Thursday, 13 February 2025

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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Pacific Gas and Electric moved forward early Wednesday with turning off power to hundreds of thousands of customers across Northern and Central California.

Shortly after 1 a.m., the utility confirmed that it had implemented the first phase of a public safety power shutoff across significant portions of its service area in response to a widespread, severe wind event.

Sumeet Singh, PG&E’s vice president for asset and risk management and the Community Wildfire Safety Program, told reporters Tuesday evening that the shutoff is a measure of last resort and is in response to “unprecedented fire risk.”

More than 800,000 customers in 34 counties are going to be impacted by the shutoff, including approximately 37,439 customers in Lake County, of which 2,167 are medical baseline customers, PG&E said.

However, those statistics don’t reflect the actual number of California residents to be impacted by the shutoff, and in a media briefing with reporters on Tuesday night, the utility could not give more detailed information.

In Lake County, PG&E said the outage will be widespread, and will include the communities of Clearlake, Lakeport, Clearlake Oaks, Lucerne, Nice, Upper Lake, Lower Lake, Middletown, Kelseyville, Cobb, Hidden Valley Lake, Glenhaven, Witter Springs, Clearlake Park, Loch Lomond, Kelseyville and Finley.

Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin told Lake County News earlier on Tuesday that every populated area of the county was expected to be impacted.

PG&E said the shutoff will occur in three phases.

The first phase, which began at 12 a.m. Wednesday and is expected to roll over over several hours from north to south, will impact approximately 513,000 customers in Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo and Yuba counties, PG&E said.

The second phase of the public safety power shutoff will occur around noon on Wednesday and will impact service to approximately 234,000 customers in Alameda, Alpine, Contra Costa, Mariposa, San Joaquin, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, according to PG&E.

A third phase is being considered for the southernmost portions of PG&E’s service area, impacting approximately 42,000 customers. PG&E said early Wednesday that specific locations are still to be determined.

Singh said the shutoff will include deenergizing large transmission lines of up to 115 kilovolts.

PG&E said it was continuing with the shutoff due to conditions reflected in a red flag warning for much of Northern California issued by the National Weather Service on Tuesday. The red flag warning is in effect from 5 a.m. Wednesday to 5 p.m. Thursday.

At the Tuesday evening press briefing, Evan Duffey, a senior meteorologist with PG&E, said the models have been very consistent in showing an offshore wind event through Friday. Those winds, combined with low relative humidity levels and critically dry vegetation, are creating dangerous fire weather, he said.

Duffey said it’s expected to be the strongest offshore wind event since October 2017.

Winds of between 25 to 35 miles per hour are forecast, with gusts of up to 45 miles per hour, and 65-mile-per-hour gusts in the North Bay hills, he said.

At around 1 a.m. Wednesday, PG&E’s weather map showed wind speeds of up to 16 miles per hour and gusts of 22 miles per hour blowing from the east into Lake County from Hopland and Lyons Valley, with similar wind speeds coming from the north in the area of the High Glade Lookout above Upper Lake.

The area of Cobb Ridge West was showing speeds of up to 21 miles per hour, with gusts of up to 31 miles per hour, coming from the north at the same time, based on the map.

Singh said they anticipate peak winds will occur early Wednesday morning until midday Thursday.

He said some PG&E customers may experience a power shutoff even if conditions in their area aren’t extreme due to the interconnected nature of the power grid.

The goal is to have the shutoff done by midday Thursday. However, Singh said it could take several more days after that to restore the power due to the size of the outage as well as any damage that is discovered afterward.

Singh said the first step the company will take after the outage is to inspect every inch of overhead lines. He said the company can bring in up to 5,000 personnel plus helicopters for those inspections.

“We very much understand the inconvenience and difficulty such a power outage would cause,” Singh said.

He added, “We do not take or make this decision lightly.”

At the same time, Cal Fire’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit reported that it stepped up its staffing, bringing in more personnel in its emergency command center, staging another firefighting helicopter at the Sonoma Air Attack Base and assigning a night reconnaissance aircraft for Northern California based at McClellan Reload Base.

In neighboring Mendocino County, officials said Tuesday night that the scope of the planned outage there had narrowed.

The Mendocino Sheriff’s Office said that the affected areas included Redwood Valley, Potter Valley, Hopland, portions of unincorporated areas of the Ukiah Valley, 62 PG&E service points in the Willits area, Leggett, Piercy, Whitethorn and Whale Gulch. The agency said 88 percent of PG&E customers in those areas were expected to begin losing power at 12 a.m. Thursday.

Meanwhile, the cities of Fort Bragg, Point Area and Ukiah, and the unincorporated Mendocino County coastal communities are not expected to be without power, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said.

PG&E’s Web site was overwhelmed with traffic on Tuesday. Despite doubling the size of the database, the company’s Web site received seven to eight times the normal traffic.

Company officials urged those needing more information to visit its Twitter feed, where it is posting updates and maps.

PG&E will open a community resource center at the Clearlake Senior Center at 3245 Bowers Ave in Clearlake on Wednesday.

