NORTH COAST, Calif. – Personnel on the Baseball fire burning on the Mendocino National Forest’s Covelo Ranger District made good progress over the weekend and raised the containment on the incident to 90 percent.
The fire remained at 211 acres, according to officials with the Mendocino National Forest.
The Baseball fire is located about 15 miles southeast of Covelo in Mendocino and Glenn Counties.
There are about 35 personnel assigned to the incident including engines and crews from the Mendocino and the Six Rivers national forests, the forest reported.
Crews will continue to mop-up and patrol the fire until the fire is considered out, officials said. After a windy weekend, decreasing wind and temperatures in the 50s are expected early in the week.
It has been determined that the Baseball fire started from previous pile burning on the Baseball prescribed fire project on Tuesday, Feb. 25, as Lake County News has reported.
The fire has burned in grass, brush and timber in steep, rugged terrain at a low to moderate rate in a mosaic pattern, similar to the desired effects from a prescribed fire, officials said.
There are no immediate threats to property or structures.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A state sting targeting unlicensed contractors in Lake County last month resulted in several citations and officials are urging local residents to use caution when hiring someone to do work on their homes and properties.
Many Lake County homeowners have faced rough times over the past few years as the county has been home to several deadly and destructive wildfires.
A lot of recent attention in the region is focused on protecting fire survivors from unlicensed contractors.
But that doesn’t mean area residents not impacted by the wildfires should forget to “check the license” before hiring licensed contractors for home improvement projects.
The recent Contractors State License Board undercover sting in Clearlake Oaks found 11 alleged unlicensed contractors, with one suspect making a $10,000 bid.
The highest bid of the Feb. 12 to 13 operation was to install fencing and was well over the legal limit for contracting without a license.
In California, it's illegal for an unlicensed person to bid for or perform any home improvement valued at $500 or more in combined labor and material costs.
The alleged unlicensed contractors gave bids for home improvement jobs, including landscaping, carpentry, tree service and painting.
They will be referred to the Lake County District Attorney’s Office for contracting without a license (Business and Professions Code (BPC) §7028). First-conviction penalties include up to six months in jail and/or up to $5,000 in fines.
CSLB partnered with the Lake County District Attorney’s Office to conduct the undercover operation.
Members of the CSLB Statewide Investigative Fraud Team, or SWIFT, posed as owners of a mobile home community clubhouse and invited alleged unlicensed contractors to place bids on renovation work.
One repeat offender was among those caught in the operation.
Ronald Dean Ridley was cited for illegal advertising in January 2016 and paid a $400 civil penalty.
In October 2018, Ridley was cited for contracting without a license at a prior sting in Lake County. That case is still pending with the Lake County District Attorney’s Office.
A conviction on that charge could subject Ridley to a more severe second conviction penalty, which could result in a mandatory 90 days in jail, and a fine of 20 percent of the contract price or $5,000, whichever is greater, according to Business and Professions Code Section 7028(c)).
Among those cited for illegal contracting, four were planning on providing tree services for the sting location.
“Tree trimming and removing is a highly skilled trade that could result in serious injury,” said CSLB Registrar David Fogt. “Illegal tree work can lead to property damage for consumers and could be potentially fatal for those who are not properly licensed.”
Besides holding a CSLB license, workers must also be covered with workers’ compensation insurance. Without it, a homeowner may be liable if for medical bills if someone gets hurt on their property. Since they weren’t legally licensed to do the work, a homeowner’s insurance policy might not apply.
A licensed contractor’s workers' compensation insurance information can easily be found on CSLB’s website using the “Instant License Check” feature.
Consumers can check a contractor’s license by searching their license number, name, or business name. Besides workers’ comp information, the search results also reveal whether the contractor’s license is active and in good standing. The contractor’s individual page also lists bond information, and if CSLB has taken any actions against the contractor’s license.
Seven individuals also could face a misdemeanor charge for illegal advertising. Unlicensed contractors must state in all ads that they do not have a license. The penalty for violating the advertising rules for unlicensed contractors is a fine of $700 to $1,000.
When hiring a contractor, consumers should also remember:
– Watch your down payment. The legal limit for a down payment is 10 percent of the contract price or $1,000, whichever is lower. – You should always get three bids from licensed contractors before hiring anyone to perform home improvement work. – Homeowners can use CSLB's “Find My Licensed Contractor” feature to build and download a list of qualified licensed contractors in their area. – Those interested in getting a contractor license are encouraged to attend one of our licensing workshops.
All of the subjects were ordered to appear at the Lake County Superior Court on March 24 at 8:15 a.m.
The subjects and the violations alleged against them are listed below.
CLEARLAKE OAKS, DAY 1: Feb. 12, 2020
– Tommy Bruce Chisam, Clearlake Oaks; contracting without a license, landscaping. – Ronald Dean Ridley Sr., Clearlake Oaks; illegal advertising, contracting without a license, carpentry. – Jose Samuel Gamez-Meza, Clearlake; illegal advertising, contracting without a license, tree service. – Servando Juarez Flores dba Pimentel's Yard Service, Clearlake; Illegal advertising, contracting without a license, fencing. – Keith Walter Holmgren, Santa Rosa; illegal advertising, contracting without a license, tree service.
CLEARLAKE OAKS, DAY 2: Feb. 13, 2020
– Jeffrey Scott Wilder, Upper Lake; illegal advertising, contracting without a license, painting. – Kristy Ann Buettner, Lakeport; contracting without a license, painting. – Edilberto Lopez Perez, Kelseyville; illegal advertising, contracting without a license, carpentry. – Rodney Jerome Gehlen Jr., Clearlake; contracting without a license, painting. – Eric Michael Hamlin, Santa Rosa; illegal advertising, contracting without a license, tree service. – Robert Lloyd Fouche, Santa Rosa; contracting without a license, tree service.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has three adult cats and a cute kitten waiting to meet their new human families.
The following cats at the shelter have been cleared for adoption.
Female domestic medium hair kitten
This female domestic medium hair kitten has a brown tabby coat and green eyes.
