Michael Sean Shaffer, 27, of Lucerne, Calif., was arrested on Tuesday, December 27, 2011, after he attempted to flee deputies. Lake County Jail photo.

LUCERNE, Calif. – A Lucerne man who resisted arrest and fought with a deputy on Tuesday was finally arrested with the help of a sheriff’s K9.

Michael Sean Shaffer, 27, was arrested for a felony parole violation and resisting arrest, according to his booking sheet.

At approximately 11:45 p.m. Tuesday Lake County Sheriff’s deputies and a K9 responded to an address on Ogden Road in Lucerne in an attempt to contact Shaffer, who had a felony arrest warrant, according to Sgt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Brooks said Shaffer is a known escape risk and had a history of resisting arrest and possessing prohibited weapons.

When deputies knocked on the door of the Ogden Road home and announced themselves, Shaffer exited the house and started running toward Country Club Drive, Brooks said.

The K9 deputy identified himself and told Shaffer to stop or he was going to send the dog. Brooks said Shaffer continued to run and the deputy deployed his K9.

The K9 engaged Shaffer as he collided with a garbage can and fell to the ground. Brooks said Shaffer continued to resist as the deputy struggled to gain control of his hands.

The K9 engaged Shaffer again and he was taken into custody moments later, Brooks said.

Shaffer was transported to the hospital where he received medical treatment for some abrasions, puncture wounds and a laceration behind his right ear which required several stitches, according to Brooks.

Brooks said Shaffer was arrested and transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility and booked.

Shaffer remained in custody on Wednesday due to a no bail hold, according to his booking records.

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Lake County, Calif., had a foggy morning on Tuesday, December 27, 2011, which created some icy road conditions. Photo taken by Greg Cornish from his home in Nice, Calif.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Fog and icy road conditions resulted in county road workers and California Highway Patrol officers keeping an eye on the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff on Tuesday.

A thick morning fog came off Clear Lake in that area of the Northshore, resulting in icy roads, said Lake County Road Superintendent Steve Stangland.

“We didn’t have any accidents to our knowledge,” said Stangland.

Stangland said the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff is the busiest of the roads that Lake County maintains, and his staff gives it extra attention as a result.

A county sand truck on Tuesday spent part of the day sanding the cutoff, and the CHP set out flares to warn drivers of icy areas, Stangland said.

Stangland said the county has three road districts, each of which has a staff member who starts work at 4 a.m. – ahead of commuter traffic – to monitor areas like the cutoff, Bottle Rock Road and Point Lakeview Road for ice, downed trees and other road hazards.

With the fog lifting, Stangland said he’s not anticipating Wednesday to replicate Tuesday’s icy conditions.

The National Weather Service is predicting chances of showers increasing through the end of the week.

Stangland said the cloud cover and chance of rain will mean slightly warmer temperatures and less chance of icy roadways.

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The study, published this week in the early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that even small oil spills can have a large impact on marine life, and that common chemical analyses of oil spills may be inadequate.

"Our research represents a change in the paradigm for oil spill research and detecting oil spill effects in an urbanized estuary," said Gary Cherr, director of the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory and a study co-author.

On the foggy morning of Nov. 7, 2007, when the container ship collided with the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, bunker oil contaminated spawning habitats for the largest U.S. coastal population of Pacific herring – a month before spawning season.

The new study, which analyzed Pacific herring embryos following the spill, highlights the effects of bunker oil on fish embryos in shallow water, the potential significance of sunlight interacting with oil compounds, and the extreme vulnerability of fish in early life stages to spilled oil.

Specifically, the study found that components of Cosco Busan bunker oil accumulated in naturally spawned herring embryos, then interacted with sunlight during low tides to kill the embryos.

Laboratory fertilized eggs, caged in deeper waters, were protected from the lethal combination of sunlight and oil, but still showed less severe abnormalities associated with oil exposure.

Crude oil is naturally occurring, liquid petroleum. Bunker oil is a thick fuel oil distilled from crude oil and burned on ships to fuel their engines. It is contaminated with various, sometimes unknown, substances.

The study builds on research following the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, which released up to 32 million gallons of crude oil into the comparatively pristine environment of Prince William Sound, Alaska.

That research established a new paradigm for understanding the effects of oil toxicity on fish at early life stages.

