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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area office is offering traffic safety classes to teens this weekend and early in March.
The free two-hour “Start Smart” program will be presented to newly licensed and teenage drivers and their parents/guardians from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, at the CHP office, 5700 Live Oak Drive in Kelseyville.
Then, in early March, Start Smart will hit the road and head for the south county, where the class will be presented from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 4, in room 7 at Middletown High School, 20932 Big Canyon Road.
The program is designed to provide an interactive safe driving awareness class which will illustrate how poor choices behind the wheel of a car can affect the lives of numerous people.
Start Smart also focuses on responsibilities of newly licensed drivers, responsibilities of parents/guardians and collision avoidance techniques.
Lt. Hector Paredes, commander of the CHP Clear Lake Area, is putting increased emphasis on the program in an effort to save young lives.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 15 and 20 is motor vehicle collisions.
Paredes said such traffic collisions involving young, inexperienced drivers, are preventable.
The Start Smart program is aimed at helping newly licensed and future licensed teenage drivers understand the critical responsibilities of driving and to understand that accidents happen.
Space for the classes is limited.
For more information or to make reservations, call CHP Officer Kory Reynolds at 707-279-0103.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – On Tuesday a joint resolution requesting that President Barack Obama designate the Berryessa Snow Mountain region as a national monument passed in the State Assembly.
The resolution, AJR4, was introduced by Assemblyman Bill Dodd and coauthored by Marc Levine and Jim Wood.
The joint resolution will now go to the Senate where it is coauthored by Senators Lois Wolk and Mike McGuire.
The Berryessa Snow Mountain region is renowned for its rich biological diversity, geologic features and wealth of recreational resources.
It encompasses more than 350,000 acres across Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Solano and Yolo counties.
“Permanently protecting this region will ensure that animals and plant life will continue to flourish and that future generations will be allowed to enjoy this area,” stated Dodd during his testimony. “The region’s geographical proximity to the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento makes it an excellent destination for outdoor recreation that is easily accessible to millions of Californians.”
A recent economic study released by the Winters Chamber of Commerce Studies shows that a national monument designation will be beneficial to the surrounding economies adding $50 million over five years.
Protected public lands are major contributors to our country’s $646 billion outdoor recreation economy.
In California more than half of all residents participate in outdoor recreation each year, supporting more than 700,000 jobs and generating more than $6 billion for the state’s economy.
Residents and tourists alike visit these public lands to enjoy stunning displays of nature; including California’s second-largest population of wintering bald eagles, wild tule elk, osprey, river otters, half the state’s dragonfly species, a huge variety of butterflies, a unique and rich geology of serpentine soils, and an array of rare and endemic plants found nowhere else on the planet.
Currently over 80,000 individuals, 200-plus business owners, five counties included within the designation and many surrounding cities, and the state of California support a national monument designation for the Berryessa Snow Mountain region.
Other supporters include conservation and outdoor recreationists, including hikers, mountain bikers, horseback riders, off-road recreation groups and sportsmen groups.
Supporters maintain that establishment of a national monument in the Berryessa Snow Mountain region will improve coordination between federal agencies, protect our natural resources, provide additional federal funding opportunities for conservation management, help with the eradication of invasive species and illegal marijuana grown on public lands, and provide opportunities for recreational enhancement.
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol has released the name of a man who died when his motorcycle collided with a vehicle on Saturday afternoon.
Jeffrey Keith Boorn, 51, of Hidden Valley Lake died in the wreck, which occurred on Highway 175 west of Socrates Mine Road near Middletown, according to CHP Officer Kory Reynolds.
The CHP's initial report on the crash said Boorn was traveling westbound on a 1998 Honda Super Hawk at an undetermined rate of speed when he lost control in a turn and the motorcycle went down.
Boorn's motorcycle slid into the oncoming lane and the path of a 2002 Chrysler Sebring driven by 62-year-old Cobb resident William Chambers Jr., who was unable to stop before the motorcycle hit his car.
The CHP said Boorn died at the scene.
A fundraising page has been set up for Boorn's family at http://www.gofundme.com/boornmemorialfund .
Boorn – a husband and father of two who worked at Tire Pros in Clearlake – was reported to have been on his way home from work when the crash occurred.
