This story has been updated as of Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The continued rain and high lake levels have resulted in new road closures in Lakeport and other parts of the county.

Late Thursday morning, Clear Lake had reached 9.18 feet Rumsey, passing 9.20 feet Rumsey by early afternoon. Flood stage is 9 feet Rumsey.

The city of Lakeport on Thursday morning announced several closures, with the areas open to residents only.

The following is the latest list of closures, as of noon on Thursday, according to the Lakeport Public Works Department, the Lake County Public Works Department and the California Highway Patrol.

CITY OF CLEARLAKE

Lower Lakeshore Drive at Lakeshore Drive: Closed due to flooding and debris in the roadway, as of 3:45 p.m.

CITY OF LAKEPORT

Due to flood conditions the following roads are closed to all but neighborhood residents:

– Esplanade Street.
– K Street.
– Konocti Avenue.
– Lupoyoma Avenue.
– Helena Avenue.
– Lily Cove Avenue.
– Oak Knoll Avenue.
– E Street.
– Martin Street from N. Forbes Street to Russell Street.

All roads are closed from Main Street to Esplanade Street.

No unauthorized vehicles are allowed.

COUNTY OF LAKE (UNINCORPORATED AREAS)

Clearlake Oaks

Twin Valley Road: Closed due to mudslide.

Cobb

Anderson Springs Road: Slide blocking the roadway.

Socrates Mine Road: Road slip out at MPM 3.8. Down to one lane in this area.

Kelseyville

Argonaut Road: Closed from Thomas Drive to Big Valley Road due to flooding.

Bell Hill Road: Closed at Adobe Creek Low Water Crossing due to water over the roadway.

Clark Drive: Closed to through traffic from Gaddy Lane to Soda Bay road due to flooding.

Riviera West Drive: Pole and lines in roadway at Idlewood Drive as of 2 p.m.

Lake Pillsbury

On Friday morning Pacific Gas and Electric is closing the logging road to and from the Lake Pillsbury area due to hazardous conditions, which will leave Elk Mountain Road from Upper Lake as the only access road to and from the Lake Pillsbury area.

Lakeport

Hill Road: Closed between Sutter Lakeside Hospital entrance and Lakeshore Boulevard due to mudslides across the roadway.

Scotts Valley Road: Closed at Hendricks Road due to flooding.

Nice

Lakeshore Boulevard: Closed from Hammond Avenue to Stokes Avenue due to flooding.

Upper Lake

Bartlett Springs Road: Four-wheel drive recommended.

Elk Mountain Road: Roadway closed at MPM 29.6 due to road washout. No estimate of when road will be reopened.

Scotts Valley Road: Closed at Highway 20 due to flooding.

Laurel Dell Road: Closed from Scotts Valley Road to Mid Lake Road due to flooding.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – As forecasters had predicted, Clear Lake topped flood stage overnight, ahead of another day of heavy rain expected on Thursday.

The United States Geological Survey said Clear Lake passed the flood stage mark – 9 feet Rumsey – Wednesday night after hovering close to the mark for several hours.

At one point the lake crossed the flood stage and rolled back slightly before rising once again, according to the US Geological Survey stream gauge on Clear Lake.

The high water and resulting safety conditions led the city of Clearlake to close the last of its open public boat ramps at Redbud Park’s Thompson Harbor on Wednesday.

Along with Clearlake, all public boat ramps in the city of Lakeport and the unincorporated county also are closed, officials said.

In Lakeport, Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said his officers were stepping up enforcement of the area of Esplanade, which was being closed off to nonresidents. He said residents of the area were complaining about drivers speeding through the area and accessing the lake from that part of the city.

The wet conditions also left some roadways closed due to flooding, including Scotts Valley Road at Highway 20, Lakeshore Boulevard from Hammond to Stokes avenues, and Laurel Dell Road from Scotts Valley Road to Mid Lake Road, according to the Lake County Department of Public Works.

Rainfall amounts were less on Wednesday, ranging from close to 2 inches throughout the day in the Cobb area, almost an inch and a half in Middletown, and nearly an inch each in Hidden Valley, Lower Lake and Upper Lake, according to the National Weather Service.

A flood warning remains in effect for Lake County through Saturday morning. Along with the flood warning, a wind advisory will be in effect for Lake County from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

Rain also is in the forecast on Friday, with forecasters predicting a break in the rain that’s expected to last from a clear and sunny weekend through Wednesday.

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.

COBB, Calif. – A rebuild workshop for Cobb area residents impacted by the Valley fire will be held on Saturday, Feb. 18.

The workshop will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cobb Elementary School, 15895 Highway 175.

The Rebuild Advocacy Committee for the Cobb Area Council is presenting the workshop.

They will have experts on hand to help community members who are confused or overwhelmed about where to start in the rebuild process, or who have other problems.

Those concerned about property values, costs or time to rebuild, or other aspects of the rebuilding process are encouraged to attend and speak with the experts.

On hand will be local contractors, as well as Hammers for Hope, Cobb Area Water, Hope City, Habitat for Humanity, Policyholders Recovery, Timothy Toye and Associations and the Lake County Building Department.

