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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH REGARD TO COMPETITION LOCATIONS.
LAKE COUNTY – Local Academic Decathletes left Thursday to make the trip to Sacramento for this weekend's state Academic Decathlon competition.
The competition will begin Saturday at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento, and continue Sunday at California State University, Sacramento and at Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, where the Super Quiz will be held.
On Feb. 2, Upper Lake High School won the county competition after a one-year hiatus from the No. 1 spot.
The win qualified the team to participate in the state competition, as Lake County News has reported.
Upper Lake team members include: Varsity – Robert Pyle, Corey Smith and Maria Mendoza; Scholastic – Robin Grayhorse, Hannah Johnson and Laura Benavides; Honor – Daniella Cazares, Kyle Coleman and Marisa Garcia. Coaches are Christina Moore and Lance Kraft.
Taking the No. 2 spot in the county competition was Lower Lake High school. Team members are: Varsity – Chris Ingersoll, Jacob Sanders and Gerald Skinner; Scholastic – Kayla Myrick, Joe Riggs and Joshua Salazar; Honor – Kate Lyons, Daniel Jackson and Emmalena Illia; alternates – Ryan Wilson, Alexandra Huff, Sean Grant and Jeremy Montano. Nancy Harby coaches the team.
Lower Lake received a special invitation to compete at the state level because of the team's high score in the county competition, which was the highest achieved by a No. 2 team among the state's Division 3 teams, said Harby.
Following the weekend competition, winning teams will be honored at an awards ceremony at Sacramento Memorial Auditorium.
For more specifics on the competition times and locations visit www.academicdecathlon.org/2008.htm.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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City officials say they indeed to file another annexation application which will likely be heard this spring.
Last July 19, the Local Area Formation Committee (LAFCO) turned down the city's application to add 157 acres to the city's boundaries, as Lake County News has reported.
In a 5-2 vote, LAFCO turned down the annexation request the commissioners didn't believe the city had enough sewer capacity to serve the annexation area.
The proposed annexation area runs along the west side of Parallel Drive, extending from the current city limits – which is the southern boundary of a vacant orchard property to the south of KFC – down to the Highway 175/Parallel Drive intersection. It includes about 50 residents and 24 dwellings.
Sewer capacity became an issue last year after the city was issued a cease and desist order from the state in January 2007. The previous spring, wet weather caused the city's sewer ponds to fill up. Officials tried to dispose of some of the treated wastewater through irrigation, but the saturated ground didn't absorb the water, which ran off the city's sewer facility property.
That landed the city in trouble with the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, who also hit the city with a hookup ban that was later lifted.
The annexation has commonly been referred to as the “Adamson Annex” for Tom Adamson, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based developer who approached the city in 2005 about having the area added to the city boundaries, according to Lakeport Community Development Director Richard Knoll.
Adamson, who owns a 31-acre parcel at 2565 Parallel Drive that he originally proposed to build a 130-unit subdivision on, took the project to the city, said Knoll.
The city's general plan called for annexing the area. “We took that on as a project,” Knoll told City Council members in a Tuesday evening workshop.
Although the proposed annexation area originally was much larger, Knoll said the area was narrowed to 157 acres following public meetings and surveys, which he said included a “mixed response.”
The annexation was first submitted to LAFCO in 2006, said Knoll.
Adamson agreed to pay the city for the costs of the annexation application, said Knoll.
By May of last year Adamson had paid the city, up front, just under $57,000, according to city records.
Knoll said the money helped pay for a consulting firm to assist in the process, Knoll said. The city also conducted a fiscal analysis of the annexation.
When the proposal went before LAFCO last summer, key issues included conversion of agricultural lands – which Knoll said was resolved.
The main issue, however, was the city's ability to provide services to the area, said Knoll. “It kind of boiled down to a question of sewer capacity.”
The city believed they had that capacity, Knoll said, based on estimates originally done by staff.
“Since that time, Mr. Adamson has continued to want to see the city pursue annexation,” said Knoll. “We've been working on doing just that.”
While Adamson originally had his sights set on building a subdivision on his 31-acre property, the land also has piqued the interest of other interests, including Mendocino College.
A $67.5 million bond voters approved in November 2006 sets aside $15 million to purchase land, make improvements and begin building a new Lake County center, which College President Kathy Lehner has said the college would like to see at that spot.
Said Knoll, “That's been driving the annexation to some degree.”
Lehner could not be reached for comment on Wednesday about the Adamson property.
However, the project appears to be ongoing. According to the agenda for the Mendocino College Board of Trustees' Wednesday evening meeting, a closed session discussion to look at price and terms of payment for the land was scheduled.
Knoll said city staff has been working with an attorney with the firm McDonough, Holland and Allen to create strategies for moving forward.
“At this point in time we are putting together an application to go back to LAFCO,” said Knoll.
The city also is working on environmental documents, said Knoll.
Knoll said the city plans to submit an application to LAFCO April 18, which will be circulated to LAFCO staff and commissioners in order to be on the commission's May 21 meeting agenda.
“That's our goal at this point,” Knoll said, adding the city may take the issue to LAFCO for an informal discussion April 16.
Councilman Bob Rumfelt, who also sits on LAFCO and was one of two votes against the July 19 decision, said he didn't believe some of the newer commissioners understood LAFCO's role by insisting that the city should be able to fully serve the entire annexation area.
Knoll said it was city staff's interpretation that Lakeport had to have a plan in place to eventually provide services to the entire area, but didn't need to necessarily have those measures in place for the annexation to be approved.
