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LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors plans to hold a debriefing on the recent public safety power shutoff when it meets this week, and also will discuss a letter of intent to sell a property to Lake Transit Authority.

The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

The meeting can be watched live on Channel 8 and online. Accompanying board documents, the agenda and archived board meeting videos also are available at that link.

At 11 a.m., the board will hold a discussing and debriefing on the Pacific Gas and Electric public safety power shutoff event earlier this month.

Community members are asked to come and give testimony at the meeting or to submit written comments by 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 21, to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

In other business, at 10:15 a.m. the board will consider transient occupancy tax waivers and at 10:30 a.m. will continue an appeal hearing for transient occupancy tax by JoAnn Saccato for her Cobb property.

In an untimed item, the board will consider a letter of intent to sell 7175 South Center Drive in Clearlake to Lake Transit Authority, where a new bus depot is proposed to be located.

Supervisor Bruno Sabatier is proposing the letter of intent, which he said will help Lake Transit Authority in its efforts to acquire a grant to begin the bus depot’s construction.

The full agenda follows.

CONSENT AGENDA

5.1: Adopt proclamation commending Donald Hoberg, heavy equipment/ fleet maintenance superintendent, for his years of service to the county of Lake.

5.2: Adopt proclamation commending Arthur Michael Loucks, bridge maintenance supervisor, for his years of service to the county of Lake.

5.3: Approve rescission of public property transaction sale located at 8695 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville, California (APN 009-002-430) and refund purchasers William L. Biggs and Carol S. Biggs for the full and complete amount of $93.605.00 due to discrepancy in parcel size.

5.4: Approve the Public Defender Contract Amendment Number 3 between the county of Lake and Lake Indigent Defense LLP for public defender services to extend the term of agreement 14 months from Nov. 1, 2019, through Dec. 31, 2020, and increase monthly payment amount to $118,000 for a total of $3,962,000 and authorize the chair to sign.

5.5: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; (b) approve the agreement between the county of Lake and Kings View Corp. for MIS support services for Fiscal Year 2019-20 for a contract maximum amount of $63,360 and to authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.

5.6: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approve the agreement between the county of Lake and FIRST 5 Lake Commission for the Mother-Wise Program (Postpartum Depression Initiative) for Fiscal Year 2019-20 for a contract maximum of $65,000 and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.

5.7: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approve the agreement between the county of Lake and Redwood Community Services, Inc. for the Lake County Wrap Program, Foster Care Program and Intensive Services Foster Care Program for services provided in Fiscal Year 2018-19 for a contract maximum of $69,955.00 and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.

5.8: (a) Approve long distance travel for Kendra Boyce and Michael Mos to attend teen mental health first aid instructor training in Las Vegas, Nevada, Oct. 28 through Oct. 30, 2019; and (b) approve long distance travel for Carrie Manning to attend teen mental health first aid instructor training in Las Vegas, Nevada, Nov. 17 through Nov. 21.

5.9: Adopt resolution setting rate of pay for election officers for the Nov. 5, 2019, special district election.

5.10: (a) Waive formal bidding process, determining no economic benefit to the county; (b) approve purchase of two Chevrolet Equinox for BU 4011-Public Health Division and one Chevrolet Express Cargo for BU 4012 - Health Services Admin Division; and (c) authorize the Health Services director-purchasing agent to issue purchase orders and related documents.

5.11: Sitting as Lake County Sanitation District Board of Directors, approve mainline extension contract with Robinson Rancheria of Pomo Indians to provide sewer service to APN 004-021-350 and authorize the chair to sign.

5.12: Sitting as the Lake County Sanitation District Board of Directors, adopt resolution revising the Fiscal Year 2019-2020 Adopted Budget of the county of Lake by cancelling capital improvement reserves in the amount of $102,976 for LACOSAN Southeast Sewer to make appropriations in Budget Unit 8354, Object Code 783.62-74 to pay for LACOSAN SE Lift Station #1 pump replacement.

5.13: Adopt proclamation recognizing Oct. 24, 2019, as World Polio Day on behalf of the four Rotary Clubs in Lake County and Rotary Clubs worldwide.

5.14: Approve agreement between the county of Lake and Mead & Hunt for construction administration services for runway 10-28 Asphalt Slurry Seal Rehabilitation (AIP No. 3-06-0117-019-2018) in the amount of $123,232.00, and authorize the chair to sign.

5.15: Sitting as Lake County Watershed Protection District Board of Directors, adopt resolution authorizing the Big Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency to file a grant application under the 2019 Sustainable Groundwater Management Grant Program Planning Round 3 for the development of a groundwater sustainability plan for the Big Valley Groundwater Basin.

TIMED ITEMS

6.2, 9:10 a.m.: Presentation of (a) proclamation recognizing Oct. 24, 2019, as World Polio Day on behalf of the four Rotary Clubs in Lake County and Rotary Clubs worldwide; (b) proclamation commending Donald Hoberg, heavy equipment/fleet maintenance superintendent, for his years of service to the county of Lake; and (c) proclamation commending Arthur Michael Loucks, bridge maintenance supervisor, for his years of service to the county of Lake.

