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California Attorney General Rob Bonta this week announced the release of the annual Homicide in California, Crime in California, Use of Force Incident Reporting, and Juvenile Justice in California statistical reports.
The reports provide policymakers, researchers, law enforcement, and members of the public with vital statewide information on criminal justice statistics in California to support informed policy choices based on data and analysis and help protect the safety and well-being of all Californians.
While the reports are typically published in July, the recent overhaul of the state’s electronic reporting systems, as required by a federal directive to strengthen data collection capabilities nationwide, impacted data collection efforts and the timing of this year’s release of the reports.
Once fully implemented for the hundreds of reporting agencies across the state, California’s new data collection system, which was certified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier this year, will significantly improve the quality and depth of the criminal justice statistical information available to all Californians, officials said.
“Good data is a cornerstone of good public policy,” said Attorney General Bonta, encouraging partners across California to read the reports released by his office.
“While crime rates remain significantly below their historical highs, property and violent crimes continue to have devastating consequences for communities across the state. Gun violence in particular remains a consistent and growing threat. In fact, in 2021, nearly three-fourths of all homicides in California involved a firearm,” he said.
Bonta added, “As we confront these ongoing challenges, we must have accountability and appropriate consequences for those who break the law. Accurate statistics and the data in the annual crime reports are a critical part of calibrating our response, ensuring policymakers and law enforcement are able to make informed decisions. At the California Department of Justice, we’re using every tool we have to prevent violence and combat crime in all its forms. Whether it’s successfully securing federal certification of our data systems or taking guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals, my office remains committed to doing our part to support safety and security for all Californians.”
Each year, the California Department of Justice, or CADOJ, publishes annual reports on various criminal justice statistics in California.
While law enforcement agencies across the state are in the process of transitioning to the new data collection system known as the California Incident-Based Reporting System, or CIBRS, the format of the information made available in this year’s reports remains consistent with previous years.
The ongoing transition to incident-based reporting will ultimately enable law enforcement agencies to collect more in-depth information about specific incidents than previously available in the legacy system that had been in use for decades.
For instance, under the legacy system, statistical data was typically collected using the “Hierarchy Rule,” i.e., only the most serious offense within a criminal incident is counted for statistical purposes.
As a result, if a robbery and a homicide occurred in the same incident, the legacy system only counts the homicide for statistical reporting purposes.
Through CIBRS, policymakers, law enforcement and members of the public will eventually have more detailed information, context, and specificity about crime in the state.
Law enforcement agencies across California are currently in the process of transitioning to CIBRS.
To date, more than 300 reporting agencies have completed the transition and are in the process of becoming certified by CADOJ.
However, there are currently several hundred agencies remaining and CADOJ continues to work with agencies across the state during this ongoing transition.
In the interim, in order to help ensure the annual criminal justice reports remain complete and accurate to the fullest extent possible, CADOJ continues to accept data in both the legacy and CIBRS formats.
The information made available in this year’s reports is a combination of data collected under both reporting methods. The attorney general encourages researchers, academics, and all members of the public to analyze the data and use it to help inform public discourse on the state’s criminal justice system.
Key findings from each of the four reports released today and a brief description of their contents are available below:
Homicide in California 2021 provides information about the crime of homicide, including demographic data of victims, persons arrested for homicide, persons sentenced to death, peace officers feloniously killed in the line of duty, and justifiable homicides. Some of the key findings include:
• The total number of reported homicides in the state increased 7.2% year-to-year from 2,202 in 2020 to 2,361 in 2021, remaining significantly below California’s historical high of 4,095 homicides in 1993;
• In 2021, 75% of homicides, where the weapon was identified, involved a firearm. Firearms continue to be the most common weapon used in homicides;
• Among California’s counties with populations of 100,000 or more, Kern (13.7), Merced (9.5), and Tulare (8.8) were the counties that experienced the highest homicide rates and Placer (1), San Luis Obispo (0.7), and Marin (0.4) experienced the lowest homicide rates. Napa and Shasta counties reported they had zero homicides;
• Among homicides where the victim’s relationship to the suspect was identified, females (35.6%) were more likely than males (6.4%) to be killed by their spouse, parent, or child; and
There was a 2.9% decrease in homicide arrests from 1,597 in 2020 to 1,550 in 2021, remaining above the 10-year average of 1,478.2 homicide arrests per year.
