LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County and Mendocino County offices of education will host the inaugural “STEAM” exhibition of student work this Saturday, May 1.

The exhibition will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Marge Alakszay Center at Terrace School, 250 Lange St. in Lakeport.

The event, for Lake and Mendocino County students in grades kindergarten through grade 14, is designed to inspire educators and students to explore the concepts of the STEAM Initiative (science, technology, engineering, art and math).

This first STEAM exhibition will showcase exhibits from classes throughout Lake and Mendocino counties, as well as individual exhibits from K-14 students outside of the classroom.

Students are asked to address two of the STEAM subjects – one of which must be art – using any modality: poster board, video performance, audio or other mediums.

STEAM education can be an interdisciplinary or trans-disciplinary approach to learning where rigorous academic concepts are coupled with real-world problem-based and performance-based lessons and projects.

For more information, contact Stephanie Wayment at the Lake County Office of Education, 707-262-4163 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The Mendocino National Forest Upper Lake Ranger District will hold an open house Saturday, May 3, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at their new office at 10025 Elk Mountain Road in Upper Lake.

There will be a ribbon cutting at 10:15 a.m., followed by tours of the new building.  

Refreshments also will be served.

“We look forward to celebrating our new building with the community this weekend,” said Upper Lake District Ranger Frank Aebly.

The building was constructed between summer 2012 and fall 2013, with employees starting to move into the new office late last year.

For more information, please call 707-275-2361.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The service of a search warrant in Kelseyville last week led to three arrests, as well as the seizure of marijuana plants and concentrated cannabis.

Arrested were Paige Leann Polley, 24, and 27-year-old John Joseph Darnell, both of Kelseyville, and 27 year old Charles William Knipp of Chico, according to Lt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Last Friday, April 25, narcotics detectives secured a search warrant for a residence located in the 5000 block of Caddo Court in Kelseyville. At 10 a.m. that day detectives served the warrant at the home, Brooks said.

Brooks said that upon entry into the residence, detectives located and detained Polley, Darnell and Knipp without incident.

During a search of the home, detectives located two separate areas where the occupants were in the process of extracting the tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, from the marijuana using butane gas. Brooks said this method produces an end product which is referred to as “honey oil.”

The subjects had multiple hot plates inside the house, which were actively in the process of burning off the butane gas. Brooks said this process is extremely dangerous and has been the cause of multiple fires and explosions in Lake County.

Detectives located a hoop-style greenhouse in the backyard which contained 59 marijuana plants, Brooks said. They also located an indoor grow in one of the bedrooms which contained 157 marijuana plants.

Brooks said detectives eradicated a total of 216 marijuana plants from the residence. They also located and seized 21 ounces of honey oil, which has an approximate street value of $29,700.

During a search of the garage, detectives located numerous PVC and glass cylinders which are used during the honey oil extraction process. Brooks said they also located more than 200 empty butane cylinders and two new unopened cases of butane.

Detectives found numerous bags and plastic tubs containing marijuana, which they seized. The marijuana was later weighed and had an approximate gross weight of 301 pounds, according to Brooks.

Central Dispatch conducted a records check of Polley and advised she was on probation out of Butte County for possession of a controlled substance, which was transferred from the state of Illinois. Brooks said dispatch also advised that Polley had an outstanding arrest warrant from Illinois for possession of a controlled substance.

Polley was arrested for manufacturing a controlled substance, possession of marijuana for sale, the cultivation of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance, possession of concentrated cannabis, violating the terms of her probation and the arrest warrant from Illinois, Brooks said.

Darnell was arrested for manufacturing a controlled substance, possession of marijuana for sale, cultivating marijuana and possession of concentrated cannabis. Brooks said that during the search, detectives located a recent arrest report written by the U.S. Forest Service, listing Darnell as the suspect arrested. Darnell was apparently arrested on March 28 in Trinity County for possessing 288 pounds of marijuana.

Knipp was arrested for manufacturing a controlled substance, possession of marijuana for sale, cultivating marijuana and possession of concentrated cannabis. Brooks said a records check revealed Knipp was also on probation out of Butte County for the possession of marijuana for sale and was arrested for violating the terms of his probation.

All three subjects were transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility and booked, Brooks said.

