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Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol reopened the highway at about 5 a.m. Saturday.
The highway was closed late Friday night due to flooding and mudslides.
CHP is still reporting mud and debris at other points along the highway as it follows the Northshore, specifically near Clearlake Oaks.
Friday's heavy rains triggered the flooding and slide activity.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff reported Friday that James Booth, Michael Johnson and Michael Bruins pleaded no contest on Tuesday to possessing more than the legal limit for crappie and received fines totaling more than $7,000.
The legal limit of crappie in Clear Lake is 25 per day and 25 in possession, said Hinchcliff.
He explained that the possession limitation means that no matter how many days a person spends fishing, they can possess no more than 25 crappie at one time.
Hinchcliff said that on Nov. 15, 2007, state Department of Fish and Game Wardens Loren Freeman and Nick Buckler received an anonymous tip of fishermen taking and keeping more than the legal limit of crappie.
Freeman and Buckler set up surveillance in the Kono Tayee area and observed a black bass boat with three men catching crappie, according to Hinchcliff's report.
After the men left the area, the wardens contacted them at Indian Beach Resort, said Hinchcliff, where the three men told Freeman and Buckler the fishing had not been very good.
The wardens found only 12 fish in the boat, which were all the fish the men claimed to possess, said Hinchcliff.
However, Booth, Johnson and Bruins admitted they had fish in a freezer at their motel after the wardens told the men that they could inspect their vehicle and any freezers or ice chests, and that failing to exhibit all fish was an additional crime, Hinchcliff reported.
In all, the two game wardens found a total of 151 crappie, said Hinchcliff.
Hinchcliff said he charged Booth with possessing 18 fish over the limit, Johnson with 18 fish over the limit and Bruins with 40 fish over the limit.
He said the standard fine is $780 for the first fish over the limit and $68 for each additional fish over the limit.
After the men pleaded no contest to the charges Tuesday, Judge Stephen O. Hedstrom fined Johnson and Booth $1,900 each, and Bruins was ordered to pay a fine of $3,447.
Hinchcliff, who oversees the poaching cases that come through the District Attorney's Office, said crappie and deer are the major poaching victims in Lake County.
As or crappie, “The last couple of years we've prosecuted at least half a dozen people for catching over limits,” said Hinchcliff.
In 2003 Hinchcliff prosecuted an out-of-county poacher who was found in possession of 122 crappie over the limit and received thousands in fines.
Crappie used to be seen in more abundance in Clear Lake, said Hinchcliff, who grew up locally and fished for them himself.
“They pretty much disappeared for a long time,” he said, adding that the fish population has its ups and downs.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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The California Highway Patrol and Caltrans reported that Highway 20 was closed in both directions from its junction with Highway 53 to Interstate 5 in Williams due to flooding over the roadway and rock slides.
Flooding in the road was reported at early as 5:30 p.m., but it wasn't until nearly five hours later that officials finally closed the roadway, according to the CHP incident logs.
Farther up along the highway, at Hillside Lane at Clearlake Oaks, CHP reported that rocks were falling into the roadway.
CHP's Ukiah Dispatch Center said it was unknown when the highway would reopen.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LAKE COUNTY – Friday's extremely wet weather is filling up area creeks, saturating the ground and causing trees and utility lines to fall.
The California Highway Patrol reported that area roadways were affected by small rock slides, fallen trees and power lines because of wet conditions Friday.
Caltrans crews responded to rock slides on Highway 20, with county road crews removing large rocks from Soda Bay Road near Clear Lake State Park, CHP reported. County crews also had to respond to remove a tree from the road at Floyd Way and Lakeview in Nice Friday morning.
CHP reported it was snowing up on Bartlett Springs Road at about 3 p.m. Friday, with water crossing the road about four miles up from Highway 20.
Lake County Public Works reported that chains are still required on Elk Mountain and Bartlett Springs Roads. Chain restrictions were lifted in Cobb.
Carson Street in Nice was closed due to a downed tree, Public Works reported.
Pacific Gas and Electric crews removed a downed power line along Highway 20, CHP reported. However, that didn't appear to have caused any power outages, according to Jana Schuering, a spokesperson for PG&E.
As the day progressed into night, officials had to close Highway 20 from its junction with Highway 53 to Interstate 5 in Williams due to flooding and rock slides. Slides were reported on Highway 20 at Paradise Cove and near Clearlake Oaks.
Just after midnight Caltrans had to remove a tree that was blocking the westbound lane of Highway 20 near Cora Drive between Glenhaven and Lucerne, CHP reported.