The new study suggests that this old paradigm is inadequate to explain the dramatic, lethal effects of very low levels of oil on fish embryos, even in an urban estuary with preexisting background pollution.

"Based on our previous understanding of the effects of oil on embryonic fish, we didn't think there was enough oil from the Cosco Busan spill to cause this much damage," Cherr said. "And we didn't expect that the ultraviolet light would dramatically increase toxicity in the actual environment, as we might observe in controlled laboratory experiments."

Researchers began the new study in February 2008. They analyzed the levels of oil-based compounds in caged herring embryos at four oiled and two non-oiled subtidal sites, all of which were at least 1 meter below the water's surface. Naturally spawned embryos from shallower sites were also analyzed.

Three months after the spill, caged embryos at oiled sites showed nonlethal heart defects typical of oil exposure.

But embryos from the shallower, intertidal zone not only exhibited the nonlethal heart defects, they also showed surprisingly high rates of dead tissue and mortality unrelated to heart defects.

"These embryos were literally falling apart with high rates of mortality," said Cherr.

In 2008, almost no live larvae hatched from the natural spawn collected from oiled sites.

The high death rates did not seem to be caused by natural or manmade causes unrelated to the spill, the researchers report. No toxicity was observed in embryos from unoiled sites, even those near major highways.

Embryos sampled two years later from oiled sites showed modest heart defects but no increased death rates.

Pacific herring is a commercially and ecologically important species. The fish travel in large schools, typically from the San Francisco Bay north to the Bering Sea, and serve as a forage fish for humpback whales, other mammals, birds and salmon. After two years at sea, they spawn in shallow areas of bays and estuaries.

"In San Francisco, herring is one of the last urban fisheries, and herring is an indicator for the health of the Bay," said Cherr.

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William J. Adams, 59, was transported via REACH air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital following the crash, which occurred at 8:20 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.

The other driver in the crash, 35-year-old Christopher Genho Jr. of Clearlake Oaks, claimed no initial injury but may have possibly suffered shock, the CHP said.

The CHP report said Adams was driving his 2002 Saturn coupe eastbound on Highway 20 at an unknown speed through a series of “S” curves in Lucerne and passing Country Club Drive, with Genho traveling westbound at between 40 and 45 miles per hour in his full-size GMC 2500 panel van.

As Genho was approaching Ogden Road, Adams reportedly drifted across the double yellow lines into Genho’s path, the CHP said.

The crash’s cause is still under investigation, but the CHP report suggested that, based on a brief statement Adams was able to provide as well as that of an independent witness following his vehicle prior to the crash, Adams may have fallen asleep while driving.

That witness and Genho both told the CHP that Adams drifted across the double yellow lines, with Genho attempting to take evasive action by veering the van toward the eastbound lane in order to avoid hitting Adams, the CHP said.

However, Adams unexpectedly swerved back toward the eastbound lane. The CHP said Genho then moved the van back toward the north, with Adams again changing direction.

The front left portion of Adams’ Saturn struck the van’s front left area, with both vehicles coming to rest within the westbound traffic lane. The CHP said the van was oriented in a westbound direction with the Saturn positioned eastbound.

Northshore Fire personnel had to extricate Adams from the Saturn due to his injuries and the vehicle’s condition, the CHP reported.

Reports from the scene indicated Highway 20 was closed briefly as firefighters and CHP worked at the scene.

Officer Nick Powell is investigating the crash.

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The corporation said it hasn’t yet determined which stores will be closed.

"Given our performance and the difficult economic environment, especially for big-ticket items, we intend to implement a series of actions to reduce on-going expenses, adjust our asset base, and accelerate the transformation of our business model,” said Chief Executive Officer Lou D'Ambrosio. “These actions will better enable us to focus our investments on serving our customers and members through integrated retail – at the store, online and in the home.”

The corporation reported that it operates 1,307 Kmart stores across 49 states, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 890 full-line Sears stores.

There are no full-line Sears stores in the Lake County area, with the closest being in Santa Rosa, according to the Sears Web site.

However, the corporation Web site showed there are “hometown stores” – not reported to be slated for closure – in Lakeport and Clearlake. Lakeport also is home to a Kmart.

The proposed closures are expected to generate $140 to $170 million of cash as the net inventory in these stores is sold, along with additional cash proceeds from the sale or sublease of the related store real estate, the corporation said.

