LAKE COUNTY – The beautiful weekend weather saw more than just people out on the lake.

Lucerne photographer captured these two grebes dancing across the surface of Clear Lake near Lucerne on the evening of Saturday, June 12.

See more of Keas' photos at www.3dviewmax.com.

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The plan is the result of a cooperative effort by both the board and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection – or Cal Fire – to establish the levels of statewide fire protection services for California’s State Responsibility Area (SRA) lands.

A map included in the plan show Lake County has being in the “very high” zone for fire hazard severity.

“This collaborative effort ultimately benefits the residents of this state,” said Board Chairman Stan Dixon. “It is incumbent upon state government to take constructive action on significant issues of concern that affect the property and livelihoods of Californians.”

“The importance of developing a single, comprehensive strategic fire plan in concert with the Board was clear to me from the beginning,” said Chief Del Walter, director of Cal Fire. “That is why I requested three seats on the steering committee to represent Fire Protection, Resource Management Programs and the Office of the State Fire Marshal. I am very pleased with the effort and accomplishments of all who participated in producing this document.”

This is the first statewide fire plan developed in concert between the board and Cal Fire.

This new plan recognizes that fire will occur in California and works to answer the question of “how do we utilize and live with that risk of wildfire?”

To view the 2010 Strategic Fire Plan for California visit www.bof.fire.ca.gov/board_committees/resource_protection_committee/current_projects/resources/strategicfireplan_june2010_06-04_photos.pdf.

The chip sealing projects will begin on Highway 29 July 6, with the Highway 175 project to begin July 26, Caltrans said. Both projects will continue through August.

Caltrans will chip seal almost 12 miles of pavement on Route 29 from the Lake/Napa County line to the Coyote Creek Bridge, and 8.5 miles of pavement on Route 175 from Cobb to Middletown.

Daytime work hours will be 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday on both projects.

On the Highway 29 chip sealing job, nighttime work hours will be 7 p.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday night through Friday morning. One-way traffic control with a pilot car will be in effect.

Motorists should anticipate 15-minute delays in both project areas, Caltrans said.

The agency explained that chip sealing is an economical way to extend the life of existing pavement. It provides a new high-traction surface which typically lasts five to 10 years.

The projects are using a rubberized binder which helps the environment by including ground up rubber from used automobile tires.

The Highway 29 project will use 128 tons of recycled rubber from about 20,000 passenger cars, while 94.5 tons of rubber recycled from 14,500 passenger cars will be used for the Highway 175 stretch, Caltrans said.

Access to and from private driveways and county roads will be available. Caltrans said loose gravel will be present on the road.

Signs reflecting reduced speed limits will be posted, and motorists are urged to use caution when driving through the work zone, watching in particular for pedestrians and bicyclists. Caltrans urged motorists to use alternate routes when possible.

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Mitch and Carol Beare are opening the new Grocery Outlet store in Clearlake, Calif., located in the old Rite Aid building on Olympic Drive. Courtesy photo.

CLEARLAKE – Clearlake’s requests for a Grocery Outlet have been answered with a new store, set to open this summer around the end of July.

The 20,000-square-foot building that once was Rite Aid, located in the Burns Valley Mall on Olympic Drive, is going to be completely remodeled, said Grocery Outlet Inc. spokesperson Sheena Stevens.

“There were a lot of local requests for a store in Clearlake,” said Stevens. “We’ve been keeping an eye on the real estate for when good property would become available and it made sense.”

Dale Neiman, Clearlake's city administrator and head of the redevelopment agency, confirmed that Grocery Outlet had been looking at real estate in Lake County for a while.

Grocery Outlet's Lakeport and Ukiah locations reportedly do very well, and the chain has more than 130 locations spread across the western United States, the company reported.

Expect a hometown feel to the new store, thanks to the new owners and longtime Lake County residents, Mitch and Carol Beare.

Carol is from Lakeport and Mitch came over from Sonoma County. They met while they both worked at a Chuckie Cheese venue, so working together as owners of the new store will be familiar ground.

After getting married in 1985 they had six children, several of which will be working at the new store.

The Beares plan to hire as many people as they can.

Typically, a new Grocery Outlet store employs 20 to 30 people, said Stevens. They also will utilize both the adult and youth work experience programs at Lake One-Stop Inc. as well as programs through some local high schools.

