How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
LAKE COUNTY – Officials are reporting that traffic is beginning to move after it was closed down along the Highway 20 corridor into Colusa County due to a truck fire.
The California Highway Patrol reported a big rig tanker on fire shortly before 10 a.m. on Highway 20 one mile west of Mitchell Flats and several miles into the boundaries of Colusa County.
CHP reported that the truck, which was giving off heavy smoke, was completely blocking the highway after the fire began. At least three CHP units were on scene.
Just after 11 a.m. the Chico Dispatch Center reported that the truck – a double tanker carrying 75,000 gallons of kerosene – was “still an active burn” and that it was going to be allowed to burn out.
At shortly before 1 p.m. CHP reported one lane of traffic has been reopened.
Previous to that, traffic was being either turned around or rerouted onto southbound Highway 16 when possible.
Updates will be provided as more information becomes available.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
Thirty-one-year-old James Robert Pagan was arrested Friday for allegedly stabbing a 10-year-old girl to death and injuring another 14-year-old girl, as Lake County News has reported.
Pagan was reportedly being held in the Lake County Jail on $1 million bail. He did not appear in the inmate search on the sheriff's Web site Monday; however, the site has not been recording new bookings since late last week.
Authorities have not officially confirmed the two victims' identities, which sources told Lake County News were the children of a local physician.
Sheriff's deputies originally arrested Pagan on charges of murder, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, according to a sheriff's office statement on Saturday.
Lt. Dave Garzoli of the sheriff's investigations branch released additional information later Saturday that reported another charge – willful cruelty to a child – had been added.
Before his Friday arrest Pagan appears to have had little contact with local authorities.
In a search of Lake County Superior Court records, Pagan's name only showed up once – for a May 2007 traffic citation.
A search of criminal records in other counties where Pagan is believed to have lived previously also turned up no evidence of him having issues with the law as an adult.
As of Monday afternoon, a criminal filing against Pagan for the stabbing case had not been logged in the Superior Court records system.
Regarding the circumstances of this recent case, no further information has been forthcoming from investigators.
A sheriff's office statement on Saturday said further information would be available on Monday, but nothing more has so far been released.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
LAKE COUNTY – Lake County's February unemployment rate was an improvement over January's, according to the latest report from the Employment Development Department.
The preliminary February 2008 unemployment rate was 9.6 percent, down 0.9 percent from the revised January rate of 10.5 percent, but 0.2 percent above the year-ago, February 2007 rate of 9.4 percent, according to Dennis Mullins, of the EDD's North Coast Region Labor Market Information Division.
At 9.6 percent, Lake ranked 36 among the State’s 58 counties, Mullins noted. Some surrounding county rates included 7.0 percent for Mendocino, and 4.9 percent for Sonoma.
Marin and San Mateo had the lowest rate in the State at 3.9 percent and Colusa had the highest with 18.9 percent, according to Mullins. The comparable California and U.S. rates were 6.1 and 5.2 percent respectively.
Total industry employment increased 920 jobs (6.8 percent) between February 2007 and February 2008, ending the year-over period with 14,530 jobs, Mullins' report noted.
Mullins said year-over job growth occurred in farm; manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities; information; private educational and health services; other services; and government.
Year-over job losses occurred in natural resources, mining and construction; professional and business services; and leisure and hospitality, he added.
The industry sector with no change over the year was financial activities, Mullins reported.
The government sector led industry gainers adding 770 jobs over the year, according to Mullins. Farm and private educational and health services were up 200 and 110 respectively. Trade, transportation and utilities increased 40; manufacturing was up 30; information and other services gained 10 jobs each.
Natural resources, mining and construction led decliners dropping 110 jobs over the year, Mullins said. Professional and business services and leisure and hospitality were down 90 and 50 respectively.
Mullins said that EDD encourages those who are filing for unemployment insurance benefits to do so on-line through its Web site at www.edd.ca.gov. Online claim filing is the fastest, most convenient way to apply for unemployment benefits, and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
SACRAMENTO – Thirty-six Clear Lake High School students, led by registered nurse Rachelle Maher and three chaperones, recently took a two-and-a-half-hour bus trip to visit the “Bodies Revealed” exhibit in Sacramento.
The exhibit offers an up-close examination of the human body in a manner unique to public display.
More that 200 separate exhibits ranging from individual internal organs to full-sized examples of the circulatory, skeletal and muscular systems at various stages of dissection are viewable from multiple angles.
The students maneuvered through nine galleries while listening to individual, handheld audio devises that access prerecorded information describing details for each item on display.
