LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Woodland Community College and Yuba College are reporting an increase in enrollments and educational opportunities in high-demand occupations.
Woodland Community College and Yuba College play a critical role in the regional economy, providing pathways for transfer to four-year higher educational institutions and ensuring there continue to be highly trained students available to enter our regional workforce.
Both colleges offer robust transfer and Career and Technical, or CTE, programs including degrees and certificates in administration of justice, agriculture, business, culinary arts, early childhood education, nursing, psychology and veterinary technology.
To support students in achieving their educational goals and to encourage enrollment, Yuba Community College District awarded over $17 million dollars of financial aid during the last academic year.
This financial support is critical for students. A recent College Scorecard analysis notes, “YCCD institution’s strong combination of graduation rate performance in the face of elevated student poverty rates, as well as their ability to prepare graduates who can earn disproportionately high wages for their home counties, illustrates these intuition’s contributions to economic mobility in northern California.”
Statewide California Community Colleges experienced a steep decline in enrollment during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, losing approximately 300,000 students or an 18% drop in enrollment.
YCCD colleges also experienced a similar decline, dropping 19% from 2019-2020 pre-pandemic enrollments.
To address the decline, Woodland Community College and Yuba College, implemented a number of strategies to increase enrollments including, increased marketing, outreach, and engagement, expanded dual enrollment offerings, focused outreach to older students who have some college or an interest in upskilling, targeted reengagement to students who departed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and updated scheduling processes to better align program needs and student demand.
The Yuba Community College District said the work began to positively impact enrollments during the fall 2022 semester, which was the first semester the district began to see an increase in enrollments.
Preliminary fall 2023 enrollment data indicates that the positive enrollment trend is continuing with an 8% increase in year-over-year enrollments.
Both Yuba College and Woodland Community College offer a variety of late-start classes in face-to-face and online modalities for anyone interested in taking classes this fall.
Following federal approval of the updated COVID-19 vaccine and recommendations for the upcoming winter respiratory virus season, the California Department of Public Health, or CDPH, is recommending all Californians stay up to date on the vaccine and get the updated shot when available.
For renewed protection against severe illness, hospitalization and death, state health officials said all Californians 5 years and older should receive one dose of the updated COVID-19 vaccine, as long as it's been 2 months or more since their most recent dose.
Getting vaccinated may also minimize your symptoms if you do become infected so you can return to your daily activities more quickly.
Recommendations for younger children depend on the number of doses received previously.
CDPH strongly urges vaccination for individuals who are at high risk of serious illness from COVID-19 due to advanced age or underlying illness as this is the group of individuals most vulnerable to severe disease and the worst outcomes.
“Staying up to date on the COVID-19 vaccine is the best way to keep your immunity strong and protect yourself and others from severe illness, hospitalization, and death,” said CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer Dr. Tomás Aragón. “As we enter the winter season, it is crucial that all individuals remain up to date with vaccinations when they’re eligible, including flu, COVID-19 and RSV.”
Who should get vaccinated
Everyone age 5 and up: Everyone 5 years of age and older, regardless of previous vaccination, is eligible to receive a single dose of the updated COVID-19 vaccine as long as it’s been at least 2 months since the last dose.
Younger children and infants: Infants and younger children, 6 months through 4 years of age, who have previously been vaccinated against COVID-19 are eligible to receive one or two doses of the updated vaccine. The timing and number of doses depends on the previous COVID-19 vaccine received.
Unvaccinated younger children and infants: Unvaccinated infants and younger children, 6 months through 4 years of age, are eligible to receive three doses of the updated Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine or two doses of the updated Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
When and how to schedule your updated covid-19 vaccine: Initial supplies of updated COVID-19 vaccine are expected in California in the coming weeks. For added convenience, COVID-19, flu, and RSV vaccines can all be administered in the same visit. Schedule a vaccine appointment by visiting MyTurn.ca.gov or contacting your local pharmacy or health care provider.
How to pay for a COVID-19 vaccine: COVID-19 vaccines will continue to be free for most Americans through their health insurance plans, including Medi-Cal and regular health care providers.
The CDC’s Bridge Access Program will provide limited quantities of COVID-19 vaccines to uninsured and underinsured adults through December 2024. The Vaccines For Children (VFC) program is a federally funded program that provides vaccines at no cost to children (18 and younger) who might not otherwise be vaccinated because of inability to pay.
CDPH’S virus prevention tips
The best defense against COVID-19 and other winter viruses starts with good prevention. Follow these five tips to protect yourself and others:
Stay up to date on vaccines: Vaccines reduce the chances of infection and are the best defense to limit severe illness and death. COVID-19, flu, and RSV vaccines will all be available for this winter season.
Stay home if you're sick, test for COVID and treat if needed: Staying home when you’re sick slows the spread of COVID-19, flu, RSV, and even the common cold. If you have symptoms, test for COVID-19 and contact your doctor immediately to seek treatment. Treatments work best when started right after symptoms begin.
Consider wearing a mask in indoor public places: Wearing a mask significantly reduces the spread of respiratory viruses, especially in crowded or poorly ventilated spaces.
Wash your hands: Frequent handwashing with soap and warm water, for at least 20 seconds, is an easy and very effective way to prevent getting sick and spreading germs.
