CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Clearlake Animal Control has a big selection of dogs waiting for new homes this week.
The City of Clearlake Animal Association also is seeking fosters for the animals waiting to be adopted.
Call the Clearlake Animal Control shelter at 707-273-9440, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to inquire about adoptions and schedule a visit to the shelter.
Visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.
The following dogs are available for adoption.
‘Colt’
“Colt” is a male Rhodesian Ridgeback mix with a short rust and black coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 49812106.
‘Andy’
“Andy” is a male American pit bull mix with a short gray and white coat.
He is dog No. 48995415.
‘Bear’
“Bear” is a male Labrador retriever-American pit bull mix with a short charcoal and fawn coat.
He has been neutered.
‘Chai’
“Chai” is a female Alaskan husky mix with a gray and white coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 49279552.
‘Ebenezer’
“Ebenezer” is a male American pit bull terrier mix with a short tan and white coat.
He is dog No. 49191651.
‘Fritz’
“Fritz” is a male Australian shepherd mix with a black and white coat.
He is dog No. 49278179.
‘Pooh Bear’
“Pooh Bear” is a 1-year-old male American pit bull mix with a copper and white coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 49603144.
‘Scrappy’
“Scrappy” is an 11-month-old male American pit bull mix with a short cream-colored coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 49603144.
‘Snowball’
“Snowball” is a male American Staffordshire mix terrier with a white coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 49159168.
‘Terry’
“Terry” is a male shepherd mix with a short brindle coat.
He is dog No. 48443693.
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.
Around the world, revolutionary changes are under way in transportation. More electric vehicles are on the road, people are taking advantage of sharing mobility services such as Uber and Lyft, and the rise in telework during the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the way people think about commuting.
The systemic changes under way in the transportation sector could begin lowering that emissions footprint. But will they reduce emissions enough?
In a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released April 4, 2022, scientists examined the latest research on efforts to mitigate climate change. The report concludes that falling costs for renewable energy and electric vehicle batteries, in addition to policy changes, have slowed the growth of climate change in the past decade, but that deep, immediate cuts are necessary. Emissions will have to peak by 2025 to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 F), a Paris Agreement goal, the report says.
The transportation chapter, which I contributed to, homed in on transportation transformations – some just starting and others expanding – that in the most aggressive scenarios could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions from transportation by 80% to 90% of current levels by 2050. That sort of drastic reduction would require a major, rapid rethinking of how people get around globally.
The future of EVs
All-electric vehicles have grown dramatically since the Tesla Roadster and Nissan Leaf arrived on the market a little over a decade ago, following the popularity of hybrids.
In 2021 alone, the sales of electric passenger vehicles, including plug-in hybrids, doubled worldwide to 6.6 million, about 9% of all car sales that year.
Beyond passenger vehicles, many micro-mobility options – such as autorickshaws, scooters and bikes – as well as buses, have been electrified. As the cost of lithium-ion batteries decreases, these transportation options will become increasingly affordable and further boost sales of battery-powered vehicles that traditionally have run on fossil fuels.
With the global trends toward more renewable generation, these vehicles will be connected with fewer carbon emissions over time. There are also many developing and potentially promising co-benefits of electromobility when coupled with the power system. The batteries within electric vehicles have the potential to act as storage devices for the grid, which can assist in stabilizing the intermittency of renewable resources in the power sector, among many other benefits.
Other areas of transportation are more challenging to electrify. Larger and heavier vehicles generally aren’t as conducive to electrification because the size and weight of the batteries needed rapidly becomes untenable.
For some heavy-duty trucks, ships and airplanes, alternative fuels such as hydrogen, advanced biofuels and synthetic fuels are being explored as replacements for fossil fuels. Most aren’t economically feasible yet, and substantial advances in the technology are still needed to ensure they are either low- or zero-carbon.
Other ways to cut emissions from transportation
While new fuel and vehicle technologies are often highlighted as decarbonization solutions, behavioral and other systemic changes will also be needed to meet to cut greenhouse gas emissions dramatically from this sector. We are already in the midst of these changes.
Telecommuting: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the explosion of teleworking and video conferencing reduced travel, and, with it, emissions associated with commuting. While some of that will rebound, telework is likely to continue for many sectors of the economy.
Shared mobility: Some shared mobility options, like bike and scooter sharing programs, can get more people out of vehicles entirely.
Car-sharing and on-demand services such as Uber and Lyft also have the potential to reduce emissions if they use high-efficiency or zero-emission vehicles, or if their services lean more toward car pooling, with each driver picking up multiple passengers. Unfortunately, there is substantial uncertainty about the impact of these services. They might also increase vehicle use and, with it, greenhouse gas emissions.
