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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Storm conditions have caused more road closures and continued others around Lake County and the region.
With Clear Lake topping 10 feet Rumsey on Monday, numerous streets around Lakeport remained closed, and a mandatory evacuation order was issued for four areas – three mobile home parks and the area along Esplanade Street.
On Monday, the Lake County Department of Public Works began installing a temporary Bailey bridge on New Long Valley Road, which is expected to remain closed for at least another day. The roadwork was necessitated due to landslides and the potential for road failure.
Elsewhere around the county, especially along the lakeshore and near creeks, the high water kept roads closed.
Scotts Valley Road at Highway 20 and at Hendricks Road has once again been impacted by flooding, resulting in a closure.
The full closure list follows. Information was compiled from reports from Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol, the Clearlake Police Department, Lake County Department of Public Works, Lakeport Police Department and the Napa County Sheriff’s Office.
In the map above, areas marked with the flooding symbol and the red triangle indicate closures; the rockslide icon indicates those areas where there are slides but which remain open.
CLEARLAKE
Santa Clara Avenue: Closed between Colusa and Fresno for an undetermined time due to a tree down.
Lakeshore Drive: Debris is on the roadway on Lakeshore Drive between Country Club Drive and the goose neck.
CLEARLAKE OAKS
Twin Valley Road: Closed due to mudslide
New Long Valley Road: Closed to all traffic due to instillation of a bailey bridge at the slide location.
Old Long Valley Road: Open with slide activity.
COBB
Maple Shadows: Closed at the south end from Highway 175 to Parnassus due to culvert failure.
Socrates Mine Road: Road slip out at MPM 3.8. Down to one lane in this area.
KELSEYVILLE
Argonaut Road: Closed between Thomas Drive and Big Valley Road due to flooding.
Bell Hill Road: Closed at Adobe Creek low water crossing.
Clark Drive: Closed to through traffic from Gaddy Lane to Soda Bay Road due to flooding.
Park Drive: Closed to through traffic due to flooding.
LAKEPORT (CITY)
– Esplanade Street.
– K Street.
– Konocti Avenue.
– Lupoyoma Avenue.
– Helena Avenue.
– Lily Cove Avenue.
– Oak Knoll Avenue.
– E Street.
– Martin Street from N. Forbes Street to Russell Street.
Giselman Street at Lakeshore Boulevard: Closed due to flooding. A detour has been set up: Northbound traffic will use Green Street to Sayer Street to Giselman Street, southbound traffic will use Giselman Street to Sayer Street to Green Street.
LAKEPORT
Hill Road: Closed between Sutter Lakeside Hospital entrance and Lakeshore Boulevard due to mudslides across the roadway.
Lakeshore Boulevard: Closed from Park Way to Crystal Lake Way due to flooding.
Lakeshore Boulevard: Closed from Park Way to 2,500 feet north due to flooding and a power pole leaning into the roadway.
Reeves Lane: Closed at Land’s End due to flooding.
Scotts Valley Road: Closed at Hendricks Drive due to flooding.
LOWER LAKE
Morgan Valley Road: Closed at the Lake/Napa line due to numerous trees and mud slides on the Napa County side.
NICE
Lakeshore Boulevard: Closed from Hammond Avenue to Stokes Avenue due to flooding.
Nice-Lucerne Cutoff: Open with flooding.
Stokes Avenue: Open with flooding
UPPER LAKE
Bartlett Springs Road: Closed at MPM 18.0 due to mudslide.
Elk Mountain Road: Roadway closed at MPM 29.6 due to road washout. No estimate of when road will be reopened.
Scotts Valley Road at Highway 20: Closed due to flooding.
COLUSA COUNTY
Highway 20: One-way controlled traffic from 5.5 miles east of the junction of Highway 16 to “E” Street in Williams due to flooding. Closed from Husted Road to Lone Star Road in Williams due to flooding.
NAPA COUNTY
Mt. Veeder Road: The 3000 block of Mt. Veeder Road is closed due to downed trees and power lines.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – California has more children in poverty than any other state in the nation, with nearly one in four kids going hungry each day.
In fact, there are more children in poverty here in the Golden State now than there were prior to the recession.
State Sen. Mike McGuire, whose district includes Lake County, believes the time is right for California to broaden the reach of school meals.
Well-nourished students can learn, grow, and achieve at their fullest potential. Yet, each year, millions of low-income California children who are eligible to receive free or reduced-price school meals miss out on the academic and health benefits of school meals, McGuire’s office reported.
Two years ago, McGuire made significant progress by cutting through bureaucratic red tape by enrolling more than 326,000 students on free lunches.
The process was made easier by streamlining the free lunch system and ensuring students who were on CalFresh were also being enrolled in the free lunch program at their school.
This was a 30-percent increase from the year before and was one of the largest enrollment increases the Golden State has seen in decades.
