CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Clearlake Animal Control has more new dogs waiting for their families at the shelter this week.
The Clearlake Animal Control website lists 37 adoptable dogs.
This week’s dogs include a new arrival, “Brutus,” an American pit bull terrier mix. He is neutered and has a short white coat with brindle markings.
Another new dog available for adoption is “Bung Bung,” a male Alaskan malamute mix. He has a black and white coat, and is neutered.
The shelter is located at 6820 Old Highway 53. It’s open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
For more information, call the shelter at 707-762-6227, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.
This week’s adoptable dogs are featured below.
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. — California’s largest volunteer event, the Coastal Cleanup Day, takes place this weekend, offering everyone the chance to do their part to keep waterways clean and safe.
The Coastal Cleanup Day will be held on Saturday, Sept. 23.
In Lake County, cleanup events focusing on Clear Lake and other waterways will take place from 9 a.m. to noon.
The event makes a big impact every year.
In 2022, 70 Lake County volunteers covered 30 miles during the cleanup event, collecting 2,735 pounds of trash and 150 pounds of recyclables, according to the Lake County Department of Water Resources.
This year, there will be seven cleanup sites:
• Clear Lake Campground, 7805 Cache Creek Way, Clearlake. • Habematolel Pomo EPA office, 9425 Main St., Upper Lake. • Highland Springs Recreation Area, 3600 E. Highland Springs Road, Lakeport. • Library Park, 200 Park St., Lakeport. • Lucerne Harbor Park, 6235 E. State Highway 20. • Redbud Park, 14655 Lakeshore Drive, Clearlake. • Rodman Slough Park, 1005 Nice-Lucerne Cutoff, Nice.
Water Resources encourages volunteers to bring reusable water bottles, gloves and buckets to create a zero-waste cleanup.
In Lakeport, city and Lakeport Public Works Department staff will have a booth at Library Park with cleanup supplies, including trash grabbers, gloves, buckets and safety vests.
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.
LAKEPORT, Calif. — During a brief Tuesday evening meeting, the Lakeport City Council approved adding a no parking zone on a portion of Hartley Street.
Public Works Director Ron Ladd presented to the council an updated resolution revising the prohibited parking zones within the city to include posting the west side of Hartley Street from Boggs Lane north to the city limit as a no parking zone.
Councilman Brandon Disney recused himself from the discussion due to the proximity of his home to the area in question.
Ladd’s written report to the council explained that pedestrian improvements and lane realignments completed with the Hartley Street Project resulted in city staff concluding that there is no longer adequate roadway width for safe traffic flow on Hartley Street to allow for parking along the west side of the street.
He said Tuesday evening that there is no longer sufficient space to park safely on that side of the road beginning around the area of Jerry and Anastasia drives to the city limit.
“Even before the project it was an incredibly small space,” he said.
Mayor Pro Tem Michael Froio pointed out that the Clear Lake High School baseball field, located at the intersection of Anastasia Drive with Hartley Street, gets a lot of use. He was concerned that the city might be making criminals by implementing the change.
“This is a genuine safety concern, is what you’re saying,” Froio said.
Ladd said there is not enough space to legally park there, and that the changes eliminated six parking spots.
Froio said there is still off street parking by the school
Ladd said the legitimate parking by the baseball field is on school grounds.
City Manager Kevin Ingram said the project involved doing “quite a bit of cleanup” for the district encroachment, which was well into the travel lane.
Mayor Stacey Mattina said the parking situation wasn’t great before the changes. Councilman Kenny Parlet, who acts as an umpire, said that area has never been a good situation due to driving patterns.
Froio moved to approve the resolution, which Parlet seconded. Froio, Mattina, Parlet and Councilmember Kim Costa approved the motion unanimously, with Disney recusing.
At the end of the meeting, which ran just under a half-hour, Ingram reported that the city council and members of city staff are going this week to the League of California Cities annual meeting, taking place in Sacramento.
In their absence, Ingram said Ladd has been designated the acting city manager.
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.
Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University and John Abatzoglou, University of California, Merced
As wildfires burn across the Western U.S., the people in harm’s way are increasingly those least able to protect their homes from fire risks, evacuate safely or recover after a fire.
In a new study, we and a team of fellow wildfirescientists examined who lived within the perimeters of wildfires over the past two decades in Washington, Oregon and California – home to about 90% of Americans in the U.S. West exposed to wildfires over that period.
Overall, nearly half a million people in California, Oregon and Washington were exposed to wildfires at some point during the past 22 years. Alarmingly, about half the people exposed to wildfires in Washington and Oregon were considered socially vulnerable.
While the number of people exposed to fire rose overall, the number of socially vulnerable people exposed more than tripled between the first and second decades.
How social vulnerability affects fire risk
A variety of factors shape social vulnerability, including wealth, race, age, disability and fluency in the local language.
These factors can make it harder to take steps to protect homes from wildfire damage, evacuate safely and recover after a disaster. For example, low-income residents often can’t afford adequate insurance coverage that could help them rebuild their homes after a fire. And residents who don’t speak English may not hear about evacuation orders or know how to get assistance after a disaster.
Older adults face rising fire exposure
We found that older adults in particular were disproportionately exposed to wildfires in all three states.
