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LAKEPORT – The community rallied to show its support for the sport of skateboarding at the very first Skate Jam skate competition that took place at Library Park on Saturday, April 24.
People of all ages gathered to enjoy a gorgeous day, cheer on their skater friends and family, and spend their money at the vendor booths, with proceeds going toward building a skate park on Lakeport’s side of the lake.
For a high quality video of the event, see Patrick Armstrong's work at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcdqVxBv9cw .
Westside Community Park has a designated area for a skate park, but that’s about it. It will cost a lot of money to build a quality cement skate park for skaters on this side of the lake to enjoy.
Event organizers Bill Bibler, owner of Paradigm Concrete Artisans, and Adam Bulik, owner of Freedom Skate Shop, both came together in an effort to provide youth with a fun, safe and local area to skate.
There was a large turnout for the event which, aside from fierce competition, had entertainment including live music.
The idea for the event began with a group of mothers who were trying to gain support for a skate park in Lakeport – but they needed a lot of help.
Bibler learned of this group one day when he walked into Freedom Skate Shop, owned by his friend Bulik, to talk about a skate park in Lakeport as well. They tried to meet with the group of moms but the meeting fell through.
It was Bulik who suggested that they needed a skate jam, and that was the beginning, Bibler said.
After two months of planning, the Skate Jam hit Library Park’s sidewalks. Bibler estimated the event attracted more than 700 skateboarders and their supporters.
Many skaters around Lakeport can’t get to the skate park in Clearlake, let alone the next county over in Ukiah. So, they have ended up shredding the concrete around local businesses and public streets.
Bibler he's watched the local skaters get hassled by the police, and added that if local businesses and authorities are tired of dealing with the kids on the streets, then they should help to raise money for somewhere the kids can go.
“Let’s get some money raised as fast as possible and build a skate park, please,” he said.
There is already a designated plot of land for a skate park within the Westside Community Park project, but the grant money that has gone toward the park hasn't been used for that purpose yet. Bibler thinks it will cost roughly $300,000 for a quality skate park to be built there.
It's hoped that the event, and those to follow, will put a big dent in that number so that Lakeport can soon have a skate park to call its own.
Many businesses made donations such as Molly Brennan’s, Kelseyville Wine Co. and Main Street Pizza, as Lake County News has reported.
Big fund generators were the raffles. The big prizes were a Temper-Pedic bed, donated by Pam Scully of Lakeport Furniture, the YZ 110 Yamaha pit bike partially, donated by Hillside Honda, and a hand-carved water feature donated by Paradigm Concrete Artisans.
To donate funds to help construct a skate park in Westside Community Park, visit Freedom Skate Shop, Lakeport Furniture or Mendo Lake Credit Union to make a deposit into the skate park fund account.
E-mail Tera deVroede at
Burn permits are required for any type of open burning in State Responsibility Areas (SRA) of Sonoma, Lake, Napa, Solano, Yolo and Colusa counties.
State Responsibility Areas are generally the unincorporated, rural, grass, brush and timber covered portions of California.
“It will only take a few weeks of sunshine and spring winds to turn the green grass brown so please take care while burning,” said Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Chief Ernie Loveless.
Cal Fire officials emphasize that the agency's permit requirements are in addition to any air quality control district and local fire agency permits. It is the responsibility of anyone planning to have a controlled burn to make sure they meet all permit requirements.
Lake County has a countywide ban on open burning which goes into effect on May 1. Some exemptions for agricultural burning may be granted. Contact Lake County Air Quality for information on the burn ban in Lake County, telephone 707-263-7000.
In Napa, southwestern Solano, and southern Sonoma counties permissive burn season ends April 30 for crop replacement, forest management, orchard pruning and attrition, and range management.
Anyone conducting open burning must keep the fire within permit requirements at all times. Failure to maintain control of the fire will result in the permit becoming void and the possibility of the permittee having to pay for fire suppression costs, fines, and civil damages.
Basic requirements include continual monitoring by a responsible adult, at least 10 foot clearance to bare mineral soil around the pile, and adequate control resources (tools, water, etc.).
