LAKEPORT, Calif. — The federal government has agreed to an exemption that will allow a Lakeport apartment complex to be opened up to more low-income community members, including fire survivors.
The city of Lakeport was notified last week that the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the exemption for the 48-unit Martin Street Apartments, phase two, at 1255 Martin St.
Lakeport Community Development Director Jenni Byers said the apartment complex received its certificates of occupancy at the end of July.
The developer, Lakeport Family Associates LLC, had received agriculture housing credits which required that the housing be made available to farm laborers. However, Byers said those limitations resulted in only two of the units being rented.
In August, the month after the apartment complex was approved for occupancy, the Cache fire destroyed dozens of homes in Clearlake.
Byers said Lakeport city staff reached out to the developers to see if the housing could be made available to those victims. However, because they received tax credits, they were limited to only renting the units to agriculture industry workers.
She said the developer began the process of reaching out to USDA to see if they could get a waiver that allowed them to not limit the individuals they could rent to, however, by January, there had been very little progress in receiving the waiver from USDA.
Byers said Mayor Stacey Mattina then reached out to Congressman Mike Thompson’s office to see if he could assist in the discussions.
The USDA subsequently reviewed the market study by the developer and granted the appeal, Byers said.
“Martin Street II apartments will now be available to any qualifying low-income family but USDA required that there be priority occupancy to farm labor applicants,” she said.
She added, “The Cache fire victims were why we reached out to see if the housing could be provided, but at this point the housing is not limited to only those individuals.”
Byers said she and City Manager Kevin Ingram received word of this USDA decision only 30 minutes before the Lakeport Planning Commission began on Wednesday, Feb. 16.
Clearlake City Manager Alan Flora reported that, of the families they are tracking who were impacted by the Cache fire, three still needed housing.
He said he planned to follow up with Ingram, as they welcome any options to get all of the fire victims rehoused.
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.
Supervisor Bruno Sabatier presents the Black History Month proclamation to Rick Mayo, president of the Lake County NAACP, accompanied by his cousin, St. Elmo Mosby. Zoom photo capture. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Board of Supervisors and the Clearlake City Council last week presented proclamations recognizing February as Black History Month.
Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this month also issued a proclamation declaring February 2022 as Black History Month.
Last Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors presented its proclamation — which also celebrates the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — to Rick Mayo, president of the Lake County Branch of the NAACP, which he founded in 1982.
The proclamation, given to Mayo by Supervisor Bruno Sabatier, recognized the NAACP for its diligent efforts on social programs that aim to eliminate racial hatred, bigotry and poverty.
Mayo noted how far the organization has come in the 25 years the county has offered the proclamations.
“Our nation is at a crossroads,” he said, questioning whether the country is going to continue as a democracy or fall into some kind of autocracy.
“It’s up to us to maintain this democracy that we have,” said Mayo, who called for the protection of voting and other rights.
He added that the Lake County government reflects the diversity of the community.
His cousin, St. Elmo Mosby, was with him to receive the presentation.
Mosby, who has lived in Lake County since 2004, said they both grew up in the South. He said he looks forward to the annual proclamations.
On Thursday, the Clearlake City Council followed up by offering its own proclamation to Mayo and the NAACP.
Mayo and his board members were on hand to receive the proclamation.
Mayo said the Clearlake community stands out in the state for recognizing diversity.
“Black history is American history,” said board member Kenneth Bagsby, adding they can look forward to a better day.
Board member Bessie Bell said she was proud of the police department under Chief Andrew White, noting the changes he’s brought. “I like what I see.”
She added, “Keep the good work up,” and said she is here to help.
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.
Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, has introduced a resolution designating the week of Feb. 21 as Eating Disorder Awareness Week, bringing attention to a serious problem affecting 30 million Americans while underscoring the need for prevention.
“Eating disorders are serious conditions that are potentially life-threatening and have a great impact on our physical and emotional health,” Sen. Dodd said. “We must improve the public’s understanding of the causes, encourage early intervention and lay to rest the stigma of this pervasive affliction. As someone who’s had a loved one suffer from an eating disorder, I know how difficult it can be, but with support recovery is possible.”
Sen. Dodd’s resolution raises awareness of a range of disorders affecting men and women across all backgrounds. Conditions include anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating disorders.
This year’s theme, “Come as You Are: Hindsight is 20/20,” will focus on alerting the public to environmental and biological causes as well as empowering people to reduce personal risk factors for developing eating disorders.
California Treasurer Fiona Ma is a co-sponsor. Supporters include the National Eating Disorders Association, American Nurses Association-California, Cielo House and the Eating Disorders Resource Center.