Crime in California 2021 presents statewide statistics for reported crimes, arrests, dispositions of adult felony arrests, adult probation, criminal justice personnel, civilians’ complaints against peace officers, domestic violence-related calls for assistance, anti-reproductive-rights crimes, and law enforcement officers killed or assaulted.
Some of the key findings include:
• The violent crime rate — i.e., the number of violent crimes per 100,000 people — increased 6.7% from 437 in 2020 to 466.2 in 2021, remaining significantly below California’s historical high of 1,103.9 in 1992;
• The property crime rate increased 3% from 2,114.4 in 2020 to 2,178.4 in 2021, remaining near last year’s historical low and significantly below California’s historical high of 6,880.6 in 1980;
The total arrest rate decreased 7.3% from 2,812.3 in 2020 to 2,606.3 in 2021, continuing an ongoing year-to-year downward trend that began in 2004 when the total arrest rate was 5,385.5;
• In 2021, the total number of adults on active probation reached its lowest level since 1980 at 151,414; and
• The total number of full-time criminal justice personnel — including law enforcement, prosecutors, investigators, public defenders, and probation officers — decreased 2.7% from 153,883 in 2020 to 149,688 in 2021, falling slightly below the 10-year average of 151,909.8.
Use of Force Incident Reporting 2021 presents a summary overview of use of force and discharge-of-firearm incidents involving a peace officer, as defined in California Government Code section 12525.2.
Some of the key findings include:
• In 2021, there were 628 incidents that involved the use of force resulting in serious bodily injury or death of a civilian or officer, or the discharge of a firearm.
Of those incidents:
• 47.8% occurred during a call for service;
• 19.7% occurred while either a crime was in progress or while officers were investigating suspicious persons or circumstances; and
• 15.4% resulted from a vehicle, bike, or pedestrian stop;
In 2021, 660 civilians were involved in incidents that involved the discharge of a firearm or use of force resulting in serious bodily injury or death.
Of those civilians:
• 50.6% were Hispanic;
• 25.5% were white; and
• 16.7% were Black; and
In 2021, 1,462 officers were involved in incidents that involved the discharge of a firearm or use of force resulting in serious bodily injury or death.
Of those officers:
• 83.8% were not injured;
• 15.9% were injured; and
• 0.3% died.
Juvenile Justice in California 2021 provides insight into the juvenile justice process by reporting the number of arrests, referrals to probation departments, petitions filed, and dispositions for juveniles tried in juvenile and adult courts.
Some of the key findings include:
• Of the 31,370 referrals of juveniles to probation, 92.5% were referred by law enforcement;
• Of the 19,355 juvenile arrests:
• 47.2% were for a felony offense;
• 46.5% were for a misdemeanor offense; and
• 6.3% were for a status offense;
Of those same juveniles:
• 77.2% were referred to probation;
• 16% were counseled and released; and
• 6.8% were turned over to another agency;
• Of the 17,413 juvenile cases that were formally handled by a juvenile court, 55.3% resulted in juveniles being made wards of the court; and
• Of the 52 juvenile cases tried in adult court, 67.3% resulted in a conviction.
The Homicide in California report is available here. The Crime in California report is available here.
The Use of Force Incident Reporting report is available here.
The Juvenile Justice in California report is available here.
The underlying data associated with the annual reports is available on OpenJustice here.
The reports provide policymakers, researchers, law enforcement, and members of the public with vital statewide information on criminal justice statistics in California to support informed policy choices based on data and analysis and help protect the safety and well-being of all Californians.
While the reports are typically published in July, the recent overhaul of the state’s electronic reporting systems, as required by a federal directive to strengthen data collection capabilities nationwide, impacted data collection efforts and the timing of this year’s release of the reports.
Once fully implemented for the hundreds of reporting agencies across the state, California’s new data collection system, which was certified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier this year, will significantly improve the quality and depth of the criminal justice statistical information available to all Californians, officials said.
“Good data is a cornerstone of good public policy,” said Attorney General Bonta, encouraging partners across California to read the reports released by his office.
“While crime rates remain significantly below their historical highs, property and violent crimes continue to have devastating consequences for communities across the state. Gun violence in particular remains a consistent and growing threat. In fact, in 2021, nearly three-fourths of all homicides in California involved a firearm,” he said.