Sears Holdings Corp. said it expects to reduce its 2012 peak domestic inventory by $300 million from the 2011 level of $10.2 billion as a result of cost decreases in apparel, tighter buys and a lower inventory position at the beginning of the fiscal year.

The Tuesday report attributed Kmart's sales decline to decreases in the consumer electronics and apparel categories and lower layaway sales, while Sears’ declines were primarily driven by the consumer electronics and home appliance categories, with apparel sales flat and Lands' End in Sears stores up by mid-single digits.

D'Ambrosio said the corporation plans to take several specific actions to improve its situation, including focusing on improving gross profit dollars through better inventory management and more targeted pricing and promotion; reducing fixed costs by $100 to $200 million; and carefully evaluating store performance going forward.

“While our past practice has been to keep marginally performing stores open while we worked to improve their performance, we no longer believe that to be the appropriate action in this environment,” the corporation said in its Tuesday statement. “We intend to accentuate our focus and resources to our better performing stores with the goal of converting their customer experience into a world-class integrated retail experience.”

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The fire was first reported shortly before 3:30 p.m. off of Highway 20 near the Oasis roadhouse.

Radio reports indicated that dispatchers received numerous cell phone reports of the fire in different locations, but Northshore Fire Deputy Chief Pat Brown said there was just one fire that was located in Colusa County.

He said it was located off the roadway, and measured about 100 feet by 100 feet in size.

Williams Fire sent two engines and a water tender, Northshore Fire Protection District sent three engines and a water tender, and Cal Fire responded with a hand crew, said Brown.

He said the first engine on scene – from Northshore Fire’s Spring Valley station – put the fire out within about 10 minutes.

Brown said Cal Fire is trying to determine the fire’s cause.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

Luwana Quitiquit of Nice, Calif., died on Friday, December 23, 2011, at her home. She was 70 years old. Photo courtesy of the Quitiquit family.

NICE, Calif. – In the days before the Christmas holiday, Luwana Quitiquit was tired.

The 70-year-old Quitiquit, a respected local Pomo elder and basket weaver, artist and activist, had been the lead plaintiff in a case filed against Robinson Rancheria, whose council was trying to evict her and several others from their homes on the reservation.

It was the latest assault on Quitiquit and her family, who in 2008 were disenrolled by the tribe. Also disenrolled at that time was her mother, who was posthumously removed from the tribe’s rolls.

Quitiquit, who had formerly served on the Robinson Rancheria tribal council, told Lake County News at the time that the move to force her family out of the tribe was purely political and retaliatory.

“I'm ready to fight,” she said in a December 2008 interview. “They're not going to make me cry. I'm going to fight all the way.”

She had continued to fight, even as the tribe attempted to push her from her home, signing up to be the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit to fight the evictions. A judge recently had granted a delay in the proceedings until March, according to her sister, Wanda Quitiquit.

But, as sister Wanda pointed out, Luwana Quitiquit was both busy and tired from the battle, and she was struggling with her health.

“You would not believe the stress she was under,” Wanda Quitiquit told Lake County News.

In order to pay for the retainer fee for the attorney representing her and others targeted for eviction, Luwana Quitiquit had just sold one of her exquisitely beaded American Indian dresses, Wanda Quitiquit said.

With money to pay the attorney, Luwana Quitiquit believed things were going to be all right, said her sister.

On Thursday, Dec. 22, she went to bed exhausted. The next morning, her son went to check on her.

“She died in her sleep and we should all be so lucky,” said Wanda Quitiquit, who called her sister her best friend.

Wanda Quitiquit said the fight to battle the evictions at Robinson Rancheria needs to continue on behalf of her sister.

“They can't touch her now,” she said of the tribal council.

Luwana Quitiquit was born in Isleton, Calif., on Nov. 13, 1941, to father Claro Quitiquit, of Filipino ancestry, and mother, Marie Boggs Quitiquit, who came from Robinson Rancheria.

She was from a big family, with a total of 15 siblings.

She grew up on Union Island in the Bay-Delta area near Stockton, where she and her family were employed as farm workers.

Luwana Quitiquit of Nice, Calif., demonstrated traditional Pomo basket weaving. She died at age 70 on Friday, December 23, 2011. Lake County News file photo.

Her interests and activism took root there, but grew beyond the boundaries of a youth spent in farming.

While in her 20s she worked at the University of California, Berkeley, and in November 1969 she took part in an earlier “occupy” movement, when she and other American Indians decided to occupy Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay.

