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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 2, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
The meeting will be broadcast live on the city's YouTube channel or the Lake County PEGTV YouTube Channel. Community members also can participate via Zoom or can attend in person.
The agenda can be found here.
Comments and questions can be submitted in writing for City Council consideration by sending them to City Clerk Melissa Swanson at
To give the council adequate time to review your questions and comments, please submit your written comments before 4 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 2.
Each public comment emailed to the city clerk will be read aloud by the mayor or a member of staff for up to three minutes or will be displayed on a screen. Public comment emails and town hall public comment submissions that are received after the beginning of the meeting will not be included in the record.
On the agenda is a discussion on the city’s response to the Cache fire.
City Manager Alan Flora’s report said staff will update the council and community on the current status of various aspects of the Cache fire recovery effort.
The fire, which began in the city on the afternoon of Aug. 18, destroyed 57 homes and 81 outbuildings.
On Aug. 19, the City Council ratified a state of emergency issued the night of the fire by Flora in his capacity as city emergency services director.
Then, on Aug. 24, the Lake County Board of Supervisors ratified the public health emergency and declared a county state of emergency as a result of the Cache fire.
“While no state or federal declarations or significant aid have yet been approved, we are working with various state agencies and our legislative representatives to respond to the immediate need for housing, and cleanup as we prepare for rebuilding,” Flora wrote in his report to the council.
In other business, the council and staff will discuss California's redistricting process.
“As a result of the 2020 Census most political boundaries must be redrawn to adjust districts based on population. This process has been significantly slowed due to the Census being conducted during the global COVID pandemic,” Flora explained in his report to the council.
He said the state’s citizens redistricting commission is currently gathering public input on boundaries.
“The City’s political support (or lack thereof) in the state and federal legislature is critically important to our plans for the future. It is important for the City to provide input on any redistricting that provides the best footing for ensuring support for issues that are important to Clearlake residents,” Flora wrote.
In April the Lake County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution asking the commission to continue to include Lake County with Napa and Sonoma in representation due to similar issues such as the wine industry.
Flora said the council should consider seeking specific goals in its representation, and may want to request the Board of Supervisors’ support and submit its own letter to the commission.
Also on Thursday, the council will present a proclamation declaring September 2021 as Senior Center Month.
On the meeting's consent agenda — items that are not considered controversial and are usually adopted on a single vote — are warrants; consideration of Resolution No. 2021-43, a resolution approving a temporary road closure for the Soap Box Derby; award of a contract for inspection and materials testing for the Sulphur Fire Roadway Disaster with Green Valley Consulting Engineers for the total amount of $227,360 and authorize the city manager to approve up to 10% for additional unforeseen contract amendments; continuation of declaration of local emergency issued on Oct. 9, 2017, and ratified by council action on Oct. 12, 2017; and continuation of declaration of local emergency issued on March 14, 2020, and ratified by
council action on March 19, 2020.
Following the meeting, the council will have a closed session to discuss properties located at 6452 Francisco and 6461 Manzanita with Edwin Jinks.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
“Race to the Lake County Fair” is the theme for this year’s fair, which takes place from Thursday, Sept. 2, through Sunday, Sept. 5.
This year’s fair will feature local musicians, a carnival — with kiddie rides in the main area — along with great food and wares, and community exhibits at their finest.
The gate opens on Thursday at 6 p.m., starting with the Blue Ribbon Dinner and the 8 p.m. grand opening with Grand Marshal Calpine at the Geysers and Volunteers of the Year the Kane family.
Kicking off events in the grandstand will be “Guns N Hoses,” which will see law enforcement squaring off against firefighters in some fantastic fun events coordinated by Lt. Mike Pascoe of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Superman Coach Aaron Jameson.
Friday’s headliner will be the Mud Boggs, sponsored by Twin Pine Casino at 7 p.m.
Starting the Labor Day Weekend on Saturday will be the Junior Livestock Auction, with brunch at 10 a.m. and the auction at noon.
The grandstand Power Wheels Derby will take place at 1 p.m. Saturday; there is still time to get your children entered.
Saturday’s grandstands headliner event starts at 7 p.m. with the Destruction Derby.
Sunday is Fiesta Day, with the wild and crazy Boat Races at 7 p.m., sponsored by Lake County Tribal Health.
There will be extra parking during the fair at Lake County Tribal Health with an afternoon shuttle by Angela’s Rides.
Presale tickets are on sale now at businesses or at the fair office this week. Call the fair at 707-263-6181 for more information.
The full schedule follows.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 2
All days free petting zoo and bounce house for the kids.
