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Over the past six months, Catholic Charities Lake County Programs has administered a $1.95 million financial assistance program funded by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The purpose of this program, called Housing Help Lake County (HHLC), is to help qualified local residents at risk of homelessness, the agency reported.
While local residents are aware of federal stimulus funds utilized to repair area highways, the HHLC program provides an economic boost to the county through direct payments to local landlords and by keeping local residents from becoming homeless, according to Catholic Charities. HHLC also has employed six local residents.
Currently, 48 local families are receiving assistance from this program, and 80 more recently requested assistance. Two community information meetings were held recently in Clearlake and Lakeport to explain the HHLC program. A third meeting is being scheduled for August in Lucerne.
HHLC assists renters at risk of homelessness, or those who have lost rental housing, due to the current economic crisis.
The majority of the funds are for short- or medium-term rental or utility assistance to either prevent individuals and families from becoming homeless or help those who are experiencing homelessness to be quickly re-housed and stabilized.
Qualified residents must prove payments due in arrears, show need of assistance and prove legal residency in Lake County. Expenses such as moving costs, utilities, and rent are made to third party vendors.
To date, $124,000 has been distributed to date.
There is no mortgage assistance, Catholic Charities reported.
Not all who apply will qualify for HHLC assistance. Residents are being screened by Lake County Community Action Agency, Lake Family Resource Center, Community Care Management Corp. and Catholic Charities.
The award of this stimulus package grant was based on collaboration with and the support of Lake County.
Federal funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009 were granted directly to Catholic Charities for use in Lake County.
For program requirements, go to www.srcharities.org or call 707-987-8139.
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – The 14th-annual food and wine event, A Taste of Lakeport, will once again pair Lake County wines with food from local purveyors at various locations along seven blocks of Main Street in downtown Lakeport on Friday, Aug. 20.
The event, which will take place from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., encourages a leisurely stroll along Main Street with stops at shops for wine tasting, while enjoying live entertainment and the company of friends, neighbors and visitors.
Eventgoers can sip premium Lake County wines from more than 20 participating wineries and sample tasty bites of local food.
To keep the fun going, live music will play throughout the evening featuring three bands – the LC Diamonds, Austin & Owens and The Blind Monkeys.
Tickets for the event are $25 in advance and may be purchased at several locations in Lakeport including Shari’s Secret Garden, Hillside Honda, The Kitchen Gallery and the Lake County Chamber of Commerce, as well as Middletown Florist in Middletown, Perlz in Kelseyville and the Lake County Wine Studio in Upper Lake.
Tickets also may be purchased the day of the event for $30.
Ticket purchase includes a wine glass and a map showing all participating wineries and restaurants.
The map may be stamped at each location and guests who visit each stop throughout the course of the evening qualify to enter a drawing for prizes.
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“Vehicles heat up quickly, even with a window rolled down a couple of inches,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “Even on a seemingly cool summer day, temperatures inside a vehicle can reach deadly levels within minutes.”
This year in the United States, according to statistics from the Department of Geosciences at San Francisco State University, there have been more than two dozen incidents involving children left alone in vehicles resulting in at least 26 fatalities.
One of those deaths occurred in California in April involving a 7-month-old Antioch girl.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says heat stroke, a form of hyperthermia, is the leading cause of non-crash vehicle deaths for children under the age of 14.
“It only takes a few minutes for tragedy to occur,” added Farrow. “If you see a child left unattended in a hot vehicle, call 911 immediately.”
California law prohibits anyone from leaving a child 6 years of age or younger unattended in a motor vehicle without the supervision of someone who is at least 12 years old.
A violation of the “Unattended Child in a Motor Vehicle Act,” also known as “Kaitlyn’s Law,” will result in a fine but, more importantly, it could result in the permanent injury or death of a child.
“Kaitlyn’s Law” went into effect in California on Jan. 1, 2002.
The law is in memory of Kaitlyn Marie Russell, a 6-month-old baby, who died from hyperthermia after being left unattended in a parked vehicle 10 years ago.
