News
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Bruno's Shop Smart and Latinos United will hold the 22nd annual Cinco de Mayo event on Sunday, May 1.
The event will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Library Park.
The program of entertainment is as follows:
– 9:30 to 10 a.m.: Blessing.
– 10:30 a.m.: Event start.
– 11 to 11:30 a.m.: Kelseyville Singers.
– 11:30 to noon: Gymnastics group.
– Noon to 1 p.m.: Irma Lopez.
– 2 to 3 p.m.: Groupo XMG.
– 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.: Maximoz.
– 4:30 to 5 p.m.: El Torito de Petate.
There also will be vendors, food and informational booths.
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Lower Lake Historical School Preservation Committee will hold its annual Treasures and Trash Sale on Saturday, May 7, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Small appliances, tools, books, live plants and gently used household and kitchen goods will be available for purchase on this one-day, rain or shine event.
Donations are welcome for the sale. To donate items, please contact the museum during regular business hours, 11 a.m. until 4 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, 707-995-3565.
No large appliances or clothing, please.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Smokey, Tanner, Chip, Frankie, Misty and Penny are waiting to meet their new families at Lake County Animal Care and Control this week.
The cats – five females and a male – all are domestic short hair mixes, in a variety of age ranges and coat colors.
In addition to spaying or neutering, cats that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are microchipped before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.
If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets there, hoping you'll choose them.
In addition to the animals featured here, all adoptable animals in Lake County can be seen here: http://bit.ly/Z6xHMb .
The following cats at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (other cats pictured on the animal control Web site that are not listed here are still “on hold”).

'Smokey'
“Smokey” is a young female domestic short hair mix with a gray coat.
She's in cat room kennel No. 12, ID No. 4725.

'Tanner'
“Tanner” is a young male domestic short hair mix with a buff-colored tabby coat.
He's in cat room kennel No. 24, ID No. 4671.

'Chip'
“Chip” is a female domestic short hair mix cat with gray tabby and white coat.
She's in cat room kennel No. 28, ID No. 4669.

'Frankie'
“Frankie” is a young female domestic short hair mix with an all-black coat.
She's in cat room kennel No. 31, ID No. 4724.

'Misty'
“Misty” is an adult female domestic short hair mix with a gray and white coat.
She's in cat room kennel No. 32, ID No. 4727.

'Penny'
“Penny” is an all-black domestic short hair mix.
She's in cat room kennel No. 87, ID No. 4726.
Adoptable cats also can be seen at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Cats_and_Kittens.htm or at www.petfinder.com .
To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .
Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.
Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .
For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.
Email Elizabeth Larson at