Physical difficulties and cognitive decline can hamper older adults’ ability to keep their properties clear of flammable materials, such as dry shrubs and grasses, and can slow their ability to evacuate in an emergency. The fire that destroyed the town of Paradise, California, in 2018 was a tragic example. Of the 85 victims, 68 were 65 years of age or older.
Poverty was another important factor in the exposure of people with high vulnerability to wildfires in Oregon and Washington.
The reasons that socially vulnerable people were increasingly exposed to wildfires varied by state.
In California, the rise was in large part due to socially vulnerable people moving into wildfire-affected areas, possibly in search of more affordable housing, among other factors.
In Oregon and Washington, however, wildfires have increasingly encroached on existing vulnerable communities over the past decade, mainly in rural areas. This is predominantly due to increasing trends of intense, destructive fires.
Nearly 17,000 people living within the perimeter of wildfires in Oregon and Washington over the past decade had high social vulnerability, based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A smaller percentage of California’s exposed population from 2011-2021 was considered to have high social vulnerability, 11%, but that was still 26,100 people.
Secondary impacts of wildfires
Our definition of exposure to wildfire considered only those people who directly lived within a wildfire perimeter.
If you take into account secondary exposures – those living close to wildfire perimeters and likely experiencing evacuation, trauma and poor air quality – the number of people affected is many times larger.
Importantly, other hazards related to wildfires reach still more high-vulnerability communities. Wildfire smoke, for example, has frequently filled large metropolitan areas with unhealthy air in recent years, disproportionately affecting people who work outdoors and other vulnerable populations.
Policy changes that can help
To prepare and respond as wildfire risk rises in a warming world, knowledge of the local population’s social vulnerabilities is necessary, along with targeted community-based strategies.
For example, the exposure of populations with limited English-language skills highlights the need for disaster warnings and response resources in multiple languages.
While the federal government increased its investment for reducing wildfire threats to at-risk communities, including tribes, funding availability does not currently meet the demand.
Increasing exposure of certain populations, such as those living in nursing homes, requires significant investment to plan for and ensure proper and timely responses. When a wildfire in August 2023 burned more than 200 homes near Medical Lake, Washington, southwest of Spokane, it came close to a state-operated psychiatric hospital and a residential home for people with intellectual disabilities.
Finally, including social vulnerability when studying future wildfire trends is important to shape community responses and policies.
Many national disaster prevention programs skew funding toward wealthier communities because they use cost-benefit analyses to direct resources to areas with the greatest potential losses. But while wealthy residents may lose more in dollar value, low-income residents typically lose a larger percentage of their assets and have a harder time recovering. With the rising percentage of people with high social vulnerability at risk of wildfires, governments may need to rethink those methods and lower the barriers for aid.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Pacific Gas and Electric reported that it has moved forward with cutting power to several thousand people in eight counties, including Lake.
PG&E planned to include 4,200 customers from Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Napa, Shasta, Tehama and Yolo counties in the public safety power shut-off, or PSPS, due to a forecast of high winds.
The PSPS was set to begin Wednesday night for about 186 customers east of Clearlake Oaks near Indian Valley Reservoir and east of Lower Lake, along Morgan Valley Road.
PG&E said the shutoff was expected to start between 8:30 and 10 p.m. east of Clearlake Oaks and between 9:30 and 10 p.m. near Lower Lake on Wednesday night.
For both areas, power is anticipated to be restored by 2 p.m. Thursday.
New research is showing how California’s residents can protect their homes against wildfire.
The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, or IBHS, in collaboration with Cal Fire’s Office of the State Fire Marshal and Sacramento City Fire, has conducted a live wildfire demonstration to show the effectiveness of research-based wildfire mitigation actions in its Wildfire Prepared Home designation program, including maintaining a noncombustible five-foot buffer around a home – Zone 0 – to help reduce its risk of ignition.
Embers, not the main fire front, are the leading cause of home ignitions during a wildfire, the research showed.
As part of a Cal Fire/California Office of Emergency Services joint powers authority meeting, the live fire demonstration featured a side-by-side look at fire behavior impacts on mitigated vs. unmitigated structures.
“Northern Californians live with the reality of wildfire,” said IBHS CEO Roy Wright. “Yet, they may be unaware of how embers can attack an unmitigated structure. Following the actions captured in Wildfire Prepared Home gives them a better chance of having a house to come home to in the event of wildfire entering their neighborhood.”
Based on the latest wildfire research, IBHS created Wildfire Prepared Home, a system of mitigation actions addressing the three most vulnerable areas of a home – the roof, specific building features such as gutters and vents and Zone 0 — that California homeowners can take to meaningfully reduce their home’s risk of ignition and receive a designation that may help with insurance availability.
IBHS and Cal Fire – Office of the State Fire Marshal urge homeowners to get started now.
Most California homes have Class A roofs, meeting that component of the designation requirements. Mitigation actions for building features include ensuring a home’s vents are ember resistant, gutters are debris free and the last six inches of vertical space on the exterior wall are made of noncombustible material.
Creating a non-combustible five-foot buffer around the home involves removing combustible items and vegetation, replacing groundcover like wood or rubber mulch with materials such as river rocks or gravel and replacing the first five feet of combustible fencing attached to the home.
