The “Power to the Youth” event will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 11, in Clearlake's Austin Park, 14077 Lakeshore Drive.

Bruno Sabatier, one of the event's organizers, said the daylong event will offer live music, vendors, information booths, games and competitions.

The entire Lake County community is invited to the free event, he said.

The community response to the event so far has been “fantastic,” according to Sabatier.

Sabatier was part of the Clear Lake Associated Students leadership at Yuba College's Clearlake campus.

The group organized events and was looking to do something larger, to illustrate what the community has to offer and to engage children and families, he said.

Sabatier said the idea formed last fall, and the organizing has mostly taken place over the last two months.

The event partnered with the nonprofit Lake Community Pride Foundation, the umbrella organization for the county's teen safe house and Clearlake's youth center. Sabatier said the group also supports performing arts programs at Lower Lake High School.

The main target group for the Saturday event is young people ages 5 to 25, but Sabatier said the organizers decided to broaden it to the entire community. “We want to make this a family event.”

Throughout the day there will be live music from groups such as Without a Net, Escapulario Norteno and Praises of Zion Church choir, with Konocti Dance Academy also performing, he said.

Sports competitions, including two-on-two basketball, inline skating, skateboarding and BMX riding will begin to organize at around 10 a.m., with the games set to be under way by 10:30 a.m. and finished by mid-afternoon, Sabatier said. There will be cash prizes for first place winners.

A tug-of-war competition is planned between local firefighters and police officers, Sabatier said.

The planned booths will include voting information, education – from preschool to college – plus local sports clubs, several scouting groups and community service organizations.

Sabatier said one of the main goals is to inspire people and show them what services are available to make their lives better.

“It's been really amazing as far as what we’ve found and who has offered to come out,” he said.

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Maricruz Alvarez-Carrillo, 21, faces felony assault with a deadly weapon charges, and felony battery with serious injury for her role in an incident Jan. 28 in outside the C.V. Starr recreational center, according to a Tuesday report from Mendocino County District Attorney C. David Eyster's office.

Alvarez-Carillo is accused of taking the ax to Alissa Colberg, 19 at the time of the attack, who suffered chest and facial wounds, and a male juvenile from Fort Bragg.

Judge Clay Brennan found the ax attack was gang-related after hearing testimony from 13 witnesses following a two-day preliminary hearing last week, Eyster's office said.

Colberg was the main witness for prosecutors. She testified that around 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 28 she was walking to the dog park next to the Starr center when she saw Alvarez-Carillo chasing the male juvenile around a vehicle.

At first she thought the woman was attacking the male victim with a hammer, but she soon learned it was a hatchet. Colberg testified that she swung at Alvarez-Carillo with a dog chain in a bid to aid the boy, but she instead became the target of the ax attack.

Colberg ended up suffering a deep wound to her chest, and cuts on her face. All left disfiguring scars, Colberg testified.

Fort Bragg Police Officer Brian Clark testified that Alvarez-Carillo later claimed that “Northeners” gang members had surrounded her car with her baby in it and then smashed the windows.

Clark testified that the defendant said she got out of the car to confront Colberg “who had a chain.”

Tammie Lynn Garner, a neighbor who witnessed the incident, said she saw two females fighting and “one female had an ax and the other female had a belt or chain.” The hatchet was later found in the parking lot in front of the Starr center.

Alvarez-Carillo and defense witnesses contended that Colberg was the aggressor in the fight because she allegedly belongs to rival gang that has terrorized the Minnesota Avenue apartment complex where the father of Alvarez-Carillo’s child lives.

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Gates has the department preparing such a set of recommendations to be part of a $400 billion defense savings package over the next 12 years.

Specifically he criticized a “one-size-fits-all approach” to basic pay and retirement, suggesting “tiered and targeted” methods could cost less but pay more to service members in “high demand and dangerous specialties.”

He implied pay levels overall are set too high as evidenced by the services’ continuous ability to meet recruiting and retention targets, except for the Army and only “during the worst years of Iraq.”

