How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
NORTH COAST, Calif. – Firefighters on Tuesday dramatically increased the containment on a fire burning since the previous day in Mendocino County.
The Flynn Fire, which started Monday afternoon along Flynn Creek Road and Comptche Ukiah Road near the community of Comptche, was held at 200 acres on Tuesday, with Cal Fire reporting that containment was up to 40 percent.
Fire crews were busy Tuesday constructing and improving containment line, and conducting heavy mop up 150 feet inside the fire line, Cal Fire reported.
Fire officials expect the fire to be fully contained by Friday.
After burning five structures in its first day, the Flynn Fire – which still was posing a threat to another 70 buildings – had not reached any other structures on Tuesday.
Approximately 765 firefighting personnel, 47 engines, 29 fire crews, four air tankers, one helicopter, five bulldozers and 11 water tenders were assigned to the Flynn Fire, Cal Fire said.
Cal Fire said the cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Community members are invited to participate in meetings planned for this month that are meant to help shape the future of Clearlake’s Lakeshore Drive Downtown Corridor.
The city of Clearlake is hosting a series of community events on Tuesday, Oct. 9, through Friday, Oct. 12, to help create a plan for improving conditions along Lakeshore Drive.
The project area encompasses Lakeshore Drive from Olympic Drive to Old Highway 53, and will address walking, bicycling, parking, transit, street beautification, lake access and economic revitalization issues.
Community input will help identify a range of improvements along the corridor.
Everyone is invited and encouraged to participate.
The events will kick off with a walking assessment of the area from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 9, beginning at Highlands Park.
During the walkabout, participants will review conditions along the Lakeshore Drive corridor, and help determine where and how improvements can be made. Please wear comfortable shoes.
After the walk, a community workshop will be held at Clearlake City Hall from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Participants will have a chance to become “community designers” as they craft their own solutions to design issues in the area. Share your ideas – and free pizza – with friends and neighbors.
On Wednesday, Oct. 10, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., community members are encouraged to drop by the Design Open Studio, and look at the designs in progress and talk with the design team.
The studio will be set up across from Highlands Park at 14330 Lakeshore Drive, next to David Hughes & Associates Real Estate office.
The community input from these sessions will be incorporated into the final plan.
On Friday, Oct. 12, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., at Clearlake City Hall, the design team will offer a more complete presentation of the concepts for the Lakeshore Drive Downtown Corridor Plan when it unveils the preliminary designs.
Immediately following the Friday evening presentation and public feedback, the city of Clearlake and Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce will sponsor a community reception at Austin Park from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. to celebrate the community’s efforts to shape the future of the Lakeshore Drive Downtown Corridor. Come enjoy wine tasting, hors d’oeuvres and live music.
The corridor improvement project is sponsored by the city of Clearlake, Lake County/City Area Planning Council, Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the nonprofit Local Government Commission ( www.lgc.org ), and is funded through a California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Community Based Transportation Planning Grant and local planning funds.
For more information, www.lakeapc.org or contact Terri Persons, 707-263-7799.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service is taking applications to assist private landowners in Northern California affected by wildfires in the last six months.
Acting State Conservationist Jeff Burwell said the agency began accepting applications for the initiative on Tuesday, and will continue receiving them through Friday, Oct. 19.
Lake County had two major wildland fire incidents within its borders this fire season – the Wye Fire, which burned 7,934 acres east of Clearlake Oaks in August, and the Scotts Fire, which burned 4,618 acres northwest of Lakeport on Cow Mountain in September.
The fire recovery assistance, funded through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, will be made available pending congressional approval of the Farm Bill conservation funding.
“I encourage California landowners who have private grazing land or non-industrial private forestlands that were adversely affected by the recent fires to visit with their local field office about how this special initiative can provide assistance to protect their natural resources,” Burwell said.
The initiative is intended to provide immediate resource protection in those areas burned during the 2012 wildfires. Priority applications will include practices that are implemented within one year and provide immediate erosion protection, adequate livestock water and habitat protection.
Participants interested in implementing practices beyond the scope of this special and limited initiative are encouraged to apply under the regular Environmental Quality Incentives Program funding opportunities.
To apply, contact the Natural Resources Conservation Service at 530-792-5600 or www.ca.nrcs.usda.gov .
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Clearlake man is in custody after police alleged that he stabbed three people during a Monday night fight.