“For too long the media has focused on women needing to be thin to be beautiful,” said Treasurer Fiona Ma. “I remember struggling in college and being forced to look inward to correct unhealthy eating habits. Eating disorders are the third most common chronic illness among adolescent women in the U.S., and 10 million men in the U.S. will suffer from one in their lifetime. De-stigmatizing this conversation and talking openly is the best way to take our power back, and I’m proud to work once again along with my longtime friend and colleague, Sen. Dodd, to make sure we do not let these disorders define us.”
Dodd, who formerly represented Lake County in the California Assembly, now represents the Third Senate District, which includes all or portions of Napa, Yolo, Sonoma, Solano, Sacramento and Contra Costa counties.
The number of U.S. Black-owned businesses grew from 2017 to 2019 in all sectors of the U.S. economy, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Business Survey, or ABS.
We reviewed business patterns among Black business owners, drawing on Census Bureau data since 2017.
Among our findings:
• In 2019, there were 134,567 Black-owned employer businesses (businesses with more than one employee) in all sectors of the U.S. economy, an 8% hike from the 124,551 Black-owned employer businesses in 2018, according to the ABS. • In 2018, there were about 3,115,000 nonemployer businesses with Black owners, up 5.6% from 2,951,000 in 2017, according to the Census Bureau’s 2018 Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics, or NES-D. • Census Bureau data shows that American entrepreneurship as a whole has been increasing. The Census Bureau’s most recent Business Formation Statistics showed that Americans applied for a record 5.4 million business ID numbers in 2021.
Resources for minority-owned businesses
The U.S. Department of Commerce or DOC — the Census Bureau’s parent agency — has long been a leader in promoting and providing resources to minority-owned businesses.
DOC’s Office of Minority Business Enterprise created the Minority Business Development Agency, or MBDA, on March 5, 1969.
The MBDA has several key initiatives designed to promote and support minority-owned businesses.
Among them: the Enterprising Women of Color Initiative, which recognizes the impact of minority women-owned businesses in communities. In fact, minority women are the fastest growing population of entrepreneurs, according to MBDA.
The MBDA also set up business centers throughout the country designed to help minority populations expand their businesses and/or markets by, for example, helping them identify strategic partners or become export-ready.
The Census Bureau also offers multiple resources for small- and minority-owned business owners, including:
Jessica Pyska’s children bicycling in Boggs Mountain State Demonstration Forest. Courtesy photo. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A nonprofit group is undertaking a fundraising effort to rebuild trails in the Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest, which was devastated in the 2015 Valley fire.
Redwood Trails Alliance is launching its “Bring Back Boggs” fundraising campaign.
In partnership with Trail House of Santa Rosa and various stakeholders, Redwood Trails Alliance is raising funds to rebuild Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest trails and give away an awesome trail bike to one lucky winner.
Redwood Trails Alliance, a 501(c)(3) trail stewardship organization, is launching the “Bring Back Boggs'' bike giveaway. Trail House of Santa Rosa donated a Specialized Stumpjumper Expert mountain bike worth $5,900 to raise funds to rebuild the trails at Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest.
The forest has been a popular mountain bike destination for years, and home of the Bike Monkey Boggs 8 hour race and the NorCal Interscholastic Cycling League’s state championship race.
After nearly 90% of the 3,100 acres of forest was burned, rebuilding is underway, but the Redwood Trails Alliance said it needs community support to get the job done.
This forest is so important to the local community, Lake County District 5 Supervisor Jessica Pyska announced actions to make healthier living more accessible in District 5.
Pyska is dedicating $25,000 in cannabis tax funds to the Friends of Boggs and Redwood Trails Alliance, kicking off a $100,000 “Bring Back Boggs” fundraising campaign to rebuild trails in Boggs forest.
You too can donate towards Boggs recovery. Each $5 donation goes toward one chance to win the giveaway prizes. The campaign closes on Sunday, Feb. 27, at 6 p.m. Pacific Time.
Interested parties can enter to win here at www.trailsalliance.org or https://trailsalliance.givingfuel.com/bringbackboggs.
Further support of the Bring Back Boggs campaign comes from Calpine Corp. Calpine donated $15,000 towards the $100,000 goal to rebuild trails in the forest.
“Calpine Corp. and Supervisor Pyska’s donations give us a $40,000 boost to our Bring Back Boggs campaign. We are optimistic for a successful campaign and grateful to work in partnership with Friends of Boggs Mountain,” said Debbie St. Cyr, executive director of Redwood Trails Alliance.