The exhibition has been designed to change the way people see themselves.
“The educational impact of the exhibition is immeasurable,” wrote Dr. Roy Glover, chief medical director for Bodies Revealed. “For centuries, the medical community has learned about the inner workings of the human body through the sturdy of real specimens and now it’s possible for the public to gain an intimate knowledge as well.”
The exhibition concludes its swing through Sacramento on March 31. The hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and is located at 2040 Alta Arden Way, Sacramento. Call 1-888-263-4379 for ticket information.
E-mail Harold LaBonte at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
In January Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released his proposed budget, which suggested 10-percent, across-the-board cuts of all state departments.
One of the most shocking proposals contained in Schwarzenegger's severe budget-cutting plan was the closure of 48 state parks, including Clear Lake State Park and Anderson Marsh State Historic Park, as Lake County News has reported.
The future of parks and other critical funding is likely to come into clearer focus later in the spring.
Roy Stearns, spokesman for the State Parks Department, told Lake County News that a lot is riding on the governor's “May revise,” the updated budget document he'll submit shortly.
That document, said Stearns, will be based on additional information the governor has received since his initial budget was released in January. It will the be up to the state Legislature to respond and begin hashing out a final budget.
So far, said Stearns, the parks department hasn't received any indication of what changes might be in store.
If the budget were to pass as it is now written, “We would absolutely be closing some parks,” said Stearns.
“After more than a decade of repeated cuts, all the efficiencies are gone in our department and the only viable alternative is to close some to keep others open and marginally healthy,” he said.
Stearns said the Assembly and the Senate are now holding hearings, and State Parks Director Ruth Coleman and her staff have been before budget committees of both houses at least once. “What we have heard from both Republicans and Democrats is that neither wants to close parks, but so far, there is no clear proposal as to how to fill our $13+ million reduction to not have that happen,” Stearns reported.
Parks officials don't believe they'll actually have to lay off permanent employees, said Stearns. “We have about 300 vacancies in the department and the reductions called for in the present budget proposal would eliminate about 136 positions and we feel we can cut vacancies to keep real people.”
Stearns said that will mean that, in many cases, workers will have to move to an area where there is a park with a vacancy requiring their specific job skills.
Local resources could be lost
Richard Bergstresser is a Humboldt County park ranger and board member with the State Park Peace Officers Association of California, a labor organization representing the state's park rangers and lifeguards.
The closures, said Bergstresser, will take good, well-paying jobs out of the community, and cause upheaval for many longtime parks employees, not to mention the lose of important tourism opportunities.
Local parks Superintendent Jay Sherman said he has four full-time ranger positions, a part-time office assistant and five full-time maintenance personnel. In addition, the parks employ four seasonal maintenance positions and about eight more season visitors services staff who collect entrance fees, and conduct school, campfire and Junior Ranger programs.
Two local field ranger positions are vacant with the December retirements of husband-and-wife team, Tom and Val Nixon. Tom Nixon began work at Clear Lake State Park in 1981; his wife started there seasonally in 1978.
Val Nixon told Lake County News that the park hasn't been able to fill the positions she and her husband held because of a statewide ranger shortage. Instead, a ranger trainee is scheduled to begin at the park in July.
The Nixons now volunteer at Clear Lake State Park. Val Nixon said there were threats before of closures but “we've never seen a list before,” or seen a park closure.
Sherman added that, in his 17 years as a State Parks employee, he hasn't seen closures, although he's seen reduced hours and days that parks were open to the public.
The good thing about the park closure proposal is that it has rallied support for parks, said Nixon. She said she's been pleased to see local residents rally to speak up on behalf of parks.
Sherman agreed. “The community is doing a fantastic job getting the word out.”
However, threatening to close – and actually closing – parks can result, ultimately, in a loss of public support, Nixon said.
The California State Parks Foundation reports that the two local state parks attract nearly 150,000 annual visitors and generate more than $334,000 in revenue – not counting impact on area businesses and the hospitality industry.
Nixon said Clear Lake State Park, especially, is extremely busy during the summer. However, parks are expensive to run and “never run at a profit,” she said.
Sherman added that Clear Lake State Park is popular both for camping and day use, and is widely visited by area residents.
Day use passes at Clear Lake State Park cost $5, $2 at Anderson Marsh, said Nixon. Both parks offer $1 off for seniors.
It was those overly affordable day fees that state Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill proposed last month should be raised in order to keep the parks open.
Hill's office analyzed park user fees and determined that they haven't kept pace with inflation. She suggested increasing park fees, which she estimated could raise $25 million, roughly half of which could be used to offset the closures and the rest could be used to go toward ongoing maintenance.
