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Opinion
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- Written by: Diane Debartolo
Another local business is closing its doors.
Sandy's Rock Shop has been a welcoming site to all visitors driving through Highway 53/29 intersection since 1998.
For anyone coming into Clearlake for business or pleasure you could not miss the signs that advertized, “Clearlake Diamonds,” which is one of Clearlake's oldest attractions for Clearlake tourism.
When I first moved to Clearlake I went to Sandy's Rock Shop to find out how I could get in touch with other rock enthusiast in our community.
What will be missed the most about Greg and Connie Burton, the current owners, is their helpfulness to me and to our community.
They directed me to the Lake County Rockhounds Club. I became a member of that club and now I am president of it.
Our club is sad that Greg and Connie have to close their doors. We will miss their expertise about minerals, rocks and jewelry making of the Clearlake diamonds and local rocks.
You will be able to contact them at
We will miss you.
Diane Debartolo lives in Clearlake, Calif.
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- Written by: Kim Riley and Karen Sullivan
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- Written by: Teddie Pierce
As the former executive director of the Lake One-Stop, Inc. and a systems trainer who has presented to several Lake County businesses and nonprofit agencies I would like respond to Anne Card’s letter to the editor published in the newspaper on Friday, Feb. 18.
It is important that the public understand that what Ms. Card is referring to is an application under consideration by the state of California to move ONLY the administrative grant oversight functions of the federal workforce development funding.
At the current time, this oversight function occurs in Yuba City, within a consortium structured business entity that also manages the workforce dollars for Colusa, Sutter, Yuba and Glenn counties.
The proposed change is under review as Ms. Card indicated because this is the way things work at the state governance level.
The intent of administrative oversight agency is to align the federal workforce mandates with the needs of their designated workforce area and assure adherence to the federal and state guidelines for service delivery.
An administrative entity performs the following functions for a career service center which include: approves and disburses periodic requests for operating funds, develops collaborative training programs to benefit their defined local area (the five counties mentioned above), and monitor the service delivery to assure appropriate use of government funds.
There are several other functions performed by a workforce administrative entity that are too numerous to mention here but may be found on the web by searching keywords like “About WIA,” “WIA Oversight” or “One-Stop Systems.”
What an administrative entity does NOT do is to micromanage the counties they administer. They do not select the location of a One-Stop center, do not hire/fire staff, recommend or enforce appropriate program services within Lake County. These are all discussions and actions held at the local Lake County level. The Lake County Board of Supervisors have held several public discussions on the topic of their administrative entity in the past, two of which I have personally attended.
As jobseekers and business owners in Lake County, you should become familiar and utilize your local One-Stop services, as this is the federal government’s effort to link employers to skilled employees and many people don’t know these services are available.
No matter where you stand on the issue of an admin change, rest assured services are not leaving Lake County, and the program will not be run by Napa county’s welfare system. Program services are competitively bid in a legal procurement process like all other federal grants.
I, like Ms. Card am appealing to the California WIB Issues and Policy Committee to slow their process down and let Lake County residents attend a public forum where these issues and impacts can be clearly presented.
If you would like to do the same you can contact Daniel Patterson at 916-324-2853 no later than Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 5 p.m.
My personal email address is
Teddie Pierce is owner of Small Nonprofit Help. She lives in Windsor, Calif.
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- Written by: Tina Chiotti-Stewart
I say this with enormous gratitude: Wow and thank you!
Yes, thank you for making Middletown Florist & Gifts' fifth Valentine's Day a huge success!
I am once again impressed by the generosity of this county. I ordered 25 percent more flowers this year than last and only had 24 red roses and 24 white roses left at 8 p.m. on Valentine's Day. I had a wonderful time assisting men and women with their needs.
I would also like to thank all new fans of Chic Le Fleur.
Julie Hoskins, of Chic Le Chef and I are overwhelmed by the incredible embrace our tea and edibles shoppe has received in its first three weeks.
Thank you, Lake County.
Tina Chiotti-Stewart is owner Middletown Florist & Gifts and co-owner of Chic Le Fleur in Middletown, Calif.