“None of the work we do would be possible without support from our members, loyal sponsors, partners and the many visitors from around the Bay Area who cherish our trails,” said St. Cyr. “Trail House of Santa Rosa has supported Redwood Trails Alliance from the very beginning, and together, we’ve brought world-class trails to the community. With the Specialized Bicycles Stumpjumper Expert, they've bottled up that ‘new bike day’ feeling and put it into a radical new trail bike so agile, so lively, so in-tune with the trail, that it feels like an extension of your body. Levitate up the climbs. Decimate the descents. It’s the perfect NorCal trail bike!”
St. Cyr said they also have runner-up prizes for more chances to win, including a set of Reserve 30 29 inch carbon mountain bike wheels donated by Reserve Wheels and a Wahoo Roam bike computer donated by RIDE Napa Valley. Click here to enter to win one today.
For more information, click here or email Tom Boss at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The evolution of job growth and employment in the U.S. economy over the past four decades has been characterized by two important but seemingly contradictory facts: Young startup businesses have been a key driver of economic growth, yet more and more of the American workforce has become concentrated at older, more mature firms.
This window into the nation’s economic trends comes from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Business Dynamics Statistics, or BDS, which provide annual measures of establishment openings and closings, firm startups and shutdowns, and job creation and loss.
The BDS paints a portrait of the constantly evolving and dynamic U.S. economy over time and provides information on the contributions to employment changes across and within industries.
These measures are available for the entire economy and by industry (sector and 3-digit and 4-digit North American Industry Classification System or NAICS) and geography (state, county and metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas).
They’re also published by firm and establishment size and age. Statistics are available from 1978 to 2019.
In this story, we summarize recent findings using the publicly available statistics to describe the dynamics of the U.S. economy over the past 40 years. We specifically focus on the role firms of different ages and sizes played in the creation of jobs across various industries.
Age and size of firms
As prior research has shown, the age and size of a business are important characteristics that may reflect its potential to create jobs and economic growth.
The BDS allows us to distinguish between the age and size of an establishment (a physical place of work) and the age and size of the firm (the larger enterprise that owns and operates the establishment).
Firm age is defined as the age of the oldest establishment in the first year in which a firm has employees. We define a startup as any firm that employed its first worker in the current year.
New establishments created by new firms will have job creation patterns that resemble other startups. But new establishments created by long-existing firms will grow in ways that reflect the trends of mature firms.
In addition, an establishment that belongs to a larger parent company may act differently than an independent establishment.
For the purposes of this article, we focus on two age categories: young and old. Young firms are those with positive employment for five years or less, and old firms are those with positive employment for more than five years.
A firm’s size is based on the first quarter employment of a given year and includes all establishments associated with the firm at that time. We consider firms with 100 or more employees “large,” and those with fewer than 100 employees “small.”
Increasing share of employment in older firms
One of the major trends over the past three decades is that employment has become increasingly concentrated at older firms.
After falling in the 1980s, the share of employment at more mature firms rose steadily, representing approximately 90% of all employees by 2019 (Figure 1).
The patterns in a few notable industries mirror this national trend. By the mid-2000s, for example, the Manufacturing, Retail, and Health Care sectors all had over 90% of their employment at mature firms.
There were exceptions: Accommodation and Food Services and Information sectors.
Restaurants and hotels had a lower share of employment in older firms relative to other industries over the entire time series. This share dipped even lower in the late 1990s, then rose until the early 2010’s, and has been flat or slightly declining since.
The Information sector trended somewhat away from older firms through the tech crash in the early 2000’s but has risen since and is now nearly 95% concentrated in mature firms.
The large and increasing presence of employment at old firms appears to contradict the notion that young startups are the engine of economic growth. However, it is true that young firms are more dynamic and have much greater rates of net job creation.
The Net Job Creation Rate, or NJCR, indicates how many more jobs were created than were destroyed relative to overall employment in an industry.
The job creation rate is notably higher for young firms than for old ones — the NJCR has hovered around 15% to 20% for younger firms throughout the time series but was roughly 0% and often negative for more established firms.
The NJCR time series is more volatile for young firms than old ones, showing larger drops during business contractions and larger gains in expansions (Retail and Manufacturing during and after the Great Recession, for example). Despite these fluctuations, the rate is almost always higher for young firms.
The single exception is the Information sector in 2001, when the job creation rate for young firms fell to the same level as for old firms.
Therefore, it is simultaneously true that startups grow at faster rates but old firms account for an increasing share of employment.
Reconciling these facts requires noting that there are fewer startups over time and in turn fewer young firms over time (Figure 3). That is, the net growth rate differential between young and old has not changed much but there are fewer and fewer young firms over time.
Employment concentrated in larger firms
Mirroring the growing share of employment at older firms, the share of employment located at large firms with at least 100 employees also increased.