Cover your cough or sneeze: Remember to cough or sneeze into your elbow, your arm, or a disposable tissue to help prevent the spread of winter viruses. Wash or sanitize your hands and dispose of your tissue after.
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. — The Middletown Area Town Hall will meet this week to get a fire season update and discuss other projects.
MATH will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept.14, in the Middletown Community Meeting Room/Library at 21256 Washington St., Middletown. The meeting is open to the public.
To join the meeting via Zoom click on this link; the meeting ID is 832 1989 2440. Call in at 669-900-6833.
On this week’s agenda are guest speakers from South Lake County and Cal Fire on the 2023 fire season update, and a presentation on the Middletown Garden Project.
There also will be a continued discussion about forming a MATH committee regarding projects, and an update from District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon regarding advance notice of projects.
MATH’s next meeting will take place on Oct. 12. At that meeting, they will start accepting annual nominations for the MATH Board.
The MATH Board includes Chair Monica Rosenthal, Vice Chair Todd Fiora, Secretary Ken Gonzalez, Rosemary Córdova and Bill Waite, and alternates Julia Bono and Tom Darms.
MATH — established by resolution of the Lake County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 12, 2006 — is a municipal advisory council serving the residents of Anderson Springs, Cobb, Coyote Valley (including Hidden Valley Lake), Long Valley and Middletown.
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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. — The key to making sure that you and your family safely and successfully respond to a natural disaster or emergency is to prepare before it happens.
That’s the reason September’s National Preparedness Month exists.
That’s why Pacific Gas and Electric Co. teamed up with the Placer Hills Fire Department to put one local family to the test.
In this video, released in 2021 and just as relevant today, a Sierra foothills family is put through a simulated wildfire evacuation to demonstrate how being prepared can help bring calm to the chaos.
“You think you’re ready, but are you? It’s scary,” said Michelle Childers, who participated in the disaster readiness drill with her husband Justin and their two children.
PG&E urges all our customers to assess how prepared your family, home and community are for a natural disaster or other emergency, and to take the necessary actions to be ready.
In addition to the video, PG&E’s Safety Action Center website provides the following valuable resources:
• Take a quiz to find out if you know what to pack in an emergency kit; • Learn how to prepare a kit with six easy steps; • Create an emergency plan; • Learn how to create defensible space around your home; • Watch a special video series: 7 Saturdays to a more fire resistant home.
An ‘eye-opening’ experience
For the Childers family, firefighters gave them just 10 minutes to get what they would need, as is often the case in a real evacuation, and leave their home.
“My first instinct was birth certificates, passports, IDs, keys, wallets, because those are the things we’re going to need immediately (if evacuated) to get a hotel, to rebuild. My second initial response was mementos, pictures,” said Justin.
“I’ve never experienced this, I know what I was thinking, but I paused,” said Michelle, describing the first seconds after the knock at the door. “I got a couple of changes of clothes for each of us, got some snacks that I know the kids would eat, and some mementos.”
Although the family did not have go-bags ready during the drill, they grabbed essentials: important documents, changes of clothes and some food.
“I thought they did a really good job,” said Battalion Chief Matt Slusher with the Placer Hills Fire Department. “They worked well together. But what if one of you was not home at the time of an evacuation? What would you prioritize? For example, the kids—if you had to be away for 72 hours, their homework, the things that are important to them because their lives are going to be turned upside down, how do you maintain a level of normalcy?”
“I was motionless,” said Michelle, who is an elementary school teacher. “You need to have a go-bag, container with food and water for 72 hours. This was eye-opening.”
“This life-like emergency drill was a great reminder for all of us to plan what we would do before any kind of natural disaster or other emergency, and to practice how we would respond. It’s muscle memory. You have to practice it to perfect it,” said Joe Wilson, PG&E’s Vice President, North Valley & Sierra Region.
How customers can prepare
Here are some simple guidelines to prepare for an emergency.
• Build or restock your emergency kit with flashlights, fresh batteries, first-aid supplies and cash. • Keep face masks and hand sanitizer in your emergency kit. • Identify backup charging methods for phones and keep printed copies of emergency numbers. • Plan for medical needs like medications that require refrigeration or devices that need power. • Keep in mind family members who are elderly, younger children and pets. • Update your contact information online or by calling PG&E at 1-866-743-6589 during normal business hours so you can receive Public Safety Power Shutoff alerts.
On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state is poised to make the largest-ever single investment to combat organized retail crime — $267,118,293.
As part of a competitive grant process, staff are recommending the Board of State and Community Corrections, or BSCC, award funding to 55 local law enforcement agencies across California.
If approved by the BSCC, the funding, part of the Governor’s Real Public Safety Plan, is slated to be dispersed on Oct. 1 to police departments, sheriffs’ departments, and district attorney offices in every region of the state to prevent and investigate cases of organized retail theft and arrest and prosecute more suspects.
Agencies in Humboldt, Sonoma and Yolo counties are among those set to receive funds.
“Enough with these brazen smash-and-grabs. With an unprecedented $267 million investment, Californians will soon see more takedowns, more police, more arrests, and more felony prosecutions. When shameless criminals walk out of stores with stolen goods, they’ll walk straight into jail cells,” Newsom said.
Across the state, 41 sheriffs’ and police departments, as well as one probation department, stand to be awarded up to $23,663,194 each.
