LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Clearlake City Council will discuss assessments for code enforcement cases, approving a resolution to call a November election and a police equipment contract.
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 2, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
Comments and questions can be submitted in writing for City Council consideration by sending them to City Clerk Melissa Swanson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
To give the council adequate time to review your questions and comments, please submit your written comments before 4 p.m. Thursday, June 2.
Each public comment emailed to the city clerk will be read aloud by the mayor or a member of staff for up to three minutes or will be displayed on a screen. Public comment emails and town hall public comment submissions that are received after the beginning of the meeting will not be included in the record.
The council on Thursday will get presentations from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services on the Cache fire recovery and on the Lake County Clean Water Program and stormwater management.
The council also will present a proclamation declaring June 2022 as LGBTQIA+ Pride Month.
Under business, staff is asking the council to confirm assessments totaling $76,959.16 for city funded abatements.
The council also will hear an appeal of an order to abate for 16036 14th Ave. and discuss authorizing the police chief to enter into a contract with Tyler Technologies, Inc. for the purchase of an electronic citation program in the amount of $55,144.
In other business, the council will consider a resolution calling for and giving notice of a general municipal election in November.
Administrative Services Director/City Clerk Melissa Swanson’s report on the item said there are two council seats on the Nov. 8 ballot — which currently are held by Mayor Dirk Slooten and Councilman Russell Cremer — and the city treasurer job, which is vacant.
The filing period for nomination papers and candidate’s statements is July 18 through Aug. 12. If any incumbent chooses not to file nomination papers, the filing period for candidates is then automatically extended through Aug. 17, Swanson said.
On the meeting's consent agenda — items that are considered routine in nature and usually adopted on a single vote — are warrants; the April 21 council meeting minutes; the second reading and adoption of Ordinance No. 262-2022; continuation of declaration of local emergency issued on Aug. 23, 2021 and ratified by council action on Sept. 16, 2021; adoption of seventh amendment to the FY 2021-22 Budget to appropriate funds for design and planning services; second reading of Ordinance No. 262-2022 adding Chapter 11-6 of the Clearlake Municipal Code establishing edible food recovery regulations in accordance with SB 1383; continuation of authorization to implement and utilize teleconference accessibility to conduct public meetings pursuant to Assembly Bill 361; authorization of execution of the Clean California restricted grant agreement; authorization of amendment to the Operating Engineers Public Trust Agreement; and amendment to California Engineering Co. Inc. engineering consultant contract.
The council also will hold a closed session to discuss labor negotiations with the Clearlake Municipal Employee Association and Clearlake Police Officers Association.
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. — A Lake County native and graduate of Clear Lake High School has graduated from the University of California, Davis School of Medicine with honors.
Stephanie Rasmussen, 29, formerly of Lakeport, received the school’s highest academic and leadership medal at its commencement ceremonies on May 13.
The School of Medicine Medal is presented to the student who best displays the qualities of leadership, scholarship and respect for human life necessary to fulfill a physician’s pledge to be of service to humanity.
Rasmussen was a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society, received the AMWA Glasgow-Rubin Citation for Academic Achievement, and was selected as the outstanding student in both gastroenterology and pharmacology.
She was among the 126 candidates in the class of 2022 receiving the Doctor of Medicine degree.
The 51st commencement ceremony took place at the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for Performing Arts in Davis, the first in-person commencement since 2019.
The daughter of Lakeport Chief of Police Brad Rasmussen and Karyn Rasmussen, Stephanie Rasmussen graduated from Clear Lake High School in 2011 as the valedictorian of her class, where she served as student body president and a member of the Interact Club, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Lakeport.
Her extracurricular activities included 15 years of studies and performances with Antoinette’s School of Dance.
“The educational support from teachers and the programs in the Lakeport schools, particularly Clear Lake High School, helped set me up for success in both college and graduate school,” she noted in attributing her academic success.
Rasmussen’s higher education began with a scholarship to Dominican University of California where she completed a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 2014. Her Master of Science degree in biology from Dominican was awarded in 2017.
With a focus on malaria research during her six years at Dominican, Rasmussen spent three summers in Uganda studying mechanisms of antimalarial drug resistance. She continued her work until entering medical school in 2018.