The fundraiser's organizers are trying to raise $15,000 to help the family. As of late Tuesday afternoon, nearly $5,900 had been raised.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A boat that sank earlier this month off a Lakeport pier and was subsequently broken apart by a winter storm was removed from Clear Lake on Saturday thanks to the work of county personnel and contractors hired by Lake County Water Resources.
On Monday, what's left of the “Casa-Nova” sat on a boat ramp near Andrew and Lynn Wallar's home at Rocky Point Cottages on Lakeshore Boulevard.
The Wallars said the boat is expected to be dismantled, possibly as early as Tuesday, before county officials have it hauled away. The Monday Presidents Day holiday delayed the work.
Along with another neighbor, Ulysses Mckeown, the Wallars have watched in dismay as the 28-foot 1960s-era boat, which was tied to a neighboring property owner's dock in shallow water on Feb. 5, has fallen apart just offshore of their homes.
Andrew Wallar said he regularly does cleanup in the lake, noting he often pulls junk – including in one recent case, boat motors – from the water. But this situation was far worse than usual.
“It's a mess,” he said Monday.
There was an attempt to put the boat into a boat lift before it was moved in closer to shore using a trolling motor in about 3 feet of water. The neighbors estimated that the boat sank sometime on the night of Feb. 5 or early on the morning of Feb. 6.
The subsequent big weekend storm that followed brought a large amount of rain plus wind. The wind caused big waves on the lake that broke the boat into pieces and scattered debris across the shoreline and tules.
“It didn't take long” for the waves to destroy the boat, Wallar said.
With the boat's owner making no attempt to remove the boat, the neighbors contacted county officials to ask for assistance, starting with the Sheriff's Marine Patrol, as well as Lake County Water Resources.
Lake County Environmental Health Director Ray Ruminski said that, on average, a few boats sink in the lake every year.
If the vessels are hazards to navigation and use of the lake, the Sheriff's Marine Patrol handles them, Ruminski said.
If there is an obvious petroleum leak into the lake, Ruminski's agency responds. In those cases, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife may also get involved, he said.
Carolyn Ruttan, Water Resources' invasive special program coordinator – who also organizes regular lake cleanup events – ended up coordinating the effort to have the Casa-Nova removed from the lake. She said sheriff's Sgt. Don McPherson of the Marine Patrol also was working on the case.
On Wednesday, Ruttan secured a $7,500 cleanup and abatement grant from the State Water Resources Control Board to have the boat removed. Ruttan estimated that the removal was going to take all of that money and possibly more to carry out.
Ruttan then said she contacted a salvage contractor to set up the removal.
The operation took place on Saturday. Wallar said Ruttan was on scene all day – from about 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. – as the removal took place. Ruttan personally picked up and removed debris from the broken boat that was on the shoreline.
“She worked really hard,” he said.
Wallar said he also removed a significant amount of debris, but there's still more on the shoreline where the boat originally was docked.
At one point, the man who owns the boat – who the neighbors don't know – showed up during the salvage operation and threatened to call the sheriff on Ruttan, who they said gave no quarter and continued on with her goal of getting the boat out of the lake.
Using floats, contractor Bullfrog Diving raised the Casa-Nova, when was then moved around closer to shore, with Rich's Towing Service pulling it up out of the lake with its engine intact, according to the neighbors and Ruttan.
While the plan was to get the boat up onto a flatbed, Wallar said it was determined that they couldn't get the boat onto the truck, thus the switch to the plan to dismantle it.
Ruttan said a friend of the property owner – who lives in Riverside County – allowed the boat's owner to tie it to his dock.
“So the actual property owner is nowhere in sight,” she said.
Nevertheless, the property owner is still responsible, and so Ruttan said the property owner ultimately will be expected to pay the bill for removing the boat. If he doesn't pay it, a lien will be placed on his property.
The Wallars said a Marine Patrol deputy also told them that the boat owner may face a fine.
Mckeown and the Wallars praised Ruttan for her work to remedy the situation.
Ruttan, in turn, thanked Frank Ley and his family, Bullfrog Diving, the neighbors who assisted – including the Wallars – and Rich's Towing Service for their Valentine's Day efforts on behalf of the lake.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County’s Polar Plunge, a teeth-chattering winter foray into the murky depths of Clear Lake benefiting Lake County Special Olympics, this year will be reduced to a cooling-off period.
