How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
SACRAMENTO – Director Tanya N. Garfield of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Disaster Field Operations Center – West reminded California private nonprofit (PNP) organizations of the July 8 deadline to apply for an SBA federal disaster loan for economic injury caused by the Valley fire and Butte fire that occurred between Sept. 9 and Oct. 30, 2015.
PNPs that provide essential services of a governmental nature are eligible for assistance.
According to Garfield, eligible PNPs of any size may apply for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) of up to $2 million to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster.
“EIDLs may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that cannot be paid because of the disaster’s impact. EIDL assistance is available regardless of whether the PNP suffered any property damage,” Garfield said.
These low-interest federal disaster loans are available in Calaveras and Lake counties.
The interest rate is 2.625 percent with terms up to 30 years. Loan amounts and terms are set by SBA and are based on each applicant’s financial condition.
Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA’s secure website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela .
Disaster loan information and application forms are also available from SBA’s Customer Service Center by calling 800-659-2955 or emailing
Individuals who are deaf or hard‑of‑hearing may call 800-877-8339. For more disaster assistance information or to download applications, visit https://www.sba.gov/disaster .
Completed applications should be mailed to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Director and State Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith announced on Tuesday the addition of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to the network of hospitals in California capable of providing inpatient care for individuals with a confirmed case of Ebola virus disease or another highly infectious disease.
Cedars-Sinai also will serve as a regional treatment center, accepting Ebola patients from the western United States and U.S. territories in the Pacific that do not have these specialized treatment centers.
“We are excited to welcome Cedars-Sinai Medical Center into the network of hospitals in California that are capable of treating patients with Ebola,” said Dr. Smith. “With this announcement, California and the western regions will be better prepared to immediately and effectively treat people with Ebola and other highly infectious diseases.”
As a California-based Ebola regional treatment center, Cedars-Sinai has agreed to receive patients with severe infectious diseases within eight hours of notification.
The medical center will maintain infectious disease isolation capacity to prevent the spread of microorganisms and have the capacity to treat up to two Ebola patients concurrently.
In addition to treating California patients, Cedars-Sinai will serve as a regional treatment center for Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada and the U.S. territories in the Pacific.
“We are honored to take on this important leadership role in the nation’s healthcare system,” said Thomas M. Priselac, Cedars-Sinai president and CEO. “Doing so is consistent with our mission and commitment to the community and beyond in light of our role as a national leader providing the most advanced treatments to acutely ill patients with complex medical conditions from California and across America.”
California now has a total of nine medical centers that are prepared to care for patients with highly infectious diseases such as Ebola.
Those centers include UC Davis Medical Center (Sacramento), Kaiser Permanente Medical Center (Oakland, Sacramento and Los Angeles), UCSF Medical Center (San Francisco), Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (Los Angeles), UC Irvine Medical Center (Orange), UC San Diego Medical Center and Cedars-Sinai (Los Angeles).
Cedars-Sinai’s designation as a regional treatment center for patients with severe infectious diseases is made possible with a $3.25 million federal grant administered by CDPH to strengthen the delivery of specialized emergency care.
Cedars-Sinai will use the grant to fund ongoing training of its Ebola Response Team and purchase medical equipment, including personal protective equipment.
For more information about how California is preparing for potential cases of Ebola, please visit the CDPH Ebola Virus Information Page at http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/cder/Pages/Ebola.aspx .
I am gratified and overwhelmed by the supporters across District 4 that came out to vote for me for Assembly on June 7.
I want to thank them and the many volunteers and individual donors who helped make our campaign possible.
And I want to congratulate all my opponents on a very hard-fought campaign.
After November, regardless of the outcome, I hope we can all work together to improve the lives of the residents of the sprawling, six-county Assembly District 4.
Cecilia Aguiar-Curry is the first woman mayor of Winters, Calif., as well as a farmer and a businesswoman. Based on preliminary election results, she is expected to be in a runoff for the District 4 seat in the California Assembly with Republican Charlie Schaupp. Assembly District 4 includes all or parts of Yolo, Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Colusa and Solano counties.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Clear Lake Area California Highway Patrol will offer a free “Start Smart” traffic safety class for soon to-be-licensed, newly licensed, and teenage drivers and their parents or guardians on Wednesday, June 22.
The class will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Clear Lake Area CHP office, located at 5700 Live Oak Drive in Kelseyville.
The leading cause of death for Americans 15 to 19 years old is motor vehicle collisions, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The CHP's goal is to reduce the death rate among young drivers as the result of these collisions.
