COBB, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff's Office is investigating a report of an attempted robbery that occurred early Tuesday morning in Cobb.

Lt. Steve Brooks said sheriff's deputies were dispatched shortly after 3:30 a.m. to a Lema Lane home where an elderly woman reported that a male subject attacked and attempted to rob her.

The 69-year-old victim told deputies that she woke up a few minutes prior to her 911 call and walked into the living room, Brooks said.

While standing in the living room, she noticed her cat was focused on a door which leads to the garage. Brooks said the woman thought her cat’s behavior was out of the ordinary, so she walked toward the door.

The door suddenly opened and a male subject rushed into the woman's living room. Brooks said the woman described the man as being approximately 5 feet, 5 inches tall, with an average build. His face was covered with some type of clothing.

The victim said the male subject knocked her to the floor and proceeded to kick her three or four times. He then dragged her into the garage and told her that he was going to tie her hands, Brooks said.

Brooks said the woman began to violently resist the man's attempt to subdue her and explained she thought the suspect was going to kill her.

The attacker then suddenly walked out of the garage into the living room and exited the residence through the front door, Brooks said.

The victim told authorities that she was able to make her way to the front door and watched the suspect get into the passenger side of a vehicle, which drove away. She told deputies that she immediately called 911 after the vehicle left, Brooks said.

The woman was unable to provide any additional identifying information concerning the suspect or the suspect vehicle, according to Brooks.

Brooks said the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information pertinent to this case is asked to contact the Lake County Sheriff’s Office at 707-263-2690.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has released its latest national estimate of homelessness, noting reductions in every major category or sub-population since 2010, the year the federal government established a strategic plan to end homelessness.

HUD’s 2013 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress finds significant and measureable progress to reduce the scale of long-term or “chronic” homelessness as well as homelessness experienced by Veterans and families.
      
Meanwhile, local homeless housing and service providers in California reported that the number of sheltered and unsheltered persons increased by 3,895 individuals since 2010.

The report showed that the number of homeless persons in California increased from 132,931 in 2010 to 136,826 this year, a 2.9-percent increase.

Lake County’s first comprehensive “point-in-time” count on Jan. 25 found approximately 188 homeless individuals countywide, as Lake County News has reported.
 
“We’re making real and significant progress to reduce homelessness in this country and now is not the time to retreat from doing what we know works,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “If we’re going to end homelessness as we know it, we need a continued bipartisan commitment from Congress to break the cycle trapping our most vulnerable citizens between living in a shelter or a life on the streets. I understand these are tough budget times but these are proven strategies that are making a real difference. We simply can’t balance our budget on the backs of those living on the margins.”
 
Ophelia Basgal, HUD’s Regional Administrator for California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii, added, “Local housing and service providers are on the front lines of helping us battle homelessness and they need our help if we’re going to prevail. Not only is there a moral imperative to tackle this problem head on, it makes fiscal sense to invest in solutions that work.”
 
Nearly 20 percent of homeless people were counted in either Los Angeles (nine percent of total or 53,798) or New York City (11 percent of total or 64,060). Los Angeles experienced the largest increase among major cities, reporting 11,445 more homeless people (or 27 percent) in 2013 compared to 2012. New York City reported 7,388 more homeless people (or 13 percent).
 
HUD’s annual “point-in-time” estimates measure the scope of homelessness on a single night in January of each year.

Based on data reported by more than 3,000 cities and counties, last January’s one-night estimate reveals an 8 percent drop in homelessness among veterans and a seven percent reduction among those experiencing long-term or chronic homelessness.
 
During one night in late January of 2013, local planning organizations or “continuums of care” across the nation and in California conducted a one-night count of their sheltered and unsheltered homeless populations.

Yearly changes to a state’s housing and economic conditions as well as adjustments in local data collection methods can produce significant differences when attempting to compare one year to the next.

Still, HUD continues to offer significant guidance and technical support to these continuums of care to continually improve the confidence level in these state and local reports as they are incorporated into the annual national homeless estimate.
 
The Obama Administration’s strategic plan to end homelessness is called Opening Doors – a roadmap by 19 federal member agencies of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness along with local and state partners in the public and private sectors.