“This year the lake will not be as cold as usual,” said a spokesman for Clearlake Outdoors, a business on Soda Bay Road. “Usually, it’s about 50 degrees. This year it will be about 57 or 58.”
In its sixth year, the Lake County Polar Plunge is expected to attract 75 courageous water lovers to the banks of Clear Lake in Lakeside County Park, 1985 Park Drive in Kelseyville, on Saturday, Feb. 21.
About 60 of them will take the full plunge, according to Peggy Buchholz, a spokesperson for the event.
Buchholz and husband, Steve, have been involved with organizing the event for all six of the years that it's been going in Lake County, and the enthusiasm hasn't waned.
“People keep jumping in the lake,” she said.
The plunge will begin at noon with registration set to begin at 10:45 a.m. A post-plunge party will take place at 12:30 p.m. at the Kelseyville Lions Club, 4335 Sylar Lane.
Buchholz said there are about 100 Special Olympics athletes in Lake County, who the funds will assist with their sporting efforts.
“The money that we raise stays here with our athletes,” said Buchholz.
So far this year about $14,000 has been raised, said Buchholz, adding that the event averages between $12,000 and $16,000 each year.
To some of the participants, plunging a big toe will be sufficient. For that matter the tootsie plunge is brave enough for event organizers.
Those who prefer to stay out of the lake altogether will receive a hooded sweatshirt commemorating the event, just so long as they pony up $125. But they’ll be formally designated as “chickens.”
Costumes are encouraged and will be judged.
Many – if not most – participants will be members of teams. Among them is a group of lawmen including Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin calling themselves the “Shivering Sheriffs.”
Among other teams are People Services and, of course, the Chickens, who last year raised $2,125, which was only second only to a team called the Engle B.
Last year’s top 10 individual fundraisers were Tony Wymer, Beth Buchholz, Teddi Walker, Kerry Buchholz, Eric Saderlund, John Drewrey, Val Schweifler, Jordan Marquardt, Lynne Demele and B. Cheyenne.
The Polar Plunge is a nationwide event in support of Special Olympic athletes. It is the only fundraiser for Lake County Special Olympics.
For more information about the Polar Plunge, contact Steve or Peggy Buchholz at 707-279-4280 or
Donations may be sent to Lake County Special Olympics, P.O. Box 94, Lakeport, CA 95453.
General information about the Polar Plunge can be found at http://www.polarplungenorcalnv.com/faqs/ .
If you'd like to support a local team, information about teams is available at http://kelseyville.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeam.asp?ievent=1124181&lis=1&kntae1124181=836693ED440642B6876EFD2627A0C8A4 .
Email John Lindblom at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County's popular fall event, the Konocti Challenge bike ride, has been voted “Best Metric Century Ride of 2014” by readers of Cycle California Magazine.
The award is announced in the magazine's February edition, a copy of which can be seen below. The announcement is on page 7.
A metric century is a ride of 100 kilometers, or 62 miles.
The Konocti Challenge is hosted annually by the Lakeport Rotary Club.
Ride Director Jennifer Strong, in announcing the award to the event's supporters, noted that it was gratifying to be honored because of the many metric centuries, as well as the fact that the awards were decided by a vote of cyclists.
The event offers challenging courses of 65 and 100 miles that wind around Clear Lake and into the foothills, a 40-mile course through the north Lakeport area and a 20-mile family fun ride.
Strong said the award comes as the Lakeport Rotary Club prepares to hold the 25th anniversary ride this Oct. 3.
Thanks to the ride's new distinction, organizers are encouraging participants to register early.
For more information about the Konocti Challenge, visit http://www.konoctichallenge.com/ and follow the ride on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KonoctiChallengeLC?ref=stream&fref=nf .
Other bike events in honored in Cycle California Magazine included the following: double century – Davis Double; century – Tehachapi Granfondo; fun ride, Bike Around the Buttes; road race – Alta Velo Pescadero Road Race; criterium – Nevada City Classic; circuit race – Sea Otter Classic; cross country – Keyesville Classic; downhill – Sea Otter Classic; cyclocross – Sacramento Cyclocross; and endurance – 12 Hours of Temecula.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Cycle California Magazine - February 2015 edition by LakeCoNews