New policies such as the California Clean Miles Standard are helping to push companies like Uber and Lyft to use cleaner vehicles and increase their passenger loads, though it remains to be seen whether other regions will adopt similar policies.
Public transit-friendly cities: Another systemic change involves urban planning and design. Transportation in urban areas is responsible for approximately 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions.
Efficient city planning and land use can reduce travel demand and shift transportation modes, from cars to public transit, through strategies that avoid urban sprawl and disincentivize personal cars. These improvements not only decrease greenhouse gas emissions, but can decrease congestion, air pollution and noise, while improving the safety of transportation systems.
How do these advances translate to lower emissions?
Much of the uncertainty in how much technological change and other systemic shifts in transportation affects global warming is related to the speed of transition.
The new IPCC report includes several potential scenarios for how much improvements in transportation will be able to cut emissions. On average, the scenarios indicate that the carbon intensity of the transportation sector would need to decrease by about 50% by 2050 and as much as 91% by 2100 when combined with a cleaner electricity grid to stay within the 1.5-degree Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) target for global warming.
These decreases would require a complete reversal of current trends of increasing emissions in the transportation sector, but the recent advances in transportation provide many opportunities to meet this challenge.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Any time drivers take their eyes off the road to look at or use a phone, they are driving blind.
For example, looking down at a cell phone to read a text takes a driver’s eyes off the road for an average of five seconds. At 55 miles per hour, that is the equivalent of driving the length of a 300-foot football field without looking.
As part of April’s Distracted Driving Awareness Month, the California Highway Patrol, California Office of Traffic Safety and Impact Teen Drivers are working together to increase education and enforcement efforts to raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving.
Many distractions interfere with safe driving, but cell phones continue to be the most common distraction.
“Nothing on your phone is worth endangering a life when you drive,” said CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray. “Your primary focus should always be on the road and the task of driving your vehicle safely.”
In 2021, the CHP issued more than 55,800 citations for distracted driving.
Preliminary data compiled in the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System showed that in 2021 driver inattention resulted in over 13,000 crashes. Sadly, at least 56 distracted drivers were involved in fatal crashes and nearly 6,300 other distracted drivers were involved in injury crashes throughout California.
“Silence your phone and put it away while driving,” Office of Traffic Safety Director Barbara Rooney said. “It is a simple, yet significant action that keeps yourself and others on the road safe.”
While officers enforce distracted driving and other violations daily, on April 7 and 20, they will pay close attention to citing distracted drivers caught engaging in this dangerous driving behavior as part of statewide enforcement campaigns.
From April 11 to 24, the Office of Traffic Safety will run a new education campaign encouraging drivers to stay off the phone and ditch the distractions.
Car crashes are the No. 1 killer of teens, and the month-long traffic safety campaign will include a special emphasis during California Teen Safe Driving Week, April 4 to 10, on educating the state’s newest drivers about the dangers of reckless and distracted driving.
“Remember to be the driver you want your kids to be—eyes on the road, hands on the wheel, and your mind focused on the drive,” said Impact Teen Drivers Executive Director Kelly Browning. “Parents, you are the number one influencer of your kids’ driving attitudes and behaviors.”
With grant funding provided by the Office of Traffic Safety, the CHP has partnered with Impact Teen Drivers, a Sacramento-based nonprofit, to help spread the message of safe, distraction-free driving. The Impact Teen Drivers program uses a multifaceted approach to deliver evidence-based education to teens and parents across the nation.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Friends and colleagues around Lake County and the North Coast are remembering and honoring the life of a former Lakeport and Healdsburg police chief.
Kevin Burke, who last year retired as the chief of police for the city of Healdsburg, where he had served after leaving the Lakeport Police Department, has died. He was 55.
Burke’s body was found in his Healdsburg home on Tuesday evening by officers from his former department following a request for a welfare check, said his friend, Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen. Burke is reported to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“We’re all in shock,” said Margaret Silveira, a friend of Burke’s who retired as Lakeport city manager in 2020.
“I just can’t believe he’s gone,” Silveira said.
Rasmussen said he had gotten the news on Tuesday night and began notifying friends of Burke’s, as did Jason Ferguson, chief of the Cloverdale Police Department, who also had worked with Burke while he was at Lakeport Police.
“I didn’t sleep last night at all,” said Rasmussen on Wednesday afternoon, noting Ferguson also passed a sleepless night after receiving the news and trying to notify people.
On Wednesday evening, Ferguson posted on Facebook, “Truly heartbroken over the loss of this man who was a dear friend and mentor. I will forever cherish the memories and opportunities that he made possible during my career.”
In a statement posted on its Facebook page on Wednesday, the city of Healdsburg said it was mourning the passing of Burke, who had been chief from 2010 to 2021. Officials called him “a true wit, a friend and advisor to his colleagues, and a respected member of the City team.”