The plan puts the country on a path to end veterans and chronic homelessness by 2015; and to ending homelessness among children, family, and youth by 2020. It also presents strategies building upon the lesson that mainstream housing, health, education, and human service programs must be fully engaged and coordinated to prevent and end homelessness.
 
The decline in veteran homelessness across the country is largely attributed to the close collaboration between HUD and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on a joint program called HUD-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH).  

Research demonstrates that for those who have been homeless the longest, often living on our streets for years at a time, permanent supportive housing – housing coupled with supportive services to address mental illness, substance addiction, and other challenges – not only ends homelessness for these vulnerable individuals, but also saves the taxpayer money by interrupting a costly cycle of emergency room visits, detoxes, and even jail terms.

Since 2008, a total of 58,250 rental vouchers have been awarded and 43,371 formerly homeless veterans are currently in homes of their own because of HUD-VASH.
 
Chronic homelessness among individuals is declining and has done so quite substantially since 2007. This decline is partially attributable to a long-standing push to develop more permanent supportive housing opportunities for those struggling with long-term homelessness who otherwise continually cycle from shelters to the streets.
 
Read HUD’s 2013 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, including state and community-level data, at https://www.onecpd.info/resource/3300/2013-ahar-part-1-pit-estimates-of-homelessness/ .
     

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – In December 1964 extreme weather events coincided, bringing major flooding to much of northern California, Oregon and surrounding states.

A hard freeze piled up snow in the mountains then a warm tropical storm dropped record-breaking amounts of rain.

The rain runoff and the snow melt combined to create a 100-year flood all along the north coast.

Lake County suffered far less than did coastal counties to the north and west, where entire towns along the rivers were swept away and some people were stranded for weeks afterward.

Nineteen people died in California. No one died in Lake County, but the rain poured down here too. Lake County’s 18,000 residents watched the water rise in the creeks and flood over the banks all around the county.

By mid-December George Turnbull’s rain gauge in Lakeport had recorded 9.85 inches since the first of July.

In the first three weeks of December, he recorded less than an inch.

Then the storms hit.

In one week Lakeport received 6.21 inches and parts of the south county received from six to ten inches.

Bruce Bishop reported 10 inches had fallen in twenty-four hours at Anderson Springs.

By the end of December, storms had dumped nearly 13 inches in Lakeport, and rainfall totals approached the yearly average.

Scotts Creek arises in the hills west of Lakeport, flows north and west through Scotts Valley to Blue Lakes, then turns east through Tule Lake, then turns southeast and flows through Rodman Slough into Clear Lake. The flood waters inundated low-lying areas all along Scotts Creek

A levee on Scotts Creek broke, releasing water, mud and debris into adjoining orchards. In Scotts Valley a bridge approach washed out and debris clogged Scotts Valley Road.

Five feet of water covered Scotts Valley Road at Blue Lakes. Flood waters and mudslides flowing down from surrounding hills wreaked havoc on resorts at Blue Lakes.

Highway 20 at Tule Lake and Bachelor Valley were closed for two days.

The California Department of Water Resources later reported that “along the streams tributary to Clear Lake about 3,000 acres of land, almost entirely agricultural, were flooded as the result of overflows from Scotts, Kelsey, Adobe, Middle and Clover Creeks.

The heaviest losses occurred along Scotts Creek, where pear and nut orchards were severely damaged. No residential or commercial damage was reported in this area, but considerable damage occurred to county roads and bridges, with widespread erosion of land and levees.”

Orchards, homes and other buildings were flooded with water and mud. Some pear growers reported 20, 50, even as many as 130 trees washed away.

Volunteers Ted Lockie, Ricky Clay, Virgil Watson and Mel Oldham used a combination of trucks and boats to ferry food and supplies to twenty-five people stranded at the Blue Lakes Lodge.

About 10 people at Lake Pillsbury were stranded when floods and mudslides washed out Elk Mountain Road and several bridges.

In Lakeport the massive runoff overwhelmed culverts, gutters and the sewer system. Forbes Creek flooded Main Street near Martin and Armstrong.

The Lakeport Theater (now the Soper-Reese Theatre) and other businesses along Main Street were flooded or protected by sandbags. Sewer collection lines backed up and overflowed through manholes into the street, prompting editorials urging improvements to the sewer system.