6.3, 9:15 a.m.: Presentation by Lake County Rural Arts Initiative.

6.4, 9:30 a.m.: Public meeting to consider projects and programs for Community Development Block Grant funding applications under the notice of funding availability for 2020.

6.5, 10:15 a.m.: Discussion and consideration of transient occupancy tax waivers.

6.6, 10:30 a.m.: Continued from Sept. 24 and Aug. 27, appeal hearing, transient occupancy tax, JoAnn Saccato, 16986 Dogwood Way, Cobb, CA 95461.

6.7, 11 a.m.: Discussion/debriefing on recent Pacific Gas and Electric public safety power shutoff event.

UNTIMED ITEMS

7.2: Discussion and Consideration of letter of intent to sell 7175 South Center Drive, Clearlake to Lake Transit Authority.

7.3: Discussion and direction to staff on the dig once policy ordinance.

7.4: Consideration of appointments to the Western Region Town Hall.

7.5: Consideration of Contract Change Order No. 1 for the South Shore Behavioral Health Roof Project, Bid No. 18-14 .

CLOSED SESSION

8.1: Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Gov. Code sec. 54956.9(d)(1): Operating Engineers Local No. 3 vs. County of Lake.

8.2: Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Gov. Code sec. 54956.9(d)(1): John vs. County of Lake, et al.

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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Getting a driver’s license is a teenager’s rite of passage, but also a time to educate teens on their new, important responsibility as a driver.

Oct. 20 to 26 is National Teen Driver Safety Week, and the California Office of Traffic Safety, or OTS, encourages parents and guardians to talk to their teen about safe driving habits and the rules of the road intended to keep them safe.

“Teen drivers don’t have the same experiences or skills of older drivers with many more years and miles on the road,” OTS Director Barbara Rooney said. “Avoiding bad, dangerous habits behind the wheel is critical for the safety of teens.”

Driving or riding in the car is one of the riskiest activities teens are involved in on a daily basis. Vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death for teens between the ages of 15 and 18.

Teen drivers are also involved in crashes at three times the rate of any other age group, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

Parents or guardians should take the time to educate their teen on the consequences of bad behaviors while driving, such as speeding or using a cell phone.

California law bans drivers under 18 from using electronic devices for any reason, including hands-free.

In order to reduce the risk for teen drivers, the OTS asks parents to take the following steps to involve themselves in managing their teen’s driving habits and skills:

– Understand California’s Graduated Driver License, or GDL laws, which place restrictions on driving with passengers and at night (11 p.m.-5 a.m.) during a teen’s first year with a license.
– Be a good role model by driving how you would want your teen to drive.
– Set ground rules like staying off the phone while driving, not giving friends rides, following the speed limit and never driving after drinking or using drugs that impair.
– Establish consequences. Don’t be afraid to discipline if your teen breaks the rules.
– Reinforce the ramifications for violating the zero-tolerance law for alcohol.
– Remind them to never ride with someone who has been drinking or is impaired.

Parents and guardians can sign their teen up for a free “Start Smart” class by contacting their local California Highway Patrol office. “Start Smart” is a driver safety education program funded by the OTS that teaches soon-to-be and newly licensed teens about GDL laws, ways to avoid crashes and the dangers of speeding and distracted driving.

The OTS administers funding for traffic safety programs statewide with the goal of reducing crashes that result in deaths, injuries, and economic losses. The OTS is a department under the California State Transportation Agency.
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The role that parents and guardians play as their child’s first teacher is crucial when it comes to driving.

During National Teen Driver Safety Week, Oct. 20 to 26, the California Highway Patrol joins the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to help parents discuss driving safety with their young drivers.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens 15 to 18 years old in the United States, ahead of all other types of injury, disease, and violence.

Nationwide in 2017, there were 2,247 people killed in crashes involving a driver aged 15 to 18. In California, 77 people were killed in crashes involving drivers aged 15-18.

“Their lack of experience alone makes teen drivers a potential danger to themselves and others,” CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley said. “Talk to your teen drivers about safe driving habits and keep the conversation going.”

Discussions about safe driving include avoiding distractions such as cell phones, using seat belts, obeying speed limits, not driving impaired, and limiting the number of passengers. Parents and guardians must be aware that their own driving behavior, following the same rules, is as important as any conversation they could have with their teen.

“It will take all of us – educators, law enforcement, parents, and community leaders – to change the driving culture to one that is distraction-free,” Dr. Kelly Browning, executive director of Impact Teen Drivers said. “By combining quality education and enforcement in a multifaceted approach, we can stop the number one killer of teens in America – 100 percent preventable car crashes.”

In addition to its participation in the Impact Teen Drivers program, the CHP provides education to help keep teen drivers alive in its Start Smart course, offered at all CHP offices free of charge.

Participating in Start Smart will help parents and guardians learn how to effectively discuss the importance of driving safety with their young drivers.