The funding would be used to create fully staffed retail theft investigative units, increase arrests, install advanced surveillance technology, train loss prevention officers, create new task forces, increase cooperation with businesses and the community, target criminals in blitz operations, as well as crack down on vehicle and catalytic converter theft.
After a competitive grant application process for the state’s Organized Retail Theft Grant Program, local law enforcement agencies in seven counties and 34 cities are being recommended for funding by BSCC: Orange County, Los Angeles County, Riverside County, Sacramento County, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Ventura County and the cities of Anaheim, Bakersfield, Beverly Hills, Brea, Campbell, Chula Vista, Citrus Heights, Clovis, Coalinga, Costa Mesa, Daly City, Delano, Fremont, Fresno, Garden Grove, Hemet, Irvine, Los Angeles, Modesto, National City, Newark, Palm Springs, Palo Alto, Roseville, Salinas, San Bruno, San Fernando, San Francisco, San Jose, San Ramon, Santa Monica, Santa Rosa, and Vacaville. Recommended funding levels and project scopes for each agency are available on BSCC’s website.
Thirteen district attorneys’ offices across California stand to receive up to $2,050,000 each. The funding would be used to establish new vertical prosecution units — new teams dedicated to prosecuting organized retail theft — and to establish county-wide de facto “intelligence centers,” prosecution hubs for all related investigations within a county.
After a competitive grant application process for the Organized Retail Theft Vertical Prosecution Grant Program, the following district attorneys’ offices are being recommended for funding by BSCC: Alameda, Humboldt, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Stanislaus, Sonoma, Ventura, and Yolo.
Recommended funding levels and project scopes for each agency are available on BSCC’s website.
BSCC members are scheduled to vote on the recommendations on Thursday, Sept. 14. The board meeting can be viewed here. All funds for both grants will be allocated in annual installments over the next three years.
This week’s funding is poised to significantly aid local law enforcement in cracking down on organized retail theft and other types of property crime — including vehicle and catalytic converter theft. Local efforts are supported by the California Highway Patrol’s Organized Retail Theft Task Force, or ORCTF, which successfully dismantles large-scale statewide organized crime operations.
Established by Governor Newsom in 2019, the ORCTF has recovered $30.7 million in stolen merchandise, conducted more than 1,850 investigations, and arrested over 1,250 individuals statewide.
Newsom’s office said public safety funding in California is at an all-time high. Building on investments to improve officer retention and well-being and the Governor’s Real Public Safety Plan — which focuses on strengthening local law enforcement response, ensuring perpetrators are held accountable, and getting guns and drugs off our streets — California’s 2023-24 budget includes more than $800 million in funding to support multiple programs to improve public safety and crack down on retail crime, including today’s grants.
A measure prohibiting California State University campuses from using Native American remains and cultural artifacts for teaching or research cleared the Senate Education Committee on Monday on a 5-0 vote.
The bill also requires the CSU system to follow recommendations from the State Auditor — and to obey state and federal laws — by repatriating remains and sacred artifacts to appropriate tribes.
AB 389, by Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino), was amended in the Senate following a scathing report released on June 29 by the state auditor revealing the CSU system had almost 700,000 human remains and cultural objects in its possession despite a 1995 federal and state deadline to return the remains and artifacts to the proper tribes.
Some campuses have not completed their inventories so even more collections are expected to be found. Ramos requested the audit last year and initiated a joint oversight and informational hearing to review the findings in late August.
Only about 6% of collections have been returned as required by the 1990 federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA, and its 2001 California counterpart, CalNAGPRA.
“AB 389 will ensure that decades after a federal and state requirement to repatriate the remains of our ancestors, CSU takes this responsibility seriously,” Ramos said. “These bones are the remains of our families and deserve respectful reburial. It is a fundamental human right to be buried according to the customs of one’s people. I know of no other group denied this right.”
San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Vice Chairman Johnny Hernández, who testified in support of the proposal, said, “The fact that little to no progress has been made in repatriating items that are of historical and cultural significance to tribes is appalling and unacceptable.”
Hernández added, “It is imperative that tribes be consulted in order to provide an understanding of how items should be repatriated and to keep the CSUs accountable throughout the process.”
Chairperson Janet K. Bill of the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians commented on the process at CSU Fresno.
She noted that while that campus has completed its review, “We must highlight that they did not consult with tribes before reviewing its collection which is mandated under the 2020 Amendment to CalNAGPRA. This failure to consult denied us the opportunity to opine on the respectful treatment of our artifacts, hindered our ability to share our tribal knowledge and traditions, and undermined our tribal sovereignty.”
Key recommendations from the audit report covered in AB 389 are:
• Monitoring campus efforts to review their collections and require completion by Dec. 31, 2025. • Ensuring that campuses have protocols regarding handling and identifying remains and cultural items. • Issuing a systemwide NAGPRA policy establishing consistent repatriation processes and training requirements. • Requiring campuses with more than 100 sets of remains or cultural items to have full time experienced repatriation coordinators.
AB 389 is sponsored by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, Redding Rancheria, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and the Tachi Yokut Tribe.
Also supporting the bill are the Cahuilla Band of Indians, Enterprise Rancheria, Morongo Band of Mission Indians, Pala Band of Mission Indians, Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians, Tule River Tribe, Wilton Rancheria, the Yurok Tribe, California Indian Legal Services, California Indian Nations College, California Faculty Association, California Native Vote Project, California State University’s Office of the Chancellor, Generation Up, Indigenous Justice and the International Indian Treaty Council.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A Willits man died on Tuesday evening after his motorcycle collided head-on with a pickup near Lucerne.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office identified the fatal crash victim as James Andrew Eble II, 43.
