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UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Upper Lake High School will host the Academic Decathlon on Saturday, Feb. 2.
Students from Kelseyville, Upper Lake, Lower Lake, Clear Lake and Middletown High Schools will come together to complete their regional competition.
This year’s national theme is Russia.
The community is welcome to attend the Super Quiz Bowl, where teams will test their knowledge in seven subjects including art, science and economics.
The Super Quiz will begin at 3:45 p.m. in the gym followed by the awards ceremony.
Only one team will go on to represent Lake County at the state competition in March. Upper Lake High is the defending county champion.
This event is free to the public.
Upper Lake High will be sponsoring a raffle during the event. Prizes include gift from Flowers by Jackie, Brassfield Winery, Rosa d’Oro Winery, Lavender Blue Wine, Blue Wing Saloon, Noggle Winery, Shed Horn Cellars, Lake Family Resource and more.
Tickets will be available for $2 each or 4 for $6.
All proceeds from the raffle will go directly to the team that advances to state.
For questions regarding the Academic Decathlon please contact Tammy Serpa at
CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – A Middletown man died Thursday evening after his van went off Highway 20 and hit a tree.
The California Highway Patrol did not release the name of the 59-year-old south county resident, pending notification of kin.
The CHP said the man, who was traveling alone, was driving a 1992 Ford van eastbound on Highway 20 in the vicinity of Beryl Way west of Clearlake Oaks at an unknown speed at approximately 5:50 p.m.
According to witnesses, the driver passed another vehicle on a blind curve, lost control of his van and slid sideways into a tree, the CHP said.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the CHP.
Unsafe speed, unsafe passing and failure to wear a seat belt are factors in the wreck, the CHP said.
The CHP said it is not known at this time if alcohol was a factor.
CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – A single-vehicle crash near Clearlake Oaks claimed a life Thursday evening.
The crash was reported shortly before 6 p.m. on Highway 20 near Garden Court west of Clearlake Oaks, and was partially blocking the roadway, according to radio and California Highway Patrol reports.
The vehicle involved was reported to have been a white cargo van, the CHP reported.
CHP reports indicated that a witness in another vehicle said the van tried to pass them on a corner, flipped and hit a tree.
The victim, reported to be a male, was found still moving, according to a report from a nurse who had called in from the scene, based on the CHP reports.
Firefighters arriving at the scene confirmed that the crash victim had died, and that major extrication would be needed to pull the individual from the wreckage.
A Lake County Sheriff’s deputy also was responding, according to radio reports.
One way traffic control was in effect around the crash, the CHP said.
The highway was reopened and all units had cleared the scene just after 7:45 p.m., according to the CHP.
Additional details will be posted as they become available.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The service of two search warrants by the Lake County Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force on Wednesday resulted in two arrests and the seizure of marijuana and firearms.
Nathan Paul Southern, 42, of Hidden Valley Lake and Miles Leon Barrett, 61, of Clearlake Park were arrested as a result of the search warrant service and subsequent findings of drugs and weapons, according to Lt. Steve Brooks.
On Tuesday narcotics detectives secured a search warrant for a residence and property located in the 11000 block of Patterson Drive in Clearlake Park, Brooks said. The following day, at approximately 10 a.m., detectives served the warrant at the residence.
Brooks said they contacted and detained Barrett and Nathan Southern, along with Petra Deaver, 49, of Clearlake Oaks and 42-year-old Julie Patrice Southern of Hidden Valley Lake without incident.
While conducting a search, narcotics detectives located what was described as a large, sophisticated, indoor marijuana growing operation. Brooks said the interior of the residence along with the attached two car garage had been converted into cultivation sites.
Detectives located 347 growing marijuana plants which were at different stages of maturity. A large quantity of processed was also located inside the residence, Brooks said.
The investigation led detectives to secure another search warrant for a residence and property located in the 17000 block of Knollview Drive in Hidden Valley Lake, according to Brooks.
At 1 p.m. Wednesday narcotics detectives served the warrant at the residence. While conducting a search, detectives located another indoor marijuana growing operation, Brooks said.
He said the attached two car garage and exterior porch were being used as cultivation sites for 72 marijuana plants. Numerous firearms, concentrated marijuana and processed marijuana were located inside the home.
Brooks said Nathan Southern was arrested for felony cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sales and being armed in the commission of a felony. Miles Barrett was arrested for felony cultivation of marijuana and possession of marijuana for sales.
He said both were transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility and booked. Bail for each was set at $15,000, and both later posted the necessary percentage of bail and were released, according to jail records.
Brooks said Julie Southern and Petra Deaver were released from the scene, however, the report will be submitted to the Lake County District Attorney’s Office for review and complaint against both Southern and Deaver.
Anyone with information that can assist the task force is encouraged to call the anonymous tip line at 707-263-3663.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The results are in from Lake County’s first comprehensive look at homelessness.
Last Friday, Jan. 25, Lake County conducted the count as part of the eight-county Dos Rios Continuum of Care, a partnership of private and public agencies working to provide services for the homeless or those at risk of becoming homeless, as Lake County News has reported.
All homeless continuums are required by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, to conduct a “point-in-time” count of homeless individuals and families during a specified week each year.
According to Lake County’s point-in-time count on Jan. 25, approximately 188 homeless individuals were reported around the county.
That breaks down as follows: Clearlake/Clearlake Oaks, 109; Lakeport, 37; Lucerne, 27; Kelseyville, 11; Middletown, three; and Upper Lake, one.