Start Smart also teaches the responsibilities of newly licensed drivers, the Graduated Driver License program, and collision-avoidance techniques.
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council will hold a special meeting this week during which it will discuss proposed vehicle purchases, a contract for a housing element update and an ad hoc committee to make city appointments.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

The special meeting was called after last week’s meeting was canceled due to lack of a quorum.

On the agenda is a request from Police Chief Brad Rasmusen to purchase a general police patrol vehicle and a police K9 vehicle for an amount not to exceed $108,854.

Rasmussen’s report to the council explains that this fiscal year’s budget authorizes spending of up to $71,000 in general fund money and up to $37,854 in United States Department of Agriculture grant funds – awarded to the city for a police dog program – to purchase a K9 vehicle and a general patrol vehicle.

Also on Tuesday, Community Development Director Kevin Ingram will ask for authorization to enter into a professional service agreement with De Novo Planning Group for the completion of the city’s sixth cycle housing element update. The proposed contract amount is $33,240.

In other business, Administrative Services Director-City Clerk Kelly Buendia will present a resolution that seeks to establish an ad hoc selection advisory committee for the selection of the members of city committees and commissions with terms expiring in 2019. The ad hoc committee is to be comprised of two city council members.

Buendia’s report said there currently are several appointments that need to be made, including one vacancy on the Lakeport Planning Commission, three expiring seats on the Parks
and Recreation Commission, three expiring seats on the Lakeport Economic Development Advisory Committee, and a recommendation to the Lake County Board of Supervisors for one city resident to be appointed to the Lakeport Fire Protection District Board of Directors.

On the consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances; minutes of the regular council meeting on Oct. 1; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the Mendocino Complex fire; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the February 2019 storms; approval of application 2019-027, with staff recommendations, for the 2019 Halloween Costume Parade on Oct. 31; approval of application 2020-001, with staff recommendations, for the 2020 Home Wine and Beer Makers Festival in Library Park; and approval of the Lakeport Hazard Mitigation Plan.

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.



102219 Lakeport City Council Special Meeting Agenda Packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd

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The new roundabout on Highway 29 and Hartmann Road near Hidden Valley Lake, California, on Thursday, October 17, 2019. Photo by Elizabeth Larson/Lake County News.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The work to finish a new roundabout that’s meant to increase safety and traffic flow was marked in a Thursday ceremony.

Caltrans hosted the event to officially mark the completion of the Highway 29 and Hartmann Road on Thursday morning, about a quarter mile from the roundabout at the corner of Highway 29 and Spruce Grove Road Extension, across from Arabian Lane.

Construction on the roundabout began in May 2018; it opened to traffic on June 3. Caltrans reported that it will officially take over the roundabout from the contractor, Ghilotti Construction, in February.

The project cost is reported at $8,614,000, Caltrans said.

The new roundabout’s design – which was inspired by the local flora and fauna and Pomo Indian basket designs – was created in collaboration with the Middletown Art Center and the Middletown Rancheria.

This is the third roundabout Caltrans has completed in Lake County and the fifth in District 1.

Caltrans’ other roundabouts are located at the junction of Highway 20 and the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff in Nice and the intersection of Highway 20 and 29 in Upper Lake. Another is under construction in Clearlake Oaks at the junction of Highway 20 and 53 and is expected to be completed in the spring.

The first roundabout in the county, in Lakeport, was a city project.

Caltrans District 1 Director Matthew Brady said that the intersection of Highway 29 and Hartmann Road had been subject to a lot of collisions before a stop sign was installed there in 2011.

Prior to that stop sign’s installation, the Hartmann Road intersection had a collision rate eight times higher than the statewide average for similar intersections, Caltrans said.

Brady said some of those collisions were “catastrophic.”

State and local officials gathered to mark the completion of the Highway 29 and Hartmann Road roundabout near Hidden Valley Lake, California, on Thursday, October 17, 2019. Photo by Elizabeth Larson/Lake County News.

They included a fatal collision in 2011 that triggered temporary safety measures, including installation of a three-way stop sign until a permanent solution could be constructed.

Caltrans acquired funding which initiated the Hartmann Road roundabout project in 2012. The project included the installation of a full roundabout with lighting, sidewalks, crosswalks and improved drainage.

The agency pursued the use of a roundabout to increase traffic safety and to significantly reduce collisions.

It said roundabout benefits include lower travel speeds, reduced vehicle collisions, continuous traffic flow and no incentive to “beat the light” due to moving traffic, plus there are environmental benefits such as lessened noise due to efficient traffic flow, reduction in air pollution and reduced fuel consumption due to the elimination of idling vehicles compared to a stop or signalized intersection.

Brady said roundabouts require less maintenance, have low yearly operational costs and they don’t rely on electricity, which is particularly important in the wake of the recent public safety power shutoff.

Caltrans reported that annual average daily traffic is currently 11,700 vehicles per day. With the installation of the Hartmann Road Roundabout overall collisions are projected to be reduced by 35 percent with significant reductions in fatalities collisions by 89 percent and injury collisions by 76 percent.

“We can’t thank Caltrans enough for investing in our community,” District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon said at the ceremony.