“The loss of Kevin Burke, our former Police Chief, will be felt by countless members of our community,” said Healdsburg Mayor Ozzy Jimenez. “His light and kind heart will be missed by so many. Our Healdsburg Police Department has lost a great leader and friend.”
“We are heartbroken and saddened over Kevin’s passing,” stated current Police Chief Matt Jenkins. “As his Healdsburg Police Department family mourns the loss, we remember him for everything he did for the department and the community. He was a mentor and a friend, and he led us through many difficult times with courage and dignity.”
The city of Lakeport’s Facebook page memorialized Burke in a Facebook post on Wednesday that said, “This is terribly sad news for anyone who knew Kevin. Some of us were fortunate to work with him while he was our Police Chief and Interim City Manager. Our sincere condolences to all of his friends, family and loved ones.”
“Kevin was a phenomenal leader both as Lakeport Police Chief and City Manager. He made many positive improvements to the department that are still in place today and have continually helped move us forward. I am where I am today because of his leadership,” Rasmussen told Lake County News.
An accomplished career
Burke, the son of a longtime teacher, grew up in St. Helena with his siblings, a brother and a sister.
He received a bachelor's degree in economics from Whittier College, a law degree from University of California, Berkeley's law school and later, while working for Lakeport, a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University in public safety management.
Throughout his life, he was an extensive traveler, taking trips around the world. He also was an outdoorsman, hunter and athlete.
Before entering policing, he worked as a deputy district attorney in Orange County. Later, he went to work for the Los Angeles Police Department, rising to the rank of sergeant before he arrived as the city of Lakeport’s new chief in March 2006.
Lisa Morrow, executive director of Lake Family Resource Center, said Burke was the first to invite the center to the chiefs’ meeting, which includes the sheriff, the two city police chiefs and the probation chief.
“It is how we started training. He was the most compassionate and realistic advocate,” Morrow said.
Morrow also credited Burke with helping create the strong and collaborative relationship between Lake Family Resource Center and law enforcement. Today, the organization is partnering with Lakeport Police to put a crisis intervention specialist on the streets along with officers.
Burke worked for the city of Lakeport for just over four and a half years. During that time, he spent nearly two years doing double-duty as the interim city manager. In that role, he managed to balance the budget and avoid layoffs during a challenging time for the city.
“He was the interim city manager when I got there and he was just so gracious in assisting me with getting on board,” said Silveira. Although they only worked together for about nine months, she said they were memorable ones.
She recalled him as a man of great intelligence, wit and grace, who was fun to be with.
He also was an adventurer. Silveira recalled taking sailing lessons with him and said they also went sky diving together — even though his knuckles were a bit white on that trip.
“He just was fun. And funny,” she said.
Longtime city staffer Andrew Britton said Burke was “always professional, always prepared,” and was willing to step up when the city needed his leadership as interim city manager.
“The bonus was he was a very kind and gracious man,” Britton said.
Burke then went on to Healdsburg, his second and final chief’s job.
In a 2010 interview with Lake County News, Burke — then just 44 — said he was looking forward to taking on “some additional responsibility with a larger organization and some new challenges.”
Even when moving into a larger department, Burke intended to keep his hands-on approach to policing. “It's kind of my style anyway,” he said.
He said at that time that he would miss the people he’d met — co-workers, friends and city staff. “I've worked in a lot of places over the years and in Lakeport I've made a lot of good friends, and never lived in a place that made me feel so welcome so quickly,” he said.
During his 10 years as Healdsburg chief, he made an impact. The city of Healdsburg said Burke “played a lead role in the community’s response to the Kincade Fire, the pandemic, and a national dialogue over police reform. Committed to community policing, Chief Burke also created a program within the police department wherein a social worker works with sworn officers to provide services to community members.”
He retired from Healdsburg last year and appeared headed for a busy retirement of trips, and time with friends and his beloved dogs.
Britton said he appreciated that Burke maintained a relationship with Lakeport and some of the people he worked with more than a decade after he left. “That’s pretty rare in my experience.”
Burke came to Lakeport for Public Works Director Doug Grider’s retirement party last December, at which point Britton said he got a chance to say hi and congratulate him on his retirement.
“The man touched a lot of lives. All positively as far as I can tell,” Britton said.
‘This career gets to the best of us’
In January Burke announced he was planning to run for the Sonoma County sheriff’s job.
Burke amassed numerous key endorsements early in his campaign, including from Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore and District Attorney Jill Ravitch, Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Rogers, Healdsburg Mayor Ozzy Jimenez and Sebastopol Mayor Patrick Slayter, council members from Cloverdale, Healdsburg and Santa Rosa, as well as unions and the Sonoma County Democratic Party.