Bonta added, “As we confront these ongoing challenges, we must have accountability and appropriate consequences for those who break the law. Accurate statistics and the data in the annual crime reports are a critical part of calibrating our response, ensuring policymakers and law enforcement are able to make informed decisions. At the California Department of Justice, we’re using every tool we have to prevent violence and combat crime in all its forms. Whether it’s successfully securing federal certification of our data systems or taking guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals, my office remains committed to doing our part to support safety and security for all Californians.”
Each year, the California Department of Justice, or CADOJ, publishes annual reports on various criminal justice statistics in California.
While law enforcement agencies across the state are in the process of transitioning to the new data collection system known as the California Incident-Based Reporting System, or CIBRS, the format of the information made available in this year’s reports remains consistent with previous years.
The ongoing transition to incident-based reporting will ultimately enable law enforcement agencies to collect more in-depth information about specific incidents than previously available in the legacy system that had been in use for decades.
For instance, under the legacy system, statistical data was typically collected using the “Hierarchy Rule,” i.e., only the most serious offense within a criminal incident is counted for statistical purposes.
As a result, if a robbery and a homicide occurred in the same incident, the legacy system only counts the homicide for statistical reporting purposes.
Through CIBRS, policymakers, law enforcement and members of the public will eventually have more detailed information, context, and specificity about crime in the state.
Law enforcement agencies across California are currently in the process of transitioning to CIBRS.
To date, more than 300 reporting agencies have completed the transition and are in the process of becoming certified by CADOJ.
However, there are currently several hundred agencies remaining and CADOJ continues to work with agencies across the state during this ongoing transition.
In the interim, in order to help ensure the annual criminal justice reports remain complete and accurate to the fullest extent possible, CADOJ continues to accept data in both the legacy and CIBRS formats.
The information made available in this year’s reports is a combination of data collected under both reporting methods. The attorney general encourages researchers, academics, and all members of the public to analyze the data and use it to help inform public discourse on the state’s criminal justice system.
Key findings from each of the four reports released today and a brief description of their contents are available below:
Homicide in California 2021 provides information about the crime of homicide, including demographic data of victims, persons arrested for homicide, persons sentenced to death, peace officers feloniously killed in the line of duty, and justifiable homicides. Some of the key findings include:
• The total number of reported homicides in the state increased 7.2% year-to-year from 2,202 in 2020 to 2,361 in 2021, remaining significantly below California’s historical high of 4,095 homicides in 1993;
• In 2021, 75% of homicides, where the weapon was identified, involved a firearm. Firearms continue to be the most common weapon used in homicides;
• Among California’s counties with populations of 100,000 or more, Kern (13.7), Merced (9.5), and Tulare (8.8) were the counties that experienced the highest homicide rates and Placer (1), San Luis Obispo (0.7), and Marin (0.4) experienced the lowest homicide rates. Napa and Shasta counties reported they had zero homicides;
• Among homicides where the victim’s relationship to the suspect was identified, females (35.6%) were more likely than males (6.4%) to be killed by their spouse, parent, or child; and
There was a 2.9% decrease in homicide arrests from 1,597 in 2020 to 1,550 in 2021, remaining above the 10-year average of 1,478.2 homicide arrests per year.
Crime in California 2021 presents statewide statistics for reported crimes, arrests, dispositions of adult felony arrests, adult probation, criminal justice personnel, civilians’ complaints against peace officers, domestic violence-related calls for assistance, anti-reproductive-rights crimes, and law enforcement officers killed or assaulted.
Some of the key findings include:
• The violent crime rate — i.e., the number of violent crimes per 100,000 people — increased 6.7% from 437 in 2020 to 466.2 in 2021, remaining significantly below California’s historical high of 1,103.9 in 1992;
• The property crime rate increased 3% from 2,114.4 in 2020 to 2,178.4 in 2021, remaining near last year’s historical low and significantly below California’s historical high of 6,880.6 in 1980;
The total arrest rate decreased 7.3% from 2,812.3 in 2020 to 2,606.3 in 2021, continuing an ongoing year-to-year downward trend that began in 2004 when the total arrest rate was 5,385.5;
• In 2021, the total number of adults on active probation reached its lowest level since 1980 at 151,414; and
• The total number of full-time criminal justice personnel — including law enforcement, prosecutors, investigators, public defenders, and probation officers — decreased 2.7% from 153,883 in 2020 to 149,688 in 2021, falling slightly below the 10-year average of 151,909.8.