Items on top of or underneath attached porches and decks should also be non-combustible and any deck four inches or lower to the ground should be enclosed with 1/8 inch or finer metal mesh. Keeping Zone 0 free of debris build up over time is critical.
“Developing a combustible free zone around your home doesn’t mean taking away its curb appeal,” said IBHS Chief Engineer Anne Cope. “There are great choices for decorative décor and hardscaping that are not only attractive, but also low maintenance.”
During a wildfire, embers may collect in Zone 0, also known as the home ignition zone, and smolder, ultimately igniting and spreading to the home. Once a home ignites in a wildfire, it is almost always a total loss without firefighter intervention.
“Peak wildfire season is here, but there is still time to prepare your home before a wildfire strikes your community,” urged Acting State Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant. “Today’s demonstration showed how vulnerable a home can be and how much of a difference taking steps to prepare your home for wildfire can make.”
“Firefighters can’t do it alone – everyone has a part to play in making California safer from wildfires, including insurance companies,” said Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. “California is the first state in the nation to require insurance companies to incorporate our new Safer from Wildfires framework into the price of insurance — so we reduce wildfire risk and incentivize people to harden their homes. If you do the work, you should get the reward, and today’s demonstration highlights the difference these actions make in reducing fire risk.”
Anglers, residents and visitors urged to help prevent further spread
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife reported that it has been informed by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, or TRPA, that divers monitoring for aquatic invasive species in Lake Tahoe detected invasive New Zealand mudsnails in areas off the South Shore of Lake Tahoe.
Samples of the New Zealand mudsnail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) were subsequently positively identified by experts within CDFW and an outside genetics lab. This is the first time the species has been detected in Lake Tahoe.
New Zealand mudsnails, or NZMS, are tiny, aquatic snails that reach, on average, up to 4-6 millimeters long.
Despite their small size, NZMS are a highly problematic aquatic species. Dense populations can displace and outcompete native species, sometimes by consuming up to half the food resources in the waterway.
The snails have been linked to reduced populations of aquatic insects, including mayflies, caddisflies, stoneflies, and other insects upon which trout and salmon populations depend.
Angela DePalma-Dow, invasive species coordinator for Lake County Water Resources and author of the “Lady of the Lake” column for Lake County News, said that Cache Creek already has New zealand mudsnails.
“They are impossible to get rid of,” DePalma-Dow said.
“This is a significant detection and one we’re treating with the utmost seriousness and urgency to determine the extent of the infestation and prevent any further spread within the Lake Tahoe watershed,” said Colin Purdy, Environmental Program manager for CDFW’s North Central Region, which encompasses the California portion of Lake Tahoe and the surrounding areas of Placer and El Dorado counties. “We greatly appreciate the communication, collaboration and rapid response coordinated so far by TRPA and the Tahoe Resource Conservation District. It will take a coordinated commitment by all the entities that serve the Tahoe Basin as well as the public to prevent the further spread of these invasives in a lake and a watershed that’s cherished around the world.”
CDFW urges anglers, boaters, visitors and locals to “clean, drain and dry” all recreational items and fishing gear, which generally means anything that has gotten wet. It is important to leave any stream or lake water, debris and organic plant matter at a recreational site in order to prevent the further spread of the snails.
Once NZMS are established in a new habitat, they are impossible to eradicate without damaging other components of the ecosystem. Boaters, anglers and others who may visit any body of water, within or outside of infested areas, are asked to decontaminate their equipment and follow the “clean, drain and dry” best practices for all equipment and clothing used in a waterway.
Those best practices include:
• If you wade, freeze waders, wading boots and other gear overnight (at least six hours, though 24 hours is recommended). • After leaving the water, inspect waders, boots, float tubes, paddleboards, kayaks or any gear used in the water. Leave all water and debris at the site that you exited. • Additionally, remove any visible snails with a stiff brush, clean off soils and organic material, and follow this by rinsing at the site, preferably with high-pressure hot water. • It is critical to completely dry out gear for a minimum of 24 hours. • Never transport live fish or other aquatic plants or animals from one body of water to another.
CDFW scientists are also in the process of developing and implementing plans for sampling in waterbodies around the Tahoe Basin to better define the geographic range of this new population. Sampling areas will include high-traffic areas, boat launches, access points, coves, inlets and outlets, and side channels.
To date, the snails have not been identified at any of these surrounding waterbodies; however, they have been detected in several waterbodies (lakes and river systems) throughout California and in neighboring states. Decontamination procedures are being implemented by field crews working on Lake Tahoe and surrounding waterbodies.
How can you help?
Start with the following:
• Report an invasive species sighting online to CDFW. • The best way to avoid spreading these non-native snails is to clean and decontaminate fishing gear, recreational equipment, and watercraft between waterbodies. Please refer to CDFW’s Aquatic Invasive Species Decontamination Protocol 2022.
Federal Reserve officials held interest rates steady at their monthly policy meeting on Sept. 20, 2023 — only the second time they have done so since embarking on a rate-raising campaign a year and a half ago. But it is what they hinted at rather than what they did that caught many economists’ attention: Fed officials indicated that they don’t expect rates to end 2023 higher than they did in June – when they last issued their projections.
