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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Two cats are waiting for adoption at Lake County Animal Care and Control this week.
The cats available are a calico and an all-black male.
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”).
'Mom'
“Mom” is a domestic short hair mix with calico markings.
She's in cat room kennel No. 27, ID No. 2213.
Domestic medium hair mix
This handsome and sweet fellow has an all-black coat.
He's in cat room kennel No. 58, ID No. 2187.
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 .
Please note: Cats listed at the shelter's Web page that are said to be “on hold” are not yet cleared for adoption.
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
CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – This year's annual Catfish Derby reeled in a bigger field and bigger fish all around, with two local fishermen winning the adult and children's divisions.
The Clearlake Oaks-Glenhaven Business Association's derby, knowns as the largest catfish tournament west of the Mississippi, began Friday and wrapped up Sunday afternoon.
“We had a total of 823 adult and 146 kids entries, a record turnout,” said Dennis Locke, one of the event's organizers. “Sixty-nine percent of the contestants were from outside Lake County, with visitors from all over California, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.”
John Fleenor of Middletown won the adult division with a fish weighing 24.74 pounds. Locke said Fleenor took home a $4,000 prize for his winning catch.
The rest of the adult division top 10 included Gerald Langley, Madera, 24.66 pounds; Cody Reynolds, Woodland, 24.06 pounds; Steven Johnson, Stockton, 23.42
pounds; Lenny Davidson, Sheridan, 22.68 pounds; Jim Redmond, Yuba City, 21.68 pounds; Rodney Lane, Stockton, 21.32 pounds; Jared Lane, Hood River, Ore., 21.23 pounds; Bennett Thompson, Sacramento, 20.98 pounds; John Knoten Jr., Marysville, 20.80 pounds.
In the children's division, Bradley Hansen of Lower Lake took the top prize with an 18.55-pound fish. He won an Apple iPad mini, Locke said.
The other two finishers in the children's division were Ethan Pike, Clearlake, 17 pounds; Cody Redmond, Yuba City, 16.76 pounds.
A total of $10,000 in cash and merchandise were awarded to derby contestants, according to Locke.
Locke said fishing conditions were generally good, with contestants bringing in fewer but larger fish than are usually seen at the derby.
“Contestants reported fairly windy conditions and lower temperatures on Friday and Saturday, and brief rain Saturday afternoon,” Locke said. “But conditions improved nicely Saturday evening into Sunday morning.”
Approximately 201 fish, weighing approximately 3011.98 pounds, were caught during the three-day tournament. Of those, organizers said 161 fish were released and 40 kept.
Locke said more than 70 volunteers – led once again this year by Derby Chair Gail Jonas – worked more than 700 hours during the four days of the tournament, Locke said.
The catfish derby is the major fundraiser for the Clearlake Oaks-Glenhaven Business Association.
All proceeds are given back to the community in the form of donations, scholarships, grants and funding for the July 4th Maxine Sherman Memorial Annual Fireworks display.
For more information about the organization visit http://www.clearlakeoaks.org .
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A weekend storm brought rain, hail, thunder and lightning strikes to parts of Lake County, with forecasters predicting chances of more rain and thunderstorms in the first half of the week.
The storm began Saturday, with the Lakeport area getting some heavy rain, which drenched participants in the annual Relay for Life at Clear Lake High School.
Then, late Sunday afternoon, thunder and lightning began rolling through the county.
At around 6:20 p.m., lightning struck a house in the 3000 block of Oak Crest Drive in Clearlake Park, according to radio reports and neighbors.
Scott Patterson reported that the initial strike on the house “was followed in quick succession by several additional strikes,” with the house suffering damage – including having the roof and all windows blown out or off the structure.
He said other homes in the area suffered minor damage and all wired electrical and telecommunications were disabled, but there were no injuries to people or animals.
The strikes also resulted in a transformer fire and power outage, according to radio reports and the Pacific Gas and Electric outage center.