“One of our goals is to have the best service, and the cleanest store,” said Carol Beare. “And, as business grows, we can hire even more people.”

Those interested in employment with the new store may apply online at the corporate Web site, www.groceryoutlet.com.

To find out more about the work experience and on the job training programs at Lake One-Stop, visit 55 First St. in Lakeport or 4477 Moss Ave. in Clearlake, or check them out on the Web at www.lakeonestop.org.

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The college district's board of trustees voted at its Wednesday meeting in Woodland to move forward with acquiring the 3.17-acre property, located at 15850 Dam Road Extension in Clearlake. The intention is to add the property to the college's Clear Lake Campus.

The Konocti Unified School District’s Board of Trustees voted at its June 2 meeting to approve Yuba College's purchase agreement, according to college district officials.

Yuba College disclosed that the purchase price as $475,000.

“I’m extremely delighted to see that we are moving forward with this land acquisition,” Yuba College Trustee Ben Pearson, who represents Lake County, said in a written statement. “Expanding the Clear Lake Campus and building a permanent facility on that site will greatly benefit both our students and the community.”

Yuba College officials reported that the next steps to follow in order to finalize escrow include requisite inspections, soil tests and environmental studies.

The property was part of Oak Hill Middle School, which Konocti Unified trustees voted last year to close, as Lake County News has reported.

Konocti Unified District Superintendent Dr. Bill MacDougall told Lake County News that the three-acre parcel was the lower field and bus garage at the Oak Hill campus – later renamed the Highlands Center.

MacDougall said the sale benefits the entire community because it allows for the expansion of Yuba College and street front access, and it can be viewed from the Highway.

“We have not made a final decision regarding the use of the funds, but it will probably go to the development of a new bus yard,” MacDougall said.

The property acquisition will allow for improved access to the Clear Lake Campus, give it greater visibility, and provide the campus with more options for placement of its future student services center, according to the college district.

The district reported that the student services center will be a 30,000-square-foot facility which will be the first permanent building at the Clear Lake Campus and will house student services, the library, the learning resource center and administration. Science and culinary arts labs are also part of the construction project.

The student services center is a $19 million construction project which is a part of the Measure J facilities bond program, a measure that Lake County voters approved in 2006.

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On Friday, county Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley began counting unprocessed vote-by-mail – or absentee – ballots as well as provisional ballots.

All told, Fridley said there were 3,081 unprocessed absentee ballots, 148 votes cast on eSlate election machines and 537 provisionals – 5 of which also were cast on the eSlate – still to count.

That totaled approximately 3,766 ballots that still needed to be figured into the overall election results, said Fridley.

In addition, there were a couple hundred vote-by-mail ballots that came up as blank in the ballot counting machine because the voters had used pens rather than No. 2 pencils, Fridley said.

The Registrar of Voters Office began processing absentee ballots May 19, and first reported counts for those ballots Tuesday after 8 p.m. By the end of election night, Fridley's office reported that 6,151 absentee ballots had been cast.

The official canvass began Wednesday morning. Fridley said she has 28 days to complete and verify the final count.

“We're moving right along,” Fridley said Friday afternoon.

Fridley said it's rare for the absentees and provisionals to change an election's outcome.

However, she pointed out that it is possible that the uncounted ballots could impact the very close district attorney's race.

That contest saw challengers Don Anderson and Doug Rhoades with 4,088 and 3,463 votes respectively, while incumbent Jon Hopkins took third place with 3,258 votes.

Only 205 votes separate Rhoades and Hopkins, a narrow margin that the yet-to-be-processed ballots could affect, Fridley said.

She said she didn't expect a change in the standings of the sheriff's race, which had Francisco Rivero placing first with 4,297 votes, followed by incumbent Rod Mitchell with 3,852 votes and Jack Baxter with 3,008 votes.

Processing the absentee and provisional ballot is a time-consuming process, Fridley said.

Registrar of Voters staff must check the voters' signatures, addresses and ballot types, compare them to registration records and then sort them into the appropriate precincts, she said.

Provisional ballots, according to the California Secretary of State, are ballots used by first-time voters, absentees who show up to vote in person, those who have moved within their county without reregistering and anyone whose name doesn't show up on the polling place roster for an unknown reason.