Since the hiking cycle began, observers have worried about whether increased rates could push the U.S. economy into a downturn. Some have even speculated that a recession had already begun. However, the economy has been more resilient than many expected, and now many economists are wondering whether the seemingly impossible soft landing – that is, a slowdown that avoids crashing the economy – has become a reality.
Fed-watchers are parsing every word from the central bank to determine whether another hike is coming this year or next, or if the cycle is truly over. To understand that decision, it helps to consider the bigger picture.
While the U.S. economy has certainly avoided a downturn for longer than many expected, the inflation battle is a long way from finished. In fact, this wouldn’t be the first time the economy looked like it would avoid a soft landing. For the next several months, the economy is not likely to implode without a majorspark.
However, inflation may not continue to fall as quickly in the coming year, which means the Fed may still raise rates more than some expect. If rising oil prices continue to boost transportation costs, other goods could also get more expensive, which may mean higher interest rates for longer.
Is this really the end?
Though Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell seemed to indicate that the committee is approaching the end of the hiking cycle, only 10% of economists expect that it is over at this point – not that economists’ track record of forecasting rates is great either. This is largely because Powell has been clear that the Fed is basing its decisions on economic data, which have been strong so far and hopefully will continue in that direction.
So while everyone is watching the Fed this week, they should also keep an eye on broader economic conditions. With luck, the reported data will continue to be strong enough to avoid a downturn, but not so strong that inflation picks back up.
Residents in communities hit by Hurricane Idalia, the Maui fires or other recent disasters have a long, tough journey ahead. Early estimates suggest Idalia caused US$12 billion to $20 billion in losses, primarily in property damage, acccording to Moody’s Analytics. And rebuilding Lahaina, Hawaii, has been forecast at over $5.5 billion.
How well the initial disaster response meets residents’ needs has far-reaching consequences for community resilience, especially for vulnerable residents, as we saw after Hurricanes Katrina and Maria.
I am a law professor who focuses on disaster recovery and preparedness and has created several legal clinics to assist survivors. Here’s what anyone facing losses after a federally declared disaster needs to know.
Declaring a disaster
The road to recovery starts with state and federal governments identifying damages – both property damage and economic damage. These assessments will shape the scope of federal assistance and how resources are allocated for each community and survivor. The level of damage will determine whether the president approves a major disaster declaration or simply an emergency declaration.
FEMA created a survey tool, released in May 2023, to make these assessments more consistent. It is now used by officials to collect information about damage to residences, whether owners or renters live there, and the amount of insurance coverage, among other details. That information is then used to determine the extent of the disaster, its impact on infrastructure and the type of aid needed in the request for a federal disaster declaration.
Once the federal government issues an emergency or major disaster declaration, individuals can apply for disaster recovery funding.
Documenting the damage
Step 2 is determining individual damages.
Amid the grief and the rush to find temporary housing and rebuild lives, it can be hard to focus on meticulously documenting what was lost and dealing with insurance. But federal aid has relatively short deadlines – people have 30 days from the formal disaster declaration to apply for disaster unemployment assistance and 60 days for individual and household assistance, such as aid for housing, though that deadline is often extended.
As soon as possible, disaster survivors should take photos of the damage and record every affected area of their property. That includes capturing details of damage to structures, personal belongings, vehicles and any medical equipment. This documentation will help provide the evidence for insurance claims, requests for government assistance and potential tax savings.
The Internal Revenue Service has a helpful guide for reconstructing records after catastrophic disasters that destroy everything. Government agencies can recover lost driving records, mortgage records, wills and vehicle sales records. Most of the costs for these searches can be waived after a disaster.
There are other sources, too. Title companies, property tax assessors and real estate brokers will have many documents related to a home’s value and possibly photos. Insurance policies typically list major assets. Credit card companies may have statements showing major purchases. Mobile phones, friends and social media accounts may have more photos of the property.
Keeping records such as repair invoices, receipts, leases, canceled checks and money orders can also help provide an overview of the losses. FEMA recently amended its policy to also allow affidavits to prove ownership of homes passed down through generations, known as heirship property.
Finding disaster aid
People generally have four options for aid: insurance coverage, FEMA benefits, community or nonprofit funding, and private funding, including loans. Navigating this complex landscape can be hard.
Start with your insurance – homeowners insurance, renters insurance and insurance for vehicles, as well as medical, dental and health. Disaster survivors must apply for their relevant insurance payouts before FEMA will pay benefits. President Joe Biden made an exception to this rule to offer a one-time $700 payment for Maui residents to assist with critical needs, including shelter and transportation.
In cases where insurance coverage is denied or the person doesn’t have insurance, FEMA can become a lifeline.
FEMA’s Individual Assistance program offers benefits that include coverage for temporary lodging, home repair, transportation and medical needs. The agency provides up to $41,000 for housing assistance after emergencies or disaster declarations. FEMA’s disaster relief fund is close to depleted, however, after several multibillion-dollar disasters. Without additional funding from Congress soon, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said some recovery funding may be delayed to the next fiscal year, which starts in October.
