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WASHINGTON – On Saturday, the House of Representatives passed the most significant energy reform legislation in over a decade.
The New Direction for Energy Independence, National Security, and Consumer Protection Act (HR 3221 & HR 2776) will make an historic investment in new energy technologies and renewable energy, improve energy efficiency for a wide array of products, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions significantly.
“Our district is on the cutting edge of many new energy technologies: the Geysers are the largest complex of geothermal power plants in the world; we have numerous world class wineries that are powered by solar energy," said Rep. Mike Thompson. “Our universities have also been leaders – from UC Davis’ development of the plug-in vehicle to the cutting edge biofuels research being conducted at Humboldt State. This bill improves and expands federal incentives for the development of these types of renewable and alternative energy, so communities across the nation can follow our lead."
The legislation extends federal tax credits for the production of biomass, geothermal, wind and many other types of renewable energy.
The solar investment tax credit is extended for eight years, providing long-term stability for the solar energy industry; also extended are the biodiesel and renewable diesel tax credits.
Additionally the legislation creates new monetary incentives and expands existing credits for taxpayers to make their homes and their businesses more energy efficient.
The bill also makes a first-time investment in new technology known as “smart meters," which will allow consumers to better manage their electricity usage during peak hours. This is of critical importance to states like California, where electricity infrastructure is already stressed and overloaded.
Lastly, the bill sets ambitious goals that will help lower the country’s carbon emissions and reduce our dependence on tradition fossil fuels. Utility companies would be required to meet a renewable energy portfolio standard whereby 15 percent of their energy must be derived from renewable sources by the year 2020.
“This legislation makes a long overdue investment in renewable energy, and it does so without increasing the budget deficit by a single dime," said Thompson. “As I have said many times in the past, we cannot drill our way to energy independence. We have no choice but to fully embrace the renewable energy sources and innovative technologies available to us; and this bill does just that."
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CLEARLAKE – The Burns Valley Road area of Clearlake has long been a safety issue for those who travel along it by foot or bicycle, including the area's senior population. However, city officials say they're moving forward on a project that would install a walking and biking path along the road, which would significantly improve pedestrian safety safety.
The sidewalk project has been on the drawing board for about two years, said City Administrator Dale Neiman.
The current plan, according to a report Neiman gave to the City Council at its July 26 meeting, involves widening the existing street – which Neiman said is extremely narrow, at only about 24 feet wide – and installing curb, gutter and sidewalk.
Linda J. Burton, executive director of the Highlands Senior Center on Bowers Road, said in an interview Thursday that there are many senior housing complexes in the area – Walnut Grove, Autumn Village and Austin Manor, and the Orchard Park assisted living facility near the Redbud Library.
Many of those seniors travel back and forth between the Burns Valley Shopping Center, the senior center and their homes on foot, in wheelchairs or using scooters, Burton explained.
“A lot of them are walking along a little dirt path,” said Burton, with those who are unsteady on their feet walking on the pavement in the narrow street.
Because of those conditions, there's a great need for a sidewalk and crosswalks, said Burton.
“There are clearly some safety issues,” Neiman said at the council meeting, adding that he also has witnessed wheelchairs having to travel into the road's lanes.
But there have been several delays, including a discovery that the city's plan was going to cost $300,000, about $100,000 more than the total amount of the two grants the city had acquired to pay for the project.
Neiman's solution to the shortfall, which the council approved July 26, included dropping the curb, gutter, sidewalk and drainage improvements.
“If we build the curb, gutter and sidewalk and drainage improvements we would be adding about $200,000 to the value of the adjoining property because it would not have to be built when the property is developed,” Neiman's report stated.
Developer Robert Adelman will be required to make the improvements as he builds the nearby Lake Glenn Subdivision, Neiman said in a Thursday interview.
The city's revised plan calls for building a 6-foot-wide asphalt pedestrian/bike lane along the street's west side, which will be delineated with yellow lines and a bike lane strip.
The bike lane will narrow to 4 and a half feet in width at the Burns Valley intersection so the city can avoid the cost of extending or replacing the culvert, Neiman reported.
In addition, rather that reconstructing sections of both lanes of the road, the city will only reconstruct a portion of the road's west travel lane, Neiman's staff report noted.
The City Council unanimously approved Neiman's suggested revisions, with council members stating their concerns for the safety of seniors traveling along the road.