Gates again asked that TRICARE fees be raised, particularly for working age retirees. And he eyes replacing the all-or-nothing 20-year retirement plan with a more “flexible” system that would allow earlier vesting in benefits but also encourage more members to serve longer careers.

Some of these ideas are decades old. Over the past 40 years other defense secretaries have made similar or even more unpopular proclamations to curb military benefits, from closing discount stores on base to ending tax-free allowances and shifting the military to fully taxable salaries.

Gates had soften some of the impact of his remarks to the conservative think-tank American Enterprise Institute May 24 by reassuring Marines at Camp Lejeune just weeks earlier that any change to retirement should not affect the current force. “So don’t get nervous,” he said.

The reality is that sharp changes to pay or benefits typically don’t occur as a result of policy speeches or even in-depth studies written over months by commissions created for that task. Dramatic changes usually occur during fiscal emergencies, real or perceived.

The House Armed Services Committee, for example, thought it necessary in 1984-85 to move military retirement to an accrual accounting system to ensure funding of benefits to future members stopped encroaching on money for other defense programs.

Lawmakers then set a target for the accrual account and told Defense officials to design a retirement plan to produce the required result.

That turned out to be “Redux,” a plan that cut the value of 20-year retirement by roughly 25 percent for new members. As time passed and retention fell among the Redux generation, Congress repealed the plan. To preserve some cost savings, however, a $30,000 lump sum bonus was offered to any member who agreed to opt back into Redux during their 15th year of service.

Redux was fruit of a crisis tied to rising retirement obligations. The current debt crisis is far more threatening. Total national debt is nearing $15 trillion.

Unless the debt ceiling is raised by Aug. 2, the U.S. Treasury says it will default on some obligations, likely triggering a worldwide financial crisis.

Republicans vow not to raise the ceiling unless an agreement is reached with the White House to cut federal spending deeply, to include Medicare and other prized entitlements.

Vice President Joe Biden is hosting closed-door meetings with Republicans and Democrats. He promises to bring forth at least $1 trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years.

It’s during such closed-door deals that popular programs, even military benefits, can become tempting targets.

Gates’ remarks encourage that military compensation be part of planned defense cuts, suggesting excess dollars going today into compensation can be diverted over time to help replace aging fleets of aircraft, ships, submarines and land warfare vehicles.

Benefit cuts that impact current members and families in wartime could be seen by as unfair. But lawmakers negotiating with Biden have plenty of other options from among recommendations made late last year by separate debt reduction panels.

A task force co-chaired by former Sen. Pete Domenici and economist Alice Rivlin proposed a cheaper military retirement plan, which could be shaped to target to future members only. It would provide some retired pay at age 60 for those with as few as 10 years service. But it would end the tradition of paying an immediate annuity after only 20 years.

The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, co-chaired by Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, recommended a study of structural changes to federal retirement plans. One idea floated is to defer cost-of-living adjustments until age 62, when a one-time catch-up raise would restore lost inflation protection.

Perhaps the ripest fruit for those arguing federal entitlements are unsustainable is adoption of a modified Consumer Price Index (CPI) that would shave annual cost-of-living adjustments. Both deficit reduction panels endorsed it.

The revised index is a “chain-weighted” CPI. The Bureau of Labor Statistic created it in 2002 to address criticism of “substitution bias” in other CPIs.

The idea behind the revised CPI is that, as prices rise, people actually change behavior and buy cheaper items, apples instead of oranges, for example. Yet the CPI used to adjust federal entitlements assumes consumers buy the same items month after month regardless of price.

Reformers see this as exaggerating inflation and driving up entitlement costs. Defenders of current COLAs argue the index should measure price changes for the same goods and services over time, and not be adjusted continually based on changing behaviors from the sting of rising prices.

Shifting to the new CPI would curb entitlement spending, on average, by .25 percentage points a year. Yet by one estimate the savings could total $300 billion over the next decade, at least half from Social Security benefits.

