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Federal funding will be coming to California to help rebuild areas damaged by the 6.0 Napa quake that occurred last month.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Thursday night that federal disaster aid has been made available to the state of California to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in the area affected by an earthquake during the period of Aug. 24 to Sept. 7.
President Obama's action makes federal funding available to state and eligible tribal and local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the earthquake in Napa and Solano counties.
Federal funding also is available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures for all counties and tribes within the state.
Stephen M. De Blasio Sr. has been named as the federal coordinating officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.
De Blasio said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.
COBB, Calif. – Firefighters are working to get a small wildland fire that was sparked Thursday afternoon by a vehicle fire under control.
The incident – which radio reports indicated may have begun with a vehicle crash – was first reported shortly before 4:30 p.m. in the area of 10974 Fawn Court on Cobb.
Cal Fire Battalion Chief Greg Bertelli said at around 5:30 p.m. that the fire – which was putting up a lot of smoke – had burned about a quarter of an acre.
He said the area's heavy – and extremely dry – vegetation is a concern for firefighters. However, at that point there were no winds driving the fire.
A Cal Fire air tanker is remaining in the area as a contingency, Bertelli said.
Bertelli said Lake County Fire Protection District sent a water tender and Kelseyville Fire sent a type three engine to assist with the incident.
He said nearby Gifford Springs Road remains open.
Additional details will be posted as they become available.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Respect for the sacrifice and service provided to this country by veterans was on display at the American Legion Hall Post No. 437 in Clearlake on Wednesday, as Lake County's inaugural “Stand Down” event got under way.
The second, and final day of the United Veterans Council's event takes place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday.
All veterans are invited and encouraged to attend to gain connection with a myriad of resources, made accessible especially for them, in one inclusive location.
More than 60 veterans seeking information about the available services were welcomed to the event before noon on day one, demonstrating what Lake County UVC President Frank Parker said was a clear need for increased accessibility to veteran services.
“The turnout is great for a first-time event. I'm impressed with the amount of providers here and the response from the veteran community,” Parker said. “We have agencies volunteering as far north to Fort Bragg, Mendocino County and south to Sonoma County. We will turn no veteran away and we encourage them to bring their spouses.”
The Stand Down event hearkens to a time in war when combat units, exhausted in battle, are granted a reprieve for rest and recovery, a time for removal from the battlefields to a place of relative security and safety.
“This is about connecting veterans with the services they need,” Jim Yates, veteran volunteer of American Legion Post No. 437, said. “The major theme for today is what we do in the 'Vet Connect' every day.”
The Stand Down event takes the Vet Connect program in Lake County to a new level as it strives to increase access to services to veterans throughout the region.
It unites a variety of organizations and services providers, including on-site health care practitioners, in an collaborative effort to serve those who have served and sacrificed for this country.
District 1 Supervisor Jim Comstock, a Vietnam veteran, also was on hand to welcome fellow veterans to the event Wednesday.
“Yes, I am a supervisor for District 1, but that is nothing. First and foremost I am a veteran and I want to thank everyone for being here and the veterans for their service,” Comstock said.
Comstock spoke of the time when he joined the service. He went on to recognize the abundance of homeless veterans in the area, which was a concern emphasized throughout the event Wednesday.
“There are a lot of veterans who are homeless in this county,” he said. “They deserve to be recognized and taken care of, and that's why all of you providers are here.”
The event includes the participation of more than 40 service providing agencies, with representatives offering information regarding Social Security benefits, housing needs, nutrition, mental health services, education, employment and more.
Mobile health and dental care teams are on site, providing a variety of services from dental care to general practitioner services.
Physician Assistant Brad Greaves said the Sutter Health Mobile Healthcare unit is equipped to provide services just as any visit to doctor's office, including electronic medical records capabilities. The unit is wheelchair accessible as well.
“There are so many good things going on here today,” District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith said. “It's so good to get all these services here in a one-stop sort of event.”
The two-day Stand Down event continues, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, at the American Legion Post Hall No. 437, 14770 Austin Road in Clearlake.
Email Denise Rockenstein at
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – An Upper Lake community member who last week lost her home in a wildland fire is the focus of a newly launched fundraising effort.
Leslie Sue Humphrey escaped the Saratoga Fire – which began on the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 3 – with just the clothes on her back and her cat, Maow Maow.
Officials said the fire was sparked along Highway 20 near Saratoga Springs Road when a vehicle driven by Jackson resident Shellie Boulais, 52, went off the road and into a ditch shortly before 4 p.m. on Sept. 3. Boulais later was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
Humphrey moved to Upper Lake in 1985, initially living in the Hunter Point area.
In 1998 she purchased the property at 4020 Highway 20, on the highway's north side, and developed it to include a modular home, shed, greenhouse, pump house and water storage tank.
Her brother had lived the last years of his life there, and her son also was a resident, along with 2-year-old Maow Maow, who showed up as a kitten in the engine bay of her son's vehicle.
On the day of the fire, Humphrey said her son had just left to go to the grocery store when she smelled smoke, which prompted her to call 911. The dispatcher told her to leave immediately.
She said the fire moved “incredibly fast,” estimating it was four minutes from the time she noticed the smoke to the point where she left the house, after having stuffed the nervous Maow Maow into a cat carrier.
Humphrey got in her car and headed down the driveway, meeting up with a neighbor along the way who she urged to leave immediately with her children and animals.
Then Humphrey said she drove to Pet Acres to get a phone to try to call her son. As it turned out, both of their cell phones were still in her home.
“I knew the house was going to go,” she said. “The fire was just going so fast.”
The fire did, indeed, move quickly. Northshore Fire Protection District Chief Jay Beristianos said Humphreys' house was almost completely consumed by the time he got to the fire scene.