Mayor Judy Thein met with interim City Engineer Bob Galusha at the site Wednesday, where she said he answered several of her concerns, including the width of the bike lane/walking path at the culvert.
Thein said she had wanted the path wider than the proposed 4 and a half feet when the path reaches the culvert, but said when Galusha showed her measurements at the site, and explained that Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance requires only 3 feet, she said she was satisfied.
The project will include crosswalks from nearby senior housing complexes to the senior center and to the pedestrian walkway, a guardrail to keep people from falling into the creek, and new ADA-compliant curbs, Thein explained.
Thein said the work will be geared toward senior safety as they travel to and from the senior center and the Burns Valley Mall.
The project, said Thein, has been important to her since she joined the council, and her goal is that it's completed as soon as possible. Seniors trying to navigate the area “just cannot go through another winter like they have been,” she said.
Neiman said the construction plans will need to be revised, which will take about six weeks.
The city still has a few other obstacles to overcome, he said. Those include getting easements from a nearby property owner, who received the deeds from the city about a month ago but hasn't returned them.
In addition, Adelman – who is being required to replace a culvert that crosses Burns Valley Road at the intersection near the senior center – hasn't obtained the necessary approvals from the city or the funding. In that case, Neiman said the city could allocate $50,000 to do the work and have Adelman reimburse the city later.
Neiman said Adelman hasn't yet given the city a time frame about when he plans to move forward on the Lake Glenn Subdivision development or the attendant sidewalk improvements. He said Adelman has finalized his construction drawings and is working on project financing, but most likely will miss this years building season.
Neiman said the city also needs the assistance of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) to move some power poles along the route.
At the City Council meeting, Neiman said he had not received word back from PG&E when the pole relocations might be possible.
Jana Schuering, a spokesperson for PG&E's North Bay and North Coast regions, said the company is in the process of estimating the project, which she said should be done by Aug. 9. At that time, the company will schedule a crew to relocate the power poles.
If everything moves forward smoothly from this point, Neiman said they'll go to bid after the plans are revised and, hopefully, have the project complete by October or November.
“That would be a great benefit to seniors living in this area,” said Burton.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LUCERNE – Officials have identified two Northshore women as the victims of a double fatal car crash Thursday.
Chief Deputy Russell Perdock of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said Friday that Joan Marylin Johnson, 60, of Lucerne and Dawn Marie Anderson, 45, of Nice died in the head-on collision that took place Thursday evening along Highway 20 between Nice and Lucerne.
A California Highway Patrol report issued Friday morning said both Johnson and Anderson were pronounced dead at the scene.
Colfax resident Gary Harrington, 52, was driving the third car in the collision. He suffered minor injuries – the calf of his right leg was injured – and sought his own medical aid, the CHP reported.
The CHP report explained that Johnson was driving a 1996 Ford Taurus at a high rate of speed westbound along Highway 20 east of Bartlett Springs Road when the collision occurred at 5:55 p.m.
As Johnson negotiated a curve in the road her car traveled onto the right shoulder, causing her to lose control of the vehicle, the CHP reported.
Anderson was driving her 1987 Mercury Cougar eastbound on Highway 20, followed by Harrington in a 2007 Ford Ranger pickup, according to the CHP report.
Johnson's car traveled across the double yellow lines and collided head-on with Anderson's car and then into the front of Harrington's pickup, the CHP report noted.
After hitting Anderson and Harrington, Johnson's car continued out of control, the CHP reported, with Johnson being ejected from the car.
Johnson was not wearing her seatbelt, the CHP report stated, while both Anderson and Harrington were.
Responding to the accident scene were CHP, Northshore Fire Protection District and the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
CHP Officer Josh Dye said the Clear Lake CHP office had about 10 officers on scene, including Commander Dane Hayward, four officers – including Dye – a sergeant, a lieutenant and several volunteers.
“We had lots of help last night,” Dye said Friday. “Usually you're struggling to find help.”
Regarding the collision's cause, Dye added, “As far as what we know now, I don't think we have anything to indicate alcohol.”
Perdock reported that sheriff's Deputy Frank Walsh was at the scene to initiate the coroner's investigation, which included identifying the two women and notifying their families.
The coroner's investigation is continuing, with autopsies scheduled for the first of next week, Perdock reported.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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CLEARLAKE – The Clearlake Police Department is looking for a man who is believed to have abducted his young son.