She has been spayed.
She is in cat room kennel No. 88, ID No. 13481.
‘Shelby’
“Shelby” is a male orange tabby with a long coat and green eyes.
He has been neutered.
He is in cat room kennel No. 108, ID No. 13565.
Male domestic short hair
This male domestic short hair cat has a brown tabby and white coat and gold eyes.
He is in cat room kennel No. 134, ID No. 13591.
Female domestic short hair
This female domestic short hair cat has a gray tabby coat and gold eyes.
She is in cat room kennel No. 138, ID No. 13560.
Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.
Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
As the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by novel coronavirus, continues worldwide, the state of California on Monday announced a broad series of new actions designed to protect public health and safety.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is requesting the Legislature make up to $20 million available from the Disaster Response Emergency Operations Account, which will allow the state government to respond to the spread of COVID-19. This will be an early action item for the 2020-2021 budget.
Additionally, Gov. Newsom has activated the State Operations Center in Mather to its second-highest level to support state, federal and local emergency managers, public health officials and first responders.
The State Operations Center will provide operational and logistical support to the California Department of Public Health's Medical and Health Coordination Center, or MHCC.
The MHCC has been activated since January to coordinate California's public health response to COVID-19.
Also, over the weekend, California received additional COVID-19 test kits from the CDC, allowing California to test thousands of specimens. These resources, which were requested by the governor last week, will help California medical experts get test results sooner, so they can identify and treat cases, trace potential exposures and better protect public health.
Receiving these new test kits has significantly increased the state's capacity to process specimens and quickly identify new positive cases so affected individuals can be isolated
Ten California public health labs have already received CDC test kits and have begun testing. These labs include CDPH's Laboratory in Richmond, Alameda, Contra Costa, Sacramento, Santa Clara, Tulare, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego County labs.
The CDPH Laboratory will provide diagnostic testing within a 48-hour turnaround time. More public health labs will soon be able to test, ramping up to a total of 20 public health labs in California in the coming weeks.
While additional positive tests continue to be reported by county health officers, state officials emphasized that these reports show swift and robust action is being taken to detect cases early, isolate and care for patients, and trace contacts.
"These new cases were quickly identified and isolated thanks to the increased testing capacity and aggressive contact tracing deployed by state and local public health departments in partnership with the CDC," said California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly. "Quickly identifying and tracing positive cases is helping us better understand and slow the spread of the virus. As testing and contact tracing continues in the coming days, CDPH expects there will be more California cases identified."
Dr. Ghaly also underscored that there are simple steps we can all take to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Wash your hands with soap and warm water. Avoiding touch eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands. Stay home from work or school if you become sick with respiratory symptoms like a fever and cough. Avoid close contact with people who are sick. Follow guidance from public health officials.
It is also important that anyone experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 call their health care provider first before seeking medical care so that appropriate precautions can be taken.
COVID-19 in California by the numbers (as of Monday)
43 – Positive tests 24 – Cases of positive tests related to federal repatriation flights 19 – Cases not related to repatriation flights 10 – Travel-related 5 – Person to person 4 – Community transmission 9,100+ – Number of people self-monitoring who returned to the U.S. through SFO or LAX 49 – Number of local health jurisdictions involved in self-monitoring 10 – Labs performing tests Thousands – Number of tests California is able to perform now
How can people protect themselves
Every person has a role to play. So much of protecting yourself and your family comes down to common sense:
– Washing hands with soap and water. – Avoiding touching eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands. – Avoiding close contact with people who are sick. – Staying away from work, school or other people if you become sick with respiratory symptoms like fever and cough. – Following guidance from public health officials.
State officials said they have been actively and extensively planning with local public health and health care delivery systems. Actions include:
– As in any public health event, the Medical and Health Coordination Center has been activated and is coordinating response efforts across the state and preparing for possible community transmission. – California continues to prepare and respond in coordination with federal and local partners, hospitals and physicians. – California activated the State Operations Center to coordinate response efforts across the state. – Providing information, guidance documents, and technical support to local health departments, health care facilities, providers, schools, universities, colleges, and childcare facilities across California. – Coordinating with federal authorities and local health departments that have implemented screening, monitoring and, in some cases quarantine of returning travelers. – In coordination with the CDC, state and local health departments, we are actively responding to cases of COVID-19. – Supporting hospitals and local public health laboratories for collection and shipment of specimens for testing of novel coronavirus. – The California Department of Public Health's state laboratory in Richmond is testing for the virus that causes COVID-19 along with 9 other local public health labs across California.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council this week will get an update from the county Public Health officer on the coronavirus.
The council will meet beginning at 6 p.m.Tuesday, March 3, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
On Tuesday, the council’s main item of business is the coronavirus update from Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace, MD, MPH.
So far, there have been no reported cases of coronavirus in Lake County, and Pace has reported that the risk locally is low.
He also is due to give an update at a coronavirus town hall meeting in Kelseyville at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Grace Church.
On the consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances; minutes of the regular council meeting on Feb. 18 and the special meeting on Feb. 24; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the Mendocino Complex fire; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the February 2019 storms; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the October 2019 public safety power shutoff; approval of Application 2020-005, with staff recommendations, for the 2020 Memorial Day Parade to be held on Main Street; approval of Application 2020-006, with staff recommendations, for the 2020 July Fourth Arts & Crafts Fair event on Park Street and Library Park; approval of Application 2020-007, with staff recommendations, for the 2020 Taste of Lake County event on Main Street; approval of Application 2020-008, with staff recommendations, for the 2020 Pumpkin and Dia de Los Muertos event on Main Street; approval of Application 2020-009, with staff recommendations, for the 2020 Trick or Treat Main Street event; approval of Application 2020-010, with staff recommendations, for the 2020 Dickens Faire event on Main Street; adoption of a resolution amending and adopting an updated conflict of interest code; adoption of the proposed resolution adopting a records retention schedule and authorizing destruction of certain City records and rescinding Resolution No. 2712 (2019); authorization of out-of-state travel for two staff members from the Utilities Division to attend the California Rural Water Association Expo in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – For the first time in 20 years, the incumbent supervisor for District 5 is not seeking another term, leading to a wide-open race between four candidates.