While sewer capacity will again be an issue, Knoll said he expects the city will be able to prove its ability to service a new area, especially in light of a recently completed $2 million sewer system expansion project which added about 200 new residential sewer hookups.
City Utilities Superintendent Mark Brannigan said the city has done everything the state has asked it to do in order to resolve the issues related to the cease and desist order.
The city also adopted a new sewer ordinance Tuesday night, updating its sewer operations.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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Several organizers, any number of volunteers and three comics, including local funny man and business owner Marc Yaffee and comedic partners Ric D’elia and headliner Ron Kenney, brought in just over 300 persons to a night of comedy Saturday that netted nearly $8,000.
The event's proceeds will go toward this year's Kelseyville High Sober Grad party at the end of the school year.
Each comic brought their own unique look of the modern world to the stage offering a cross section of humor that reflects several decades of experience.
More that 30 businesses and individuals donated goods and services that were auctioned during the breaks between each performer.
E-mail Harold LaBonte at
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The seminar, moderated by District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing, will consist of a panel covering topics such as “what is a green home,” energy efficiency rebates, waterwise landscaping, indoor air quality, reducing your energy bills, the Energy Partners free weatherization program and various financial assistance programs available to the public. It will be followed with a question-and-answer session.
"I feel the concept of a 'green my home' seminar is particularly appropriate to Lucerne, where many of the residents are losing their green gardens due to the price of water,” said Rushing. “We will also share ways to actually bring more 'green' both figuratively and literally into our community.”
The “Green My Home” seminar is the first in a series to be held throughout the county. Lucerne was chosen for the first workshop, due to the high number of older homes, the high cost of water, and the number of residents on fixed income.
Free tables will be set up for local related businesses to showcase their products and services, such as solar energy, sustainability products, recycling, etc.
Information will be available to help qualifying low-income residents sign up for various free programs and financial assistance.
Armando Navarro, PG&E’s Customer & Community Relations manager, will present highlights of PG&E’s new Climate Smart Program, a voluntary program designed to help residents offset their carbon emissions. Money from the program is invested in Northern California projects such as reforestation.
"We are hoping to hold a future 'Train the Trainer' workshop, in which interested Lake County residents will be able to set up the same informational program in other communities,” said Rushing. “This is a win-win situation – by greening their homes, local residents will foster a better quality of life, save water, energy and money, and help create a healthier world.”
The “Green My Home workshop” is part of a larger, joint project between PG&E and County of Lake on “Sustainable Communities.” Potential future projects also include creation of a Lake County Climate Action Plan, energy audits for county buildings, educating small businesses on reducing their energy usage and green building workshops.
The seminar is free and open to all members of the public.
Those interested in more information, showcasing their products or services, becoming involved or attending the future “Train the Trainer” workshop are encouraged to contact Holly Harris or Chuck Lamb at 707-998-0135,
The senior center is located on Country Club Drive.
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McMillan was introduced as the Lake County Poet Laureate for 2008-2009, at a Sunday evening event at the Lake County Arts Council's Main Street Gallery.
She said she plans to continue the traditions established by the previous laureates, including hosting the Writing Circle which meets on the first Thursday of each month.
Her major goal is to provide more venues where local writers can publish and share their work.
She will be a co-host with Richard Martin of a radio show on KPFZ, interviewing and reading the work of local poets and writers.
McMillan has been writing poetry since 1987, when she took a class from Richard Silberg in Berkeley, and was introduced to Poetry Flash Magazine.
She attended Squaw Valley Community of Writers, where she studied with Robert Hass, Brenda Hillman, Galway Kinnell and Sharon Olds.
She coordinated a San Francisco group of poet alumni from Squaw Valley, which met monthly for four years. During this time, she also published poems in several local publications, including the Santa Clara Review and Tomcat.
In 1997, she got her master's degree in psychology, and four years later, earned her license to practice as a Marriage and Family Therapist.
She moved to Ukiah in 1999, where she practiced as a therapist until, in 2005, she transferred her practice to Lake County, and began writing poetry again.
She has worked as coordinator of a monthly writing group and participated in the Poet Laureate Writing Circle.
E-mail Sophie Annan Jensen at
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In a ceremony to be held on the floor of the Senate Chamber at the State Capitol in Sacramento on the morning of March 12, Wiggins will present Brandon to Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, who will give her a certificate honoring her record of civic leadership and contributions to the community and the state.
Brandon, who is also the Political Chair of the Sierra Club's 11,000-member Redwood Chapter and a chapter delegate to the Club's California-Nevada Regional Conservation Committee, has been a strong supporter of federal legislation designating 270,000 acres in the region as Federal Wilderness, and of the 2005 state law naming Cache Creek a Wild and Scenic River.
She is closely involved with Lake County growth management and watershed health issues on an ongoing basis, and currently active in efforts to prevent the threatened closure of Lake County's State Parks, to expand public ownership of open space on Mt. Konocti and to establish an Inner Coast Range National Conservation Area.
"Personal recognition from such an extraordinarily dedicated and able legislator as Pat Wiggins is immensely gratifying, but the honor actually belongs to the Sierra Club Lake Group, and to the other local conservationists committed to making this county the greenest place in California,” Brandon said.
A Lake County resident since 1981, Brandon also is a board member of Tuleyome, a Woodland-based nonprofit environmental advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the Putah-Cache bio region, secretary of the Chi Council for the Clear Lake Hitch, and a member of the Cache Creek Watershed Forum steering committee and the Lake County Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee.
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