LAKEPORT, Calif. — Chuck Leonard was honored with a plaque commemorating his 21 years of service to Lake County as a trustee on the Lake County Vector Control District Board of Trustees.
Leonard served on the district's board of trustees between March 2001 and July 2023.
He stepped down from the Lake County Vector Control District Board in 2003 to serve as the Special District Alternate on the Lake County Local Area Formation Council before returning to the Vector Control Board in 2005.
While on the Lake County Vector Control District Board, Leonard also served on the Clearlake City Council and the Lake Area Planning Council.
He was an active participant in the district's board meetings and discussions. He was well-versed in the Brown Act and committed to complying with all aspects of it to ensure the public's right to participate.
Leonard thanked the Vector Control District for the honor and expressed that he enjoyed a wonderful experience during his tenure on the board.
The July meeting was his last meeting as a trustee.
The Lake County Vector Control District is an independent special district that conducts surveillance and control of mosquitoes, West Nile virus, and other vectors and the diseases they transmit.
The district’s board of trustees meets at 1:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month at 410 Esplanade, Lakeport. All meetings are open to the public.
Residents with questions or who would like help with a mosquito problem, including reporting a neglected pool or spa, or who have an in-ground yellowjacket nest on their property that they would like treated, should contact the Lake County Vector Control District at 707-263-4770 or submit a request online www.lcvcd.org.
For more information about West Nile virus or to report a dead bird, visit https://westnile.ca.gov/. Information about mosquito repellents can be found on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at www.cdc.gov/westnile/faq/repellent.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — While it’s fall, warmer temperatures are not over just yet.
The National Weather Service is predicting moderate heat risk for much of Lake County on Thursday and into the weekend.
Conditions are expected to be unusually warm and dry over the coming days, with high temperatures expected to challenge records over numerous locations in the western United States, the agency said.
Parts of the Bay Area are under a heat advisory until Thursday night, according to the forecast.
In Lake County, temperatures are expected to top 90 degrees on Thursday, before dropping into the 80s on Friday and back into the 70s for much of next week, before hitting the 60s by midweek.
Nighttime temperatures throughout the week will range from the high 40s to mid 50s.
The National Weather Service said there are chances of rain in Lake County on Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Conditions are then expected to clear on Monday, before chances of rain return on Tuesday.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The California Highway Patrol is investigating the death of a pedestrian along Highway 29 near Lower Lake on Tuesday night and is asking for the community’s help in determining what occurred.
The CHP’s Clear Lake Area office was notified at 8:45 p.m. Tuesday of a possible injured pedestrian in the area of Highway 29 and Hofacker Lane.
Upon arrival, first responders and CHP officers located an unresponsive Hispanic male adult laying on the east shoulder of northbound Highway 29 north of Hofacker Lane, the CHP reported.
The Hispanic male adult was pronounced deceased at the scene for reasons still under investigation by CHP Northern Division, Investigative Services Unit, the CHP said.
Anyone who might have information that could assist CHP investigators is urged to contact Investigator Jesse Rodgers at 530-242-4300 or the CHP Clear Lake Area office at 707-279-0103.
A 2019 report showed that approximately 88% of U.S. high schools offered dual enrollment and approximately 34% of high school students in the U.S. are taking college courses. That represents an increase from 2010, when 82% of high schools offered dual enrollment and approximately 10% of high school students took college courses.
At the state level, there is evidence of dramatic growth. In Indiana, for example, 60% of high school students graduated with college credit in 2018, up from 39% in 2012.
As a higher education administrator who has been involved with dual enrollment in Boston’s public schools, I know there is strong evidence that dual enrollment programs make it more likely that students graduate from high school and earn a college degree.
How dual enrollment works
Dual enrollment programs may be known by different names, such as early college, concurrent enrollment, joint enrollment or dual credit programs. One study found the use of 97 different terms nationwide.
The courses are different from Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses. While AP and IB courses cover college-level material, dual enrollment courses are college courses.
Students usually take these courses at their high schools, but they can also take them on a college campus, online or at another nearby high school. Some programs provide transportation to college campuses. The courses are offered in partnership with a college or university and taught by faculty from that college. Ideally, courses are offered during the standard high school day.
Academic and financial benefits
The North Carolina Career and College Promise dual enrollment program found that students in the program were 2% more likely to graduate from high school and 9% more likely to enroll in college compared with similar students who did not take dual enrollment courses.