In an effort to raise awareness for “Kaitlyn’s Law,” while remembering the children who have lost their lives as a result of being left unattended in a motor vehicle, “4 R Kids Sake,” a nationwide nonprofit organization designates August as “Purple Ribbon Month.”
In support of the campaign, a purple ribbon will fly from the antenna of all marked CHP patrol vehicles throughout the month of August.
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MENDOCINO COUNTY – State and county officials found firearms – including one that had been stolen – while eradicating marijuana gardens near Laytonville on Tuesday.
Teams consisting of the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies and the County of Mendocino Marijuana Eradication Team (COMMET) responded to a call of marijuana being grown on a private ranch in the Laytonville area, according to a report from Lt. Rusty Noe of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
Noe said the teams walked into the remote site and discovered three marijuana gardens. While walking into the gardens deputies spotted two Hispanic males who fled from the area.
A camp was located with evidence the Hispanic males were living in the gardens while tending them, Noe said.
At the site Noe said the teams recovered three loaded firearms – an SKS assault-type rifle, a shotgun and a .44-caliber Ruger revolver, which later was found to have been stolen from Del Norte County.
He said 1,005 marijuana plants – all well into the growth stage – were seized with no arrests being made.
To date the Mendocino County COMMET team has seized 420,392 plants from 104 sites. Noe said the plants were estimated to be 56,610 pounds wet weight.
There have been 55 arrests and 59 firearms seized, he said, and 582 pounds of processed marijuana has been seized.
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The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the Kelseyville High School Student Center, 5480 Main St.
Kelseyville Unified Superintendent Dave McQueen said the meeting's focus is to come up with a plan for the 2011-12 fiscal year, with site configurations one of the considerations. He said public input will be a key component.
It's expected to be the first of several open discussions hosted by the board during the coming year, according to McQueen.
Because of declining enrollment, Kelseyville is looking at all of its facilities and how it can save money through possibly consolidating sites, McQueen said.
With a great deal of community concern arising over impacts to the district – McQueen said parents already have been worried about school closures, which aren't proposed currently – he said the goal is to have the process be as open and public as possible.
For the soon-to-begin 2010-11 fiscal year, “We're going to be OK,” said McQueen.
The district had to lay off 10 teachers last spring, but they've restored five positions, he said. “I venture to say we'll probably put back a couple more, so that's good news.”
Still, they have to start looking for ways to cut $900,000 out of the district budget for the 2011-12, he explained.
“It only makes sense to look at what we have and try to save some money,” he said.
McQueen estimated that the school district has seven different facilities – from the high school and middle schools to the elementary and continuation sites. No closures are proposed, and even after a study of the district's finances site closures may not be in order, he said.
The district's main challenge rests on declining enrollment, which is estimated to continue, McQueen said.
“That's the trend that is happening,” he noted.
This past school year's peak enrollment was 1,757, McQueen said, with 1,698 students set to start school this fall.
“People are moving,” a trend McQueen witnessed accelerating when the economy hit recession. He said another wave of foreclosures is anticipated, which will exacerbate the problem.
By 2014, McQueen said the district projects enrollment will bottom out at 1,611 students.
They've looked at options including cutting days from the school calendar, which McQueen said hasn't panned out as a viable solution.
“We're not doing it. You have to negotiate it” with the teachers' union, he said.
District Chief Financial Officer Tiffany Kemp will go through enrollment and financial data at the Aug. 10 meeting, he said.
For more information, call Kelseyville Unified School District Office at 707-279-1511 or visit the district online www.kusd.lake.k12.ca.us/.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
The Cow Fire, sparked Sunday afternoon, was fully contained on Wednesday, according to Cal Fire report.
In all, the fire burned 293 acres in steep terrain inside Mendocino County, eight miles east of Ukiah, according to Cal Fire.
Also contained Wednesday were the 371-acre Dutch Fire in Siskiyou County and Monterey County's Green fire, which burned 35 acres, Cal Fire said Wednesday.
Still burning in California are the Bar Fire, 992 acres, in the Plumas National Forest and the 16,442-acre Bull Fire in the Sequoia National Forest, according to InciWeb, which follows National Forest fires.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at