Her family said she was one of the first Indians to step foot on the island as part of that occupation, remaining there until its end two years later, in 1971.

Her older brother Lawrence Thompson, who died in 2009, also had been involved in the Alcatraz occupation, captaining a boat that transported people from San Francisco Pier No. 40 to the island.

In the years that followed the Alcatraz occupation, Luwana Quitiquit continued her education. In 1977 she received her bachelor's degree in sociology from U.C. Berkeley.

Since then, she had become known as a talented scholar, researcher and grant writer, and worked to address challenges facing natives in Indian Country.

Her family said she even went on to visit New Zealand and Australia. Indigenous leaders there encouraged her to work to preserve her Pomo culture and heritage.

Luwana Quitiquit studied Pomo basketry – renowned weaver Mabel McKay was among her teachers – and owned and operated the Pomo Fine Art Gallery in Lucerne’s Harbor Village Artists complex.

She traveled around the state to share her talents, going to Albany last month to take part in an American Indian art show with her son, Alan Harrison.

“Luwana taught a cultural wellness class at the health clinic that became a class model for other tribal clinics in California,” said friend Sandy Elgin. “She was, and still is, a legend with a gentle spirit that will live on forever.”

Luwana Quitiquit is survived by her three children, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, 11 of her siblings, and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her son, Tyrone A. Douglas; her parents and four of her brothers.

Quitiquit's obituary can be viewed here: Luwana Quitiquit, 1941-2011 .

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

Joy White modeled one of the original handmade buckskin dresses made by Pomo artisan Luwana Quitiquit (left) of Nice, Calif. Quitiquit died at age 70 on Friday, December 23, 2011. Lake County News file photo.

In October 2010, Harris filed a lawsuit against 10 companies for engaging in price fixing of LCD panels from 1999 to 2006 that resulted in higher prices for California residents and businesses, as well as government agencies.

Tuesday’s settlements resolve Attorney General Harris' claims against seven companies, along with those of seven other attorneys general and a national class action.

As part of the settlements, the companies that engaged in price fixing will provide a fund for consumers and businesses in 25 states, including California.

The settling companies also have resolved claims brought by Attorney General Harris for civil penalties under California's Unfair Competition Law, as well as restitution for government agencies that purchased the flat screen LCD panels.

Attorney General Harris is joined in these settlements by the attorneys general of Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New York, West Virginia and Wisconsin, as well as a class action brought on behalf of private claimants in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Settling defendants include: Chimei Innolux Corp., Chi Mei Optoelectronics USA, Inc., Chi Mei Optoelectronics Japan Co., Ltd, HannStar Display Corp., Hitachi, Ltd., Hitachi Displays, Ltd., Hitachi Electronic Devices, USA, Inc., Samsung Electronics, Co., Ltd., Samsung Electronics America, Inc., Samsung Semiconductor, Inc., Sharp Corp. and Sharp Electronics Corp.

The California case was originally filed in San Francisco Superior Court, where litigation continues against AU Optronics Corp., AU Optronics Corp. America, Inc., LG Display Co. Ltd., LG Display America Inc., Toshiba Corp., Toshiba Mobile Display Co. Ltd. and Toshiba America Electronics Components Inc.

In 2008, two companies – LG Display Co., Ltd. and LG Display America, Inc. – pleaded guilty to federal charges for price fixing TFT-LCD panels and paid $400 million in federal fines. Defendants AU Optronics Corp. and AU Optronics Corp. America, along with several employees, have been indicted on federal charges of price fixing.

The criminal trial is scheduled for January 2012 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

California consumers and government entities will receive a significant portion of the more than $500 million settlement, with an exact percentage to be determined later.

Following completion of the litigation, California consumers and businesses can file claims for monetary relief.

Information about how to file a claim will be available at the Attorney General's Web site at www.oag.ca.gov or by calling 800-952-5225.

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Disabled retirees, reserve component members, surviving spouses and active forces all benefited from flush wartime budgets and a Congress attuned after 9/11 to America’s deepening appreciation of current and past generations who risk life and limb in our nation’s wars.

But amid a deepening debt crisis and return of all U.S. forces from Iraq, the 2012 defense authorization bill (HR 1540) approved week before last shows priorities shifting, toward controlling defense spending and preparing to drawdown forces.