For the Department of Defense, proponents might argue, this change alone is a no-brainer in desperate times, serving to dampen retirement costs without singling out the military alone for fiscal sacrifice.

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

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Set at Jellystone Park, 14117 Bottle Rock Road, gates open at 11 a.m., with music from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The cost is $20 at the gate, with children under age 12 attending for free if accompanied by an adult.

Presented by Yard Dog Productions, Cobbstock will feature standing favorites The Prather Brothers, Travis Rinker, CAM, Austin and Owens, Off the Hook, Rukkus and Blind Monkey.

Joining the line up this year are 12-year-old Connor Gill and the Gill Brothers Band, Dennis Purcell, Joan Moss, the Psychedellos and other special guests.

Last year’s event drew a crowd of more than 700 music lovers.

In addition to music, the festivities will include food, beer, wine and craft vendors.

The event will feature professional sound by City of Light and lighting by Star Lights Productions.

Sponsors include Kelseyville Lumber, Fossa’s Backhoe, Bottle Rock Power Corp., Seigler Mountain Forest Products, Turner Insulation, Wharf’s Yarns Plus, Calpine Corp., Moore Family Winery, Theresa P. Foster and Victor Vigis of Lakeport Express Lube and Big O Tires, Twin Pine Casino and Stephanie Wetch.

For more information, visit www.cobbstock.com or call 707-928-9878.

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Lake County Special Districts Deputy Administrator Pete Preciado said Monday that the agency believes as many as 8,000 gallons of sewage was spilled as a result of the crash, which damaged a lift station on the lake between Nice and Lucerne.

California Highway Patrol Officer Steve Tanguay said the crash occurred at 6:45 p.m. Sunday.

He said Nneka Michelle Bonney, 17, of Clearlake Oaks was driving a 1998 Ford Explorer westbound on Highway 20 a miles east of Bartlett Springs Road at an unknown speed she drifted off the side of the road, overcorrected and lost control.

Tanguay said Bonney's vehicle crossed the other lane of traffic and hit the lift station, located on the lake side.

He said Bonney was alone and wasn't injured by the crash, which is being investigated by Officer Josh Dye.

Preciado said CHP reported the crash to the Lake County Office of Emergency Services, which in turn contacted Lake County Environmental Health and Special Districts.

He said Special Districts was notified at approximately 7:16 p.m. Sunday, and was on scene a half-hour later. Environmental Health responded along with Special Districts.

Pumper trucks arrived at the scene and contained the spill, vacuuming up the sewage they encountered. Preciado said he didn't yet have information on how much wastewater they hauled away, although Special Districts staff had estimated that 8,000 gallons were spilled before the containment occurred.

“That's just a preliminary estimate,” he said, noting that they didn't actually see the wastewater going into the lake.

The crash took out a bollard and damaged an 8-inch pipe and valve, which was the source of the lost wastewater, Preciado said.

“Fortunately, they missed the electronic control panel, which is good,” he said.

A contractor responded at about 10 p.m. Sunday and made repairs, which Preciado said were complete by 1:45 a.m. Monday.

He said that by that time everything had been repaired, cleaned and disinfected.

Preciado said Special Districts notified state health officials about the spill.

He added, “Everyone that draws water from the lake in that area was notified.”

That included Nice Mutual Water Co. and California Water Service Co., he said.

Cal Water District Manager Gay Guidotti said the company's water quality department was notified, and it in turn notified the California Department of Public Health.

At the time of the spill, Cal Water's water treatment plant was off, she said.

Now, they're taking two water samples daily, which will continue every day this week, Guidotti said.

The plant also increased its levels of disinfection, turning up the chlorine, “just to be safe.” An ultraviolet system is in constant operation, she added.

“Those were the recommendations made by our water quality department,” and the state Department of Public Health approved, she said.

Preciado said Special Districts also collected samples and took them to a local laboratory for analysis. He said it will take a few days to get the test results.