Rasmussen will begin her residency program at New York University Grossman School of Medicine in June.
Her primary work will occur at Bellevue Hospital, the oldest hospital in the United States, founded in 1736. The hospital provides health care for individuals regardless of their ability to pay, handling over one million visits per year.
The commencement ceremony can be watched here. Rasmussen’s award is given at the 1:01:45 mark in the video.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The East Region Town Hall, or ERTH, will meet on Wednesday, June 1.
The meeting will begin at 4 p.m. at the Moose Lodge, located at 15900 Moose Lodge Lane in Clearlake Oaks.
The meeting can be attended in person or via Zoom; the meeting ID is 935 8339 6020, the pass code is 448228.
Agenda items include a commercial cannabis cultivation update, a discussion about the consolidated lighting district in Clearlake Oaks and Spring Valley street lighting, the Lake County geothermal project watchlist and the EPA mercury mine Superfund site.
There also will be updates on Spring Valley and the Northshore Fire Protection District, and a report from Supervisor EJ Crandell and new business.
ERTH will next meet on Wednesday, July 6.
ERTH’s members are Denise Loustalot, Jim Burton, Tony Morris and Pamela Kicenski.
For more information visit the group’s Facebook page.
Legislation from Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, to extend the gaming compacts of 29 California tribes, including three tribes in Lake County, has been approved by the Legislature.
“This extension allows tribes to continue along the path toward self-sufficiency and economic development,” Sen. Dodd said. “Also, it gives the state more time to negotiate long-term agreements that will benefit the state, employees and patrons.”
Many California tribes entered 20-year gaming compacts with the state that were briefly extended and set to expire on June 30.
However, Sen. Dodd’s legislation, Senate Bill 898, grants an additional 18-month extension to 26 tribes and a one-year extension to three tribes.
The bill was approved by the Senate with bipartisan support Monday after passing the Assembly on Friday. The bill heads to Gov. Newsom for his signature.
The following tribes are affected by this legislation:
Alturas Indian Rancheria Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria Berry Creek Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California Big Sandy Rancheria of Western Mono Indians of California Bishop Paiute Tribe Blue Lake Rancheria Cachil Dehe Band of Wintun Indians of the Colusa Indian Community of the Colusa Rancheria Cahto Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria Cahuilla Band of Indians Campo Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Campo Indian Reservation Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of the Chemehuevi Reservation Cher-ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians of the Sulphur Bank Rancheria Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians Hopland Band of Pomo Indians Manchester Band of Pomo Indians of the Manchester Rancheria Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California Pauma Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pauma & Yuima Reservation Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of California Pit River Tribe Redding Rancheria Resighini Rancheria Robinson Rancheria Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians Table Mountain Rancheria
Bill Dodd represents the Third Senate District, which includes all or portions of Napa, Solano, Yolo, Sonoma, Contra Costa, and Sacramento counties.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Clearlake City Council will hold a special Thursday afternoon meeting to consider an appeal by the owner of the Sunflower restaurant of the city’s order to tear down the building, one of the last of the old lakeshore resorts.
The council will meet at 3 p.m. Thursday, June 2, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
Comments and questions can be submitted in writing for City Council consideration by sending them to City Clerk Melissa Swanson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
To give the council adequate time to review your questions and comments, please submit your written comments before 1 p.m. Thursday, June 2.
Each public comment emailed to the city clerk will be read aloud by the mayor or a member of staff for up to three minutes or will be displayed on a screen. Public comment emails and town hall public comment submissions that are received after the beginning of the meeting will not be included in the record.
The council will hold a public hearing to consider an appeal of the city’s hearing officer’s order, who denied an appeal of an order to abate for the property located at 14525 Lakeshore Drive.
At its April 7 meeting, the council voted unanimously to approve a contract with Chernoh Excavating to demolish and abate the structures at 14525 Lakeshore Drive, the former Sunflower restaurant.
The building previously had been known as the Lakeshore Inn, and was once a popular night spot.
The city deemed it a health and safety hazard and a public nuisance in December 2018 and issued an abatement order on April 29, 2021.
In May 2021 the city opened bids to demolish the structures and the council was prepared to award the contract on staff’s recommendation in July when Roopa Shekar, who purchased the property in June, contacted the city and asked for the chance to renovate the property.