He said the project shows that Middletown – the gateway into Lake County – is rebuilding in the wake of the wildland fires of the last several years.

He later told Lake County News later that he believes the roundabout will help with development in the south county.

Simon said that the roundabout has helped better manage the traffic associated with the rebuild. “We get to experience that every day.”

Lt. Randy England, commander of the Clear Lake Area office, said the CHP and Caltrans regularly meet and discuss safety needs. He said safety is the CHP’s primary concern and central to its mission.

England said the project is a good example of the CHP and Caltrans working together.

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.
A closeup of the artistic detail on the Highway 29 and Hartmann Road near Hidden Valley Lake, California. The design was inspired by the local flora and fauna and Pomo Indian basket designs. Photo courtesy of Caltrans.
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After seven years of operations, and upon finally running out of propellant, the second of the twin Van Allen Probes spacecraft were retired on Friday, Oct. 18.

Spacecraft A of the Van Allen Probes mission will be shut down by operators at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, Maryland.

The command follows one three months previously that terminated operations for spacecraft B, the second spacecraft of the mission.

“This mission spent seven years in the radiation belts, and broke all the records for a spacecraft to tolerate and operate in that hazardous region, all with no interruptions,” said Nelofar Mosavi, Van Allen Probes project manager at Johns Hopkins APL. “This mission was about resiliency against the harshest space environment.”

Originally slated for a two-year mission, the spacecraft flew through the Van Allen belts — rings of charged particles trapped by Earth’s magnetic field — to understand how particles were gained and lost by the belts. The spacecraft made major discoveries that revolutionized how we understand our near-Earth environment.

“Van Allen Probe observations have been the subject of over 600 publications to date in refereed journals, and over 55 Ph.D. theses have used Van Allen Probe observations,” said David Sibeck, Van Allen Probes mission scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

With instruments measuring electromagnetic fields and charged particles, the Van Allen Probes explored the invisible phenomena shepherding particles in and around the belts. It made discoveries about the architecture of the belts and the forces shaping them.

Just as ocean storms on Earth can create giant waves, space weather, caused by the Sun, can create plasma waves, where seas of particles are tossed by electromagnetic fields. The Van Allen Probes pioneered new explorations into the dynamics of these waves and their effects on our near-Earth environment.

“The Van Allen Probes rewrote the textbook on radiation belt physics,” said Sasha Ukhorskiy, Van Allen Probes project scientist at Johns Hopkins APL, which also designed and built the spacecraft. “The spacecraft used uniquely capable instruments to unveil radiation belt features that were all but invisible to previous sensors, and discovered many new physical mechanisms of radiation belt acceleration and loss.”

In celebration of the mission’s success, here are ten select discoveries, listed in chronological order, made by the Van Allen Probes.

– The Van Allen belts were first discovered in 1958 and for decades scientists thought there were only two concentric belts. But days after the Van Allen Probes launched, scientists discovered that during times of intense solar activity, a third belt can form.

– The belts, which are composed of charged particles and electromagnetic fields, can be energized by different types of plasma waves. One type, called electrostatic double layers, appear as short blips of enhanced electric field. During one observing period, Probe B saw 7,000 such blips repeatedly pass over the spacecraft in a single minute. These individually small events added up to one million volts over six minutes, capable of accelerating electrons up toward the relativistic energies commonly seen in radiation belt particles.

– During big space weather storms, which are ultimately caused by activity on the Sun, ions — electrically charged atoms or molecules — can be pushed deep into Earth’s magnetosphere in a series of impulsive events. These particles carry electromagnetic currents that circle around the planet and can dramatically distort Earth’s magnetic field.

– Across space, fluctuating electric and magnetic fields can create what are known as plasma waves. These waves intensify during space weather storms and can accelerate particles to relativistic speeds. The Van Allen Probes found that one type of plasma wave known as hiss can contribute greatly to the loss of electrons from the belts.

– The Van Allen belts are composed of electrons and ions with a range of energies. In 2015, research from the Van Allen Probes found that, unlike the outer belt, there were no electrons with energies greater than a million electron volts in the inner belt.

– Plasma waves known as whistler chorus waves are also common in our near-Earth environment. These waves can travel parallel or at an angle to the local magnetic field. The Van Allen Probes demonstrated the two types of waves cannot be present simultaneously, resulting in greater radiation belt particle scattering in certain areas.

– Very low frequency chorus waves, another variety of plasma waves, can pump up the energy of electrons to millions of electron volts. During storm conditions, the Van Allen Probes found these waves can hugely increase the energy of particles in the belts in just a few hours.

– Scientists often use computer simulation models to understand the physics behind certain phenomena. A model simulating particles in the Van Allen belts helped scientists understand how particles can be lost, replenished and trapped by the Earth’s magnetic field.

– The Van Allen Probes observed several cases of extremely energetic ions speeding toward Earth. Research found that these ions’ acceleration was connected to their electric charge and not to their mass.