The center, which will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., will provide restrooms, bottled water, electronic device charging and air-conditioned seating, PG&E said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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On Tuesday, California's governor signed a series of bills aimed at expanding access to early and same-day voting, increasing civic engagement and improving transparency in campaign finance and redistricting.

“Voting is the foundation of our democracy,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom. “It is critical that we expand access to the ballot box for all eligible voters, while strengthening the integrity of our elections. The package of bills I’m signing today represent a forward-looking, responsible approach to improving elections in California.”

In the November 2018 election, nearly 12.7 million Californians cast their ballot – the highest voter turnout in a midterm election in 36 years.

These bills build on the 2019-20 state budget, which includes $87.3 million one-time funding for upgrading and replacing voting systems and technology in all 58 counties. This investment will support counties in their effort to replace voting systems and strengthen the security of California’s election infrastructure.

In addition, the budget includes $2.7 million ongoing funding to support the Secretary of State’s continued efforts in identifying and mitigating cybersecurity risks associated with voting and other sensitive information technology systems.

Expanding access at the ballot box

SB 72 by Sen. Thomas Umberg (D-Santa Ana) requires conditional voter registration and provisional voting to be available at all county elections satellite offices and polling places.

AB 49 by Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside) ensures people have more time with their ballots by requiring county elections officials to begin mailing vote by mail ballots no later than 29 days before Election Day and complete the mailings within five days.

SB 523 by Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) aligns the timeline for notices and the submission of an unsigned vote by mail ballot envelope with the deadlines established for mismatching signatures to give voters more flexibility to correct their signatures.

AB 1707 by Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Palo Alto) allows voters to use an electronic device at a polling place​. The bill will allow voters to access information on their phone, tablet or other handheld device while voting.

Campaign accountability

SB 47 by Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) helps voters make informed decisions by requiring initiative signature gatherers to disclose the top three funders of the committee organizing the campaign to voters before they sign to qualify the initiative for the ballot.

AB 201 by Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside) requires a text message that supports or opposes a candidate or ballot measure to disclose the entity that paid for the text message, unless certain conditions are met and as specified.

AB 571 by Assemblymember Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco) establishes default campaign contribution limits for county and city office and allows local governments to establish their own limits.

SB 71 by Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino) prohibits the expenditure of campaign funds and legal defense funds to pay or reimburse a candidate or elected officer for penalties, judgements, or settlements related to claims of sexual assault, abuse, or harassment.

Civic engagement

AB 59 by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) requires county elections officials to consider placing a vote center on a university or college campus and allows public college and university buildings to be used as polling places or vote centers.

AB 963 by Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Laguna Beach) establishes the Student Civic and Voter Empowerment Act to be administered by the Secretary of State, which requires each campus of the California Community Colleges (CCCs) and the California State University (CSU), to provide students with civic and election dates and information, and designate one person per campus as a Civic and Voter Empowerment Coordinator.

AB 1666 by Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-Grand Terrace) requires the California Complete Count – Census 2020 to partner with local educational agencies to make information about the 2020 federal census available to students and parents.

Strengthening local elections

SB 359 by Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) permits a municipal referendum petition to contain an impartial summary of the ordinance instead of the text of the ordinance itself.

SB 681 by Sen. Henry Stern (D-Canoga Park) authorizes the proponent of a local referendum or charter amendment initiative to withdraw the measure prior to election.

Additional legislation

AB 849 by Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Alameda) reforms California's local redistricting laws to improve criteria, transparency and public engagement to make sure the process is more fair and consistent.

AB 864 by Assemblymember Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco) makes minor technical, and clarifying changes to the content and format of disclosure statements required to appear on campaign communications.

AB 1829 by the Committee on Elections and Redistricting makes minor, technical, and corresponding changes to the Elections Code.

SB 151 by Sen. Thomas Umberg (D-Santa Ana) permits an elected state official who is subject to a recall election to have their party preference identified on the recall ballot.

Previously, the governor signed SB 641 by Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), which extends the timeline the governor has to declare a special election to enable more special elections to be consolidated – saving taxpayer money and increasing voter turnout – as well as AB 220 by Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Alameda), which allows candidates to use campaign funds for child care expenses, which can encourage more parents to run for office.

In total, the governor announced signing the following election-related bills:

AB 49 by Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside) – California Voter Protection Act of 2019.

AB 59 by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) – Elections: polling places: college and university campuses.

AB 201 by Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside) – Political Reform Act of 1974: campaign disclosure: text messages.

AB 571 by Assemblymember Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco) – Political Reform Act of 1974: contribution limits.

AB 849 by Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Alameda) – Elections: city and county redistricting.

AB 864 by Assemblymember Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco) – Political Reform Act of 1974: disclosures.

AB 963 by Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Laguna Beach) – Public postsecondary education: Student Civic and Voter Empowerment Act.

AB 1666 by Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-Grand Terrace) – The California Complete Count: local educational agencies.

AB 1707 by Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Palo Alto) – Polling places: handheld devices.

AB 1829 by the Committee on Elections and Redistricting – Elections.

