LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – State Sen. Mike McGuire will host a virtual town hall to discuss COVID-19 on Thursday, March 18.
The town hall will take place beginning at 6:30 p.m.
RSVP today by clicking here. After you RSVP, they will email the call-in number and video livestream link.
McGuire will host Dr. Timothy Brewer, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and Geffen School of Medicine, and Lori Nezhura, deputy director of planning, preparedness and prevention from the State Office of Emergency Services. Nezhura also serves as the co-chair of California's COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force.
They will discuss slowing the spread, with a special focus on vaccine distribution.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A fire that began at Anderson Marsh State Historic Park on Tuesday afternoon continued burning overnight, with firefighters reported to have it mostly under control.
The fire was first reported at around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, according to radio reports.
State Parks staff were at the park’s ranch house doing some burning to clean up burn piles – a control burn had been conducted there in late February – when they spotted a fire on Slater Island and called it in, said Aaron Wright, public safety chief for State Parks.
Cal Fire and Lake County Fire responded and had challenges trying to access the fire, radio reports indicated.
Firefighters had requested the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol respond to the area, but dispatch reported over the air that the sheriff’s office couldn’t launch the boat due to the low lake level.
Wright said parks staff were able to access the fire on foot.
He said the fire was completely unrelated to the control burning going on at the park.
By evening, the fire had burned about 40 acres and had containment lines mostly around it, Wright said.
Radio traffic indicated the fire was burning near the lake in tules.
“We’re still investigating what the cause was,” said Wright, who added that he anticipated the cause could be manmade.
Firefighters monitored the fire overnight, according to radio traffic.
State Parks staff were reported to be on scene through the night, with fire agencies to meet at 8 a.m. Wednesday to assess the fire’s status.
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. – This St. Patrick’s Day, the California Highway Patrol remains on alert for impaired drivers, and CHP joins with the California Office of Traffic Safety in reminding drivers to travel safely.
“The CHP is committed to making California’s roadways safe for all who use them.” said CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray. “Remember to buckle up, slow down, don’t drive distracted, and never drive impaired. If you chose to celebrate, please do so responsibly by designating a sober driver or making other arrangements to get home safe.”
The CHP wants everyone to remember safe driving rules have not changed and that officers will be on the lookout for impaired driving.
The CHP also cautions drivers that alcohol is not the only substance that can lead to an arrest for driving under the influence. Cannabis, prescription medications and illegal drugs can all lead to impaired driving.
Throughout the country, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, or NHTSA, reports that in 2020, 327 fatal alcohol-related crashes occurred on St. Patrick's Day.
Drunk driving accounts for nearly one-third of vehicle-related fatalities in the United States, NHTSA data shows.
In California, the CHP made 67 arrests for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol on St. Patrick’s Day last year.
Data from the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System shows alcohol- or drug-related crashes resulted in injuries to 31 people.
“Think of your safety and that of others before deciding whether it is safe for you to drive,” Office of Traffic Safety Director Barbara Rooney said. “We urge all drivers to make getting home safely part of your celebratory plans.”
The public can help keep California roadways safe by calling 9-1-1 if they suspect an impaired driver.
Callers should be prepared to give the vehicle’s description, location, license plate number, and direction of travel.
On Wednesday, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) voted to pass the bipartisan Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2021.
This bill reauthorizes crucial legislation to help prevent violence and abuse against women and support survivors as they recover and pursue justice.
It also makes some important improvements to the original Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA, including increased funding to prevent such violence, improvements to services for survivors, provisions to better assist Native American women who are disproportionately targeted, and the closing of the so-called “boyfriend loophole” to prevent violent partners from obtaining firearms.
“Women across our nation deserve to live their lives free from violence and abuse, and survivors of this kind of terrible hate deserve robust protections and services as they recover and seek justice. That’s why today I voted to pass the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act to both reauthorize and expand this critical legislation,” said Thompson. “For nearly three decades, VAWA has transformed the lives of women and survivors of violence and domestic abuse, offering access to safety and justice. We cannot let this legislation go any longer without being reauthorized and I urge the Senate to take up this bill immediately.”
First passed in 1994, the Violence Against Women Act expands protections against abuse for women and gives survivors of such abuse a better social and judicial safety net. The bill expired in 2018 under a Republican-led Congress.