The California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office said the crash occurred at approximately 7:06 p.m. Tuesday.
CHP Officer Ryan Erickson received a call two minutes later about the collision, involving a 2005 Harley-Davidson motorcycle and a 2020 Dodge 5500 truck on State Route 20 east of Rosemont Drive.
When the CHP’s officers arrived at the scene, they located both vehicles partially in the eastbound lane, and partially on the south shoulder, the CHP reported.
The CHP said initial indications are that Eble was traveling westbound on Highway at an unknown speed when he crossed over the solid double yellow lines into the eastbound lane.
Eble’s motorcycle collided head-on with a 2020 Dodge 5500 truck traveling eastbound on SR-20., the CHP said.
The pickup was driven by 33-year-old Spencer Langenback of Redding, who had 26-year-old John Tirri of Cottonwood riding as his passenger, according to the report.
The CHP said emergency personnel pronounced Eble dead at the scene.
Langenback and Tirri were uninjured, the CHP said.
The collision report stated that all three men were using their safety equipment at the time of the wreck.
The CHP said Clear Lake Area Sgt. Joel Skeen responded to the scene and assumed incident command.
Officer Erickson will be handling the investigation, the CHP reported.
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.
He was, said George Bernard Shaw, “one of those heroic simpletons who do big things whilst our prominent worldlings are explaining why they are Utopian and impossible”.
The celebrated playwright was referring to the ideas of Ebenezer Howard, the creative force behind the idea of “garden cities” in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; new urban centres that Howard argued would have the best of town and country, but without the problems.
There’s a reminder of that somewhat backhanded compliment in the recent news of a Silicon Valley consortium named Flannery Associates buying land with a view to creating a new city in northern California’s Solano County. The controversial project is named after the investment vehicle’s parent company, California Forever.
The parallels between contemporary utopian thinking and Howard’s ideas from more than a century ago are readily apparent. The notion of something like California Forever may appear cutting edge, but it is part of the historical foundations of current planning systems.
Indeed, the science-fiction writer H.G. Wells – a futurist whose own ideas would resonate with many in Silicon Valley – was so attracted to Howard’s ideas that he joined the Garden City Association to support their creation.
Garden city visions
Any kind of new city model tends to reflect the politics of its founders. The vision and plans stretch beyond the built form to picture a preferred lifestyle, and interactions with nature and each other.
The artist’s renderings accompanying the California Forever project depict an attractive, harmonious landscape familiar to utopian thinking: plentiful parks, open spaces and sustainable energy.
It encapsulates a politics of urban living that also emphasises the need to recast our relationships with nature. As such, these ideas also involve a large dose of social engineering. They are not just about creating a new built environment, they envision a new kind of society that’s better than the current one.
But the garden cities that were eventually developed were a far cry from Howard’s initial vision. In fact, his ideas from over a hundred years ago make those from Silicon Valley look distinctly dated.
For Howard, it was as much about social reform and organisation as city planning. He advocated for local production and relatively self-contained settlements to reduce the need to travel, as well as innovative ways of treating waste that echo current circular economy thinking.
Planning and profit
Even less like the investment logic behind California Forever, Howard also imagined a city that could challenge some of the precepts of capitalism.
Given the significant deprivation and social divide between haves and have-nots, he advocated that land in garden cities could be organised cooperatively to share wealth and reduce poverty.
The need to attract investors was one of the reasons Howard’s ambitious politics eroded. To purchase land on that scale requires significant capital, and the providers of that capital would no doubt be looking for a return.
Should California Forever materialise, history would caution us that there may be a similar gap between rhetoric and reality. While Howard’s ideas were partially implemented in places like Letchworth, the focus was more on the built environment than social justice or sustainability.
Howard moved into the new city, but his influence was marginalised by the need to accommodate shareholder interests.
While we don’t know how California Forever has been pitched to investors, it’s a fair assumption it is also shaped by the profit motive: buying cheaper agricultural land, rezoning for housing and development, drawing in state funding for infrastructure, and seeing the land rise in value.
While the images appear sustainable, long-distance commuting may be a problem given the nature of the labour market in California, as might expectations of genuine community involvement in the project. Utopian schemes have long been critiqued for their tendency towards authoritarianism – a charge not unfamiliar to the tech sector in recent times.
Howard’s ideas were also criticised as anti-urban. Shouldn’t we seek to improve existing cities rather than abandon and start anew, possibly to create a gentrified enclave?
For the tech sector, too, there is a recurring utopian trend that seeks to escape – whether to moon colonies or new cities – rather than use its vast wealth and influence to address current urban problems.
Progress and planning
But, ultimately, it’s encouraging to see groups like the Silicon Valley investors advocate for the benefits of good urban planning and what it can provide future generations. The bigger problem is that current planning systems aren’t anything like as progressive.
In many countries, similarly powerful investors routinely criticise urban planning as creating “red tape”, increasing the costs of development, or stopping markets from acting “efficiently”.
Yet the kind of city building represented by California Forever requires greater regulatory power and the kind of political ambition that was more common a century ago. And it raises the question of whether projects like this should be left to the private sector.