The Record-Bee reported that “Sixth and Martin Sts., looked like full-fledged rivers, as they currented toward Clear Lake, which took on the semblance of gigantic mudhole.”

A second storm a few days later dropped nearly 5.5 inches in Lakeport, causing more slides and flooding and closing some roads that had been opened briefly after the first storm.

Early estimates put the damages at a minimum of $2,000,000. Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown declared Lake County as disaster area, along with 24 other northern California counties.

As the stream flows diminished, the water flowed into Clear Lake, raising the lake level by about seven feet. The Rumsey gauge showed the lake level at 8.55 feet by January 7 and rimlanders worried that wind-generated wave action would bring damage along the shore.

However, the lake’s low level before the storms allowed the stream flows to rise without reaching major flood stage along the shore.

Rainfall after the December-January storms remained low and Clear Lake’s level dropped instead of rising.

Clear Lake has reached much higher levels a few times since 1964, going over eleven feet in 1983, 1986 and 1998.

Lakeport voters narrowly approved a sewer improvement bond measure in March.

Jan Cook has lived in Lake County for about 40 years. She works for the Lake County Library, is the editor of the Lake County Historical Society's Pomo Bulletin and is a history correspondent for Lake County News. If you have questions or comments please contact Jan at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Police said a fight in Lakeport last week resulted in two arrests.

Bulmaro Mendez Flores, 18, and a juvenile from Finley – whose name was not released due to his age – were taken into custody as a result of a fight last Tuesday, Nov. 26, according to Lt. Jason Ferguson of the Lakeport Police Department.

At 10 p.m. Nov. 26 Lakeport Police officers responded to a reported physical altercation involving several subjects in the 800 block of Armstrong Street, Ferguson said.

Ferguson said that when officers arrived on scene they found a Lakeport juvenile lying in the street as other subjects began fleeing on foot into a neighboring residence.

The juvenile was determined to be under the influence of alcohol and the apparent victim of assault, Ferguson said.

As officers continued their investigation, they gained entry into a residence in the 800 block of Armstrong Street, where Ferguson said several subjects had fled.

Located inside the residence were Flores and Santiago Ballesteros, 26, also of Lakeport, as well as the Finley juvenile. Ferguson said Flores had blood on his clothing and blood on his right knuckles.

During the investigation officers learned that Flores and the juvenile from Finley were on searchable probation and both were determined to be under the influence of alcohol, Ferguson said.

As part of the probation terms of the juvenile, he was prohibited from consuming alcohol. Ferguson said the juvenile was placed under arrest for violation of probation.

During a search of Flores, officers located a pair of “brass knuckles,” which is considered a dangerous weapon and illegal to possess. Ferguson said they also found marijuana and hash on Flores.

Flores was placed under arrest for violation of probation and possession of a dangerous weapon, Ferguson said.

The juvenile assault victim was cleared by medical personnel at the scene and transported to his residence, according to Ferguson.

The Finley juvenile was transported to Juvenile Hall where he was booked, Ferguson said. Flores was transported to the Hill Road Jail where his bail was set at $30,000. He remained in custody on Tuesday, according to jail records.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The city of Lakeport is poised to move forward on the next phase of its Downtown Improvement Project.

The project's first phase was completed but the next phase was put on hold while the state's shuttering of redevelopment – a source of funding for the plan – took place.

City Engineer Scott Harter updated the council on the second, and next, phase of the plan at the council's most recent meeting on Nov. 19.

The city began working on the project several years ago. Harter said redevelopment agency funding for the project dated back to 2007, with the city also having used some redevelopment bonds from 2004.

Following multiple public workshops held in 2008 and 2009 to gather community input, the city settled on a design concept and in early 2010 selected a design team with Rau and Associates based on a competitive process, according to Harter's report to the council.

He said the design process was about 80 percent complete when, in September 2011, then-Redevelopment Director Richard Knoll approached the council – sitting jointly as the redevelopment agency's directors – to ask that it consider reducing the project's scope.

Harter said that was because of a number of factors, including legislative action that was threatening the continuation of redevelopment, as well as flat redevelopment revenues and internal budget adjustments.

In November 2011, the council directed staff to reduce the scope of the project which, Harter noted, had at one point been “pretty all encompassing” of the downtown area.