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These are modern-day slaves and it takes a team of law enforcement, prosecutors and nonprofit groups to combat a growing crime pinned “human trafficking.”

On Monday, the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA) assembled key state and federal agencies alongside non-governmental organizations to share information and form new partnerships to combat this growing crime.

“This is a crime against many of the most vulnerable silent victims who have no way out,” said Mike Dayton, acting secretary of the California Emergency Management Agency.

“The better understanding and collaboration that takes place between all these agencies, the more effective our overall effort is to end the suffering of those trapped and victimized,” said Dayton.

Leaders from the United States Attorney's Offices (Eastern, Northern, Southern and Central Districts), Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement joined with members of human trafficking task forces from throughout California to share best practices for combating human trafficking and learn about the latest efforts to build upon existing collaborative efforts.

“The event here today, by its broad participation by multiple federal, state and local agencies, is representative of the kind of collaboration that is really necessary in this area to make a serious dent in human trafficking,” said Benjamin B. Wagner, US Attorney of the Eastern District of California. “This is a deep and spreading problem that can only be attacked by the collaboration of the agencies who are here today.”

“We really had no task force presence 30 years ago, but look where we are today,” said Herbert Brown, Special Agent in Charge of Sacramento's FBI Office. “I strongly believe the only way we'll have success in combating human trafficking is to maintain this type of fusion between agencies.”

Front-line law enforcement officials from human trafficking task forces in San Diego's North County Region, San Francisco, Riverside and San Jose shared information on the latest cases they're working.

In an effort to develop new partnerships between fusion centers and the human trafficking task forces, leaders of California's State Threat Assessment Center and Sacramento's Regional Threat Assessment Center provided key insights on state and local efforts to provide effective intelligence information to uncover the often-unseen crime.

Because human trafficking is often an international crime, those attending also heard the latest research and information from The Council of State Government - West, and the North American Center for Transborder Studies at Arizona State University.

The California Emergency Management Agency has provided $375,000 grants for a three year period, for victim services, operations, and prosecution to each of the six task forces and their NGOs in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Los Angeles, Westminster (Orange County) and San Diego.

Cal EMA also provided additional funding for the development of three additional task forces in Sacramento, Fresno and Riverside.

To help local jurisdictions keep up with the latest trends, Cal EMA provided a $1.2 million grant to the Westminster Human Trafficking Task Force to train law enforcement and district attorneys on identifying child victims of human trafficking.

More than 100 participants attended Monday's meeting at the California Emergency Management Agency's headquarters in Rancho Cordova.

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The Sun unleashed an M-2 (medium-sized) solar flare with a spectacular coronal mass ejection (CME) on June 7, 2011. The large cloud of particles mushroomed up and fell back down looking as if it covered an area of almost half the solar surface. The Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) observed the flare's peak at 1:41 AM ET. SDO recorded these images in extreme ultraviolet light that show a very large eruption of cool gas. Video from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in 304 Angstrom of the June 7, 2011 M-2 Flare and CME. Credit: NASA/SDO.

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) observed the flare's peak at 1:41a.m. ET (0641 UT). SDO recorded these images (above) in extreme ultraviolet light that show a very large eruption of cool gas. It is somewhat unique because at many places in the eruption there seems to be even cooler material -- at temperatures less than 80,000 K.

When viewed in Solar and Heliospheric Observatory's (SOHO) coronagraphs (top right), the event shows bright plasma and high-energy particles roaring from the Sun.

Also to the right are links to the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) Ahead and Behind coronograph videos showing the CME expansion as viewed from each side of the sun. The STEREO Ahead satellite precedes the Earth as it circles the Sun. The STEREO Behind satellite follows behind the Earth in it's orbit of the Sun. (NOTE: Both STEREO videos will be replaced by better quality version when they become available in 48 hours.)

This not-squarely Earth-directed CME is moving at 1400 km/s according to NASA models. The CME was expected to deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field during the late hours of June 8 or June 9. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras when the CME arrives.