– The Sun emits faster and slower gusts of charged particles called the solar wind. Since the Sun rotates, these gusts — the fast wind — reach Earth periodically. Changes in these gusts cause the extent of region of cold ionized gas around Earth — the plasmasphere — to shrink. Data from the Van Allen Probes showed that such changes in the plasmasphere fluctuated at the same rate as the solar rotation ­— every 27 days.

Mara Johnson-Groh works for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.



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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council is seeking applications from Clearlake citizens for a seat on the planning commission with a four-year term expiring in March 2023.

Planning commissioners hear and act upon land use matters and are advisory to the Clearlake City Council on zoning regulations, the general plan, and other land use issues.

Commissioners serve at the will of the Clearlake City Council and are designated filers under the Fair Political Practices Commission and must file periodic statements of economic interest disclosing financial interests within the jurisdiction of the city.

“The Planning Commission plays a vital role in deciding Clearlake’s future development successes,” said City Manager Alan Flora. “Any Clearlake citizen who is interested in being a part of Clearlake’s upcoming opportunities should apply.”

Applications are available at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive, on the city’s Web site at www.clearlake.ca.us or via email to Administrative Services Director/City Clerk Melissa Swanson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Clearlake City Council will consider applications at its Nov. 14 meeting.

Deadline for applications to be included in the city council meeting packet is Nov. 7 at 5 p.m.
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The Ranch fire area in the Mendocino National Forest in Northern California. Photo courtesy of the Environmental Protection Information Center.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – An environmental group has filed suit over timber sales on the Mendocino National Forest in the wake of the Ranch fire.

The Environmental Protection Information Center, or EPIC, is suing the U.S. Forest Service for approving a series of timber sales on the Mendocino National Forest that shortcut public participation and environmental review in violation of federal law.

In a complaint filed Wednesday, EPIC alleges that the Forest Service expedited seven timber sales, totaling up to 7,000 acres, by mislabeling the logging as a “road maintenance” project. At risk from the logging are clean water, northern spotted owls, and increased fuel conditions.

Mendocino National Forest spokesperson Sandra Moore said she had no comment on the pending litigation.

All Forest Service timber sales are subject to the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. The core of NEPA is a requirement that agencies take a “hard look” at the environmental impacts of their proposed actions, typically done through an environmental impact statement or
environmental analysis.

EPIC alleges that the timber sales were approved using what is called a “categorical exclusion.” Categorical exclusions do not require environmental impact review or public comment.

Here, the Forest Service argues that a commercial timber sale is “road maintenance” because the logging would remove dead and live trees affected by the 2018 Ranch fire along roads, reducing the odds that the trees may fall and block the road.

A separate categorical exclusion exists for post-fire logging, although that is limited to 250 acres, as anything larger in scale is assumed to be able to produce significant impacts to the environment.

All timber sales in this proposed project are larger than 250 acres and many of the roads proposed for logging are closed to motor vehicle use.

“The Mendocino National Forest is taking a page from Trump’s playbook,” said Tom Wheeler, executive director of EPIC. “Calling a timber sale ‘road maintenance’ is a stunning way to stifle public participation and ignore environmental impacts.”

Science has widely recognized that post-fire logging is especially impactful, as logging adds an additional disturbance on top of the effects of the fire.

EPIC said post-fire logging often results in degraded water quality, the spread of invasive plants, and loss of habitat for rare, threatened and endangered species. It can also increase the risk of high-severity fire since logging leaves behind a buildup of slash and finer “fuels.”

If allowed to use a categorical exclusion instead of an environmental impact statement, these impacts may never be adequately examined and mitigation measures to reduce harm through better project design would not be incorporated, EPIC said.

“This is a massive project covering thousands of acres,” said EPIC’s Public Land Advocate Kimberly Baker. “The Mendocino National Forest is breaking the law to meet timber targets and benefit timber corporations at a cost to fragile post-fire watersheds and threatened species. Public safety could be achieved in a more benign manner.”

EPIC is represented by René Voss of Natural Resources Law and Matt Kenna of Public Interest Environmental Law.

The case will be heard in the Northern District Court of California.
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom this week announced the debut of the nation’s first statewide earthquake early warning system that will deliver alerts to people’s cellphones through an app developed at the University of California, Berkeley.

The mobile phone app, MyShake, can provide seconds of warning before the ground starts to shake from a nearby quake — enough time to drop, cover and hold on to prevent injury.

“Nothing can replace families having a plan for earthquakes and other emergencies,” said Newsom. “And we know the ‘Big One’ might be around the corner. I encourage every Californian to download this app and ensure your family is earthquake ready."

Newsom announced the roll-out along with the Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), UC Berkeley, United States Geological Survey (USGS) and several state and local political leaders.

Designed by UC Berkeley seismologists and engineers, MyShake is now available for download to cellphones or tablets through iTunes for iPhones and through Google Play stores for Android phones.

The announcement was timed for the 30th anniversary of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, a magnitude 6.9 quake that damaged or collapsed buildings, overpasses and bridges from Santa Cruz to the Bay Area and led to 63 deaths and 3,757 injuries.

