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LUCERNE, Calif. – A Lucerne man was taken into custody for evaluation after he called authorities to report a shooting incident that didn't happen but which had resulted in a substantial response from firefighters and law enforcement.
The man, whose name authorities haven't released, was taken into custody by Lake County Sheriff's deputies on Monday night for a mental health evaluation, according to Lt. Norm Taylor.
Shortly after 8 p.m. Monday the man called authorities from the 7300 block of Bartlett Springs Road to report what originally was dispatched as a possible shooting of as many as six people, according to radio reports.
Within a short period of time, sheriff's deputies were en route, with mutual aid requested from the California Highway Patrol and the Lakeport Police Department, Taylor said.
Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen told Lake County News that he was called by his on-duty sergeant, who said he and another officer were planning to respond.
Rasmussen said he gave the OK, explaining they wanted to help in any way they could.
Along with law enforcement, several fire units from Northshore Fire, Lakeport Fire and Cal Fire – coming from Howard Forest – also responded to the call, staging at Highway 20 and Bartlett Springs Road before deputies had them move farther up the hill, according to scanner reports.
Just over 40 minutes after the call came in, sheriff's deputies got up to the scene and determined that it was not as reported.
“There were shots fired but there was no evidence that there was anyone he was shooting at,” said Taylor.
Taylor said the man had told authorities that he thought “assassins” were coming for him, and he appeared delusional.
As a result, he was taken into custody for the evaluation, Taylor said.
Taylor on Tuesday was not sure if the sheriff's office has had calls from the man previously.
As for such calls reporting serious incidents that prove to have not occurred, “I wouldn't say it's rare but it certainly doesn't happen every day,” said Taylor.
He added, “We do have our fair share of calls that are completely unfounded and based off of people's diminishing mental capacities.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Parks and Recreation Commission will hold a special meeting to discuss a walking trail and get park updates.
The commission will meet at 3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
Commissioners include Ann Blue, Suzanne Lyons, Adam Newall, Suzanne Russell and Cindy Ustrud.
On the agenda is a discussion of a walking trail at Library Park.
The commission also will get an updated on the renovation of the Fifth Street restroom and discuss Westside Community Park.
The next regularly scheduled meeting is at 3 p.m. Feb. 4.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
The California Community Colleges released its annual State of the System report on Tuesday, with results from the 2014-15 academic year showing another record reached in the number of certificates and degrees earned by students as well as increased number of course sections offered throughout the 113-college system.
“The California Community Colleges have made tremendous progress over the past academic year,” said Chancellor Brice W. Harris. “We’re proud of the accomplishments we’ve achieved and are looking ahead to the next year, determined to build on that success to continue serving our 2.1 million students.”
The report gives a comprehensive overview of the system’s undertakings in the 2014-15 academic year, progress it has made in a variety of areas and provides statistical information regarding enrollments, funding, total awards conferred and more.
Some findings highlighted in the report:
• Community colleges awarded 200,795 certificates and degrees in 2014-15, an increase of more than 10,000 from the previous academic year. It was the second straight year of record high awards earned.
• Total enrollment edged upward by 22,889 students, reaching 2,102,318 in 2014-15.
• More than 20,600 students earned Associate Degrees for Transfer 2014-15, nearly twice as many as the previous year. The degrees streamline transfer to California State University.
• Colleges continued to restore many course offerings that had been cut during the recession. The number of course sections offered is now 366,944, an increase of 4 percent from the previous year.
The 2015 State of the System report can be read in its entirety at:
http://californiacommunitycolleges.cccco.edu/Portals/0/Reports/2015-State-of-the-System-Report-ADA-Web.pdf .
The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation composed of 72 districts and 113 colleges serving 2.1 million students per year.
For more information about the community colleges, please visit http://californiacommunitycolleges.cccco.edu , https://www.facebook.com/CACommColleges or https://twitter.com/CalCommColleges .
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Area Town Hall voted to elect its new board for 2016 and got updates from state and county officials on the work to clean up properties devastated by the Valley fire at its January meeting.
MATH meet on Thursday evening at the Middletown Community Center.
During the meeting, the group elected three members of the five-member board after brief presentations by four candidates.
Vice Chair Claude Brown was reelected, with Linda Diehl-Darms and Gregg Van Oss also joining the board.
They will serve along with Chair Fletcher Thornton and Secretary Margaret Greenley.
Before the election there was a discussion about whether MATH should return to a seven-member board, which it had started out with when it formed in December 2006.
Joe Sullivan, who chaired MATH in its early days, explained that the size of the board was reduced due to trouble getting a quorum for meetings. He suggested it was too soon to increase the number of board seats.
Thornton, who was in favor of increasing the board back to seven, said the bylaws can be rewritten to define the quorum based on how many people are present at the meetings.
Ultimately, the decision was made to postpone a decision about changing the board's numerical composition.
One of the evening's main items was an update on the cleanup by CalRecycle crews of burned properties that has been moving briskly since it began in the fall.
The Valley fire destroyed more than 1,300 homes and damaged nearly 700 more, officials have reported.
Todd Thalhamer, senior waste management engineer with CalRecycle, said that as of Thursday only 92 structures were left to be abated.
“I made some grandiose promises at the football stadium, and not only did I meet them, I beat them,” said Thalhamer, referring to a September community meeting at Middletown High School in which he pledged to the community – where, incidentally, he had grown up and graduated from high school – that he would conduct a thorough cleanup operation.
