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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Jesse James Spurling, 36, died on Friday, Sept. 30, 2016, at his Clearlake home, surrounded by family and loved ones.
Jesse was born on Nov. 5, 1979.
He attended school in Ukiah, but the first of his three bouts of cancer resulted in him leaving school when he was in his first year of high school, and his subsequent health issues prevented him from returning.
Later, he became a client at People Services, which is dedicated to providing services to people with disabilities and improving their quality of life.
He loved doing volunteer work for North Coast Opportunities and the local senior center, and participated in commodities distribution.
His favorite pastimes included camping and fishing, and other outdoors activities. Rodeos and “anything cowboy” also were favorites. He liked watching sports with his brothers and cooking or shopping with his sisters. Jesse also enjoyed dancing and listening to all kinds of music, but primarily country western.
He was a sweet, loving and generous person. When his sister Dawn was finishing her bachelor's degree, he encouraged her and made her stay focused on her studies by kindly asking her, “Is your homework done?” if he thought she might need a reminder. He attended her graduation this past May.
In June Jesse went with Dawn and several of their friends to Hawaii. It had been one of his longtime dreams to dance the hula with real hula girls. He got to do that and so much more on the trip. Several times during the trip he remarked about the it being a “dream come true.”
When he became ill for the last time, the staff at People Services worked with Jesse’s family to make another dream of his to come true, for him to graduate. He had never had the opportunity to graduate from anything because of his health, yet he had worked hard, always tried his best and continued to learn throughout his life.
Once they started planning, many others joined in, volunteering their time to make this a success. It was complete with cap, gown and tassel. Not only did he receive a diploma but he was also presented with a certificate of appreciation from North Coast Opportunities for all of his volunteer work in Lake County. Afterwards the Lake County band “Fogg” played while everyone celebrated.
Jesse loved life and never sorry for himself. Even when he was ill he was busy trying to take care of those around him. His family said he did not want others to be sad for him.
He was preceded in death by his mother, Linda Goodwin.
Survivors include sisters, Dawn Spurling of Clearlake and Sandie Pickens of Kelseyville; brothers Mike Spurling and Rich Spurling, both of Ukiah; aunt, Freda Spurling of Clearlake; nieces, Fawnell Dale, Emalee Pickens, Taylor Spurling and Heather Young; nephews Cody McLeod, Jake Spurling, Michael Spurling and Robert Spurling; and numerous cousins.
A celebration of life will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30, at the Clearlake Seventh-day Adventist Church, 14490 Uhl Ave. Requested attire is Hawaiian or something colorful, as he wouldn't want people to wear dark, sad colors.
A small reception with root beer floats and popcorn will be held after the service.
Donations in his memory may be made to People Services Inc. in Clearlake, 4195 Lakeshore Blvd., which did a great deal to help him enjoy a good quality of life.
Cards and messages of condolence for the family may be sent to PO Box 153, Clearlake, CA 95422.
Jerry A. Toler
1943-2016
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Jerry A. Toler left us unexpectedly on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016, in Clearlake.
Jerry was born in Morton, Wash., and came to Fortuna, Calif., in 1946. His family were loggers and logged a lot of Humboldt County.
Jerry graduated high school in Fortuna then served his country by joining the US Navy after graduation. He went to diesel school at Great Lakes after boot camp then nuclear power school in Vallejo.
He served three tours of duty in Vietnam in the “Brown Water Navy” and was honorably discharged in 1975 on a Friday then went to work for MINSY (Mare Island Naval Shipyard) on Monday servicing Navy submarines.
He moved to Lake County in 1980.
Jerry is survived by his loving wife of 39 years, Lois; a brother, Robert; children, John (Carol), May, Cathy and Denise; 14 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; niece, Jennifer; and nephew, Kevin.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Ed and Emma Toler; a grandson, Manuel; and granddaughter, Brandy.
Jerry loved drag racing and had his own car, on which he loved working on to make it go faster. He had it up to 125 miles per hour. He also loved to fish on the ocean, river, lake, boating and waterskiing when we were younger. He played music for years as a hobby and therapy.
He was a Life Member of the VFW Post 2337, Loyal Order of the Moose, Elks Lodge 2299 BPOE, NRA, NHRA.
Memorial services will be held at the VFW Post 2337 in Clearlake on Saturday, Oct. 29, beginning at 2 p.m. Military honors will be rendered by the US Navy and the Lake County Funeral Honors Team.
Another memorial service will be held at the Elks Lodge No. 652, 455 Herrick Ave., Eureka, CA on Sunday Nov. 6, beginning at 1 p.m. Military honors will be rendered by the Mad River Community Veterans Honor Guard.
Arrangements under the care of Jones & Lewis Clear Lake Memorial Chapel. Please share your loving memories of Jerry by signing his online guest book at www.jonesandlewis.com and www.legacy.com .