Open burning should not be conducted when winds exceed 10 miles per hour.
With the approach of fire season, Chief Loveless urges residents to make sure that their property has defensible space against wildland fire.
Changes in state law have increased the required clearance around structures from 30 feet to 100 feet.
For more information on burn permits or wildland fire safety, residents may contact their local Cal Fire facility for more information, or go to the Cal Fire Web site at www.fire.ca.gov.
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Posted at 2:16 p.m.
COBB – The report of an armed suspect in the Cobb area touched of a Wednesday afternoon search and resulted in a school lockdown as officials sought to keep area children safe.
At 12:55 p.m. the Lake County Sheriff's Office received a report from a person who stated that an armed man had entered a neighbor's home on Meadow Drive and that the neighbor had asked them to call authorities, according to Capt. James Bauman.
Bauman said he didn't yet have much information on the suspect or the circumstances surrounding the incident, adding that numerous sheriff's units and a canine team were involved in the search for the suspect.
“It's very much unfolding still,” Bauman said shortly before 2 p.m.
Cobb Mountain Elementary School was placed on lockdown, said Dr. Korby Olson, Middletown Unified School District's superintendent, who spoke with Lake County News at around 1:40 p.m.
“The suspect was spotted on the campus,” said Olson.
At around 1:11 p.m. – just as the school's children were about to be loaded on buses to head home for the day, the suspect was spotted heading up the trails behind the school, Bauman said.
The school is located less than a mile from Meadow Drive, based on an Internet map search.
Bauman said the sheriff's office was able to catch school officials in time to notify them, and the lockdown resulted.
Olson said the district was planning to send out a phone message to parents, who can pick up their children directly.
“Right now we're just being safe,” Olson said.
At around 2 p.m. parents reportedly received calls notifying them that their children were being placed on buses home.
Lake County News will continue to follow the story and provide updates as they become available.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
Injured in the crash were Dennis Callison, 50, of Clearlake Oaks, and Howard Kelsey, 54, of Lucerne, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Steve Tanguay.
At approximately 8:44 a.m., Callison was driving his 1995 Ford westbound on Highway 20, west of Henderson Drive. Tanguay said it was raining at the time, and when Callison entered a sharp curve in the roadway, the back tires of the Ford broke traction on the wet roadway.
The Ford started to slide out of control, traveling to the left and crossing into the eastbound lane of traffic directly in front of a 2004 Jeep driven by Kelsey. Tanguay said the two vehicles hit head-on.
The force of the impact pushed the Jeep off of the roadway and it began to roll over onto its top, coming to rest on its roof approximately 2 feet into the lake, Tanguay said. Kelsey was able to free himself from the Jeep and went up the embankment to check on Callison.
The Northshore Fire Protection District transported both men to the hospital, Tanguay said.
CHP Officer Brendan Bach is investigating the collision.
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THE US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY HAS CHANGED THE RATINGS ON THESE TWO QUAKES.
THE GEYSERS – It was a one-two punch for The Geysers and Cobb areas late Tuesday afternoon, when two 3.1-magnitude earthquakes were reported within five seconds of each other.
However, the US Geological Survey later changed its report to show that the first quake was a 1.5 in magnitude and the second was 3.5 in magnitude.
The US Geological reported that the first quake occurred at 4:07 p.m. and was centered one mile from The Geysers, four miles west southwest of Cobb and six miles west northwest of Anderson Springs, at a depth of 1.2 miles.
The second quake, which was measured at a depth of one-tenth of a mile, had an epicenter located one mile north northeast of The Geysers, five miles west southwest of Cobb and six miles west northwest of Anderson Springs, the US Geological Survey reported.
The first quake resulted in one shake report from San Jose being submitted to the US Geological Survey, while five shake reports from areas including Clearlake Oaks, Sacramento, Mountain View, San Francisco and San Jose came in as a result of the second quake.
A 3.3-magnitude quake was reported near The Geysers Sunday evening, as Lake County News has reported.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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