SB 47 by Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) – Initiative, referendum, and recall petitions: disclosures.

SB 71 by Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino) – Political Reform Act of 1974: campaign expenditures: limitations.

SB 72 by Sen. Thomas Umberg (D-Santa Ana) – Conditional voter registration: provisional ballots.

SB 151 by Sen. Thomas Umberg (D-Santa Ana) – Elections.

SB 359 by Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) – Elections: referendum.

SB 523 by Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) – Elections: vote by mail ballots.

SB 681 by Sen. Henry Stern (D-Canoga Park) – Local referenda and charter amendments: withdrawal.
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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A two-vehicle crash near Williams on Sunday evening killed two Bay Area women, injured four others and caused a closure of Highway 20.

The California Highway Patrol’s Williams office said the crash occurred at approximately 7:26 p.m. Sunday on Highway 20 west of Walnut Drive in Colusa County.

The two women who died were the 32-year-old driver of a 1996 Toyota Camry and her 29-year-old passenger, both from Oakland, the CHP said.

The CHP said the Toyota’s driver was heading westbound on Highway 20 when she lost control of the car, which turned sideways as it crossed into the opposing lane of traffic.

The Toyota traveled into the path of a 2009 Ford Expedition driven by 61-year-old Tamara Gomez of Rocklin, the CHP said.

Gomez was unable to avoid the collision and the front of her Ford broadsided the Toyota, according to the report.

The CHP said the two Oakland women in the Toyota died at the scene.

Gomez suffered minor injuries and was taken to Enloe Hospital in Chico for treatment, according to the CHP.

Gomez’s three passengers also were injured. They included Rocklin residents Jodi Richardson, 23, who suffered major injuries; 17-year-old Martina Ortega, who had minor injuries; and 16-year-old Angelica Ortega, who sustained moderate injuries, the CHP said.

Richardson was transported to UC Davis Medical Center for treatment, the CHP said, while the Ortegas were taken to Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento.

The CHP said all six crash victims were wearing their seat belts.

Highway 20 was closed for three hours while the collision investigation and roadway clean up took place, according to the CHP.

The CHP said the collision remains under investigation.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors appointed Dr. Gary Pace, MD, MPH, as Lake County’s Public Health officer.

Pace has been filling the position on an interim basis since August, following the departure of Dr. Erin Gustafson.

“Lake County is welcoming a truly thoughtful individual and excellent medical mind with the hire of Dr. Pace, and this is just the latest in a number of positive steps our Health Services Department has taken to improve Lake County’s outcomes,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Tina Scott. “The community and partner organizations are really engaged and motivated to improve our health outcomes. We are a county on the way up, and Dr. Pace will help us progress toward a healthier Lake County.”

Pace, of Sebastopol, has more than two decades of experience in the medical profession, including family and clinical practice, and working as a medical director in health care facilities.

“When you’re working directly with patients, it is clear not everyone has the same needs,” said Pace. “I make it a priority to use language anyone can understand. It is one thing to dig into the technical aspects of a disease process, and I enjoy that work. But what good is it, if you don’t also do the work to translate that into tools that people can use in their everyday lives?”

He holds doctor of medicine and public health degrees from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and completed his family practice residency at Natividad Medical Center in Salinas.

Pace also has a master’s degree in counseling psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies and a bachelor’s degree in biology and psychology from the College of William and Mary.

County officials said that he also has completed a Yale University Certificate in Climate Change and Public Health, which he undertook in response to his experiences offering support to areas including Lake County during Northern California’s disasters.

Under state law, counties are required to have health officers, who are tasked with duties including enforcing local health orders and ordinances, and state regulations and statutes relating to public health.

In addition to his recent interim service, Pace also served as the Lake County’s interim Public Health officer on two other occasions, from late 2017 to spring of 2018, and from the summer of 2018 until fall of 2018, as Lake County News has reported.

He also has experience as the county of Mendocino’s Public Health officer.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – With the National Weather Service issuing a red flag warning for a large portion of Northern California, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has expanded the scope of an already massive planned public safety power shutoff that now includes 34 of California’s 58 counties, with the time of the outage also moved up by several hours.

The National Weather Service’s red flag warning will be in effect from 5 a.m. Wednesday to 5 p.m. Thursday. It includes Lake and many counties from Humboldt and Shasta in the north and extending south to the Bay Area.

Forecasters are warning of north to northeast winds of between 20 and 30 miles per hour, with gusts up to 50 miles per hour.

A previously issued wind advisory also remains in effect from 6 a.m. Wednesday through noon on Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

In response, on Tuesday, PG&E said it has added portions of Humboldt and Marin counties to the planned outage area, which covers much of Northern California, the Bay Area and portions of Central California.

More than 800,000 customers are expected to be impacted by the shutoff, PG&E said.

Originally, the shutoff was expected to begin at about 4 a.m. Wednesday.

However, Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin told Lake County News on Tuesday afternoon that it’s now expected to begin at 12 a.m. Wednesday.