The national share of employment at these large firms has grown from 41% at the beginning of the time series in 1978 to 48% at the end of the series in 2019.
However, this steady rise in the national share masks considerable industry variation.
Manufacturing has notably defied this trend, becoming more concentrated in smaller firms, despite a slight reversal of this pattern in the last few years.
The Information and Accommodation and Food Services sectors have also moved away from larger firms since the mid-2000’s, despite moving towards them during other time periods.
Retail ‘Megafirms’
The increasing concentration of employment at large firms is most obvious in the Retail sector, which grew steadily from a 36% share in 1978 to 62% in 2019.
Retail’s status as an industry dominated by large players is well-known, with the familiar rise of so-called “megafirms” that have crowded out smaller firms during the last two decades.
Recent research using Census data suggests that the increasing presence of such firms helps explain the decline in the share of national income going to labor, as these firms tend to be capital intensive and highly efficient.
Does age or size influence job creation more?
The increased concentration of large firms in the economy appears to have a smaller impact on job creation than does the increase in older firms. This is because small firms have higher rates of job growth than large ones but not by nearly the same margin as between young and old firms.
During economic expansions, the net job creation rate of small firms exceeds that of large firms by a few percentage points. However, during contractions, the rates fall to nearly the same negative level as large firms.
This is especially apparent in the Information sector during the 2001 recession, where small firms destroyed jobs at a higher rate than large ones.
The NJCR in this sector remains lower today than in the 1990s but aside from the Great Recession, small firms have created more jobs on net than large ones since the mid-2000’s. The exception to this trend of stagnant job growth at large firms is Retail, where large firms have mostly out-performed small firms in net jobs created.
BDS data tables are available for further analysis. BDS data can also be accessed via the BDS Explorer application and guidance on how to use it is available in this webinar.
Christopher Goetz is an economist in the Center for Economic Studies, or CES, at the U.S. Census Bureau. Martha Stinson is a senior economist in CES.
On Feb. 22, 2022, AT&T is scheduled to turn off its 3G cellular network. T-Mobile is scheduled to turn its off on July 1, 2022, and Verizon is slated to follow suit on Dec. 31, 2022.
The vast majority of cellphones in service operate on 4G/LTE networks, and the world has begun the transition to 5G, but as many as 10 million phones in the U.S. still rely on 3G service. In addition, the cellular network functions of some older devices like Kindles, iPads and Chromebooks are tied to 3G networks. Similarly, some older internet-connected systems like home security, car navigation and entertainment systems, and solar panel modems are 3G-specific. Consumers will need to upgrade or replace these systems.
So why are the telecommunications carriers turning off their 3G networks? As an electrical engineer who studies wireless communications, I can explain. The answer begins with the difference between 3G and later technologies such as 4G/LTE and 5G.
Picture a family trip. Your spouse is on the phone arranging activities to do at the destination, your teenage daughter is streaming music and chatting with her friends on her phone, and her younger sibling is playing an online game with his friends. All those separate conversations and data streams are communicated over the cellular network, seemingly simultaneously. You probably take this for granted, but have you ever wondered how the cellular system can handle all those activities at the same time, from the same car?
How does it work when everyone in your car is using cellular voice and data service at the same time, and so are many of the people in the cars around you?The Good Brigade/DigitalVision via Getty Images
Communicating all those messages
The answer is a technological trick called multiple access. Imagine using a sheet of paper to write messages to 100 different friends, one private message for each person. The multiple access technology used in 3G networks is like writing every message to each of your friends using the whole sheet of paper, so all the messages are written on top of each other. But you have a special set of pens with different colors that allows you to write each message in a unique color, and each of your friends has a special pair of glasses that reveals only the color intended for that person.
However, the number of colored pens is fixed, so if you want to send messages to more people than the number of colored pens you have, you will need to start mixing colors. Now when a friend applies their special lenses, they will see a little bit of the messages to other friends. They won’t see enough to read the other messages, but the overlap might be enough to blur the message intended for them, making it harder to read.
The multiple access technology used by 3G networks is called Code Division Multiple Access, or CDMA. It was invented by Qualcomm founder Irwin M. Jacobs with several other prominent electrical engineers. The technique is based on the concept of spread spectrum, an idea that can be traced back to the early 20th century. Jacobs’ 1991 paper showed that CDMA can increase the cellular capacity manyfold over systems at the time.
CDMA lets all cellular users send and receive their signals at all times and over all frequencies. So if 100 users wish to initiate a call or use a cell service at around the same time, their 100 signals will overlap with each other over the entire cellular spectrum for the whole time they communicate.