Restored are some old authorities needed to “reduce end strength in a responsible manner,” explained a House-Senate conference report on the bill.

These include:

– Temporary Early Retirement Authority, TERA, to allow select members a reduced annuity if released after 15 years but less than 20;

– Voluntary retirement incentive pay, payable to “no more than 675 officers’ with 20 to 29 years of service can be encourage to leave in return for payments of up to 12 months of basic pay;

– Voluntary separation pay and benefits for select enlisted members or officers who have more than six years’ service but fewer than 20.

– Expansion from three months to one year the period that an enlisted member can be discharged early without incurring a loss of benefits. But no pay or allowances would be paid for obligated time not served.

The Army and Marine Corps saw the steepest force increases during the Iraq war and expect to make the deepest post-war cuts.

Army end strength in 2012 will fall by 7400 soldiers, to 562,000, by October. That’s still up 77,000 from 2003.

Marine strength will hold at 202,100 but plans are to cut the Corps to 186,800 or even lower as cost-cutting pressure intensifies.

The Navy is down 54,400 sailors since wartime strength peaked at 383,000 in 2002. It will lose another 3000 to reach 325,700 by fall.

The Air Force is to gain 600 airmen for total active duty strength of 332,800. Though it is down 40,000 airmen since a wartime peak in 2004, Air Force exceeded its authorized level by 1,200 last October.

The new defense bill authorizes the modest TRICARE Prime enrollment fee increases that took effect Oct. 1 for working-age retirees, the first bump since TRICARE began 16 years ago.

It also directs retiree Prime fees be raised annually by the percentage hike in retired pay through annual cost-of-living adjustments or COLAs. Pharmacy co-payments will be allowed to rise.

Effective back to Oct. 1, the services must prorate imminent danger pay and hostile fire pay of $225 a month based on number of days spent in designated danger areas.

Previously, any part of a day in a war zone qualified a member for the full monthly payment. Only if there’s exposure to hostile fire will a day in theater now trigger full payment.

The Obama administration, military leaders, prominent lawmakers and various debt commissions have signaled deeper cost-sharing ahead for military beneficiaries including a first-ever enrollment fee for TRICARE for life and a dampened COLA formula for all federal entitlements.

So beneficiaries have reason to be wary of the defense budget to be unveiled in February with all accounts, including personnel, facing spending cuts.

Killed during final negotiations between House-Senate conferees on this defense bill was a provision to end reductions in survivor benefit annuities for surviving spouses to match dependency and indemnity compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Also killed was a provision to ease the impact of this SBP-DIC offset by increasing amounts paid under the interim Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance.

Progress also has stalled on other entitlement reforms including lifting the ban on concurrent receipt of both retired pay and VA disability compensation for all disabled retirees.

Still being impacted by the ban are retirees with disability ratings of 40 percent or less and disabled veterans forced by health conditions to leave service short of 20 years. President Obama at one time endorsed these benefit expansions but no more.

Military associations don’t brag of gains over the past decade, probably to protect them and to the fight effectively for others. But even a partial list is impressive.

Older retirees today have TRICARE for Life, a prized supplement to Medicare that didn’t exist before. All beneficiaries have access to a mail-order drug program and a vast retail pharmacy network.

Many thousands of retirees with serious or combat-related disabilities now draw full retired pay plus VA disability compensation because Congress ended for them the century-old ban on concurrent receipt.

The Survivor Benefit Plan is more valuable since Congress ended a deep reduction in annuities at age 62 when surviving spouses become eligible for social security.

The gratuity for combat-related deaths was raised six-fold to $100,000 and maximum Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance coverage rose from $250,000 to $400,000.

Congress also approved a lump sum Traumatic SGLI payment of up to $100,000 to assist the most severely wounded with immediate financial challenges.

A decade ago careerists faced a reduced retirement plan, Redux, and an anemic post-service education benefit.

Congress restored for them the traditional retirement plan of “half” base pay at 20 years with full COLA or annual cost-of-living adjustments.

In 2009, a far more valuable Post-9/11 GI Bill took effect for those with active service since Sept. 11, 2001.

A perceived military pay gap with the private sector was closed over a decade with a string of annual raises that exceeded private sector wage growth, and out-of-pocket housing costs fell sharply as Basic Allowance for Housing was raised enough to cover members’ average rent and utility costs.

Reserve personnel also saw gains including premium-based TRICARE coverage while in drill status and the lowering of the age-60 reserve retirement tied to length of wartime deployments after January 2008.

