News

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – County leaders will discuss efforts to address ongoing problems with crime and gang activity in Kelseyville at a town hall set for Monday, Aug. 19.

The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Kelseyville High School Student Center, 5480 Main St.

Speakers will include Supervisor Rob Brown and Undersheriff Pat Turturici, with Lake County Sheriff's Office and Probation Department staff to discuss their work with regard to gang problems within the county.

This will be an open forum as part of an ongoing attempt to establish a healthy and caring community free from crime.

In addition there will be information on the new Neighborhood Watch group which is forming in Kelseyville. 

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Compliance checks of 10 marijuana grow sites last week resulted in the eradication of 3,800 marijuana plants.

The compliance checks were conducted in the areas of Jerusalem Valley and Spruce Grove Road in Middletown and Morgan Valley in Lower Lake, according to Lt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

On Aug. 1 and 2, the Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force conducted an eradication effort targeting large scale illegal commercial marijuana cultivation operations, Brooks said.

He said the marijuana grow sites were located during aerial reconnaissance missions conducted earlier in the year.

During the operation, all suspects fled on foot or in vehicles avoiding law enforcement contact, Brooks said.

The grow sites were complex and large scale. Brooks said each grow site averaged 300 to 400 plants.

The Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force can be reached through its anonymous tip line at 707-263-3663.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The California Department of Fish and Wildlife reported that it has seen a significant reduction in mountain lions killed as a result of new policy implemented in February without a risk to public safety.

The new policy allows for more nonlethal options when there is an interaction between a mountain lion and humans.

“Last year, I directed the department’s leadership team to evaluate our guidelines on how we respond to interactions with mountain lions and bears to determine how we can do better,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. “I’m pleased that we have struck the balance and are witnessing fewer mountain lions killed without sacrificing any wildlife officer’s authority to make the correct public safety call for each situation.”

The previous human/wildlife interaction policy evaluation was fast tracked after two notable lethal mountain lion interactions took place at the end of 2012.

The stories of these interactions elevated the department’s need to evaluate current policy and to make changes to allow the use of nonlethal means.

As part of the evaluation, senior CDFW leadership met with many interested stakeholders from both sides of the issue.

Since the new policy was implemented, CDFW has ordered equipment for field staff to better handle the nonlethal means of handling human wildlife conflict calls. 

Many of the mountain lion and bear incidents that have happened have resulted in hazing wildlife away from the area of high public use or the darting and relocation of the animal, rather than lethal take.

In one incident in January, a lion in Santa Barbara was relocated to the Los Padres National Forest. In another incident in Santa Cruz in May, a lion had fallen into a culvert and could not jump out. He was darted and later released in the Soquel Demonstration State Forest. These are just two of many incidents that have ended nonlethally.

“Sometimes you can find a mountain lion or bear in an unusual location otherwise behaving normally,” said CDFW Law Enforcement Chief Mike Carion. “It isn’t always a threat to public safety. Every situation is unique. We are pleased that this policy allows us to evaluate each situation carefully and to choose a solution which allows a co-existence between humans and wildlife while allowing discretion to act when there is a public safety issue.”

For more information, please visit http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/lion/ . 

NICE, Calif. – Lake County residents recently got the chance to see if their treasures really have value.

Featherbed Railroad in Nice hosted Laurence Martin of TV’s “Baggage Battles,” who offered free valuations of items last Saturday.

Featherbed owner Tony Barthel and Martin are old friends, and during a recent stay Martin offered to do the valuations.

Besides learning more about their items, some county residents even made sales to Martin.

LAKEPORT, Calif. - Just about anything you can make or grow at home is eligible for entry into competition at the annual Lake County Fair, but the deadline for returning entries to exhibit items at the Lake County Fair is nearly here.

Entry for all divisions of exhibits must be in the fair office by 6 pm on Wednesday, Aug. 7.

The fair office will close promptly at 6 p.m., and late entries are not accepted. 

All entries into the Lake County Fair are made online at http://www.lakecountyfair.com/fair/competitions.  Online entries have been required since 2005.

The fair provides computers and high speed Internet service for the purpose of entering exhibits. The computers can be found during regular business hours in the fair office at the fairgrounds through Wednesday, Aug. 7.

Internet access also can be found in a number of other public places, including libraries and at Umpqua Bank branches.

Exhibitor Contest Handbooks are available in a variety of locations around Lake County, including the Lake County Chamber of Commerce, the 4-H Office, Kelseyville Drug, Lower Lake Feed, Bobbie's Family Feed, Middletown Feed, Lakeshore Feed, the Clearlake Chamber of Commerce, Pet Acres and the Redwood Empire Fair.

The Lake County Fair Board has chosen "Find Great Treasures!" for the theme of the 2013 Fair.

The Lake County Fair traditionally occurs Labor Day weekend each year at the fairgrounds in Lakeport. The 2013 fair dates are Thursday, Aug. 29, through Sunday, Sept. 1.

The fair is one of Lake County's favorite summertime events enjoyed by nearly 40,000 people each year.

For more information please visit the fair on the internet at www.lakecountyfair.com .

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – As the State’s Fire Prevention Fee continues to be implemented, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, is providing property owners multiple resources to answer their questions about the fee.

This outreach effort is being implemented as a result of Assembly Bill X1 29, which was signed into law July 7, 2011, establishing a fee for fire prevention services in the 31 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA).

Cal Fire said the revenue generated from the fee pays for vital fire prevention services within the SRA.

Fire prevention services funded by the fee include strategic fuel reduction activities, defensible space inspections, fire prevention engineering, emergency evacuation planning, fire prevention education, fire hazard severity mapping, implementation of the state’s and local fire plans ( http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/fire_er/fpp_planning_cafireplan ), and fire related law enforcement activities such as fire cause determination and arson investigation.

However, the fee remains controversial, with continuing efforts to have it overturned by grassroots organizations and the California Legislature.

Cal Fire has established a Web site, www.FirePreventionFee.org , which contains comprehensive information about the fee and helpful links to maps, the law language, and answers frequently asked questions.

Additionally, a customer service call center is staffed Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (except holidays) to further aid homeowners that have questions about the Fire Prevention Fee. The call center number is 1-888-310-6447.

Under the law, the Board of Equalization (BOE) is responsible for collecting the fee. The bills scheduled for mailing this summer are for Fiscal Year 2012/13, which includes July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013. 

The fee applies to the homeowner of record as of July 1, 2012, for all habitable structures within the SRA. 

The BOE began mailing the bills alphabetically by county on July 19.