“Jupiter.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Clearlake Animal Control has new dogs ready for new homes this week.
The Clearlake Animal Control website lists 48 adoptable dogs.
This week’s dogs include “Jupiter,” a male German shepherd mix with a black and tan coat.
“Truffles.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. Another adoptable dog is “Truffles,” a German shepherd mix with a brown brindle 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.
State Controller Malia M. Cohen has published the 2022 self-reported payroll data for fairs, expositions and First 5 commissions on the Government Compensation in California website.
The data cover 2,299 positions and a total of more than $41.8 million in 2022 wages.
The newly published data include 1,593 positions at 20 fairs and expositions, and 706 positions at 32 First 5 commissions.
The Lake County Fair has 45 employees — most of them seasonal — with total wages reported at $244,156 and retirement and health contributions totaling $81,377.
Lake County’s First 5 Commission has 12 employees listed, only two of which — the executive director and health program support specialist — are paid, with total payroll at $105,035 and retirement and health contribution at $11,169.
California law requires cities, counties, and special districts to annually report compensation data to the State Controller.
Controller Cohen also maintains and publishes state government and California State University salary data.
No statutory requirement exists for superior courts, UC, community college districts, fairs, expositions, First 5 commissions, or K-12 education providers; their reporting is voluntary.
A list of entities that did not file or filed incomplete reports is available here.
The site contains pay and benefit information on more than two million government jobs in California, as reported annually by each entity.
As the chief fiscal officer of California, Controller Cohen is responsible for accountability and disbursement of the state’s financial resources.
The controller has independent auditing authority over government agencies that spend state funds. She is a member of numerous financing authorities, and fiscal and financial oversight entities including the Franchise Tax Board. She also serves on the boards for the nation’s two largest public pension funds.
On Tuesday morning, more than 500 tribal members, dignitaries and students gathered to unveil the first-ever Capitol monument acknowledging tribes residing in the state and their millennia-long, resilient presence on land now known as California.
The historic tribute specifically recognizes the Sacramento region tribes of Wilton Rancheria, Ione Band of Miwok Indians, Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians, Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians and Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians.
The new monument is the 10th addition to a park memorializing California’s firefighters, veterans and public safety officers.
It is the first addition to the park since 2009, when the statue of Thomas Starr King was brought to California from Boston. King was a Civil War-era minister, orator and abolitionist. The park was envisioned in 1863 as a place to reflect and celebrate the state’s history and natural beauty, according to the Capitol Park website.
Assemblymember James C. Ramos — first California Native American elected to the Legislature since statehood in 1850 — authored AB 338 in 2021, which authorized the monument.
“This monument — now a centerpiece of Capitol Park — adds a new and long overdue chapter to California’s relationship with its tribes,” said Ramos. “As a state, we are beginning to tell our history from a broader, more complete, and accurate perspective by including the voice of California Native Americans.” He added, “As Native Americans, we have been invisible, romanticized, minimized, or disparaged for centuries. That is not easily or quickly undone. But today I am proud to be Native American and proud to be a Californian.”
The Miwok skirt dancer portrayed in the monument is modeled after William J. Franklin Sr., the late respected Miwok leader and cultural dancer.
Franklin played a critical role in preserving Miwok dances and traditions, and helped build three Northern California roundhouses, dedicated spaces for Native American ceremonies, songs, dances, and gatherings. Sacramento sculptor Ronnie Frostad designed the project.
“Mr. Franklin was a teacher of native culture and he understood that our stories, songs and culture need to be shared and taught to new generations,” Ramos said. “He would have been pleased to see so many students here, of all ages — and particularly proud to see students from a school recently named Miwok.”
Until June, Miwok Middle School was named after John Sutter, who enslaved Native people during California’s Gold Rush period.
“Today’s unveiling signifies the start of a new era at the California State Capitol, one where we stop uplifting a false narrative and start honoring the original stewards of this land by telling a true and accurate portrayal of California’s journey to statehood,” said Wilton Rancheria Chairman Jesus Tarango. “Every tribe across the state has their own Bill Franklin, a leader who fought to keep our cultures and traditions alive during a time where it was dangerous to do so. This monument serves to thank and honor each one of them.”