Dual enrollment programs also provide a practical way for students and their families to save time and money. Students are able to take college courses for free or at a discounted rate while still in high school instead of paying tuition for the classes during college. The programs often include books, materials and transportation. During the 2017-18 school year, 78% of dual enrollment programs at public schools received full or partial funding from the school, district or state. Additional funding came from families, students or some other entity such as foundations and donors.
However, equity gaps exist within dual enrollment programs. Recruitment efforts that do not target equity, a lack of qualified faculty, and certain eligibility requirements – such as minimum GPAs and standardized test scores – create barriers for some students. Even when dual enrollment programs are available at their high school, Black and Hispanic students participate at lower rates than their white and Asian classmates. In addition, students whose parents had earned at least a bachelor’s degree were much more likely to take these courses than students whose parents had not earned a high school diploma.
Recruitment tool for colleges
Many colleges have experienced declining enrollments as of late, and some experts predict a looming “enrollment cliff” that some schools won’t survive. Dual enrollment programs can benefit colleges by drawing more students to their campuses, where they often re-enroll after high school.
A recent study found that 60% of 18- and 19-year-old college students took dual enrollment courses at their college while in high school.
For community colleges, high school students in dual enrollment programs now make up close to 20% of their enrollments.
The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers found in 2016 that 75% of colleges offering dual enrollment programs viewed them as an important form of recruitment.
However, the increased likelihood that a student will enroll in the college where they took dual enrollment courses in high school has raised concerns about “undermatching.” Undermatching is a phenomenon in which high school students don’t apply to a more selective college or university even though they have the ability. One study found that when dual enrollment students stay at a two-year college where they are undermatched – instead of transferring to a more selective school – they are 33% less likely to complete a bachelor’s degree.
Still, dual enrollment programs have proven to be both successful and popular in states across the country. If current trends continue, and states such as Massachusetts continue to push for increased funding for dual enrollment, programs will continue to grow in high schools, on college campuses and online.
The hope is that growth in dual enrollment will lead to more students graduating from college and being able to get better jobs and live longer, healthier lives.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. — The National nonprofit Wreaths Across America announced that the Kelseyville Cemetery has once again joined in the mission to “Remember, Honor, Teach,” as an official location for 2023.
Wreaths Across America, or WAA, started as a simple gesture of thanks that has grown into a national movement of dedicated volunteers and communities coming together to not only remember the nation’s fallen and honor their service, but to teach the next generation about the sacrifices made for us to live freely.
This year, there will be more than 3,100 participating locations placing Veterans’ wreaths on National Wreaths Across America Day — at 9 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 16 — with more than two million volunteers coming together.
The goal for The Kelseyville Cemetery is to raise enough funds to place 515 sponsored veterans’ wreaths on the headstones of all the local heroes laid to rest there, to ensure that the individuals who served to protect the freedoms of our country never be forgotten and to bring the community together in patriotic commemoration.
Allison Panella, event coordinator stated “We are grateful for the opportunity to support the Wreaths Across America initiative at Kelseyville Cemetery where we take pride in honoring our Veterans and teaching our youth the value and cost of our freedom”
Girl Scout Troops 10145 and 10490 have been working diligently all year long to raise sponsorships for the wreaths.
Both Girl Scout Troops 10145 and 10490 along with Big Valley 4-H will be facilitating the brief ceremony and placing wreaths on veterans graves.
They invite the community to join them from 9 to 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, to remember and honor our local heroes. The ceremony is free and open to the public.
Those interested in volunteering for Wreaths Across America or sponsoring a wreath for The Kelseyville Cemetery, are invited to visit here.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County’s new chief public defender took his oath of office on Tuesday.
As the Board of Supervisors looked on, County Administrative Officer Susan Parker administered the oath to Raymond Buenaventura.
Last month, the board hired Buenaventura, the mayor of Daly City, to head up the formation of a new public defender’s office.
He thanked the board and said he was humbled and grateful for the opportunity to be the county's new chief public defender.
“I take this obligation with great humility but also with great confidence that, together, I really do believe we can change and have a premier indigent defense program, a public defender’s office in this county,” Buenaventura said.
When he came into the board meeting that morning, “I felt at home,” he said.
He said he’d never seen a cat at a board meeting before. That was a reference to Lake County Animal Care and Control bringing an adoptable kitten, Raven, in her pumpkin outfit to meet the board that day.