The city has received the go-ahead from the state to use the bond redevelopment funds for the project, so Harter said they are gearing back up to continue the project.

That funding had appeared uncertain following the governor and Legislature's action to eliminate redevelopment agencies in 2011, an action that was upheld by the California Supreme Court late that same year.

The city has about $2 million for the project's engineering and construction, with Harter noting that the council had set aside $100,000 for docks.

To reduce costs, the project area has been reduced by several blocks, and now calls for the scope to include N. Main Street from First to Fourth streets, with improvements previously planned on Park, First and Second streets now dropped.

Project features will include widening the sidewalks by 2 feet, which will be accomplished by reducing Main Street's lanes from 14 feet to 12 feet, and the turn lane from 12 feet to 11 feet, according to Cathy McKeon, a civil engineer with Rau and Associates who serves as the project's design consultant.

McKeon said the extended sidewalks will make it more comfortable for pedestrians and offer more room for street furniture – including planters, benches and newspaper racks – and trees and tree grates.

The city's decorative lampposts – a project that began in 2002 – also will need to be moved to facilitate the wider sidewalks, she said.

There also will be patterned intersections and crosswalks along with reconstruction of Main Street, she said.

The plan offers decorative paving treatments and more simplified curb improvements, cutting out bulbouts at the downtown intersections, which also will reduce the cost for drainage improvements but will make ramps necessary to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act more challenging, McKeon said.

McKeon said the first phase of the project, which covered a block each on Third and Park streets, included extending the sidewalk, sidewalk treatments and improving the city hall parking lot.

The project originally was estimated to cost $1,850 a lineal foot, which has been reduced to $1,535 – or a total updated cost of about $1.7 million – due to removing the bulbouts and other changes to the plan, she said.

Councilman Kenny Parlet asked if there was any way to get around moving the lampposts. McKeon said leaving them in their current locations would cramp the pedestrian thoroughfare.

“When can we do this?” asked Council member Stacey Mattina, which got a round of laughter.

Lakeport resident Terri Persons, a Lakeport Main Street Association committee member and transportation planner supported the plan.

“I think this is a great project,” she said. “I'd really encourage the city to move forward with it.”

Council members asked when the project could start. Harter said he would present an update at the next council meeting on a timeline.

He told Lake County News in a followup interview that the city hasn't started discussing schedules on the downtown project. First, staff had wanted to reintroduce the project to the council to see whether or not council members had other priorities.

He said the previous agreement with Rau and Associates also needs to be revisited because of the project's significant scope change.

Harter said a lot of the survey and topographic work previously done can be used on the project's next phase; however there was work on alignments and drainage profiles performed on the full scale project which will have to be redesigned for the reduced scope.  

Once those changes are in place, Harter said the city will begin looking at schedules and time lines.

He said he plans to take information on anticipated schedules to the council at its Dec. 17 meeting.

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. – As a followup to its article in the Nov. 17 edition describing the program of fishing line recycle stations around Clear Lake, Lake County News has obtained information on how this program operates statewide.

The local stations are receptacles that serve the purpose of keeping discarded fishing line out of the lake, and the 17 stations were placed and are maintained by the Redbud Audubon Society in Lake County.

At the state level, the California Coastal Commission and the Division of Boating and Waters conduct the fishing line recycling program with support from the BoatUS Foundation.

Since its launch in 2009 a total of 118 monofilament fishing line recycling stations have been placed throughout California, according to Vivian Matuk, who coordinates the program for the California Coastal Commission.

The specific locations for all of these stations can be found in an online map that can be seen above or accessed at http://goo.gl/maps/5zF5F .

Discarded fishing line collected in Lake County by Robert Patton, who operates the program locally, with the aid of the Lake County Sea Scouts, will be sent to the Coastal Commission, which, in turn, sends it to Berkley Conservation Institute in Spirit Lake, Iowa for proper recycling into park benches and other products.

Matuk said that in the four years the program has functioned in California approximately 859 pounds of fishing line have been collected and properly recycled.

She added that, stretched out, this line would stretch from San Francisco to Rocky Ford, Oklahoma.

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

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A vehicle stop early Monday morning led to a Clearlake man's arrest on drug charges.

