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CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – A two-vehicle crash on Tuesday morning resulted in a local woman being flown out to a regional trauma center.
The California Highway Patrol said the crash, involving a 1998 GMC pickup and a 2010 Peterbilt semi, occurred at 9:50 a.m. Tuesday on Highway 20 at Hillside Drive near Clearlake Oaks.
The CHP said George Wilds, 47, of Lakeport, was driving his pickup eastbound on Highway 20 at an unknown speed, with his sister, Leanne Wilds, 50, also of Lakeport, and his 18-year-old son, Tyler, traveling with him.
Also traveling eastbound was 41-year-old Ronald Crone Jr., 41, of Anderson. The CHP said Crone, who was ahead of George Wilds, was driving the Peterbilt tractor at approximately 30 miles per hour and towing a 2011 Great Dane trailer.
The CHP said George Wilds attempted to pass Crone over double yellow lines in a curve.
As Wilds attempted to return into the eastbound lane, the right rear of his pickup hit the left front of Crones' semi. The CHP said the impact caused the pickup to overturn and exit the south edge of the highway, where it hit two docks.
Leanne Wilds suffered moderate injuries, including pain to her neck and back, and abrasions to her face and arms, the CHP said. She was transported by REACH air ambulance to Kaiser in Vacaville.
George Wilds and his son both had minor injuries. The CHP said George Wilds had cuts to his arm and Tyler Wilds had cuts to his right foot and left elbow, and a bump on the head.
Father and son were treated at the scene by Northshore Fire paramedics and released, the CHP said. Crone was uninjured in the crash.
Both drivers and both passengers were wearing their seat belts, according to the CHP.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Registrar of Voters Office said that new sample ballot booklets and supplemental booklets are being sent to voters after printing errors were discovered.
Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley said that on Tuesday her staff discovered several printing errors in the booklets after receiving the county's sample ballot shipment.
The errors were made by the printing vendor her office contracts with for the booklets, Fridley said.
Fridley said voters residing in the following precincts will receive a new complete replacement sample ballot booklet titled “Reprint-2nd Issue”:
– 122 – Lower Lake;
– 124 – Bell Park, Clearlake;
– All of the voting precincts within the city limits of Lakeport: 411– LP Lange, 412 – LP Willow Tree, – 413 – LP Government, 414 – LP Fairgrounds;
– 421D – Cow Mountain;
– 422 – Scotts Valley;
– 441 – Big Valley;
– 442 – Lands End;
– 452 – Lakeside Pk;
– 461 – Donovan Valley.
Fridley said voters can check to see if they will be receiving a replacement sample ballot booklet by looking at the back cover of the sample ballot booklet under the nonprofit box-ballot type of 2, 8, 10 and 11.
Voters receiving a replacement sample ballot booklet should destroy their first sample ballot booklet because it contains incorrect information, Fridley said.
Fridley said all other voters not residing within the voting precincts listed above will be receiving a “supplemental” sample ballot booklet with the text of the proposed local measures within their jurisdictions.
She said voters who receive those supplemental booklets should not throw away their sample ballot booklet because the candidates printed on the sample ballot pages as well as their printed candidate statements are correct.
The only incorrect part of those booklets, Fridley said, is the first page of the marijuana cultivation ordinance Measure O.
Fridley said Measure L from the 2014 June Primary is printed instead of the first page of Measure O, however, all the other pages of Measure O are correct.
Fridley said the replacement booklets and the supplemental booklets will be printed at the printing vendor’s expense and not at the expense of Lake County taxpayers.
Voters are advised to phone the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office at 707-263-2372 if they have any questions.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County has been awarded federal funds for the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program.
Lake County has been chosen to receive $40,297 to supplement emergency food and shelter programs in the county.
The funds were made available through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The selection was made by a national board that is chaired by the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency and consists of representatives from American Red Cross; Catholic Charities, USA; National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA; The Salvation Army; United Jewish Communities; and the United Way of America.
A local board made up of representatives of the above-mentioned organizations and local service agencies will determine how the funds awarded to Lake County are to be distributed among the emergency food and shelter programs run by local service agencies in the area.
Under the terms of the grant from the national board, local agencies chosen to receive funds must: 1) be private voluntary nonprofits or units of government; 2) be eligible to receive federal funds; 3) have an accounting system; 4) practice nondiscrimination; 5) have demonstrated the capability to deliver emergency food and/or shelter programs; and 6) if they are a private voluntary organization, they must have a voluntary board.
Qualifying agencies are urged to apply to North Coast Opportunities.
The deadline for applications to be received at North Coast Opportunities is noon on Friday, Oct. 31.