Use of Force Incident Reporting 2021 presents a summary overview of use of force and discharge-of-firearm incidents involving a peace officer, as defined in California Government Code section 12525.2.
Some of the key findings include:
• In 2021, there were 628 incidents that involved the use of force resulting in serious bodily injury or death of a civilian or officer, or the discharge of a firearm.
Of those incidents:
• 47.8% occurred during a call for service;
• 19.7% occurred while either a crime was in progress or while officers were investigating suspicious persons or circumstances; and
• 15.4% resulted from a vehicle, bike, or pedestrian stop;
In 2021, 660 civilians were involved in incidents that involved the discharge of a firearm or use of force resulting in serious bodily injury or death.
Of those civilians:
• 50.6% were Hispanic;
• 25.5% were white; and
• 16.7% were Black; and
In 2021, 1,462 officers were involved in incidents that involved the discharge of a firearm or use of force resulting in serious bodily injury or death.
Of those officers:
• 83.8% were not injured;
• 15.9% were injured; and
• 0.3% died.
Juvenile Justice in California 2021 provides insight into the juvenile justice process by reporting the number of arrests, referrals to probation departments, petitions filed, and dispositions for juveniles tried in juvenile and adult courts.
Some of the key findings include:
• Of the 31,370 referrals of juveniles to probation, 92.5% were referred by law enforcement;
• Of the 19,355 juvenile arrests:
• 47.2% were for a felony offense;
• 46.5% were for a misdemeanor offense; and
• 6.3% were for a status offense;
Of those same juveniles:
• 77.2% were referred to probation;
• 16% were counseled and released; and
• 6.8% were turned over to another agency;
• Of the 17,413 juvenile cases that were formally handled by a juvenile court, 55.3% resulted in juveniles being made wards of the court; and
• Of the 52 juvenile cases tried in adult court, 67.3% resulted in a conviction.
The Homicide in California report is available here. The Crime in California report is available here.
The Use of Force Incident Reporting report is available here.
The Juvenile Justice in California report is available here.
The underlying data associated with the annual reports is available on OpenJustice here.
Administering a decedent’s probate or trust estate can involve unforeseen challenges.
Let us consider two probate scenarios where title to real property that belonged to the decedent was nonetheless titled outside of the decedent’s name and presented a challenge as to how to title the real property into the estate.
Also, let us consider a trust administration scenario where title was left out of the trust.
Consider a probate where the decedent, years prior to his death, was supposed to receive title from his then wife to all real property belonging to them as joint tenants as part of their divorce agreement.
The wife signed an interspousal deed to real property in Lake County that she believed transferred all the property to her husband.
Years later, during the probate, she learned that the mobile home on the real property and the adjoining five acres parcel were not included on the interspousal deed.
Here a possible solution is to petition the court, under section 850 of the Probate Code, for an order to reform the deed to include the adjoining five acres.
Reformation is an allowed equitable (fairness) approach to the problem that applies when there is a written agreement that does not properly express the prior mutual agreement between the parties.
In this case, the both spouses agreed that all real properties would go to the husband, but the interspousal deed itself excluded the adjoining five acres and the mobile home.
With the surviving ex-spouse’s written declaration it made sense to file an 850 petition to reform the old interspousal deed to include the missing assets.
Next, consider a probate where the decedent co-owned a lot with two other deceased owners of record.
The probate estate could not sell the property without either unifying all ownership in the probate estate itself or without the other deceased co-owner’s heirs getting on title to the real property and participating in the sale as co-owners.
Fortunately, the successors in interest to the other deceased owners were agreeable to assign their inheritance rights to the personal representative of the probate estate.
With the assignments and declaration by surviving heirs confirming that neither deceased co-owner’s estate was probated it becomes possible to use an 850 petition by the personal representative for an order that the property belongs to the probate estate based on the assignments and the circumstances.
As illustrated, section 850 of the Probate Code provides a useful procedural remedy for a personal representative of a decedent’s estate to pursue claims to assets that are either possessed or titled in the name of someone else.
Without the cooperation of that “someone else” or the successors in interest, the section 850 petition will likely result in controversy and possibly even litigation. With the cooperation, however, a section 850 petition can provide a useful remedy to solve knotty problems.