But in early March, just two months into the campaign, Burke suddenly withdrew, citing health issues.
Mauricio Barreto, a Clearlake Police officer and former Lake County deputy sheriff, was a friend of Burke, who he said was a “bright light in this world,” and “a true leader and a great human being.”
Barreto said Burke often participated in road bike rides to benefit law enforcement, and he credited Burke with getting him into road bike racing.
They also worked out together, along with Deputy Jake Steely, who died after he was injured on the Mendocino Coast while trying to rescue his son from the ocean in April 2016.
Barreto said the day before Burke quit the sheriff’s race, there was a campaign event and he looked great. “I don’t understand what happened.”
However, Barreto added, “This career gets to the best of us.”
Barreto said he had last spoken to Burke about a month and a half ago as they were supposed to go on a bike ride. Barreto said Burke was doing great.
“We were supposed to go on a ride together and he told me he was going to have plenty of time soon. We had coffee one afternoon and talked about life. I never would have expected him to end his life. I’m heartbroken and very sad about his passing,” Barreto said.
Rasmussen said he was traveling through Healdsburg last Wednesday and called Burke to connect but didn’t hear back. He said that wasn’t entirely unusual, as it would often be several days before he would get a call back from Burke if he was on a trip.
He said he believes that Burke was depressed about not being in law enforcement any longer.
Retirement is rough for law enforcement officers, said Rasmussen, noting that a high number of cops are dying by suicide.
Rasmussen pointed to another former chief he knew — retired Fortuna Police chief, William Dobberstein, who was found dead in his home at the end of March, also of an apparent suicide. Dobberstein, who was 53, had retired in January of 2020.
Richard Persons, who was chief executive officer of the Lake County Fair during Burke’s tenure at the Lakeport Police Department, said he’s worked with a lot of law enforcement professionals over nearly four decades, nearly all of them smart, selfless, caring people.
“Kevin was one of the smartest people I've ever met. He was always warm, witty, firm and focused,” he said.
“Kevin was small in stature, but he was a very big human being. He leaves behind communities that are better for his having been part of them. I'll miss him, and I know many others will as well,” Persons said.
Individuals in distress and needing support and mental health resources can get help around the clocks at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/. If you need help, please ask for it; your life matters — more than you can ever know.
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 head-on crash on Highway 20 near Blue Lakes on Wednesday afternoon resulted in a fatality and led to a temporary shutdown of the highway.
The California Highway Patrol confirmed a death had resulted from the two-vehicle wreck, which was first reported just before 3:15 p.m. Wednesday on Highway 20 just east of Scotts Valley Road, west of Upper Lake.
Units arriving at the scene reported finding the roadway blocked by a pickup truck and a sedan, according to CHP and radio reports.
Within a few minutes of getting to the scene, medics confirmed one person had died, according to radio traffic.
Shortly before 3:45 p.m., Northshore Fire medics at the scene asked for an air ambulance to respond to Sutter Lakeside Hospital to transport another patient to an out-of-county trauma center.
The CHP said just before 4 p.m. that the highway was closed in both directions, with no estimated time of reopening.
The roadway was reported to have been reopened just before 6 p.m.
Additional information will be published as it becomes available.
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.
The U.S. Senate approved the Sunshine Protection Act in March 2022, with the goal of making daylight saving time permanent starting in November 2023. If that happens, the U.S. will never again “spring forward” or “fall back.”
Following the Senate’s vote and a recent hearing in the House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce – at which I testified – the subcommittee is now considering the issue. The full House of Representatives will need to vote in support of permanent DST before the bill goes to President Biden’s desk for his signature.
In my research on DST, I have found that Americans don’t like Congress messing with their clocks. However, the move to DST year-round makes a lot of sense.
In an effort to avoid the biannual time change in spring and fall, some DST critics have suggested that returning to permanent standard time would benefit society.
But research shows that DST saves lives and prevents crime. Nearly 20 states have passed bills to make DST permanent, and the Senate unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act to allow those laws to take effect – since any one state can’t move to DST unilaterally on dates different from the rest of the country.
If Congress ultimately passes the measure to turn all clocks forward permanently, I see five ways that Americans’ lives will improve.
1. Lives would be saved
Simply put, darkness kills – and darkness in the evening is far deadlier than darkness in the morning.
The evening rush hour is twice as fatal as the morning for various reasons. Far more people are on the road, more alcohol is in drivers’ bloodstreams, people are hurrying to get home and more children are enjoying outdoor, unsupervised play. Fatal vehicle-on-pedestrian crashes increase threefold when the sun goes down.
DST brings an extra hour of sunlight into the evening to mitigate those risks. Standard time has the opposite impact, by moving sunlight to the morning.