Referring to other topics at the meeting about the community, Buenaventura said, “I’m in the right place.”
He added, “I can do a good job with your help.”
Buenaventura recounted that, during the interview process, he had asked for help. That includes asking to be invited to different communities, groups and events.
He’s said he’s already met a lot of fantastic people in the county. “It’s given me a lot of hope that we really can do something special here in Lake County.”
Buenaventura thanked the board and the community, adding, “My door will always be open.”
“We are excited and delighted that you are here and looking forward to some real change. We have a lot of confidence in you and are happy to move forward as a team,” said Board Chair Jessica Pyska.
Other board members also offered their welcome.
Supervisor Michael Green said it’s going to be a team effort to improve indigent defense in Lake County.
“This is a great day and an important starting step, but it is just that, it’s a start,” Green said.
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.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Clearlake Animal Control has many dogs needing new homes for the fall.
The Clearlake Animal Control website lists 48 adoptable dogs.
This week’s new dogs include “Zoey,” a female American pit bull terrier mix. She has a black coat with white markings, and has been spayed.
Also available is “Ivy,” a female Labrador retriever mix with a tan and brown coat.
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.
Teenage drivers are at greater risk of being involved in a fatal car crash due to distractions and inexperience behind the wheel.
To help teens stay safe behind the wheel, the California Highway Patrol is offering the Start Smart teen driver safety education class to help address the dangers typically encountered by this age group.
Between federal fiscal years 2020 and 2022, there was a combined total of 21,308 fatal and injury crashes within CHP jurisdiction involving at least one teen driver between the ages of 15 and 19.
Unfortunately, fatal and injury crashes increased by nearly 10% over that time, which indicates it is essential to improve the education of teenage drivers and their parents/guardians to help enhance road safety.
Start Smart is a free two-hour class aimed at informing new drivers of the responsibilities that accompany the privilege of being a licensed California driver.
Parents or guardians are required to attend with their teenage driver as they participate in this class, which is conducted by public information officers at local CHP Area offices.
Completion of this course may lower the cost of a young driver’s vehicle insurance.
“Every decision a teen driver makes behind the wheel has the potential to impact their future and the lives of those around them,” said CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee. “The Start Smart program has been instrumental in educating new drivers and their parents/guardians in an effort to save lives.”
Parents and teenagers can register for a Start Smart class by contacting their local CHP Area office.
More information about the program and California’s provisional licensing law can be found on the free CHP Start Smart app, which is available for both iOS and Android.
This mobile app includes access to the California Driver Handbook and a trip logger to track driving time as teens prepare to obtain their driver’s license.
Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. — The Clearlake City Council this week will discuss a proposed water district annexation and declaring as surplus several city-owned properties.
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19 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, Oct. 19.
On the agenda is a resolution to support the Konocti County Water District’s proposed annexation of 108 acres in the Dam Road area of the city.
City Manager Alan Flora’s report to the council explained, “This annexation would eliminate the service of two districts Lower Lake Water District and the Creekside Mobile Home Park.”
Flora said the Creekside system was destroyed in the Cache Fire and Konocti County Water District has been providing service to the park via an emergency connection since the fire. Lower Lake serves the Cache Creek mobile home park, the majority of that park was lost to fire.
He said the proposed annexation would allow the water district to install a new main line along Dam Road and provide upgraded water service to the area. “This will be a significant improvement to existing infrastructure.”
In other business, the council will discuss a resolution discussing eight city-owned properties as surplus.
Also on the agenda is an introduction to October’s adoptable dogs.
On the meeting's consent agenda — items that are considered routine in nature and usually adopted on a single vote — are warrants and City Council minutes, consideration to approve Resolution No 2023-42 approving a temporary road closure for the Annual Trunk or Treat, minutes of the Sept. 13 Lake County Vector Control District Board meeting, approval of a contract for copy machines for the police department and city administration and adoption of an updated city of Clearlake Injury and Illness Prevention Plan.
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. — Authorities said they have arrested a Clearlake man for setting a fire in Lakeport after being released earlier in the day from the Lake County Jail.
Cameron Bates, 43, was arrested Thursday on charges including arson, drug possession and receipt of stolen property, the Lakeport Police Department said.
Lakeport Police said that at approximately noon on Thursday a wildland fire was reported around Lakeport Boulevard and Highway 29 in the city of Lakeport.