Lake County News called PG&E’s media line for an update and comment on the situation but did not get an immediate reply. The company’s Web site also appeared to be timing out due to traffic issues.

Outage maps the utility published late Monday night had shown parts of Kelseyville and Hidden Valley Lake being out of the planned outage area. That also changed on Tuesday.

“They expanded the scope of the impact to customers,” said Martin, noting that now the areas in Hidden Valley Lake and Kelseyville that previously had appeared to be clear are included in the shutoff area in Lake County.

“Every populated area of the county is going to be hit,” Martin said.

Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said PG&E has confirmed as of Tuesday afternoon that the shutoff for the city of Lakeport also will start around midnight.

He said the entire city is expected to be impacted.

However, city facilities, the police station and city hall will be open and operational. Rasmussen said the police department will have increased staffing on during the nighttime hours to patrol neighborhoods and business districts.

In addition, Lakeport Public Works will have nighttime staffing to monitor water and sewer infrastructure which the city anticipates will remain fully operational, Rasmussen said.

Likewise, in the city of Clearlake, City Manager Alan Flora said the city intends to maintain normal operations at City Hall, including having its council meeting on Thursday evening.

Flora recently has reported to the council that backup generators and additional fuel tanks were in place to allow the city to continue operations during the shutoff.

Regarding county operations, Matthew Rothstein of the County Administrative Office said the courthouse – which has new generators thanks to a recent decision by the Board of Supervisors – is anticipated to remain open.

Krista LeVier, Lake County Superior Court executive officer, said that because of the generator the county purchased for the building, the courts – located on the fourth floor – will be operational.

“All court calendars, public counters and phones should remain open as scheduled,” she said.

However, the Clearlake courthouse does not have generator power and would need to be closed if in fact the shutoff impacts that facility, LeVier said.

“In the event of a power outage causing the closure of our Clearlake courthouse, we will have a drop box available for court filings and we will accept filings at the Lakeport courthouse during the outage,” she explained.

The widespread impacts will include education. The county’s schools have confirmed they will be closed during the outage, with most not having the generator capacity to keep operations going.

One of the key concerns is how long the shutoff could last, given the large impact area.

Rasmussen said PG&E has reported that it expects to start turning power back on Friday morning, but it could take up to five days for some people to have power again.

In neighboring Sonoma County, officials said they are preparing for an extended shutoff, with 262,000 residents expected to be impacted.

Sonoma County officials said PG&E has reported that it expects to begin to restore power there on Thursday at about noon, but the process could be delayed, especially if there is wind-related damage to PG&E’s system.

The county of Sonoma and city of Santa Rosa are advocating for a gubernatorial emergency proclamation in preparation for the consequences of the shutoff. Both agencies proclaimed a state of local emergency on Monday after being notified of the possibility of the now confirmed deenergization event by PG&E.

PG&E will open a community resource center for Lake County at the Clearlake Senior Center at 3245 Bowers Ave in Clearlake. It will be open on Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Martin said all of the impacted counties are only getting one resource center each because PG&E is tapped out on vendors to help run the centers.

“Every community is wanting more than one but every county is getting only one,” he said.

Martin added, “It’s going to impact everybody. I hope people are prepared.”

For additional information

City of Clearlake

https://www.clearlake.ca.us/356/Public-Safety-Power-Shutoff 

County of Lake

http://www.lakecountyca.gov/Residents/Emergencies/PSPS.htm 

City of Lakeport

https://www.cityoflakeport.com/public_safety_power_shutoff.php 

PG&E

To learn more about a PG&E’s power shutoff, visit www.PGE.com/weather or www.pge.com/psps , or call PG&E’s 24-hour power outage information center at 1-800-743-5002.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Registrar of Voters office reported on the mailing of absentee, or vote-by-mail, ballots for the upcoming Northshore Fire Protection District Measure N parcel tax and the deadline for district residents to register to vote.

The special election for Measure N takes place on Nov. 5.

It is a special tax on parcels of real property to be used for the costs of funding local emergency medical and fire services, hiring firefighters, and replacing outdated fire equipment and apparatus.

Additional information about the upcoming election can be found online at www.lakecountyca.gov/rov .

Oct. 21 is the voter registration deadline for the Nov. 5 special election.

Lake County voters can register online at https://registertovote.ca.gov/ or fill out a paper California voter registration/pre-registration application available at the Registrar of Voters office, public library, DMV, post office or other local government offices.

When filling out the application, you can choose to register to get your ballot by mail before each election (permanent vote-by-mail), fill out a form to get your ballot by mail for just this election, or go to your assigned polling place location on election day to vote.

After the voter registration deadline you can apply for conditional voter registration in person only at the Registrar of Voters Office through election day.

Ballots were mailed to vote-by-mail voters starting today, Monday, Oct. 7. Polling place voters will vote at their assigned polling place location on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 5. You can contact the Registrar of Voters Office to check if you will receive a vote-by-mail ballot or vote at a polling place location.

The Office of the Registrar of Voters asks that voters check that their address, party affiliation and name are up-to-date in their voter registration record.