On Monday, McGuire reported that he took the next step in the effort by introducing SB 138, the "Feed the Kids Act," a bill aimed at addressing childhood hunger by removing another layer of bureaucratic red tape from the state school meal program enrollment process and by serving all students in very high poverty schools for free.
"California is the sixth largest economy in the world and we produce more food than any other state in America. We have to step up and declare war on childhood poverty and ensure California's kids get the resources they need to thrive," McGuire said. "When a child goes to school hungry, their ability to learn, grow and thrive is compromised. School meals are extremely effective at fighting the devastating effects of child hunger and improving outcomes in our public schools."
McGuire said SB 138 will greatly improve the current certification process and ensure that all school districts utilize Medi-Cal data to seamlessly enroll income-eligible students in free and reduced-price school meals.
Currently, most districts do not use Medi-Cal data to automatically enroll students. This bill will automatically enroll income-eligible students who are on Medi-Cal onto the free and reduced lunch program at their school, therefore increasing the number of kids receiving free and reduced lunch.
The California Department of Education believes an additional 500,000 elementary, middle school and high school students would start receiving school meals under this new and efficient certification process.
This bill is modeled after a successful pilot program where 14 school districts enrolled low-income students who receive Medi-Cal into a free school meal statewide.
Building upon these successful local programs, SB 138 would automatically enroll eligible Medi-Cal students into reduced priced meals as a way to address hunger among the working poor.
In addition, the bill would allow for very high poverty schools to serve meals to all students for free by using federal options to do so.
“Child hunger is a widespread, urgent and shameful problem that cannot wait. SB 138 is a common sense step to ensure more children get school meals, which protect them from the pains of an empty stomach and the devastating impacts of hunger on children’s health and school success,” said Michele Stillwell-Parvensky, senior policy and government affairs manager at Children’s Defense Fund-California.
SB 138 would more effectively identify low-income students and significantly increase access to school meals.
Participating districts in the pilot program saw an increase of more than 60,000 students enrolled in their free and reduced lunch programs, which brought in over $33 million in additional federal meal reimbursements.
If this bill passes, there are 41 additional schools on the North Coast that would likely qualify for a 100 percent federal reimbursement for school meals for all of their students.
These include 13 small schools in Sonoma County, nine in Humboldt County, four in Marin County, eight in Lake County, two in Trinity County, one in Del Norte County and four in Mendocino County.
McGuire is proud to be working with Senators Mitchell, Beall, Portantino and Hertzberg to get the bill passed.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The first offering of commemorative bricks to be placed in the Memorial Grove at the Westside Community Park will come to an end on Feb. 28.
Currently, 59 bricks have been purchased by individuals and community organizations according to Westside Community Park Committee Financial Officer, Carol Thorn.
The commemorative bricks will be the newest addition to the park’s Memorial Grove, located at the entrance to the Jane Barnes Field.
The grove currently consists of 12 oak trees, a beautiful tile mosaic sign honoring those represented by the trees, created by local artist Chris King, and a bench donated by the Clear Lake Trowel & Trellis Club.
The 4-inch by 8-inch red bricks can be etched with up to three lines of text in remembrance or recognition of an individual or group chosen by the purchaser.
The cost is $100 per brick.
Purchasers will receive a receipt for the tax-deductible portion of their contribution in the amount of $82.50.
The Westside Community Park Committee is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation.
According to Thorn, bricks can be ordered through the end of February in one of two ways. Information and an order form are available on the WCPC website at www.westsidecommunitypark.org .
Orders also can be placed by contacting Westside Community Park Committee Chair Dennis Rollins at 707-349-0969 or by email at
“This is one way the community can assist with landscaping the park while providing a lasting remembrance of someone or something special,” Thorn said.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Feb. 9, 100+ Women Strong in Lake County had its first meeting at Rancho De La Fuente in Lakeport.
The group was formed as a community effort to fundraise for Lake County based nonprofit organizations.
The group consists of women in Lake County who commit to donate $400 per year to different charities in our community.
The group meets once every three months and three local charitable organizations are invited to give brief presentations in hopes of being selected by 100+ Women Strong.
One of the three charities is selected by a majority vote of the group after the presentation and receives $100 from each and every member of 100+ Women Strong.
The goal of the group is to be able to raise $10,000 each quarter for local charities.
This organization is part of a worldwide coalition of similar organizations which includes over 400 chapters worldwide.
Crystal Martin, one of the group’s founders, explained, “100+ Women Strong in Lake County is a group of local women who are dedicated to supporting our community. We come from all walks of life and different financial backgrounds. As individuals, we found that it is difficult to make a significant difference, but as a group we have the ability to contribute to the growth of our community and make an impact in ways that we never thought possible.”
The Feb. 9 event far exceeded the expectations of the 100+ Women Strong group. Rainy weather couldn’t keep more than 100 women from gathering at the Rancho De La Fuente event center, the use of which was donated by owners Frank Perez and Rosana Guillermo.
Three charities presented at the event and answered questions from the group.