“Everyone asks me, ‘Are we safer now than in 1989?’ Well, now we have warnings a few seconds to tens of seconds before the shaking,” said Richard Allen, director of the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory and the Class of 1954 Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science.

MyShake delivers alerts from the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System operated by the U.S. Geological Survey that utilizes data from seismic networks in California, Oregon and Washington. ShakeAlert calculates preliminary magnitudes and then estimates how strong the shaking will be at a user’s location. In California, ShakeAlert has been issuing alerts of imminent ground shaking from nearby quakes for more than three years to help cities, transit systems, utilities, police departments and fire stations prepare.

ShakeAlerts are now being offered to everyone in the state of California — residents and visitors alike — through the MyShake app, as long as they allow the app to access their locations. In the event of a quake, people’s phones will deliver the audio message, “Earthquake! Drop, cover and hold on. Shaking expected.”

Considered a prototype, MyShake will be continually improved with feedback from the public to create a reliable and indispensable life-saving tool for every resident. The statewide program is administered by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) under the California Earthquake Early Warning (CEEW) Program.

“Delivering alerts remains technically challenging, both to rapidly detect earthquakes and to deliver the alerts in a timely way,” Allen said. “The reality is that warnings will arrive before, during or after shaking starts, but in all cases, they allow us to better respond and survive the earthquake.”

Earthquake-prone countries like Mexico and Japan have long had earthquake early warning (EEW) systems, with alerts typically delivered through cellphones or public address systems. For more than 10 years, seismologists from the U.S. Geological Survey, UC Berkeley, California Institute of Technology, University of Oregon and University of Washington have been developing ShakeAlert for the West Coast supported by public and private funds. Since 2016, the consortium has enlisted public agencies such as PG&E and BART to test the system.

BART, for example, now slows trains when it receives a ShakeAlert. Firehouses use precious seconds of early warning to raise their garage doors so that trucks are not trapped inside; local refineries have time to close valves to prevent spillage of dangerous chemicals and at hospitals, surgeons have time to pull their scalpels from inside patients.

Early warning, not prediction

The ShakeAlert system does not predict an earthquake, but rather provides an alert that an earthquake has been detected nearby and warns recipients that they are likely to feel shaking. It does this by detecting the first seismic waves, called P waves, from a quake, which travel faster than the much more damaging S waves. The farther you are from the epicenter, the greater the delay between P and S waves and the more advance warning you get.

While those near the quake’s epicenter are likely to experience shaking before the alert arrives, such alerts can be critical for those farther away, giving people a few seconds of warning that can save lives and property. After Southern California’s 7.1 magnitude Ridgecrest quake in July, ShakeAlert issued an alert in 7.4 seconds, which would have provided advance warning to residents more than 15 miles from the epicenter.

The ShakeAlertLA app that many Angelenos downloaded in expectation of early warning was not set to alert them to shaking from such a distant quake, and many were surprised when buildings started to sway. The threshold for local shaking has since been lowered.

As the official state EEW app, MyShake will provide the same information in Southern California as ShakeAlertLA does now in Los Angeles County. MyShake will, in addition, send back information to UC Berkeley about local shaking intensity, gathered by the cellphone’s built-in accelerometers, sensors that detect movement or vibrations. It also will give advice on how to prepare for a quake, and offer an easy way for people to provide feedback about their experiences during the quake.

Initially, MyShake will deliver alerts to people for quakes exceeding magnitude 4.5 that will produce a shaking intensity in their area greater than level 3 on the modified Mercalli scale: a threshold at which most people will feel shaking, if they are indoors, that is similar to feeling vibrations from a truck driving by on the street. Once the app has been tested, the developers plan to create a two-tier system, adding a more urgent message for those likely to experience a shaking intensity greater than 4, which is more like a truck hitting your building.

In addition to the MyShake app, the ShakeAlert system will also deliver alerts through the Wireless Emergency Alert, or WEA system — the same system that delivers severe weather warnings and AMBER Alerts. ShakeAlert computers confirm a quake and publish an alert in 3 to 10 seconds, while recent tests show that WEA has an average delivery time of about 13 seconds. MyShake has been demonstrated to deliver these alerts in as little as 3.7 seconds, meaning Californians could get an alert as soon as 7 seconds after a fault rupture begins.

“Our initial tests on the speed of MyShake alert delivery are very encouraging, but we do not know how these will change as the number of people using the app increases,” said Allen. “Rolling out the system is the only way to monitor the performance with a large number of users and further improve the system.”

Crowdsourcing information on shaking intensity

Allen leads the UC Berkeley team that developed MyShake, which has been funded since June by $1.5 million over two years from CalOES after five years of startup funding from the Moore Foundation. Allen’s team also wrote ShakeAlert’s core algorithm, which analyzes data from the state-wide network of earthquake sensors and makes the initial calculations of magnitude and estimates of shaking intensity.

MyShake was launched in 2016 as an app that crowdsources shaking data from the sensors in a cellphone and sends that information to UC Berkeley to be analyzed. The idea, Allen said, was to use the tens of millions of cellphones in circulation within the state as a dense sensor network, which, although not as good as the scientific-grade instruments of the California Integrated Seismic Network, would augment the existing ShakeAlert system and provide valuable additional data. MyShake employs machine learning to convert this crowdsourced data into early warning of ground shaking.