Supervisor Rob Brown is in the final year of his fifth term. He originally had planned to leave the board after his fourth term but changed his mind after the Valley fire.
Since then, he’s made clear that this would be his final term, and as it became clear that the seat would open up, several candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds went forward with the effort to place their name on the ballot.
The four individuals seeking to succeed Brown as District 5’s next supervisor are Kevin Ahajanian, an activist and musician from Cobb; Bill Kearney, a retired pharmacist and business owner, from the Buckingham area of Kelseyville; Jessica Pyska, an educator and business owner of Cobb; and Lily Woll, who has taught Spanish and English as a second language at both the community college and high school level, of Kelseyville.
The district they want to represent includes the greater Kelseyville area, as well as Buckingham, parts of Cobb Mountain, the Clear Lake Rivieras and Loch Lomond.
Much has changed since the seat was last open to a general race, without an incumbent on the ticket.
Looming over the race is one of the county’s defining issues – wildland fire.
The threat of wildland fire has always been an issue around Lake County, but the problem has escalated over the past decade.
Much of Cobb was devastated by the 2015 Valley fire, the district was evacuated in 2018 due to the Mendocino Complex and there have been several close calls, such as the August Golf fire that ignited above Buckingham and resulted in evacuations for nearby residents in the Riveras.
Two of the candidates for District 5 – Ahajanian and Pyska – lost homes in the Valley fire.
Recovery is a key economic and social issue in the wake of the fire disasters, but just as concerning is what might yet happen, in an area where many communities are clustered around the base of Mount Konocti, an area that has been a concern for a major wildland fire for decades.
Brown, in a January Board of Supervisors meeting, said that when his term ends, he hopes his greatest accomplishment will be to have prevented the communities that interface with Mount Konocti from burning down.
Another concern dominating the race’s landscape is the economy. Economic development and solutions to build and strengthen opportunities in the local business landscape have been raised by all of this year’s candidates.
Regarding fundraising totals, counting 2019 and 2020 totals, so far Kearney has raised just over $34,000 in monetary contributions, Pyska has raised nearly $16,000 and Woll has raised about $4,800. Ahajanian filed forms for both 2019 and 2020 saying he would raise less than $2,000 for each year.
Ahajanian said he’s not asking anyone for money. In describing his campaign, he said, “No big-money donors, no consultants, no expensive campaign managers telling me what to do.”
Many of the candidates are using social media to reach constituents, but door-to-door interactions, mailers, forums and other events remain key to their strategies.
Going door to door “is my favorite thing to do,” said Woll. “I really appreciate it.”
They also are regularly attending county and Board of Supervisors meetings.
The new supervisor is expected to be a key swing vote on a board that is reportedly considering issuing millions of dollars in raises to county employees as the result of a classification and compensation study that has been pushed by County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson. Huchingson, who for the last several years has stated that the county government is in a fiscal crisis, is reportedly in line for a hefty raise herself.
At the Lake County News forum for the District 5 candidates held in February, Kearney said that Huchingson – now also the subject of a multimillion-dollar tort claim alleging wrongful termination and discrimination filed by the county’s former human resources director – needs to go.
In the Super Tuesday presidential primary, District 5 voters will cast their votes for who they want to represent them in the critical years ahead; it’s a race that could extend until a November runoff unless the top vote-getter gets 50 percent plus one to clear a majority.
Ultimately, there is a question of whether who is elected will signify a value shift from Brown, who has been known for a more conservative political approach and a goal of smaller government while he’s remained an ally of Huchingson.
Ahajanian: Emphasis on sovereignty, private property rights
Newest to the county of the four candidates is Ahajanian, 48, who moved to Cobb in the summer of 2015, after his father’s death and just months before he would lose his home in the Valley fire.
He went to high school in Napa, lived in Seattle for eight years, then lived in the desert in Southern California before later moving to San Francisco and Sonoma County.
He acknowledged that while living in Riverside County in 2012, he had a domestic violence case involving the mother of his child.
“This is a hard thing to talk about,” he said.
However, Ahajanian addressed it in his interview with Lake County News, stating that he owned up to it in three different courts. Court records show he completed the required domestic violence program, served community work time and satisfied the terms of his probation.
Ahajanian said he sought to rebuild their family life. He said his daughter’s mother and her new husband later moved to Loch Lomond and they are on good enough terms that the couple signed his nomination papers to run for supervisor, which Lake County News confirmed with the elections office.
In order to reduce his stress and raise his young daughter in a better environment, he said he came to Lake County to live his “so-called libertarian dream,” and found his niche in a place where he could be more outspoken and could have an acre of his own. Lake isn’t as expensive and overbuilt as he found Napa and Sonoma counties to be.
The Valley fire destroyed his home, and after the property was cleaned up, he sold the lot and bought a house at another location. “After the cleanup, I saw the writing on the wall,” he said, referring to the difficulties of rebuilding.
Ahajanian, running for the first time for public office, gives his occupation now as “activist.” However, prior to moving to Lake County, he had a nearly three-decade-long career in the culinary industry, working as an executive chef in places including San Francisco. He’s also a rock musician.
Of the four District 5 candidates, Ahajanian has courted the most controversy and been the target of the most criticism for his political stances, which even in a nonpartisan supervisorial race have come to the fore.
“Your worldview is going to matter in your decision-making process,” he said.
In the statement he submitted for the ballot booklet, Ahajanian stated, “I have been an organizer of free speech rallies within the Patriot movement of Northern California, for the past few years. My views are libertarian leaning, with a strong emphasis on civil liberties and a free market economy.”
He explained that he began putting on those rallies in response to what he said is an attack on free speech by the far left, as well as the polarization of politics in California and the violent actions of Antifa. Antifa similarly has called him out on social media for his activities.
Ahajanian defined the Patriot movement as a reaction to polarization and ostracization, especially with people in the Bay Area, where the rallies he’s been involved with have taken place.