He said he had great support from his crews and the community in meeting his goals. “The men and women that are working here are phenomenal,” Thalhamer said. “It's been an impressive organization to lead.”
As of Thursday, 40 cleanup crews were running – even in the winter weather – with plans to demobilize 12 others, Thalhamer said.
He anticipated that by this Saturday they would be finishing up, and at that point would have cleaned up 1,190 lots and conducted erosion control work.
Thalhamer said crews will return in spring and work on 20 to 30 sites that they cannot cleaned up now due to concerns about the potential for environmental damage.
He said that leaves some commercial properties that haven't yet been cleaned up. Thalhamer said some properties haven't yet signed up for the cleanup program, and sites going through abatement need to go through the county process.
Negotiations are under way to bring CalRecycle back for the additional work, he said.
Thalhamer thanked everyone for their patience and hospitality, and expressed appreciation for the work of the crews. “To watch these crews is amazing.”
He said 205 people from Lake County who are trained in hazardous materials handling are working on those crews, and there are a number of sites permitted for new building.
While they are planning on releasing a lot of crews, Thalhamer said that doesn't mean CalRecycle is going away.
When crews return in the spring Thalhamer said they will be fixing roads and septic tanks damaged in the cleanup.
Lake County Environmental Health Director Ray Ruminski, who is incident commander on the project and in joint command with the California Office of Emergency Services, said that before the Valley fire the county had contacted state agencies for help in the Rocky fire cleanup.
Ruminski said he had contacted Thalhamer and asked if he would come, and he said he would. “That's kind of how it started.”
In other business at MATH, South Lake County Fire Marshal discussed a law that went into effect several years ago requiring that all new residential stick-built structures have fire sprinklers installed. There is an exemption that currently does not require them for manufactured homes.
He called it a “bold step” by the state fire marshal, citing statistics that 4,000 people die each year because of fire, more than from any other kind of natural disaster. Of those 4,000, 84 percent are related to residential dwellings, and most of those deaths are senior citizens or children under age 10.
Another problem is that most of the materials now used in houses are manufactured and put off chemicals and combustible gases when they burn. Those toxic materials can get into the watershed as a result of the firefighting process, he said.
Miinch said the new sprinkler systems will not only save lives but protect the environment.
He said costs for the sprinkler systems range from $2,500 for a double-wide mobile home to between $3,500 and $10,000 for stick-built homes.
The requirements will bring challenges as the south county rebuilds. Miinch said that the fire district serves a 289-square-mile area that includes seven water municipalities, as well as countless other small systems and wells. None of those water municipalities are modern, so supply lines are smaller than they should be to serve the sprinkler system.
Miinch said he's looking at how to best address the issues that arise from the law's implementation, and is working with the county in doing that.
Cal Fire Division Chief Jim Wright, who was in the audience, pointed out that stopping a house fire can prevent a wildland fire.
Also on Thursday, MATH hosted a 15-minute presentation from Phoenix rising on plans for rebuilding in the wake of the fire.
Members spoke about various economic initiatives to bolster the economy not just in the fire area but countywide, and also to build a new wellness center.
The group meets at 6:30 p.m. every Monday at the Middletown Art Center, located at 21456 Highway 175, at the junction of Highway 29.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The popular “Living History Day” series at the Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum will resume on Saturday, Jan. 23.
On the fourth Saturday of each month local historians come to the main house to visit with guests and answer questions regarding different aspects of Lake County history.
As these visits are recorded, the stories of Lake County's history are being preserved for future generations.
The series was suspended during November and December due to holiday happenings.
Gene Paleno, author and illustrator living in Witter Springs, will be available to museum visitors Jan. 23 from noon until 2 p.m.
Paleno’s focus will be the Civil War years between 1860 and 1870 when Lake County was trying to resolve conflicts over designation of its county seat.
His soon-to-be published “History of Lake County” includes a chapter on the subject, “Voting with a Pistol,” based on diaries kept by Lucas Willey which are a part of the collection Lucas Willey papers, [ca. 1849-1873]. It seems guns were used to decide elections in those days.
The Lake County Historical Society’s Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum is located at 9921 State Highway 281 (Soda Bay Road) in Kelseyville, near Clear Lake Riviera, just north of Highway 29-Kit's Corner.
Current hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.
Living History events are held on the fourth Saturday of each month from noon until 2 p.m. Fiddlers’ Jams occur the first Sunday of every month, again, from noon until 2 p.m.
Visit www.elystagestop.org or www.lakecountyhistory.org , check out the stage stop on Facebook at www.facebook.com/elystagestop or call the museum at 707-533-9990.
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Lake County District 1 Supervisor Jim Comstock will deliver his final “State of the County” address at the Middletown Luncheon Club on Wednesday, Jan. 20.
Lunch will be served at noon at the Middletown Senior Center, 21256 Washington St. The program will end promptly at 1 p.m.
The county has been in the headlines in 2015. Comstock will give a retrospective and discuss what residents might expect in 2016.
This will be Comstock's final Middletown Luncheon Club address as District 1 supervisor, as he is not seeking reelection this year.
Lunch costs $5 per person and will include roasted pork loin, scalloped potatoes and broccoli salad.
This is always a popular luncheon and space is limited, so get your reservation in early. Call 707-987-3113 or email
Those who want to hear Comstock's address without lunch may attend for free.