Tarango added, “It also celebrates the power California Tribes have when we work together to achieve a common goal. I would like to thank my fellow tribal Leaders and Assemblymember Ramos for their collaboration throughout this legislative process.”
Sara Dutschke, chairperson of the Ione Band of Miwok Indians, applauded the joint tribal effort.
“AB 338 [the law authorizing the statue] paved the way for real collaboration and partnership among many of the Miwok tribes of the Sacramento region,” Dutschke said. “Working together, we have achieved an amazing accomplishment: Installation of the very first monument on State Capitol grounds that honors California’s First People. This sort of recognition for our people is long overdue and represents an important step toward telling the true history of California.”
“We are so excited for this day—for this day and this statue to forever be a reminder of where we came from and that if we stand together, we can accomplish anything,” said Lloyd Mathiesen, chairman of the Chicken Ranch Rancheria.
”AB338 is a step toward healing for the hundreds of thousands of our ancestors who lost their lives due to the genocide of the missions led by Junipero Serra,” said Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians Chairwoman Rhonda Pope.
Dignitaries attending the event included state Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), Treasurer Fiona Ma, local school board members and other elected officials, regional tribal leaders, and more than 300 students from area schools.
AB 338 (Ramos, 2021) History
1965: Governor Pat Brown signs AB 1124 into law, paving the way for a Father Junipero Serra monument and its maintenance by the state for 50 years.
1967: The Father Junipero Serra monument erected.
July 4, 2020: Protestors topple Father Junipero Serra monument in Capitol Park Jan. 28, 2021: AB 338 is introduced and paves the way for construction and maintenance of a monument honoring California Native American people of the Sacramento region on the grounds of the State Capitol. Supporters of the measure include Barona Band of Mission Indians, California Tribal Business Alliance, Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-wuk Indians of California, California Nations Indian Gaming Association, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations, and Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation
May 27, 2021: California State Assembly approves AB 338 by a vote of 66-2 and moves to the State Senate.
Aug. 24, 2021: Debate takes place on the Senate Floor. The California State Senate approves AB 338 by a vote of 28-2 and heads to the governor’s desk.
Sept. 24, 2021: Governor Gavin Newsom signs AB 338 into law.
Nov. 14, 2022: Groundbreaking for the California Native American Monument.
Nov. 7, 2023: Unveiling and Dedication Ceremony for the California Native American Monument.
About William J. Franklin Sr.: Miwok elder and inspiration for Capitol Park Monument
William J. Franklin Sr. was a Miwok Indian leader and cultural preservationist whose efforts to preserve and promote the Miwok and other Native American cultures — most notably, the traditional dances — will be long remembered. He was born in Nashville, California, located in El Dorado County, on Sept. 20, 1912, and crossed over on May 2, 2000.
Franklin was proud of his Native American roots and championed fostering knowledge and respect of California Indians. This included successful lobbying to create a place where California Indians could practice their traditional heritage on historical lands which led to creation of Grinding Rock Park, also known as Grinding Rock-Chaw’se in Pine Grove, California.
He also served as a consultant to the Department of Parks and Recreation and helped build three California roundhouses — dedicated space for ceremony, songs, dances and gatherings.
In 1979, Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. appointed Franklin to serve on the Native American Heritage Commission.
Even as a young man, he was a farsighted advocate for his people, and petitioned the United States government for land on which the Ione could build homes without fear of being moved.
In the 1940s, Franklin and others founded the Federated Indians of California to voice Native American concerns. About this same time, he also began researching Miwok ceremonial life by assembling regalia, interviewing elders, and collecting songs.
Franklin had been a dancer since the age of 12 at the Jackson Valley roundhouse and refused to let Miwok traditions die.
His many endeavors helped ensure traditional and historic practices continue and continue to inspire younger generations.
At his passing, Franklin was survived by four sons, seven daughters, 38 grandchildren, 41 great-grandchildren and 12 great-great-grandchildren.
Speed and aggressive driving continues to be a major concern on California roadways.
Federal funding awarded to the California Highway Patrol will help implement safety measures to reduce dangerous driving behaviors statewide.
The $2.5 million Speed Prevention, Education and Enforcement Deterrence, or SPEED II, grant aims to reduce the number of fatal and injury crashes related to speed and the number of victims killed and injured in these crashes.
To achieve this, the CHP will deploy enhanced enforcement and public awareness campaigns statewide.