The council took no action on the demolition contract in July in order to give Shekar a chance to comply with the abatement orders.
In April, the council approved the latest version of the demolition contract and, later that month, the city held a hearing to consider Shekar’s appeal. The city’s hearing officer decided on May 9 to uphold the abatement order and to deny the appeal.
That led to Shekar appealing to the city council.
The city has faulted Shekar for not meeting the requirements in a timely fashion, including failing to submit engineered plans to work on the building before seeking permits, as she recently did in attempting to reroof the building.
Shekar, in turn, told Lake County News that she has tried to meet the requirements but has struggled to find architects and contractors who could do the work in the tight timeline the city has established.
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.
There are 20.6 million people who identify as Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander alone (not in combination with another race), making up 6.2% of the nation’s population, according to the 2020 Census.
But it’s not until these numbers are broken down that the incredible diversity of this population becomes clear.
Using recently released data from both the 2020 Census and the American Community Survey’s (ACS) 5-year estimates, we detail the diversity of the racial and ethnic composition of this population and its geographic distribution.
Race
The 2020 Census shows:
• 19.9 million people identified as Asian alone and 4.1 million people identified as Asian in combination with another race. • Roughly 690,000 people identified as Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (NHPI) alone but almost 900,000 identified as NHPI in combination with another race. • Race and Hispanic origin are measured separately by the Census Bureau: 267,330 identified as both Asian alone (race) and Hispanic, and 67,948 people identified as both NHPI alone (race) and Hispanic.
Diversity
The Asian diaspora is extremely diverse. Using data from the 2016-2020 5-year ACS, the Census Bureau published data for 21 different detailed groups in the United States under the umbrella of Asian alone, including 4.2 million people reporting Chinese (excluding Taiwanese) and 3,526 people reporting Okinawan.
Among NHPI (alone or in combination) individuals, there were roughly 620,000 who identified as Native Hawaiian, 212,000 as Samoan, 156,000 as Chamorro, 65,000 as Tongan, and roughly 50,000 as Fijian.
In acknowledgment of the diversity of languages spoken in the United States, the Census Bureau disseminated materials for the 2020 Census in 59 different languages other than English, including 23 languages that originated in Asia: Bengali, Burmese, Chinese, Khmer, Gujarati, Hindi, Hmong, Ilocano, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Punjabi, Sinhala, Tagalog, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Urdu and Vietnamese.
Where they were born
The U.S. Asian and Pacific Islander populations have diverse backgrounds, according to the ACS’s most recent 5-year estimates:
• 73.2% of those who identified as Asian alone were U.S. citizens, by birth or naturalization. • 85.9% of those who identified as NHPI alone were U.S. citizens, by birth or naturalization. • 31.3% of the roughly 44 million foreign-born people in the United States were born in Asia.
Where they live
The Asian and NHPI population was not evenly distributed across the United States, according to the 2020 Census:
• Only three states — Hawaii, California, and New Jersey — had 10% or more of their population identify as Asian alone. • Hawaii, Alaska, and Utah were the only states where at least 1% of the population identified as Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone. • Hawaii, Washington, and Nevada are the three states with the highest percentage of the population who identify as Asian in combination with another race. • Hawaii, Nevada, and Alaska are the three states with the highest percentage of the population who identify as NHPI in combination with another race.
Race and ethnicity in the United States: 2010 Census and 2020 Census
The population profiles of major Metropolitan Statistical Areas (“metro areas”) across the country reflect the geographic dispersion of the Asian and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander population. The 2016-2020 ACS 5-year shows:
• The largest Asian alone population in the Chicago and Atlanta metro areas is Asian Indians (229,003 in the Chicago metro area and 136,931 in the Atlanta metro area). • One of the largest Asian groups in the Houston metro area was Vietnamese (136,813). • The Los Angeles metro area is home to roughly 35,000 NHPI alone individuals, including 11,752 Samoans and 4,569 people who identify as Chamorro. • The largest Asian alone population in the Minneapolis metro area was Hmong (83,132). • The largest Asian alone population in the Seattle (124,204) and Boston (152,274) metro areas was Chinese, except Taiwanese. • The largest Asian alone population in the San Diego metro area was Filipino (155,522). • In the Salt Lake City metro area, the NHPI alone population (18,291) was significantly larger than any detailed Asian alone group. • More data on detailed Asian and NHPI groups from the 2020 Census will be released in summer 2023.
