's Office to apply for the state of California, Department of Parks and Recreation Off-Highway Vehicle Grant Funds.

7.9: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods; and (b) approve purchase of seven 2018 Chevy Tahoe police pursuit vehicles and one 2018 Dodge Power Wagon from Matt Mazzei Chevrolet in the Amount of $336,490.36 from the Sheriff/Pursuit Replacement Budget Unit 2217, Object Code 62.72.

7.10: Approve second amendment to lease agreement between Law Offices of Ewing and Associates for CWS staff parking, extending the term through June 30, 2019, for an annual lease rate of $3,600.

7.11: Approve grant of sewer easement across APN: 050-471-08 to the Lake County Sanitation District for the Anderson Springs Sewer System.

TIMED ITEMS

8.2, 9:15 a.m.: Consideration of continuing a proclamation of a local emergency due to the Sulphur fire incident.

8.3, 9:16 a.m.: (a) consideration of continuing a proclamation of a local emergency due to wildfire conditions, pertaining to the Rocky, Jerusalem and Valley fires; and (b) update on Valley Fire Debris Insurance Collection Project.

8.4, 9:17 a.m.: Consideration of continuing a proclamation of a local emergency due to Clayton fire.

8.5, 9:18 a.m.: Consideration of continuing a proclamation of a local emergency due to the atmospheric river storm.

8.6, 9:30 a.m.: (a) Report on 2015 Dislocated Worker Grant for Valley fire disaster; and (b) discussion on 2017 Dislocated Worker Grant for Sulphur fire disaster.

8.7, 10 a.m.: Second reading, consideration of ordinance for proposed amendments to Chapter 21, Article 27 of the Lake County Code to regulate the cultivation of cannabis.

UNTIMED ITEMS

9.2: Consideration of training on Brown Act compliance.

9.3: Consideration of board appointment to the Building Board of Appeals.

CLOSED SESSION

10.1: Employee disciplinary appeal (EDA 16-04): Pursuant to Gov. Code sec. 54957.

10.2: Public employee evaluations: Water Resources Director Phil Moy, Animal Care and Control Director Bill Davidson.

10.3: Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Gov. Code section 54956.9(d)(1): Bond v. County of Lake, et al.

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. – While Lakeport Unified School District students were snuggling under their covers on a cold and sometimes snowy morning on Friday, March 2, Lakeport Unified School District teachers were hard at work taking part in an in-service day.

It was one of six annual professional development days scheduled into their teaching calendar for the 2017-2018 school year.

The morning sessions of this professional development training were different from anything LUSD teachers experienced before.

These professional development courses were developed and implemented based on LUSD teachers’ needs, thanks to the hard work of the Lakeport Unified Instructional Leadership Corps, or ILC.

Formed at the beginning of the school year in the fall of 2017, the ILC team was developed by Jessica Libbee, Curriculum Director of LUSD.

The concept behind ILC is that professional development for the District’s teachers is developed and planned based on LUSD teacher input and needs.

The California Teachers Association, the National Board Resource Center at Stanford University, and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education launched the statewide ILC in 2014.

The idea is that Lakeport ILC will grow the ability of local educators to enrich instruction and assessment practices in their schools, increase student learning, and create professional learning experiences for other educators.

The Lakeport ILC team is comprised of Lakeport Elementary School Principal Aaron Carter; Ana Goff, ELS teacher, Lakeport Elementary School; Anna Cross, first grade teacher, Lakeport Elementary; Elisa Prather, science teacher, Terrace Middle School; and Kristi Tripp, English teacher, Clear Lake High School.

“The ILC team is proud to be serving our school district and to act as messengers and facilitators for building professional development that is teacher driven and determined,” said Tripp.

Prather added, “The Lakeport team has attended ILC training seminars and meets weekly to develop and plan professional development based on teacher input and needs.”

The March 2 professional development training included a selection of five different sessions which teachers could choose to attend:

1. Student Centered Learning;
2. Mindfulness in the Classroom;
3. Growth Mindset/Resilience;
4. Understanding our Student Population and Learning;
5. Conflict Resolution and De-escalation.

At the end of the each professional development session, the instructors set aside time so that the teachers could create a plan to implement something new they learned into their classrooms within the next few weeks.

LUSD teachers will meet again in April to determine how successful the implementation of those new techniques were.

“We hope to expand the work of the ILC team to school districts throughout the county so that we can build capacity and improve learning countywide,” said Prather.

Tripp is very enthusiastic about the ILC program. “I really think this program can make a huge difference for our students.”

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake Animal Control has several new dogs this week looking for their new homes.

The available dogs are Brewster, Kira, Poppy and Robbie.

To meet the animals, call Clearlake Animal Control at 707-994-8201 and speak to Marcia at Extension 103 or call Extension 118, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday, or leave a message at any other time.

‘Brewster’

“Brewster” is a 2-year-old shepherd mix who is a staff and volunteer favorite.

He’s very smart, knows how to sit and shake, and staff said he would be perfect with someone who works from home or could take him with them when they leave, as he suffers from some separation anxiety. He loves to sunbathe, get tucked in, is happy as long as he can see you and has been known to escape the kennels in order to find the nearest person.

Brewster is 45 pounds, and good with adults and older respectful children.

He’s a work in progress who appears to be tolerant of other dogs but he is still being evaluated.

‘Kira’

“Kira” is a 2-year-old female Husky mix, weighing about 45 pounds.

Shelter staff said a dominating and assertive female, which is true to her breed. She responds well to other dogs and made appropriate corrections when necessary. She would be stable with other stable dogs.

Kira is very smart, sweet and vocal, and shelter staff suggested she would do best with an experienced husky household.

‘Poppy’

“Poppy” is a calm, lovable year-and-a-half-old shepherd mix, weighing 40 pounds.

She is good with other dogs; shelter staff said she is a dominant female and has taken corrections appropriately when introduced to or playing with other dogs.

They said she also is a little insecure and needs some confidence building; practicing skills will make her a good solid dog.

She is recommended for a home without small livestock.

‘Robbie’

“Robbie” is a young and happy-go-lucky mix – possibly Labrador Retriever and Rottweiler.

Shelter staff said is he around a year and a half old and weighs 50 pounds.

He walks well on a leash, makes friends with other dogs, and is playful but not super active.

Robbie is vaccinated and will be neutered prior to adoption.

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.