For more information, call Ron Haskett at 707-533-9771 or Kathleen Ahart at 707-262-2479.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Clearlake woman has become the first person to be sentenced for perjury resulting from the Lake County District Attorney's newly formed Perjury Investigation Unit.

On Wednesday, Merissa Leigh James, 38, was sentenced to a total of four years and eight months for committing perjury in the Lake County Superior Court, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

James was arrested in August for presenting falsified reports to the Lake County Superior Court, officials said.

During an August court appearance before Judge Michael Lunas, James – who was acting in her own defense to a charge of violating her probation – entered into evidence several written reports and testified she had signed and mailed these reports to the Probation Department early last year. However, those report forms had been modified and were not created until after August.

At the conclusion of the hearing James was arrested as she left the courtroom, the District Attorney’s Office said.

James was charged with four felony counts including perjury, offering false evidence, preparing false documentary evidence, as well as a special allegation that she committed these new crimes while released on her own recognizance during the pendency of a felony matter.

Deputy District Attorney Daniel Flesch, who is assigned to the special unit, prosecuted the case with Investigator Andrew Chapman.

District Attorney Don Anderson has voiced his commitment to ensuring the admission of truthful testimony and reliable evidence in Lake County courts.

The Perjury Investigation Unit was formed in June in order to preserve the integrity of the justice system in Lake County.

There are several other perjury cases being investigated and some are awaiting trial in the Superior Court. 

Anderson said his office will continue to aggressively pursue their commitment to seeking out perjured testimony in all areas of criminal, civil and family law.
                           

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – State Sen. Mike McGuire, who has been voicing concern over the last several months about the tight timelines associated with Proposition 64, will chair a Senate Governance and Finance Committee hearing next week focused on cannabis business taxes and regulations.

The Senate Oversight Hearing: “California Cannabis in a Turbulent Time” will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at 1:30 pm in Room 2040 of the State Capitol.

It will be livestreamed at www.senate.ca.gov .

McGuire’s office said the hearing will discuss implementing California’s Cannabis tax collection system and the “track and trace” system which verifies cannabis taxes and product safety – all critical elements of the structure for cannabis that is being developed, and that is slated to go live on Jan. 1, 2018. 

Concerns about whether or not these systems will be up and running by this deadline will be addressed and leaders from the Board of Equalization, California Department of Food and Agriculture, local elected leaders, industry professionals and public safety officials will talk about some of the difficulties in regulating an industry that has been operating essentially unregulated for 20 years.

“The California Cannabis industry is worth an estimated $7 billion, and we’re only bringing in a small fraction of taxes the state is due, about 20 to 30 percent. The state’s tax collection system is not in place and it will be near impossible to get it up and running by the new year,” Sen. McGuire said. “We are building the plane while it’s being flown and we need to start developing a backup plan sooner rather than later.”

McGuire said there are significant unanswered questions as the state moves into a new era of cannabis under Proposition 64 and those questions will be asked and answered at next week’s hearing.

Topics include current and future tax compliance rates; obstacles and hurdles retailers will face as they come into the system; how the Board of Equalization will handle the influx of hundreds of millions of dollars in cash; how long it will take the state to get the tax collection and track and trace systems up and running; how the state intends to sign up the hundreds of thousands of growers and cannabis related businesses to start paying their mandated tax and setting some realistic timelines for the track and trace system to be up and running.

“Proposition 64 put a massive requirement on state marijuana regulators and very little time to accomplish the landslide of rules and regulations mandated by the initiative. Some departments who have been working on the licensure issue for the last year may well be ready by Jan. 1, 2018. But we have to face the facts – it’s not realistic that all of the Prop. 64 rules and regulations will be in place by the New Year,” McGuire said.

“The all-important Track and Trace program, which verifies taxes and ensures product safety, will not be in place by Jan. 1 and we have to resolve the massive and uneven tax collection process that currently exists throughout the state,” McGuire said. “I think it’s important that we are transparent and realistic, and that is why we are holding this hearing to ensure an implementation timeline is put into place over the next several months.”

McGuire, who represents California’s North Coast, including Lake County, is chair of the Senate Governance and Finance Committee.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol will offer a free “Start Smart” traffic safety class for soon to-be-licensed, newly licensed, and teenage drivers and their parents or guardians on Saturday, Feb. 11.

The class will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Clear Lake Area CHP office, located at 5700 Live Oak Drive in Kelseyville.

The CHP said a teenager is killed in a traffic collision every four hours nationwide. That equates to more than 1,870 teenagers killed each year. Another 184,000 teenagers are injured in traffic collisions. 

These deaths and injuries can be substantially reduced or prevented by eliminating high-risk driving behaviors through education, and the CHP said its “Start Smart” program can help prevent these tragedies. 

The Start Smart program focuses on providing comprehensive traffic safety education classes for teenagers and their parents.

Start Smart employs innovative techniques to capture the attention of teenagers and parents, providing a lasting experience.

The curriculum includes information on collision statistics, teen driver and passenger behaviors, graduated driver’s license laws, cultural changes in today’s society and the need for stronger parental involvement in a teenager’s driving experience. 

Space is limited for this class. For more information or reservations, call Officer Kory Reynolds at the CHP office, 707-279-0103.