About the data
The 2020 Census counted every person living in the United States and the five U.S. territories on April 1, 2020. The 2020 Census Data Quality website provides information about 2020 census data quality.
The ACS is the premier source for detailed population and housing information about our nation, allowing for more frequent data on America’s communities than the decennial census. ACS 5-year estimates are period estimates that represent data collected within a 60-month period.
Because the ACS is a survey based on a sample of the population rather than a census of the entire population, the ACS estimates presented here are subject to sampling and non-sampling error. Technical documentation and more information about ACS data quality are available on the ACS Technical Documentation website.
Readers should note that the Census Bureau measures race and Hispanic ethnicity separately in accordance with the 1997 Office of Management and Budget’s Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity.
Additional information about the Census Bureau’s coding of race alone or in combination can be found in this recent America Counts story and in this technical paper.
Lindsay M. Monte and Hyon B. Shin are researchers in the Census Bureau’s Social, Economic, and Housing Statistics Division.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A Kelseyville man who authorities said was driving under the influence of alcohol has been arrested following a crash in which his passenger was killed early Sunday morning.
The California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office said its officers placed Adryan J. Segura, 27, under arrest after the wreck.
Segura’s passenger who died was identified as 28-year-old Amy Maurie Walker-Allen, said Lauren Berlinn of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
The CHP’s report on the crash said Segura was driving his 2017 Honda northbound on Westlake Road from the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff at 12:50 a.m. on Sunday.
Based on the investigation so far, the CHP said that as Segura was driving, he made an unsafe turn which caused his vehicle to go off the road and down a grassy embankment.
The Honda hit a driveway and wire fence at the bottom of the embankment, the CHP said.
Walker-Allen, who was riding in the front passenger seat and wearing a seat belt, died of her injuries at the scene, the CHP said.
Segura, who also was wearing his seat belt, suffered major injuries, according to the CHP report.
After a DUI investigation, the CHP said Segura was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol before being transported to the hospital for treatment.
Radio reports indicated he was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital’s landing zone and then taken by air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
Editor’s note: The CHP issued a corrected report after the initial publication of this article stating that Walker-Allen was, in fact, wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. This article has been updated with that new information.
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.
Astraea Augsberger, Boston University and Mary Elizabeth Collins, Boston University
More progress, in our view, will require a more robust safety net and the authorities taking a more constructive approach to supporting parents of children deemed to be experiencing neglect or abuse.
Making life harder
Many child welfare policies actually make life harder for the parents and children swept up in the system.
One egregious example is authorities’ placing children in foster care and billing parents for its cost. This practice, which happens in every state, can obstruct and delay family reunification.
State systems also have taken the Social Security survivors benefits of some children in foster care not to support those kids but to finance the child welfare system’s operations. This is reportedly happening in 36 states and the District of Columbia.
And there are accounts of deeply engaged parents who say they were essentially forced to surrender custody to the state so their child could get mental health care services they could not afford.
Neglect can reflect poverty
The authorities receive reports on more than 3 million of the nation’s 74 million children under 18 every year for suspected child abuse or neglect, with the government determining about 620,000 to be victims.
Spending on this program has declined by at least 40% since its establishment in 1996, and the benefits range widely from state to state. The maximum monthly amount of support for a family of three runs as low as $215 in Alabama and as high as $1,098 in New Hampshire.
Lower-income families, as well as those in the middle class, got as much or more money from the government to assist with the economic upheaval that accompanied the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning with a series of economic stimulus payments.
Child tax credit expansion
The Biden administration also expanded the child tax credit to give most U.S. families $3,000 for each child from age 6 to 17, and $3,600 for those under 6. Families obtained half the money in six monthly payments from July to December 2021, with the rest of the money delivered as a lump sum at tax time in 2022.
Millions of the lowest-income American parents are no longer eligible to get all or even any of the child tax credit. That was also the case before this brief expansion, because of the way it was originally structured.
Restoring a monthly payment approach that benefits all families in poverty, as the Biden administration proposes, would improve the circumstances of most of the families whose children are in foster care or otherwise receiving child welfare services.