At the very least, perhaps, such initiatives provide an opportunity to reassess the potential of urban planning and cast a light on current societal problems. Howard’s utopian vision was designed to solve the problems of his time: exploitative landlords, slums, polluted cities and extreme disparities of wealth.
Whether or not California Forever is built, the reasons behind the idea demonstrate that while history may not repeat, it does sometimes rhyme.
The Internal Revenue Service is getting a funding boost thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022.
That legislative package originally included about US$80 billion to expand the tax collection agency’s budget over the next 10 years. Congress and the White House have since agreed to pare this total by about $20 billion, but $60 billion is still a big chunk of change for an agency that until recently had about $14 billion in annual funding.
I’m a tax researcher who studies how the IRS uses technology and how taxpayers respond to the agency’s growing reliance on it. While the number of IRS enforcement personnel will surely grow as a result of additional funding, I think that the agency can get more mileage out of emphasizing technological improvements.
Director of Enterprise Digitalization of 22nd Century Technologies Harrison Smith, left, demonstrates the digital intake initiative, a scanning technology for IRS paperless processing, as Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel, right, look on in August 2023.Alex Wong/Getty Images
But IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel has indicated that better enforcement won’t just rely on more tax agents and auditors. He released a plan in early 2023 promising that “technology and data advances will allow us to focus enforcement on taxpayers trying to avoid taxes, rather than taxpayers trying to pay what they owe.”
And U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo has said that “the IRS is going to hire more data scientists than they ever have for enforcement purposes,” with the goal of using data analytics in audits.
The IRS has tapped one form of data analytics or another to select people and companies to audit since the late 1960s. As early as 1986, it had researched ways to use artificial intelligence to improve how it selects its auditing targets.
At the same time, outdated technology is hampering the Internal Revenue Service’s effectiveness. It relies on a 60-year-old computer system to maintain and process data. That undercuts its technological agility and customer service.
Beyond data reported on tax forms themselves, like 1099s, the IRS has three main sources of data it assesses to learn more about taxpayers.
1. Past tax returns
The IRS’s National Research Program collects data to support what it calls “strategic decisions” to better enforce compliance.
The program first relies on its vast stores of taxpayer data, including prior audit results, to develop an expectation of what a given tax return may include, like a tuition tax credit for a taxpayer with a history of claiming the child tax credit. Filed returns are compared against those standards to identify potential outliers. Outliers aren’t necessarily dodging taxes or misrepresenting their tax liabilities, but big departures from the norms can indicate a higher likelihood of mistakes or evasion.
2. Publicly available data
The IRS relies on publicly available data associated with each tax return when it’s building a case for an audit.
The data, which is available to anyone who wants to find it, has increased tremendously with the rise of social media and the growing role of the internet for commerce and advertising. A social media presence can alert the IRS to a business with potential income in a way that the agency could not have identified before the internet emerged.
This includes methods that might surprise you.
As far back as 2010, for example, IRS training materials instructed agents to use a band’s social networking sites to compare musicians’ reported income with their likely income from their past performances. IRS training materials instruct agents to predict musicians’ gig income based on the number of shows a band advertises through its social media posts.
People make all sorts of financial information public today, including their side hustles and Venmo ledgers. The IRS can access and use this data like anyone else.
3. Third-party data
The IRS can also buy data.
For example, a 2020 government contract with the company Chainalysis is described, perhaps clumsily, as a contract for “pilot IRS cryptocurrency tracing.” This type of contract gives the IRS information related to otherwise untraceable income sources so that agents can detect underreporting.
What has changed in recent years is the volume of data it can access, which has skyrocketed.
Sometimes, widespread underreporting results in legislation which requires third parties to report income information to the IRS, rather than requiring the agency seek it out.
Recent legislation includes requiring third-party payment agencies like Venmo, PayPal and Uber to issue a 1099 tax form to anyone making over $600 on the app in one year. These 1099s are issued to taxpayers – and the IRS.
And the agency also hopes to use data to make paying taxes less onerous for the majority of Americans who follow the rules.
For example, when a taxpayer has a child or experiences another kind of life change that will change their tax status, the IRS wants to gain the ability to proactively notify people about the consequences – whether it’s paying more, owing less or getting a new tax credit.
Most people want to pay what they owe, no more and no less. I believe the IRS intends to make good use of its new funding to help people do just that.
Rep. Mike Thompson speaks at a podium in front of gun safes at the Clearlake Tractor Supply Co. in Clearlake, California. Photo courtesy of Congressman Mike Thompson’s office. CLEARLAKE, Calif. — This week, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-04) held a press conference at the Clearlake Tractor Supply Co. store to highlight the importance of safe storage for firearms and to celebrate the decision by the Commerce Department to lift the tariffs on various gun safes.
“There are tragic stories about children finding unsecured firearms and shooting themselves or others accidentally, and we know that the safe storage of firearms would help stop these instances and save lives,” said Thompson. “At this press conference in Clearlake, we were able to highlight the importance of gun safes and how responsible gun owners can ensure that their firearms are properly secured. The recent decision by Commerce to lift tariffs on these gun safes will help save lives and keep firearms in secure locations.”