The Proud Boys also have reportedly endorsed him. That group has been identified as a far-right neofascist organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a group that Ahajanian in turn criticized. Like the Patriot movement, Ahajanian described the Proud Boys as a reaction to the actions of the left.
When asked if he’s a white nationalist, Ahajanian replied, “Absolutely not. Under no circumstances,” adding, “I cannot stand identity politics at all.”
Ahajanian rejects attempts to lump him into that group, saying that he can sit down and talk to people with different political ideologies all over the political spectrum.
He has been active on the local level, joining the Lake County Republican Party and acting at one point as the group secretary. He said that one of the reasons he chose to run is that the local Republicans were trying to find a candidate for the seat and after they couldn’t locate one he decided to join the race himself.
Asked about his big issue, Ahajanian replied, “It’s going to be sovereignty and private property rights, and that’s why I’m running. It kind of feels like the walls are closing in.”
He cited issues with property owners’ insurance as well as the Second Amendment, stating that his neighbors in Cobb are concerned about Gov. Gavin Newsom coming to their doors to take their guns. During the Lake County News candidates forum, he spoke about arming militias locally.
Ahajanian said he also plans to stand against any attempts to raise property tax.
He said Lake County needs money coming in, and pointed to the Maha resort project near Middletown as one project that can help do that. He said there is a big difference between a project like that and the Dollar General that had been slated for Middletown. He said it’s easy to say no to Dollar General due to the low wages it pays and what it does to local businesses.
In speaking with constituents, he said people want help with vegetation management to prevent further first. “But a lot of folks want to have it done properly.”
He said there have been too many demands on tree crews on what can be cut down and can’t in the wake of the area’s fires. “I wish every tree was given a judicial process but it’s not possible,” he said, questioning if local contractors familiar with the area and its needs are being passed over for the work.
Ahajanian and other candidates were at the February meeting of the Lake County Public Safety Power Shutoff Committee, which hosted Aaron Johnson, a Pacific Gas and Electric vice president.
At that time, Ahajanian said he took the opportunity to speak with Johnson about the local concerns.
Whatever happens, Ahajanian said his future “is wide open.”
“I’m a little bit older and wiser,” he said, adding he’s going to be more cautious about getting things done as he negotiates the new political climate.
Kearney: A focus on economy and business
For nearly 40 years, Bill and Dana Kearney worked in their local pharmacy business, building up North Lake Medical Pharmacy, which has two Lakeport locations. Last year, they sold the business and retired.
Since then, Bill Kearney, 77, has turned his mind to becoming a county supervisor. He said he wants to bring to it his longstanding commitment to helping others.
In addition to successfully owning and operating a local business, Kearney – a US Army veteran who served during Vietnam – has four decades of community service, including previously holding the president’s job for both the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and the Sutter Lakeside Hospital board.
Kearney said he’s concerned about a variety of challenges Lake County is facing, chief among them wildland fire, the need to protect against them and recover from their impacts.
He also pointed to a lack of local jobs, to rising fire insurance costs – which he said is making it different to buy and maintain homes – and the public safety power shutoffs.
One of his key goals is to bring in more jobs and revenue-generating businesses, and one aspect of that is his plan to focus on recruiting high tech jobs.
He said Lake County offers a more affordable option and a better quality of life when compared to the Bay Area, explaining that he has friends who work for Apple and commute by plane.
“I’m looking for ways to get that message out to the high tech industry in Silicon Valley,” he said, adding you can work anywhere thanks to technology.
Kearney wants to see high-speed Internet get stronger, and said he has invested in local broadband improvement efforts to help make that happen.
Just as difficult as finding jobs is finding employees with the skills who will regularly show up, he said.
“If we aren’t paying minimum wage, we should be,” he said.
Kearney said he worked to create a good working environment for his employees, giving them medical insurance and paying them even when the pharmacy was closed during the fires. “That’s how valuable a good employee is here.”
He added, “You can make a decent living up in Lake County, we just have to take care of our employees.”
Kearney also is a proponent of the tourism industry, explaining that in 1984 he started bass fishing tournaments on the lake – which remain a local economic staple – in order to keep people coming to the lake year-round, not just during the height of the summer tourist season.
Other concerns for Kearney are the impacts to residents and business owners of increasing taxation in the state, water resources and the impact on local farmers, getting a fire station in the Buckingham and Rivieras areas to drop insurance costs, and increasing access to affordable housing.
Kearney said he’s heard from many people who believe he is against cannabis, which he said he isn’t.
He said the cannabis industry offers the county tremendous revenue opportunities and it needs to take advantage of that.
Kearney said he also wants to address Lake County’s growing homeless issue.
He plans to tackle that complex matter on a variety of fronts, with the main goal of working with nonprofits to secure the funding needed for mental health and addiction treatment, and transitional housing.
Pyska: Rebuilding and creating economic vitality
Pyska, 44, is a Lake County native. Born in Lakeport, she attended schools in Cobb and Middletown. Her father, John Jennings, was a Calpine employee for more than 30 years, and her mother, Karen Jennings, worked in the Middletown School District before serving two terms on the school board.
She went on to graduate from the University of California, Santa Cruz and worked in commercial real estate in San Francisco before she and her husband, Joel, returned to Lake County to raise their two children.
She and her husband own a technology consulting business, JP Consulting, and she is a classified employee at Cobb Mountain Elementary School, where she works part-time, teaching gardening, nutrition, cooking, science, art, math and environmental education to students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
Her family lost its home in the Valley fire, and since then they’ve rebuilt. Pyska has a wider vision for rebuilding the Cobb community and improving Lake County through disaster resilience and economic recovery.
In recent years she’s been a member of the Cobb Area Council. She said her work as the council’s economic development chair won it a $200,000 grant to develop an economic development strategy to overlay over the Cobb area plan.
They’ve also launched a microloan program for local businesses and she helped found and produce the Blackberry COBBler Festival, which had its debut last year.