Lastly, consider a decedent who died with a trust while owning real property outside the trust. If there is a good argument that the decedent intended the property to have been transferred to the trust but failed to do so, then an 850 petition pursuant to the case of Estate of Heggstad, 16 Cal. App. 4th, 943 (1993) case may be the solution.
For example, if the decedent took title out of the trust as part of a refinancing then there would be a clear argument that the failure to retitle the house back into the trust was unintentional.
The foregoing is a brief discussion of a much wider and more complex subject. It is not legal advice and does not substitute for consultation with an attorney before proceeding.
Dennis A. Fordham, attorney, is a State Bar-Certified Specialist in estate planning, probate and trust law. His office is at 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, Calif. He can be reached at
Scientists got a surprise when NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover began examining rocks on the floor of Jezero Crater in spring of 2021: Because the crater held a lake billions of years ago, they had expected to find sedimentary rock, which would have formed when sand and mud settled in a once-watery environment. Instead, they discovered the floor was made of two types of igneous rock – one that formed deep underground from magma, the other from volcanic activity at the surface.
The findings are described in four new papers published Thursday, Aug. 25. In Science, one offers an overview of Perseverance’s exploration of the crater floor before it arrived at Jezero’s ancient river delta in April 2022; a second study in the same journal details distinctive rocks that appear to have formed from a thick body of magma.
The other two papers, published in Science Advances, detail the unique ways that Perseverance’s rock-vaporizing laser and ground-penetrating radar established that igneous rocks cover the crater floor.
Rock of ages
Igneous rocks are excellent timekeepers: Crystals within them record details about the precise moment they formed.
“One great value of the igneous rocks we collected is that they will tell us about when the lake was present in Jezero. We know it was there more recently than the igneous crater floor rocks formed,” said Ken Farley of Caltech, Perseverance’s project scientist and the lead author of the first of the new Science papers. “This will address some major questions: When was Mars’ climate conducive to lakes and rivers on the planet’s surface, and when did it change to the very cold and dry conditions we see today?”
Perseverance took this close-up of a rock target nicknamed “Foux” using its WATSON camera on July 11, 2021, the 139th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The area within the camera is roughly 1.4 by 1 inches (3.5 centimeters by 2.6 centimeters).
However, because of how it forms, igneous rock isn’t ideal for preserving the potential signs of ancient microscopic life Perseverance is searching for. In contrast, determining the age of sedimentary rock can be challenging, particularly when it contains rock fragments that formed at different times before the rock sediment was deposited.
But sedimentary rock often forms in watery environments suitable for life and is better at preserving ancient signs of life.
That’s why the sediment-rich river delta Perseverance has been exploring since April 2022 has been so tantalizing to scientists.
The rover has begun drilling and collecting core samples of sedimentary rocks there so that the Mars Sample Return campaign could potentially return them to Earth to be studied by powerful lab equipment too large to bring to Mars.
Mysterious magma-formed rocks
A second paper published in Science solves a longstanding mystery on Mars. Years ago, Mars orbiters spotted a rock formation filled with the mineral olivine.
Measuring roughly 27,000 square miles (70,000 square kilometers) – nearly the size of South Carolina – this formation extends from the inside edge of Jezero Crater into the surrounding region.
Scientists have offered various theories why olivine is so plentiful over such a large area of the surface, including meteorite impacts, volcanic eruptions, and sedimentary processes. Another theory is that the olivine formed deep underground from slowly cooling magma – molten rock – before being exposed over time by erosion.
Yang Liu of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and her co-authors have determined that last explanation is the most likely. Perseverance abraded a rock to reveal its composition; studying the exposed patch, the scientists homed in on the olivine’s large grain size, along with the rock’s chemistry and texture.
Using Perseverance’s Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry, or PIXL, they determined the olivine grains in the area measure 1 to 3 millimeters – much larger than would be expected for olivine that formed in rapidly cooling lava at the planet’s surface.
“This large crystal size and its uniform composition in a specific rock texture require a very slow-cooling environment,” Liu said. “So, most likely, this magma in Jezero wasn’t erupting on the surface.”
Unique science tools
The two Science Advances papers detail the findings of science instruments that helped establish that igneous rocks cover the crater floor.
The instruments include Perseverance’s SuperCam laser and a ground-penetrating radar called RIMFAX (Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Experiment).
SuperCam is equipped with rock-vaporizing laser that can zap a target as small as a pencil tip from up to 20 feet (7 meters) away. It studies the resulting vapor using a visible-light spectrometer to determine a rock’s chemical composition.
