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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Former Congressman Pete McCloskey will be the keynote speaker at the Lake County Land Trust’s Annual Dinner on Saturday, Sept. 23.

The event will be held at Boatique Winery, 8255 Red Hills Road, Kelseyville.

McCloskey served in Congress from 1967 to 1983, and was one of the lead authors of many of today's major environmental laws, including the Endangered Species Act. He also was a co-chair of the bill that created the first Earth Day in 1970.

Representative McCloskey is widely credited with starting a green wave in American government.

From 1971 through 1974, landmark bipartisan environmental legislation was enacted: The Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, and protection for marine mammals, coastal zones and estuaries. During that time, President Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency.

Today, Rep. McCloskey continues his efforts as a strong supporter of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument established in 2015 to add protection for 331,000 acres of federal land in Napa, Yolo, Solano, Lake, Colusa, Glenn and Mendocino counties.

Earth Day now includes more than one billion people worldwide taking action to protect our shared environment.

McCloskey and his wife, Helen, live in the nearby Capay Valley. In accepting our invitation, Rep. McCloskey wrote: “Cache Creek flows through our farm. Keep Lake County green and golden and its waters pure, particularly Cache Creek's.”

“We are honored to have such an icon of the environmental movement agree to join us and support our more than 20 years of conservation work here in Lake County,” said Val Nixon, president of the Lake County Land Trust.

Tickets for the annual dinner are $85 per person and include dinner, wine, appetizers and dessert. Live music will be provided by Indie Groove.

During the social hour starting at 4 p.m., guests will also be able to bid on the silent auction featuring Lake County artwork and other interesting items.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.lakecountylandtrust.org or by sending a check to the Lake County Land Trust, PO Box 1017, Lakeport, CA 95453.

Current sponsors of the Land Trust’s Annual Dinner include the Law Office of Dennis A. Fordham; Katzoff & Riggs, LLP; and Homestake Mining Co, but more sponsorships are available.

For further information about tickets, sponsorships, or donating silent auction items, call the Lake County Land Trust at 707-262-0707 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Founded in 1994, the Lake County Land Trust is a conservation organization dedicated to protecting important land resources in Lake County. These resources include but are not limited to wetlands, wildlife habitats, parks, forests, watersheds, riparian stream corridors, lakeside areas, trails and other properties with unique scenic, cultural, agricultural, educational or historical value.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday gave unanimous approval to a power purchase agreement with Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District aimed at saving Lake County money.

Lake County Special Districts Administrator Jan Coppinger and Yolo Flood Assistant General Manager Max Stevenson presented the final version of the joint exercise of powers agreement to the board Tuesday.

Last month Coppinger and Stevenson had brought the idea behind the agreement to the board.

Yolo Flood, which holds the main water rights to Clear Lake, built Indian Valley Reservoir, which it operates along with a small hydroelectric power plant.

The plant generates more power than Yolo Flood can use, so it offered to sell the power to Lake County at a discounted rate.

The Board of Supervisors directed staff to work with Yolo Flood to come back with a proposal, which resulted in the document presented on Tuesday.

Coppinger explained that the power purchase will use a new net metering program from Pacific Gas and Electric – called the Renewable Energy Self-Generation Bill Credit Transfer – that allows government agencies to use generation of renewable power to offset power costs.

The guidelines allow for up to 50 meters to be identified and entered into the program, she said. When power isn’t used, it can be held over on a monthly basis.

A fee of $30 per month for each benefiting meter is required for tracking credits and usage, Coppinger said. There also is a one-time $500 fee to establish the account.

Coppinger said Yolo Flood has agreed to pay the one-time setup fee as well as half the monthly tracking fees, or $15 per meter.

She said the county will receive in the agreement a 7.5-percent discount over what PG&E costs.

Stevenson said Yolo Flood took data from Lake County power meters and ran it through the last 10 years of power production at the plant to calculate an average dollar benefit for the county under the contract.

He explained during the discussion that it comes out to an average benefit of $25,000 per year for Lake County and $90,000 for Yolo Flood. In some years, Lake County’s benefit is expected to top $100,000.

That high variability is due to some years having large amounts of water and others far less, he explained.

“We’re looking to have a pretty big year coming up,” Stevenson added, noting that Indian Valley Reservoir is still at 86 percent of its capacity.

On Tuesday, Indian Valley Reservoir had 260,304 acre feet of water in storage, according to Yolo Flood. That’s nearly four times the water it contained on the same date in 2016.

Supervisor Jim Steele asked about which of the county’s meters will be put into the program.

Stevenson said Coppinger gave Yolo Flood a list of 300 meters, and they chose the largest 50. “I wish we could do them all,” he added.

Coppinger said the county’s benefit will fluctuate based on factors like rain and how much power the plants can generate. But she said all participating meters will see a benefit.

Supervisor Tina Scott moved to approve the agreement, which the board approved 5-0.

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. – Universal garbage collection and possible upgrades to the city’s community center will be topics of discussion at this week’s Clearlake City Council meeting.

The council will meet beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 27, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.

On the agenda is the second reading of an ordinance that would establish universal garbage collection in the city.

The council approved the first reading on June 8, as Lake County News has reported.

City officials say the service will help with meeting the goal of making Clearlake cleaner and more attractive.

On Thursday the council also will get an update from staff about a possible collaboration between the city and Adventist Health to make upgrades to the city’s community center.

A second discussion item on the agenda also relates to the facility, and notes there has been interest from various entities – including Adventist Health and Rotary – in improving the center.

In other business, the council will hold three public hearings to confirm assessments for abatements on properties and a fourth to act on an abatement order for a property at 16224 42nd Avenue.

Also on Thursday, the council will receive the Highlands Senior Service Center’s annual report and consider canceling its regular Sept. 14 meeting.