Official voting materials, including sample ballots, vote-by-mail ballots, and voter information guides cannot be forwarded to another address and will be returned to sender by the U.S. Postal Service.

Voters can update their information online at https://registertovote.ca.gov/ or with a paper California voter registration/pre-registration application.

The Lake County Registrar of Voters wants all voters to be able to vote easily, privately and independently; understand the steps in voting, understand elections rules, and know who to ask for help. Each voter’s situation can be different.

Call 707-263-2372 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for assistance, visit the office in person or online at www.lakecountyca.gov/rov.

The Registrar of Voters Office is located in the Courthouse (Room 209) at 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport, and is open Monday to Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The office is closed on Fridays.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Tuesday, Lake County’s two members of the House of Representatives asked the federal government to provide new funding for an important project to improve the health of Clear Lake.

Congressmen John Garamendi (D-CA03) and Mike Thompson (D-CA05) urged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dedicate disaster-recovery funds provided by Congress to the Middle Creek Flood Damage Reduction and Ecosystem Restoration Project in Lake County.

In February 2018, local lawmakers secured $15 million in state funding to help meet the non-federal cost share for the project.

Congress authorized the project in the Water Resources Development Act of 2007, Public Law 110-114.

Garamendi and Thompson are urging the Army Corps to build off this work and dedicate new funds to the project to support Lake County.

“The Middle Creek Project is critically important to help Lake County recover from recent disasters,” Garamendi said. “The project would restore 1,600 acres of crucial wetland habitat and improve precious ecosystems and water quality in Clear Lake– the second largest natural lake in California and a vital component of Lake County’s economy. The Army Corps must dedicate all available federal funding to this project, and I will continue working with Congressman Thompson to ensure Lake County has the resources needed to recover from these devastating fire seasons.”

“As Lake County continues to recover, it’s critical that we work to bring back every federal dollar and resource to bear on that effort. That’s why I joined with Rep. Garamendi in asking the Army Corps to consider the county’s request to dedicate funding to the Middle Creek Flood Damage Reduction and Ecosystem Restoration Project. This is a critical project that will help restore local wetlands and improve water quality, and I will continue doing everything I can to assist with this and all recovery efforts,” said Thompson.

A copy of the letter Congressmen Garamendi and Thompson sent to the Army Corps can be viewed here.

Garamendi will tour the Middle Creek Flood Damage Reduction and Ecosystem Restoration Project site on Oct. 20 with local officials.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Pacific Gas and Electric, which said it is continuing to monitor weather conditions, has updated its plans for a massive public safety power shutoff encompassing 30 counties and more than 600,000 customers that’s proposed to take place this week.

It if takes place, the shutoff – which is scheduled to begin at 4 a.m. Wednesday – could impact approximately 645,456 PG&E customers across Northern California, among them 26,549 medical baseline customers, the company reported.

Besides Lake, the counties slated to be included in the public safety power shutoff are Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Glenn, Mariposa, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tehama, Tuolumne, Yolo and Yuba, PG&E said.

All of the counties listed as subject to the power shutoff for Wednesday and Thursday are still under the “watch” stage, based on PG&E’s Web site. In that stage, PG&E’s Emergency Operations Center “is activated for a reasonable chance of executing PSPS for public safety in a given geographic zone due to a combination of adverse weather and dry fuel conditions.” The “watch” stage is the stage second only to “warning.”

Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin had warned on Sunday night that a power shutoff could begin on Wednesday at 6 a.m. and continue until Thursday, with reenergization expected to take up to five days due to the large anticipated shutoff area, as Lake County News has reported.

The power shutoff in Lake County is anticipated to be wide-ranging. PG&E said that, as planned, the shutoff will impact 26,430 customers, including 1,662 medical baseline customers, in Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Clearlake Park, Cobb, Glenhaven, Hidden Valley Lake, Kelseyville, Lakeport, Loch Lomond, Lower Lake, Lucerne, Middletown, Nice, Upper Lake and Witter Springs.

Driving the planned shutoff is weather. Lake County and much of Northern California remains under a fire weather watch issued by the National Weather Service that’s in effect from 5 a.m. Wednesday through 5 p.m. Thursday, and on Monday was expanded to include much of the northern San Joaquin Valley.

On Monday the the National Weather Service issued a wind advisory beginning at 5 a.m. Wednesday and continuing until 12 a.m. Thursday.

The National Weather Service said the wind event forecast to start on Wednesday is expected to be the strongest of the season so far.

Based on the latest weather forecasts and models, PG&E anticipates the period of peak winds will occur from early Wednesday morning and last through Thursday midday.

While it had posted on its Web site about the potential for power shutoffs beginning over the weekend, Pacific Gas and Electric directly notified Lake County customers via phone, text and email on Monday that it was considering proactively turning off power on Wednesday due to the weather conditions.

Schools, local governments prepare

Lake County News confirmed with the superintendents of Lakeport Unified, Lucerne Elementary, Middletown Unified and Upper Lake Unified that if the shutoff started while school was in session they would finish the school day.