Jeffrey John Robone, 50, was taken into custody following the stop, according to Lt. Jason Ferguson of the Lakeport Police Department.

Just before 12:30 a.m. Monday Lakeport Police Officer Gary Basor conducted a vehicle stop on a suspicious vehicle in the area of Clearlake Avenue and Forbes Street, Ferguson said.

When Basor contacted the driver, identified as Robone, he learned that Robone had a suspended driver’s license and an outstanding warrant for his arrest, according to Ferguson. Officer Basor placed Robone under arrest and secured him in his patrol vehicle.

Located inside the middle console of the vehicle was a small amount of marijuana. Ferguson said a further search of the vehicle revealed a glass jar and two plastic bags containing 197.5 grams of marijuana.

Based on the marijuana located in the vehicle, Ferguson said Officer Basor additionally charged Robone with possession and transportation of marijuana.

Officer Basor transported Robone to the Hill Road Jail, where during a custodial search of his person, a glass pipe and white rock substance, believed to be crystal methamphetamine were located on his person, Ferguson said.

As a result, Ferguson said Basor additionally charged Robone with possession of a controlled substance, possession of paraphernalia, bringing a controlled substance into a jail and unauthorized possession of a controlled substance in a jail.

Jeffrey Robone was booked at the jail where his bail was set at $25,000, Ferguson said.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Six cats are awaiting adoption at Lake County Animal Care and Control this week.

The cats are in the range of 6 and 7 months old, and will be spayed or neutered before being sent to their new homes.

In addition to spaying or neutering, cats that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are microchipped 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 there, hoping you'll choose them.

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

Female orange tabby

This female orange tabby is 6 months old.

She has a short coat and a curly tail, and has not yet been spayed.

She's in cat room kennel No. 86a, ID No. 38522.

Tortie point

This calico with tortie point markings is 7 months old.

She has a long coat and has not yet been spayed.

Find her in cat room kennel No. 85a, ID No. 38526.

Tortie point

This calico with tortie point markings is 7 months old.

She has a short coat and has not yet been spayed.

Find her in cat room kennel No. 84a, ID No. 38527.

Female orange tabby

This female orange tabby is 6 months old.

She has a short coat and a curly tail, and has not yet been spayed.

She's in cat room kennel No. 82b, ID No. 38525.

Female orange tabby

This female orange tabby is 6 months old.

She has a short coat and a curly tail, and has not yet been spayed.

She's in cat room kennel No. 82a, ID No. 38524.

Orange tabby

This orange tabby of undetermined gender is 6 months old.

The cat has a short coat and is of medium size.

Find the cat in cat room kennel No. 6b, ID No. 38523.

Adoptable cats also can be seen at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Cats_and_Kittens.htm or at www.petfinder.com .

Please note: Cats listed at the shelter's Web page that are said to be “on hold” are not yet cleared for adoption.

To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .

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, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 1 p.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.

If you have a smartphone, take it out and run your fingers along the glass surface. It's cool to the touch, incredibly thin and strong, and almost impervious to scratching. You're now in contact with a “smart material.”

Smart materials don't occur naturally. Instead, they are designed by human engineers working at the molecular level to produce substances made-to-order for futuristic applications.

The Corning Gorilla Glass that overlays the displays of many smartphones is a great example. It gets it toughness, in part, from “fat” potassium ions stuffed into the empty spaces between old-fashioned glass molecules.

When the molten glass cools during manufacturing, dense-packed molecules solidify into a transparent armor that gives Gorilla Glass its extraordinary properties.

Around the world, designers are working on other smart materials such as alloys that can change shape on demand, plastics that heal themselves when ruptured, and fluids that obey magnetic commands to flow or stiffen under computer control.

“One of the great challenges in creating a smart material is arranging the molecules,” said Eric Furst of the University of Delaware. “They're so small!”

Furst wants to create a new class of materials, beyond smart. “We need 'genius materials' – materials that arrange themselves,” he said.

The research to accomplish this is already underway on the International Space Station.

Furst is the principal investigator of an experiment called InSPACE-3. In the microgravity of Earth orbit, vials of fluid mixed with very small 'colloidal' particles (about a millionth of a meter in diameter) are exposed to magnetic fields.