The provisionals must be looked at individually to make sure that people who submitted them are registered to vote, which takes research. Some people also will submit a provisional ballot to vote for a different party that that they're registered for, which isn't allowed, she said.

Ballots submitted via the eSlate voting machines take even longer, she said.

For what is supposed to be a paperless process there is a lot of paper; Fridley said the electronic ballots must be printed out and compared to paper trails, then her staff must mark the choices on Mark-A-Vote cards and count the ballots in the precincts from which they came.

Fridley said she also was watching for write-in candidates on the ballots. She was noticing that people were writing in candidates from different parties on their ballots this year, an issue which may result from the fact that California's primaries haven't been open.

On Tuesday, Californians voted to implement open primaries. But Fridley can't say how California voters' decision to accept an open primary for the state will affect her job. Fridley said the open primary must first withstand likely court challenges.

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The two-vehicle collision occurred at around 11 p.m. Saturday on Spruce Grove Road about three miles east of Highway 29, according to an initial report from the California Highway Patrol.

Witnesses reported two vehicles were driving recklessly and chasing each other before one of the cars lost control and slammed into a power pole, knocking it and wires down across the road, the CHP reported.

Firefighters, Pacific Gas & Electric and county road crews responded to the scene along with the CHP.

A child was reportedly injured in the crash; the CHP reported that the child was transported to Children's Hospital & Research Center of Oakland.

The road remained closed for many hours on Saturday as road crews dealt with the pole. The damage to the pole was reported to have knocked out power to residences in the Hidden Valley Lake area.

Additional specifics on injuries or the circumstances of the crash weren't immediately available.

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The head-on collision occurred shortly before 2:30 p.m. in the area of Highway 121 near Napa Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The crash involved a blue Honda versus a white pickup, with the pickup upside down and blocking part of the roadway, causing the road to be shut down, the CHP reported.

The CHP, fire and Napa County Sheriff's officials responded to the scene, where two people were reported trapped.

Shortly after the crash, one death was confirmed. The CHP reported that a second death was confirmed just before 3 p.m.

Caltrans set up a detour around the site as the investigation continued and the coroner came to deal with the fatalities, the CHP said.

Further details on the victims and the cause of the crash were not immediately available Sunday.

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Veggie Girl Esther Oertel shares ideas for cooking with roses.

When I was a girl, my mother, a chef, garnished plates in our family restaurant with nasturtiums from our garden. Seeing the bright orange blossoms leave the kitchen alongside the likes of Chicken Cordon Bleu or a nicely cooked steak piqued my curiosity about the culinary uses of flowers.

That fascination continues today.

The rose may be the most popular edible flower on our planet (other than lavender, which I’ll cover in a later column).

It imparts a subtle, aromatic flavor to a diversity of dishes, both sweet and savory, and is popular throughout the world, especially in the cuisines of Middle Eastern countries, parts of Asia and Western Europe.

My search for recipes with rose yielded an odd combination, including fresh tuna salad, pesto, rosewater rice, rose-basted chicken and a medieval bread with raisins. Rose is used to flavor sorbet, ice cream, jams and cookies.

It’s a frequent component in the cuisine of Iran, it flavors milk in India, Malaysia, Singapore and much of the Arab world, and gives the candy named “Turkish Delight” its distinctive flavor.

The ancient Romans cooked with it and it was a medieval Muslim chemist who first distilled roses to make rosewater.

All rose varieties are edible and there are differences in flavor depending on the type. Not surprisingly, those with darker colors have more pronounced flavors.

Rose petals may be harvested from your own garden, provided no pesticides have been used on them. (It should be noted that florist roses or those from roadside stands should not be considered edible because of pesticide use.)

Harvest your roses in the early morning when it’s cool and they’re freshly opened. Pick the petals gently, as they bruise easily.

Once you’ve got them in the house, remove the white area at the bottom of each petal as it’s got a bitter taste. Then rinse the petals well in a colander or bowl and spread them on a clean towel to air dry.

It’s best to use the petals immediately after you’ve picked them, but extras may be stored in the fridge in a zipper sealed bag.

The petals may be used in a variety of recipes, or the flavor may be extracted from them by making rose water or rose syrup, also ingredients in cooking.