The first charity was Orphan Dog. Orphan Dog’s mission is to spay and neuter animals in Lake County.
The second charity was Lake Family Resource Center, which offers services for victims of domestic violence and other crimes as well as various family services in Lake County.
The third charity was Operation Tango Mike which purchases and ships care packages to armed service members serving our country overseas.
After hearing the presentations, the group selected Operation Tango Mike as its first recipient.
On Feb. 16 at the Operation Tango Mike packing party held at Umpqua Bank in Lakeport, 100+ Women Strong presented checks to Ginny Craven, the founder of Operation Tango Mike, totaling $14,600.
The group offered a special thank you to Frank Perez and Rosana Guillermo for donating the beautiful venue and to their son-in-law Randy Feliciano of Santini Fine Wines for the generous wine donation.
This was the first of many 100+ Women Strong events to held throughout Lake County.
Women who are interested in joining this effort can find more information at www.100womenstronginlakecounty.com .
This story has been updated with the change in magnitude, from 4.1 to 4.2.
THE GEYSERS, Calif. – A 4.2-magnitude earthquake was reported near The Geysers geothermal steamfield late Monday afternoon.
The quake occurred at 4:57 p.m., according to the United States Geological Survey.
The survey said the quake’s epicenter was located 1.8 miles northeast of The Geysers, on the Lake County side of the steamfield, at a depth of just over half a mile.
As of 5:45 p.m., the US Geological Survey reported receiving 48 shake reports from 20 zip codes.
Those reports came from communities around Lake County – Clearlake, Hidden Valley Lake, Kelseyville, Lakeport, Lower Lake and Middletown – as well as from Sonoma and Napa counties, the Bay Area and as far away as Canby, located in Modoc County, near the Oregon border.
Besides the 4.1-magnitude quake late Monday afternoon, the US Geological Survey said there were several smaller quakes – the largest measuring magnitude 2.2 – throughout the day.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – As Clear Lake hits a 19-year high, local businesses report continuing to supply sandbags and sand for residents who need them.
Clear Lake’s elevation reached 10.08 feet Rumsey Monday afternoon, with the Cache Creek Dam’s releases increasing to 5,700 cubic feet per second, according to the United States Geological Survey.
As concerns for flooding increase, businesses around the county reported Monday afternoon on their stock of sandbags and sand.
The list below, compiled by Lake County News, includes locations where sand, sandbags or both are available for purchase. In some cases, where they are out of sandbags, we have included information on when more are due to arrive.
The list is being updated as new information is received. If we've missed something, email us at
LAKE COUNTY SANDBAG REPORT
Information updated as of 4 p.m. Monday, Feb. 20.
CLEARLAKE
City of Clearlake Corporation Yard
Located next to Pierce Field airport; Access off of Old Highway 53, between storage and Valley Glass.
Limited number of sand and sandbags available.
Four Corners Builders Supply
14975 Olympic Drive
Telephone: 707-994-6277
Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday
Currently sold out of bags with more coming in Wednesday.
Sandbags, empty, made of woven plastic – $0.89 each. Bagged sand available but store advises it’s not ideal for filling bags.
Mendo Mill, Clearlake
5255 Old Highway 53
Telephone: 707-994-1014
Hours: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
Sandbags, empty – $0.79 each or $11.99 for a pack of 25.
Sand available in 70-pound bags for $4.99 each.
Currently has 66 filled bags, 34 25 packs of empty bags,
CLEARLAKE OAKS
Clearlake Lava
14572 E. Highway 20
Telephone: 707-998-1115
Hours: 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday
Sand only; cost is $14/yard
KELSEYVILLE
Kelseyville Lumber
3555 N. Main St.
Telephone: 707-279-4297
Hours: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
Both sand and sandbags available.
Currently has 668 filled bags filled sandbags in stock. Filled sandbags are $2.98 each. Fill-your-own sandbags are $1.49 each, with sand also available at the store. Empty sandbags are $0.49 each.
LAKEPORT
Mendo Mill, Lakeport
2465 S. Main St.
Telephone: 707-263-8400
Hours: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
Sandbags, empty, white vinyl – $0.67 each; empty burlap bags – $1.69 each. Currently only has sandblasting sand available.
Rainbow Agricultural Services
1975 Argonaut Road, Lakeport
Telephone: 707-279-0550
Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday
Sandbags, empty, white plastic – $0.39 each.
No sand.
RB Peters
78 Soda Bay Road
Telephone: 707-263-3678
Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to noon Saturday.
Sand only: $35/yard or $1/five-gallon bucket
MIDDLETOWN
Hardesters
21088 Calistoga St.
Telephone: 707-987-2325
Hours: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Sunday
Sandbags, empty – $0.55 per bag or $13.99 for a bundle of 25. Free bulk sand as well as filled and empty bags for sale.
NICE
Lake Builders Supply
3694 E. Highway 20
Telephone: 707-274-6607
Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Out of sandbags; no estimate of when more will be available.