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MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown branch of the Lake County Library will host a financial literacy seminar “Self-Directed Retirement Plans for Wealth Development” on Saturday, April 23.
The seminar will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the library, located at 21256 Washington St.
Lamarr Baxter of Alternative Investments and Consulting LLC will be the speaker for this free program.
Baxter is a licensed and knowledgeable real estate professional with 30 years of financial experience who specializes in establishing self-directed retirement plans.
He regularly conducts educational seminars and webinars outlining the benefits and rewards of investing with a self-directed retirement plan.
For more details call 707-263-8817.
The Lake County Library is on the Internet at http://library.lakecountyca.gov and Facebook at www.facebook.com/LakeCountyLibrary .
On April 14, 2016, the United States Fish & Wildlife Service concluded that West Coast populations of fisher are not facing extinction and recognized that collaborative voluntary conservation efforts by state agencies and private landowners are providing conservation benefits for fisher on millions of acres across the range of the fisher in three states.
The service found that the threats to fisher were significantly less than feared, and did not warrant a listing under the Endangered Species Act.
“We applaud the service’s decision not to list the fisher because it is good for the fisher,” said Kristina McNitt, president of Oregon Forest & Industries Council. “Forest landowners in Oregon are committed to protecting fish and wildlife and preserving habitat for species like the fisher. This progressive development underscores the dedication of the Oregon forest industry and the United States Fish & Wildlife Service to work collaboratively to achieve common environmental goals. We look forward to implementing the industry’s pledged conservation goals to protect and expand fisher habitat and hope this collaborative effort acts as a model for the future.”
The service recognized that there were a number of federal, state, tribal and private partners that came together in California, Oregon and Washington to conserve fisher habitat and restore the population.
"The work we did together is a testament that landowners, the state, tribal and federal governments can develop voluntary measures that protect wildlife species, and the forestry business at the same time,” said Mark Doumit, executive director of the Washington Forest Protection Association.
“I applaud the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for recognizing that the voluntary efforts between California, Oregon and Washington to preserve and enhance the habitat of the pacific fisher are beyond what is needed to maintain a robust population. Our collaborative efforts show our commitment to the long-term stability of the species. We’ve found that these types of successful partnerships are best enhanced through both public and private landowner participation, and we look forward to continuing our efforts across jurisdictional boundaries in the West,” said David Bischel, 0resident of the California Forestry Association.
The fisher is among the larger members of the weasel family that also includes the marten, otter and mink. It is found in much of the northern United States, including populations in Washington, Oregon and California.
The fisher’s historic range was significantly curtailed toward the turn of the last century due, primarily, to trapping and pest control.
Today, healthy populations persist in the southern Sierra Nevadas, in northern California and southwest Oregon, and on the Olympic peninsula in Washington.
Recognizing that abundant fisher habitat exists on private and public lands throughout the Coast and Cascade mountain ranges, landowners have worked with the service to protect existing populations, and to reintroduce fisher in suitable habitat outside of its current range.
In Washington, reintroduction efforts have been underway since 2008, and a programmatic candidate conservation agreement with assurances (“CCAA”) that would protect fisher found on state and private lands for 20 years is nearing completion. More than 25 landowners and 1.4 million acres have enrolled in the CCAA.
In Oregon, landowners have indicated their intention to enroll more than three million acres of forestland under a template CCAA that requires fisher protection measures for 30 years. Oregon landowners have also offered significant financial support for proposed fisher monitoring and reintroduction efforts.
Similarly, California landowners have successfully reintroduced fisher on private lands, enrolled more than one million acres in CCAAs and related projects benefiting the fisher, including efforts to enroll additional lands.
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – A Middletown man died of his injuries following a solo-vehicle crash near Lower Lake on Thursday night.
The California Highway Patrol's Friday report on the crash did not release the 68-year-old man's name pending notification of family.
The CHP said the man, who was the solo occupant of a 2005 Buick Le Sabre, was driving northbound on Highway 29 north of Diener Drive at an unknown speed at approximately 10:13 p.m. Thursday when, for reasons still to be determined, he lost control of the car.
The Buick went off the road and hit a tree on the west shoulder of Highway 29, the CHP said.
The CHP said the vehicle came to rest on its wheels, facing an easterly direction and sitting partially within the southbound lane.
Traffic was stopped for a short time until the roadway could be cleared, according to the report.
As of the Friday report, the CHP said it was not known if the man had been wearing his seatbelt or if he was ejected from the vehicle. Officer Kory Reynolds clarified that the man was found outside of the vehicle by officers.
Due to the severity of his injuries, the man was transported by REACH air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital where he died of his injuries, the CHP said.
The CHP said the cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Effective Monday, April 18, the Seigler Canyon Road bridge over Seigler Creek will be closed to all traffic in order to replace the bridge.