The overlapping signals create interference. CDMA solves the interference problem by letting each user have a unique signature: a code sequence that can be used to recover each user’s signal. The code corresponds to the color in our paper analogy. If there are too many users on the system at the same time, the codes can overlap. This leads to interference, which gets worse as the number of users increases.
Slices of time and spectrum
Instead of allowing users to share the entire cellular spectrum at all times, other multiple access techniques divide access by time or frequency. Division over time creates time slots. Each connection can last over multiple time slots spread out in time, but each time slot is so short – a matter of milliseconds – that the cellphone user doesn’t perceive the interruptions from alternating time slots. The connection appears to be continuous. This time slicing technique is time-division multiple access (TDMA).
The division can also be done in frequency. Each connection is given its own frequency band within the cellular spectrum, and the connection is continuous for its duration. This frequency slicing technique is frequency division multiple access (FDMA).
In our paper analogy, FDMA and TDMA are like dividing the paper into 100 strips in either dimension and writing each private message on one strip. FDMA would be, for example, horizontal strips, and TDMA would be vertical strips. With individual strips, all messages are separated.
4G/LTE and 5G networks use Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), a highly efficient combination of FDMA and TDMA. In the paper analogy, OFDMA is like drawing strips along both dimensions, dividing the whole paper into many squares, and assigning each user a different set of squares according to their data need.
Now you have a basic understanding of the difference between 3G and the later 4G/LTE and 5G. You might still reasonably ask why 3G needs to be shut down. It turns out that because of those differences in the access technology, the two networks are built using completely different equipment and algorithms.
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3G handsets and base stations operate on a wideband system, meaning they use the whole cellular spectrum. 4G/LTE and 5G operate on narrowband or multi-carrier systems, which use slices of the spectrum. These two systems need completely different sets of hardware, from the antenna on the cell tower down to the components in your phone.
So if your phone is a 3G phone, it cannot connect to a 4G/LTE or 5G tower. For a long while, the cellular service providers have been keeping their 3G networks going while building a completely separate network with new tower equipment and servicing new handsets using 4G/LTE and 5G. Imagine bearing the cost of operating two separate networks at the same time for the same purpose. Eventually, one has to go. And now, as the carriers are starting to deploy 5G systems in earnest, that time has come for 3G.
Congressman Mike Thompson. Courtesy photo. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson announced that he has filed to run for reelection in the newly numbered Fourth Congressional District.
The district includes all of Lake and Napa counties and portions of Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
“I’m excited to run for reelection in the newly drawn Fourth Congressional District,” said Rep. Mike Thompson. “I was born, grew up and have lived my entire life in our district and I consider it the honor of my life to represent our beautiful region in Congress.
“Families here want a fair shake: well-paying jobs, affordable health care, a clean environment, quality education, and dignity in retirement. They want to know that if they work hard and play by the rules, they can leave more for their children than they themselves had — that the American Dream is alive and well. Folks here want to put food on the table and gas in the car, cover their mortgage payment, and provide an education for their kids without going broke.
“From my first day in Congress, I’ve made these shared priorities the focus of my work. I will continue pushing for sensible, responsible policy solutions that bolster the middle class, create jobs, lower the cost of housing and health care, and strengthen Medicare and Social Security for future generations. I will continue working to empower young people by advancing bold policies that protect our environment and invest in education. And, as Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, I will not stop until H.R. 8, my Bipartisan Background Check Act, is enacted into law to help prevent senseless gun violence and save lives.
“In the current Congress, I also authored the most sweeping climate policy ever to pass the House of Representatives. It is the flagship climate policy of President Biden’s agenda. As chairman of the Select Revenues Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over tax policy, I advanced the Child Tax Credit, a tax cut for working families with children that has already significantly reduced child poverty in the months since it was first enacted.
“The past two years have been challenging for all of us. The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented test, one that has taken hundreds of thousands of lives, has repeatedly pushed our health care system to the brink, and has disrupted our economy in every conceivable way. Know that as we continue to battle the virus, I will always place our community at the forefront.
“For all of these reasons, I have earned the endorsement of mayors, supervisors, sheriffs and district attorneys from every county in our district as well as hundreds of business owners, farmers, educators, community leaders and countless other hardworking men and women in our district.
“We have a shared commitment to our great country: because we share the responsibility of building and maintaining a great nation, we share in its challenges and we share in its successes. We are in this together and I will continue to fight for our district in Congress,” he said.