Jail records indicated that all three remained in custody on Monday. Darnell is being held on $100,000 bail, while Polley remained in custody on a felony probation violation and a fugitive from justice warrant, with Knipp being held on a felony probation violation.

The Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force can be reached through its anonymous tip line at 707-263-3663.

Fatal collisions involving motorcyclists have been increasing in California over the past few years.

In an effort to change this disturbing trend, the California Highway Patrol and Office of Traffic Safety are hoping to save lives through a month-long motorcycle safety and awareness campaign during May.

With more than 1.3 million licensed motorcycle riders in California, most drivers are likely to find themselves sharing the road with a motorcyclist on a regular basis.

“Regardless of your mode of travel, safety comes first,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “By staying alert and using common sense and courtesy, drivers and riders alike can help to create a safer roadway environment for everyone.”

According to 2011 data from the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, or SWITRS, fatal motorcycle collisions accounted for nearly 16 percent of the total number of fatal collisions in California.

SWITRS data also indicated the number of people killed in motorcycle-involved collisions increased nearly 20 percent from 2010 to 2011.

An additional 8 percent increase was noted between 2011 and 2012, when 467 people died in motorcycle-involved collisions.

“Motorcycle riders must be mindful of their skills and vulnerabilities,” said OTS Director Rhonda Craft. “Meanwhile, other vehicle drivers must be mindful to always look for motorcycles. Getting home safely involves concentration on driving and consideration for everyone on the road.”

A key component to reduce the number of motorcycle-involved collisions is training.

Regardless of a motorcyclist’s skill level, the CHP encourages all riders to seek life-long training opportunities.

The California Motorcyclist Safety Program is the state’s official motorcycle training program.

With more than 130 training sites throughout California, the program offers courses for both new and returning riders.

To enroll in a California Motorcyclist Safety Program course, call 877-RIDE-411 or visit http://www.ca-msp.org .

Important safety reminders for motorcyclists:

• Wear a helmet and protective gear. “No skin below the chin.” It can save your life.
• Watch your speed.
• Assume people in cars do not see you.
• Try to stay out of blind spots, especially around large trucks.
• Lane splitting is not prohibited if done in a safe and prudent manner.

Reducing the number of motorcycle-involved collisions goes beyond training and prevention on the part of the motorcyclists.

According to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, more than half of all fatal motorcycle collisions involve another vehicle.

In addition, SWITRS data indicates on average, more than one quarter of fatal motorcycle-involved collisions occur within an intersection.

The CHP and OTS offer the following tips for driving safely around motorcycles:

• Give motorcycles extra room. A minor rear-end collision involving a motorcycle can have major consequences.
• Look twice for motorcycles. Always check and double check blind spots and mirrors before changing lanes or merging.
• Passenger vehicles should remain extra vigilant when entering or crossing intersections. Nearly one quarter of all fatal collisions in California occur within an intersection.

The mission of the California Highway Patrol is to provide the highest level of safety, service, and security to the people of California.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Several fire agencies are battling a wildland fire near Kelseyville.

The fire, first dispatched just after 2 p.m., is located in the area of the 4800 block of Cole Creek Road off of Bottle Rock Road, according to radio reports.

The first fire personnel who arrived on scene reported one structure was on fire with another threatened, and five to seven acres of wildland on fire, with the fire having a slow to moderate rate of spread.

County Supervisor Rob Brown confirmed that the fire began on his property, where he had hired a professional to conduct a control burn on Tuesday.

He said the wind shifted, causing the fire to jump a gully and go onto his neighbor's property.

Lake County Central Dispatch reported receiving numerous calls about the fire, which put up a large column of black smoke.

Lakeport Fire Chief Ken Wells said his district, Kelseyville and Cal Fire are on scene.

Shortly before 4 p.m. Wells said the fire was estimated to be between eight and 10 acres, with 20-percent containment.

Wells confirmed the destruction of the one structure. Brown said the structure that burned was his neighbor's garage.

Two Cal Fire helicopters are working the fire and doing a good job in getting it closer to being controlled, Wells said.

Radio reports indicated the fire was on both sides of the ridge and had spotting ahead of it.

Wells said law enforcement had been called to the scene twice to deal with the irate man whose building burned.

Medics responded to the scene on one report of a smoke inhalation injury.