“The citizen science piece is very much part of the relationship with Cal OES,” he said. “Part of what Cal OES is funding is the research to explore how the MyShake phone triggers could be used to make ShakeAlert faster. By having many more people with this app on their phones, we are going to get more data, and that, over time, could make ShakeAlert better, as well.”

Allen has a global vision for MyShake, too: bringing EEW to regions of the world that don’t have seismic networks like those in Japan, Mexico and California, but do have millions of people with cellphones. While MyShake has been downloaded 300,000 times by people in 80 countries and has recorded more than 1,000 quakes in these countries, his team needs many more users to truly test the ability of the platform to serve as an early warning network, instead of just a data collection network.

While Allen hopes that the MyShake network of citizen scientists will make both ShakeAlert and MyShake much better, for now, MyShake alerts will be based on data supplied by the ShakeAlert seismic network alone.

“MyShake is a prototype system we are rolling out, but it has the potential to save lives, reduce injuries and minimize losses in the next California quake,” he said. “By delivering ShakeAlerts to smartphones across California, we can help fulfill the potential of the California Earthquake Early Warning System.”

Robert Sanders writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.
Posted On

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control’s kennels are filling up with cats and kittens waiting to be adopted.

The following cats and kittens at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption.

This female domestic short hair is in cat room kennel No. 4a, ID No. 13054. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Female domestic short hair

This female domestic short hair has a tortoiseshell coat and gold eyes.

She is in cat room kennel No. 4a, ID No. 13054.

This male domestic short hair cat is in kennel No. 4b, ID No. 13057. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male domestic short hair

This male domestic short hair cat has a calico coat and gold eyes.

He is in kennel No. 4b, ID No. 13057.

This male domestic short hair kitten is in kennel V No. 10, ID No. 13033. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Domestic short hair kitten

This male domestic short hair kitten has a gray tabby and white coat and gold eyes.

He is in kennel V No. 10, ID No. 13033.

This female domestic short hair is in cat room kennel No. 16, ID No. 12983. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Female domestic short hair

This female domestic short hair has a torbie and white coat and gold eyes.

She already has been spayed.

She’s in cat room kennel No. 16, ID No. 12983.

This male domestic short hair is in cat room kennel No. 36, ID No. 13039. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male domestic short hair

This male domestic short hair has a buff coat and gold eyes.

He is in cat room kennel No. 36, ID No. 13039.

This male domestic short hair kitten is in cat room kennel No. 96a, ID No. 13040. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male domestic short hair kitten

This male domestic short hair kitten has a flame point coat and blue eyes.

He’s in cat room kennel No. 96a, ID No. 13040.

This male domestic short hair kitten is in cat room kennel No. 96b, ID No. 13041. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male domestic short hair kitten

This male domestic short hair kitten has a black coat and green eyes.

He’s in cat room kennel No. 96b, ID No. 13041.

This male domestic short hair kitten is in cat room kennel No. 96c, ID No. 13042. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male domestic short hair kitten

This male domestic short hair kitten has a black coat and green eyes.

He’s in cat room kennel No. 96c, ID No. 13042.

This male domestic short hair kitten is in cat room kennel No. 111a, ID No. 12874. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Domestic short hair kitten

This male domestic short hair kitten has a gray coat and blue eyes.

He is in cat room kennel No. 111a, ID No. 12874.

This female domestic long hair cat is in cat room kennel No. 132, ID No. 13021. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Female domestic long hair

This female domestic long hair cat has a seal point coat with blue eyes.

She is in cat room kennel No. 132, ID No. 13021.

This female domestic medium hair cat is in kennel No. 138a, ID No. 13099. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Domestic medium hair cat

This female domestic medium hair cat has a black coat and gold eyes.

She has been spayed.

She is in kennel No. 138a, ID No. 13099.

This male domestic medium hair cat is in kennel No. 138a, ID No. 13100. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Domestic medium hair cat

This male domestic medium hair cat has a black coat and gold eyes.

He has been neutered.

He is in kennel No. 138a, ID No. 13100.

This male brown tabby is in cat room kennel No. 143, ID No. 13006. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male brown tabby

This male brown tabby has a long coat and green eyes.

He’s in cat room kennel No. 143, ID No. 13006.

This male domestic short hair cat is in cat room kennel No. 144, ID No. 13036. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male domestic short hair

This male domestic short hair cat has a flame point coat and blue eyes.

He is in cat room kennel No. 144, ID No. 13036.

Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm.

For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

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.
Posted On

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has an eclectic group of dogs waiting to be adopted this week.

Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Australian Shepherd, boxer, Chihuahua, English Bulldog, husky, pit bull, Shih Tzu and terrier.

Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.

If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets hoping you'll choose them.

The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).

This female Australian Shepherd puppy is in kennel No. 14a, ID No. 13101. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Female Australian Shepherd puppy

This female Australian Shepherd puppy has a short tan and white coat and blue eyes.