In addition to the Cobb Area Council, she serves on the Lake County Risk Reduction Authority Ad Hoc Committee. She said she’s provided input on the county’s hazardous vegetation abatement ordinance that was approved last year, as well as the dark skies proclamation, and the tourist improvement district.
As she’s been speaking to voters, Pyska said that the biggest issue is fire – not just in those areas that have burned but those areas that haven’t.
“It’s terrifying for a lot of people. It’s terrifying for me,” she said.
“That’s the biggest issue, figuring out we can fortify those communities from a major disaster,” she said.
At a Lake County News candidates’ forum on Feb. 19, Pyska said concerns about fire and how to establish evacuation routes to safely get people out keep her awake at night. With the county experiencing a dry winter, Pyska is concerned about the potential for an extremely dangerous summer ahead.
For Pyska, the most important issue is the economy. Key to the economy, she explained, is rebuilding homes, getting new business and improving infrastructure.
Her focus on economic development includes updating area plans, as well as the county’s housing element and general plan. While the general plan is 11 years old, and such plans usually are updated every 20 years, Pyska thinks it needs updating now.
Thanks to the fires, “We’ve got a whole new landscape,” she said.
Once all of those documents are up to date, Pyska said the county can go after Community Development Block Grant funding for the purposes of updating infrastructure.
She said that infrastructure that needs upgrading ranges from roads, to water and sewer, to broadband.
Those are the components the county needs to have in place before it can grow sustainably, Pyska said.
Another big push for Pyska is the effort to rebuild homes in the areas of the county devastated by wildland fires. She said that’s key to recovering the county’s property tax roll.
She said she still sees empty neighborhoods, building moratoriums due to lack of water supply and destroyed roads.
If she wins the supervisorial seat, Pyska is gearing up to make it her full-time job in order to be fully committed to the big to-do list she’s laid out for herself.
While she enjoys her work with Cobb Mountain Elementary’s students, she said she has lined up someone to take over for her if she’s elected to succeed Brown.
Like Woll, Pyska – who was an exchange student in Bolivia – is fluent in Spanish and has made outreach to the Hispanic community.
Pyska was the first to enter the race last year – she made her announcement in May – and has since then landed key endorsements. She’s got the support of State Treasurer Fiona Ma; Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry; Kelly Cox, the retired county of Lake administrative officer; Kelseyville Unified School District Trustee Gary Olson; Lakeport City Councilwoman Mireya Turner; and Tim Gill, an assistant superintendent for the Lake County Office of Education, among many others.
Woll: A desire to improve government, welcome cultures
Woll, 38, was born and raised in Kelseyville, and she said she plans to stay in Lake County.
Her parents owned Roto-Rooter of Lake County for 35 years and also farmed walnuts for more than 25 years. She’s owned a small grocery store in Mexico, which she said gave her a passion for preserving small, family-owned businesses.
A graduate of Kelseyville High School, she received bachelor’s degrees in Spanish and international studies at City College of New York; served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guyana for two years, focusing on HIV/AIDS education and forest conservation; earned two master’s degrees in Spanish and education at Sonoma State University; worked for a year for Lake County Department of Social Services as a bilingual eligibility worker; worked as a family advocate for Lake County Tribal Health; and has been an instructor of Spanish, English as a second language, high school equivalency test preparation, and basic studies at Mendocino College and Woodland Community College.
In the fall, she began teaching Spanish at Kelseyville High School. Between teaching high school and entering the supervisorial race, Woll acknowledged embarking on two huge endeavors that are out of her comfort zone.
Like Pyska, she intends on leaving her teaching job at the high school if elected to the Board of Supervisors because she wants to be fully available to attend meetings and events and interact with constituents.
“When I’m supervisor, I plan to only be a supervisor. I want to give it 120 percent,” and be “as connected as possible to the community,” she said.
Woll has a particular interest in the Hispanic community, explaining that friends and neighbors introduced her to the culture at a young age, and she’s loved it ever since.
“It has been one of the best gifts that I have ever been given in this life, this connection with Latino culture,” she said.
She is married but separated; her husband, who she said is of Mexican heritage, remains a friend.
Woll’s outreach has included a focus on the local Hispanic community, both at events and church services. The response? “It’s been incredible.”
She added, “No one talks about this population, how important it is to speak Spanish, how important it is to include them in our community, now more than ever.”
As she’s been meeting voters, Woll said a key issue is the difficulty of rebuilding in the fire-devastated areas of Lake County. She cited a backlog in county permitting, as well as the lack of availability of workers and services to aid the rebuild. Woll wants to work on educational paths to aid the contracting industry.
She said people also are scared about the coronavirus. In response, she has organized a town hall that will take place at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 2, at Grace Evangelical Free Church in Kelseyville, where local officials will give updates. Woll will be on hand to translate the updates into Spanish.
Woll has a wide variety of issues she wants to tackle, including education about Clear Lake and Lake County’s natural offerings to aid tourism, reforestation of fire-damaged areas, finding solutions and support for drug and alcohol rehabilitation and mental health programs, addressing homelessness, offering youth programs and exploring how to raise the wages of In-Home Supportive Service workers.
But, first, if elected, she would start with the local government. “The first thing I would look at is, I would go to every department head and I would say, ‘What can I do for you?’”
She added, “My biggest concern is that the county government is not running smoothly right now,” and she thinks changes need to be made.
For her, economic development also is a key area for focus. She believes it starts with improving the government so businesses can expand. She also believes Lake County lags behind other areas when it comes to supporting business, and she wants to facilitate business growth and permitting.
How to find out more
For more information about the candidates, visit the following websites and social media pages, or contact the candidates.
The U.S. Census Bureau is hoping that most people who live in the U.S. will use the internet to answer census questions, rather than filling out a paper form or providing those answers to a census taker in person, at their home.
That would be cheaper – a plus for a budget-strappedCensus Bureau – and could help ensure maximum turnout and accuracy of the count. For instance, databases could keep track of which homes have not yet responded to the survey, allowing census officials to target mailings and in-person visits to those locations, without needing to spend time chasing households that have already responded.