To cover the costs that go beyond FEMA’s limits, survivors may need to secure private loans or disaster loans, such as Small Business Administration disaster loans, to bridge the gap. Homeowners can apply for SBA loans to replace or repair their primary residence or personal property, including cars, furniture and other items. Additionally, SBA loans can also cover business losses.
For those unwilling or unable to resort to loans, state and local governments often create housing recovery centers using Community Development Block Grants. These grants can help survivors reestablish housing, but the funding also takes much longer to arrive. A CBDG grant in Baton Rouge provided funding for rebuilding housing and to mitigate future flood damage in housing and rental programs after the area flooded in 2016.
Community partnerships are crucial
Amid the complexities of disaster recovery, the importance of community planning and collaboration cannot be overstated.
A coordinated approach that involves local governments, relief organizations and community leaders serves as a catalyst for effective recovery and also makes it easier to identify vulnerable populations and ensure the equitable distribution of resources so no one is left behind.
Communities often set up centers where residents can find and speak to advisers from insurance companies, FEMA and other sources of support. These disaster recovery centers can be the cornerstone for long-term recovery groups that help a community both recover and build resilience.
Five years after Hurricane Maria, community groups were still on the ground in Puerto Rico providing aid and resources to the local community. Ten years after Hurricane Katrina, local housing groups were still providing support to New Orleans residents, especially those employed in the hospitality industry.
In the midst of this formidable journey to recovery, the indomitable spirit of communities banding together, combined with the concerted efforts of government agencies and organizations, can be uplifting. Each step forward represents a collective stride toward healing, renewal and a future marked by greater unity.
This articled was updated Sept. 1, 2023, with early damage estimates.
LAKEPORT, Calif. — Seaplanes from around the West Coast are inbound to Lakeport this week as a popular annual event that hearkens to the county’s aerial history returns after a four-year hiatus.
The Lakeport Splash-In at Clear Lake will take place beginning at 9 a.m. and will continue throughout the day on Saturday, Sept. 23, in downtown Lakeport.
Also called the Clear Lake Splash-In, this will be the 41st annual event that celebrates seaplanes in Lakeport.
It will be paired with the annual Taste In Lakeport food and wine festival, which takes place at 5:30 p.m. Saturday on Main Street.
There also will be an artisan street fair in downtown Lakeport from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
Seaplanes are set to begin arriving on Friday through Saturday morning, and departing following pilot-focused events on Sunday.
The Splash-In was last held in 2019, and didn’t return over the coming three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While it had been scheduled to make its return in June 2022, weeks before it was set to take place the Lake County Chamber of Commerce announced on social media that it had canceled the event and that it was unlikely to lead the event in the future.
The event’s popularity, however, led to another group coming forward to take over the Splash-In.
The Lakeport Main Street Association and a team of pilots, the Clear Lake Flying Club, got to work putting the event together.
In years past, the event has been held at the former Natural High School property on North Main Street.
With that property now in the final stages of being developed into the city’s new Lakefront Park, organizers approached the city to use the Library Park Boat ramp and adjacent streets for the Splash-In’s return. Areas of the downtown will be closed to traffic in order to accommodate the planes.
At its Aug. 1 meeting, the Lakeport City Council approved the event applicants for both the Splash-In and the Taste In Lakeport.
Mayor Pro Tem Michael Froio, the council’s representative on the Lakeport Main Street Association Board and one of the organizing volunteers, said that the pilots group and the city have worked hard to bring the event back this year.
Froio said he wants to see the event continue, drawing with it seaplane owners who can have a place to fly in and stay and take a part in investing in the community. “I think this is a potential economic boost for the future.”
“I’m super excited that the Splash-In is back,” said Mayor Stacey Mattina.
She said she knew that it was going to be a challenge to organize with the Lakefront Park not yet ready, and she recognized the time and effort that went into organizing the Splash-In.
Since then, organizers have been busy finalizing a series of programs that will complement the presence of the planes in the downtown, including a series of free seminars that will take place throughout Saturday at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
Most of the seminars are free but registration is required due to limited space. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/clear-lake-splash-in-seminars-tickets-701690825147.
• 9 a.m.: Opening remarks, Herb Lingl • 9:05 a.m.: “Wings Over Water: An Aviation History of Lake County,” Clark McAbee • 9:30 a.m.: “Expanding Your Comfort Zones,” Dr. Stephen Bateman • 10:15 a.m.: “Rising Sun Seaplane Base, Indiana, to Clear Lake, California, on Straight Floats,” Herb Lingl • 10:45 a.m.: “How to Win Scholarships to Fund Flight Training,” Mary McEnroe • 11:15 a.m.: The Clear Lake Flying Club Youth Program, Herb Lingl • 11:30 a.m.: The AOPA High School Curriculum, Dr. Stephen Bateman (This seminar qualifies for FAA WINGS Pilot Proficiency program credit) • Noon to 2 p.m.: Lunch break • 2 p.m.: “The Future of the Clear Lake Splash-In” • 2:30 p.m.: Preventing Common Seaplane Accidents (This seminar qualifies for FAA WINGS Pilot Proficiency program credit) • 3 p.m.: “Which Seaplane is Right for You?” • 3:45 p.m.: Seaplanes in Lakeport: Ramps and Docks • 4:15 p.m.: The Clear Lake Flying Club Seaplane Flyout Program, Herb Lingl • 4:45 p.m.: “Celebrating Seaplanes,” a curated exhibition featuring painting, drawing, sculpture opening at the Lakeport Arts Council Main Street Gallery on April 5, 2024. Submission details at celebratingseaplanes.com.
