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- Written by: Lake County News reports
The virtual event will be held on Saturday, Jan. 9, at 2 p.m. via Zoom. The meeting ID is 890 1069 5392.
Poetry Out Loud is a nationwide program made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts and Poetry Foundation, with the state of California’s program also being supported by the California Arts Council.
This program encourages the nation's youth to learn about poetry through memorization, performance and competition.
Participants master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, learn about literary history and contemporary life, and compete for more than $100,000 in awards.
The program culminates every year with school competitions, with a judging panel and cash prizes provided by the Lake County Arts Council.
The school champion is invited to perform publicly and participate in the countywide competition where they can compete for the chance to represent Lake County at the state level.
State winners then move on to compete at the national level. Every level of the competition has an opportunity for both notoriety and cash prizes.
In order to ensure the safety and health of participating students and staff, Poetry Out Loud 2021 will be virtual at the class, county, state and national levels. States hold their competitions by mid-March. Following the state finals, the National Finals will be held virtually in Spring 2021.
The Lake County Arts Council is proud to offer arts education through many different forums and since 2007 has hosted the Poetry Out Loud competition in Lake County.
While the coronavirus pandemic has created many challenges, organizers said they are excited that the show will still go on.
Show your support to our local high school students by attending the virtual event.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The discussions on the proposed sale of a 29-acre property at 2890 Old Highway 53 and the extension of an exclusive negotiations agreement for a portion of the city’s Pearce Field airport property at 6356 Armijo Ave. and 6393 James St. are the latest in a series of sales negotiations for city-owned properties that have taken place over the past year.
Both properties were topics at a special city council meeting on Dec. 17.
City Manager Alan Flora said that the land at 2890 Old Highway 53, held by the successor agency to the city’s former redevelopment agency, previously had a tentative map for a housing development filed for it but that project didn’t move forward due to the Great Recession.
Recently, however, the previous developer – Robert Adelman – as well as TJG/Summitt Development Corp. expressed interest in developing the land for homes, Flora said.
Flora said both proposed projects are for 20 homes on lots of 1.25 acres each.
Adelman and Mark Flamer offered $100,000 and a five-year option to purchase the property, while Summitt Development Corp. offered a purchase price of $150,000 and an agreement to close escrow within 30 days of the approval of the tentative subdivision map.
Speaking on behalf of Summitt Development, Realtor Dave Hughes said their plan includes building two to three spec homes initially.
He said there appears to be a need for upper-end homes in Clearlake, noting that a 1,600-square-foot home near the subject property sold for $428,000 about a year ago. Hughes added that there is not enough home inventory in the community.
In his presentation to the council, Adelman said, “Our analysis is that it’s going to be really, really tough to build a subdivision now” given the cost of building and site improvements.
Adelman suggested that with building costs now at about $300 per square foot in Lake County, it would be necessary to sell the homes for $400,000 to $500,000 just to break even.
He also raised concerns of market disruptions due to the possible end of the state’s COVID-19-related eviction moratorium and other impacts of the pandemic.
Vice Mayor Dirk Slooten asked if Adelman can get financing to build the project.
Adelman said he could, and that they would want to build the first row of homes along the highway with the least amount of infrastructure possible. If the market can handle it, he said they can finance and build it, but added that the only way to build this project is to build it as cheaply as possible.
Councilwoman Joyce Overton said she was worried about the project and making sure it didn’t stall again.
Flora said the city needs to do creative things to bring housing to Clearlake.
During the discussion, Adelman had referenced the availability of homes with sales prices of up to $500,000 in Lake County. “But we don’t have those homes available in the city of Clearlake, and that’s what we want,” said Flora.
Flora said that it was important, based on some of the new housing statutes coming down on Jan. 1, that the city have an exclusive negotiating agreement on the property before the new year.
He said the agreement the city would put together for the land would have a provision giving the city the right of repurchase if the project isn’t built, which Overton said was what she wanted to hear.
Slooten said he thinks there’s tremendous demand and wants to see the project done as quickly as possible. “Economics do change.”
The council ultimately decided to go with Summitt Development Corp.’s proposal. Overton moved to enter into the 180-day exclusive negotiation agreement with Summitt, which Slooten seconded and the council approved 5-0.
At Flora’s request, the council also considered extending the proposed letter of intent with King Management LLC, which is interested in purchasing a portion of the city’s Pearce Field airport property at 6356 Armijo Ave. and 6393 James St. to develop a hotel.
The council had initially signed the letter with King Management in July and later in 2020 approved another letter of intent with the company in regard to a portion of Redbud Park, where it wants to build another hotel.
Flora said company representatives recently visited Clearlake and looked at the two sites.
He said the company wants to focus on the Redbud Park site first but is still very interested in working on the airport project.
Flora said King Management is interested in extending the letter of intent for another six months.
He added, the hope is that within that time there will be more clarity on the company’s plans for the Redbud Park property and the city will have design work completed for improvements on the airport land.
Slooten moved to approve extending the letter of intent, which Councilman David Claffey seconded. The motion received a unanimous council vote.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
The town hall will take place from 7 to 8 p.m.
It will be streamed on Facebook Live via Thompson’s page and will also be held on Zoom.
This is a general town hall, open to questions on all topics within Thompson’s jurisdiction as a member of Congress.
All constituents of California’s Fifth Congressional District and members of the press are invited to join.
Those who want to take part on Zoom must email Thompson’s office at
Thompson represents California’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Likewise, the DA has also directed his deputy prosecutors to file peremptory challenges to disqualify and prevent Judge Brennan from hearing any criminal case in which the district attorney has alleged that the defendant personally used a firearm in the commission of a felony.
The announcement comes a few weeks after Brennan’s controversial decision in the case of “Thunder the Wonder Dog.”
Brennan allowed Thunder’s former owner, Katie Rhiannon Smith, 35, of Caspar, have her felony animal cruelty conviction reduced to a misdemeanor and to serve no jail time after she shot her dog in the woods in December 2019, as Lake County News has reported.
Eyster said he also will seek appellate review of Brennan’s decision in the Smith case.
California jurisprudence and statutory law allow district attorneys to refuse to accept a judge on a particular case or certain types of cases if it is believed that the judge is “so biased against the People that he or she cannot be entrusted with the fair administration of justice,” Eyster said.
In issuing his directive, Eyster continued, “The judge currently sitting in the Ten Mile Court in Fort Bragg has betrayed community standards and community trust. He has made it abundantly clear that he has no use for, does not value, and is biased against law enforcement and the community’s ongoing efforts to seek justice against those who victimize animals and use firearms to commit felonies.
“Accordingly, I deem him legally unfit to sit as a judge on the types of criminal cases described above,” said Eyster.
When asked if the peremptory challenges to Judge Brennan will occur only in cases involving animal cruelty or cases where it has been charged that the defendant has personally used a firearm, Eyster said the question of the scope and definition of cases for which Judge Brennan will be disqualified remains an open question being evaluated by the district attorney and his senior attorneys.