However, if the power is shut off outside of school hours – as PG&E now proposes to do – no school will be held that day and as long as the shutoff continues, school officials said.

Middletown Unified Superintendent Catherine Stone said the district doesn’t have generators that would allow it to remain open in the event of a shutoff.

“When we have no power, we have no school,” Stone said.

Lakeport Unified Superintendent Jill Falconer sent out a statement to families on Monday night, which also was posted on the district’s Facebook page, sharing with them the plans for when school would be open or closed.

She said the district determines the start of the school day to be 6 a.m., when the buses go out to start picking up students, “therefore if we have no power at 6:00 a.m., all schools will be closed until the power is restored.”

Falconer said the district will keep families updated through its student information system, Web site and Facebook page.

For the public at large, a customer resource center will be open and operational on Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Clearlake Senior Center, located at 3245 Bowers Ave. in Clearlake, PG&E said.

At a Clearlake City Council meeting last month, City Manager Alan Flora reported that the city had entered into a contract with PG&E to use the senior center as the community resource center, the only local for such a facility confirmed in Lake County so far.

Flora said the center will provide water, information, electronic device charging and wifi capability but no food or other services. PG&E is to staff the center exclusively and provide security.

In neighboring Mendocino County, 6,000 customers in Boonville, Calpella, Fort Bragg, Hopland, Potter Valley, Redwood Valley, Talmage, Ukiah and Willits are in the proposed outage area, PG&E said.

In Napa County, PG&E said 32,124 customers in American Canyon, Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Lake Berryessa, Napa, Oakville, Pope Valley, Saint Helena and Yountville could be without power.

The county of Sonoma and the city of Santa Rosa reported that they are preparing to respond to the impacts of a possible power shutoff.

PG&E said there are 66,289 customers that will be impacted in Santa Rosa, Sonoma, Petaluma, Healdsburg, Cloverdale, Glen Ellen, Penngrove, Geyserville, Kenwood, Rohnert Park, Windsor, Annapolis, Stewarts Point, Cotati, Cazadero, Guerneville, Larkfield, El Verano, Boyes Hot Springs, Fulton and Bodega Bay.

The city of Santa Rosa activated its emergency operation center at 3 p.m. Monday and the county of Sonoma will active its emergency operation center at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Officials said both the county of Sonoma and the city of Santa Rosa have declared proclamations of local emergency, so that both agencies may be better prepared to quickly respond to the needs of the community in the event of a widespread shutdown.

To learn more about a PG&E’s power shutoff, visit www.PGE.com/weather or www.pge.com/psps, or call PG&E’s 24-hour power outage information center at 1-800-743-5002.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Due to a weather system later this week that’s anticipated to bring winds similar to those during the North Bay fires two years ago, Pacific Gas and Electric has increased the likelihood that Lake and many other counties across Northern California could be subject to a public safety power shutoff.

The situation prompted Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin on Sunday evening to issue a social media message warning county residents that the power could be cut for several days.

The National Weather Service has issued a fire weather watch for parts of Northern California including Lake County that will begin at 5 a.m. Wednesday and continue through 5 p.m. Thursday.

A fire weather watch means that critical fire weather conditions are forecast to occur, the agency said.

The forecast says a low pressure system will create gusty north to east winds over portions of interior Northern California Wednesday and Thursday, with winds of between 10 to 20 miles per hour, and gusts ranging up to 45 miles per hour, coupled with low relative humidities.

Those conditions will lead to critical fire weather conditions for the northern Coastal Range and foothills, the Sacramento Valley, and the Northern Sierra Nevada and foothills below 6,000 feet, the National Weather Service said.

In response, PG&E has placed Lake County under a public safety power shutoff “watch” for Wednesday and Thursday, which means that the company’s emergency operations center “is activated for a reasonable chance” of executing a power shutoff due to a combination of adverse weather and dry fuel conditions.

A PSPS watch, the company said, is typically only issued within 72 hours before the anticipated start of an event.

Lake County also is listed by PG&E as being under an “elevated” risk of a power shutoff on Friday, due to conditions.

The company said weather models are continuing to indicate the potential for a widespread and strong offshore wind event Wednesday through Friday. “Based on forecasted wind speeds and pressure gradients from high resolution and global forecast models, this is expected to be the strongest event of the season and is of significant concern.”

PG&E said the north and northeast pressure gradients – which relate to atmospheric pressure – that are forecast to develop over Northern California this week have not been as strong since the North Bay firestorm event of Oct. 8 and 9, 2017. The Sulphur Fire in Lake County was one of the fires that occurred at that time.

On Sunday evening, Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin posted a Facebook video in which he said that he had been on a conference call with PG&E and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services about the situation.

He said they discussed the likelihood of 39 counties experiencing some level of public safety power shutoff as early as 6 a.m. on Wednesday.

The good news is, the county has a few days to prepare. “The bad news is, this is going to be pretty likely to occur,” Martin said.

Martin said there are 21 counties, including Lake, that have a high probability – meaning, 75 percent chance or greater – of experiencing a power shutoff.