“As an old cop that has been doing this for a long time, I've always been a proponent of proper storage for firearms. I've been involved with cases where guns were stolen through theft or burglary and those guns end up in the hands of criminals. I’ve been involved in cases where those criminals then use those firearms to commit other crimes. I’ve even been involved in some cases where unfortunately, children gain access to unsecured firearms, sometimes leading to terrible results. The thing about all those scenarios is they're largely preventable with the use of a good gun safe. The bottom line is anything we can do to make gun safes available and affordable are things we should be doing,” said Lake County Sheriff Rob Howe.
“Millions of Tractor Supply customers and neighbors as well as our 52,000 Team Members are grateful for Rep Thompson’s leadership keeping high quality gun safes affordable and accessible for American families. His efforts clearly defined gun safes and prevented a huge price increase keeping safe gun storage within reach,” said Kent Knutson, Tractor Supply Co. vice president for government relations.
According to Everytown, last year there were 355 unintentional shootings by children in the United States, resulting in 158 fatalities and 212 injuries.
When the administration placed tariffs on metal lockers from China, they excluded gun safes from retaliatory tariffs because of the public health benefits of this product.
When the Commerce Department implemented the tariffs, they placed tariffs on several common gun safes which should have been excluded from tariffs.
These tariffs threatened to increase prices on common models of gun safes and discourage gun owners from responsibly storing their firearms.
Rep. Thompson led 50 members of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force in calling on Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to address the problem of tariffs that are raising the prices of secure gun storage options.
The Commerce Department recently announced that these tariffs are being lifted. The administration’s action makes gun safes more affordable, allowing more people to buy them which keeps guns safely secure, away from children, and more difficult to steal.
Thompson represents California’s Fourth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
New California Highway Patrol Officer David Robinson has joined the CHP’s Clear Lake Area office in Kelseyville, California. Photo courtesy of the CHP. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The California Highway Patrol’s Northern Division Clear Lake Area office is welcoming another new officer.
After 26 weeks of intense training, the group was officially sworn in.
Officer Robinson described the CHP Academy as, “A hard challenge that prepared me for the job and life.”
Robinson is from the small town of Stonyford in Colusa County.
He attended Elk Creek High School, graduating in 2017, and went on to graduate from Butte College in Butte County with an associate degree in communications. While attending college he was an Explorer with the Chico CHP office’s post for two years.
He is the first in his family to work in law enforcement and has chosen the CHP because he wanted to serve the people of California with the highest level of professionalism and respect.
Officer Robinson will be receiving in-field training with experienced officers for approximately four months and with the ultimate goal of being on his own as one of the newest members of the California Highway Patrol.
In announcing Robinson’s arrival, the Clear Lake Area office issued a statement that said, “Lake County is a unique area and different than large metropolitan areas. It will challenge this new officers’ skills. Our goal is to get this new CHP officer ready to face the challenges he will encounter on a day-to-day basis so he can provide the highest level of safety, service, and security to the people of California.”
The Clear Lake Area office was joined in July by another recent academy graduate, Officer Cameron Ramsey, who was raised in Redwood Valley.
Officer Robinson encourages anyone thinking about joining the CHP’s ranks to go online and check out www.chpmadeformore.com or contact your local CHP office for more information.
The Clear Lake Area office can be reached at telephone 707-279-0103.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Board of Supervisors will officially welcome the county’s new Public Health officer this week.
The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The meeting ID is 946 4364 9954, pass code 558702. The meeting also can be accessed via one tap mobile at +16694449171,,94643649954#,,,,*558702#.
All interested members of the public that do not have internet access or a Mediacom cable subscription are encouraged to call 669-900-6833, and enter the Zoom meeting ID and pass code information above.
At 1:30 p.m., the board will administer the ceremonial oath of office to Public Health Officer Dr. Noemi C. Doohan.
The board hired Doohan last month after a lengthy search, and after the county has had an interim Public Health officer for more than a year.
The public hearing for the county’s final recommended budget for fiscal year 2023/2024 that had been planned for Tuesday will be held over to the next meeting on Sept. 19.
The full agenda follows.
CONSENT AGENDA
5.1: Adopt resolution amending Resolution No. 2023-78 establishing a new classification and amending the position allocation chart for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 to conform to the recommended budget revising salaries for classifications in Budget Unit 2111 Public Defender.
5.2: a) Approve travel to Washington DC exceeding 1,500 miles for Bruno Sabatier, Jessica Pyska, Stephen Carter and Matthew Rothstein to attend the National Association of Counties legislative conference; and b) approve travel exceeding 1,500 miles for Jessica Pyska and Bruno Sabatier to travel to the National Association of Counties Conference in Austin Texas retroactively.
5.3: Approve Amendment 1 to the agreement between county of Lake and Visit Lake County California correcting the language in section 3 compensation and authorize the chair to sign.
5.4: Adopt resolution approving MOU between county of Lake and Lake County Resource Conservation District for management of goatsrue in Lake County for July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2025, in the amount of $32,716.
5.5: Adopt resolution approving Agreement No. 23-0451-000-SA with the California Department of Food and Agriculture for Compliance with the Nursery Inspection Program for the period of July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, in the amount of $5000.
5.6: Adopt resolution approving Agreement No. 23-0287-000-SA with the California Department of Food and Agriculture for the Noxious Weed Program for the period of July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2025, in the amount of $42,421.
5.7: Adopt resolution approving Agreement No. 23-0026-018-SF with the California Department of Food and Agriculture to authorize eExecution of the Asian Citrus Psyllid Winter Trapping Program in the amount of $13,490 starting Oct. 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024.