My father spent his life in the retail business, and loved almost every minute of it, so I was especially pleased to see this poem by David Huddle, from his new book, Dream Sender, from Louisiana State University Press. The poet lives in Vermont.
Stores
Fifteen I got a job at Leggett's, stock
boy, fifty cents an hour. Moved up—I come
from that kind of people—to toys at Christmas,
then Menswear and finally Shoes.
Quit to go
to college, never worked retail again, but
I still really like stores, savor merchandise
neatly stacked on tables, sweaters wanting
my gliding palm as I walk by, mannequins
weirdly sexy behind big glass windows,
shoes shiny and just waiting for the right feet.
So why in my seventies do Target, Lowes,
and Home Depot spin me dizzy and lost,
wanting my mother to find me, wipe my eyes,
hold my hand all the way out to the car?
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. They do not accept unsolicited submissions. Poem copyright ©2015 by Louisiana State University Press, “Stores,” from Dream Sender, (Louisiana State Univ. Press, 2015). Poem reprinted by permission of David Huddle and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2016 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Middletown residents who want to grow their own vegetables but lack the land are being offered the chance to participate in a new community garden project.
Calpine is proposing to host a community garden on a lot next to its visitor center, located on Central Park Road, according to a presentation made at the Middletown Area Town Hall meeting on Thursday evening.
Danielle Matthews Seperas, manager of Calpine's Government and Community Affairs division, briefly outlined the plan.
She said Calpine owns the empty lot next to the visitor center. “I've always envisioned some kind of community project there. There's been ideas but nothing's ever really come together.”
However, when North Coast Opportunities reached out and suggested the possibility of a community garden in that area, Seperas said she thought it was a great idea.
“It just seems like a really great fit,” said Seperas.
She added that it won't be the Calpine community garden, it will be the Middletown community garden. “So before we move forward we would want complete community buy-in from everyone.”
Seperas then introduced Ava Ryan, Lake County Garden Project coordinator for North Coast Opportunities.
Ryan explained that the gardens project is one of North Coast Opportunities' community wellness projects, focusing on food, nutrition and food access.
North Coast Opportunities launched The Gardens Project in Mendocino County in 2007, and since that time has established 38 community gardens in Lake's neighboring county to the west, with most of those gardens located in Ukiah, Ryan said.
She said some of those gardens are quite big – up to 40 family plots – and are producing many tons of food annually.
“We're feeding a lot of families and that's really our mission with these community gardens,” Ryan said, adding that the gardens create access for those people who don't have land.
Ryan said the program goal is to help provide access to food, and alleviate poverty and food insecurity.
In November, North Coast Opportunities received a three-year US Department of Agriculture Community Food Project grant to expand The Gardens Project into Lake County, she said.
With that grant in hand, Ryan said she has been actively looking for properties and communities that want the gardens, which she will help build and facilitate.
Ryan said a key and core philosophy of the program is community ownership. “They're not my gardens at the end of the day,” but rather belong to the community members.
North Coast Opportunities has money for infrastructure, including fencing, trenching, installing water lines for irrigation, and building raised beds, and they get donations of compost and seeds, she said.
She said a group has been started to support the garden at Calpine, they are doing outreach and have had two meetings so far, with interest from the community.
Ryan said the grant was written and awarded since last year's wildland fires that devastated parts of Lake County, including the Middletown area.
“Since the fires happened we really wanted to move into this area when Middletown residents are ready, because I think that gardens are healing spaces as well as food production spaces,” she said.
The gardens are places not just for physical and nutritional health but mental health, Ryan said, adding she felt it would be great to have a beautiful garden located along the highway.
On Thursday afternoon a 100-foot by 100-foot area was staked out for the garden in the middle of the lot, Ryan said. There are plans for a mix of raised and in-ground beds of different sizes.
She said the program likes to create leadership teams in the gardens so there is a resource in the community from which to draw. There also will be leadership training, contracts for use and the establishment of laws for the garden.
Those rules include opening hours and keeping gardens locked, as Ryan acknowledged that thefts have occurred.
She said the program charges a nominal fee of about $20 to $40 per year per plot, which goes into a pool fund for events, tools, waters or other needs.
“Ultimately, we want all the gardens to be self-sustaining,” and for the most part, they all are, said Ryan, explaining that it is wonderful to watch people working together.
Ryan noted during the discussion that she's also working to put a community garden in at Highlands Senior Center in Clearlake, where a work party took place on Saturday.
When asked how long Calpine has agreed to allow the community garden to be located on its property, Seperas said that detail hasn't yet been worked out, as they first wanted to make sure the garden was wanted.
Another key question related to water supply, with Ryan explaining that how water will be paid for and supplied is still being worked out.
When an audience member asked if Callayomi County Water District had been asked about helping with water supply, a water district board member who was in the audience replied that, following the Valley fire, the district had lost 40 percent of its income, so it would be difficult for the district to give away any water.
Anyone interested in participating in the garden program or wanting more information is encouraged to contact Ryan via email at
The Gardens Project can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/gardensproject/ or at www.gardensproject.org .
Email Elizabeth Larson at
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – An Upper Lake man was injured and later arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence following a single-vehicle wreck Thursday night.
Derek Franklin Killough, 32, sustained major injuries in the crash, according to a report issued Saturday night by the California Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area office.
The CHP said the crash occurred on Elk Mountain Road north of Rancheria Road at approximately 9:38 p.m. Thursday.
Killough was driving a 1996 Toyota 4 Runner westbound at an undetermined speed when, for reasons yet to be determined, he allowed the vehicle to travel off the west side of the road and into a wire fence, according to the report.
After hitting the fence, Killough's Toyota continued in a northwesterly direction onto private property and rolled multiple times, the CHP said.
The CHP said Killough, who was wearing a seat belt, was unable to get out of the vehicle by himself.
Authorities evaluated Killough at the scene and arrested him on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, the CHP said.
Killough suffered major injuries, according to the CHP, including lacerations to his head and face, and a complaint of pain to his shoulder.
The CHP said Killough was transported by REACH air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for treatment of his injuries.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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