Based on the most recent estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau of Lake County’s population – 64,323 – the homeless documented in this month’s count amounts to 0.29 percent of the county’s total population.
That’s lower than California’s 0.36 percent rate but higher than the nationwide rate of 0.21 percent, according to www.statehealthfacts.org , a project of the Kaiser Family Foundation. Those numbers are based on findings for 2010, the most recent year analyzed.
Organizers currently are in the process of putting the information into a database so they can look at it more closely.
The conclusion so far, however, is that it illustrates that a need for services for the homeless does exist in Lake County, which has no homeless shelter.
The results provide an important baseline for local groups to plan for meeting the needs of Lake County’s homeless, according to organizers.
Gloria Flaherty, executive director of Lake Family Resource Center, one of the participating agencies, said the count will help qualify them for grants through HUD.
Flaherty said the local continuum committee looks for funding opportunities and collaborates on the development of proposals.
HUD reported last month on the final nationwide results of the January 2012 point-in-time homeless count, reporting that there was a slight decline in homelessness in 2012 based on reports from more than 3,000 cities and counties.
Among veterans and those experiencing long-term or chronic homelessness, HUD reported a 7-percent drop in homelessness in 2012.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A popular Kelseyville restaurant’s plans to move to a Lakeport facility have hit a snag, with the county’s top planning official reporting that the new location doesn’t have the proper zoning or permits.
As Lake County News reported earlier this week, Jan Mezoui, owner of Zino’s Ristorante, closed her Soda Bay location Dec. 30, and planned to have a grand reopening on Thursday, Feb. 14, at Rancho de la Fuente, located at 2290 Soda Bay Road.
Mezoui said she planned to hold dinners at Rancho de la Fuente three days a week.
Community Development Director Rick Coel got back to work Wednesday morning after a bout of the flu to find out about the plans, with Rancho de la Fuente’s neighbors complaining to the agency of the restaurant plan.
Coel said Rancho de la Fuente, owned by Frank Perez, is zoned agriculture. While Perez has a number of permits for a variety of uses – including a winery, bed and breakfast, farm labor camp, produce stand, cottage industry for food preparation and liquor sales permit, and can hold up to 24 special events a year – that doesn’t include weekly restaurant-style dinners.
Nobody had bothered to check with planning before announcing the Zino’s opening, said Coel.
Mezoui said she already has 60 reservations for the Valentine’s Day dinner, and Coel said he gave her clearance for that event, which will count toward the 24 events Perez is allowed to have during the year.
On Wednesday, Coel gave Perez a two-page letter explaining that the restaurant use wasn’t permitted, and that it would not be in compliance with his agricultural zoning or existing land use permits.
“Please be advised that enforcement action, including possible revocation of existing use permits, will be taken if it is determined that a Restaurant does begin operating at this location,” Coel said.
The letter also indicated that Coel spoke to Lake County Environmental Health staff, who said Perez did not have the correct permits from their agency for a restaurant.
On Wednesday, Mezoui told Lake County News that she should not have announced that she was reopening the restaurant, but that she was switching gears to do special events and catering at Rancho de la Fuente.
Separately, Perez – who also explained that they should not have called the new endeavor a “restaurant” – said he still planned to have Mezoui do three weekly dinners in connection with his winery tasting room.
His previous caterer recently retired and he said he felt working with Mezoui was a great fit.
“This all kind of happened spontaneously,” said Perez, noting that they hadn’t had time to think through everything and that they’re “working into this slowly.”
Coel, however, maintained that three dinners a week aren’t allowed under Perez’s existing permits. Three dinners a week would equate to 156 special events a year, well more than the permitted 24.
While he wishes Mezoui all the best in terms of her business, it can’t be at Rancho de la Fuente, Coel said, noting the entire situation has become confusing.
Perez said he picked up an application on Wednesday to modify his winery permit because he wants to pursue unlimited pairing dinners in conjunction with his winery tasting room, which he intends to be separate from the 24 special annual events. He said he plans to file the permit Thursday.
Coel confirmed that Perez asked for – and Coel handed him – an application form for a minor modification to his minor use permit. He said he also told Perez that it would need to be scheduled for a hearing before the Lake County Planning Commission.
Coel said Perez has a winery permit “in title only.”
“I also told him that the zoning ordinance changes stipulate that he has to have an actual winery and 10 acres of planted vineyard to qualify for the wine and winery related special events,” said Coel.
Coel said the Community Development Department would not be able to support the request, “but Mr. Perez has the right to apply for it.”
If the permit is to be amended, “we would need to review the cumulative impacts of new additional events on top of the 24 events he is permitted for under a different use permit,” Coel said.
The issues that arose with Zino’s are the latest in a series of land use disagreements centered on Rancho de la Fuente, which has been the source of ongoing neighbor complaints and concerns from county planners.
Over the years neighbors of the property have voiced concerns at planning hearings about Perez trying to build an “event center” in the middle of an agricultural area.
Coel said he and Perez have different interpretations of how the Lake County Zoning Ordinance applies to Perez’s property.
Perez acknowledged that he and the county haven’t seen eye to eye on his projects.
“I’ve been down this road with the county before,” he said.
Coel said Perez has done a beautiful job with the property, but there have been repeated land use violations.
If it keeps up, Coel said he’s prepared to go to the Lake County Planning Commission to revocation of Perez’s minor use permit. “We’ve had too many problems over the years.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at