Lake County Public Works said this is a 24/7 closure expected to be in place through May 6.
Signs and barricades will be in place in order to advise traffic of the need to use alternate routes.
The preferred detour is Highway 175.
For more information contact Lake County Public Works at 707-263-2341.
This story has been updated.
NORTH COAST, Calif. – One person died and three others – two of them from Lake County – were injured in a five-vehicle wreck on Highway 101 near Willits on Thursday.
The California Highway Patrol said the crash occurred at 11:20 a.m. on Highway 101 south of Willits Watershed Road in wet and rainy conditions.
A 63-year-old Willits man died in the crash. Authorities said in a report issued late Thursday night that his identity was not being released pending the notification of family by the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
The crash would result in a temporary closure of the highway as the California Highway Patrol and emergency responders worked at the scene.
The report from the CHP's Ukiah area office said that the crash involved five vehicles: a 2003 Mazda, driven by the man who died; a 2008 Ford driven by 44-year-old Kenneth Walters of Eureka; a 2013 Ford driven by 36-year-old Joseph Aldridge of Lakeport, who was accompanied by wife Holly Aldridge, 38; a 2011 Chevy driven by 18-year-old Michael Dillwood of Windsor; and a 2014 Freightliner driven by Citrus Heights resident Jeffrey Smith, 57.
In addition to the fatality, the Aldridges and Dillwood were injured in the wreck, the CHP said.
The CHP said Walters was traveling southbound in the No. 1 lane north of the South Willits overhead and was preparing to overtake a slower moving bus that was traveling southbound in the No. 2 lane.
The Willits driver, also traveling southbound, overtook Walters in the No. 2 lane and made an unsafe lane change in between Walters and the bus. As a result, the left rear of the Willits man's Mazda struck the right front of Walters' vehicle, the CHP said.
As a result, the Mazda rotated counterclockwise and traveled in an easterly direction, into the opposing lanes of traffic and directly into the path of Aldridge, who the CHP said was traveling northbound in the highway's No. 1 lane.
The CHP said the front of Aldridge's Ford struck the right side of the Mazda, with both of those vehicles continuing in a northeasterly direction within the northbound lanes of the highway.
As those two vehicles were coming to a rest, Smith – who was traveling northbound – was unable to avoid a collision and the right front of his Freightliner struck Aldridge's vehicle, the CHP said.
Dillwood, also traveling northbound, steered his vehicle to the right in an effort to avoid a collision with Aldridge and the Willits man's Mazda, and instead struck a guardrail on the east shoulder of Highway 101, the CHP said.
The CHP said the Willits driver's Mazda and Aldridge's Ford caught fire as a result of the crash, with the Willits man dying at the scene.
Joseph Aldridge suffered minor injuries, and the CHP Ukiah office told Lake County News that Holly Aldridge was transported to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with minor injuries. Dillwood suffered minor injuries, according to the CHP.
All of the crash victims were wearing their seat belts, the CHP report said.
The CHP said the collision remains under investigation.
Editor's note: The initial report from the CHP did not include information about Holly Aldridge being with her husband during the crash. Lake County News reached out to the agency and subsequently was able to confirm that she was in the vehicle and had received minor injuries.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Residents of Woodland Community College (WCC) service areas in Yolo, Colusa and Lake counties will see two new examples of the college’s service to its community this month: a new format of the schedule and mail delivery of the schedule to more than 36,000 households.
The 2016 summer/fall schedule, designed in a newspaper print format, will be mailed to households in all three counties during the week of April 18.
It includes an expanded schedule of summer and fall offerings, including distance education, profiles of successful students, news on the realignment of the Lake County Center to WCC, as well as financial aid and enrollment information.
This is the first time that schedules are being mail delivered to residents.
“This as another opportunity for our college to connect with the communities we serve. If you are a first-time college student, a continuing college student, or are considering a return after some time away from the college classroom, our summer/fall class schedule offers something for you. We look forward to seeing you on the Woodland, Lake, or Colusa campuses soon,” said WCC President Dr. Michael White.
In addition to academic and career and technical education courses, the college will offer summer academies in entrepreneurship, administration of justice, agriculture and university transferable courses targeted for high school students at its Woodland campus, while university transfer and developmental courses will be offered at the Lake County and Colusa campuses.
“This will allow parents to save thousands of dollars in post-secondary education expenses and accelerate the pathway to four-year colleges,” said WCC Dean of Instruction Monica Chahal.
The college also is offering an expanded fall schedule with nearly 300 sections.
Registration for summer and fall classes begins on April 25 with priority students. Summer classes will start on June 13.
More information about the college can be accessed at its Web site https://wcc.yccd.edu .