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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Oct. 24 is “Make A Difference Day,” a nationwide day of volunteering.
For the 16th year in a row, on that day there will be a collection of nonperishable food for Lake County's communities.
The total amount of food collected in the first 15 years is 57,237 pounds.
The event has morphed into the “Stuff-A-Bus” mode, with Lake Transit Authority parking two buses that will be stuffed with the food collected.
North Coast Opportunities, Community Action and the Lake County Hunger Task Force will be staffing the two collection sites, both from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on that Saturday.
One bus will be parked at the Clearlake Grocery Outlet store in Clearlake, and the other at Bruno's Shop Smart in Lakeport. All of the food collected will stay in Lake County.
For several reasons, including the fires this summer, many of Lake County's food pantries are greatly in need of donations to fill their shelves. These pantries operate year round, and are invaluable to their local communities.
This collection will be split evenly between the Live Oak Senior Center, Lakeport Senior Center, Highlands Senior Center, Northshore Community Center in Lucerne, Catholic Charities Rural Food Project in Kelseyville, Helping Hand, Clear Lake Gleaners, The Bridge, CCHAP, The Snake Lady Yvonne Cox, Lake Family Resource Center, One Step Away, Kelseyville Presbyterian Church, Healthy Start, United Christian Parish and North Coast Opportunities.
There are barrels out at several locations to collect food before the actual event. They are located at the Lakeport Library, Peoples Services thrift stores and offices, U.S. Forest Service in Upper Lake, Lake County Office of Education, Konocti Christian Academy, Lower Lake High School Upward Bound, Meadowbrook Head Start, Yuba College Culinary club, Riviera Foods, Lakeside Health Clinic, Clearlake Grocery Outlet, Mendo Lake Credit Union, and Westamerica Bank branches in Lakeport, Kelseyville, Clearlake and Middletown.
If you would like a barrel in your location, please contact Tammy Alakszay at 707-994-4647, Extension 123, or Lorrie Gray at 707-277-9227.
Additional volunteers are needed at the two sites. They must be registered beforehand, so please call one of the phone numbers above, or sign up at www.ncoinc.org .
NORTH COAST, Calif. – A man was injured on Thursday while working in a roadway construction zone on the coast.
Michael Martinez, 57, of Fort Bragg suffered moderate injuries at the work site on approximately 7:30 a.m. Thursday, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Andrew Sabini, 69, of Lakeport was driving a 2001 Kenworth truck with two belly dump trailers at an idling speed north through the closed construction zone located east of Highway 1, just south of Seaside Beach near Fort Bragg, the CHP said.
The CHP said Martinez was nearby in the area, on foot. As the truck was dumping dirt into the construction zone, the rear trailer shifted from the uneven terrain and pinned Martinez up against the concrete barrier wall of Highway 1.
Paramedics transported Martinez by ambulance to the Fort Bragg Coast Hospital for medical treatment, the CHP reported.
The CHP said drugs and alcohol were determined not to be factors in this industrial incident, and both men were using their safety equipment.
Caltrans District 1 spokesman Phil Frisbie said the work on that portion of roadway was being performed by Granite Construction for Caltrans.
Granite Construction's representative did not respond to a request seeking comment on Thursday.
Frisbie said Cal/OSHA will investigate the accident, but he did not know on Thursday if Caltrans would conduct its own separate inquiry into the incident.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
On Thursday forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center issued the U.S. Winter Outlook, favoring cooler and wetter weather in the Southern Plains and Southeast states with above-average temperatures most likely in the West and across the northern half of the contiguous United States.
This year’s El Niño, among the strongest on record, is expected to influence weather and climate patterns this winter by impacting the position of the Pacific jet stream, forecasters said.
“A strong El Niño is in place and should exert a strong influence over our weather this winter,” said Mike Halpert, deputy director, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. “While temperature and precipitation impacts associated with El Niño are favored, El Niño is not the only player. Cold-air outbreaks and snow storms will likely occur at times this winter. However, the frequency, number and intensity of these events cannot be predicted on a seasonal timescale.”
Other factors that often play a role in the winter weather include the Arctic Oscillation, which influences the number of arctic air masses that penetrate into the South and nor'easters on the East Coast, and the Madden-Julian Oscillation, which can impact the number of heavy rain storms in the Pacific Northwest.
The precipitation outlook anticipates wetter-than-average conditions most likely in the southern tier of the United States, from central and southern California, across Texas, to Florida, and up the East Coast to southern New England. Above-average precipitation is also favored in southeastern Alaska.
Drier-than-average conditions are most likely for Hawaii, central and western Alaska, parts of the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies, and for areas near the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley.
The temperature outlook includes above-average temperatures are favored across much of the West and the northern half of the contiguous United States. Temperatures are also favored to be above-average in Alaska and much of Hawaii. Below-average temperatures are most likely in the southern Plains and Southeast.
The U.S. Drought Outlook shows some improvement is likely in central and southern California by the end of January, but not drought removal. Additional statewide relief is possible during February and March.
Drought removal is likely across large parts of the Southwest, while improvement or removal is also likely in the Southern Plains.
However, drought is likely to persist in the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies, with drought development likely in Hawaii, parts of the Northern Plains and in the northern Great Lakes region.
“While it is good news that drought improvement is predicted for California, one season of above-average rain and snow is unlikely to remove four years of drought,” said Halpert. “California would need close to twice its normal rainfall to get out of drought and that's unlikely.”
This seasonal outlook does not project where and when snowstorms may hit or provide total seasonal snowfall accumulations.
Snow forecasts are dependent upon the strength and track of winter storms, which are generally not predictable more than a week in advance.