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Despite the fact that they were secured, these two wine barrel benches were stolen from the EcoArts Sculpture Walk outside of Middletown, Calif., sometimes on the night of Thursday, June 2, 2011. Courtesy photo.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The EcoArts Sculpture Walk is having a rough start to its ninth year.

The annual summertime arts installation at Middletown Trailside Nature Preserve County Park, set to mark its grand opening in a free event from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, June 12, was damaged late last week by suspects who went about destroying art installations, according to Karen Turcotte, the exhibition's founder.

The exhibit has suffered vandalism in past years, she said.

“Vandalism has happened, but nothing that was ever completely destroyed,” she said.

Destroying art work wasn't enough for the suspects, who also allegedly stole three hand-crafted wine barrel benches made by Shawn Harrington of Kelseyville, which Turcotte called “a stupid act.”

The benches were to be used for visitors at Kelseyville resident Tim Salisbury's installation – the last on the route – in honor of Lake County's 150^th anniversary, Turcotte said.

“You were supposed to be able to sit and ponder the past,” Salisbury said Monday evening.

Salisbury, who said this is his first year taking part in the exhibit, didn't notice any damage to his exhibit outside of the theft of the benches.

Turcotte believes the vandalism and theft took place Thursday night, as she had last been there that afternoon and everything was OK.

The next morning when she arrived to work on the exhibit she discovered the damage, and found one of the artists trying to fix her own broken exhibit.

The art eggs made by the students of Lake County International Charter School in Middletown were used to break other art work, she said. Some of the exhibit's signs also were disturbed.

Sustaining more damage was the work of another first-time exhibitor in the sculpture walk, 8-year-old Julianne Carter of Hidden Valley Lake.

She created “Gimme Shelter,” which includes 31 small pots she made and painted.

“They have little drawings on them, like birds, trees, mountains, clouds, all kinds of things,” she said.

When the pots are picked up, clay bugs can be seen underneath them. The idea, she said, was to explore the idea of habitat creation. She was inspired after finding bugs under pots she had put in her play yard.

“The bugs,” she warned of her clay creations, “are kind of scary.”

Several of the pots she had created on her mother's dining room table over the course of several weeks were destroyed in the vandalism, which she said she found discouraging.

Turcotte called the Lake County Sheriff's Office to report the incident. She subsequently spoke to a deputy who told her he had some ideas on who might be responsible and would investigate.

“We haven't heard anything yet,” she said.

Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office confirmed that the agency had responded and that a deputy was writing a report on the incident.

With preparations still under way for the grand opening this Sunday, Turcotte said they're dealing both with the damage and trying to get seven more pieces installed.

Julianne Carter said she hopes everyone keeps an eye out for the thieves and vandals. “We hope that they can catch them.”

Anyone with information about the vandalism and theft is asked to call the Lake County Sheriff's Office at 707-262-4200 or Turcotte at 707-928-0323.

The exhibit will run through October. Middletown Trailside Nature Preserve County Park is located at 21435 Dry Creek Cutoff, Middletown. The park is open daily from dawn until dusk.

For more information about the sculpture walk visit www.ecoartsoflakecounty.org.

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This bench was one of three pieces of wine barrel furniture stolen from the EcoArts Sculpture Walk outside of Middletown, Calif., sometimes on the night of Thursday, June 2, 2011. Courtesy photo.

During a May 31 workshop that ran more than two hours interim City Administrator Steve Albright presented the proposed 2011-12 budget.

He said the budget will go back to the council for further discussion and possible adoption on Thursday, June 9.

Over the last few years, city budgets had been getting adopted later. In 2009, the budget was adopted in July, and last year, the council approved the 2010-11 budget in October. That's despite a state constitutional requirement that cities accept their budgets by June 30.

Breaking that rule usually only earns a city a slap on the hand and not much more, Albright said.

This year, however, Albright – who has been with the city since February – has a document that's ready to be considered for approval by June 30.