A report issued by police Friday evening said that Latthen Chance Douglas had allegedly fled the county with his 1-year-old son, Jarrod Chance Douglas, on Thursday afternoon.
Police believe Douglas, who has lived in Clearlake, is headed for Amarillo, Texas.
A search of Texas vital statistics shows that Douglas is 31 years of age and has lived in Amarillo for most of his life, having been born in the area.
Police say the vehicle that was involved in the alleged abduction was reportedly a black 1987 Toyota 4Runner. The vehicle has a Texas license plate with the number R81WXL.
According to Clearlake Police, Douglas was last spotted in the Houston area.
Anyone with information should call the Clearlake Police at 994-8251.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LUCERNE – Highway 20 was closed for four hours Thursday night as officials investigated a vehicle collision that killed two people and injured a third.
The California Highway Patrol incident logs noted that the head-on collision was reported shortly before 6 p.m. It occurred between Nice and Lucerne, about 300 yards east of Ceago Vinegarden.
The California Highway Patrol officers, firefighters from Northshore Fire Protection District and Lake County Sheriff's deputies responded to the scene.
CHP had the highway closed while officers conducted what a sheriff's deputy called a “crime scene” – rather than an accident – investigation.
Northshore Fire Protection District officials began turning back traffic traveling from Lucerne to Nice at Lucerne's west end, where Foothill Drive joins the highway, with traffic blocked coming from the other direction just west of the accident scene.
Later, cement barricades were erected west of Harbor Park in Lucerne so that no vehicles could pass through. Many drivers turned their vehicles around to drive around the lake in the opposite direction.
Shortly before 9 p.m., Northshore Fire Chief Jim Robbins said the CHP was still working on its investigation.
“We had two fatalities and one very minor injury,” said Robbins.
“I can't really discuss any more than that,” Robbins added.
At 9:40 p.m., the park was filled with vehicles and people waiting for the road to reopen. About that time, a Caltrans truck arrived to remove the barricades in order to reopen the highway.
The highway reopened just after 10 p.m., according to the CHP incident logs.
No official statement CHP report has yet been released on the incident.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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On Thursday night, the House of Representatives passed a final version of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 (WRDA), according to Congressman Mike Thompson's office.
The legislation authorizes the Army Corps of Engineers to construct $21 billion in flood protection ane ecosystem restoration projects, and improve the nation's rivers and harbors.
The bill, the National Audubon Society reported, includes an unprecedented $5.5 billion in funding for ecosystem restoration on the Mississippi, coastal Louisiana, and for the Great Lakes and the Everglades.
WRDA also authorizes the Corps to design and construct the Middle Creek Ecosystem Restoration Project, as Lake County News previously reported.
The legislation states that the Middle Creek project will cost $45.2 million, with an estimated federal cost of $29,500,000 and an estimated non-federal cost of $15,700,000.
Bob Lossius, Lake County's assistant director of Public Works, said in a previous interview with Lake County News that the county was only seeking $1.2 million at this time to get the project started.
"Restoring Middle Creek will improve our area's protection from flooding," said Thompson in a statement issued shortly after the House vote. "It will also have a very positive effect on the wetlands surrounding Clearlake.”
The project will restore 1,200 acres of wetlands and 500 acres of floodplain in the Clear Lake area. It entails reconnecting the Scotts Creek and Middle Creek to the historic Robinson Lake wetland and floodplain.
The Scotts and Middle Creek watersheds provide 57 percent of the water flow into Clear Lake.
No WRDA bill has been passed since 2000, a fact that's been attributed to a desire to reform the Corps' policies and prevent pork barrel politics, as Lake County News previously reported.
The House passed a version of the WRDA bill in April, with the Senate passing its version the following month.
The bill then went to conference committee, where the differences in the House and Senate bills were worked out, according to GovTrack.us. WRDA then headed back to the two chambers for final approval.
The House's Thursday vote was 381-40 in favor of the bill.
The Senate has yet to consider and approve its final version of WRDA, but it could happen as soon as this week, Thompson's office reported. The bill would then go to the president.
But even if the bill gets through the Senate, it's not home free.
In May, the White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy that reported President Bush was opposed to the bill.
He has since renewed his threat to veto the bill, which has groups from the Louisiana Congressional delegation to the National Audubon Society asking him to reconsider.
Some members of Congress – including those from Louisiana – have stated that they have enough votes in Congress to override a possible veto.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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