SuperCam zapped 1,450 points during Perseverance’s first 10 months on Mars, helping scientists arrive at their conclusion about igneous rocks on the crater floor.
In addition, SuperCam used near-infrared light – it’s the first instrument on Mars with that capability – to find that water altered minerals in the crater floor rocks. However, the alterations weren’t pervasive throughout the crater floor, according to the combination of laser and infrared observations.
“SuperCam’s data suggests that either these rock layers were isolated from Jezero’s lake water or that the lake existed for a limited duration,” said Roger Wiens, SuperCam’s principal investigator at Purdue University and Los Alamos National Laboratory.
RIMFAX marks another first: Mars orbiters carry ground-penetrating radars, but no spacecraft on the surface of Mars have before Perseverance. Being on the surface, RIMFAX can provide unparalleled detail, and surveyed the crater floor as deep as 50 feet (15 meters).
Its high-resolution “radargrams” show rock layers unexpectedly inclined up to 15 degrees underground. Understanding how these rock layers are ordered can help scientists build a timeline of Jezero Crater’s formation.
“As the first such instrument to operate on the surface of Mars, RIMFAX has demonstrated the potential value of a ground-penetrating radar as a tool for subsurface exploration,” said Svein-Erik Hamran, RIMFAX’s principal investigator at the University of Oslo in Norway.
The science team is excited by what they’ve found so far, but they’re even more excited about the science that lies ahead.
More about the mission
A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life.
The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).
Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.
JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.
For more about Perseverance visit http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — An Upper Lake man who authorities said assaulted a woman earlier this month is in custody.
Arturo Pedro Gutierrez, 62, turned himself in to authorities in Mendocino County, Lauren Berlinn, spokesperson for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, told Lake County News on Friday afternoon.
The sheriff’s office had been seeking to take Gutierrez, a registered sex offender, into custody for the Aug. 18 assault.
Earlier this week, a $500,000 warrant was for Gutierrez’s arrest, as Lake County News has reported.
Berlinn said Gutierrez will be transported to the Hill Road Correctional Facility in Lakeport.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved an agreement between the county and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to use Lucerne Harbor Park as a community resource center during public safety power shutoffs.
Public Services Director Lars Ewing presented the agreement to the board.
His written report explained that PG&E contacted Public Services and the Lake County Office of Emergency Services last month with a proposal for the agreement to use the park when public safety power shutoffs occur in the Northshore area.
Ewing’s report said other county facilities have been used by PG&E for resource centers in the past.
The center at the park would be in a tent powered by generators, with tables and seating, offering snacks, water, electronic device charging and information on the outages, and would operate from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily during the shutoffs, Ewing reported.
He said PG&E would staff and secure the center around the clock.
The agreement included a map of the park, showing that it would take up 18 parking spaces on the side of the park next to the beach. Ewing estimated the center would use up to 75% of the park, but the rest of the park would be available to the public.
The county would receive $200 a day for the use of the park. Ewing said the shutoffs would take place for a period of between two and 10 days.
PG&E representative Melinda Rivera told the board the company previously had another location in Lucerne in contract for a community resource center but they are not able to renew it. That led them to reach out to the county to look for a new option.
It was explained later in the discussion by another PG&E staffer, Rich Noonan, that the previous contract in Lucerne had been for the Lucerne Hotel, under the management of New Paradigm College. Something happened and the college decided that it did not want to continue with the contract.
Noonan said that left them with the need to find another site, and one that is Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant.
“In Lucerne, the park was our best and only option,” he said.
Supervisor Bruno Sabatier asked during the discussion if the payment for the park use would go into the general fund or into a fund to be used specifically for Lucerne Harbor Park. Ewing said it would be the general fund.
Sabatier said he would like to have a different conversation at some point about allocating money from the rental of parks back to the specific parks in order to address wear and tear.
Ewing said they could earmark the funds from Lucerne Harbor Park’s use as a community resource center to go back to that specific park.
The agreement requires PG&E to give the county eight hours of advance notice before activating the community resource center. If the county can’t do it, they need to give PG&E four hours advance notice.
Ewing was concerned that there may be vehicles parked in the park that they can’t get rid of in time, and he didn’t want the county to be responsible for clearing the park.
That was an apparent reference to recent issues at the park with RVs parked in the same spots for days on end.
