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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Redevelopment Agency officials have announced the completion of the fishing pier at Alpine Park in Lucerne.
The pier, which is the first phase of the Third Avenue Plaza Project, is open to the public from now until the start of the second phase of the project, which is slated for late summer.
The newly constructed fishing pier extends 180 feet out into Clear Lake, offering residents and visitors stunning views of the vastness of Clear Lake and the backdrop of Mount Konocti while providing anglers with impressive overwater access.
The pier is constructed of steel and concrete with a steel railing with stainless steel cable detail.
At the end of walkway is a large gazebo with an Alpine-styled roofline that sits atop a 60-foot-by-40-foot platform.
A number of benches are set along the platform, and several tables are placed beneath the shade of the gazebo, which creates a great spot for picnics. The park is open from dawn to dusk.
Major funding for the fishing pier project has been provided by a grant from the Wildlife Conservation Board of the California Department of Fish and Game, with additional funding provided by the Lake County Redevelopment Agency.
Formed in 1999, the Lake County Redevelopment Agency works to eliminate blight in communities within the Northshore Redevelopment Project Area, which includes parts of Upper Lake, Nice, Lucerne, Glenhaven, and Clearlake Oaks.
For more information about the project, contact the Lake County Redevelopment Agency at 707-263-2580 or visit www.co.lake.ca.us/redevelopment.
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CLEARLAKE – More road work is set to begin in Clearlake next week.
The city of Clearlake reported that its contractor, Argonaut Constructors of Santa Rosa, will begin construction work on the city's Collector Street Rehabilitation Project Phase 2 on Monday, June 14.
Streets included in the project are Arrowhead Road between Golf Club Street and Modoc Street, Arrowhead Road between Park Street and Burns Valley Road, Burns Valley Road between Arrowhead Road and Woodland Street, and 40th Avenue between Moss Avenue and Phillips Avenue.
The road rehabilitation and paving work will start next Monday and continue through June 28. Work will commence on Arrowhead Road, then proceed to Burns Valley Road and then to 40th Avenue.
The schedule is weather dependent. Cooler weather than normal or rainy weather could delay the work schedule.
Electronic message boards will be in place prior to the start of paving work advising motorists of the work schedule and road closures.
Work hours will be Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The work will involve the excavation and removal (by grinding) the existing asphalt surfacing and old road base, and placement of new asphalt pavement and minor underground utility repair.
The new asphalt pavement will be placed in two lifts, a base asphalt course and finished asphalt course. The first, or base course of asphalt, will be placed immediately after the grinding. The finished asphalt course will be placed a day or two later.
Portions of Arrowhead Road, Burns Valley Road and 40th Avenue will be subject to closure. Through traffic will be detoured around the work site during construction hours. Access to local residents will be made available at all times during construction. However, delays should be expected.
Road closures will remain in effect during construction hours. Motorists are urged to drive carefully in areas of road construction.
For questions and information please call the city of Clearlake at 707-994-8201, Extension 180.
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Dustin Bruce, 26, was taken into custody for possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of stolen property, possession of methamphetamine and a parole violation, according to Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies were on patrol at the Sherwood Valley Rancheria Casino Wednesday evening when they observed a white Jeep Cherokee in the parking lot. Smallcomb said a records check on the vehicle showed the vehicle was reported stolen out of Lake County.
The deputies learned, with the assistance of the casino security, that a male subject had driven the Jeep to the location and then left in a separate vehicle, Smallcomb said. Contents inside the vehicle led the deputies to suspect that someone would be returning to get the vehicle.
A short while later a vehicle pulled up to the Jeep, where a male and female entered the vehicle, which then began to drive away, Smallcomb said. The vehicle exited from the casino and into a nearby residence.
Smallcomb said the deputies responded to the location and observed a male driver matching a previous description, seated in the driver seat. The female companion was now exiting the vehicle.
The driver, Bruce, was taken into custody without any incident, Smallcomb said.
Sheriff's deputies located 2.5 grams of suspected methamphetamine sitting on the driver seat, which Bruce appeared to have placed there when exiting the vehicle. Smallcomb said the deputies learned the female companion was not involved with the incident and was released on scene.
Bruce – who is currently on active parole from Mendocino County – was transported to the Mendocino County Jail and booked without a bail amount.
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Tuesday's primary election saw incumbents around the region – some of them in office for many years – dismissed from office or set for November runoffs.
The Tuesday primary also was marked by voter turnout that was low both locally and around the state, which county election officials have previously noted is common for primaries.
In Lake County, just over a third of voters showed up to the polls, running higher than the overall state average, according to state and local records.
This year, local law enforcement races in the county have proved the most heated.
On Tuesday, incumbent Sheriff Rod Mitchell placed four percentage points and 445 votes behind challenger Francisco Rivero. The two men will face off in November after Jack Baxter, a retired police sergeant from San Jose, finished third and was eliminated from the race.
The story was different in Tehama County, where Sheriff Clay Parker – in office since 1999 – was defeated on Tuesday by Dave Hencratt, one of his own detectives and a 21-year veteran of the Tehama County Sheriff's Office, according to details on Hencratt's Facebook page.
Meanwhile, there were several uncontested sheriff's races in neighboring counties in the Sacramento Valley and the North Coast.
Glenn County Sheriff Larry Jones, Colusa County Sheriff Scott Marshall, Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman, Napa County Sheriff Douglas Koford and Yolo County Sheriff Ed Prieto faced no opponents in seeking reelection Tuesday.