Thompson voted to reauthorize VAWA in 2019 and the bill then died in the Republican-controlled Senate.
This legislation is similar to the bipartisan bill that passed the House in 2019 and can be read here.
Thompson represents California’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The District Attorney’s Office has filed numerous charges against a Novato woman who authorities say was driving drunk late Saturday night when she crashed into a van, killing two Clearlake residents.
Keilah Marie Coyle, 21, made her first appearance in Lake County Superior Court on Tuesday.
Officers with the California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office took Coyle into custody early Sunday, about an hour after the wreck that claimed the lives of Miguel Maciel Dominguez, 47, and Cassandra Elaine Rolicheck, 53.
Shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday, Coyle was driving her black 2003 Ford F-250 pickup southbound on Highway 29 near Bar X Road north of Middletown when she crossed the highway’s solid double yellow lines and collided head-on with the 2000 GMC van that Rolicheck was driving northbound.
Both Dominguez and Rolicheck were declared dead at the scene, the CHP said.
The CHP also reported that, about five hours before the fatal wreck, Coyle had been involved in a hit-and-run crash in Sonoma County. She was on Highway 101, south of Gravenstein Highway, when she hit a 2017 Mercedes GLE350 and then fled the scene. In that crash, no injuries were reported.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff told Lake County News that Coyle was still in custody when she was arraigned on Tuesday.
Hinchcliff filed a criminal complaint against Coyle on Monday that includes eight felony charges and three special allegations.
Coyle is charged with two counts each of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, negligent vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, gross vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence causing injury.
The special allegations include causing great bodily injury to both victims and an enhancement that would give additional prison time on conviction for causing death to more than one person.
The complaint notes that the two negligent vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated charges and the great bodily injury special allegation are all serious felonies under California’s three-strikes law.
Hinchcliff said Coyle indicated during her appearance that she wants to hire her own attorney.
She will return to court on March 23 at 10 a.m. in Department 2 for appearance of counsel, Hinchcliff said.
He said her bail remains at $2 million, and Lake County Jail records showed on Tuesday night that she is still in custody.
Hinchcliff said he’s not sure why Coyle was in Lake County that night.
“We are doing additional investigation to answer questions like that,” he said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – After nearly four months of being in the most restrictive tier on the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy, Lake County has been moved into a lower tier, a change that will ease some COVID-19-related rules.
On Tuesday afternoon, the California Department of Public Health, or CDPH, confirmed Lake County has been moved from the purple or “widespread” tier, the most restrictive, to the red tier, which signifies “substantial” virus in the community.
The changes in tier rankings go into effect on Wednesday, officials said.
CDPH said Lake was among 11 counties to be moved from the purple tier.
The other counties seeing their status changed to red on Tuesday are Monterey, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare and Ventura.
San Mateo moved from the red tier to the orange, or “moderate,” tier, the state said.
The state said no counties moved to a more restrictive tier.
With Tuesday’s tier adjustments, 11 counties are in the purple tier, 42 in red, four in orange and one in the yellow, or “minimal,” tier.
The state said the counties now in the purple tier represent 4.1 million, or 10.3 percent of California’s population, while the red tier accounts for 35.1 million or 87.7 percent, orange covers 817,908 or 2 percent and yellow covers 1,117 people, and doesn’t show up as a percentage of population on the state’s metrics.
Additional tier changes won’t be immediate
The state moved Lake County into the purple tier at the end of November, as Lake County News has reported. Since then, activities like indoor dining have been prohibited.
Last week, state and local officials had announced that they anticipated Lake County would drop into the red tier this week.
As of Tuesday, Lake County Public Health reported that the county had 3,224 confirmed cases – of which 3,148 have recovered – and 43 deaths.
CDPH said Tuesday that Lake County’s new case rate was 5.1 per 100,000, and a seven-day positivity rate of 3 percent.
While Lake’s COVID-19 case rate is down to the lowest rates it has seen since the first half of October, what hastened the tier rating changes was CDPH’s adjustment of tier thresholds due to the state meeting a goal of vaccinating two million people in the communities across the state hardest hit by COVID-19.
Based on the current version of the state’s framework, county officials said Lake County won’t be eligible to move down to the orange tier until at least Tuesday, April 6.