Magnetism is switched on and off again very rapidly. This jostles the particles, causing them to bump together and self-assemble into microscopic structures that currently no supercomputer can predict.

“Astronauts enjoy watching this process in action through microscopes,” said Furst. “Because the samples are backlit by a green lamp, they sometimes call it the 'green blob experiment.'”

Furst recently won an award from the American Astronautical Society for his work on InSPACE-3.

“I'm excited,” he continued. “Just by toggling a magnetic field, we're learning how to take any kind of microscopic building blocks and get them to spontaneously form interesting structures.”

Recently, observers have seen the colloidal particles forming long fibrous chains. Furst speculates that these could lead to materials that conduct heat or electricity in one direction only. The experiment has also yielded crystalline structures that the team is just beginning to investigate.

The fluids underlying these tests are themselves very smart. They are called magnetorheological or “MR” fluids because they harden or change shape when they feel a magnetic field.

If you own a sports car or a Cadillac, you might have MR fluids in your shock absorbers. The stiffness of magnetic shocks can be electronically adjusted thousands of times per second, providing a remarkably smooth ride.

Similar but more powerful devices have been installed at Japan's National Museum of Emerging Science and China's Dong Ting Lake Bridge. They're there to counteract vibrations caused by earthquakes and gusts of wind.

Some researchers have speculated that MR fluids might one day flow through the veins of robots, moving artificial joints and limbs in lifelike fashion.

Furst and colleagues are using these fluids as a laboratory for studying self-assembly. MR fluids are, by definition, responsive to the magnetic nudging that sets self-assembly in motion. Furthermore, in space the particles don't sediment out due to gravity.

“We can study the full 3D evolution of the material,” he added.

Varying the shape of the colloidal particles, the cadence of magnetic toggling, the temperature of the fluid and other factors will allow researchers and astronauts to further explore the frontiers of self-assembly.

Touch the surface of your smartphone again. Maybe that’s just the beginning.

Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A vehicle stop conducted Saturday night has resulted in one arrest and the seizure of methamphetamine.

Aron Fulwood, 58, of Glenhaven was arrested following the stop, according to Lt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

At 9 p.m. Nov. 30 a patrol deputy observed a white four door sedan traveling southbound on Highway 53 near Polk Avenue in Clearlake, Brooks said.

The deputy noticed the vehicles right side headlight was not operational and conducted an enforcement stop in the area of Highway 53, just south of 40th Avenue, according to Brooks.

Brooks said the deputy recognized Fulwood from several previous contacts and knew his driver’s license was suspended or revoked.

Fulwood said he had just received a citation on Nov. 29 for driving while his license was suspended and for speeding. He said he did not have anything illegal in his vehicle and gave the deputy permission to conduct a search, Brooks said.

While searching the vehicle, the deputy located a cigarette wrapper underneath the vehicle's shifter boot, Brooks said. Inside the wrapper were four small plastic bindles, which contained a clear crystalline substance.

Brooks said the deputy also located another small bindle containing a clear crystalline substance, which was concealed in the driver’s door handle. The deputy recognized the contents of the bindles to be methamphetamine.

Fulwood admitted that the small bindle located in the door handle was his, but denied knowing about the others. He explained several people had been inside his vehicle and did not know who would have hidden the other bindles under the shifter boot, according to Brooks.

Fulwood was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, transportation of a controlled substance and for driving while his license was suspended. Brooks said Fulwood was transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility and booked.

Fulwood’s vehicle was towed and impounded for 30 days, due to operating the vehicle with a suspended/revoked license, Brooks said.

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

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Hedy Montoya was knee deep in donated food provisions one day in November at the United Methodist Church in Middletown as a concentrated line of economically challenged, but good-natured, people came in to register and receive the sustenance that was there for them.

By the time all of them – including more than 100 families – had filled boxes provided to them, 2,200 pounds of food had been dispensed.

It was a scene that occurs monthly on Monday in Middletown and Kelseyville. Montoya has no immediate connection to this program; she was there to register families and individuals for “Spirit of the Season.”

Over the past 10 years, Montoya has had a commitment to a “Spirit of the Season,” or “SOS” as it has come to be known.

SOS is a Christmas program that provides boxes of food, a turkey with all the fixings, a gift for each child and a Christmas meal for all registrants.