However, as some of my own work on digital platforms and electronic commerce shows, collecting data online carries some significant risks that are new to the census and may undermine the accuracy of the count and the public’s trust in the process.
Cybersecurity risks
If everyone responds digitally, the census online system will have to handle nearly 130 million responses – one for each household in the country. Many of them may be using computers or smartphones that have been hacked or have malicious software installed.
One potential problem this raises is that someone trying to respond to the census may find themself instead submitting their information to some other group, one that seeks to illegitimately harvest their personal data for profit.
Another possibility is that a person might be submitting their information to the actual census website, but the software running secretly on their computer could modify the data before it’s recorded. That could result in inaccurate reporting – making it seem like more people live in a home than actually do, or fewer.
Of course, not everyone will complete their census survey online. In addition to people who don’t have computers and smartphones, many homes aren’t connected to the internet. Even in New York City, what appears to be a pinnacle of an interconnected urban area, about 29% of households don’t have high-speed internet access.
To reach those people, and those in more suburban and rural areas who also don’t have internet access, the Census Bureau will need to rely on phone and mail responses, along with the traditional method of visits by door-to-door census takers.
The data collection effort underway for the 2020 U.S. Census may end up disadvantaging the households without access to broadband internet access. Groups that are more likely to use the internet on their mobile phones – as opposed to a computer – may find it too hard to use their phones to respond to the online questionnaire. That could end up disproportionately reducing the response from African Americans, Latinos, younger adults, low-income earners and people without a high school diploma.
There is an opportunity for civic technology and citizen data science to help address people’s difficulties using online surveys, too. For instance, the Hard to Count map tracks households with poor internet access, and neighborhoods that are home to racial or ethnic minorities and people with lower income or education levels. Nonprofit organizations and community groups are using the map to target efforts to encourage people to participate in the census.
Privacy concerns
Since the early days of the census, privacy has been a concern. In the 1850 census, the U.S. marshals assigned to collect data were instructed to consider all the responses to be confidential. By 1880, census workers – now trained survey-takers rather than law enforcement workers – were subject to fines for violating their oaths of secrecy.
Over the decades, the Census Bureau has updated standards to keep up with changes in technology and societal expectations about privacy protection. The most recent set of concerns involves the potential for people to use computers to match up census data with other data available publicly online. The U.S. Census Bureau’s researchers found they could combine the 2010 census results with the contents of commercial databases and determine the real identities of 52 million Americans. That could reveal private information, and violates the Census Bureau’s obligation to protect respondents’ identities.
In an attempt to prevent that from happening with the results of the 2020 census, the Census Bureau has adopted a statistical method called “differential privacy” in hopes of obscuring sensitive personal information. The mathematics underlying technique are complicated, but in general the idea is that state-level counts will be accurate, but more detailed measurements – of populations of counties, towns and neighborhoods – will be altered to avoid revealing specific data that could be used to identify actual people.
However, researchers have voiced concerns that the data may not accurately represent the nation’s population, and that more specific details about the numbers of residents of states and towns may be misleading. Critics fear the effort to protect Americans’ privacy may end up complicating planning that factors in population numbers, like disaster preparedness efforts.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors this week will continue to discuss cannabis revenues and hear a group’s appeal of the major use permit for a new Grocery Outlet in Middletown.
The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 3, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The meeting can be watched live on Channel 8 and online at https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx . Accompanying board documents, the agenda and archived board meeting videos also are available at that link.
In an item timed for 9:45 a.m., the board – which began a discussion of cannabis tax revenues at its Feb. 25 meeting – will look at cannabis tax revenues and accrual methodology and get a report from county counsel on proration of cannabis cultivation taxes.
At 10 a.m., the board will hear an appeal of a major use permit granted to the Grocery Outlet project that is part of the Valley Oaks development in Middletown.
The group Lake County Local, represented by Los Angeles-based attorney Tal C. Finney, has appealed the Lake County Planning Commission’s October approval of a major use permit that allows Valley Oaks Land Development to construct the 18,000 square foot store.
The full agenda follows.
CONSENT AGENDA
5.1: Approve addendum to the commercial lease agreement between the county of Lake and Tri-Star Properties L.P. for the lease of property located at 845 and 849 Bevins St., Lakeport, CA 95453 in the amount of $1,964.07 per month and authorize the chair to sign.
5.2: Adopt a resolution to indicate no objection to the proposed expansion of the existing helipad at the Boggs Mountain Helitack Base.
TIMED ITEMS
6.2, 9:15 a.m.: Notice of lien hearing for David Deti; 12498 Oak St. Clearlake Oaks.
6.3, 9:25 a.m.: Notice of lien hearing for Robert Kowal; 3065 Gardner Road, Nice.
6.4, 9:35 a.m.: Notice of lien hearing for Kathleen and James Mooney; 2810 Merced St. Nice.
6.5, 9:45 a.m.: (a) Discussion of cannabis tax revenues and accrual methodology; and (b) report from county counsel on proration of cannabis cultivation taxes.
6.6, 10 a.m.: Appeal to Board of Supervisors, AB 19-07 for Major Use Permit UP 19-09 (Grocery Outlet Appeal).
UNTIMED ITEMS
7.2: (a) Approve long-distance travel from March 30 to April 2, 2020, for County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson to attend meetings in Washington, D.C. with federal representatives to advocate for additional disaster recovery funds for Lake County; and (b) consideration of update to fall 2019 advocacy materials for use in 2020.
7.3: Consideration of cannabis equity grant application – Type 1 funding.
7.4: Consideration of the following appointments: Mental Health Board, Western Region Town Hall.
CLOSED SESSION
8.1: sitting as the Lake County IHSS Public Authority Board of Directors, conference with labor negotiator: (a) chief negotiator: Bruce Heid; county negotiator: Crystal Markytan (b) employee organization: California United Homecare Workers Union AFSCME/SEIU Local 4034.
8.2: Conference with labor negotiator: (a) chief negotiator: M. Long; county negotiators: C. Huchingson and P. Samac; and (b) employee organizations: LCDDAA, LCDSA, LCCOA, LCEA, LCSEA and LCSMA.