Speeding and aggressive driving behaviors are a significant danger to the motoring public, pedestrians, and individuals using alternate forms of transportation.
In federal fiscal year 2021-2022, speed was a factor in nearly 40% of all fatal and injury crashes in California.
During this period, there were in excess of 28,000 speed-related crashes, resulting in over 400 deaths and more than 42,000 injuries.
“The receipt of this grant will enable the CHP to reinforce our commitment to road safety,” said CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee. “Through a combination of proactive enforcement and community education, we aim to eliminate the threat of speed and aggressive driving, while making our roads safer for everyone.”
During April 2021 to July 2023, the CHP used federal funding to employ educational and enforcement efforts to combat dangerous driving behaviors.
The federal funding allowed the CHP to conduct enhanced speed enforcement operations on state routes with increasingly speed related incidents.
During this period, the CHP issued over 48,000 citations to motorists exceeding 100 miles per hour; collaborated with allied law enforcement agencies and posted anti-speeding and aggressive driving behavior ads on social media.
Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
We all know that a lousy night’s sleep can leave us feeling drained the next day. Now a study by UC San Francisco has found another reason to catch more Z’s: poor sleep is tied to significantly higher odds of experiencing atrial fibrillation, or A-Fib — irregular heartbeats that can lead to blood clots, heart failure, stroke and other heart-related problems — the following day.
A bad night of sleep was associated with a 15% greater risk of having an A-Fib episode, and continued poor sleep was associated with longer episodes of A-Fib.
The researchers noted that it is important to treat underlying disease that may be causing A-Fib, which is the most common type of arrythmia – when the heart beats too fast or too slow or irregularly.
The new study shows that strategies to improve general sleep quality also may help.
“Treating insomnia can be challenging, but in many cases, there are things within an individual’s control that can meaningfully improve sleep quality,” said corresponding author Gregory M. Marcus, MD, MAS, a cardiologist and electrophysiologist at UCSF Health.
He suggested going to bed at a reasonable and at a consistent time, avoiding alcohol and caffeine before bedtime, using the bed only for sleep or romance, exercising regularly, keeping the room cool, avoiding naps and waking up at the same time each day.
Sleep quality: the good, the bad and the horrible
UCSF has long been a leader in cardiology treatment, including for heart rhythm disorders. Although the risks associated with A-Fib have been extensively investigated, this is the first time that researchers have seen an immediate connection to poor sleep.
The study tracked 419 patients in the I-STOP-AFIB trial. They rated their sleep quality each night, as either “amazing,” “good,” “average,” “bad” or “horrible,” and used mobile electrocardiograms to measure A-Fib episodes the following day.
The study appears in JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology.
NORTH COAST, Calif. — Two men — one of them from Lake County — are being held for an attempted murder case, with a third man still sought.
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said Roberto Chavez-Souza, 28, of Clearlake Oaks and Jose Panduro-Rodriguez, 22, of Mexico are being held for an assault of a 70-year-old Albion man in December 2021.
The report said authorities are still attempting to locate 31-year-old Jose Morfin Aguilar of Santa Rosa.
Lt. Andrew Porter said that at 1:06 a.m. Dec. 3, 2021, Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to a report of an assault with a firearm in the 28000 block of Albion Ridge Road in Albion.
The reporting party was able to call 911 even though he had been shot by unknown assailants through his bedroom window, Porter said. The reporting party also advised that he had returned fire with his own firearm after being shot.
Deputies responded to the area with lights and sirens. Prior to the deputies' arrival, a family member of the victim called and stated that he was now with the victim and at least one suspect was observed fleeing on foot downhill into a wooded area.
Sheriff's deputies from all areas of the county responded to Albion as there was a reported suspect, armed with a firearm, in the woods near the victim's residence.
Once there were sufficient deputies on scene, an Adventist Health Mendocino Coast ambulance responded to provide medical treatment to the victim. Porter said the victim was transported to the hospital where he was later transferred to an out of county hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound to the head.
The victim survived the incident with moderate to major injuries sustained, Porter said.
Porter said Mendocino County Sheriff's detectives responded to the scene and assumed the investigation, while patrol deputies continued their search efforts for the suspects.