Incoming pilots are reminded that ramp monitors will be prepared to inspect and screen arriving seaplanes to protect against invasive mussels.
Screenings will take place at Lampson Field from noon to 4 p.m. on Friday and from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Fifth Street boat ramp. Call Lake County Water Resources at 707-263-2344 for more information.
On Sunday, Sept. 24, the Historic Courthouse Museum will officially open its new exhibition,”Wings Over Water: An Aviation History of Lake County.”
The Museums of Lake County reported that the new exhibit will feature photographs and other artifacts that relate the history of seaplanes on Clear Lake.
That includes PanAm's use of Clear Lake as an alternative landing location for its Boeing Clipper aircraft, the Navy's use of Clear Lake as a training ground for PBY Catalina, and other seaplanes up to the current day and the Clear Lake Splash-In.
The exhibit, which will continue through March 30, will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays.
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. — Following a monthslong process that members of the local legal community have faulted for its lack of transparency and failure to consider issues involving potential conflicts and high costs, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday selected a Bay Area attorney and politician as Lake County’s new chief public defender.
The supervisors appointed Raymond Buenaventura, mayor of Daly City and a longtime member of its council as well as an attorney in private practice, as chief public defender during its regular meeting on Tuesday.
He’ll start at a pay rate that makes him one of the highest-paid county employees for a job created in April.
A county statement about his hiring called it a “historically significant board action” that “followed a rigorous review of indigent legal defense in Lake County.”
“Our board is truly excited Mr. Buenaventura has chosen to invest his considerable experience and energies toward supporting a stronger and more just future for Lake County,” said Board Chair Jessica Pyska in the statement released by the County Administrative Office. “We are committed to supporting his important work.”
“I am grateful for the board’s confidence in my leadership at this important juncture,” Buenaventura said in the county-issued statement. “This is a great opportunity to build on the considerable strengths of those working hard to ensure every Lake County defendant receives a professional and appropriate defense.”
In this new role, Buenaventura will have the opportunity “to apply all he has learned toward establishment of a dynamic County of Lake Public Defender Office,” the County Administrative Office reported.
The statement attributed to Buenaventura said, “It is also a chance to bring fresh ideas and renewed energy, and promote the public interest through innovative programs that can truly make a difference. I look forward to deepening my understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities in Lake County’s communities, and building an effective and transformative Public Defender Office.”
Buenaventura has served on the City Council for Daly City since April 2011. His current term expires in November 2026, according to his profile on the Daly City website.
Buenaventura holds a bachelor’s degree in legal studies through the University of California, Berkeley — also the alma mater of current County Counsel Lloyd Guintivano. He received his Juris Doctor degree from Whittier College School of Law.
Buenaventura was admitted to the State Bar in June 1993 and is a certified criminal law specialist. He also serves as a member of the State Bar of California’s Finance Committee.
On his State Bar profile is a link to his law firm website. On a mobile phone, that link brings up a website that appears to have been hacked and now displays pornography.
More useful information about his achievements can be found on his LinkedIn page, which shows that he was admitted to the Washington D.C. Bar in 2007 and the New York State Bar in 2017, and was certified by the Veterans Affairs in January 2018 as a veterans disability attorney.
He’s been a licensed private pilot since January 1987, is captain of the Civil Air Patrol, has served as a pro bono attorney for Bay Area homeless shelters and has been an adjunct professor for San Francisco State University since 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Buenaventura has been involved with Asian and Filipino American organizations and with politics through the Democratic Party. He’s also bilingual, speaking both English and Tagalog, as well as having some proficiency in Spanish.
The county’s hiring announcement said that from 2014 to 2020, Buenaventura — who had been appointed by then-Gov. Edmund G. Brown — contributed policy and strategic direction to the state of California’s Commission on Asian and Pacific Islanders.
Questions about hiring process
Deputy County Administrative Officer Matthew Rothstein Rothstein confirmed that Buenaventura was among five applicants the Board of Supervisors interviewed in a process that began on July 18 and extended over seven meetings, one of them a special meeting planned Aug. 3 for the purpose of holding the closed-door interviews. The final interviews had been scheduled on Tuesday.
Lake County News has confirmed independently that of those applicants, two were Lake County attorneys — Tom Quinn and Tom Feimer. Both work as defense attorneys and Feimer is a partner in Lake Indigent Defense, or LID, the contractor which has held the county’s indigent public defense contract since 2017. Seventeen attorneys work for LID, including Quinn.
Andrea Sullivan, Feimer’s partner in the contract and the wife of Lake County Treasurer-Tax Collector Patrick Sullivan, said Lake Indigent Defense’s contract extends until June. She said the county has not revealed how the contract is set to end or transition, despite she and Feimer asking about the process.
Sullivan and Angela Carter, who held the indigent defense contract for many years before LID, have both raised concerns about how the chief public defender’s hiring process has been handled and how the attorneys involved in ensuring that local criminal defendants get the best representation possible have been kept in the dark.
