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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Saturday, Aug. 20, the Lake County Child Care Planning Council will launch the official Quality Rating Improvement System.
The Quality Rating and Improvement System, or QRIS, is a framework that utilizes tools and resources to access and then improve the quality of early learning programs, while also disseminating information about the level of quality to consumers.
A QRIS is based on a set of standards that describe the requirements center- and home-based programs must meet to qualify for a QRIS rating, the higher the quality the higher the rating.
A QRIS can assist early learning educators/providers with increased training, support and compensation; provide families information on the type of learning and care their young children receive; and inform policymakers and the public about the effectiveness of programs.
Currently 25 states have a statewide QRIS.
Center based and family child care homes that participate and climb the tiers of the rating matrix will be compensated generously from the QRIS Block Grant that was awarded in the amount of $166,000 a year for 3 years and the First5Impact grant that provides over $800,000 over the period of five years.
Sites can earn up to $5,000 for reaching Tier 5. Any site who participates will also be given a coach to help them reach and meet their goals.
Burns Valley State Preschool and The Learning House were the first of two sites to participate last year.
Along with that group, currently Woodland Community College's Lake County Campus (formally Yuba Community College) Child Development program, Darcie’s Little Rascals and the Hillcrest House are working on their six-month growth plans to reach their tiers.
Sites that join and sign up will receive a $100 sign up incentive.
“The goal here is to increase the quality in early learning and child development,” said Lake County Child Care Planning Council Coordinator, Colleen Campbell. “Not only here in Lake County but throughout the US as well. These grants create incentives for sites and individuals to help raise the bar in early care and education.”
In 2020 the Lake County Child Care Planning Council must meet a minimum of 38 sites in the QRIS to stay within their goals originally created when the grant was written.
The Lake County Child Care Planning Council has been very successful over the past few years with grant incentive and stipend programs.
This past July the council successfully completed a five-year Steps to Quality program where participants were rewarded with stipends of up to $2,100 for completing a series of hours in child development, and California Department of Education set standards.
Over the course of five years a total of $172,000 was given out.
Anyone who is interested in QRIS is encouraged to attend the forum on Aug. 20.
Session times are 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m.
The forum will be held in the Kesey Room at the Lake County Office of Education, located at 1152 S. Main St. in Lakeport.
If you are a family child care home provider, private or public preschool employee, any employee or other person involved in the early child education field you are highly encouraged to attend. Do not miss this great opportunity.
MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. – The United States Forest Service is advising visitors to the Mendocino National Forest that it is currently experiencing problems with the water system at Plaskett Lake on the Grindstone Ranger District.
While efforts are being made to remedy the situation, the water system will be off during the week days and on over the weekend.
The water is only lasting about a day and a half when turned on, so forest visitors should come prepared.
A notice will be posted on the forest Web site when the problems have been resolved.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Firefighters are working to fully control a wildland fire burning in neighboring Napa County.
The Knoxville fire was reported just after 6 p.m. Tuesday on Berryessa-Knoxville Road, according to Cal Fire.
The incident began as firefighters were battling two fires in Lake County near Lower Lake. Some resources from the Lake County fires later were diverted to the Napa County incident, according to radio reports.
By late Tuesday night, the Knoxville fire had burned 39 acres and was 36-percent contained, Cal Fire reported.
Cal Fire said no structures have been damaged or destroyed.
Berryessa-Knoxville Road remained closed overnight at the East Side Access, officials said.
Cal Fire said 15 engine companies, four volunteer companies, four water tenders, four fire crews, two bulldozers and 150 personnel, including five overhead or command personnel, were committed to the fire.
Fire crews were to stay on the scene through the night, working to increase containment, according to Cal Fire.
The agency said the fire's cause remains under investigation.
In addition to Cal Fire, the Napa County Fire Department and the Napa County Sheriff's Office were involved with the response, officials said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – A powerful earthquake shook Lake County Tuesday night, and was followed a short time later by sizable aftershocks.
A preliminary report from the US Geological Survey said the quake, which occurred at 7:57 p.m., measured 5.1 on the Richter scale.
Its epicenter was located 11 miles north northeast of Upper Lake, 11 miles southeast of Lake Pillsbury, 26 miles north northwest of Clearlake and 24 miles east northeast of Ukiah, at a depth of 11 miles, the US Geological Survey reported.
Residents from around Lake County reported feeling the quake.
Some reported that it rolled for about 15 seconds. For others, it felt like a strong jolt, followed by a rolling motion and a second, stronger shake.
As of 8:45 p.m., the US Geological Survey reported receiving more than 700 shake reports from 62 zip codes, with those numbers continuing to climb.