On the meeting's consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are warrant registers; minutes of the meetings on June 15 and 22, and July 5 and 13; minutes of the June 14 Lake County Vector Control District Board meeting; and consideration of declaring a police canine as surplus and authorizing sale to an outgoing police officer, Resolution No. 2017-49.

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. – On Thursday, July 27, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services will initiate an “All-Call” with the CodeRED system.

CodeRED provides emergency notification services to the residents in Lake County.

The notifications are primarily done through landline, cell phone, text message and email.

"By utilizing the CodeRED emergency alerting system, we’re able to streamline and make the process much more efficient in the way we notify residents of actual emergencies including imminent threats, saving time and redirecting valuable resources elsewhere that we need to protect our community in times of crisis,” said Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin.

The agency encourages all residents and businesses to go to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Web site at www.lakesheriff.com and click on the CodeRED logo link on the Web page.

Residents and business owners are strongly encouraged to enter their contact information, including additional phone numbers, cell phone, text and email addresses. By doing this, it ensures the best chance of being contacted during an emergency or critical situation, the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office asks community members to share the information with friends. Those who don’t have Internet access can have a friend or family member add their contact information to the emergency database.

Community members also can call the Lake County Office of Emergency Services at 707-263-1813 for assistance.

Those enrolled in CodeRED are encouraged to save the following telephone numbers in their phone’s contact books to make sure they can differentiate future warnings received: Emergency Communications 866-419-5000 or General Notifications 855-969-4636.

Residents who have already enrolled in the CodeRED System will continue to receive voice calls, text messages and emails.

If you have changed cell phone, VOIP or email addresses since the last time you registered, you will need to update your registration by accessing the CodeRED system on the sheriff’s Web site at www.lakesheriff.com.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Four men were arrested and thousands of marijuana plants were eradicated on Monday during the service of search warrants by local authorities.

Detectives with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit, assisted by agents from the Bureau of Land Management and detectives from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, conducted a search warrant service on a drug trafficking organization based out of Santa Rosa, according to Sgt. Corey Paulich of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

After a four-month-long investigation, detectives were able to secure a search warrant for a residence in the 900 block of Todd Road in Santa Rosa and for any tents or dwellings around a large trespass cultivation site concealed in the native vegetation in the canyon off Hopland 175 near the Lake/Mendocino County line, Paulich said.

Paulich said that upon entering the cultivation site near the Lake/Mendocino county line, detectives were approached by a Hispanic male adult identified as Rogelio Perez Sanchez, 27, of Santa Rosa, armed with a semi-automatic pistol.

Sanchez did not comply with detective’s commands and attempted to flee. Paulich said a Bureau of Land Management K9 was used to apprehend Perez.

As detectives continued to walk through the cultivation site, three additional suspects were detained: Jose Ramirez Remigio, 27, of Santa Rosa; Gustavo Ramirez, 23, of Santa Rosa; and Rigoberto Gonzales Hernandez, 18, of Santa Rosa. Paulich said each suspect was in possession of a loaded semi-automatic pistol.

The cultivation site contained a total of approximately 3,000 mature marijuana plants which were eradicated and seized, Paulich said.

Paulich said the suspects had dammed up a natural spring in several locations and were illegally diverting the water approximately half a mile to the cultivation site. Paulich said several pesticides were located within the site and potential environmental damage and impact is being assessed.

At the Santa Rosa location detectives located items of indicia related to the suspects as well as processed marijuana, Paulich said.

Jose Ramirez, Gustavo Ramirez, and Rigoberto Hernandez were booked into the Lake County Jail on felony violations of cultivation of marijuana with water diversion present, armed while committing a felony and a misdemeanor of possession of marijuana for sale. All three had bail set at $15,000, Paulich said.

Paulich said Hernandez posted bail and was released while Gustavo and Jose Ramirez remain in custody.

Sanchez was transported to a local medical facility for injuries sustained by the BLM K9 during his apprehension. He was later released from custody to allow for medical treatment, Paulich said.

The sheriff’s office will be forwarding a report to the District Attorney’s Office requesting charges be filed against Sanchez, according to Paulich.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – As part of its response to California’s tree mortality crisis, Pacific Gas and Electric Company will conduct aerial patrols in Mendocino and Lake counties on Wednesday, July 26, to identify dead trees that could pose a wildfire or other public safety risk.

“Even with the abundant rain this winter, five years of drought in California have caused millions of trees to die or become structurally compromised. That’s why we are taking extraordinary measures to help keep the communities we serve safe,” said Kamran Rasheed, manager, PG&E vegetation management.

Every year, PG&E patrols and inspects all of its overhead electric lines. Since the tree mortality crisis began, the energy company has been inspecting trees along power lines in high fire-danger areas a second time, six months after its annual patrol because weakened trees can die quickly.

Last year, PG&E conducted second patrols on 68,000 miles of power line, and in 2017, expects to patrol 73,000 miles of line a second time. The company will patrol 10,750 of those miles by helicopter.

Depending on clear weather conditions, the helicopter will leave the Ukiah Municipal Airport and fly between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Foresters will inspect trees along Highway 1 over the towns of Potter Valley, Point Arena and Manchester and the areas of the Highlands, Flumeville and Stornetta and then along Highways 29 and 53 over the towns of Lower Lake, Clearlake and Hidden Valley Lake.

PG&E is using a contract helicopter service to fly foresters over the area to inspect trees.

Patrolling by air allows the company to cover many miles quickly and efficiently, and reduces impacts on the ground.

Residents are advised that the helicopter will fly low – about 200 to 300 feet – along distribution power lines, and higher in areas where livestock are present.

If patrols identify dead trees, PG&E will send inspectors on foot to verify a tree is dead, and then contact the home or land owner to schedule removal.