“What is this guy going to do?” Sullivan asked, adding that she doubts he will move from Daly City to do the work.
Carter faulted the integrity of the process and a “bad start.”
She’s concerned that Buenaventura isn’t going to actually live in Lake County and that he doesn’t know the community, adding, “We have no idea who he is.”
Carter also said the county’s hiring process “was done so cloak-and-dagger. If he hasn't ever spoken to any of us and we haven't seen him in our courts then how does he know what is needed.”
The county has not answered Lake County News’ question about whether there will be a requirement for Buenaventura to live in Lake County at least-part time during his tenure.
In its hire of Dr. Noemi Doohan as Public Health officer last month, the supervisors approved a contract that allows Doohan to work mostly remotely after the initial months of employment and to continue to hold other jobs, which opens a door for other department heads from out of county to do the same.
The county announcement said Buenaventura has represented criminal defendants in more than 100 jury trials ranging from minor infractions to murder cases with special circumstances, such as death penalty-eligible cases, in communities throughout California.
The county did not reply when asked if Buenaventura had spoken with local attorneys and legal officials ahead of taking the job.
Carter, Sullivan and Quinn all confirmed to Lake County News that neither they nor any other attorneys working in the local defense system have met Buenaventura or seen him in court observing cases in the lead up to his hire.
While he won’t be overseeing any staff yet, the board appointed him at the top step of the newly created pay range for the chief public defender.
The first pay range, established along with the position allocation job at the board’s April 18 meeting, was for $10,461 or $125,532 a year. On the county’s website, the job description has a range of $130,704 to $158,868 annually.
However, last week, the board approved as part of its consent agenda a resolution amending the resolution that established the position allocation and classification for the chief public defender’s job.
“Based on the accepted Conditional Offer of Employment and in preparation of a final offer of employment, this proposed Resolution amends the previous Resolution that includes a grade and salary change for the Chief Public Defender classification,” wrote County Administrative Officer Susan Parker.
That action raised the pay range from $10,892 (Step 1) to $13,239 (Step 5) to $12,631 (Step 1) to $15,352 (Step 5).
Rothstein said the board approved Buenaventura’s hire at the fifth step, which is $184,234.26 annually.
That appears to put him ahead of District Attorney Susan Krones, who oversees a staff of at least 15 and whose 2022 wages totaled $177,314, according to the Government Pay in Compensation website.
It’s also well more than the $11,000 that Sullivan and Feimer each have each received while running LID. Sullivan said they receive no benefits and must pay all of their own expenses out of that amount.
Report kicks off process
In August 2021, the county hired the Boston-based Sixth Amendment Center, or 6AC, a national nonpartisan nonprofit, to conduct an operational analysis of indigent defense services, as Lake County News has reported.
“They reached out to us,” David Carroll, 6AC’s executive director, told Lake County News in a February interview about how the county first engaged with the organization.
He said Lake County officials contacted 6AC after studying issues in Santa Cruz County, where the organization also had done a significant evaluation.
However, Lake County News has confirmed with Sullivan and others involved with the process that the county had been in receipt of the 6AC report last year, well before the Board of Supervisors finally held its first discussion of it in February.
The report said the county’s provision of public defender services and funding lacks accountability and oversight.
As a result, it recommended the county advocate for the state to form a legislative or gubernatorial committee to study and make recommendations on how best to fulfill the state’s Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment responsibilities to indigent defendants, that the Board of Supervisors establish and fund the operation of a nonpartisan independent commission to oversee all aspects of indigent representation services, and that the supervisors should immediately establish an office of indigent representation services to carry out the day-to-day duties of the commission, headed by an executive director attorney selected by the commission.
In other counties where it has conducted evaluations, 6AC has been invited to come and give a report before the Board of Supervisors and answer questions. In Lake County’s case, Carroll said 6AC wasn’t asked to come and make a presentation, and county officials didn’t come back to further discuss the report.
Instead, then-County Counsel Anita Grant, her staff and the County Administrative Office led the process, which resulted in the county hiring Jose Varela, the retired chief public defender of Marin County, to assist with the process of pursuing a public defender’s office.
“Why did they pick on us? We’ve never been sued. We’ve never been sued for harassment,” said Sullivan, adding that’s been the case for the District Attorney’s Office.
“It seems to be fashionable to put us under a microscope when there's serious issues elsewhere,” said Sullivan, pointing to morale issues across the county’s departments. “We don’t have those problems.”
Sullivan said she initially was suspicious of Varela, but that changed after she had the chance to have a 90-minute Zoom meeting with him.
“I think that his intentions were really pure,” Sullivan said, adding that he wanted a statutory public defender’s office.
“Everybody has wanted a statutory office for time immemorial,” Sullivan said.
However, she said it’s still not clear to her or other defense attorneys if establishing such an agency is what the county actually intends to do.
“It’s very unclear to me what he is supposed to be doing,” said Sullivan of Buenaventura, noting his job description sounds a lot like what she and Feimer have been doing.
Throughout the process, Carter has raised concerns about the potential cost to implement a statutory public defender’s office.