Sonoma County Sheriff Bill Cogbill did not seek reelection, and Windsor Police Chief Steve Freitas ran to succeed him unopposed.
In Humboldt County, Sheriff Gary Philp retired and was succeeded by Mike Downey, a veteran of his department, who defeated Michael Hislop, the Humboldt County District Attorney's Office's chief investigator and a former Eureka Police officer.
District attorney races show major upsets
District attorney races around the region this June appeared to be more contested overall.
Lake County District Attorney Jon Hopkins, who was seeking a second term in office, placed out of the running to reclaim his seat Tuesday. His challengers, Don Anderson and Doug Rhoades, will now race to November.
Hopkins, contacted by Lake County News on Wednesday, said he wasn't prepared to comment on the outcome of Tuesday's vote or his future plans.
The position in which Hopkins finds himself – an incumbent district attorney out of a job – isn't an isolated incident in races around the region this year.
In Glenn County, following a heated race, longtime District Attorney Robert Holzapfel was defeated by Robert Maloney, who he had beaten for the job in the early 1980s. Maloney currently is assistant district attorney in Shasta County.
Next door in Sonoma County, two-term District Attorney Stephen Passalacqua was defeated by Mendocino County prosecutor Jill Ravitch.
In other races, to the north, in Tehama County, District Attorney Gregg Cohen fended off challenger Kenneth Miller.
Mendocino County District Attorney Meredith Lintott finished first in the primary over challengers C. David Eyster and Matt Finnegan, with Lintott and Eyster slated to be in a November runoff.
In Humboldt County, District Attorney Paul Gallegos is facing a run to November against challenger Allison Jackson, who finished nearly three percentage points ahead of him, according to the Humboldt County Registrar of Voters. Gallegos and Jackson were the top finishers in a field of four.
Colusa County District Attorney John Poyner was unchallenged this year, as were Napa County District Attorney Gary Lieberstein and Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig.
Fewer superintendent of schools races contested
Races for superintendents of schools around the region were mostly uncontested.
Superintendents Larry Champion in Tehama County, Barbara Nemko in Napa County, Garry Eagles in Humboldt County, Paul Tichinin in Mendocino County and Jorge Ayala in Yolo County all ran for reelection unopposed, while Steven Herrington had no challengers as he sought to succeed Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools Carl Wong.
In Lake County, Wally Holbrook and Judy Luchsinger raced to succeed retiring Superintendent of Schools Dave Geck, with Holbrook winning Tuesday with a nearly 19-percent lead, or just over 2,000 votes.
In Colusa County, incumbent Superintendent Kay Campbell Spurgeon finished first in a field of four, followed by Jamie Myers, Julie Struckmeyer and Becky Van Kleeck Poyner, according to the Colusa County Registrar of Voters. Preliminary numbers indicate Spurgeon and Myers will race to November.
In a primary upset, one-term Glenn County Superintendent of Schools Arturo Barrera was defeated by Glenn County Supervisor Tracey Quarne, also a county educator, who chose not to pursue reelection for his supervisorial seat in order to run against Barrera. Preliminary Glenn County Registrar of Voters numbers indicate that Quarne bested Barrera by nearly 17 percent, or more than 1,000 votes.
Low voter turnout statewide
As to voter turnout, statewide approximately 24.9 percent of voters participated in the Tuesday primary, according to California Secretary of State Debra Bowen's office. Lake County surpassed that state average with a 36.1-percent turnout.
Sierra County had the highest turnout of the state's 58 counties with 73.3 percent, while Riverside had the lowest, with 16.5 percent, according to state data.
Election officials are still processing mail-in ballots and conducting the official canvass. The following numbers – compiled from individuals counties and the Secretary of State – are preliminary results, and final results may differ.
Preliminary turnout results for Lake County, and neighboring and North Coast counties:
Colusa County: 39.6 percent (breakdown of precinct and absentee not immediately available).
Glenn County: 53.46 percent (precinct – 30.69 percent; absentee – 22.77 percent).
Humboldt: 38.3 percent (breakdown of precinct and absentee not immediately available).
Lake County: 36.1 percent (precinct – 17.3 percent; absentee – 18.8 percent).
Mendocino County: 26.59 percent (breakdown of precinct and absentee not immediately available).
Napa County: 26.37 percent (precinct – 16.30 percent; absentee – 10.08 percent).
Sonoma County: 38.9 percent (precinct – 14.8 percent; absentee – 24 percent).
Tehama County: 32.55 percent (precinct – 15.52 percent; absentee – 17.03 percent).
Yolo County: 29.9 percent (breakdown of precinct and absentee not immediately available).
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RED BLUFF – A Clearlake man died Tuesday after traveling the wrong way on a portion of Interstate 5 and subsequently colliding with a bridge.
Hubert Marks, 72, was the victim of the crash, according to the Red Bluff office of the California Highway Patrol.
At around 12:24 a.m. Tuesday Marks was traveling southbound in his 1996 Ford Ranger pickup in the northbound lane of Interstate 5 near Dibble Creek Bridge, south of the North Main Street overcrossing at an estimated speed of 70 miles per hour, according to the CHP report.
The CHP said there were no independent witnesses as to where he entered the highway going the wrong direction.
According to witness statements, Marks continued southbound in the northbound lane which ended at the Dibble Creek Bridge. Witnesses told CHP that Marks never hit the brakes before colliding with the raised concrete bridge abutment.
Marks' pickup spun in a clockwise direction and came to rest facing north within the highway's two northbound lanes, the CHP reported.
The CHP said Marks was wearing his seatbelt when the crash occurred.
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