That’s because counties can move only one tier at a time, and Lake County must be in the red tier for three weeks prior to advancing to orange.
To stay in the red tier, the county must have no more than 45 cases per week, and would need to have less than 18 per week to go into orange and four per week to go into the yellow tier, according to Sarah Marikos, Lake County’s epidemiologist.
In related news, the county’s movement into the red tier triggered the Board of Supervisors’ return to “hybrid” board meetings which allow for both Zoom and in-person participation. The board had closed meetings to in-person participation by the public in January after a surge in COVID-19 cases.
County officials said the hybrid board meetings will resume on Tuesday, March 23.
The capacity of the board chambers, as modified to accommodate social distancing, is 23 people. To encourage broad and safe participation, electronic options – phone, Zoom, Facebook, YouTube, written Granicus eComment and Lake County PEG TV – will continue for the foreseeable future, the county reported.
Information on the tier assignments and the changes in restrictions can be found here.
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.
Exercise is good for your health at every age – and you can reap the benefits no matter how late in life you start. But our latest research has shown another benefit of being physically active throughout life. We found that in the US, people who were more physically active as teenagers and throughout adulthood had lower healthcare costs.
These findings are especially relevant to people who live in countries without universal healthcare, such as the US. However, our findings apply indirectly to countries with universal healthcare, such as the UK, as a healthier population could result in lower costs for the healthcare system as a whole.
For our study, we drew on data from the National Cancer Institute’s study on diet and health, which looked at over half a million adults. As part of this study, adults in 1996 who were aged 50-71 were asked how physically active they were during this time in their life. They were also asked to estimate how much exercise they got in late adolescence and early and middle adulthood.
We followed up with participants between 2004-06. During this time, some consented for their study responses to be linked with their Medicare data. Medicare is the major health insurance programme for American adults aged 65 years and older.
To ensure results were accurate, we only looked at respondents who were 65 years of age, as this is the age a person first qualifies for Medicare. We also adjusted our results to take into account other things that could influence the outcome, such as ethnicity, education, marital status, and whether a person smoked. This way we could be fairly certain that we were only looking at the effect of physical activity on healthcare costs.
Based on our data, people were clustered into groups according to their exercise habits throughout adulthood. We identified nine groups, which fell into four main categories: maintainers (36% of the group who maintained moderate to high activity throughout adulthood), decreasers (30.5% of the group who were active in early adulthood but became less active as they aged), and increasers (14.5% of the group who weren’t active in early adulthood but became more active throughout their lives). Around 18.5% of the group were consistently inactive throughout their lifetime.
A lifetime of activity
We found that adults who maintained or increased their physical activity from adolescence throughout adulthood had lower average annual healthcare costs than adults who were consistently inactive over time – between US$824 (£567) and US$1,874 (£1,356) per year. This is around 10% to 22% lower than those who were less active or inactive.
In contrast, adults who were active earlier in life but less active in middle-age (decreasers), did not benefit from lower healthcare costs after age 65, despite being active earlier in life. In fact, their Medicare costs were akin to those who had been consistently inactive all their life.
Although the study’s respondents came from different parts of the US, it’s hard to say whether these results would be true for people in other parts of the world. And, as our study was based on self-reported information obtained from a survey, we can’t say whether activity levels caused lower healthcare costs. Also, we weren’t able to control for all factors that may have affected the results, such as whether a person developed an injury that limited their activity levels.
However, similar findings to ours have also been seen in other research, such as an Australian study which found that middle-aged women who were active throughout their life had 40% lower healthcare costs over the three years that the study took place.
Given that one in four adults worldwide don’t get enough exercise, large-scale efforts to improve physical activity – especially among adolescents and young adults – could help reduce healthcare costs and improve health later in life. Strategies such as working with people one on one, in small groups, or on a community level, to change their physical activity levels are all proven to work.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing updating city code regarding self-storage facilities and will consider approving new employment contracts with the city’s manager and police chief.
The council will meet in closed session at 5:30 p.m. to hold a performance evaluation of the city manager and discuss existing litigation against the county and the treasurer-tax collector over tax-defaulted property sales before the public portion of the meeting begins at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 18.