The Kelseyville area got hit by a flurry of hail and rain on Sunday.
Kelseyville resident Clelia Baur reported extremely heavy hail on Mt. Konocti and a lot of thunder starting at around 5 p.m. She said torrents of mud streamed down Riviera West Drive toward Clear Lake.
The Sunday storm also resulted in flooding, rock and mud slides and fallen trees on Soda Bay Road, with county roads crews dispatched to clear roadways, according to radio reports and the California Highway Patrol.
Twenty-four hour rainfall totals posted late Sunday by the National Weather Service ranged from 0.02 of an inch in Lower Lake, 0.03 of an inch at Indian Valley Reservoir, 0.04 of an inch in Kelseyville and 0.10 of an inch in Upper Lake.
The National Weather Service reported that chances of more rain are in the 30- to 40-percent range in much of the county during the day on Monday, but 20 percent in Middletown.
Throughout the county, rain expectations fall to 20 percent on Monday night, with light winds and rainfall totals of under a tenth of an inch, although higher amounts may be possible in the case of thunderstorms.
Forecasters predict 20-percent chances of showers on Tuesday and Wednesday, and a slight chance of rain also on Thursday. Conditions are expected to clear Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Daytime highs are forecast to be in the low 70s, with nighttime lows in the low 50s, based on the forecast.
Additional updates on weather conditions will be posted as they become available.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – April marked the fourth year since three churches joined in their efforts to meet the needs of their community by hosting the Kelseyville Food Pantry.
Steve Nesheim, the 16-year minister of Kelseyville Presbyterian, said they needed to find a better way to get food to the hungry after a voucher system wasn’t reaching as many people as they’d hoped.
That’s when the Unitarian Universalist, Kelseyville United Methodist and Kelseyville Presbyterian churches – just a stone’s throw away from each other – collaborated to create the Kelseyville Food Pantry.
“Each [church] was helping in their own piecemeal way,” said Nesheim. “But we’ve been able to do more by coming together.”
That was four years ago. Since then, with the help of volunteers from all three congregations, they have grown from feeding a dozen families each month to feeding hundreds of community members.
“We are steadily growing, from a giveaway of 11 bags the first month to a giveaway of a total of 171 bags in January, serving 550 people,” said Julie Berry, a member and volunteer at Kelseyville Presbyterian.
Berry said they estimate the cost of each bag – with fresh produce and cheese – at $45, so the food pantry's cost would have been $7,695 in January.
Guests line up long before the doors open at 3:30 p.m. where, as volunteer Nancy Horn said, “Some wait all day.”
But before the doors open volunteers join hands as Kelseyville United Methodist lay minister Voris Brumfield says a prayer.
Then the rush begins. As guests sign in, volunteers line up and wait to be paired with each person.
According to volunteers, this element is what makes the Kelseyville Food Pantry unique: the individual attention volunteers give to the specific needs of each person, who is often selecting food for their whole family.
On the tables there is an assortment of canned vegetables, hot dog buns, peanut butter, boxes of Cheerios and macaroni and cheese, baskets of apples and bunches of bananas.
After each person has made their selection they can choose one additional item from what volunteers call “Jack’s Table,” an assortment of extras that guests might not get very often.
On Tuesday the Bisquick pancake mix and Martinelli’s sparkling apple cider were the first to go.
Most food in the pantry is donated by the community, but volunteer Rich Simpson said they’ve come up with a few different ways to bring in more to meet the need.
“We look at the paper,” Simpson said. “When Safeway or the outlet has tuna for 79 cents a can we buy six cases of tuna because that’s a good price. And you can’t beat it with the food bank prices in Santa Rosa.”
Most of the fresh produce is donated by Riviera Foods and during the summer volunteers work in the high school greenhouse to add the fresh harvest to their supply.