Brown said he had insurance and intended to pay to rebuild the destroyed building.

Additional information will be posted as it becomes available.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Department of Water Resources snow surveyors Thursday will take the year’s final measurement of water content in the Sierra snowpack.  

Near-record low numbers are expected as California’s drought pushes through its third year.

The May 1 survey is taken after the snowpack – which normally peaks in early April – has begun to melt into streams and reservoirs with warming spring weather.  

Statewide, the April 1 “peak” this year was a dismal 32 percent of average water content for the date. And with the spring melt well under way, statewide electronic readings today indicate that statewide, snowpack water content is just 21 percent of the historical average.  

Even worse, electronic readings show a dismal 9 percent of average water content for the northern Sierra snowpack that helps fill the state’s major reservoirs which currently are only half full.  

Electronic water content readings for the central and southern Sierra are 26 and 22 percent of normal, respectively.

Lake Oroville in Butte County, the State Water Project’s (SWP) principal reservoir, was at only 53 percent of its 3.5 million acre-foot capacity (66 percent of its historical average for the date) on Monday.  

Shasta Lake north of Redding, California’s and the federal Central Valley Project’s (CVP) largest reservoir, also is at 53 percent of its 4.5 million acre-foot capacity (62 percent of its historical average).  

San Luis Reservoir, a critical south-of-Delta reservoir for both the SWP and CVP, is at 47 percent of its 2 million acre-foot capacity (52 percent of average for this time of year).

California’s severe drought also is reflected in rainfall totals, measuring just over to below half of historic amounts in key watersheds.

With most of the wet season behind us, it is unlikely late-season storms will significantly dampen the effects of the three-year drought on parched farms or communities struggling to provide drinking water.

On April 25, Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order to strengthen the state’s ability to manage water and habitat effectively in drought conditions and called on all Californians to redouble their efforts to conserve water. In January, the governor declared a drought state of emergency.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Casey Carney’s lifestyle might be defined as “poetry in motion.”

In addition to writing the level of creative verse that resulted in her selection as Lake County Poet Laureate for 2014-16, she has been a teacher, a dancer, a master photographer, a painter, a lover of horses, and ...

Well, suffice it to say she never stops and she has never been less than a passionate artist.

“I am,” she confided, “a very creative person and I find the language (to compose) anywhere and I assimilate my emotional experience and express the many possibilities.

“Life is very layered and complex and beautiful and challenging and I think creative writing and poetry can reflect all of that,” she added.

Carney brought her considerable repertoire of artistic talent from Long Beach to Lake County and the city of Clearlake four years ago. She familiarized herself with this region by coming here off and on for 20 years to visit her sister.

“I fell in love with Northern California and Lake County in particular immediately,” she said. “I think Northern California is very dynamic. There’s a powerful, creative, and healing energy and progressive spirit here along with the profound need for it.”

As testament to her boundless energy for a multiplicity of expression, she is currently working on a poetry manuscript – “How to Tell a Party from a Disaster” – for publication, has two novels in the works and has a large body of her photographic renderings that she frequently presents with her poetry.

She also is currently displaying her photography at the Saw Shop in Kelseyville, the Riviera Common Grounds Coffee Shop and the Lower Lake Coffee Shop.

On Friday, June 6, Carney and her immediate predecessor as Lake County Poet Laureate, Elaine Watt, will read their poems at the newly opened Bona’ Marketplace in Ukiah.

In November, she has a wine-oriented photography show scheduled.

Carney has a master’s degree in dance and taught special education classes for six years in both Southern and Northern California. But she does not stress formal education as tantamount to artistic expression.

“I think my educational background and my love for children, particularly with special needs or at risk population, are my interests,” she said. “So being in education will allow me to work with that population as a mentor.

“I’m educated as far as going through public schools,” she said, “but I don’t have a stellar background in education. For all the art forms I've done in my life, it’s more a drive and a necessity.

“Certainly a good vocabulary and a good education will expand you,” she added, “but it’s not the criteria to have a voice that matters. I think poetry can happen on any strata of society. So the street poet – the rapper walking down the street trying to make sense of his or her world – is all valid.”

Carney’s own education was interrupted when she was 14 and her family “fell apart.” She lived in a lot of different places, she said. She took up dancing “because it was a way to get back into my own body.”