Because of the county’s shelter in place order, Clearlake City Hall remains closed to the public, however, the virtual meeting will be broadcast live on the city's YouTube channel or the Lake County PEGTV YouTube Channel. Community members also can participate via Zoom.
Comments and questions can be submitted in writing for City Council consideration by sending them to Administrative Services Director/City Clerk Melissa Swanson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You can also visit the city’s town hall site and submit written comments at https://www.opentownhall.com/portals/327/forum_home. Identify the subject you wish to comment on in your email’s subject line or in your town hall submission.
To give the council adequate time to review your questions and comments, please submit your written comments prior to 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 18.
Each public comment emailed to the city clerk will be read aloud by the mayor or a member of staff for up to three minutes or will be displayed on a screen. Public comment emails and town hall public comment submissions that are received after the beginning of the meeting will not be included in the record.
The council on Thursday will get a presentation on March’s adoptable dogs and hear an update on the Hope Center, which serves the community’s homeless population.
A public hearing will take place at the meeting to consider amending Chapter 18-18, Section 18-18.040 (Use Regulations), Table 6 of the Clearlake Municipal Code to allow “self-storage” facilities in the “RR” Rural Residential and “MUX” Mixed Use Zoning Designations upon securing a conditional use permit. The second reading and adoption is set for April 1.
Under council business, council members will continue the second extension of Emergency Ordinance No. 241-2020 establishing a moratorium on industrial hemp cultivation in the city.
The council also will consider employment services agreements with City Manager Alan Flora and Police Chief Andrew White.
Flora has served as city manager since March 14, 2019, having previously served as assistant city manager and finance director under then-City Manager Greg Folsom.
“Under Mr. Flora’s leadership and following the policy direction of the City Council, the City has seen many improvements in the community over the past two years,” said City Attorney Ryan Jones in his report to the council.
Jones said the council will consider rescinding Flora’s current city manager contract and approving the new employment services agreement.
The new agreement is for five years, with Flora to receive a 7.5-percent increase upon the council’s approval. Jones said that will bring his monthly salary to $13,785.63. That totals $165,427.56 annually.
“Contingent upon a favorable evaluation from the City Council and the Local Economic Benchmark exceeding audited revenues from fiscal year 19-20, Mr. Flora would receive a 3% raise on July 1 of each year thereafter,” Jones wrote.
Similarly, Flora is asking the council to approve a new agreement with White, who has been chief since July 2018.
“Under Chief White’s leadership and following the policy direction of the City Council, the City has seen many improvements to technology, professionalism, impacts to crime rates and overall community support of the department,” Flora wrote.
He said White’s current contract is set to expire in July and accordingly, and Flora has negotiated a new longer-term contract in order to retain the chief.
The new agreement will be for a five-year term, and upon council approval Flora said White will receive a 7.5-percent increase, bringing his monthly salary to $12,647.37. That totals $151,768.44 annually.
“Contingent upon a favorable evaluation from the City Manager and the Local Economic Benchmark exceeding audited revenues from fiscal year 19-20, Chief White would receive a 3% raise on July 1 of each year thereafter,” Flora wrote.
Staff on Thursday also will ask the council to update salary range positions for the positions of police trainee and finance director, and consider authorizing an agreement with Lexipol LLC for local government administration policy manual and daily training bulletins.
On the meeting's consent agenda – items that are not considered controversial and are usually adopted on a single vote – are warrants; adoption of the 10th amendment to the FY 2020-21 Budget (Resolution 2020-27) Appropriating Cannabis Equity Grant Funding; minutes of the Feb. 4, Feb. 18 and March 4 meetings; minutes of the Feb. 10 Lake County Vector Control District Board Meeting; award of contract for the Traffic Signal Relocation Project to DC Electric Group Inc.; and adoption of the 11th amendment to the FY 2020-21 Budget (Resolution 2020-27) appropriating funding for Traffic Signal Work and the Airport Road Project; Resolution No. 2021-17.
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. – Local, state and federal unemployment started off 2021 by edging slightly downward, according to the latest jobless report from the state of California.
The California Employment Development Department said the unemployment rate dropped 0.3 percentage points to 9.0 percent in January as the state’s employers lost 69,900 jobs. The EDD said California’s January 2020 jobless rate was 4.2 percent.
Lake County’s unemployment rate in January was 8.8 percent, down from 9 percent in December. The county’s January 2020 unemployment rate was 6 percent.