8.3: Conference with legal counsel: Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9 (d)(2)(e)(3) - Claim of Nichols.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – When my husband and I moved with our sons to southern Lake County nearly 20 years ago, we were happy to discover Mt. St. Helena Brewery, a family-owned operation in a historic building in downtown Middletown.
It became a favorite place to dine out, both for the elevated pub food and the taste of their craft beer.
Though a restaurant remains on-site (more casual than its former iteration), brewing there ceased quite a few years ago. Since then I’ve found myself chasing the thrill of my first sip of their orange and coriander infused IPA.
At long last, the chase has ended.
Much to my delight (and even more so, to my husband’s), Lake County is home to not one, but two craft beer breweries, Kelsey Creek Brewing on Main Street in Kelseyville and the O’Meara Bros. Brewing Company just a few minutes away in Lakeport.
Both offer a selection of beer spanning a broad spectrum from light ales to dark stouts, many with playful ingredients to tickle the palate.
Craft beers have become more and more popular in recent years, spawning an explosion of microbreweries in the United States.
In 1974, when beer was generally mass-produced and light on flavor, there were a mere 55 breweries in the nation.
Today there are more than 6,000 breweries in operation (1,000 in California alone), and that number continues to grow.
Beer is one of the oldest beverages known to man, as well as one of the most popular worldwide, third in line behind water and tea.
As to beer in antiquity, residue of a 13,000-year-old beer thick as gruel was found in a cave in the Carmel Mountains near Haifa in Israel. This represents the oldest archaeological evidence for fermentation of any kind.
The beer was used for ritual feasting by the Natufians, a semi-nomadic people in the Levant, an area in part of what is now the Middle East.
These days craft brewers practice a unique form of alchemy, turning simple ingredients (grain, water, hops, yeast) into flavorful liquid gold.
Brewing methods, sourcing and processing of ingredients, and the addition of spices, fruit or other flavors give rise to countless combinations, making the possibilities for beverage magic seemingly endless.
Both brewing establishments in Lake County are family-owned, Kelsey Creek Brewing by husband and wife team Jason and Caroline Chavez, and O’Meara Bros. Brewing Co. by the (literal) O’Meara brothers Alex and Tim.
Kelsey Creek Brewing is nestled between the Smiling Dogs Ranch wine tasting room and the A + H General Store on Kelseyville’s picturesque Main Street.
I had a chance to visit there with co-proprietor Jason Chavez on a recent Sunday. He does the brewing on-site in a room tucked behind the bar, where large silver vats preside, ringing the small space with their looming presence. Meanwhile, his Irish-born wife, Caroline, manages the bar as well as the business side of the brewery, appropriate since her parents owned a pub in Ireland for a time while she was growing up.
Chavez began making beer in the 1980s while in high school in San Jose, brewing batches on his mother’s stovetop. Since no alcohol changed hands, buying brew kits and ingredients for beer was legal for a minor, and his mother approved as long as he cleaned up after himself.
And just like that, a lifelong passion was born.
After high school, he helped out at a brewery in Mountain View, where he was encouraged to attend the UC Davis Master Brewers Certificate Program.
He enrolled in the intensive five-month program in 1997, finished it, and came away inspired, armed with the science behind the art of brewing beer.
Chavez has worked in breweries in San Diego and Santa Cruz and even did a four-year stint in our beloved Mt. St. Helena Brewing Co. in Middletown, leaving in 2007 to work again in Santa Cruz.
In 2015 he was offered an opportunity to purchase Kelsey Creek Brewing from its founder, Ron Chips, and in June of 2016 the sale was official.
Chavez’s brewing philosophy is simple: brew beer with a clean taste that’s consistent in quality and remains true to its style.
As to the latter point, sourcing ingredients is a key component for Chavez. For example, malt, hops and yeast are procured from Germany when making a German-style beer, and ingredients are imported from Belgium for Belgian Saison.
Food isn’t available for purchase in the Kelsey Creek taproom, but patrons are welcome to bring their own fare from a variety of nearby establishments. The local pizza joint, Pogo’s, delivers there.
And if you’re not too hungry, the complimentary popcorn may be just the ticket.
With so many intriguingly named brews on tap (Jade Monkey, Storybook Stout, Irish Donkey Red, to name a few), it was hard to choose one to try. I finally settled on the mixed berry sour, chosen in part because I’m not typically a fan of sour beers and wanted to see if this brew could expand my horizons.
I’m glad I tried it. It was only subtly sour (Chavez’s wife, Caroline, helps with taste-testing to be sure it’s not too strong), and it had a delightfully berry forward taste.
My husband tried two – the red ale and the stout – and enjoyed them both.
A local band was getting ready to play as we left. Regular patrons were comfortably settled in, sipping foamy quaffs, and a group of visitors shared lively stories and laughter. I turned for a final glimpse of this neighborhood gathering place and was rewarded with a cozy scene of hosts and patrons truly enjoying one another’s company.
Up the road in nearby Lakeport lies Lake County’s only gastropub, O’Meara Bros. Brewing Company, a place my husband and I are always happy to enjoy.
Located on Bevins Street just off Lakeport Blvd. and housed in a modern steel building, this microbrewery has ample room not only for its brewing operations but for a large and lively restaurant.
Brothers Alex and Tim O’Meara work together to run this successful venture, with Alex functioning as general manager, taking care of business operations and managing the restaurant and Tim doing the brewing. They share some duties, too: Alex helps decide what beers are offered and Tim jumps in a bit with “front of house” responsibilities at the restaurant.
The brothers homebrewed for a number of years prior to opening the brewpub, and like Jason Chavez, Tim O’Meara honed knowledge and skills through the intensive brewing course at UC Davis.
Inspired by the many brewpubs in the Pacific Northwest with a neighborhood feel, the brothers opened O’Meara Bros. in December of 2014 and realized the dream they’ve had since childhood of owning a business together.
The tag line for the O’Meara Bros. brews is “Easy Drinkin’ Ales,” and this is realized by using a light touch with ingredients like citrus, ginger, honey, and coriander to create a subtly flavorful and approachable beer.