A metastudy reviewing all of the available research on the topic demonstrated that 343 lives per year could be saved by moving to year-round DST, primarily in reduced vehicle on pedestrian accidents. Mornings would be riskier, but afternoons/evenings would be far more safe.
2. Crime would decrease
Darkness is also a friend of crime. Moving sunlight into the evening has a far greater impact on crime prevention than it does in the morning. This is especially true for crimes by juveniles, which peak in the after-school and early evening hours.
Criminals prefer to do their work in the darkness of evening and night. Crime rates are 30% lower in the morning hours, even when those morning hours occur before sunrise, when it’s still dark.
Many people don’t know that the original justification for the creation of DST was to save energy – initially during World War I and II to prioritize energy for U.S. troops, and then later during the 1973 OPEC oil crisis. When the sun is out later in the evening, peak energy loads are reduced.
Having more sun in the evening requires not just less electricity to provide lighting, but reduces the amount of oil and gas required to heat homes and businesses, though it could increase cooling costs in the summer. DST resulted in 150,000 barrels of oil saved by the U.S. in 1973, which helped combat the effect of OPEC’s oil embargo.
Most people in our society are awake and using energy in the early evening when the sun sets. But a considerable portion of the population is still asleep at sunrise, resulting in significantly less demand for energy then.
This rationale motivated some in California to recommend permanent DST in the early 2000s, when the state experienced recurrent electricity shortages and rolling brownouts. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy estimated that the U.S. would have seen an energy savings of more than US$4 billion and a decrease of carbon emissions by 10.8 million metric tons if we had enacted permanent DST more than decade ago.
4. Avoiding clock switches improves sleep
Critics of DST are correct about one thing: The biannual clock switch is bad for health and welfare.
It wreaks havoc with people’s sleep cycles. Heart attacks increase 24% in the week after the U.S. “springs forward” in March. There’s even an uptick during the week when clocks “fall back.”
If that’s not bad enough, a study from 2000 shows that major financial market indexes NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ average negative returns on the Monday following both clock switches, presumably because of disrupted sleep cycles.
Critics of biannual clock switching sometimes use these points to argue in favor of permanent standard time. However, the same sleep benefits are available under year-round DST, too. Plus, standard time doesn’t offer the energy-saving, lifesaving or crime prevention effects of DST.
5. Recreation and commerce flourish in the sun
Recreation and commerce flourish in daylight and are hampered by evening darkness.
Americans are less willing to go out to shop in the dark, and it’s not very easy to catch a baseball in darkness either. These activities are far more prevalent in the early evening than they are in the early morning hours, so sunlight is not nearly so helpful then.
Not surprisingly, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and organizations devoted to outdoor recreation favor extended DST. Brick-and-mortar stores, especially family-owned businesses, suffered during the pandemic. Having more daylight to shop helps to reverse the trend.
A note about the downsides of DST
It is important to note that some research highlights the downsides of DST.
But most circadian rhythm dysfunction is created by the biannual clock shift itself. Either permanent standard time or permanent DST solves that problem. Standard time may be better for circadian rhythms overall because the sun sets and rises earlier; however, people’s evening activities and routines are unlikely to change in response. Earlier sunsets won’t force people to go to bed earlier, as might have been the case 150 years ago before electricity. “Prime time” is 8 to 11 p.m., not 5 to 6 a.m., for a reason.
Further, Americans make decisions all the time that we know have health risks, like eating red meat instead of broccoli and drinking alcohol or soda instead of water. We do this because we enjoy the benefits of those products despite their risks. This is similar to sun exposure and later bedtimes; we enjoy and benefit from them even though we know they carry risks.
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To address another downside – early morning winter darkness – any switch to permanent DST could be coupled with efforts to move school start times later, as long advocated by the American Academy of Pediatrics. This would be a good idea for kids’ circadian rhythms and mental health, regardless of DST or standard time. Stepped-up child safety measures for darker mornings, such as crosswalk lighting and more crossing guards, would also help.
Time will tell whether the U.S. adopts permanent DST, but either way, we should consider all of its benefits versus all of the costs.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — All 84 of the properties in Lake County whose owners enrolled in California's statewide Consolidated Debris Removal Program following last year's Cache fire have cleared the entire debris removal process and been returned to city officials to begin the permitting process for reconstruction.
The 84 returned properties include 79 parcels whose owners chose to participate in the full debris removal program.
The owners of the other five chose to take part in the program's hazardous trees only element.
Under the program, administered by the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, or Cal OES, and the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, or CalRecycle, in collaboration with county officials, participating property owners incur no direct costs.