NOAA produces seasonal outlooks to help communities prepare for what's likely to come in the next few months and minimize weather's impacts on lives and livelihoods.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Several Northern California law enforcement agencies are asking for Lake County residents' help in locating a 14-year-old girl who ran away from her home last month.
Dusty Bateman, 14, ran away from her home in Fort Jones on Sept. 11, according to the Etna Police Department.
She was last seen in Weed later that day, and is considered to be at risk, authorities said.
Etna Police, the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office, the Weed Police Department and the Trinity County Sheriff's Department are working together to locate the teen.
Authorities said Dusty has connections to Trinity County, specifically the Hayfork area, as well as the Oroville area in Butte County and Sacramento County.
Det. Jayme Bayley of the Trinity County Sheriff’s Department said she also received information from Trinity County's Child Protective Services agency that Dusty may be in Lake County.
Dusty Bateman has brown hair and brown eyes, is 5 feet, 2 inches tall, and 146 pounds, officials said.
Anyone who knows where she is or has information on her whereabouts is asked to call the Etna Police Department at 530-467-3400 or the 24-hour dispatch line at 530-841-2900.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – After it closes this week, Westamerica Bank's Upper Lake branch will become the property of Hospice Services of Lake County, which is working on plans for the next stage of the building's history.
The branch, located at 9470 Main St., will close permanently at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16.
Corrigan Gommenginger, executive director of Hospice Services, confirmed his organization will receive the deed to the building next week.
It's the first time that Gommenginger is aware of the nonprofit – which helps hundreds of Lake County residents with health and bereavement services annually – receiving a donation of a building.
Hospice Services has annual gross revenues of about $4 million from patient care and its thrift stores, Gommenginger said.
Altogether, he said the organization serves about 300 patients through its hospice care each year, offering bereavement support to another 800 community members annually.
He said Westamerica didn't give a specific reason about why it was divesting itself of the bank property.
Westamerica has been Hospice Services' bank for a number of years. “I think that was one of the contributing factors of why they chose us,” he said.
Westamerica originally had intended to close the bank in April, but after it announced its plans to close publicly early this year – citing low transactional volume – community outcry and the intervention of local and state officials resulted in a six-month delay.
In May, the Hospice Services Board voted to approve the building donation and authorized Gommenginger to accept it from Westamerica Bank on Hospice Services' behalf, he said.
“This is an extremely generous contribution from Westamerica,” which has been a longtime supporter of Hospice Service, Gommenginger said.
He added that the gift highlighted Westamerica's commitment not just to Hospice Services but to the community.
The closure of the bank will be the end of an era for Upper Lake, which has had its own bank downtown since 1921.
The Main Street branch building has housed a bank since it was built in 1959. Gommenginger said the two-story building is 3,000 square feet in size, with a kitchen, two bathrooms, a meeting space and 24 parking spots behind it.
The building is assessed at $351,000 by the county, with Westamerica putting its value at $500,000, Gommenginger said. An appraisal to determine the value for the purposes of the donation is set to take place this week.
Hospice Services will have its insurance in place on the building by this weekend, with the agreement with the bank requiring that the organization take possession of the building either on or after Saturday, Gommenginger said.
He said Hospice Services will be on site with the bank on Monday as the building is being cleared out.
The building's furniture, chairs and some other items also are being donated to Hospice Services, which Gommenginger said will either be used to furnish the building or will be taken to the organization's thrift shops.
Debbie Hablutzel, president of the Upper Lake Community Council, said Westamerica Bank also has shared with local organizations items such as Christmas decorations used in the town's annual holiday celebration.
Gommenginger said the Hospice Services Board held a strategic meeting in September regarding uses for the building, but so far haven't come to any final decisions, he said.
“Our board of directors has asked that we do research and try and see what we can use the building for,” with a view to making a final recommendation, he said.
He said there are a number of different options being considered, all of which take into consideration the needs of the Upper Lake community.
He said the organization has done outreach to the community to ask about what community members want to see.
Hablutzel – who lobbied hard to have the bank remain open – said Gommenginger had reached out to the town council earlier this year about Hospice Services taking over the building.
Gommenginger said a high end boutique-style thrift store is one possibility, with Upper Lake businesses Hospice Services spoke to being fairly comfortable with that possibility.
Other possibilities include a retail or food establishment, and he said other organizations – private and tribal – have reached out to Hospice Services to express interest in renting the building.
As for what they've heard from the community, “Their No. 1 request was a bank,” Gommenginger said.
Hablutzel confirmed that the downtown merchants continue to hope at least for an ATM to be located in the downtown.
However, he said Westamerica Bank has indicated that the deed for the building will include a clause preventing any banking facility, ATM or night deposit being located in the building for 10 years.
He said bank officials said that was “pretty standard with the other buildings that they've donated,” adding that this is the bank's fourth building donation.
Other than banking, no ideas for the building's future use are off the table, Gommenginger said, adding, “Any ideas that people have, we're open to hearing them.”
Anyone who has an idea or suggestion about future uses of the building is invited to call Gommenginger at the Hospice Services of Lake County Lakeport headquarters office, 707-263-6222.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Registrar Of Voters Office reported on its schedule for processing vote-by-mail ballots and conducting the canvass for the upcoming general district election on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley said her office will begin processing vote-by-mail for the election at 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 19.
The processing of the vote-by-mail voter ballots will continue through Election Day as well as during the official canvass, she said.
The counting of the official ballots will commence on Tuesday, Nov. 3, in the Registrar of Voters Office – Room 209, second floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport – however, Fridley said results will not be announced until after the close of the polls at 8 p.m.
Fridley said the official canvass will commence on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 9 a.m. and will continue daily – excluding weekends and holidays – until completed.
Observers are invited to view the processing and counting of the ballots, but shall not interfere with the election process, Fridley said.