Ewing said the park is very rarely packed to the point of not being able to find space. He added that he didn’t have an answer to the problem but wanted to make sure to discuss it with the supervisors.
County Counsel Anita Grant said there are other things the county can do to minimize risk, like signage at the park.
Sheriff Brian Martin said he supported the agreement, explaining that his agency had asked PG&E to be more proactive in mitigating impacts. He said it’s a good partnership.
Sabatier moved to approve the agreement, with Supervisor Moke Simon seconding and the board approving it 4-0.
At another county-owned property, the previous site of the Lucerne Clubhouse at 6325 East Highway 20, PG&E finished construction last year of a microgrid, or sectionalizing device meant to break up the grid into smaller pieces and narrow the scope of PSPS events so fewer customers are impacted.
The board approved an agreement to locate that microgrid there in November 2020.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
PGE CRC Agreement Lucerne Habor Park (Signed) by LakeCoNews on Scribd
A bill to prohibit the use of the word “squaw” — or the S-word — for geographic features and place names in California by Jan. 1, 2024, has been approved by the state Legislature and is heading to the governor’s desk.
In February, Assemblyman James C. Ramos (D-Highland), the first California Native American elected to the state legislature, and Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), chair of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus, along with 13 co-authors introduced AB 2022.
The Legislature approved the Bill on a 72-0-0 vote, Ramos’ office reported.
The bill now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk for signing.
It bans the use of the S-word and establishes a process for renaming locations with that derogatory term in their titles.
The word is an idiom that came into use during the westward expansion of America, and it is not a tribal word.
For decades, Native Americans have argued against the designation’s use because behind that expression is the disparagement of Native women that contributes to the crisis of missing and murdered people in our community,” Ramos stated.
Ramos reported that more than 100 places in California contain the S-word.
The United States Department of the Interior has ordered the term “erased from the National landscape and forever replaced” on the almost 700 sites using the name on federal lands.
Montana, Oregon, Maine and Minnesota have already banned the word’s use.
AB 2022 requires every state agency, local governing body or political subdivisions to identify all geographic sites, public lands, waters, and structures under its jurisdiction containing the S-word.
These bodies shall file a report identifying those names with the California Advisory Committee of Geographic Names.
The advisory committee will establish a procedure to elicit input and rename locations that have been identified.
In selecting replacement names, local governments, state agencies, and shall solicit input from tribes maintained on the California Native American Heritage Commission list and prioritize their input, as well as the input of appropriate local communities and members of the public.
The proposal defines a geographic feature as any location or publicly owned structure in the state such as navigable water, parks, local roads, bridges and publicly owned buildings.
A place is defined in the proposal as a natural geographic feature or street, alley, or other road within the jurisdiction of the state or political subdivision of the state.
In February, Assemblyman James C. Ramos (D-Highland), the first California Native American elected to the state legislature, and Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), chair of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus, along with 13 co-authors introduced AB 2022.
The Legislature approved the Bill on a 72-0-0 vote, Ramos’ office reported.
The bill now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk for signing.
It bans the use of the S-word and establishes a process for renaming locations with that derogatory term in their titles.
The word is an idiom that came into use during the westward expansion of America, and it is not a tribal word.
For decades, Native Americans have argued against the designation’s use because behind that expression is the disparagement of Native women that contributes to the crisis of missing and murdered people in our community,” Ramos stated.
Ramos reported that more than 100 places in California contain the S-word.
The United States Department of the Interior has ordered the term “erased from the National landscape and forever replaced” on the almost 700 sites using the name on federal lands.
Montana, Oregon, Maine and Minnesota have already banned the word’s use.
AB 2022 requires every state agency, local governing body or political subdivisions to identify all geographic sites, public lands, waters, and structures under its jurisdiction containing the S-word.
These bodies shall file a report identifying those names with the California Advisory Committee of Geographic Names.
The advisory committee will establish a procedure to elicit input and rename locations that have been identified.
In selecting replacement names, local governments, state agencies, and shall solicit input from tribes maintained on the California Native American Heritage Commission list and prioritize their input, as well as the input of appropriate local communities and members of the public.
The proposal defines a geographic feature as any location or publicly owned structure in the state such as navigable water, parks, local roads, bridges and publicly owned buildings.
A place is defined in the proposal as a natural geographic feature or street, alley, or other road within the jurisdiction of the state or political subdivision of the state.