This year the food and gifts distribution will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Dec. 21, at the First Baptist Church on Highway 175 in Middletown.

The program has actually been going on for 40 years and presently serves approximately 500 people, including 175 families. Montoya serves as its coordinator.

“It started out at Our Lady of the Lake (in Loch Lomond),” says Montoya. “Ten years ago it moved here to the Methodist Church and I stepped in when the woman who was running it became ill.”

SOS is a massive undertaking that requires the industriousness of 25 volunteers to aid in the registration process, data processing, giving gifts to children, shopping, securing food and putting it into boxes.

The volunteers put up “wish trees” for the children on Monday in Middletown. SOS also calls upon the good will and generosity of businesses, service groups, churches and community members each year, who register and go to local stores to purchase the children's gifts, which will be picked up by runners.

“We partner with the Middletown Community United Methodist Church, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and the First Baptist Church with most of the volunteers coming from these faith communities,” Montoya said.

“Without the donations of the community and the volunteers Spirit of the Season would cease to help the families that are vulnerable at Christmas,” she added.

Montoya coordinates all this for those in need, she said, because she, herself, was once in need.

“I was there once. About 14 years ago,” she said, gesturing toward the line at United Methodist. “I lost my first husband and my father had just passed away. I was in a business I had run for 10 years that went bankrupt. I ended up literally on the street with $261 in my pocket. I was not homeless because I lived in my mother's house for a while.

“I do what I do because there are people who need to be helped,” she said. “Each family is in serious need. And the children deserve this at Christmas.”

The wishes of children the group collects are then transferred to the “wish trees” that go up around Middletown.

SOS's genesis “grew out of a desire to make sure that everyone had a Christmas meal and a gift for a child,” Montoya said in a letter to potential donors.

Gifts can be dropped off at the Tri Counties and West America banks in Middletown, St. Joseph's Church and Mulligan's in Hidden Valley Lake. Gift purchasers can learn what the children hope for at Christmas by purchasing a card from the wish tree at any one of these locations.

Clover Dairy annually contributes and delivers milk and butter for all the economically disadvantaged people registered in SOS. Volunteers will pick up frozen turkeys and pies from Foods, Etc. in Clearlake and frozen turkeys from Hardester's Market in Middletown.

Many of the families need what SOS provides because they are seasonal workers. Montoya recalled one family that had 12 children, six of them adopted.

But the need for assistance can happen to almost anyone.

“Migrants have a hard time,” she said. “It's kind of mellowed out now, but times are challenging. I have seen people who donated one year on the other side of the line in the next.”

Donations are still being sought by SOS. Donations are tax-deductible and can be sent to Spirit of the Season, P. O. Box 1468, Middletown, 95461, and should be made by Dec. 13. Any questions can be directed to Montoya at 707-322-5080.

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

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A new group of young mixed breed dogs is available for adoption at Lake County Care and Control this week.

Lab, Chihuahua, shepherd and Dalmatian mixes, and even a puggle are waiting to meet you.

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.

In addition to the animals featured here, all adoptable animals in Lake County can be seen here: http://bit.ly/Z6xHMb .

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”).

Female shepherd mix puppy

This female shepherd mix puppy is 9 weeks old.

She has a short brown coat, weighs 10 pounds and has been spayed.

Find her in kennel No. 3a, ID No. 38391.

Labrador Retriever mix

This female Labrador Retriever mix is 1 year old.

She has a short black coat and weighs nearly 56 pounds, and she's been spayed.

Find her in kennel No. 12, ID No. 38257.

Male Chihuahua mix

This male Chihuahua mix is 3 years old.

He has a short red coat and weighs 5 pounds. He has not yet been neutered.

He's in kennel No. 14b, ID No. 38485.

Male puggle

This male pug-beagle mix – more commonly known as a puggle – is 2 years old.

He has a short orange and white coat, weighs nearly 29 pounds and has been neutered.

Find him in kennel No. 24, ID No. 38590.

Labrador Retriever-Dalmatian

This female Labrador Retriever-Dalmatian is 3 years old.

She has a black and white spotted coat, weighs 52 pounds and has not yet been altered.

She's in kennel No. 30, ID No. 38610.

To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .

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, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 1 p.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.