Building hours: 6 to 10 p.m.
Fair hours: 6 to 11 p.m.
8 p.m.: Opening ceremonies, with Grand Marshal Calpine at the Geysers and 2021 Volunteer of the Year, the Kane family; national anthem sung by Joy Tackett
Grandstand entertainment
10 a.m.: Horse Show
8 p.m.: Inaugural Guns and Hoses competition, law enforcement versus firefighters
Livestock Market Show
8 a.m.: Junior Chicken Meat Pens and Junior Market Turkeys, Alexander Barn
8 a.m.: Junior Swine Show, Junior Sheep Show and Junior Meat Goat Show, Baldwin Pavilion; Junior Ag Mechanics
1 p.m.: Junior Market Rabbits, Alexander Barn
Family oasis in Fiesta Park
A great place for parents to find free fun for youngsters, including a bounce house and petting zoo.
Blue Ribbon invite event
6 p.m.: Blue Ribbon Dinner, Academy Park (KCA Park)
Live music and entertainment
6:30 p.m.: Michael Barrish, country soul, Gazebo Stage
7 p.m.: Time Travelers, classic rock, Main Stage
8 p.m.: Clear Lake Clikkers, clogging, Gazebo Stage
8:30 p.m.: Time Travelers, classic rock, Main Stage
FRIDAY, SEPT. 3
All days free petting zoo and bounce house for the kids.
Building hours: 4 to 10 p.m.
Fair hours: 4 to 11 p.m.
Grandstand entertainment
7 p.m.: Mudd Boggs
Livestock area
9 a.m.: Junior Market Steer
Family oasis in Fiesta Park
A great place for parents to find free fun for youngsters, including a bounce house and petting zoo.
Free contests
5 p.m.: Tricycle race, Fiesta Lawn (behind Fritch Hall). Walk on contest for kids up to age 8; prizes and ribbons.
5:30 p.m.: Race theme floral arrangement contest, Flower Hall. Participants bring a flower arrangement that best represents the contest theme. Must deliver prior to 5 p.m. Sept. 3. Prizes and ribbons for first to third place.
Live music and entertainment
6 p.m.: The Fargo Brothers, Americana and rock n’ roll, Main Stage
6:30 p.m.: Stevie & The Shufflenuts, blues with a different twist, Main Stage
7:45 p.m.: The Fargo Brothers, Americana and rock n’ roll, Main Stage
8:30 p.m.: Stevie & The Shufflenuts, blues with a different twist, Main Stage
9 p.m.: The Fargo Brothers, Americana and rock n’ roll, Main Stage
SATURDAY, SEPT. 4
Building hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Fair hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Junior Livestock Auction
10:30 a.m.: Buyers registration brunch
Noon: Junior Livestock Auction, Baldwin Pavilion
Grandstand entertainment
1 p.m.: Power Wheels Derby. Free contest; pre-registration required. Prizes and ribbons.
7 p.m.: Destruction Derby
Family oasis in Fiesta Park
A great place for parents to find free fun for youngsters, including a bounce house and petting zoo.
Live music and entertainment
Noon: Beatz Werkin, classic rock, Main Stage
2 p.m.: Beatz Werkin, classic rock, Main Stage
2:30 p.m.: Uncorked, Irish and more, Gazebo Stage
3:45 p.m.: Uncorked, Irish and more, Gazebo Stage
4 p.m.: Beatz Werkin, classic rock, Main Stage
5:15 p.m.: Piano Man David Neft, Gazebo Stage
7 p.m.: Piano Man David Neft, Gazebo Stage
7 p.m.: Hip Replacements, blues, rock and R&B, Main Stage
8:30 p.m.: Piano Man David Neft, Gazebo Stage
10:30 p.m.: Hip Replacements, blues, rock and R&B, Main Stage
Fiesta Music, Main Stage
3 p.m.: Irma Lopez
7 to 9 p.m.: Los Nuevos Imparables
SUNDAY, SEPT. 5
Building hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Fair hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Livestock area
9 a.m.: Primary Member Showmanship Workshop
Signup at 8:30 a.m. Free, come and join
Special attraction
Fiesta Latina Day, sponsored by Lake County Tribal Health Consortium
Fiesta Music, Main Stage
3 p.m.: Irma Lopez
7 to 9 p.m.: Los Nuevos Imparables
Grandstand entertainment
7 p.m.: Boat races
Family oasis in Fiesta Park
A great place for parents to find free fun for youngsters, including a bounce house and petting zoo.