“They’re all planted with tomatoes and that stuff,” Simpson said. “And we take care of it all through the summer and then we get to harvest the product and bring it in here, so in the summertime we have squash and tomatoes, potatoes …”
Simpson said that one of their greatest challenges is knowing what to get and how much but “tuna fish is very popular, and all the vegetables,” he said.
Horn pointed out that they’re always in need of canned food with meat or other high protein non-perishables. Nesheim said they go through peanut butter cases at a time.
The pantry used to provide eggs but with the increase in prices due to recent legislation they have no longer been able to provide them.
Regardless, Simpson said, “We’ve been very very lucky.”
The Kelseyville Food Pantry has moved from the United Methodist Church to Kelseyville Presbyterian and serves from 3:30 to 5 p.m. the second and fourth Tuesday of the month.
For information about donating to the food pantry or receiving assistance, call Kelseyville Presbyterian Church at 707-279-1104.
Email Shari Shepard at
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum's monthly living history series' most recent guest shared memories of Kelseyville's colorful past.
Lifelong Kelseyville resident Floraine Chalk was the visiting local historian on April 25.
Her appearance was the third so far in the series, which has included Ruby Glebe and Skip Rohner.
The video of her appearance can be viewed above.
Daughter of Louise and Elvin Saderlund, Chalk's family had a ranch and a number of local businesses in Kelseyville, including a store and car and tractor dealerships.
Seated on the stage stop museum's broad wraparound porch, Chalk discussed the founding of the local post offices, shared about some of the early families who came to settle in Lake County and gave a brief overview of her own family history.
After her father's death in 1972, her mother donated the land in Kelseyville that would become known as Saderlund Park.
She remembered playing in the old Kelseyville jail when she was a child. Her son, Bob Chalk – the city of Clearlake's retired police chief – joked that she probably should have spent a little time in it.
She also recounted the July 1942 fire that burned six businesses in downtown Kelseyville.
There also was the incident where some local boys inadvertently dug up the graves of Charles Stone and Andrew Kelsey, who were murdered in retaliation for their cruel treatment of the local Pomo.
The boys had to march through town, rebury the bones and build a small fence around the graves, she said.
The property that is now home to the Big Valley Rancheria at one time belonged to her great-grandfather. She said the state took the property by eminent domain in order to create a rancheria there.
Her first job was working at the Argonaut Store, near the site of the current Mt. Konocti Growers.
She said during the discussion that she recounted Kelseyville burning twice during the years she has lived there.
Chalk also shared with the group a variety of historical pictures she has collected over the years, and read some passages from historical reports about local roadways including the Highland Springs toll road.
She had on display at the event some of her artwork – a number of painted teapots and milk cans.
At the museum's next living history event on May 23, Ruby Glebe will return for her second appearance.
The Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum is located at 9921 Highway 281 (Soda Bay Road) in Kelseyville. Current hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.
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.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
NORTH COAST, Calif. – A San Francisco man died Friday evening after losing control of his motorcycle on the Mendocino County side of Highway 175.
The California Highway Patrol's Ukiah office did not release the 41-year-old man's name on Saturday pending notification of next of kin.
The CHP said the man was riding a 2014 Victory motorcycle eastbound at an unknown speed on Highway 175 near mile post marker 3 at around 7:30 p.m. Friday when the crash occurred.
Based on witness statements, the CHP said the rider lost control of the motorcycle for unknown reasons, with both the rider and motorcycle going down on the pavement.
The man continued across the westbound lane of traffic where he hit a 2012 Ford F-250 pickup, the CHP said.
The pickup's driver applied the brakes and turned his vehicle to the right and off the roadway, but the CHP said he was unable to avoid hitting the motorcyclist.
Minutes later the CHP and medical personnel responded to the crash scene, with paramedics attempting to revive the motorcyclist, who died at the scene, the CHP said.
The CHP said the cause of the crash remains under investigation. Alcohol does not appear to be a factor, the agency said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at