The proposed budget is balanced, offers modest cost of living increases for employees who have received no raises and taken on additional job duties over the last few years, and will begin to rebuild the city's depleted reserves, hit hard in the economic downturn.

“We still have a tight budget,” Albright cautioned, but the city can now start doing things that haven't been done in several years, including tackling deferred maintenance and equipment replacement.

The proposed budget's general fund expenditures for 2011-12 are $4,029,000, with projected revenues at $4,049,000, for a small surplus of $20,900.

That $20,900 difference, coupled with the $388,410 surplus Albright projects the city will realize at the end of the 2010-11 fiscal year, will add up to a two-year surplus of $409,310.

Albright said the money to improve the city's situation has always been there. “The city has had, on its balance sheet, a substantial amount of money that is owed to it for quite a while,” creating somewhat of a logjam, he said.

Some of that logjam was on the redevelopment side, where a new strategy Albright proposed will help the city redevelopment agency satisfy the Clearlake Housing Now lawsuit settlement from 1998 – with an amended settlement in 2008 – by the end of the 2011-12 budget year.

As of June 30, 2010, approximately $1,579,139 was still owed to the agency's low and moderate income house fund as part of the settlement, which had resulted from the city borrowing redevelopment housing funds for other uses in the late 1990s.

Albright said the city had previously sold bonds to create a revenue fund of $8 million. In an effort to get the lawsuit settlement paid off, those bond proceeds were used to repay debt service on the redevelopment agency bonds themselves.

That, he said, freed tax increment revenue – the increased property tax value realized in a redevelopment area – for other purposes, such as repaying the low and moderate income housing fund to satisfy the lawsuit.

That's an acceptable use of the bond money, he emphasized, noting the city reviewed the bond documents and checked with the city's attorney to make sure they were complying with the rules.

One payment of $1,199,242 this year and $389,732 by June 30, 2012, will satisfy the settlement repayment, Albright said. Then an audit will be done.

Previously, the city was paying off the settlement as it was able to, Albright said. At that rate, it was going to take the city 30 years to pay off the debt.

Once they kicked the logjam loose and freed up tax increment revenue – which provides the city with “a substantial amount of money” every year, he said – the city's finances started to look better.

Albright, who will act as interim redevelopment agency executive director through year's end, said the agency also must repay a loan it took from the city.

He said the agency still owes the city $2,377,176 at a 10 percent interest rate as of this June 30. The agency will make an interest-only payment of $241,489 in the coming fiscal year.

With there now being money available from the agency to pay back the city, “Suddenly the city's revenues look better,” Albright said.

The improvements to the city's balance sheets means the redevelopment agency will have about $5.5 million available for low and moderate income housing projects.

“We need to start doing projects,” he said.

As part of the budget, Albright proposed a 2.5-percent cost of living increase increase for all noncontract employees, the first such increase since July 1, 2007.

He also is proposing the realignment of management salaries, which will set salaries lower for the city administrator, police chief and finance director, while increasing the lowest management salary.

Other suggestions include adding a land use/transportation planner and a clerical position to enable code enforcement, rehiring a laid off maintenance worker and hiring four part-time seasonal public works staffers.

Vice Mayor Joey Luiz told Lake County News that he would rather have the money proposed for the public works positions be spent on restoring a police officer position.

By taking that money and rolling the proposed 2.5-percent cost of living increase back to 1.5 percent, Luiz suggested it's possible that as many as two police officer jobs could be added if some changes were made to the budget.

Council member Judy Thein came out against the cost of living increase at the May 31 budget workshop. She has since written a letter to the editor (Thein: Public safety is in jeopardy) advocating for restoring police officer positions instead off offering staff the increase.

Even so, Albright said the cost of living increase is still included in the budget and will be up for consideration this week.

Albright's budget also tackles deferred maintenance projects, and includes $25,000 for badly needed repairs for city hall's leaking roof. He's recounted at council meetings needing to keep buckets in the city offices to catch rainwater.