She is in kennel No. 14a, ID No. 13101.

This male Australian Shepherd puppy is in kennel No. 14b, ID No. 13102. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male Australian Shepherd puppy

This male Australian Shepherd puppy has a short tan and white coat and blue eyes.

He is in kennel No. 14b, ID No. 13102.

This male Australian Shepherd puppy is in kennel No. 14c, ID No. 13103. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male Australian Shepherd puppy

This male Australian Shepherd puppy has a short tan and white coat and blue eyes.

He is in kennel No. 14c, ID No. 13103.

This female Australian Shepherd puppy is in kennel No. 14d, ID No. 13104. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Female Australian Shepherd puppy

This female Australian Shepherd puppy has a short tan and white coat and blue eyes.

She is in kennel No. 14d, ID No. 13104.

The female boxer is in kennel No. 17, ID No. 13093. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Female boxer

The female boxer has a short white coat and brown eyes.

She is in kennel No. 17, ID No. 13093.

“Scrappy” is a male husky in kennel No. 20, ID No. 13076. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

‘Scrappy’

“Scrappy” is a male husky with a medium-length black and white coat and blue eyes.

He’s in kennel No. 20, ID No. 13076.

This male Shih Tzu is in kennel No. 24, ID No. 13094. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male Shih Tzu

This male Shih Tzu has a curly tan and white coat.

He’s in kennel No. 24, ID No. 13094.

“Pudge” is a male terrier in kennel No. 25, ID No. 13068. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

‘Pudge’

“Pudge” is a male terrier with a short brown coat.

He has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 25, ID No. 13068.

“Woofy” is a male husky in kennel No. 26, ID No. 13077. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

‘Woofy’

“Woofy” is a male husky with a short tricolor coat and blue eyes.

He is in kennel No. 26, ID No. 13077.

“Mayhem” is a male English Bulldog in kennel No. 28, ID No. 13049. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

‘Mayhem’

“Mayhem” is a male English Bulldog with a short red and white coat.

He has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 28, ID No. 13049.

This female boxer is in kennel No. 29, ID No. 13048. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Female boxer

This female boxer has a short white coat.

She is in kennel No. 29, ID No. 13048.

This male Chihuahua is in kennel No. 33, ID No. 13018. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male Chihuahua

This male Chihuahua has a short brindle coat.

He is in kennel No. 33, ID No. 13018.

“Coco” is a female Labrador Retriever in kennel No. 34, ID No. 12764. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Female pit bull

This female pit bull has a short gray coat.

She is in kennel No. 34, ID No. 13092.

Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm.

For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

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.
Posted On

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors is asking community members to share their input on the public safety power shutoff Pacific Gas and Electric conducted across a large part of the state, including Lake County, last week.

Beginning in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Oct. 9, a “diablo” wind event prompted PG&E to initiate the shutoff, which resulted in loss of power for 738,000 customers, spanning 35 counties.

It is estimated that greater than two million Californians were without power for some portion of this four-day event.

With 44 helicopters deployed to check lines once winds subsided, PG&E reports power was restored for most customers within 48 hours of the all-clear that came on Thursday, Oct. 10.

Power began to come on in parts of Lake County on Thursday and Friday. PG&E said all power had been restored across the public safety power shutoff area by Saturday afternoon.

On Tuesday, Oct. 22, at 11 a.m., the Lake County Board of Supervisors will receive public comment on the effects of the public safety power shutoff.

For those who can’t make the meeting, they are asked to email comments by 5 p.m Monday, Oct. 21, to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

“Every populated area of Lake County was affected by this highly unfortunate event. Many District 4 residents reached out to me, directly, to share their stories and concerns, and I am aware my fellow supervisors got many similar calls,” said Board Tina Scott.

“We all received general notice the power may periodically be shut off, to reduce the probability of wildfire, and the county shared many resources to help residents prepare. However, with many individuals and families and our county government facing severe economic hardship, it simply wasn’t possible for every household to have a generator. There were also complications for individuals and groups that could not have been fully anticipated,” Scott said.

Scott said that if public safety power shutoffs are to be a new normal in California, the state and PG&E need to well understand the consequences, and the unique challenges for individuals with medical needs in rural communities, where some may need to travel a considerable distance just to reach a PG&E Community Resource Center.

The shutoff also affected county operations and finances, at a time of fiscal crisis, according to County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson.

“Lake County residents are all too familiar with natural disasters, and we have always worked hard to enable reimbursement of related costs, for residents and the government alike, as facilitated by the Stafford Act and other legislation,” said Huchingson. “Because a public safety power shutoff is a planned event, and not categorically a disaster, many hours of staff time and other expenses incurred by the county may never be reimbursed. This is not a norm that is acceptable.”

“We need to hear from you,” said Scott. “How were you affected by the public safety power shutoff? What did it mean for your family, your business? What were the costs? While options may be limited because this is not a qualifying disaster event, I can assure you our board and county staff will vigorously advocate for Lake County’s needs.”

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