Another helpful approach would be boosting federal funding for child care, as Jacob Lew and Robert Rubin, two former Treasury secretaries, have proposed.
Constructive ways to engage parents
We’ve found that nearly all parents, including those facing allegations of abuse and neglect, can protect their children and wish to do so.
Parents who are dealing with the child welfare system often need more money than they are getting from low-wage jobs, TANF and other government benefits. What’s more, many have stressful relationships with friends and relatives whose support in the form of child care and other resources can be inconsistent.
We’ve also observed that it helps when authorities engage parents as partners committed to the well-being of their own kids.
For example, there are peer mentoring programs for parents that are building trusting and supportive relationships. One such example is Minnesota One-Stop for Communities Parent Mentor Program, a grassroots nonprofit developed by African American mothers.
In addition, child welfare agencies have established parental advisory boards in 26 states. These are panels of parents who have had their own children put into foster care or experienced child welfare investigations, who relay feedback informed by their lived experiences to the authorities.
New policies encourage family unity
To be sure, Congress has taken steps to improve the child welfare system over the course of several decades, including measures it has passed since 2008.
Most recently, lawmakers passed the Family First Prevention Services Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law in 2018. The measure mandates that federal funds can be used for only the first two weeks of group care placements, with few exceptions, and authorities must try harder to see if children can safely remain with their own families.
That legislation built on earlier measures that have incrementally aimed to make child welfare more family-focused.
By 1980 state authorities had to make “reasonable efforts” to prevent children from entering foster care unnecessarily, and to reunite them with their families if they should end up with a foster family anyway.
Another law Congress passed in 2011 emphasized family reunification services, including peer-to-peer mentoring and support groups for parents.
All this legislation has prompted states and localities to try new strategies that support families better. But until the government significantly steps up benefits for low-income families with children, we believe it’s likely that the prevalence of child abuse and neglect will remain unacceptably high.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control has new cats including several new kittens available for adoption this week.
Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm for information on visiting or adopting.
The following cats at the shelter have been cleared for adoption.
Male domestic shorthair
This 1-year-old male domestic shorthair cat has an all-black coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 66, ID No. LCAC-A-3309.
Orange tabby kitten
This 3-month-old male orange tabby kitten has a short coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 84a, ID No. LCAC-A-3390.
Orange tabby kitten
This 3-month-old male orange tabby kitten has a short coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 84c, ID No. LCAC-A-3392.
Female domestic shorthair kitten
This 3-month-old female domestic shorthair kitten has a white coat and blue eyes.
She is in cat room kennel No. 84d, ID No. LCAC-A-3393.
Male domestic shorthair kitten
This 3-month old male domestic shorthair kitten has a white coat and blue eyes.
He is in cat room kennel No. 84e, ID No. LCAC-A-3394.
‘Dave’
“Dave” is a young male brown tabby with a short coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 96, ID No. LCAC-A-3299.
‘Delilah’
“Delilah” is a 2-year-old female domestic longhair cat with a gray coat with white markings.
She is in cat room kennel No. 103, ID No. LCAC-A-3070.
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. — A letter to the editor from one of the two candidates in the race for district attorney has prompted the Lake County Deputy Sheriff’s Association and the Lake County Deputy District Attorneys Association to endorse the other candidate.
In the June primary, Anthony Farrington, a former county supervisor, is challenging incumbent District Attorney Susan Krones, who is seeking a second term.
The Lake County Deputy Sheriff’s Association had decided earlier this month to remain neutral in the race after interviewing both Farrington and Krones, said association President Gary Frace.
The Lake County Deputy District Attorneys Association did not interview the candidates and hadn’t intended to offer an endorsement, said President Rachel Abelson.
On Saturday, Lake County News published a letter to the editor from Farrington.
Frace and Abelson told Lake County News over the Memorial Day weekend that a specific statement made by Farrington in his letter was untrue and that, as a result, it was a tipping point for them, resulting in both associations formally endorsing Krones.
In the letter, Farrington wrote of Krones’ performance, “Another red flag for voters is the fact that despite her 29 years of experience as a prosecutor she has not received one formal endorsement from law enforcement. For these reasons, I could no longer remain idle and decided that I wanted to do something to effect change.”