At approximately 9:30 a.m., deputies located two male subjects hiding in the brush nearby. Porter said the subjects had no reasonable explanation as to why they were hiding in the brush near the shooting scene and they were found to be from out of county.
Deputies located a firearm, face mask and latex gloves also in the brush near where the suspects were located, Porter said.
Porter said the two suspects, Chavez-Souza and Morfin-Aguilar, were ultimately booked into the Mendocino County Jail for attempted murder and conspiracy.
Both suspects were ultimately released from custody pending additional investigation surrounding the incident, Porter said.
In May of 2022, after additional investigations had been conducted surrounding the circumstances of this case, as well as receiving additional evidence implicating Panduro-Rodriguez, felony arrest warrants were issued for all three suspects, according to Porter.
Porter said Chavez-Souza was arrested in July of 2023 and has been in custody at the Mendocino County Jail since that time.
Jose Morfin-Aguilar has an outstanding felony warrant for his arrest for this incident.
Porter said Panduro-Rodriguez, was arrested at the United States Port of Entry by the Customs and Border Patrol in San Diego in October of 2023 on his warrant and unrelated federal charges.
Panduro-Rodriguez was released from federal custody and subsequently booked into the Mendocino County Jail on Oct. 31, Porter said.
Grace Melo, Texas A&M University; Andrea Leschewski, South Dakota State University, and Kyle Jones, University of Kentucky
This 2 percentage-point decline coincided with the rapid expansion of a pilot program that allows the purchase of groceries online with benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP.
Once COVID-19 arrived in the U.S. in early 2020, the pilot was rapidly expanded nationwide because the pandemic disrupted schooling, child care, transportation and in-person retail shopping. All of those changes curtailed access to food – especially for people with low incomes.
To investigate whether the rapid rollout of the Online Purchasing Pilot played a role in the food insufficiency decline at that time, we teamed up with Jordan Jones, a U.S. Department of Agriculture economist. We analyzed 12 weeks of data covering April 23, 2020, to July 21, 2020, from the Household Pulse Survey involving aproximately 10,000 low-income households.
Because the pilot was rolled out gradually in different states, we were able to leverage the differences in the timing using a two-way fixed-effects model. This method made it possible to determine that SNAP’s online purchasing program contributed to the decline in food insufficiency.
The prevalence of very low food security – a condition in which people may skip meals – increased for families with children in 2020. But the impact of the Online Purchasing Pilot was not larger for these households as opposed to those without any kids.
We believe this suggests that the ability to use SNAP benefits online does not resolve some food-related problems, such as those that arise because of school closures.
Low-income children are eligible for free meals at school. While many school districts found creative ways to distribute grab-and-go meals when school buildings were closed in 2020 and 2021, not all families were able to take advantage of those opportunities.
Online options for using these benefits vary by state. In many locations, they include big stores that sell groceries, such as Walmart, Target, Whole Foods and Safeway, and some popular online retailers like Amazon.
Buying groceries online makes life easier for anyone who has trouble purchasing food in person, including people with disabilities, those with limited transportation access or those living in remote locations.
About 1 in 6 Americans pay for groceries online every week, and more than half have done so in the past 12 months.
Another member of our research team, Kyle Jones, is now researching how this pilot affects what kinds of groceries Americans are buying with SNAP benefits. He also plans to analyze how using the benefits for online purchases changes how much time people with these benefits spend on grocery shopping.
The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.
Climate change poses the biggest risks to the most vulnerable people, and the same is true for businesses: Highly leveraged companies – those that have accumulated too much debt – are uniquely susceptible to climate shocks. That’s what we found in a forthcoming study in The Review of Corporate Finance that analyzed data from more than 2,500 U.S. publicly listed companies over 16 years.
As professors who study climate finance and corporate governance, we wanted to understand how climate change affects businesses, and how stakeholders – people who have a stake in a firm’s success, such as consumers, employees and investors – respond to it.
So we and our colleagues Sadok El Ghoul at the University of Alberta and Omrane Guedhami at the University of South Carolina conducted a study to examine how climate risk affects indebted companies.
We found that climate change delivers a one-two punch to highly leveraged firms by intensifying the costs that stakeholders impose on them.
Consider consumers. Researchers know that climate change can push people to mix up their purchasing patterns – by buying greener products, for example, or by engaging in boycotts. And while evolving consumer preferences pose a challenge to all businesses, it’s harder for a company that’s deep in debt to adapt.