Reports came in from all around Lake County, and from the neighboring counties of Mendocino, Glenn, Colusa and Sonoma. Other reports came from as far away as Chico, Morgan Hill, Vacaville, West Sacramento and San Francisco, with still more reports being submitted.
For those who want to file a shake report, go to http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc72672610#shakemap and click on “Felt Report” in the lefthand column.
The magnitude 5.1 quake is one of the largest to hit Lake County over the last decade, based on a review of earthquake records.
Some residents reported on Lake County News' Facebook page that it was the strongest quake they had felt in the county in decades, with furniture moving, houses creaking and pool water shaking.
One community member said it was the worst she had experienced in more than 40 years of living in Lake County.
That main quake was followed by a series of aftershocks that began about nine minutes later, including a 2.7-magnitude quake northeast of Upper Lake at 8:08 p.m. and a 3.0 quake north northeast of Upper Lake at 8:24 p.m., based on US Geological Survey records.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Firefighters are continuing to work fires in and around the Lower Lake area that began early Tuesday evening.
The main incident, the Kugelman fire, was dispatched as a grass fire in the 15000 block of Kugelman Street just after 5:15 p.m.
A short time later another fire was reported on Seigler Canyon Road, about a mile from Highway 29.
Reports from the scene indicated that multiple structures were threatened by the blazes, with mutual aid requested from fire agencies around the lake and from Mendocino County.
Less than 10 minutes after dispatch, Lake County Fire Protection District Chief Willie Sapeta was calling for evacuations due to the Kugelman incident.
He also asked to have Highway 53 closed at Dam Road and Jesse. Later, the California Highway Patrol reported that Seigler Canyon and Perini roads were closed.
Meanwhile, the first units arriving on scene at the fire on Seigler Canyon reported that there was one structure fully involved and five acres of vegetation on fire, and power lines down. That fire was on both sides of Seigler Canyon Road, with the fire on the west side burning up a slope and threatening multiple structures.
Lake County Social Services on Anderson Marsh Parkway was reported to be evacuating shortly after the Kugelman fire was reported, as the building was in immediate threat.
At about 5:30 p.m., another fire was reported in the area of Highway 29 and Diener Road near a Pacific Gas and Electric facility, according to radio reports. However, units responding to the area said they didn't find any fire there.
A spot fire jumped Lake Street shortly before 6 p.m., with Sapeta calling for immediate evacuations of Bryant Road and Lake Street.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office subsequently ordered evacuations in the Bonham and Big Bear Road areas shortly after 6 p.m.
Officials also activated the Lake Evacuation and Animal Protection group under Lake County Animal Care and Control.
Cal Fire aircraft and engines were coming from inside and outside of Lake County to help battle the fires, according to radio reports.
Just before 7 p.m. the sheriff's office reported that parents of children at Lower Lake High and Lower Lake Elementary School could respond to pick up their children. Parents were instructed to travel to the area of Main Street to Adams Street to pick up children in the school parking lots.
Reports from the scene just before 7:30 p.m. stated that the Kugelman incident was 45 acres and 20-percent contained, based on measurements taken from Cal Fire air attack. A size estimate was not given at that time for the other fire.
At about the same time, the CHP said that Highway 53 was open to one-way traffic.
Also at 7:30 p.m., officials released Lake Evacuation and Animal Protection from the scene.
Incident command also reported at around 7:45 p.m. that officials were repopulating some specific areas in Lower Lake, while the Seigler Canyon fire area was remaining evacuated.
Some Cal Fire units were leaving the Lower Lake incidents to respond to another wildland fire in Napa County, according to radio reports.
Additional information will be posted as it becomes available.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A small wildland fire temporarily closed a portion of Highway 16 early Tuesday morning.
The Cowboy fire was first reported on Highway 16 near the junction with Highway 20 in Colusa County and near Cowboy Camp trailhead at approximately 11:59 p.m. Monday, according to radio reports.
The fire was estimated to be about five acres in size and burning uphill just before 12:30 a.m., reports from the scene indicated.
At that point incident command requested that Caltrans respond to close a portion of Highway 16 near the junction with Highway 20.
Shortly before 2 a.m. the fire's forward progress was stopped by firefighters, with significant work needed to put in control lines around the fire, incident command reported.
One lane of traffic was ready to be reopened at around 3 a.m., according to radio reports.
Shortly before 4 a.m. the fire was reported to be contained at just over six acres, according to incident command.
Radio reports indicated that Cal Fire and local fire crews responded from Colusa, Lake and Yolo counties.
Incident command estimated that resources could be committed to the fire into Tuesday afternoon.
Email Elizabeth Larson at