A list of those signing Rep. Thompson’s nomination papers includes:
Kelly Cox, retired Lake County administrative officer Lake County Supervisor Eddie Crandell, Madelene Lyon, former trustee, Lake County Board of Education Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin, Stacy Mattina, Lakeport mayor and Realtor Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen Denise Rushing, retired Lake County supervisor and entrepreneur Lake County Supervisor Bruno Sabatier Dirk Slooten, mayor of Clearlake Karen Slooten, retired David Weiss, vineyard management firm owner, Kelseyville Peter Windrem, retired attorney at Law, Kelseyville
Elizabeth Alessio, Napa councilwoman Christopher Canning, mayor of Calistoga Amelia Ceja, winery owner and business woman Leon Garcia, mayor of American Canyon Rolando Herrera, business owner Ricardo “Ricky” Hurtado, community advocate and leader Hope Lugo, community leader John Robertson, retired Napa County sheriff Scott Sedgley, mayor of Napa Janet Thompson, nurse Jon Thompson, lieutenant, Napa County Sheriff’s Department Robert “Bob” Torres, owner, Trinchero Family Estates
Steven C. Bird, mayor of Dixon Thomas Ferrara, Solano County sheriff/coroner Caitlin O’Halloran, Dixon School Board member Marjorie Olson, community advocate and leader Annette L. Porini, retired public servant Ron Rowlett, mayor of Vacaville John Vasquez, Solano County supervisor Jeanie White, community advocate and leader Jeanette Wylie, Vacaville City councilmember CC Yin, Solano County business owner
Madolyn Agrimonti, Sonoma City Council member Connie Codding, business owner Karen Collins, former Alcaldessa Cheryl Ann Diehm, retired Jackie Elward, mayor of Rohnert Park Margaret Fishman, Santa Rosa Junior College Board trustee Gerard Giudice, business owner and Rohnert Park Council member Susan Harvey, vice mayor of Cotati Herman G. Hernandez, Sonoma County Board of Education trustee Maddy Hirschfield, community leader and labor advocate Mark Landman, Cotati mayor Frankie Lemus, business owner Willy Linares, vice mayor, Rohnert Park John C. Moore, Cotati City Council member Steve Page, retired business leader Chris Rogers, Santa Rosa Mayor Steve Sangiacomo, Sonoma grape grower John Sawyer, Santa Rosa Councilmember Tim Smith, former Sonoma County Supervisor
Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, California Assembly member Angel Barajas, Yolo County supervisor Jody Bogle, business owner Linda Deos, community advocate and leader Mike Hall, Yolo County farmer Stephen F. Heringer, Clarksburg farmer, business owner Garth Lewis, Yolo County Superintendent of Schools Gloria Partida, mayor of Davis Bruce J. Rominger, Yolo County farmer Chris Turkovich, Winters farmer, business owner Mayra Vega, mayor of Woodland Lois Wolk, former State senator
For information about the newly drawn and numbered Fourth Congressional District visit here.
That’s almost 1 in 4 Americans, with 76.7 million insured through Medicaid and 6.9 million through CHIP. Both public health insurance programs are funded jointly by the federal and state governments. Medicaid provides health insurance for low-income people, most of whom are 64 or younger.
CHIP provides health coverage to kids and pregnant women whose families have low incomes but make too much to qualify for Medicaid.
Prior to the ACA, most states were more restrictive about who could enroll in Medicaid, a program launched following the enactment of landmark legislation President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law in 1965. After the ACA, the federal government began to shoulder more of the program’s costs, footing at least 90% of the bill for new enrollees covered through the program’s expansion.
Today, all adults in Medicaid expansion states who are under 65 with annual incomes less than 138% of the federal poverty line are eligible for Medicaid. In 2022, that means someone who is single without dependents and has an income of $18,754 or less qualifies, as does a family of four earning up to $38,295.
Even when children are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP, they may not be enrolled in the program due to their parents’ lack of awareness or their state’s lack of outreach.
Of the 28.6 million Americans who have enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP since the ACA was rolled out, about 60% obtained coverage prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Response to the COVID-19 pandemic
In March 2020, the federal government responded to what it correctly anticipated as the sharp growth of Medicaid and CHIP coverage.
At the time, an unemployment surge was stripping millions of workers of their economic stability, including health insurance coverage. Medicaid enrollments tend to rise during bad economic times, as people become eligible due to lower incomes. The pandemic was no different, particularly in 2020.
What’s different this time is that states, which administer Medicaid and CHIP, haven’t been allowed to kick anyone out of the program during this period – even if they would have lost eligibility due to higher earnings.
This restriction will continue as long as the federal government public health emergency declaration remains in effect. To help states with that increased financial burden, the federal government increased its share of Medicaid payments to states.
In January 2022, the Biden administration renewed the public health emergency for another three months. The emergency declaration is scheduled to expire on April 16.