5.8: Adopt resolution updating tax rates for local agencies, general obligation bonds and other voter approved indebtedness for Fiscal Year 2023-24.
5.9: Approve agreement between county of Lake and Ever Well Health Systems for adult residential support services and specialty mental health services in the amount of $75,000 for Fiscal Year 2023-24 and authorize the board chair to sign.
5.10: Adopt resolution authorizing the standard agreement between the County of Lake and the Department of Health Care Services for drug Medi-Cal services for the period of July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2027, and authorizing the Behavioral Health director to sign the standard agreement and the contractor certification clause.
5.11: Approve Amendment No. 2 to the agreement between county of Lake and the Smithwaters Group for Fiscal Years 2022-25 with no change to the contract maximum and authorize the board chair to sign.
5.12: Adopt proclamation designating the month of September 2023 as National Recovery Month in Lake County.
5.13: Approve lease between county of Lake and Berg Investments LP for 13300 East Highway 20, Unit N, Clearlake Oaks for a term commencing on July 1, 2023, and ending on Feb. 29, 2028, and authorize the Behavioral Health director to sign.
5.14: Approve Amendment No. 3 to the agreement between the Lake County Behavioral Health Services as lead administrative entity for the Lake County Continuum of Care and Sunrise Special Services Foundation with no change to the contract maximum for fiscal years 2022-23, 2023-24 and authorize the board chair to sign.
5.15: Approve Amendment No. 4 to the agreement between county of Lake and Sierra Vista for acute inpatient psychiatric hospital services and professional services associated with acute inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations in the amount of $106,572 and authorize the board chair to sign.
5.16: Approve Amendment No. 1 to the agreement between County of Lake and Adventist Health St. Helena and Vallejo for acute inpatient psychiatric hospital services and professional services associated with acute inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations in the amount of $500,000 for fiscal years 2021-22 and 2022-23 and authorize the board chair to sign.
5.17: Approve intergovernmental agreements regarding the transfer of public funds between the county of Lake and the California Department of Health Care Services for the Specialty Mental Health Services and Drug Medi-Cal Programs spanning fiscal years 2023-26 and authorize the Behavioral Health director to sign the agreements.
5.18: Approve agreement between county of Lake and Redwood Community Services Inc. for the Mental Health Services Act transitional age youth drop-in center and peer support services in the amount of $764,109.00 for fiscal years 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26 and authorize the board chair to sign.
5.19: Approve Amendment No. 1 to the agreement between county of Lake and Santa Rosa Behavioral Healthcare Hospital for acute inpatient psychiatric hospital services and professional services associated with acute inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations in the amount of $71,000 for fiscal year 2022-23 and authorize the board chair to sign.
5.20: Approve agreement between county of Lake and Star View Children and Family Services Inc. for youth community treatment services and specialty mental health services in the amount of $75,000 for fiscal years 2022-23, 2023-24 and authorize the board chair to sign.
5.21: Approve Board of Supervisors minutes for July 18, 2023.
5.22: Approve issuance of purchase order in the amount of up to $100,402.50 with ECS Imaging for document scanning services, and authorize the Community Development director to sign.
5.23: Approve common interest agreement between the county of Lake and the State Water Resources Control Board and Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board regarding investigation and potential enforcement against unlicensed cannabis cultivators and authorize the chair to sign.
5.24: Adopt proclamation designating Aug. 31 as International Overdose Awareness Day.
5.25: Approve the uniform and equipment allowance requested by the Animal Control Department for uniforms and equipment needed for animal control officers.
5.26: Waive the formal bidding requirement and authorize the IT director to issue purchase order for renewal of Microsoft Apps for Enterprise and associated licenses to Dell Marketing L.P.
5.27: Approve the agreement between the county of Lake and STRATA Architecture Planning Management for professional services for the courthouse heating ventilation and cooling system, and authorize the chair to sign.
5.28: Approve Change Order No. 1 with Wylatti Resource Management, for FEMA FMAG Culvert Replacement No. 3 Project, Federal Project No. Fema-5189-FM-CA, Bid No. 21-04 for a decrease of $9,124.48 and a revised contract amount of $246,737.30.
5.29: Approve Award of Bid for the Bartlett 99 Bridge Replacement Project, Bid No. 23-02, Federal Aid project No. BRLO-5914(111) with Stewart Engineering Inc in the amount of $2,352,435.00 and authorize the chair to sign.
5.30: Adopt resolution temporarily authorizing a road closure, prohibiting parking and authorizing the removal of vehicles and ordering the Department of Public Works to post signs for the Kelseyville Pear Festival Farm to Fork Dinner and Street Dance.
5.31: Adopt resolution temporarily authorizing a road closure, prohibiting parking and authorizing the removal of vehicles and ordering the Department of Public Works to post signs for the Kelseyville Pear Festival.
5.32: Approve Standard Agreement No. 23-5010 between county of Lake and California Department of Social Services for Resource Family Approval Program Services in the amount of $68,298.00 per fiscal year from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, and b) adopt resolution authorizing the director of Social Services to sign the standard agreement.
5.33: Approve the MOU between LACOSAN and the South Lake Fire Protection District, and the California Department of Forestry and FIre Protection for operations and placement of an air curtain incinerator in Middletown at the west end of the Middletown Wastewater Treatment Plant and Authorize the chair to sign the MOU.