Stanley George Hess, 57, was arrested late Monday night and charged with felony battery with injury, felony assault with a deadly weapon, felony attempted assault with a deadly weapon and battery, according to Sgt. Rodd Joseph of the Clearlake Police Department.
At approximately 10:07 p.m. Clearlake Police officers were dispatched to a report of a fight involving numerous subjects at Austin Park near the beach. Joseph said it was reported that one of the subjects was armed with a knife.
When officers arrived, Hess allegedly was attempting to flee in a vehicle which was being vandalized by several other subjects. Joseph said all subjects involved were detained by police.
While on scene, officers located 20-year-old Raymond Mesquita of Clearlake, who Joseph said was suffering an apparent stab wound to his chest. Mesquita was flown to an out-of-county trauma center due to his injuries.
Officers also discovered 19-year-old Nyda Gumboc of Clearlake with an apparent stab wound to her right hand and an additional male juvenile from Clearlake with an apparent stab wound to his upper right arm. Joseph said both were treated on scene by medical personnel.
During the investigation officers and detectives determined that a heated argument between several subjects quickly turned physical. Joseph said that during the physical altercation, Hess allegedly armed himself with a knife and stabbed Mesquita in the chest.
Hess also allegedly stabbed the male juvenile and Gumboc with the same weapon. Joseph said Hess then allegedly attempted to strike other subjects with his vehicle.
Joseph said the weapon Hess is alleged to have used has been recovered.
Hess was arrested and transported to the Lake County Jail, where he was booked. Bail was set at $30,000, according to jail records.
Mesquita remains in the intensive care unit at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, Joseph said.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Det. Tim Alvarado at 707-994-8251. Callers may remain anonymous.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The fire that damaged a historic downtown building late last month has been traced to an electrical issue, according to the results of the fire investigation.
The Lunas building, located at the corner of Third and Main streets, caught fire early on the morning of Friday, Sept. 21.
It gutted the Penny Lane Emporium, located on the building’s first floor, and damaged some parts of the second story, where the offices of attorney and judicial candidate Michael Lunas and the Feeney & Feeney law firm were located.
Dan Copas, a Lakeport Fire Protection District firefighter and the agency’s lead investigator on the incident, said he and investigators from the insurance companies for the emporium and for Lunas, as well as two electrical engineers, completed their work on the case on Monday.
“We’ve all pretty much come to the conclusion that it is an electrical fire, but it’s an undetermined source at this point,” said Copas.
He said the building itself, which dates to the 1870s, has been ruled out at the source of the electrical issue that sparked the fire.
“It looks purely just like an accidental fire,” Copas said, adding that the blaze was not suspicious in nature.
Copas said the fire began in the center of the left front window – left to a person facing the shop from the street – but investigators were not able to trace it to an actual source.
There was a lot of electrical inside the building, and while Copas said there’s no “smoking gun,” there were paper lanterns and other lighting fixtures used for displays that could have contributed to the fire.
Lunas, whose mother and uncle own the building, was at the site on Monday while investigators were still at work.
He said he’s been working from his home since having to vacate his upstairs office.
“We’re looking for some suitable office space,” he said.
Lunas said initially he believed he and the other upstairs tenants would be displaced for a few weeks.
Now, however, he estimates it could be up to three months before they can return to the building.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Lake Family Resource Center is commemorating Domestic Violence Awareness Month throughout October.
The first event will be a Clothesline Event from noon to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4.
Lake Family Resource Center’s Kelseyville office at 5350 Main St. in Kelseyville will be the site of the Domestic Violence Clothesline Workshop and T-Shirt Display on that day.
The workshop will be available for those who wish to honor a loved one, a domestic violence survivor or victim.
The resulting display of the art t-shirts bearing witness to violence against women, men and children will be hung for public viewing until Friday, Oct. 5.
Shirts created that day will be hung again next year as part of the continuing display of art honoring domestic violence survivors and victims. Shirts and pants are being provided for the art. Don’t miss the opportunity to make a statement.
Lake Family Resource Center is determined to call awareness to the tragedy of domestic violence in the hope of ending it in Lake County.
Lake Family Resource Center provides a multitude of services to build family stability and strength. The agency supports Lake County residents in achieving stable, self-sufficient, and healthy families and communities.
Call 707-279-0563 for more information.