“The reality of it is, she has the support of our law enforcement. she always has. We just tried to stay neutral,” said Frace.
Frace said his response to Farrington’s statement was, “Come on, man, really? Just don’t play dirty,” and to run a good campaign and let the best person win.
The deputies’ association board, representing close to 65 members, discussed the matter on Saturday and decided to endorse Krones. “It wasn't a hard decision” based on what was said in the letter, Frace said.
Frace cited Krones’ service in the military and nearly 30 years of service to Lake County, and the hard work she puts into her job as reasons the association supports her. He said her dedication to the District Attorney’s Office and Lake County “is pretty amazing.”
He added, “I know Susan. She loves this county. She loves being a prosecutor.”
He said he has no desire to bad-mouth Farrington. “We just feel that Susan would be the better choice for the county.”
Abelson said in a response letter that Krones has her association’s support as well as that of former members and other law enforcement.
She said she’s concerned about Farrington’s lack of knowledge about the office, adding that he has no idea how the criminal justice system works.
Abelson said Farrington’s letter published on Saturday “has particularly aggravated the attorneys in the Lake County District Attorney’s Office,” because it suggests law enforcement doesn’t support Krones.
“The real issue is that many in law enforcement are afraid to support anyone out of fear of retaliation,” Abelson said.
In a Monday interview with Lake County News, Abelson said Farrington’s letter had caused extreme irritation for many people in local law enforcement.
“You don't want retribution,” she said, but she felt something needed to be done.
She said Farrington has not done any outreach to her association. “I don’t think anybody would have supported him.”
Abelson said the public defenders don’t want to get involved but they don’t support him either. “They understand that what he says is absolutely ridiculous.”
She is critical of former District Attorney Don Anderson, who four years ago decided to make a run for Superior Court judge, ultimately losing to Shanda Harry.
“When Don was elected it was kind of shocking to me and we dealt with it because we had Rich,” she said of Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff, who also has written two highly critical letters about Farrington.
“I just can’t imagine doing this again,” Abelson said of adjusting to a new district attorney without the needed experience.
Frace said he called to tell both Krones and Farrington of the deputies association’s decision.
Krones “was almost speechless. She was very excited and very grateful,” Frace said.
In an email, Krones told Lake County News, “I am thrilled and humbled by the DSA endorsement. I work closely with the LCSO Deputies and Investigators every day. I know how dedicated they are to their jobs and I greatly appreciate their support.”
Frace said Farrington said he understood and was respectful. Frace said he explained to Farrington why the association took the action in response to the statements in the letter.
In response to a request for comment from Lake County News, Farrington asked if the association had said what part of his letter caused them to endorse Krones, to which this reporter responded that it was regarding the statement about no law enforcement endorsing Krones.
“I stand by my factual comments as contained in my letter to the editor; and I make no apologies to the Lake County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association for providing factual information to the public,” Farrington wrote. “After interviewing both candidates on April 20, 2022, the DSA formally announced that their organization would be remaining neutral for this election. If the DSA leadership now wants to publicly support Ms. Krones one week before the election for me speaking the truth, then that’s their prerogative.”
He also sent a screenshot of a May 4 Facebook post made by the association which states:
“The Lake County DSA would like to thank Susan Krones and Anthony W. Farrington for their time and participation in our interview process.
“It was a difficult decision, but we have elected to neither endorse or oppose either candidate. As we also represent the District Attorney Investigators, we have opted to remain neutral in this instance.
“We encourage citizens to make an effort to educate themselves and vote for the candidate they feel will best serve our community. DA Krones has served this country and our county with distinction for decades, and will continue to do so if re-elected. On the same note, Mr. Farrington has a great deal of legal and political experience and has a fantastic vision for the future of the District Attorney’s Office if elected.
“On behalf of the Lake County DSA membership, we would like to wish DA Krones and Mr. Farrington the best of luck with their campaigns,” the statement concluded.
The race between Farrington and Krones has been one of the most hotly contested of this campaign season.