Our study suggested as much. Two years after facing intense climate change exposure, highly indebted firms saw sales growth fall by about 1.4% on average, we found. In monetary terms, that translates into an average US$59.7 million loss per company.
Climate change also worries investors, we found. Companies exposed to climate risk face the threat of financial and operational disruptions that may drain lenders’ funds, particularly for firms already burdened with high debt. By examining capital issuance within our sample of companies, we found that climate exposure reduced firms’ net debt issuance – meaning new debt minus retired debt – by around $457 million per firm on average. This is an additional hurdle for indebted businesses trying to raise money.
Our research suggests that climate change, which the World Economic Forum predicts will endanger about 2% of global financial assets by 2100, will push already shaky companies to the brink. It underscores the immense and asymmetric effects global warming will have on businesses – and the reality that the most vulnerable firms are set to endure the worst.
What’s next
Our study highlights the disproportionate impacts of climate change on financially fragile businesses. Moving forward, we plan to explore the influence of climate change on firms’ business behaviors, particularly in terms of their ethical conduct.
Regarding climate solutions, one of us (Huan Kuang) has shown how companies can use innovation to reduce their climate vulnerabilities. In a working paper co-authored with Bing Liang of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, every 1% increase in climate-related innovation – as measured by patent data – was found to reduce firm-level carbon emissions growth by around 100,000 metric tons.
However, indebted firms may not rush to invest in new technologies without some prodding. That means policy incentives will be key to success, and further research is needed to determine what they should look like.
Climate change could also have more complicated economic effects than many people realize. For example, if it forces companies that aren’t viable out of business, that would be a good thing for the economy – at least in theory, as one of us (Ying Zheng) explored in a recent paper on a related subject.
Many questions remain unanswered, but it’s already clear that climate change will have important and multifaceted effects on the future of business. We encourage other researchers to investigate further.
The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.
Every year, thousands of people are seriously injured or killed statewide in vehicle crashes caused by distracted drivers — crashes that are 100% preventable.
To address the problem, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) is launching a statewide “Distracted Driving Education and Enforcement for Adult Drivers” traffic safety campaign, boosted by a $350,000 federal grant.
The yearlong education and enforcement initiative continues through Sept. 30, 2024.
Throughout the year, the CHP will conduct at least 90 enforcement operations targeting adult distracted drivers.
In parallel with a CHP program targeted at teen drivers, the adult distracted driving campaign also includes 300 adult traffic safety presentations statewide.
“The CHP encourages drivers to make the conscious decision to drive distraction free every time they get behind the wheel of a vehicle,” said CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee. “Every distraction, even for just a few seconds, increases your chances of being involved in a crash. Ultimately, it is never worth the potentially devastating consequences.”
With multiple modes of communication and instant entertainment, cell phone use is the biggest driver distraction.
Between 2019 and 2021, there were a total of 6,343 fatal and injury crashes within CHP jurisdiction stemming from distracted driving.
During those same years, CHP officers issued more than 200,000 citations to drivers violating California’s handsfree law.
Some of the most common types of adult distracted driving includes texting, talking on a cell phone, eating, grooming, operating a navigation system and adjusting the radio.
Public education and increased enforcement are designed to encourage drivers to recognize the dangers of distracted driving and reduce the number of people impacted by this reckless, preventable behavior.
Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
LAKEPORT, Calif. — The community is invited to come together and honor the dedication and sacrifices of veterans at the annual Veterans Day celebration.
The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, at Konocti Vista Casino.
Doors open at 10 a.m.
During the ceremony there will be speakers, including Angela Carter, a longtime Lake County attorney who is involved with the Veterans Court.
There also will be music, presentations, awards, and a complimentary lunch and beverages following the ceremony.
Konocti Vista Casino is located at 2755 Mission Rancheria Road, Lakeport.
Congressman Mike Thompson, Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon joined officials from the Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District and Hidden Valley Lake Association for a groundbreaking on new infrastructure projects in Hidden Valley Lake, California, on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. Courtesy photo. HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. — The Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District is moving forward with key infrastructure projects.
On Monday, Oct. 30, local state and federal officials all gathered together to congratulate the district on the launching of the water tank replacement project.