On the national level, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the nationwide jobless rate for January was 6.3 percent, down from 6.7 percent in December. The January 2020 federal unemployment rate was 3.5 percent.
California payroll jobs totaled 15,868,000 in January 2021, down 69,900 from December 2020 and down 1,752,800 from January of last year. This comes after December’s downward-revised month-over loss of 75,400 jobs, down by 23,200 jobs due, in part, to new 2020 benchmark data and methodology, the EDD reported.
Despite December and January combining for a two-month total of 145,300 jobs lost, California has regained more than 39 percent of the upwards-revised 2,714,800 nonfarm jobs that were lost during the COVID-19 pandemic in March and April, 2020.
Benchmark revisions to state data amount to a new lower peak unemployment rate of 16 percent during the pandemic, reached in April-May – down from the 16.4 percent estimate. But the job loss from February-December was revised up from 1.46 million to 1.72 million, the state said.
In January, Lake County had a civilian labor force of 28,600 people, up from 28,060 in December and down just slightly from the 28,620 reported in January 2020.
Lake County’s unemployed residents totaled 2,530 in January, compared to 2,470 in December and 1,790 the previous year, according to EDD statistics.
Leading Lake County’s job sectors in January was total farm, which was up by 21.2 percent, while total nonfarm was down by 0.1 percent overall.
Subcategories that showed growth included information, 12.5 percent; professional and business services, 3.1 percent; government, 1.5 percent; leisure and hospitality, 1 percent; and service producing, 0.3 percent.
The largest declines were in wholesale trade, -11.1 percent; goods producing, -4.3 percent; and private service producing, -0.3 percent.
In January, Lake County ranked No. 36 out of the state’s 58 counties for its jobless rate.
Lake’s neighboring counties’ jobless rates and ranks in the latest report are Colusa, 15.6 percent, No. 57; Glenn, 7.9 percent, No. 24; Napa, 8.6 percent, No. 31; Sonoma, 7.1 percent, No. 14; and Yolo, 7 percent, No. 13.
The highest unemployment rate, 16.5 percent, was reported in Imperial County, while Marin, at 5.4 percent, had the lowest statewide in January, the EDD reported.
The state employment picture
The EDD report said the number of Californians with jobs in January was 16,988,800, an increase of 31,800 jobs from December’s total of 16,957,000, but down 1,624,500 from the employment total in January of last year.
The number of unemployed Californians was 1,680,100 in January, a decrease of 68,400 over the month, but up by 856,300 in comparison to January of last year, according to the report.
Total nonfarm jobs in California’s 11 major industries totaled 15,868,000 in January, a net loss of 69,900 jobs from December. This followed a downward-revision of 23,200 jobs in December for a month-over loss of 75,400 jobs that month, the state reported.
The EDD said total nonfarm jobs decreased by 1,752,800 – down 9.9 percent – from January 2020 to January 2021 compared to the U.S. annual loss of 9,603,000 jobs, a 6.3 percent decrease.
At the same time, the report said the number of jobs in the agriculture industry increased by 2,000 from December 2020 to 420,200 jobs in January 2021. The agricultural industry has the same number of farm jobs as it did in January 2020.
Six of California’s 11 industry sectors gained jobs in January:
– Trade, transportation, and utilities (+13,700) had the state’s largest month-over increase thanks to gains in retail trade; – Government and professional and business services each had an increase of 3,600 jobs; – Financial activities and information each grew by 600 jobs; – Mining and logging was up by 500 jobs.
On the loss side, leisure and hospitality lost 70,600 jobs due to large losses in accommodation and food services.
Other losses were reported in the following:
– Education and health services, down 10,000 jobs; – Manufacturing, down 4,600 jobs; – Construction, down 4,000 jobs; – Other services decreased by 3,300 jobs.
The EDD also reported on Unemployment Insurance claims.
There were 818,589 people certifying for Unemployment Insurance benefits during the January 2021 sample week. That compares to 1,007,331 people in December and 339,026 people in January 2020.
Concurrently, 58,377 initial claims were processed in the January 2021 sample week, which was a month-over decrease of 100,715 claims from December 2020, but a year-over increase of 12,635 claims from January 2020, the EDD reported.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office has arrested two people following an early morning vehicle stop and two separate high speed chases.