To comment, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., write to Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA, 20120-1111 or visit: www.militaryupdate.com.

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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Office of Education reported Tuesday that recently announced mid-year state budget cuts include massive and unequalled reductions to much-needed transportation funds for rural and small school districts.

As a result, Lake County Superintendent of Schools Wally Holbrook said Lake County school districts are again preparing to deal with more reductions to funding for education and schools.

This time, however, the proposed cuts are in the middle of the budget year, lack specificity and are based on disproportionate funding allocations for school districts that provide necessary but not mandated transportation, he said.

Holbrook said the Lake County schools revenue limit funding per-student has been reduced over the last five years by approximately $1,300 per-student, and local schools are now preparing for an additional $13.10 per student mid-year reduction.

In addition, transportation funding will be reduced by 51.5 percent, which Holbrook said will result in a loss of approximately $875,000 to Lake County schools.

The mid-year cuts in transportation raise many issues for Lake County’s schools, Holbrook said.

Lake County schools and parents rely heavily on home to school transportation – in the form of school buses – to get their children to school, Holbrook said. Due to the county’s geography and walking distances to school, a higher percentage of local students ride the bus.

While home to school transportation is not a state-mandated program, Holbrook said it is a critical service ensuring that students attend school on a regular basis, and average daily attendance (ADA) is the primary determiner for school funding. Simply discontinuing school transportation service is not a viable solution for Lake County schools.

Another issue raised is the apparent lack of fairness in how the reductions in transportation funds will be calculated, according to Holbrook.

The 51.5-percent reduction is planned to be applied in January to a decades-old base-funding appropriation that varies from district to district. Holbrook said the result of this approach will be a disproportionate reduction of dollars on a per-student basis.

According to the chart below, total Lake County reductions per-student will range from a low of $60 per-student to a high of $157, Holbrook said.

In addition, state transportation funds allocated to Lake County schools already have been reduced and do not fully cover the cost of providing transportation, Holbrook said.

In 2011-12 Lake County school transportation entitlements have been reduced by $435,000, thereby requiring local school districts to allocate more than $1,803,000 of scarce regular education dollars to maintain the current level of service, he said.

As an example, Kelseyville Unified School District’s initial transportation allotment was $442,359 and was reduced to $354,616 in July, Holbrook said. Now that allocation will be reduced again by 51.5 percent, leaving just $171,989 as the state funded amount.

Kelseyville’s regular education budget will now need to fund $277,230 of the total transportation costs, which Holbrook said amounts to $449,219.

Lastly, Holbrook said the timeline for implementation of mid-year reductions is problematic.

Schools cannot simply reduce personnel costs, he said.

Most, if not all, school districts are subject to collective bargaining agreements requiring them to adhere to strict procedures for notification and communication related to reducing staff, Holbrook said. In order to fairly and efficiently implement any reductions in staff, a minimum of 60 to 90 days is required, thereby reducing the potential savings in the remaining school year.

While it may be overly optimistic to expect that education would be held harmless from future cuts until the budget stabilizes, the reductions could be applied in a more equitable fashion, he said.

The same dollars generated in the 51.5 percent reduction to transportation could be achieved by a statewide “across the board” reduction of $42 per student, Holbrook suggested.

Holbrook is encouraging local parents to consider contacting Lake County’s state legislators to encourage them to quickly address this issue.

“Together we can make a difference,” Holbrook said.

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The fire was reported shortly before 10 p.m. on El Camino Real, according to Lake County Fire Assistant Chief Willie Sapeta.

Firefighters were dispatched and on the scene within seven minutes, Sapeta said.

Sapeta said he responded along with an engine, water tender, two medics and a total of 20 fire personnel.

When they arrived the older doublewide mobile home was 50 percent involved, he said.

“We had control of it in about 45 minutes,” he said, adding that firefighters had mopped up and been released from the scene within two hours.

He said they were aided in fighting the blaze by the fact that a fire hydrant was located just across the street.

Neighbors told firefighters that they thought the woman who lived in the home was there when the fire broke out, but Sapeta said three complete searches yielded no sign of her.

Firefighters did, however, find two dogs and a cat that died as a result of the fire, he said.

The home was destroyed, said Sapeta, noting that what the fire didn’t damage the smoke and heat did.

He said the cause is still under investigation.

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