Public or private voluntary agencies interested in applying for emergency food and shelter program funds must contact Traci Boyl, executive assistant, North Coast Opportunities, 707-467-3201 or
Only electronic copies of applications will be accepted.
All funded agencies must complete a two hour training provided by the local board to be held at North Coast Opportunities. The training date yet to be determined.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Four urban sections of the San Andreas Fault system in Northern California have stored enough energy to produce major earthquakes, according to a new study that measures fault creep.
Three fault sections – Hayward, Rodgers Creek and Green Valley – are nearing or past their average recurrence interval, according to the study published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.
The earthquake cycle reflects the accumulation of strain on a fault, its release as slip, and its reaccumulation and rerelease.
Fault creep is the slip and slow release of strain in the uppermost part of the Earth's crust that occurs on some faults between large earthquakes, when much greater stress is released in only seconds.
Where no fault creep occurs, a fault is considered locked and stress will build until it is released by an earthquake.
This study estimates how much creep occurs on each section of the San Andreas Fault system in Northern California. Enough creep on a fault can diminish the potential size of its next earthquake rupture.
“The extent of fault creep, and therefore locking, controls the size and timing of large earthquakes on the Northern San Andreas Fault system,” said James Lienkaemper, a co-author of the study and research geophysicist at U.S. Geological Survey. “The extent of creep on some fault sections is not yet well determined, making our first priority to study the urban sections of the San Andreas, which is directly beneath millions of Bay Area residents.”
Understanding the amount and extent of fault creep directly impacts seismic hazard assessments for the region.
The San Andreas Fault system in Northern California consists of five major branches that combine for a total length of approximately 1250 miles.
Sixty percent of the fault system releases energy through fault creep, ranging from 0.1 to 25.1 mm (.004 to 1 inch) per year, and about 28 percent remains locked at depth, according to the authors.
Monitoring of creep on Bay Area faults has expanded in recent years. The alignment array measurements made by the San Francisco State University Creep Project and recently expanded GPS station networks provide the primary data on surface creep, which the authors used to estimate the average depth of creep for each fault segment.
Where available, details of past ruptures of individual faults, unearthed in previous paleoseismic studies, allowed the authors to calculate recurrence rates and the probable timing and size of future earthquakes.
According to the study, four faults have accumulated sufficient strain to produce a major earthquake.
Three creeping faults have large locked areas (less than 1 mm or .04 inches of creep per year) that have not ruptured in a major earthquake of at least magnitude 6.7 since the reporting of earthquakes by local inhabitants: Rodgers Creek, northern Calaveras and southern Green Valley.
The southern Hayward fault, which produced a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in 1868, is now approaching its mean recurrence time based on paleoseismic studies.
The authors also estimate three faults appear to be nearing or have exceeded their mean recurrence time and have accumulated sufficient strain to produce large earthquakes: the Hayward (M 6.8), Rodgers Creek (M 7.1) and Green Valley (M 7.1).
“The San Andreas Fault and its two other large branches, the Hayward and Northern Calaveras, have been quiet for decades. This study offers a good reminder to prepare today for the next major earthquake,” said Lienkaemper.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Forecasters are predicting small amounts of rain in Lake County over the next few days.
The National Weather Service reported that a storm system is expected to move into the Coastal Range on Tuesday afternoon before spreading inland Tuesday night and into Wednesday.
In addition to light rainfall, the storm is anticipated to bring light winds and cooler temperatures to Lake County.
The National Weather Service said daytime temperatures around Lake County are expected to hover in the high 60s and low 70s, with nighttime temperatures in the high 40s, ranging up to the mid-50s.
Rainfall totals around Lake County are not expected to exceed a 10th of an inch, according to the forecast.
On Thursday, conditions are expected to clear, with chances of rain returning Friday and Saturday, according to the forecast.
While Sunday is expected to be mostly clear, clouds are forecast to settle over Lake County Sunday night, with a slight chance of showers forecast again on Monday, the National Weather Service reported.
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Last week's hotter-than-normal conditions contributed to more than 100 new fires across California, state fire officials said Monday.
However, Cal Fire's latest Fire Situation Report said that despite hot and dry conditions, firefighters have continued to make progress on the big blazes.
Two major incidents continue to burn this week, including the Applegate Fire in Placer County and the Happy Camp Complex in Siskiyou County.
Fire officials expect hot and dry conditions, along with winds, to continue, although there is the possibility of some rain ahead this week across Northern California.
This week, Cal Fire's Situation Report also paid tribute to Geoffrey “Craig” Hunt, 62, of San Jose, the pilot killed while fighting the Dog Rock Fire near Yosemite National Park on Oct. 7.
For the full update, see the video above.
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