UKIAH, Calif. – Physicians, staff and community leaders left with a sense of excitement after a check presentation in mid-October that raised more than $130,000 in funds to go towards development of the new Family Medicine Residency Program scheduled to start in June 2018.
The program will help to attract family medicine doctors to the area to pursue graduate medical training at Ukiah Valley Medical Center, or UVMC.
The community based organization Family Medicine Education for Mendocino County, or FMEMC, presented a check in the amount of $45,000, raised by the Rural Health Rocks concert event featuring Michael McDonald earlier this year.
Robert Werra, MD, of the Mendo Lake Medical Foundation also announced they would be providing a check in the amount of $20,000 for a grand total of $65,000.
Gwen Matthews, president and chief executive officer of Ukiah Valley Medical Center, went on to announce that UVMC would match these amounts, bringing the total funds raised to $130,000.
“It’s refreshing to see so many partners coming together to help make the Family Residency Program in Ukiah a reality,” said Matthews.
She thanked FMEMC and Mendo Lake Medical Foundation for their dedication and support, “Deepest thanks to both organizations for their generous donations and grassroots work they’ve done for the future of health care in Mendocino County.”
The Family Medicine Residency Program is part of a long-term solution to bring more highly skilled family medicine doctors to the community.
Studies show that 60 to 80 percent of physicians who undergo training in a geographic area typically stay and practice medicine in the same town after their training is complete.
“We are thrilled to be able to offer a curriculum that will challenge residents to be thought leaders in a rapidly changing health care environment both in the clinic and hospital setting,” Matthews said.
For more information about the local Family Medicine Residency Program or the Family Medicine Education for Mendocino County organization, contact Daphne Macneil, president of FMEMC, at 707-463-2878 or email
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A big rig rollover Thursday morning knocked out power to part of Kelseyville and blocked a portion of Highway 29.
The rollover near Highway 29 and Kit's Corner occurred just after 10:30 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP said the truck went off Highway 29, rolled and hit a power pole, knocking the pole and its wires down.
The truck was reported to have a 53-foot trailer that was loaded and lying across the road.
CHP Officer Kory Reynolds said both lanes of the highway were blocked, and traffic was being diverted from Highway 175 to Red Hills Road or in the reverse direction to bypass the crash scene.
The CHP said the driver was transported from the scene for medical treatment. The extent of the driver's injuries were reported to be minor to moderate, according to reports from incident command.
Pacific Gas and Electric reported a small power outage in the area affecting several dozen customers at the same time as the crash, with power estimated to be restored at around 2 p.m. Tuesday.
On early Thursday afternoon officials were still working to clear the scene, with the roadway expected to reopen later in the afternoon.
Additional updates will be posted as they become available.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – After two decades in business, Ray's Food Place in Clearlake is due to be closed and the property sold by the end of this year.
The store's parent company, C&K Market of Medford, Ore., announced the decision to close the store.
C&K Market owns and operates 42 stores under the banners of Ray’s Food Place, Shop Smart and C&K Market across Oregon and Northern California. C&K Market also owns Bruno's Shop Smart in Lakeport.
The company said that, as the result of an evaluation of its stores this year, it decided to close the Clearlake store as well as one in Brookings, Ore.
While both stores are located on properties owned by C&K Market, the company said neither was performing profitably enough to support their rent.
In a “strategic move” that's meant to strengthen the company, C&K Market said it concluded that it was more financially prudent to close the stores and sell them than continue to operate them.
“It’s normal for a healthy, profitable grocery chain to close some stores and open others. We
actively evaluate each store’s performance on a regular basis. Our goal is to increase profitability of
every store, so we create a stronger organization,” said C&K Market’s President Karl Wissmann.
As a result, both the Clearlake and Brookings stores will be shuttered and sold by the end of 2016, C&K Market reported.
Dan Gustafson, C&K's advertising director, told Lake County News that, altogether, 36 employees will be impacted by the Clearlake store closure.
Employees will be offered the opportunity to transfer to other stores. For those who do not want to relocate, C&K said its human resources department will work with state workforce agencies to help them find new jobs.
At the same time, the company reported that it has agreed to sell its former headquarters building in
Brookings to a health care organization.
The company said it is continuing to to assess its locations, real estate holdings and potential new locations in order to assemble stores that fit its emphasis on integrating natural and organic items with traditional groceries. No additional closures are planned.
Negotiations are now under way between C&K Market and buyers for both locations, with those sales anticipated to be completed soon. Gustafson said he could not give more details on when the Clearlake store sale might close.
C&K Market built and opened the Clearlake store in 1995. Gustafson said the potential buyer – who he could not name at this time due to ongoing negotiations – intends to put the building to another use.
Gustafson said the Clearlake and Brookings closures were not related to the Chapter 11 bankruptcy from which the company emerged in 2014.