"The return of all 84 properties in Lake County is a significant step forward in the recovery and rebuilding process for the owners of those properties," said Cal OES Deputy Director of Recovery Ryan Buras. "The state's recovery team has worked incredibly hard to remove more than 350,000 tons of debris, nearly 22,000 eligible fire-damaged trees and other hazardous materials on public roads and properties from the 2021 wildfires statewide. We are committed to clearing and returning the remaining properties as quickly as possible so that families can safely return home and move forward in their recovery."
Return of the properties to city officials follows the completion of site assessments; asbestos surveys; the removal of bulk quantities of asbestos containing materials; and the removal of eligible debris.
The process also included analysis of soil samples by a certified laboratory to verify they met state health and environmental standards; the felling and removal of hazardous trees; the implementation of erosion control measures; and a final walk-through by state debris officials to ensure all work meets state standards.
During the debris removal process, state contractors removed 9,640 tons of fire-related debris, including 467 tons of burned metal, 582 tons of burned concrete and 8,591 tons of ash and contaminated soil generated by the fire. Contractors also felled and removed 71 hazardous trees from 18 properties identified with such trees.
State debris officials also have returned 17, or 81%, of the 21 properties in Mendocino County participating in the program to local officials affected by the Hopkins. All but one of the properties is participating in the full debris removal program.
During debris removal operations in Mendocino County, crews removed 85 tons of burned metal, 828 tons of burned concrete and 4,,997 tons of ash and contaminated soil generated by the fire. Contractors also have felled and removed 108 hazardous trees from 18 properties identified with such trees in danger of falling on the public or public infrastructure.
To date, state debris officials have returned 796, or 37.2%, of 2,142 properties statewide participating in the full or hazardous trees only element of the program to their respective county to begin the permitting process.
To date, state-managed crews have cleared all eligible debris generated by the 2021 wildfires from 1,523, or 85.5% of the 1,781 properties enrolled in the full debris removal program.
Wildfire survivors had the option to either use their own contractor or enroll in the state-managed program.
Of the properties with damage from the 2021 fires, 1,781 signed up to have the remains of their homes and other structures cleared by the state. Another 359 property owners chose to participate in the hazardous trees only element of the program.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday received an update from staff and volunteers on the ongoing effort to move the Middle Creek Restoration Project toward completion.
The project to restore wetlands encompasses 1,650 acres near Upper Lake in the confluence of Middle and Scotts creeks, Clear Lake’s two largest tributaries, which Deputy Water Resources Director Marina Deligiannis said make up 50% of the Clear Lake watershed.
Deligiannis said those two tributaries provide 57% of the inflow and 71% of the phosphorus floating into Clear Lake.
She said the project is meant to reduce flood risk in Upper Lake — which will be aided by removing deteriorating levees — while also improving water quality and restoring habitat.
“This project has been going on for a very long time,” she said, going over a timeline that goes back decades, with the first public meeting about it having taken place in 1984.
One of the more recent developments in the effort was the establishment in 2016 of the Middle Creek Project Committee, which includes county staff, elected officials and volunteers.
Among that latter group is Dr. Harry Lyons, a retired biology professor who taught for many years at Woodland Community College’s Lake County Campus. He’s long been known as an enthusiast of Clear Lake and its unique biology, and for his ability to share that knowledge and enthusiasm with his students and the community.
Peter Windrem, a well-known Kelseyville attorney who is now retired, is another of the volunteers. Raised in Lake County, Windrem is also a champion of the Clear Lake hitch, listed as endangered under California law and now the focus of a lawsuit seeking after a federal listing was denied during the last months of the Trump administration.
Both Lyons and Windrem were on hand with Deligiannis on Tuesday to update the board on the project.
Lyons discussed the project stakeholders, one of the most important being the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He said the Corps has $109 billion worth of civil projects in the queue; that’s 15 times their annual budget.
“They are efficient and they do an excellent job,” he said.
The committee is trying to make the project as attractive as possible so it’s competitive in terms of the Corp’s annual work plan, Lyons said.
Lyons said the committee has been in touch with federal representatives, so when Congress gets involved the funds will get allocated.
“It is a project where the work is useful regardless of when it finishes. As far as we’ve come can’t be undone,” he said, explaining that buying property and making cultural and biological studies are achievements that don’t go away. A feasibility study done on the project needs to be updated and supplemented.
“Just steel your patience with the knowledge that quite a bit of effort has already been made,” Lyons said.
Lyons also noted the work done by the county of Lake, as head of the watershed protection district, one of the nonfederal sponsors, and the California Department of Water Resources, which has been a source of money for land acquisition.
State Water Resources, through the efforts of Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, most recently gave the project $15 million in grant money. The agency also previously had given the county $12 million for the project. As the project moves forward, Lyons said the state gets reduced liability and a functioning wetland.
“We want the Corps to dance with us. We gotta look cute,” said Lyons, adding one way to do that is to have purchased all of the necessary property.