If you’re not inclined to cook with them, use the petals to garnish vanilla ice cream or mix in a salad with baby greens. Whole petals can be floated in a punchbowl, and chopped petals can be frozen in ice cubes for an interesting drink accompaniment.

To make rosewater, fill a pot with clean rose petals. Pour boiling water over and cover with a lid. Allow it to stand and cool. Place the cooled mixture in the fridge overnight and then strain it. You’ll have a beautifully colored liquid for recipes or for aromatic purposes.

The scent of roses is often used to lift one’s spirits and I especially enjoy spritzing rosewater on myself before bed.

Rose syrup may be made by covering four cups of rose petals with four to six cups of water. For best flavor extraction, the petals should float freely in the pan. Simmer the petals until all the color has gone into the liquid, about 30 minutes. Strain and return to the pan.

Simmer gently until liquid has reduced to about 1½ cups, which will take an hour or longer. (Your house will smell wonderful!) Then add two cups sugar about a teaspoon of lemon juice and boil until just dissolved.

This makes about 12 ounces and should be stored in sterilized jars.

I love to use rose syrup to sweeten tangy, fruity iced tea. It can also be used to flavor lemonade. It’s wonderful in place of sugar in whipped cream, especially when topping strawberries or a bread pudding made with cinnamon.

Shakespeare famously said, “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” The sweetness and fragrance of the rose lingers long past its time on the bush to enhance many a dish.

Below are some practical and fun culinary uses for this sweet, subtlety flavored edible flower.

Rose petal butter

This pink and delicately flavored butter adds a touch of rose flavor to fresh biscuits, muffins or scones. It makes just under a cup of butter, which lasts for two weeks in the fridge. If frozen, it will last for a few months.

1 cup fresh rose petals

3/4 cup butter, allowed to soften by sitting at room temperature

Mix petals and butter in a food processor or, alternatively, finely chop petals and mix into the butter by hand. Cover and refrigerate. Allow it to sit for 24 hours so the rose flavor incorporates into the butter.

Rose petal tea

This light floral tea serves four.

2 cups fresh rose petals

3 cups water

Heat water and petals to a boil in a small saucepan and simmer for about five minutes. The petals will start to darken. Strain out the petals and serve while hot. Honey may be added for sweetness.

Rose sugar

A nice way to sweeten your rose tea! Try this sugar over berries.

1 cup rose petals

1 cup sugar

Rose petals may be blended with the sugar until fine in a food processor, or whole petals may be mixed by hand into the sugar. Either way, store for at least a week before using for the flavor to develop. If using whole petals, pick them out before using. This sugar may be stored in the freezer.

Esther Oertel, the "Veggie Girl," is a personal chef and culinary coach and is passionate about local produce. Oertel owns The SageCoach Personal Chef Service and teaches culinary classes at Chic Le Chef in Hidden Valley Lake. She welcomes your questions and comments; e-mail her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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In response to the heightened fire danger, Cal Fire is increasing its staffing and urging the public to be extra cautious this weekend.

“The grass across the region is already dying or dead,” said Chief Andy McMurry, assistant deputy director for Cal Fire.

“Our firefighters are ready to respond to any wildfires, but we really need to the public’s help in preventing fires.”

On Friday, Cal Fire began prepositioning many of its air tankers from the department’s maintenance base at McClellan Air Park in Sacramento County to its air bases across Northern California. Throughout the winter the aircraft undergo extensive maintenance preparing them for firefighting activity.

Cal Fire has staffed its airbases in Southern California since the beginning of May, where conditions have dried out earlier.

The red flag warning stretches from Redding to Modesto and into the East Bay from 11 a.m. Friday to 8 p.m. on Saturday due to a combination of warm temperatures, low humidity and gusty winds.

Cal Fire officials are urging the public to remain extra vigilant this weekend and help them prevent fires.

Here are some tips to help prevent wildfires:

• Don’t mow weeds after 10 a.m.

• Never use a lawn mower in dry grass.

• Completely extinguish any campfire.

• Make sure cigarette butts are properly extinguished and never thrown outside.

For more fire safety tips visit the Cal Fire Web site at www.fire.ca.gov or www.ReadyForWildfire.org.

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