As for the market forces that led to the closure of Ray's, Dennis Darling, who along with wife Ruth has owned Foods Etc.-IGA on Lakeshore Drive for the last 18 years, pointed to some specific factors.
For one, “There's already too many grocery stores in Clearlake,” he said, noting it's a fact he's pointed to for a long time.
In addition to Foods, Etc. and Ray's Food Place, large grocery stores in the city of about 15,000 residents include Safeway, Grocery Outlet and Walmart.
And Darling suggested that the biggest factor may be Walmart, Ray's Food Place's immediate neighbor, right across the parking lot.
Darling calls the retail giant “the $450 billion gorilla,” adding, “They want everything.”
Walmart said last year that it planned to move forward with a major store remodel and expansion that would add nearly 40,000 square feet onto its store on Dam Road, which now is more than 100,000 square feet in size.
Much of that increased store footprint would be for Walmart's planned grocery department expansion.
Well ahead of that planned expansion, Darling said Walmart has continued to add products sold at Ray's, which has resulted in drops in business for the grocery store. “That's been going on for years,” he said. “They just finally gave up.”
Amazon also is emerging as another competitor for local stores. “They're a continuing threat to anyone who's got a box,” Darling said of storefronts.
However, he doesn't think Amazon is an issue in Clearlake's market, which is not as given to online purchasing as urban areas because of factors including demographics, income and transportation.
However, Walmart now is getting into “click and pick,” where people can shop online and pick up their purchases locally. “That's coming. It'll be in the cities way before it gets out here to the rural area,” said Darling, adding he thinks it will come to Clearlake eventually.
What happened to Ray's in Clearlake, said Darling, is an example of what happens when Walmart enters a small community. “They've done this in city after city.”
Darling said it's heartbreaking to see so many Ray's employees lose their jobs.
“It's a lot of people to be out of work just before Christmas because of the big box across the parking lot,” he said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery is leading teams in Lake County to remove harmful debris left behind by the 3,929-acre Clayton fire.
CalRecycle is the state's authority on recycling, waste reduction and product reuse.
The debris removal operation got under way on Oct. 17 and is expected to last 60 to 90 days, the agency said.
The fire burned about 300 structures, 200 of which were residences, according to local officials.
So far, 130 Clayton fire sites have registered for the program, and debris removal is completed on 12 of them, according to CalRecycle.
“This is the fourth major fire to hit Lake County since 2015 and the fourth time CalRecycle has been called upon to help clear these burn sites so residents can rebuild,” CalRecycle Director Scott Smithline said. “Our crews, together with state and local partner teams, are moving forward with the care and urgency these disaster cleanups require.”
California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services tasked CalRecycle with the design, implementation and oversight of the cleanup operations with assistance from Caltrans, the California Air Resources Board and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Before debris removal could begin, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control had to clear affected properties of household hazardous waste, such as batteries, used oil, and other hazardous materials.
CalRecycle crews are now following a six-step process that begins with site documentation, and continues with site testing and analysis, debris removal, soil grading, confirmation sampling and erosion control.
Site documentation includes measuring and recording foundation, structures, debris, utility infrastructure and property-specific hazards.
The crews then move into site testing and analysis, in which they obtain and evaluate soil samples to establish cleanup goals for the project, and identify and remove asbestos-containing materials.
Debris removal – including metals and concrete for recycling, ash and soil for disposal – then takes place.
Crews next move into soil grading, which involves scraping and removing the remaining contaminated soil and smoothing the ground surface before sampling and analyzing soil and comparing the results for cleanup goals.
The final step is erosion control, during which crews implement stormwater best management practices to control sediment runoff and promote vegetation growth.
Homeowners who want to take advantage of CalRecycle’s free debris removal program must return signed “right of entry” forms to Lake County Environmental Health.
The forms can be downloaded at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Environmental_Health/Clayton__Valley__Rocky_and_Jerusalem_Fires.htm or http://www.lakecountyrecovers.com/ .
Additionally, forms may be picked up at the agency's Lakeport office, 922 Bevins Court in Lakeport, or at the debris removal operations center that has been established at 16195 Main St. in Lower Lake. Residents may call 707-994-2195 for assistance.
CalRecycle said those who wish to conduct their own cleanup may do so, but should be aware of all safety and environmental standards and requirements. Lake County has guidelines available for residents who wish to pursue this option.
As it's getting to work in Lake County, CalRecycle is wrapping up wildfire recovery operations for the 48,019-acre Erskine Fire in Kern County.
In Kern County, 302 sites have been registered and debris removal had been completed on all but one of them as of Wednesday, CalRecycle said.
On Oct. 20, crews completed debris removal and are currently focused on site testing and erosion control implementation. Once complete, Kern County can approve new building permits on the properties, according to CalRecycle.