Lyons also emphasized the important role of the tribes, for whom the area is of historical and continuing importance. He said their input is needed in the feasibility study and construction phases so cultural resources are not damaged.
He said the long-running project is “at the end of the beginning.” They presented to the board a letter addressed to the Army Corps restating the county’s support for the project, which they asked the board to approve.
Lyons said Congressman Mike Thompson will keep pushing to get the project through, with the state’s two members of the U.S. Senate to be brought in at a later time.
“We’re very proud of the work that we have done and will continue to do for this project,” Windrem said of the Middle Creek Restoration Coalition, a group that came together in 2016.
At that time, Windrem said the project was essentially dead — the Army Corps had even written to the county to ask if it intended to move forward.
The coalition formed and continues to have a No. 1 objective of getting money for the project. “No money, no project,” Windrem said.
He said the coalition reached out to ask Aguiar-Curry to work with the state Department of Water Resources to get the $15 million for property acquisition.
The concern now is that the county needs to finish acquisition by a deadline that’s been pushed back to next year.
“We’re committed and thrilled about this project. We always have been,” Windrem said.
He said the project will restore the area and act as a filter, allowing phosphorus — which fields the blue-green algae that has been a particular challenge on the lake — to drop out of the water.
Deligiannis read the Middle Creek Project Committee vision, which is to have a completed project that protects persons and wildlife from flooding, restores natural habitat for fishes and wildlife, improves Clear Lake’s water quality, and creates a recreation area for the residents and visitors of clearlake.
She said the project has one current source of funds, the state Department of Water Resources’ Flood Corridor Program.
“We are really hitting the final hour now,” she said of the grant deadline, which has been extended until June 2023.
Board Chair EJ Crandell said the project is one of the “ideal remedies” to address Clear Lake’s nutrient load, which feeds algae.
Supervisor Bruno Sabatier said moving forward “is arduous,” explaining that the process has been slowed down a lot.
Supervisor Tina Scott asked about any holdups the project is facing. Deligiannis said they have 29 different parcels remaining, involving 17 parcel owners, that they are working to acquire. The grant is for willing sellers only.
Sabatier moved to approve the letter to the Army Corps, which the board passed unanimously.
The Middle Creek Project Committee meets every other month on Zoom. The next meeting is 10:30 a.m. Monday, June 6. More information, as well as past meeting videos, is available on the Lake County Department of Water Resources website.
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.
Michael and Violet Divine’s image, using the dragonfly to represent the Hope Center’s story of healing and renewal, was chosen for the mural.
In the mural, the dragonfly rises out of the muck and continues to evolve. The panels trace the life cycle of the dragonfly as it grows the eggs in the chaos on the left and follows its transition into the world and the light on the right side, leaving the river behind.
The Lake County Rural Arts Initiative has been working with organizations to facilitate murals as a part of their “arts destination for economic growth” goal for Lake County.
The Divines also created a bass mural at Redbud Park in Clearlake.
LAKEPORT, Calif. — The city of Lakeport and Lakeport Disposal Co. Inc. announced that the Community Cleanup Day for city of Lakeport residents will take place Saturday, April 16.
The cleanup will take place between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the public parking lot north of the Fifth Street boat ramp in downtown Lakeport.
This event is limited to city of Lakeport residents and business owners.
Those dropping off trash and solid waste will be required to provide photo identification and a copy of a current city of Lakeport utility bill. The utility bill must be current in order to participate.
Participants are asked to follow these guidelines:
• Stay in vehicle while Lakeport Disposal staff unloads materials; • Two visits maximum per each Lakeport address;
Acceptable: Household trash, televisions, appliances (stoves, washers, dryers, dishwashers and water heaters), electronic waste, mattresses, household furniture, unusable clothes, blankets, towels and similar materials.
Not accepted: Refrigerators, hot tubs/spas, air conditioners, construction debris, used tires and household hazardous waste.
For more details, please see the city’s website, its Facebook page or contact Lakeport Disposal at 707-263-6080.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The report on February real estate sales from the Lake County Association of Realtors shows that median prices and sales numbers are remaining strong across the county.
A total of 68 homes were sold through the multiple listing service in February. These include traditionally built “stick-built” houses as well as manufactured homes on land.
There were seven sales of mobile homes in parks and 60 bare land (lots and acreage) sales, the report showed.
Of the homes sold, 28% were purchased for cash while 41% were financed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac through “conventional loans.” Thirteen percent were financed by FHA.
Almost one-third (31%) of homes sold with a seller concession to the buyer for closing costs; the average amount of seller credit to buyer was $6,800.
There are 197 homes on the market right now. If the rate of sales stays the same at 68 homes sold per month, there are currently 2.9 months of inventory on the market at the moment. That means that if no new homes are brought to the market for sale, in 2.9 months all of these homes would be sold and there would be none available, the association reported.