5.34: (a) Waive the Competitive Bid Process per Section 2-38.4, Cooperative Purchases, of the County Code and (b) Approve the Purchase of a Ford F-550 Service Truck for KCWWD#3 and authorize the Special Districts administrator/assistant purchasing agent to sign the purchase request.
5.35: Sitting as the Kelseyville Water Works District #3 Board of Directors, authorize Special Districts Administrator/Assistant purchasing agent to issue a purchase order not to exceed $74,000.00 to Thomas & Associates for the purchase of a Gorman-Rupp 6” self-priming sewage pump.
5.36: Sitting as the Lake County Sanitation District Board of Directors, authorize Special Districts administrator/assistant purchasing agent to issue a purchase order not to exceed $68,000 to Thomas & Associates for the purchase of a Gorman-Rupp 4” self-priming sewage pump.
5.37: Sitting as the Lake County Sanitation District Board of Directors, authorize Special Districts administrator/assistant purchasing agent to issue a purchase order not to exceed $85,000 to Thomas & Associates for the purchase of a Gorman-Rupp 6” self-priming sewage pump.
5.38: Sitting as the Lake County Sanitation District Board of Directors, a) Waive the competitive bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 2-38.4 Cooperative Purchases; b) authorize Special Districts administrator/assistant purchasing agent to issue a purchase order not to exceed $79,000 to Garton Tractors for the purchase of a four-wheel drive ROPS tractor.
5.39: Sitting as the Lake County Sanitation District Board of Directors, a) Waive the competitive bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 2-38.4 Cooperative Purchases; b) authorize Special Districts administrator/assistant purchasing agent to issue a purchase order not to exceed $550,000 to Owen Equipment for the purchase of a Vactor 2100i Truck.
5.40: Sitting as the Board of Directors of the Lake County Watershed Protection District, a) waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2 (2), as competitive bidding is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of the goods and services and competitive bidding would produce no economic benefit to the county, and b) approve agreement with Caltest Analytical Laboratory for water sampling analysis in the amount not to exceed $49,000 per fiscal year and authorize the Water Resources director to sign the agreement.
5.41: Sitting as the Board of Directors of the Lake County Watershed Protection District, a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2 (2), as competitive bidding is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of the goods and services and b) approve agreement with Pacific Ecorisk Analytical Laboratory for water and sediment Pyrethroid toxicity analysis in the amount not to exceed $100,000 per fiscal year and authorize the Water Resources director to sign the agreement.
TIMED ITEMS
6.2, 9:07 a.m.: Pet of the Week.
6.3, 9:08 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating the month of September 2023 as National Recovery Month in Lake County.
6.4, 9:09 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating Aug. 31 as International Overdose Awareness Day.
6.5, 9:15 a.m.: Public hearing, consideration of the Final Recommended Budget for Fiscal Year 2023/2024 for the county of Lake and special districts governed by the Board of Supervisors. This item is being postponed to Sept. 19 at 1:30 p.m.
6.6: 10:15 a.m.: Public hearing, consideration of resolution approving resolutions and capital fire facility and equipment plans submitted by Lake County Fire Agencies and updating the Lake County Capital Fire Facility and Equipment Plan.
6.7, 11 a.m.: Consideration of proposed agreement between the county of Lake and PlaceWorks for planning services for the general plan and local area plan updates.
6.8, 11:30 a.m.: a) Consideration of the County of Lake acting as lead agency on a planning grant application under the Community Resilience Centers Grant Program from the California Strategic Growth Council; and b) consideration of resolution approving the application to apply for up to $500,000 in grant funds under the Community Resilience Centers Program of Strategic Growth Council of the California Department of Conservation; and c) consideration of letter of commitment and authorization for the chair to sign.
6.9, 1:30 p.m.: Administer ceremonial oath of office to Public Health Officer Dr. Noemi C. Doohan MD Ph.D. MPH.
UNTIMED ITEMS
7.2: Consideration of letter of support for the Lake County Watershed Protection District’s request for Wildlife Conservation Board funding to conduct a Clear Lake hitch habitat improvement planning and assessment for Tule Lake, Scotts Creek and Adobe Creek.
7.3: Consideration of request for motion by the board to designate the chief administrative officer as the signer for the chair on all documents as indicated by Resolution 2023-34 "Resolution of the Lake County Board of Supervisors Authorizing the Application for the Permanent Local Housing Allocation Program."
7.4: Consideration of appointment of County Librarian Christopher Veach to the North Bay Cooperative Library Systems Board of Directors.
7.5: Consideration of the following Advisory Board Appointments: First Five Lake County, Heritage Commission, Library Advisory Board, Resource Conservation District, Food Policy Council.
7.6: Consideration of Amendment One to the agreement with COAR Design Group for facility design services for the Behavioral Health Clearlake Facility Expansion Project.
7.7: Consideration of Lake County Department of Social Services department head authority to authorize contracts between $25,000 to $100,000 for out-of-county wraparound services without board approval if contracts are eligible under the master contract for wraparound services.
CLOSED SESSION
8.1: Conference with legal counsel: Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Gov. Code section 54956.9(d)(2), (e)(1) — Two potential cases.
8.2: Public employee discipline/dismissal/release.
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.
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