Daniel Anton Bennett, 37, of Oakland was arrested following a vehicle stop early Wednesday morning and Hannah Joy Mizner-Welch, 32, of Kelseyville was arrested about an hour later following two vehicle pursuits in which she was found to be driving a stolen car.
At 11:45 p.m. Tuesday, a Lake County Sheriff’s deputy patrolling in the Middletown area attempted to stop a black Mercedes sedan for a traffic violation, Paulich said.
The deputy noticed a silver Saab sedan travelling behind the Mercedes. Paulich said when the deputy activated his lights the driver of the Saab slowed and the driver of the Mercedes accelerated away.
The Mercedes continued on Highway 175 towards Cobb at speeds reaching 100 miles per hour. Paulich said the deputy pursued the Mercedes, but lost sight of it in the Cobb area and terminated the pursuit.
At approximately 12:10 a.m., the same deputy observed the silver Saab he had seen earlier travelling on Bottle Rock Road, Paulich said.
The deputy conducted a traffic stop on the Saab for a traffic violation. Paulich said the deputy contacted the driver, later identified as Bennett, who denied any connection to the black Mercedes from the earlier pursuit.
Bennett was arrested for being under the influence of a controlled substance. During a search of his vehicle, deputies located approximately one ounce of methamphetamine, Paulich said.
Paulich said Bennett was later booked at the Lake County Jail for being under the influence of a controlled substance. Due to the $0 bail rules that are in effect, Bennett was not able to be booked for the charges of transportation and possession of narcotics for sale. The sheriff’s office will be requesting charges through the District Attorney’s Office.
At 1 a.m. Wednesday, as deputies were leaving the area, they observed the black Mercedes from the earlier pursuit travelling north on Bottle Rock Road at a high rate of speed, Paulich said.
He said the deputies pursued the Mercedes, but the driver would not yield. Another deputy in the immediate area was able to successfully deploy spike strips.
The Mercedes continued on Bottle Rock Road until it collided with a hillside near Sulphur Creek Road and came to a stop, Paulich said. The driver, identified as Mizner-Welch, exited the vehicle and was arrested.
Paulich said a records check determined the Mercedes was reported stolen from the Oakland area on March 9.
Deputies located messages on Mizner-Welch’s cell phone that she had sent to Bennett related to evading law enforcement, Paulich said.
In the Mercedes, Paulich said deputies located approximately 9 grams of Methamphetamine, 1 gram of Heroin, 88 grams of Marijuana and $2,817 in US currency.
Mizner-Welch was booked at the Lake County Jail on charges of evading, evading while driving in opposing lanes and possession of a stolen vehicle. She remains in custody with bail set at $35,000, Paulich said.
Due to the $0 bail rules that are in effect, Mizner-Welch was not able to be booked for the charges of transportation and possession of narcotics for sale. Paulich said the sheriff’s office will be requesting charges through the District Attorney’s Office.
Irish heritage is strong in America: More than 31.5 million residents claim Irish ancestry, second only to German (43.0 million).
And when it comes to U.S. presidents, including current President Joe Biden, exactly half (23) trace some of their roots to Ireland.
Not surprisingly, the most Irish states are in New England and are geographically connected.
However, the five states with the most smiling Irish eyes are the nation’s most populous: California, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida and Texas. But none of these states have the highest percentage of people with Irish ancestry.
The interactive U.S. map of Irish ancestry will make Irish eyes smile wider when they zoom in to the county level. The map shows counties that are 20% or more Irish (dark green) and ranges down to less than 5% (light green).
Hover your mouse over any county to see its name, the state it’s in and the share of its population that is Irish. In the top left corner, select a state to zoom in to for a better view of counties in that state.
The map shows that Lake County, California, has 6,265 residents – or 9.8 percent – with Irish ancestry.
Of the 10 counties with the largest population of Irish ancestry in the United States, Los Angeles County — the nation’s largest — has the smallest (3.6%).
Two counties in Montana are small but very Irish: Silver Bow County at 28.4% and Deer Lodge County at 25.4%.
Derick Moore is a senior communications specialist at the Census Bureau. Gerson Vasquez and Ryan Dolan are data visualization leads at the Census Bureau.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The city of Clearlake is hiring a firm to assist it with implementing a newly developed downtown strategic vision.