The power shutoff is anticipated to hit Lake County at around 6 a.m. Wednesday, Martin said.

He said it’s a very large event, and so it may be an extended outage due to the number of customers.

That could mean that power is out for as long as five days from the “all clear” which would be expected to occur on Thursday, he said.

“This is going to have some significant impacts here in Lake County,” Martin said.

As of Sunday night, no maps of the proposed outage area were available, although Martin said it’s expected PG&E will provide them on Monday. He and his agency also are to be on a rotating cycle of phone calls with the utility.

Martin said the predictions are for winds of up to 60 to 70 miles per hour on the high elevations, such as Mount St. Helena.

Martin said there were no numbers available Sunday night as to how many customers in Lake or neighboring counties could be impacted by the shutoff.

In recent weeks there had been concerns of power shutoffs to Lake County that didn’t occur, but Martin said Sunday that, it “sounds like it’s going to be the real deal this time.”

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Cal Fire’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit reported that it has augmented its staffing levels for the red flag warning and forecast wind event.

The agency said that the augmentation of resources includes all hand crews to be fully staffed and ready to respond at any given time, day or night as well as all our reserve fire engines.

There will be additional staffing for its emergency command center, as well as additional staffing to fill the positions needed for the command and control functions in the event of a major fire.

An additional firefighting helicopter arrived on Tuesday to support any needs within the region, and will be based out of the Sonoma Air Attack Base.

A night reconnaissance aircraft assigned to Northern California started at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The aircraft is based out of the McClellan Reload Base and will be available through the duration of the upcoming wind event.

The primary mission will be for reconnaissance of emerging fires, and is for situational awareness and intelligence gathering only, officials said.

“Our No. 1 goal for these precautionary measures is to provide for public safety and to protect the resources of California,” Cal Fire said in a Tuesday statement.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Caltrans reported that it has begun the process of removing hazardous trees along several state highways that run through Lake County.

Caltrans said it has identified dead and dying trees that are hazardous and pose a significant threat to the safety of motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians, impacting the safety of the traveling public along Routes 20, 29, 53 and 175.

Most of the identified trees were damaged by the Valley fire in 2015, Caltrans said.

After the initial removal of dead trees during the Valley fire cleanup, it was determined that a certified arborist would reassess trees that were identified with the potential for recovery at a later date. Caltrans said these trees are located along our right-of-way and on personal property.

Each tree is evaluated for health, viability, and the potential to become an immediate or future hazard to public safety, according to Caltrans.

Property owners will be contacted by Caltrans to perform the tree assessments along the right-of-way on their property. They will be sent a “permission to enter” that will allow Caltrans to cut and remove the identified trees or keep the timber for personal use.

If homeowners refuse the removal of the trees by Caltrans, they will be held liable if the trees fall, causing damage or harm to utilities or the traveling public, Caltrans said.

Caltrans said reasons for removing live trees include the presence of internal decay, insect damage, fungus, signs of stress such as excessive pitching and/or deformed growth, loose bark, signs of instability and fire damage.

The arborist has currently identified more than 500 trees that need to be removed, although there are many more miles of road to assess, Caltrans said.

Dead or dying trees will be marked with a blue paint ring to facilitate identification. Caltrans said hazardous tree removal began Monday, Sept. 30.
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors is set to consider whether to continue to delegate oversight of the county’s investment authority to the treasurer-tax collector or if it should explore other options.

The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

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

The discussion of investment authority is an untimed item on Tuesday’s agenda.

Supervisors Bruno Sabatier and Moke Simon, who are serving on an ad hoc committee working with Treasurer-Tax Collector Barbara Ringen regarding issues surrounding her department, wrote in a memo to their board colleagues that the committee has identified the required review of the board’s investment delegation “as an opportunity to examine best practices available to the County.”

The memo explains that state Government Code makes the Board of Supervisors “the agent of the county who serves as a fiduciary and is subject to the prudent investor standard,” unless, under another section of the code, it has delegated that authority to the county treasurer.

“Subject to Government Code Section 53607, our Board may continue to delegate this authority to the Treasurer-Tax Collector, who is then required to provide a monthly report on the investments. Alternatively, our Board may direct staff to review other options. For example, there are licensed investment firms that act as consultants to counties. This can be particularly valuable in smaller counties that have strained resources, as these firms have the capability to assist with investment selection, monitoring, and reporting,” the memo said.

The memo continued, “Exploring other practices may yield alternatives that would allow our Board to meet its fiduciary duties while potentially allowing staff resources in the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s office to be made available for other priorities.”

Also on Tuesday, in another untimed item, the board will discuss the proposed purchase, for $10,225, of personal protective equipment for Code Enforcement officers, including multi-threat vets, Kenwood portable radios and accessories, portable radio holsters and officer safety training.

At 9:06 a.m., the board will present several proclamations designating the month of October 2019 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Lake County, the week of Oct. 6 to 12, 2019, as National 4-H Week in Lake County, the week of Oct. 7 to 13, 2019, as Code Enforcement Officer Appreciation Week in Lake County and the second Monday in October Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Lake County.