While they do dabble in bitter ales from time to time, they tend not to focus too much on hops. Most of the ten or so varieties they brew are on the malty, fruity side.
A number of local restaurants have beer on tap from both Kelsey Creek and O’Meara Bros. To help you locate their brews when you’re out and about, a list is at the end of the article below the recipe.
As to St. Patrick’s Day celebrations on March 17, Kelsey Creek will have two stouts on tap in its honor. You’ll also be able to find them at Kelseyville’s downtown “Swig and Jig” on Sunday, March 15.
And in the words of Tim O’Meara, “As always, we’ll be pouring green beer, serving the county’s best corned beef and cabbage and we’ll have music and all kinds of carryin’ on. It’s always a big day for us, being Irish and all.”
Today’s recipe is a classic beer bread with the addition of rosemary and olives, which I recommend serving with a Lake County extra virgin olive oil and a nice aged balsamic vinegar drizzled together on a plate for dipping.
There are endless possibilities for varying the add-ins to this basic recipe. I’ve jotted down some ideas below the recipe to get you started.
Enjoy!
Beer Bread with Rosemary and Olives
3 cups unbleached white flour 3 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced ½ cup roughly chopped pitted kalamata olives 12 ounces (1 ½ cups) good quality beer 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13 x 9 x 2 baking dish with one tablespoon of the olive oil.
Stir together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl. Stir in the rosemary, then the chopped olives until both are well distributed.
Pour in the beer and stir until just incorporated into the mix. The dough will be sticky and somewhat heavy.
Spoon the dough into the baking pan and spread evenly. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the top.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Transfer bread to a trivet or cooling rack.
Cut into rectangles and serve warm.
Variations:
Eliminate olives and add ½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese.
Diced apple (from one medium peeled apple) can be added along with the cheese.
Go crazy with the olives and add several different types, up to 1 ½ cup total.
Substitute honey for the sugar.
Substitute half the white flour for whole wheat.
Use melted butter instead of olive oil.
Increase or decrease the sugar or honey. (Anywhere from one to four tablespoons will work.)
Increase or decrease rosemary to taste.
Add an equal amount of fresh thyme along with the rosemary.
Add a couple tablespoons chopped scallions or chives to any of the variations or on their own.
Add ¼ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes to the olives and rosemary.
Where can I find local beer on tap?
O’Meara Bros. Brewing Company beer is on tap here:
– Park Place, Lakeport; – The Yard, Lakeport; – Juicy’s Pizza, Lakeport; – Stonefire Pizza, Lakeport and Clearlake; – Blue Wing Saloon, Upper Lake; – Running Creek Casino, Upper Lake; – The Boathouse, Nice; – Romi’s BBQ, Nice; – The Spot, Clearlake; – Main Street Bar & Grill, Clearlake; – DJ’s Pizza, Lower Lake; – 101 Tap Room, Redwood Valley; – Slam Dunk Pizza, Ukiah.
Kelsey Creek Brewing beer is on tap here:
– Juicy’s Pizza, Lakeport; – Blue Wing Saloon, Upper Lake; – Red’s Sky Room, Lakeport; – The Saw Shop, Kelseyville (beginning the week of March 1, 2020).
Esther Oertel is a writer and passionate home cook from a family of chefs. She grew up in a restaurant, where she began creating recipes from a young age. She’s taught culinary classes in a variety of venues in Lake County and previously wrote “The Veggie Girl” column for Lake County News. Most recently she’s taught culinary classes at Sur La Table in Santa Rosa, Calif. She lives in Middletown, Calif.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Authorities are investigating a traffic incident on Saturday night in Kelseyville that killed a Redwood Valley woman.
Ashley Pulawa, 26, died in the incident on Saturday at around 6:30 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office.
Originally, witnesses had reported a vehicle crash involving a pedestrian, as Lake County News has reported.
However, the CHP’s Monday report indicated that Pulawa wasn’t a pedestrian but had been riding in a 2000 Nissan pickup driven by her partner, 24-year-old Tyler Hunter, also of Redwood Valley.
The CHP said Hunter was driving his pickup northbound on Highway 29, south of Kelseyville, at between 45 and 50 miles per hour.
Pulawa was seated in the right front passenger seat and their two children were seated in the rear, the CHP said.
For reasons still under investigation, the CHP said Pulawa departed the vehicle through the right front door.
The CHP said Hunter immediately brought the vehicle to a stop on the right shoulder, called 911 and began trying to render medical aid.
Pulawa sustained fatal injuries as a result of the incident, the CHP said.
The use of drugs or alcohol is still being investigated to determine if they were factors in the case, the CHP said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Woodland Community College announced a continued partnership with CSU Sacramento College of Continuing Education to expand their Bachelor of Arts in Child Development: Early Development, Care and Education degree completion program to the Woodland campus starting fall 2020.
Launched in the fall semester of 2019 with 22 students enrolled at Lake County Campus, this program addresses labor market needs for qualified early childhood development fields.
In collaboration with CSU Sacramento, students are able to complete their general education courses and lower- and upper-division curriculum for this program all while attending Lake County Campus.
Using this proven model, which as noted offers several benefits to both students and general economy, Woodland Community College’s Career and Technical Education division which oversees the Early Childhood Education program, will launch its own cohort this fall, with seven students already expressing interest in enrolling.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A pedestrian was killed on Saturday evening after being hit by a vehicle in Kelseyville.
The incident occurred just before 6:30 p.m. in the area of Highway 29 near Live Oak Drive, according to radio and witness reports.
Lake County Central Dispatch reported receiving multiple 911 calls because of the crash.
The California Highway Patrol reported over the air that a pedestrian had been hit by a vehicle and was down and unresponsive.
Kelseyville Fire personnel arrived on the scene minutes later and reported that the pedestrian had died, according to radio traffic. Additional fire units were canceled and the coroner was summoned.
A witness driving in the area reported that the person who died was a woman.
Additional information will be published as it becomes available.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.