In a unanimous vote at its March 4 meeting, the council gave approval for City Manager Alan Flora to execute a contract with the firm Downtown Strategies.
The discussion begins at the 25:15 mark in the video above.
Flora said it was nearly two years ago, the city began a relationship with Retail Strategies for retail attraction.
“We’ve been seeing a lot of success from their efforts,” said Flora.
Since then, Downtown Strategies – a sister company of Retail Strategies – was launched.
Flora said the city had previously hired Downtown Strategies to develop a downtown strategic vision.
With that strategic vision now complete, Flora asked the council to consider a presentation from Downtown Strategies on its recommendations and which items its staff could help the city implement.
Jenn Gregory, president of Downtown Strategies, spoke to the council about the work to create a strategic plan for Clearlake’s downtown area and offered an implementation proposal.
She said she and other company staff visited the city in July and October in order to really understand the market.
In assembling a strategic plan – which is meant to be used and not sit on a shelf – Gregory said they focused on the five pillars of a healthy downtown: market analysis to understand how the downtown is performing economically; policy and administration; design; tourism and promotion; and economic vitality.
Gregory said the company’s July visit was to lead an assessment and understand the community’s assets, while the October meeting included meeting with city officials and community members.
Through this process, Gregory said the company was able to create a customized strategic plan for downtown Clearlake that is broken down into three categories of implementable strategies: no cost opportunities that require time and effort but no actual capital to implement; one to three year recommendations and strategies which do take some capital, but not a significant amount; and the three to five year timeline, with project that require either municipal investment or public-private partnership.
Gregory said their study so far also has included a walkability assessment of the downtown focus area, which includes Redbud Park in the south, Highland Park in the center and Austin Park to the north.
She said their team has the ability to help the city implement strategies such as identifying gateways and corridors to enhance the city’s walkability.
During the discussion, Gregory said that experiential tourism is on the rise, and it’s favored by millennials, the nation’s top consumer group. That demographic craves experiences. As a result, she said the proposal is to blend that quest for experiences and experiential tourism into the downtown plan.
She also proposed a comprehensive marketing plan and wayfinding signage, which will help tell the city’s story and elevate the downtown area.
One of the recommendations included pursuing a listing of Clearlake’s downtown on the National Register of Historic Places; places and structures 50 years old and older qualify, Gregory said.
Gregory said they would then promote the benefits of state and federal tax credits to property owners in downtown Clearlake. It would not create any restrictions on the properties but would unlock historic tax credits which, on the federal level, are 25 percent of the total rehabilitation costs. State tax credits are still being developed but could be used in tandem with the federal credits.
The company has talked to some downtown property owners who want to update their buildings but they were concerned about the cost of rehabilitation, Gregory said.
She said Downtown Strategies also wants to partner with the city in creating a design guidelines booklet to showcase preferred and recommended styles of facades and design elements within the downtown area.
Gregory said their goal is to retain the resort feel and aesthetic that Clear Lake became famous for, and as part of that they created an exterior paint palette that would be folded into the design guidelines.
As for next steps, she said the company would love the opportunity to partner with the city of Clearlake to make sure this plan doesn't sit on the shelf but is truly implemented in collaboration with the city government.
During the discussion, Gregory explained that Downtown Strategies had studied the city’s flow of visitors and chose not to exclude 2020 because of COVID-19 but to learn from it.
She said that, even during the pandemic, they found that city parks were receiving visitors from well beyond the city boundaries – some traveling more than 100 miles.
Their study found that most tourists are from California, but they have visitors coming from as far away as the East Coast and multiple states in between.
During the July visit to Clearlake, Gregory said she stopped to visit with some people on the pier and found they were from New York and had come for bass fishing. They also found that tourism activity increased during the summer months.
Gregory said they believe there is an opportunity to hone the city’s marketing and branding and to take the opportunity to tell the story of Clearlake and Clear Lake.
“Telling the story is a real critical need,” she said, adding they can exponentially increase the impact with a strong digital presence and branding.
She also suggested more of a focus on regional travel.
There was no public comment before Councilwoman Joyce Overton moved to approve the agreement, a motion which was seconded by Councilman Russ Perdock and approved unanimously by the council.
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