Lake County had one in the early 1980s, but due to high costs in order to deal with conflicts of interest for the attorneys involved, it was abandoned.
While both Carter and Sullivan are supportive of a statutory public defender’s office, they warn that it comes with very high costs to cover staffing.
Sullivan said the LID contract currently costs the county $1.62 million, and that includes covering all potential conflicts of interest, which are ethical issues that can arise with attorneys representing certain clients because of previous relationships. She said some counties have as many as three or four layers of conflict attorneys.
Carter told the Board of Supervisors during the discussions this spring that they could see costs rise to $4 million a year for a statutory public defender’s office.
If there are conflicts with even one attorney in the proposed public defender’s office, the entire office would be disqualified from handling a case. That would result in additional attorneys needing to be hired, which Sullivan said could cause the county’s annual costs to run much higher than the anticipated $4 million.
Currently, all public defense attorneys under LID are contractors. “One of the things that was great about LID is that we had amazing retention over the District Attorney's Office and over other public defenders officers,” Sullivan said.
LID’s team also has attorneys with far more defense experience than other public defenders in neighboring counties. Sullivan is concerned that current contract attorneys will leave as it’s a very good market for defense attorneys now, so they can go elsewhere and be paid far better.
Because Lake County’s contracted defense attorneys have been paid below the market rate, the model — as originally conceived — allowed them to supplement their income by taking work outside of the contract and even in other counties, as Sullivan herself has done.
“We are not forcing anyone to solely work in Lake County because they are not employees. We do not exercise that amount of control over them,” she said.
However, she said that about two to three years ago, a shift occurred in the attitude the Lake County Superior Court and the county leadership had about the contract attorneys taking outside work.
“The county and the court were super hostile to me being out of county. But we’re independent contractors,” she said.
Sullivan in particular pointed to the current presiding judge of the Lake County Superior Court — Judge J. David Markham — as being “extremely hostile to the practice of outside law.”
Before he was initially appointed as a Lake County Superior Court judge, Markham had been Sullivan’s partner in administering the indigent defense contract.
Sullivan said she and Feimer have explained to the county that if the chief public defender tries to direct subcontractors — including telling them they cannot work outside of the county and the contract — they will be considered employees. “That would not be an ethical position to take.”
That could lead to extreme liability for the county, especially if the California Employment Development Department found out, as Sullivan said it could lead to audits and millions of dollars in unnecessary and avoidable costs.
There is another nightmare scenario that they’ve tried to alert the county about, Sullivan said.
She said that if Buenaventura directs the contract attorneys too much, causing them to no longer be considered part of a separate entity from the county, and if the Court of Appeal finds out about it, they could reverse convictions. It’s happened before in other parts of the state, she said.
While LID’s contract is supposed to continue through next summer, Sullivan said it will go on without her.
She said that in light of the presiding judge making it impossible for her to have an outside practice, she has given the county notice that she is terminating her contract. It ends around Dec. 11.
Despite her concerns, Carter said she’s hopeful that local defense attorneys will hear from Buenaventura soon “and that he demonstrates his commitment to our rural county's indigent population by living here and joining our community wholeheartedly.”
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. — In response to a weather forecast that includes high winds midweek, a public safety power shut-off may begin on Wednesday evening, with a small number of Lake County residents to be impacted.
Pacific Gas and Electric said Tuesday that its meteorologists and operations professionals, working with weather agencies, are monitoring a potential dry, northerly windstorm forecast to start Wednesday evening, extending into Thursday morning, which is why the company is considering implementing the public safety power shut-off, or PSPS.
The PSPS, which may start at 6 p.m. Wednesday, would potentially impact 4,200 customers in portions of eight counties and two tribal communities, including seven customers in Napa County and 186 customers in Lake County.
The company’s mapping for the proposed PSPS shows a small number of Lake County residents would be impacted near Indian Valley Reservoir, along with a larger group east of Lower Lake in a remote area along Morgan Valley Road, close to the Colusa, Napa and Yolo county lines.
Because of the wind storm, PG&E said it has begun sending advanced notifications to customers — via text, email and automated phone call — in targeted areas where PG&E may implement the PSPS to reduce the risk of ignitions from energized power lines.
Predictive Services Northern Operations, a federal forecasting agency, is also forecasting high fire potential risk Wednesday into Thursday for northerly wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour.
The Sacramento National Weather Service Office stated northerly winds develop Wednesday into Thursday with gusts of 30 to 35 miles per hour bringing enhanced fire weather concerns for portions of the Sacramento Valley.
The potential shut-off is currently expected to affect approximately 4,200 customers across the following counties and tribal communities:
Butte County: 435 customers, 36 Medical Baseline customers. Colusa County: 484 customers, 37 Medical Baseline customers. Glenn County: 349 customers, 18 Medical Baseline customers. Lake County: 186 customers, 20 Medical Baseline customers. Napa County: 7 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers. Shasta County: 1,558 customers, 131 Medical Baseline customers. Tehama County: 1,117 customers, 124 Medical Baseline customers. Yolo County: 10 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers. Grindstone Rancheria: 48 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers. Pit River tribes: 8 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers.
Customers can look up their address online to find out if their location is being monitored for the potential safety shut-off at www.pge.com/pspsupdates.