News

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Margaret Louellan Brown passed away in Clearlake, Calif., on Monday, Nov. 21, 2016.

Age 68, Margaret was a native of Vallejo and lived in Lake County for 33 years. She was a teacher at Yuba College in Clearlake for 25 years.

Margaret is survived by her daughter, Brianna L. Cook of Lower Lake; grandson, Jesse P. Erckenbrack of Lower Lake; brothers James C. Brown III (Mary) of Whittier and George Brown (Debbie) of Oroville, and a sister Louise C. Brown of Redding.

Friends and family are warmly invited to attend funeral services on Saturday, Dec. 3, beginning at noon at Jones & Lewis Clearlake Memorial Chapel in Lower Lake.

Arrangements under the care of Jones & Lewis Clear Lake Memorial Chapel. Please share your loving memories of Margaret by signing her online guestbook at www.jonesandlewis.com and www.legacy.com .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Delta Iota Tau is continuing its efforts to raise funds for local scholarships and worthy causes through the sale of See's Candy.

The group sells the candy regularly at North Lake Pharmacy in order to raise funds for its scholarship fund and causes including Meals on Wheels, Hospice Services of Lake County, the Allegro Scholarship Fund and more.

Starting on Dec. 12, they also will be selling the candy at Bruno's Shop Smart on Lakeport Boulevard.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Parks and Recreation Committee's regular meeting on Thursday, Dec. 1, has been canceled.

City officials said the committee is next scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2, at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The 1951 Walt Disney animated classic, “Alice in Wonderland,” screens at the Soper Reese Theatre in Lakeport on Tuesday, Dec. 13, at 1 and 6 p.m.

Follow Alice down the rabbit hole and into a world full of odd and unforgettable characters.

With superb music and production design, this adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s novel features the voices of Kathryn Beaumont as Alice, Sterling Holloway as the Cheshire Cat, Verna Felton as the Queen of Hearts and Ed Wynn as the Mad Hatter. The film was nominated for an Oscar for best musical score.

The movie is sponsored by Michael Lorenzini and Michael Adams and is rated G, with run time of one hour 15 minutes.

Entry to the film is by donation.

The Soper Reese Theatre is located at 275 S. Main St., Lakeport, 707-263-0577, www.soperreesetheatre.com .

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson’s (CA-5) bipartisan legislation, the Small Business Healthcare Relief Act, passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday as a part of a larger bill, the 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 34), which combined a number of healthcare provisions.
 
Thompson’s legislation would allow small employers to continue to offer Health Reimbursement Arrangements, or HRAs, as a benefit for their workforce.

Employees can use the account to pay insurance premiums or pay for qualified health expenses. The law gives small employers who are not obligated to offer health insurance a way to help employees purchase a quality, affordable health insurance plan that fits their individual budget and healthcare needs.

The bill changes Treasury Department rules limiting the use of HRAs for small businesses.
 
Thompson’s legislation was included in the bill text of the 21st Century Cures Act, a package of bipartisan, bicameral health provisions.

The bills included in the package will improve our mental health system, provide funding for opioid abuse programs and strengthen the Medicare program for millions of beneficiaries.

Further, the legislation will provide more than $4 billion in additional funding to the National Institutes of Health to support Vice President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot and other initiatives.

Finally, the bill streamlines the Food and Drug Administration’s review of medical products to bring much-needed treatment to patients faster, while protecting the high standards of the drug and device approval processes.
 
“By allowing small business owners to offer the support of an HRA, my bill will help small business owners who want to do right by their employees and offer health benefits despite not have the capacity to provide employer-sponsored coverage,” said Thompson. “My Small Business Healthcare Relief Act will make a big difference for hard-working folks across our country, and I’m proud to see my legislation included in the broader 21st Century Cures Act, which will help us make significant progress when it comes to keeping Americans healthy, and keeping America on the forefront of medical innovation.”
 
“As a key driver of efforts to include HRAs in some type of year-end legislation, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) was thrilled to see it added to the 21st Century Cures Act. We applaud Representatives Thompson and Boustany for championing this cause and pushing to get the bill approved,” said NAHB Chairman Ed Brady, a home builder and developer from Bloomington, Ill. “This is a critical step in allowing small business owners to provide health care for their employees and protect employers against outrageous fines.”
 
On Sept. 13, 2013, the Department of Treasury issued guidance disallowing businesses from using HRA’s as a tax-free means to reimburse employees, stating these arrangements were disqualified under Affordable Care Act’s annual dollar cap.

The Small Business Healthcare Relief Act restores flexibility and choice into the marketplace by:
• Ensuring that small businesses are allowed to use pre-tax dollars to give employees a defined contribution.
• Allowing employees to use these funds as an HRA to purchase health coverage on the individual market, as well as for qualified out-of-pocket medical expenses.
• Protecting small business employers from being unnecessarily financially penalized for providing this option to employees.
 
The legislation is budget-neutral, meaning it won’t add a single dollar to our deficit. The bill is supported by the United States Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB), the National Association for the Self-Employed, and the Coalition for Affordable Healthcare (CAHC).
 
The Small Business Healthcare Relief Act previously passed the House of Representatives in June as H.R. 5477.
 
The 21st Century Cures Act now goes to the Senate for consideration and passage.

Thompson represents California’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties. He is a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee and the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, and chairs the bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Wine Caucus.

WASHINGTON, DC – On Wednesday, Congressman John Garamendi, a core conferee for the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, signed the act's conference report to protect nearly 10,000 current and former California National Guardsmen from attempts by the Department of Defense to reclaim the bonuses and incentives they were paid upon enlisting or reenlisting during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The report must now be adopted by both chambers of Congress before being presented to President Obama for his signature.
 
Under this provision, guardsmen’s debts will be waived and any money they’ve already paid back will be returned to them unless the department can definitively prove that a service member fraudulently took an incentive they knew they were not eligible for.

This language will also ensure that the Department of Defense conducts its previously announced review process in a manner that is as fair as possible to the affected service members, and legally binds the department to meeting their stated goal of completing their reviews by July 30, 2017.

The Department also will provide any possible assistance to repair guardsmen’s credit if necessary.
 
“I’m very pleased that a permanent legislative fix is one step closer to President Obama’s desk, but our job isn’t done yet,” said Garamendi (D-Fairfield, Yuba City, Davis, CA)s. “As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I will be keeping close watch to make sure that the Department of Defense lives up to these commitments to our veterans.”

Garamendi also is the author of the National Guard Pay Integrity Act, a standalone piece of legislation that would remove any repayment obligation for the Guardsmen who accepted their bonuses and incentives in good faith.