There is also $50,000 included for a new public works vehicle, $25,000 for a new animal control vehicle; two new police cars covered under a grant, plus a third new car that's funded by insurance after the recent totaling of a patrol vehicle; and proposed renewal of the city's code enforcement functions.

He said staff will have a resolution for adopting the budget ready for Thursday's meeting.

“Is any document ever perfect? No,” said Albright. However, he feels the proposed budget is strong and the city can proceed with it.

If the council has serious concerns or can't agree on the document, they could still adopt the budget resolution at the June 23 meeting and meet the state deadline, Albright said.

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Mendocino College officials and community members tour the site of the new Lake Center campus at 2565 Parallel Drive in Lakeport, Calif., on Tuesday, June 7, 2011. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – On an afternoon blessed by an abundance of late spring sunshine, community members got a chance to walk the the 31-acre property on Parallel Drive that will be home to the Mendocino College Lake Center.

The site, located at 2565 Parallel Drive, now looks like an unused pasture, with the grass having recently been mowed.

However, college officials are hoping to break ground on the new campus site this September, once Division of the State Architect approves the building plans.

Ruzicka Associates, located next door to the property, hosted a Tuesday afternoon reception for local dignitaries and college staff and leadership, who took a closeup look at the site in its still-pristine form.

“This is really an exciting project going on here,” said Channing Cornell, president of the Mendocino College Foundation Board of Directors.

The total project cost is $13.5 million, with construction estimated to cost around $8 million, according to Mendocino College Facilities Services Director Mike Adams.

The first phase of building will include 14,000 square feet of space, Adams said.

Adams said there will be classrooms for topics including art, science and music, a community room and a computer lab. A preliminary site plan showed a large parking area set back off of Parallel Drive, which leads into an entry plaza, central plaza, art patio, garden area and a nature trail loop. Future plans include a large community garden just off of Parallel Drive.

He said that once the project is awarded to a contractor, he expects it to move quickly. “It will be a fast track project.”

Mark Rawitsch, dean of the Lake Center as well as the college center in Willits, said the goal is to open the campus to students in 2013. To help make it happen, “We need a group finger cross,” he joked.

At the afternoon gathering officials also announced the formation of the Lake County Friends of Mendocino College, an affiliate of the Mendocino College Foundation. The group's purpose is to organize and conduct local activities to promote and assist the college's educational and service programs, according to member Wilda Shock.

Shock said Lake County students account for 25 percent of Mendocino College's total enrollment, with almost 23 percent of the 2010 graduates coming from lake County.

She said the 2006 passage of the Measure W bond made funding for the new Lake Center project possible.

Shock added that the foundation's board of directors has committed itself to long-term growth, establishing and funding a new executive director position, which Katie Wojcieszak was hired to fill.

Wojcieszak awarded Shock with a plaque for helping with the foundation's efforts.

A rendering of the first phase of the Mendocino College Lake Center campus, to be built at 2565 Parallel Drive in Lakeport, Calif., beginning in the fall of 2011. Image courtesy of Mendocino College.

Rawitsch said local enrollments totaled 1,821 in the spring semester, up 9 percent. The fall enrollment was 1,600. He said the county enrollment resulted in $1.4 million in state reimbursements.

Adams said the architectural firm TLCD Architecture of Santa Rosa is designing the site. He said the firm also agreed to do the design work for Lakeport's Soper-Reese Community Theatre courtyard for free.

He thanked the city of Lakeport for helping move the project forward.

“I don't think we can thank the city of Lakeport enough for their cooperation,” Adams said.

He said the city has been “amazing” in its assistance in helping secure the property – which a bank repossessed – and splitting the cost of a water main extension. Adams singled out Community Development Director/Redevelopment Director Richard Knoll for special recognition.

There are four wells on the site, all of which are active but with low water volume, Adams said.

He said there is no solar installation in the initial plan. Adams said for it to pencil out the installation would need to be larger, and therefore the college is talking with the city about power needs for its sewer treatment plant.