Initially, Humphrey stayed with her friend Claudine Pedroncelli, and now is staying at a Ukiah motel while she works with her insurance company to work out the details about rebuilding her home.
“I don’t know how long all of this is going to take,” said Humphrey.
Humphrey said that, in addition to the house, the shed also burned. However, her pump house and water storage tank are still standing. “Water is necessary for life so I feel very encouraged about that.”
Beristianos pointed out that, usually after a structure fire, there are some things left and residents can go in and sort them out.
“This poor lady lost everything,” Beristianos said, noting that Red Cross can help cover some of her immediate housing needs.
Beristianos and Pedroncelli both said that Humphrey is a person who has given a lot to her community.
Humphrey, a retired Mendocino College senior programmer analyst, said she tries to make herself available to help.
She has been working with Pedroncelli at Upper Lake Senior Support Services for the last year and a half, helps out at the library and during monthly food giveaways at the senior center, and also worked with Pedroncelli on a disaster preparedness plan for the lake's north side.
“I kind of feel like I'm a poster child of what you shouldn't do,” she said, looking back on her fire experience, for which she believes she should have been more prepared.
This week, she gave her friends the OK to begin an online fundraiser to help her get back on her feet.
The fundraiser can be found at http://www.youcaring.com/help-a-neighbor/saratoga-fire-victim/231200 .
As of early Thursday morning, the fundraiser had raised $920 of its $2,000 goal, with 51 days left.
While Humphrey is living on a small pension, she said she doesn't like the idea of taking money away from people who may be more in need of money than she is.
However, Beristianos – citing her contributions to the community – sees it differently.
“It’s an opportunity for the community to give back to her now,” he said.
The effort to get Humphrey help has centered on cash donations rather than donations of clothes and other items. Humphrey said she doesn't need any additional clothes at the moment, and isn't sure of just exactly what she will need since she's early in the process of rebuilding.
“I'm in a hotel right now so everything's incredibly temporary,” she said.
In discussing her experience, Humphrey has focused on the positive, and the good she has experienced thanks to friends and neighbors.
“People have been so incredibly generous. It’s just mind-boggling to me,” she said, noting the many offers of help and places to stay. “I think we live in one of the best communities in the world.”
She's also very grateful to be alive, also expressing gratitude that her son and cat are both safe. Humphrey said she was glad her son was off running errands, otherwise he would have tried to go back to the house to save things.
“This is actually a good experience for me, to know how wonderful everybody is,” Humphrey said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The fourth annual Cardinal Sports Night, held this past Saturday at the Lake County Fairgrounds, once again broke fundraising records.
Sponsored by the Clear Lake High School Sports Foundation, more than $30,000 was raised during the evening's activities.
This very unique fundraiser gives the various athletic teams at Clear Lake High School to raise money for their respective programs through silent auction items, the basket raffle and the sale of “Coaches Competition” leis.
This year, the teams succeeded in raising more than $16,000 in the competition, which will be deposited directly to their accounts this week by the CLHS Sports Foundation.
“This is an amazing event not only to raise much-needed funds for our school’s athletic teams, but also the spirit and the energy in the room as all of the student-athletes clad in their various uniforms interacted with the members of the community was electric,” said Foundation President Derek Butcher. “The school spirit was overflowing!”
The annual Coaches Competition was, once again, the high point of the night.
This crazy, crowd-loving competition incorporates a scavenger hunt with musical chairs where each team sport coach can only grab those items from one of their lei wearing “team members” before rushing back to sit it in one of the remaining chairs.
This year’s competition was spirited to say the least and, for the second year in a row, it came down to boys basketball and golf.
Golf prevailed as the returning champion and took home the coveted perpetual plaque due to a penalty on basketball called by the referees and took home the coveted perpetual plaque.
The Sports Foundation thanked the community for its continued support, with special thanks to Lakeport Rotary, DJ Jeff Cerini, auctioneer Tim Wynacht, Lake Event Design, Cache Creek Vineyards, the Lakeport Fire Department and sponsors De Leon Engineering, Shore Line Realty, The Ice Water Co. and Dr Keith Long DDS.
Congressman John Garamendi (CA-03) this week joined Congressmen Jerry McNerney (CA-09) and Ami Bera (CA-07) in introducing legislation that would prohibit FY 2015 federal funds from being used for California’s Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP).
The BDCP includes the twin tunnels plan, which Garamendi – who represents part of Lake County – has termed a “boondoggle.”
The state administration has requested $4 billion to help implement the BDCP.
“California’s woefully inadequate water infrastructure definitely needs more federal investment, but the twin tunnels are a boondoggle and poor use of taxpayer dollars. Investments in water conservation, recycling, and storage are needed across the state. Instead of reigniting the California water war, let’s build consensus and invest in the priorities that create more reliable water for the entire state. We can increase supply without destroying the Delta or undermining water rights,” said Congressman Garamendi, former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The BDCP includes a proposal for two 33 foot-wide, 35 mile-long tunnels that would divert 112,207 gallons of water per second from the Delta and send it south.
Just two weeks ago, the state delayed the plan’s implementation due to concerns from the federal government about the environmental and economic impact of the tunnels, including the potential for salt water intrusion.
Both the Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA raised objections to the BDCP’s assumptions and called for major changes to the plan.
The BDCP is estimated to cost $25 billion, but analyses by independent groups show that the final expense could be more than $64 billion.
Water from Clear Lakes its way to the Bay Delta through Cache Creek and the Yolo Bypass.
Congressman Garamendi is the author of “A Water Plan for All California,” a comprehensive water strategy that invests in water conservation, recycling, and storage, makes needed levee improvements, protects senior water rights, preserves the Delta, and relies on a science-driven process.