The Lakeport Fire Protection District, Kelseyville Fire District and Northshore Fire District all sent resources and quickly contained the fire which was approximately one quarter acre, police said.
Police said the fire burned in an area of wildland between the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and the Lake County Department of Agriculture facility.
Multiple law enforcement units from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the Lakeport Police Department also responded to the fire, according to the Lakeport POlice report.
The agency said there were multiple witnesses who were in the area at the time of the fire starting who saw an individual walking away from the area of the fire. They also saw the individual attempting to strike another fire in grassland on the northeast side of the Chamber of Commerce Facility.
Law enforcement personnel detained the individual witnesses described — which they confirmed to be Bates — and conducted an investigation which produced evidence showing he had set the fire.
Police said Bates has multiple prior arrests and was released from the Lake County Correctional Facility on Thursday morning.
He was arrested on Thursday afternoon for arson of wildland, possession of controlled substances, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of stolen property.
This investigation remains ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact the Lakeport Police Department at 707-263-5491 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Kyra Clark-Wolf, University of Colorado Boulder and Philip Higuera, University of Montana
Strong winds blew across mountain slopes after a record-setting warm, dry summer. Small fires began to blow up into huge conflagrations. Towns in crisis scrambled to escape as fires bore down.
This could describe any number of recent events, in places as disparate as Colorado, California, Canada and Hawaii. But this fire disaster happened over 110 years ago in the Northern Rocky Mountains of Idaho and Montana.
The “Big Burn” of 1910 still holds the record for the largest fire season in the Northern Rockies. Hundreds of fires burned over 3 million acres – roughly the size of Connecticut – most in just two days. The fires destroyed towns, killed 86 people and galvanized public policies committed to putting out every fire.
Today, as the climate warms, fire seasons like in 1910 are becoming more likely. The 2020 fire season was an example. But are extreme fire seasons like these really that unusual in the context of history? And, when fire activity begins to surpass anything experienced in thousands of years – as research suggests is happening in the Southern Rockies – what will happen to the forests?
As paleoecologists, we study how and why ecosystems changed in the past. In a multiyear project, highlighted in two newpublications, we tracked how often forest fires occurred in high-elevation forests in the Rocky Mountains over the past 2,500 years, how those fires varied with the climate and how they affected ecosystems. This long view provides both hopeful and concerning lessons for making sense of today’s extreme fire events and impacts on forests.
Lakes record history going back millennia
When a high-elevation forest burns, fires consume tree needles and small branches, killing most trees and lofting charcoal in the air. Some of that charcoal lands on lakes and sinks to the bottom, where it is preserved in layers as sediment accumulates.
After the fire, trees regrow and also leave evidence of their existence in the form of pollen grains that fall on the lake and sink to the bottom.
By extracting a tube of those lake sediments, like a straw pushed into a layer cake from above, we were able to measure the amounts of charcoal and pollen in each layer and reconstruct the history of fire and forest recovery around a dozen lakes across the footprint of the 1910 fires.
Lessons from Rockies’ long history with fire
The lake sediments revealed that high-elevation, or subalpine, forests in the Northern Rockies in Montana and Idaho have consistently bounced back after fires, even during periods of drier climate and more frequent burning than we saw in the 20th century.
High-elevation forests only burn about once every 100 to 250 or more years on average. We found that the amount of burning in subalpine forests of the Northern Rockies over the 20th and 21st centuries remained within the bounds of what those forests experienced over the previous 2,500 years. Even today, the Northern Rockies show resilience to wildfires, including early signs of recovery after extensive fires in 2017.
But similar research in high-elevation forests of the Southern Rockies in Colorado and Wyoming tells a different story.
The record-setting 2020 fire season, with three of Colorado’s largest fires, helped push the rate of burning in high-elevation forests in Colorado and Wyoming into uncharted territory relative to the past 2,000 years.
Climate change is also having bigger impacts on whether and how forests recover after wildfires in warmer, drier regions of the West, including the Southern Rockies, the Southwest and California. When fires are followed by especially warm, dry summers, seedlings can’t establish and forests struggle to regenerate. In some places, shrubby or grassy vegetation replace trees altogether.
Changes happening now in the Southern Rockies could serve as an early warning for what to expect further down the road in the Northern Rockies.
Warmer climate, greater fire activity, higher risks
Looking back thousands of years, it’s hard to ignore the consistent links between the climate and the prevalence of wildfires.