Adams had noted the site's beauty before the tour started. Walking the acreage and pausing in the area where the main quad will be, the property's picturesque qualities shined through, with prominent views of Mt. Konocti and the mountains to the west.

College officials said they want the campus design to incorporate the landscape to create a beautiful and peaceful setting for education.

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The museum is located at 9921 Highway 281 (Soda Bay Road) between Kelseyville and Lower Lake.

The new Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum will function as a historical and agricultural visitor center that will encompass the Ely Stage Stop building, as well as several reconstructed old barns, displays of farm equipment, agricultural demonstrations, and interpretive and living history exhibits, including a blacksmith shop.

The two-story structure will provide a permanent home for the Lake County Historical Society, as well as a starting point for a self-guided historical tour of Lake County.

“We’re excited to see this new museum open to the public,” said Lake County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox. “It will be an incredible resource for both residents and visitors to learn about and appreciate Lake County’s agricultural heritage.”

The grand opening will provide an opportunity for the public to see the progress to date and learn about the plans for continued development of the museum’s exhibits.

“We’re looking forward to the completion of the Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum,” said Phil Smoley, president of the Lake County Historical Society. “Not only is it a significant historical site, it will become an important destination that will attract people to Lake County and help stimulate the local economy.”

The Ely Stage Stop building dates to the late 1850s and is considered by some to be the oldest “stick-built” building in Lake County.

On July 29, 2007, the historic Ely Stage Stop structure was relocated from its original location at 7909 Highway 29 on land owned by Beckstoffer Vineyards, across Highway 29, to its new location on Soda Bay Road, approximately one mile north of Kit’s Corner.

Although its age and condition made the relocation a challenge, the building’s varied history as a stage stop, hotel, and even a post office adds historical character to the new museum. The new site also features dramatic views of Mount Konocti and overlooks the former S-Bar-S Ranch.

This project was made possible through the generous donation of the Andrew Beckstoffer family who donated the historic building and the five-acre parcel just a few miles from the building’s original site for the establishment of the museum.

In addition to the Beckstoffer family donation of the historic building and land, the Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum has received several other generous contributions including a donation of $100,000 from the Kettenhofen Family Foundation, a charitable foundation established and funded by the estates of Ernest and Polly Kettenhofen who owned the S-Bar-S Ranch from approximately 1960 to 2000.

With arrangements set forth in a proposed Memorandum of Understanding between the County and the Lake County Historical Society, the County agreed to be responsible for the physical relocation and the necessary improvements to the structure and the Historical Society agreed to be responsible for the acquisition of the barns and farm equipment to be exhibited as well as the day-to-day operation of the museum.

The Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum will be owned by the county and will be staffed by members of the Lake County Historical Society.

Donations of artifacts and old barns are still being sought as are photos depicting the original building in its early years and throughout its many transformations and uses.

Anyone interested in contributing time or resources to the project may contact Greg Dills, chairman of the Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum Project for the Lake County Historical Society, at 707-263-4180, Extension 12.

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The festival will showcase the culinary and pairing skills of local restaurants and chefs who will be competing for awards in five categories – best presentation, most creative, best of show, best use of local products, and consumer favorite pairing.

Professional judges will judge four categories and event attendees will get to vote in the consumer favorite pairing category.

Attendees will stroll between the two wineries along the vineyard trail that overlooks the beauty of Anderson Marsh and Clear Lake.

Special transportation accommodations will be provided for guests who require them.

Tickets to the event are $40 per person and include a commemorative wine glass as well as tastings and pairings at both winery venues.

Creative cuisine will be paired with fine wines from a variety of local restaurants and chefs.

Proceeds from the festival will benefit Konocti Regional Trails and the Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association.

Attendees will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a two-night stay at Vigilance Villa and other great prizes.

Gregory Graham Winery is located at 13633 Point Lakeview Road and Vigilance Winery & Vineyards is located at 13888 Point Lakeview Road, both in Lower Lake.

For more information, call 707-995-3500 or 707-994-9656 or go online to www.ggwines.com or www.vigilancewinery.com.

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