Of her selection as Lake County Poet Laureate she asserted, “It’s just so incredible for me to be in a family of poets, important because I’m alone with my singular voice. Now, to have an affirmation and mentors who are highly educated poets is just thrilling.”

Read selections from Carney's poetry below.

Email John Lindblom at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

the word

trees are raining fingerprints
down into the sea of wind
yet I have never held the hand
of he or she who sleeps within
the bowl of time, the fragile mind
the relics falling through the sky
as brief as star, as slow as bird
and drifts the stones made out of word.

Your solvent cowboy

Your solvent cowboy
Is coming, here he comes
He’s got a jangle in his pocket
And pearl handled gun

See, he knows when to use it
Better yet, when to not
He ‘aint no traveling salesman
You ‘aint no used car lot

He’s kind to the cattle
It’s the right thing to do
Before crossing your threshold
He takes time to wipe his shoe

Takes you out in the daytime
By the lake, then at night
Asks you for a slow dance
Making sure you are alright

A slow dance, a slow dance
Before he rounds you up
And in the dawn, there’s his heart
Right beside your coffee cup.

Revival

Dragging battered suitcases of bruises over dream
A salesman with a deadline travels in the fire of day
Rattlesnakes in mating dances startle all the horses
Driven forward for the promise of a Great Awakening

The mirage is enough to keep the wheel in spin
Bones must be delivered, one way or another
This next town looks like the one that came before
There’s the medicine man again, dressed up in rainbow

There’s the stranger, standing in the shadow of a tree
There’s the man with the five point star, and the matching guns
There’s the big top, where costumes are being sewn
While elephants wait in iron and chain, like child or criminal

Wagons, stagecoaches, and eventual trains
Ambushed, derailed, or hijacked by renegades
Some letters, though, make it through to golden shore
Where gulls are tossed in wind, and where the ships begin again.

night animals

diamonds
move closer to the surface
trying to be discovered

leaves are shining
a rock is balanced on its side
someone left bones

one person tells
her dream to another
i am destined to overhear

i watch for night animals
stars fill my windshield
all the way home.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Sailors braved winds and choppy waters on Saturday to take part in the 30th annual Konocti Cup on Clear Lake.

In the video above, catch some of the action and meet the people who make the annual event what it is.

The full results are below. (Note, the heading incorrectly states that these are the 2013 results.)

2014 Konocti Cup Results

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County's unemployment picture remained mostly unchanged in March, according to a recent state report.

The California Employment Development Department's monthly report on the workforce showed that Lake County's March unemployment was 11.5 percent, unchanged from a revised 11.5 percent in February and below the March 2013 estimate of 13.2 percent.  

Statewide, March unemployment was at 8.1 percent, also unchanged from the previous month, but down from the 9.2 percent figure recorded in March 2013, the report showed.

The number of people unemployed in California was 1,504,000 – up by 5,000 over the month, but down by 211,000 compared with March of last year, the report said.

Despite the state's flat unemployment picture, the Employment Development Department said nonfarm jobs in California totaled 15,365,500 in March, an increase of 11,800 jobs over the month, according to a survey of 58,000 businesses.

From March 2013 to this past March, the Employment Development Department calculated an increase of 325,100 jobs, or 2.2 percent, across California.

A federal survey of 5,500 California households showed an increase in the number of employed people, estimating that 17,156,000 Californians held jobs in March, an increase of 43,000 from February, and up 252,000 from the employment total in March of last year, the Employment Development Department said.

Nationally, the picture was the same, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting that March unemployment was at 6.7 percent, the same as February, but down from the 7.5 percent recorded in March 2013.

Once again, Marin County had the lowest unemployment statewide in March, 4.7 percent, with Colusa County registering the highest, at 24.5 percent.

March industry unemployment figures for Lake County showed an 8.1-percent loss in total farm jobs – amounting to a decrease of 70 jobs. Overall, total nonfarm jobs rose by 0.6 percent.

Total jobs for the county in March were 15,140, up 20 from February, according to the data. There were 3,080 unemployed people in Lake County in March, down 10 from February.