Lake County News has published numerous letters to the editor about the campaign, many of them faulting Farrington for, among other things, a lack of prosecutorial experience and for targeting people who have been given temporary housing in local motels through state housing grants made available during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In turn, Farrington and his supporters have said they want change because they don’t believe Krones and her staff have done a good enough job of prosecuting criminal cases and seeking harsher sentencing for crimes.
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 partnership with Lake County Tribal Health, Adventist Health Clear Lake, and the city of Clearlake, the Lake County Chamber of Commerce announced the inaugural Move, Lake County! 5K Fun Run and Wellness Faire on Aug. 27.
The event will kick off that day at 8 a.m. with a 5K Fun Run that will start and end in Austin Park in Clearlake.
The carefully curated course will allow the runners to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the business district along the shores of Clear Lake, Redbud Park and some residential neighborhoods of the area.
Runners, their families and friends, and the local community will also be able to enjoy free fitness classes, health and wellness vendors, and other fun activities until 2 p.m.
The Lake County Chamber of Commerce is committed to elevating the economic vitality and prosperity of every region of our county.
The combination of an outdoor, active event that highlights a local business district is well-aligned with that mission.
The cost to participate in the 5K fun run is only $35 through June 15, which includes a special edition T-shirt.
Registrations are accepted until Aug. 25, with cost increasing incrementally as the event draws closer. T-shirts are guaranteed for runners that register by July 31.
Any business that is interested in having a booth at the Wellness Faire may inquire at the Lake County Chamber of Commerce at 707.263.5092 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Proceeds from this event will benefit programs and activities that support the local economy such as the Youth Mentorship Program and the Certified Tourism Ambassador Program.
LAKEPORT, Calif. — On Matthew Dollosso’s 16th birthday in January, before he could legally drive a vehicle, he took off in a Cessna 172 from Lampson Field in Lakeport on his first solo flight and realized a long-held dream.
Dollosso, who lives in Lakeport with his family, can’t remember a time when he wasn’t interested in planes and flying. He credits his father, Frank, as the inspiration behind his eagerness to pursue a pilot’s license.
“I remember my dad talking a lot about flying and how much he loves it,” Matthew Dollosso said.
The older Dollosso, in turn, points to his son as the reason he has a pilot’s license today.
Over two decades ago, before he had a family, Frank Dollosso pursued a private pilot’s license. He had completed all the required flight hours, had passed the written test, and had a flight exam scheduled. Then Sept. 11, 2001, happened, and everything was grounded for a time. Somehow, he just didn’t return to it after that.
While his son was learning to fly, Frank Dollosso became motivated to complete his own license requirements through a question from Matthew: “Dad, why don’t you get back into flying?”
Now both father and son are licensed and share together their passion for flight.
From the time he was young, Matthew Dollosso was fascinated by airplanes.
The Federal Express planes that take off from the Ukiah Municipal Airport fly directly over the Dollossos’ Lakeport home and provided fodder for this burgeoning interest. It wasn’t long before he had memorized their and other planes’ flight patterns, thanks in part to a phone app.
On Matthew Dollosso’s 15th birthday, his father gifted him with a “discovery flight,” which, simply put, is someone’s first experience in a private plane with the purpose of discerning an interest in flying.
The teenager and discovery flight’s pilot, who was Frank Dollosso’s flight instructor from 20 years before, took off from the airport in Ukiah and spent time soaring over the area. As is typical for a discovery flight, Matthew Dollosso spent time in the pilot’s seat to see what learning to fly would be like.
“That first flight is one of the best memories of my life,” he said. It cemented his desire to be a pilot.
With the teen ready to pursue a license, his family engaged Kenneth Henninger, an independent flight instructor working out of Lake County’s airport, Lampson Field, to teach him to fly. Henninger also helped father Frank complete the requirements for his license, which he accomplished 20 years to the week after he initially started the process.
Matthew Dollosso had to wait until age 16 to fly a plane solo per Federal Aviation Administration or FAA, rules, and he did this at the first opportunity, on his 16th birthday on Jan. 23.
This earned him a student license, which comes with some restrictions. He’s not allowed to take passengers and, though he can fly wherever he wishes, he must be signed off by his instructor before taking to the skies as a solo flyer.
According to Henninger, a student pilot isn’t allowed to go up unless the skies are clear and the wind is minimal. The FAA requires a minimum of five statute miles of visibility, but Henninger won’t give permission unless visibility is greater than this. He notes that Mt. Konocti isn’t visible from the airport without at least six statute miles of visibility.