Soon after this measure expires, millions who have been covered by Medicaid but now make too much money to qualify could lose their eligibility, particularly if they live in states that have not yet expanded Medicaid.
But it’s not clear whether the number of Americans enrolled in these programs will decline sharply. In part, that’s because more people are getting access to Medicaid for the first time due to their states’ participation in its expansion.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lake County Planning Commission will once again consider a large commercial cannabis operation to be located near Hidden Valley Lake that the Board of Supervisors overturned on appeal last year.
The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 24, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
To participate in real-time, join the Zoom meeting by clicking this link.
The webinar ID is 987 3297 2508, the pass code is 425122.
Access the meeting via one tap mobile at +16699006833,,98732972508#,,,,*425122# or dial in at 669-900-6833.
The meeting also can be viewed on the county’s website or Facebook page.
In an item scheduled for 9:20 a.m., the commission will hold a public hearing to consider a major use permit and mitigated negative declaration sought by Zarina Otchkova, owner of We Grow LLC., for a project to be located at 16750 Herrington Road, 17610 Sandy Road and 19678 Stinson Road in Middletown.
The property size is 300 acres but the cannabis-related operations will cover about nine acres and include 34 greenhouses, four drying buildings, a shed, 20 water tanks and privacy fencing. An estimated 130 blue oak trees will need to be removed.
The commission approved a slightly different version of the project — with one more greenhouse and fewer water tanks — in April of last year.
However, two months later, the Board of Supervisors — citing a faulty environmental document — upheld the appeal by a group of concerned neighbors, but did so without prejudice, leaving the door open for Otchkova to resubmit the project.
The project continues to face opposition from neighbors and area residents, who in letters to the commission are raising a host of issues — from water supply, to noise, smell, traffic and appropriate land use.
The full agenda follows.
AGENDA
Consideration of the adoption of Assembly Bill 361 findings authorizing teleconference meetings during a state of emergency.
Consideration of the approval of the minutes from the Dec. 16, 2021, and Jan. 13, 2022, Planning Commission hearings.
9 a.m.: Public hearing on consideration of a major use permit (UP 20-75) and a mitigated negative declaration (IS 20-88). The project applicant, North Coast Select Inc., is proposing a co-location/clustering of permits for cannabis cultivation operation to allow 70,560 square feet mixed-light canopy area within greenhouses equipped with air filtration systems in a total of 168,680 square feet cultivation area. The project includes additional greenhouses for immature plants, a processing facility,a drying building, thirty-two 2,500 gallon water tanks, security and a perimeter fence. The project is located at 1496 Bell Hill Road, Kelseyville, and further described as APNs 017-002-02, 007-010-24 and 017-002-01.
9:10 a.m.: Public hearing on consideration of a major use permit (UP 20-68) and a mitigated negative declaration (IS 20-83). The project applicant, Cristhian Hernandez, is applying for a two-acre outdoor canopy area within 170,730 square feet cultivation area to include 12 shipping containers with a total of 4,000 square feet solar panels and eight outdoor drying tents on existing agricultural land located at 2000 Clover Valley Road in Upper Lake, also known as APN 004-007-25.
9:15 a.m.: Public hearing on consideration of a major use permit (UP 21-42) and a mitigated negative declaration (IS 21-44). The applicant Linodhi Inc. is proposing three A-Type 3 medium outdoor commercial cannabis cultivation licenses and one A-Type 13 Self Distribution license to allow legal transport of cannabis to and from the site. The project location is 6680 Wilkinson Road (cultivation site) and 6690 Wilkinson Road, Kelseyville, and further described as APNs 007-018-14 and 007-018-15.
9:20 a.m.: Public hearing on consideration of a major use permit (UP 20-22) and a mitigated negative declaration (IS 20-25). The applicant Zarina Otchkova/We Grow LLC., proposes 15 A-Type 3B mixed light commercial cannabis cultivation licenses and one A-Type 13 ‘Self Distribution’ license. Proposed are 32 90-foot by 125-foot greenhouses; two 90-foot by 125-foot greenhouses for immature plant starts; four 50-foot by 100-foot drying buildings; one 200 square foot shed; 20 5,000 gallon water tanks; one 6-foot tall galvanized woven wire fence covered with privacy mesh to screen the greenhouses from public view. Total proposed cultivation area is 387,600 square feet, or roughly nine acres; total proposed canopy area is 330,000 square feet. The applicant is also proposing the removal of 130 blue oak trees. The project is located at 16750 Herrington Road (cultivation site), 17610 Sandy Road and 19678 Stinson Road in Middletown; and further described as APN 013-060-40 (cultivation site) and A.P.N.s 013-014-03 and 013-014-11 (clustering sites).