Sherman said the parks had a small, across-the-board fee increase about four years ago.
Closing the 48 parks would save a mere $8.8 million, a drop in the bucket when looking at the state's budget, said Bergstresser. The costs, he said, could be much higher. “It's going to be a major hit across many sectors of the economy.”
Unforeseen consequences
But Bergstresser pointed to another concern that he says hasn't gotten as much attention – just what will happen to these mothballed parks?
Lake County's parks are under the Northern Buttes District, headquartered in Oroville, said Bergstresser. That would mean already short-staffed parks in Colusa and Oroville would be required to send over staff on an occasional basis to check on Anderson Marsh and Clear Lake State Parks.
The result, he said, would be serious neglect issues, which could lead to vandalism and natural degradation.
Sherman said, in the worst-case scenario of a park closures, he thinks it likely that someone would be left as a caretaker for local park lands.
Once closed, Bergstresser said it's unlikely that the parks could be counted on to either be maintained or reopened, considering a current backlog of $1 billion in deferred maintenance for state parks.
Sherman said deferred maintenance for local parks goes back many years, but recently they've been catching up. They're now finishing up improvement to Clear Lake State Park's day use picnic area and this fall intend to begin upgrades, repairs and replacements to the parks water and wastewater system.
Other planned projects include making the park more accessible under Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and improving Dorn trail, Sherman said.
The Clear Lake State Park Interpretive Association also is raising money to build an education pavilion, he added.
It's hard to know, Bergstresser said, if the closure proposal is just a shot across the bow at the beloved state parks, or if it really will happen.
The “unprecedented” action of park closure was threatened during Gov. Pete Wilson's administration, said Bergstresser.
“State parks, as a whole, have been on a starvation diet for the last 20 years, since the Wilson administration,” he said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
Last month we began discussing my "Ten Rules Of Thumb" to help readers find the best shop for their vehicle repair needs.
In part one we discussed the importance of word of mouth in finding the right shop for you.
Now, it's time for the second rule of thumb: Calling the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR).
A quick call to the BAR, or a visit to their Web site at www.autorepair.ca.gov/stdPage.asp?Body=/Consumer/verify_a_license.htm will reveal if a repair facility is currently licensed and if that facility has had past violations.
No repair facility has the right to charge you anything without your prior approval. No repair facility has the right to do any repairs even if they are free without your prior consent. A current license from the BAR and a customer rights and entitlement sign must be visible and in a conspicuous location to be seen easily along with a current city or county license of operation.
An avid motorcycle rider who followed my rules of thumb reports the following findings after calling the BAR: "One shop had a delinquent license, so perhaps they do not have an active repair facility. Yours and others had current valid licenses with no disciplinary actions. I could not find licenses on two other shops. One shop I found interesting is that it is owned by a woman. Don't get me wrong, there nothing wrong with that, I don't want to sound sexist. My wife runs and operates her own business successfully for many years and makes more money than I do, but a woman owning a motorcycle repair business was a surprise. I would like to talk more with this owner and find out why she started her repair business and what her experience and background in the industry is. She may be another Shirley Muldowney or the Motorcycle Hall of Famer Theresa Wallach. This alone I find interesting and unusual and if the owner does come from a motorcycle background than I would find it a plus for that shop."
My comments on “Mr. Rider's” Findings: Good for you for using the sources at hand to find the information to draw your opinion from. As far as a license being delinquent, a shop does not need a BAR license to sell parts but cannot do repair work while their license is in a delinquent status.
There is no reason for a repair facility to have their license in a delinquent status ever. If a shop is changing from a parts and repair facility to strictly retail selling then they must submit a form of
canceled to BAR. If in the case of my shop you have two facilities that merged together, Lakeport Garage / Ironhorse creations at the same address, then in that situation BAR only allows there to be one license permitted at a single address. So I canceled my Ironhorse Creations BAR license and it is the motorcycle retail sales end of the business while Lakeport Garage is the repair facility with the current BAR license.
As far as finding current licenses on businesses, remember you’re looking for it from a California state agency and sometimes their information is slow to get on line. Also if you do not match the name and information of the shop up correctly the Web search can give you a bad or non report of that business.
If one wants to be sure then all one does is makes the simple phone call to Bureau of Automotive Repair at 1-800-952-5210.
Next time: The third rule of thumb and using the Internet.
Forrest Garrett is owner/operator of Ironhorse Creations and Lakeport Garage, family-owned and operated since 1968. E-mail him your questions at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}