The water tank being replaced was original to when the Hidden Valley Lake community was developed, back in the late 1960s. While this tank has certainly done its job well, it is now at the end of its useful life.
With the help from the Federal Emergency Management AGency’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, the California Department of Water Resources and the community’s ratepayers, staff with the Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District, or HVLCSD, was able to make this significant project happen.
Congressman Mike Thompson, Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon, along with Hidden Valley Lake Association Board President Kathy Maynor and CSD Board President Claude Brown were all present to break ground on the project.
With the aging redwood tank in the background, it was clear to the elected officials the urgency of this infrastructure improvement project.
“This improvement project is incredibly important to the residents of Hidden Valley Lake,” Thompson said. “Access to clean water is essential to the health and safety of our community —and it’s clear that this water tank is weathered and in need of improvement. I am proud that funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act are helping to make this project and others like it a reality. The groundbreaking on the new water tank is a welcome step to ensure we maintain access to clean water.”
The tank is the first in a series of infrastructure improvements HVLCSD has planned.
In the upcoming months, the district will replace another redwood tank and install backup generators at water pumping stations.
Aguiar-Curry also acknowledged the challenges that small water purveyors face. “This is a project that I love. This brings me back to the time [as mayor of Winters] when I was on similar projects, and how important those projects were.”
“We need infrastructure projects but they are not cheap and we know that. Every small community battles these infrastructure challenges, but they often don’t have the funding to make it happen. This is a fabulous project, thank you to everyone that helped make this happen, thank you for being here,” she said.
The effort to right-size the tank could not have been accomplished without the cooperation of the homeowner’s association, HVLA.
The newly established HVLA easement will make it possible to build larger tanks at this location.
Board President Claude Brown pointed out that “everything starts and ends with our clients and our customers,” which was appreciated by Board President Kathy Maynor.
Mindful of the fact that District 1 of Lake County is the gateway from the Bay Area, Supervisor Simon expressed pride in his district for these continuing improvements.
“I’m proud to be here with Hidden Valley Lake CSD, a great partner and one of the largest communities in Lake County. Thank you for the great project that’s going to be put together here, and as Congressman Thompson said, it is just the beginning,” Simon said.
“I know that the local community, as they look out their doors, and look at this infrastructure being replaced, will know that every step taken will make their lives better and a little bit safer,” he added.
The current tank replacement project is expected to be complete by late 2024.
Congressman Mike Thompson attended the groundbreaking for new infrastructure projects at the Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District in Hidden Valley Lake, California, on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. Courtesy photo.
A design drawing of the proposed new courthouse in Lakeport, California. The design is in progress and subject to change. Photo courtesy of the Lake County Superior Court. LAKEPORT, Calif. — The effort to get a new courthouse for Lake County, now nearly 15 years in the making, is moving forward, with construction expected to begin next year.
The Lake County Superior Court said the new Lakeport courthouse project is nearing the completion of design.
The four-courtroom courthouse will be built at 675 Lakeport Blvd., purchased by the state in 2011 for $1.1 million, after a lengthy site selection process, which included input from justice partners, local government and the public.
The new building will replace the fourth floor of the current courthouse and will provide a safe and secure courthouse, with a jury assembly room, self-help center and attorney/client meeting rooms.
The Judicial Council of California reported that the courthouse project’s current authorized budget is $83,864,000.
It’s the highest priority trial court capital-outlay project in the entire state, court officials reported.
After the current courthouse at 255 N. Forbes St. was ranked in the Trial Court Capital Outlay Plan's “Immediate Need Project Priority Group” in 2009, the process of pursuing a new courthouse for Lake County began.
However, the Judicial Council’s plans hit obstacles, including the state’s financial challenges after the Great Recession.
The Lakeport courthouse project has consistently ranked at the top of the statewide list of projects most in need of replacement.
The latest statewide assessment of Trial Court Capital-Outlay Projects ranked Lakeport’s courthouse at the top of the statewide prioritized list of projects based on significant overcrowding, security concerns and accessibility challenges.
Last October, the team of Clark/Sullivan Broward Builders + Lionakis was selected as the design-build entity to design and construct the new building.
The Judicial Council, local court and the design-build team have spent the last year designing the new 46,000 square foot building.
Construction is currently scheduled to begin in late spring or early summer 2024 with completion in early 2026.
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.
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