At Morgan Valley Road at Highway 29 a mudslide was reported at about 1 a.m. Saturday, according to CHP.
The Northshore had steady, heavy rain during most of the day, with Weather Underground reporting that 3.31 inches was recorded at a personal weather station near Clearlake Oaks as of midnight.
Lower Lake also received a lot of rain, according to Weather Underground, with 3.21inches as Friday's total.
Lakeport had a daily total of 1.06 inches, according to Weather Underground.
Rainfall totals were not available for Cobb; however, area resident Roger Kinney reported heavy rainfall and snow melt Friday afternoon.
Shortly before 6 p.m. Friday snow began to fall in Cobb once more, Kinney reported.
Chris Rivera, coordinator of Lake County's Office of Emergency Services, said his office had received reports of swollen creeks due to ground saturation from previous storms.
“We're just advising people to be aware of what they're doing, where they're going,” he said.
Rivera said drivers should not cross roadways covered with water and to be careful around the small creeks and tributaries that are filling up due to the rains.
The US Geological Survey stream gauges showed Kelsey, Putah and Cache Creeks to be running high, with Clear Lake at 3.41 Rumsey, just off its 3.53 Rumsey measurement on the same day last year. A full lake measures 7.56 Rumsey, according to the Lake County Water Resources Division.
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With no other option, the City Council voted 5-0 Thursday night to repay $18,006 out of the general fund to the state Department of Parks and Recreation after City Administrator Dale Neiman said the city could not account for the funds.
Between 2004 and 2006 the city received $38,878 from the state to repair the city’s youth center, The Hot Spot, Neiman reported. The total grant for the center was about $44,000.
Neiman said the state audits the grants. In reviewing the funds neither the state nor the city could find adequate documentation for how $6,049 was spent; another $11,957 was completely unaccounted for, he explained.
That leaves $21,570 for the youth center. Neiman said the city might have to pay back more money if the state continues to find discrepancies in the audit.
The grant’s terms required that The Hot Spot must be operated for 10 years as a youth center – and maintained in an acceptable manner, according to Neiman. If the center isn’t open and kept in good condition, the city would have to return another $20,872 – the amount of grant funds that the city was able to justify.
Neiman suggested using the remaining $21,570 as seed money to build a new skate park facility.
City Councilman Roy Simons said the inability to account for the money “smacks of gross negligence” or corruption.
He asked if a criminal investigation had been undertaken. Neiman said no.
Councilmember Joyce Overton said she supports the skate park but she was opposed to taking money from The Hot Spot to build a new park.
There are negotiations under way to expand the youth center to Lakeport and Middletown, so the center is working, she said.
However, she said The Hot Spot needs a new floor, new roof, gutters and much more.
“This money really was for the youth center and I think it should stay there,” Overton said.
Ronda Mottlow, one of the adult co-chairs of the skate park committee, said they would love to have a new park but she also supported the youth center, which has sponsored the skate park committee’s meetings.
Councilmember Judy Thein asked how many years the city was into the 10-year lifespan of the youth center; Neiman said he was unsure.
He said the state has come to make several inspections of the facility; during a few of those visits the state found the youth center wasn't open.
Thein asked if the city should spell these requirements out in the youth center’s lease. Neiman said they should but the current lease has expired.
“This is a hard choice here,” said Thein. “We need to support our youth one way or the other but we need to protect the city also.”
Overton said it was time the city invested in its youth. Otherwise, gangs and graffiti would worsen, she said.
Neiman agreed, suggesting in the long term the city should develop a parks and recreation program.
Mayor Curt Giambruno said he knew $8,000 of the grant had been spent on a basketball court for city youth.
Giambruno attributed the city’s inability to account for the funding to a previous administration and council, adding that they needed Neiman to help the council sort out the issue and make a plan going forward.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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Jim McMurray was placed in a Santa Rosa hospital's intensive care unit for pneumonia over the holidays, as Lake County News previously reported.
However, on Wednesday he was moved to Kentfield Rehabilitation Hospital in Marin County, according to Chuck Doty, the fire district's chair.
“He's doing much better,” said Doty.
Doty added, “Every day, it's a better day.”
Fire district officials encouraged the community to send notes to McMurray while he's convalescing, saying he's looking forward to hearing from friends.
Notes and cards can be sent to McMurray at Kentfield Rehabilitation Hospital, 1125 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Kentfield, CA 94904.
Assistant Chief Bud Moore was appointed to supervise the fire district's day-to-day operations during McMurray's absence, the fire district previously reported.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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