“The CHP is committed to mitigating traffic collisions involving young, inexperienced drivers, because they are preventable,” said Lt. Hector Paredes, commander of the CHP's Clear Lake Area office. “Start Smart is an excellent program that promotes safe driving for young new drivers.”
The “Start Smart” program is aimed at helping newly licensed and future licensed teenage drivers understand the critical responsibilities of driving and to understand that accidents happen, but collisions are 100-percent preventable.
The program is designed to provide an interactive safe driving awareness class which will illustrate how poor choices behind the wheel of a car can affect the lives of numerous people.
“Start Smart” also focuses on responsibilities of newly licensed drivers, responsibilities of parents or guardians and collision avoidance techniques.
Space is limited for this class. For more information or reservations, call Officer Kory Reynolds at the CHP office, 707-279-0103.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – At the end of a record-breaking year for the county's museums, the Lower Lake Historical School Preservation Committee and the Friends of the Lake County Museum will host their annual meetings later this month.
The Lower Lake Historic Schoolhouse Museum and the Historic Courthouse Museum in Lakeport have had record numbers of visitors this fiscal year, according to Curator Tony Pierucci.
At both museums, Pierucci said more students have participated in tours and educational programs than any one year in the history of both institutions.
In total, between July 2015 and June 2016, one in five elementary school students in Lake County have come through these two museums on a tour, Pierucci said.
Pierucci said this remarkable increase in outreach is part of a renewed push by the museums and the nonprofits that support them to reengage with the community like never before.
The Lower Lake Historical School Preservation Committee pays for the school buses to bring students to the Schoolhouse Museum. Over the years they have also worked tirelessly to preserve the California Point of Historical Interest that is the Lower Lake Schoolhouse, Pierucci said.
Come be a part of the fun and attend the committee's general membership meeting on Saturday, June 25, at noon at the Lower Lake Historic Schoolhouse Museum, 16435 Main St. Snacks and refreshments will be provided and officers and board members will be voted in.
The Friends of the Lake County Museum pay for the school buses that transport students to the Historic Courthouse Museum for educational programs and tours, Pierucci said.
With the organization's support, Pierucci said the museum has also been able to purchase professional exhibit supplies and furniture, which you can see on display at the Courthouse Museum’s new exhibit “Crime and Punishment in Lake County: 1861-1930.”
The public is invited to join the Friends at the Historic Courthouse Museum, 255 N. Main St., for the group's annual meeting on Thursday, July 14, at 5:30 p.m. Food and refreshments will be served as the annual report is presented and officers and board members elected.
Both general meetings are a great opportunity to learn more about these two nonprofits and what the museums have planned for the next fiscal year.
You don’t have to be a member to come to the meetings – interested guests are more than welcome.
Visit the museums online at http://museums.lakecountyca.gov/ or https://www.facebook.com/MuseumsOfLakeCountyCa/?fref=ts .
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Firefighters spent Monday and early Tuesday responding to – and quickly controlling – several small wildland fires around Lake County.
Conditions in the county have been dry, and on Monday there were moderate and sometimes erratic winds reported through the day.
The main fire incident of the day on Monday was a small fire in the early afternoon in the city of Clearlake that necessitated a school evacuation, as Lake County News has reported: www.bit.ly/1rmDa7c .
Then, shortly after 6 p.m., a hay field was reported to be on fire on Upper Lake Lucerne Road in Upper Lake.
Northshore and Cal Fire responded, finding the field and a hay baler on fire, according to radio reports.
The fire was contained within about 15 minutes, reports from the scene indicated. It burned between an acre and a half and two acres. About 40 bales of hay needed to be moved from a truck and an hour of cleanup followed.
Just before 7:30 p.m., a vegetation fire was reported on Point Lakeview Road near Sunrise Drive in Lower Lake.
Cal Fire and local firefighters were dispatched, arriving to find people trying to put out the fire, which was about 20 feet in diameter, according to radio reports. It was under control within 10 minutes of the call and additional units were canceled.
Then, shortly after 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, firefighters were dispatched to a vegetation fire with structures threatened on Mission Way at Mission Rancheria Road near Lakeport.
Arriving Lakeport Fire units reported finding that the fire had been knocked down by people who already were on scene.
Reports from the scene stated that the fire was contained at less than a quarter of an acre, with the incident terminated at 2:20 a.m.
Local fire officials are urging residents to use particular care due to the dry conditions, including not mowing grass after 10 a.m. and having a fire extinguisher handy when working on vegetation.
Email Elizabeth Larson at