While Matthew Dollosso is the youngest student Henninger has soloed, he’s not the youngest person he’s taught. There’s no minimum age to start logging flight hours, and Henninger has worked on and off with a 9-year-old enthusiast. His oldest student was 82, and every decade between 9 and 82 has been represented among his students.
Matthew Dollosso will legally be able to get his private pilot’s license at age 17. It comes as no surprise that, like with his student license, he plans to do that on his birthday next year. When certified, he’ll be able to take passengers and fly solo without an instructor’s permission.
Henninger has high praise for his young student. “Matthew is a super good pilot, especially for 16 years old. If not for having to wait a year for his age, he would be able to get his private pilot’s license now.”
He stressed that student designation is because of age, not experience. “For as much as he’s flown and how well he flies, he could be a fully licensed pilot right now if not for the FAA requirement,” said Henninger.
Dollosso’s goal is to become a commercial pilot, perhaps eventually with a large legacy airline, and once he’s certified as a private pilot, he’ll work with Henninger to obtain his commercial pilot’s license at the minimum age of 18. According to Henninger, getting all his ratings at the minimum age puts him ahead of the game.
Henninger said that on a first flying lesson the student sits in the pilot seat in front of the instruments. He gives the student a broad overview of flying, so they get a feel for the aircraft. They learn how to throttle and brake, and how to ease up, turn, and stall.
After doing that for a flight or two, they practice landing, the hardest part of flying. As Henninger said, “We do landing after landing after landing until they’re able to do it by themselves.”
Henninger said he’s always nervous the first time a student flies solo, but not with Dollosso. “Matthew was the first and only person where I thought, ‘he’s got it.’ He’s a natural. It’s really amazing, especially at this age.”
Frank Dollosso added to that. “You’d think that as a parent you’d be nervous having your kid go up and fly on their own, but I’ve flown with him enough to know that his maneuvers were good and that he lands well. My wife and I weren’t nervous at all.”
Matthew, a high school sophomore, has been homeschooled throughout his life. He enjoys this arrangement, especially because it gives him freedom to pursue interests such as flying.
According to his father, aviation correlates well to homeschooling because reading, memorization of regulations and learning good communication skills are all part of it. In addition, “the history of aviation covers so much that it falls into just about every category of home school,” Frank Dollosso said.
He also noted that math skills are necessary for wing balance, ensuring that the plane isn’t overloaded and guaranteeing a correct center of gravity.
Henninger, smiling, added, “You have to be a meteorologist, a psychologist and a mathematician, and then at the end you get your pilot’s license.”
In addition to a private pilot’s license, Matthew Dollosso would like to get his instrument rating when he’s 17. His father is working on that now, and he’ll soon hunker down to begin those studies, too. This will enable him to fly through fog or when it’s cloudy.
Henninger noted that getting an instrument rating is difficult, as it’s all new information and one must know the mechanics of the instruments in depth. “It’s all about procedures, and the flying is more difficult because you can’t see outside. Ninety percent of our orientation is visual.”
In addition to the family’s Cessna 172 that Matthew Dollosso commandeered for this solo flight, he has experience with the Cherokee 140 owned by Henninger.
A passel of relatives came out to see Matthew Dollosso perform his first solo flight. Grandparents on both sides, aunts, uncles and others were there to share in his success. All, including flight instructor Henninger, signed the tail that was cut from his shirt, a tradition in the piloting world.
This unusual custom hails from the days when flight instructor and student sat tandem in an aircraft, rather than side-by-side. When the instructor needed to get the student's attention, he'd tug on their shirttail. Cutting it off represents the independence of the student once a pilot's license is earned.
Matthew Dollosso drove a car for the first time a few weeks after he earned his pilot’s license. He now has a driver’s license, but he prefers to fly. The open skies hold his interest more than the pavement below.
When asked what word best describes his feeling when in the air, Matthew Dollosso replied, “Amazing.”
Esther Oertel is a freelance writer in Middletown who's contributed to Lake County News since 2010. She especially enjoys writing about the people and places that make Lake County unique. For comments, questions and story suggestions, she may be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..