Less than six months of inventory is generally considered to be a “sellers’ market” while more than 6 months of inventory is often called a “buyers’ market,” the report explained.
The report said most homes in February were selling very close to the asking price.
In Clearlake the homes were selling for 101% of the asking price.
To break it down by area, see the comparison chart below of activity for February compared to the same time in 2021.
The association said that the numbers are quite small, so it is difficult to make assumptions based on them.
Editor’s note: This story contains graphic descriptions of the evidence in this case.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — On Monday afternoon a Lake County Superior Court judge sentenced a Lakeport man to state prison in a child pornography case.
Judge Shanda Harry sentenced Jeffery Scott Cramer, 60, to two years in state prison for felony possession of child pornography.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office arrested Cramer in May 2020 following an investigation that found he had used his social media accounts to upload child pornography on at least five occasions between August 2019 and February 2020.
Later in 2020, the District Attorney’s Office charged Cramer — then the owner of Main Street Bicycles, a business he has since sold — with felony possession of child pornography and bringing obscene materials that depict a minor in a sex act into the state.
In March of 2021, as part of an agreement with the District Attorney’s Office, Cramer entered a no contest plea to felony possession of child pornography. At that time, the second charge was dropped with a Harvey waiver, which allows that dismissed charge to still be considered for the purpose of sentencing.
In January, Cramer appeared before Judge Harry for sentencing. However, after having reviewed the case materials — including the photos and videos found in Cramer’s possession, most of which appeared to show children under age 12 — Harry rejected the plea agreement, which did not require prison time but instead gave him up to two years of probation, along with lifetime registration as a sex offender.
Harry said it was clear from her review that Cramer had not been engaged in a “passive exploration of pictures,” but had actually been using those images to create “tribute videos” in which Cramer filmed himself masturbating and then ejaculating on the images. Harry said he later uploaded those videos to porn sites, where they were distributed.
Following two additional continuations, during which it was reported that Cramer did not intend to withdraw from the plea agreement, the sentencing was back on Harry’s calendar on Monday.
During an afternoon hearing that lasted approximately 16 minutes, in which Cramer was present, Harry heard from Cramer’s attorney, Jane Gaskell of Santa Rosa who asked for a mitigated sentence.
It was reported on Monday that Cramer, who has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, had an MRI on March 22 which found that the disease has spread, requiring further testing and treatment into mid-May. It’s also anticipated that he will require surgery.
In explaining her reasons for seeking a mitigated sentence, Gaskell said Cramer has accepted responsibility for his actions. After seeing a therapist, Cramer wrote a letter to the court in which he said that he realized his internet porn usage was destructive not just to his family but to others.
“I realize that this is not a victimless crime, even though they are not known by name,” his letter said, as read by Gaskell.
Gaskell said Cramer’s therapist has reported that he is making progress and that he is utilizing psychotherapy effectively.
“I want the court to be reminded of that,” said Gaskell. “Mr. Cramer has stayed on that therapeutic path.”
She said the probation report concluded that Cramer was a suitable candidate for probation. Given that he had not pursued legal remedies that Gaskell said she made clear to him were available, she said she believed a mitigated sentence would be appropriate.
District Attorney Susan Krones said that in the same letter Gaskell quoted, Cramer talked about “slipping down a rabbit hole.”
“No matter what he said after that, he downplays the start of what he did when he was first starting to continue to review and watch child pornography,” Krones said, noting that’s the part of his letter to the court that is so concerning.
She said she doesn’t believe his use of child pornography happened accidentally. “He continued to seek it out.”
Krones said that in Cramer’s case, she believed the midterm offered in the probation report — for two years in state prison — was appropriate, adding that the mitigating term would not be appropriate because of the amount of child pornography involved.
In an interview earlier this year, Krones told Lake County News that Cramer had thousands of files — both videos and images — in his possession.
Harry noted that in an earlier hearing, she also had questioned the veracity of Cramer’s assertion about going down a rabbit hole, noting that looking for such images was not like getting off course while doing internet shopping.
She said she took his mental health treatment into consideration. “Once caught he has tried to improve himself.”
Harry then moved forward with passing sentence, noting she was not granting probation and that the mitigating factors were outweighed by the aggravating factors.
She gave Cramer the midterm of two years in state prison, with restitution fines totaling nearly $1,300. Cramer also gets one day of credit toward his prison sentence.
Understanding the ongoing issue with prostate cancer, Harry did not order Cramer remanded into custody. Rather, she set a date of July 27 for him to turn himself in at the Lake County Jail; from there he will be transferred to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Harry told Cramer and Gaskell that if, due to his treatment, that turn-in date needs to be moved, that she would be open to doing so.
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.