Warmer, drier springs and summers load the dice to make extensive fire seasons more likely. This was the case in 1910 in the Northern Rockies and in 2020 in the Southern Rockies.
When, where and how climate change will push the rate of burning in the rest of the Rockies into uncharted territory is harder to anticipate. The difference between 1910 and 2020 was that 1910 was followed by decades with low fire activity, whereas 2020 was part of an overall trend of increasing fire activity linked with global warming. Just one fire like 1910’s Big Burn in the coming decades, in the context of 21st-century fire activity, would push the Northern Rockies beyond any known records.
The Big Burn of 1910 left a lasting impression because of the devastating impacts on lives and homes and, as in the 2020 fire season and many other recent fire disasters, because of the role humans played in igniting them.
Reframing the challenge of living with wildfire – building with fire-resistant materials, reducing accidental ignitions and increasing preparedness for extreme events – can help minimize damage while maintaining the critical role that fires have played in forests across the Rocky Mountains for millennia.
Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills, a worldwide earthquake safety movement that began in southern California in 2008, encourages people to practice how to protect themselves during earthquakes in order to reduce injuries and even loss of life.
More than 53 million people worldwide are participating in earthquake drills in 2023, including 17.5 million people holding drills in all U.S. states and territories on International ShakeOut Day this Thursday, October 19. Many will hold their drills at 10:19 a.m. (local time).
More than 9.9 million are taking part in California alone.
In Lake County, 7,092 participants were signed up as of Tuesday evening.
That includes 6,526 in schools, 194 in local government, 167 in health care, 150 in nonprofit organizations, 20 in hotels and other lodgings, 15 in museums, libraries and parks, 13 in childcare and preschools, five individuals/families and two in state government.
On Tuesday, Board Chair Jessica Pyska said the Board of Supervisors will take part and were asked to take pictures from under their desks as part of the drill.
There is still time to be included this year, even after Oct. 19. Register to participate on any day that works for you or your organization at www.ShakeOut.org.
The series of recent devastating earthquakes in Afghanistan, plus those in Turkey and elsewhere earlier this year, are somber reminders of the importance of building earthquake-resistant structures, developing effective response procedures and capabilities, and the value of practicing self-protective actions which is the primary purpose of Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills.
ShakeOut participants practice “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” and other recommended earthquake safety actions for a variety of situations — if you’re near a sturdy desk or table, in a stadium or theater, along the coast, driving a car, in bed, or if you have a mobility disability. Guidance for each situation is provided at www.EarthquakeCountry.org/step5. Many also practice other aspects of their emergency plans.
“ShakeOut is a way to increase community resilience at all levels,” said Mark Benthien, Global ShakeOut coordinator and outreach director for the Southern California Earthquake Center at the University of Southern California. “Earthquakes can be sudden and violent, but if we have taken steps to prepare ourselves, those around us, and the structures we live, work, and study in, we can greatly reduce their effects.”
Many participants follow the Earthquake Country Alliance’s Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety at www.EarthquakeCountry.org/sevensteps, which starts with Step 1: Secure Your Space. This means fastening furniture, TVs, cabinet door, and other items, to reduce the chance of earthquake injuries and damages caused when these items or knocked over or thrown during earthquakes.
California is the state with the greatest earthquake risk according to a study published by FEMA in April 2023. It also is the state with the most ShakeOut participants with more than 10 million expected to be registered this year. Washington State has the second-highest participation level with more than 1.3 million people. Utah is next with nearly 1 million people involved (though their drills were in April as Utah schools are not in session on ShakeOut day). The fourth largest participating state is Virginia – a reminder that as with the 2011 Mineral, VA earthquake, earthquakes can happen on the east coast too. See participation levels for regions at www.ShakeOut.org.
People in West Coast states (California, Oregon, and Washington) who have installed the MyShake app on their phone will receive a test alert at 10:19am on ShakeOut day. MyShake is one of several ways to receive the alert signal provided by the U.S. Geological Survey’s ShakeAlert system. Many cities, counties, school districts, and others are also testing their emergency communication alert systems. In addition, Washington State will conduct a test of their coastal tsunami sirens.
As part of their support for ShakeOut, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, has also set up an option to receive earthquake information via text messaging, including a reminder text at 10:19 a.m. local time (in Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, and Alaska time zones). To opt-in, text “ShakeOut” to 43362.