Besides Colusa, Lake's neighboring counties ranked as follows in March, according to the Employment Development Department: Glenn, No. 42, 12.9 percent; Mendocino, No. 16, 7.8 percent; Napa, No. 5, 6.0 percent; Sonoma, No. 8, 6.2 percent; and Yolo, No. 29, 10.1 percent.
The Employment Development Department reported that there were 510,919 people receiving regular
Unemployment Insurance benefits during the March survey week, compared with 539,062 in February and 532,831 in March 2013.

New claims for unemployment insurance were 52,755 in March, compared with 65,494 in February and 58,842 in March of last year, the report showed.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The annual Lake County burn ban starts on Thursday, May 1, to address concerns over both fire hazard and air quality.

The burn restriction applies to all areas in Lake County.

All burn permits expire on Wednesday, April 30.

An annual burn ban was first implemented in 1986 in response to weather conditions that often create extreme fire danger and poor air quality, according to the Lake County Air Quality Management District.

For many years a managed approach which incorporates fire and air agency concerns has been implemented and improved upon, the district reported.

The ban allows a quick fire agency response to all fires observed from May 1 on, as they are all assumed to be uncontrolled fires unless specifically authorized by an exemption for time and place, according to the district.

Lake County Air Quality Management District said the program has been successful, and credited it with being one of the primary reasons Lake County has superior and healthful air quality.

The ban also helps prevent smoke impacts to the general public and large planned outdoor events by unrestricted vegetative waste burns.

The burn ban includes all open waste burning, though exceptions are possible for agricultural operations, essential control burns for fire safety projects, public safety burns, and others.

To obtain an exemption for a necessary burn after May 1, first contact the Lake County Air Quality Management District to determine need, then your local fire protection agency so that your burn site can be inspected and evaluated for fire safety.

Only after the fire agency has inspected the burn site and notified the Lake County Air Quality Management District that the proposed burn is fire safe, can you obtain a written exemption permit.

Anyone responsible for open burning during the ban without a valid written exemption permit may be subject to a citation, fines, and the cost of the fire agency response to extinguish the fire.

Burn restrictions will remain in effect until Cal Fire declares an end to fire season, the district said.

Lake County Air Quality Management District asks the community to help reduce the danger and losses caused by uncontrolled fires, and protect the county's designation as the only air basin in the state to meet all ambient air quality standards.

The district said public cooperation is greatly appreciated and results in a safer and more healthful environment for everyone.

For more information about the district, visit http://www.lcaqmd.net/ .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Two local men arrested earlier this month for a cannabis oil lab that led to an apartment fire entered guilty pleas in the case on Monday.

Matthew Richard Carr, 24, of Lakeport and Dylan Alex Nevarez, 22, of Clearlake pleaded guilty to Health and Safety Code violations including storage, handling or disposing of hazardous waste causing unreasonable risk of fire or explosion, and unlawful disposal of hazardous waste, according to District Attorney Don Anderson.

Carr and Nevarez were arrested on April 7 following an apartment fire at Adagio Apartments in Clearlake, as Lake County News has reported. Nevarez was slightly burned in the fire.

After Lake County Fire Protection District firefighters extinguished the fire, they found what they considered to be suspicious items and notified the Clearlake Police Department, according to the original police report.

In the apartment, a detective found butane bottles and other apparatus used in the manufacture of cannabis oil, or honey oil, police reported.

Carr and Nevarez also had been in the apartment with four children, ranging in age from 1 month to 2 years, police said.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 16. Anderson said the maximum sentencing for these crimes is three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Anderson said the District Attorney’s Office is making every effort to prosecute environmental crimes, especially related to marijuana grows and illegal drug manufacturing, with the resources they have available.  

He said the case involving Carr and Nevarez is the kind of environmental crime that his office will actively seek out and prosecute.

The California Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert early Monday morning as authorities searched for a child taken from the Huron area.

Tanya Ruiz, 3, was reported abducted Sunday at 7:45 p.m., according to the alert.

The man who is reported to have taken her has so far not been identified. He is described as a Hispanic male with long hair, about 30 years of age, with height and weight unknown. He was last seen wearing a red shirt and red hat.

The little girl is described as a Hispanic female, 3 feet tall, 33 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a brown shirt with flowers, blue jean shorts and white sandals.

Anyone who sees the girl is asked to call 911 or the Huron Police Department at 559-945-2348.