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. — February so far has been unseasonably dry, but the National Weather Service said that could change this week.
Forecasters said clouds are expected to begin gathering during the day on Monday, Presidents Day, leading to slight chances of rain in the evening. Winds of nearly 25 miles per hour in parts of Lake County also are forecast.
Beginning at 10 p.m. Monday, the forecast calls for a six-hour period during which there are chances of rain and snow showers, then a chance of snow showers after 4 a.m. Tuesday.
Chances of rain and snow showers also are in the Tuesday forecast, with conditions expected to clear later in the day and the evening.
The National Weather Service reported that, based on its latest weather models, an inch or so of snow “now seems possible” above the 2,000 foot elevation mark in Mendocino and Lake counties, “though impacts to populated areas will be minimal.”
The weather is supposed to be mostly clear and sunny for the rest of the week, with chances of showers against forecast for Saturday and Sunday.
Daytime temperatures this week will range from the high 40s on Monday to the low 60s on Saturday. Nighttime temperatures will be in the 30s for much of the week, dropping into the high 20s on Tuesday, reaching the low 40s by Saturday.
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.
Students present arguments at the 10th annual Lake County Mock Trial competition on Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, in Lakeport, California. Zoom screen capture. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Two teams of talented high school students took to the courtroom this month to argue a hypothetical murder case as part of the annual Mock Trial competition.
The event took place on Friday, Feb. 11, on the fourth floor of the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport.
Now in its 10th year, the competition is run in partnership with the Constitutional Rights Foundation, the Lake County Superior Court and Lake County Office of Education.
Competing again this year were teams from Middletown and Upper Lake high schools, with Middletown coming away with the win.
Last year, due to COVID-19, the event was virtual and hosted by the Napa County courthouse.
This year, however, it was back to the courtroom in the Lake County Superior Court.
However, Dana Adams, the Mock Trial coordinator for the Lake County Office of Education, said COVID resulted in this year’s scrimmage being canceled, meaning the teams had a limited amount of practice, “but the teams did a stellar job,” Adams said.
The winning team from Middletown High School. Photo courtesy of Dana Adams. Adams said the students — with the help of volunteer attorney coaches and teachers — prepared arguments, evidence and more for the county competition through Mock Trial classes at their schools.
The Middletown team was assisted by teacher coach Dawnmarie Schneider, and attorney coaches Jon Hopkins and Janina Hoskins.
For Upper Lake, teacher coaches Alex Stabiner and Anna Sabalone, along with attorney coach Judy Conard, worked with the students.
Over the years, all of the court’s judges have taken turns volunteering their time to judge the competition.
This time around, judges J. David Markham and Shanda Harry presided over the competition in the morning and afternoon sessions, respectively.
Middletown and Upper Lake argued the fictional case of People v. Cobey.
The case revolves around Jamie Cobey, a horticulturist living in the community of Burnsley, California, a semi rural town in the high desert.
The Upper Lake High School team. Photo courtesy of Dana Adams. Cobey is charged with killing landlord and next-door neighbor, Erik Smith, in the most unusual of ways — by placing a rattlesnake in Smith’s mailbox.
Based on the arguments and evidence presented, both Markham and Harry ruled that Cobey was not guilty on all counts.
“Reasonable doubt is a difficult standard to make,” Harry said.
Harry, who wrapped up the day with the students, congratulated them for their passion. “I was very impressed by everyone.”
One of the team members, in turn, thanked Harry and the other adults who helped make the competition possible.
“I had a great time,” Harry said. “This is a great experience for everyone.”
Individual recognition for outstanding students was given to the following students:
• Outstanding prosecuting attorney: Zoey Petrie, Upper Lake High School. • Outstanding defense attorney: Ellary Isherwood, Middletown High School. • Outstanding pretrial attorney: Olivia Gallagher, Middletown High School. • Outstanding defense witness: Brandon Blecman, Middletown High School. • Outstanding defense witness: Isabella Neylon, Middletown High School. • Outstanding prosecution witness: Gabriela Neylon, Middletown High School. • Outstanding prosecution witness: Kenneth Carter, Middletown High School. • Outstanding clerk/bailiff: Jacob Colecleaser, Upper Lake High School.
Middletown High School will now advance to the 41st annual state competition, which will be held virtually in March.
Two community groups are generously supporting the teams in the state competition, the Lake County Bar Association and Lake County Friends of Mendocino College, Adams said.
Adams said this year’s competition would not have been possible without the support of volunteer court organizers Melissa Perry and Luanne Hayes, Markham and Harry, and volunteer attorney scorers Nicholas Rotow, Megan Lankford, Mary Amodio and Edward Savin.
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.