Free contests
Noon: Diaper Race, Fiesta Lawn; babies crawl to their parent
1 p.m.: Slot Car Race, Fiesta Lawn
3 p.m.: Slot Car Race, Fiesta Lawn
Live music and entertainment
Noon: Rural Jazz Project, artistry of song and improvisation, Main Stage
12:15 p.m.: Majide!, trio, standard jazz classics from the Great American Songbook, Gazebo Stage
1:15 p.m.: Rural Jazz Project, artistry of song and improvisation, Main Stage
1:30 p.m.: Majide!, trio, standard jazz classics from the Great American Songbook, Gazebo Stage
5 p.m.: Austin & Owens, the Neo-Flamenco duo, Gazebo Stage
7 p.m.: Austin & Owens, the Neo-Flamenco duo, Gazebo Stage
9 p.m.: Austin & Owens, the Neo-Flamenco duo, Gazebo Stage
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The Employment Development Department, or EDD, said Lake County’s July unemployment rate was 7.4%, down from 7.5% in June and 11% in July 2020.
Leading the county’s job categories was total farm with a 6% growth over the month and 29.5% over the year. Leisure and hospitality was up by 2.5% over June and 17.5% over July 2020.
Nationwide, the jobless rate was down. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said July’s national unemployment rate was 5.4%, down from 5.9% in June and 10.2% in July 2020.
California’s unemployment rate was 7.6% in July, the same as June but down from 13.2% from July 2020.
California payroll jobs totaled 16,529,000 in July 2021, up 114,400 from June 2021 and up from 15,644,600 from July 2020.
Of the 2,714,800 jobs lost in March and April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, California has now regained 1,582,900 jobs, or 58.3%.
The state said the number of Californians employed in July was 17,493,600, an increase of 56,000 persons from June’s total of 17,437,600 and up 1,225,600 from the employment total in July of last year.
The number of unemployed Californians was 1,433,800 in July, a decrease of 5,800 over the month and down 1,029,700 in comparison to July of last year, the EDD reported.
Lake County’s jobless rate earned it a statewide rank of No. 36.
Neighboring county jobless rates and ranks for July are: Colusa, 10.6%, No. 55; Glenn, 7%, No. 31; Mendocino, 6.3%, No. 19; Napa, 5.8%, No. 11; Sonoma, 5.6%, No. 7; and Yolo, 5.9%, No. 15.
Marin continued to have the lowest unemployment of the state’s 58 counties, 4.5%, while Imperial County had the highest rate, 18.9%.
In related data, the EDD said there were 834,513 people certifying for Unemployment Insurance benefits during the July 2021 sample week. That compares to 592,867 people in June and 3,144,098 people in July 2020.
At the same time, 64,642 initial claims were processed in the July 2021 sample week, which was a month-over increase of 519 claims from June, but a year-over decrease of 179,864 claims from July 2020, the EDD reported.
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- Written by: ABINASH MOHANTY
This rate was nearly triple the episodic poverty rate for individuals ages 65 and over.
The new report, Dynamics of Economic Well-being: Poverty, 2013-2016, includes longitudinal statistics like episodic and chronic poverty and the median length of poverty spells.
It shows the episodic poverty rate was higher (44%) for children (under age 18).
Seniors (ages 65 and over) had the lowest episodic poverty rate among all age groups with a rate of 15.8%. Working-age adults (ages 18-64) had a higher rate of 33.6% but still lower than the rate for children.
Chronic poverty
Across age groups, shorter poverty spells were much more common than multi-year poverty spells between 2013 and 2016.
Chronic poverty describes individuals in poverty for all months of the 2013-2016 period studied. As a result, the chronically poor are also captured within the episodically poor, as they have more than two consecutive months in poverty.
As with episodic poverty, children also had the highest chronic poverty rate (4.6%) among all three age groups from 2013 to 2016. The chronic poverty rate for seniors was 1.5%, the lowest among all age groups, and 2.4% for working-age adults.
Lifting out of poverty
The length of a poverty spell represents the number of consecutive months an individual was in poverty. A group’s median poverty spell length can provide information on its ability to exit poverty.
Seniors and children typically remained in poverty longer than working-age adults, based on the median length of poverty spells by age group.
While seniors notably had the lowest episodic poverty rate among all age groups, those in poverty appeared to have difficulty exiting poverty.
Seniors’ median poverty spell length (12.4 months) was longer than it was for working-age adults (10.1 months) and was not statistically different than for children (11.8 months) from 2013 to 2016.
Abinash Mohanty is a statistician in the Census Bureau’s Social, Economic and Housing Statistics Division.