The full agenda follows.

CONSENT AGENDA

5.1: Adopt proclamation declaring the second Monday in October Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Lake County.

5.2: Adopt proclamation designating the month of October 2019 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Lake County.

5.3: Adopt Proclamation designating the week of Oct. 6 to 12, 2019, as National 4-H Week in Lake County.

5.4: Approve the minutes of the Board of Supervisors meeting held Sept. 10, 2019.

5.5: Adopt resolution approving the application of the Lake County Arts Council for the California Arts Council Grant for FY 2020-21 and authorizing the Lake County Arts Council to execute the grant contract.

5.6: (a) Approve Revisions of Personnel Rule 1801, Holidays; (b) approve a side letter to Lake County Correctional Officers July 9, 2019, to Dec. 31, 2019, MOU; (c) approve a side letter to Lake County Deputy District Attorney’s Association July 1, 2015, to Dec. 31, 2016, MOU; (d) approve a side letter to Lake County Deputy Sheriff’s Association May 7, 2019, to Dec. 31, 2019, MOU; (e) approve a side letter to Lake County Employees Association Units #3, #4, #5 July 23, 2019 to Dec. 31, 2019, MOU; (f) approve a side letter to Lake County Safety Employees Association July 23, 2019, to Dec. 31, 2019, MOU; (g) approve a side letter to Lake County Sheriff’s Management Association Calendar Year 2019 MOU; (h) adopt a resolution amending Resolution No. 2018-125 Establishing Salaries and Benefits for Management Employees for the Period from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019; (i) adopt a resolution amending Resolution No. 2018-126 Establishing Salaries and Benefits for Employees Assigned to the Confidential Unit, Section A, for July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019; (j) adopt a resolution amending Resolution No. 2018-127 Establishing Salaries and Benefits for Employees Assigned to the Confidential Unit, Section B, for July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019.

5.7: Adopt proclamation declaring the week of Oct. 7 to 13, 2019, as Code Enforcement Officer Appreciation Week in Lake County.

5.8: Approve budget transfer to facilitate the completion of counter and work space remodel within the Community Development Department and authorize the chair to sign.

5.9: Sitting as the Lake County Sanitation District Board of Directors, adopt resolution accepting the Anderson Springs Sewer Collection System Project, Contract #4364 as complete and authorize the Special Districts administrator to sign and record the notice of completion.

5.10: Sitting as Lake County Watershed Protection District Board of Directors, adopt resolution authorizing Lake County Watershed Protection District to file grant application jointly with Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians of California and the Lake County Resource Conservation District to the CDFW Wetlands Restoration for Greenhouse Gas Reduction Grant Program.

5.11: Approve the continuation of a local emergency due to the Atmospheric River Event 2019.

5.12: Approve the continuation of a local emergency due to the Mendocino Complex fire incident (River and Ranch fires).

5.13: Approve the continuation of a local emergency due to the Pawnee fire incident.

5.14: Approve the continuation of a local emergency due to the Sulphur fire incident.

5.15: Approve the continuation of a local emergency due to the Clayton fire.

5.16: Approve the continuation of a local emergency due to the Atmospheric River Storm 2017.

5.17: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of the goods or services; and (b) approve the agreement between the county of Lake and Pavement Recycling Systems, Inc. for the rehabilitation of Big Canyon Road in the amount of $142,800 and authorize the Public Works director to sign the agreement.

5.18: Approve request for long distance travel to attend a training conference in Macungie, Pennsylvania, from Oct. 16 to 18, 2019, for Social Worker Angie Wynacht.

5.19: Approve the rejection of all bids for the Soda Bay CSA-20 Redwood Water Tanks Replacement Project, Bid No. 19-12.

TIMED ITEMS

6.2, 9:06 a.m.: Presentation of (a) proclamation designating the month of October 2019 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Lake County; (b) proclamation designating the week of Oct. 6 to 12, 2019, as National 4-H Week in Lake County; (c) proclamation designating the week of Oct. 7 to 13, 2019, as Code Enforcement Officer Appreciation Week in Lake County; and (d) proclamation declaring the second Monday in October Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Lake County.

6.3, 9:15 a.m.: Consideration of continuation of a local health emergency and order prohibiting the endangerment of the community through the unsafe removal, transportation and disposal of fire debris for the Mendocino Complex fire.

UNTIMED ITEMS

7.2: Consideration of delegation of investment authority.

7.3: Discussion and possible direction regarding the purchase of code enforcement officer personal protective equipment.

7.4: Sitting as Lake County Sanitation District Board of Directors, consideration of Contract Change Order #5 with KJ Woods, for Anderson Springs Sewer Collection System for an increase of $3,659.39 and a revised contract amount of $7,001,693.87.

CLOSED SESSION

8.1: Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Gov. Code sec. 54956.9(d)(1): County of Lake, et al. v. PG&E, et al.

8.3: Public employee appointment pursuant to Gov. Code Section 54957(b)(1): Appointment of Public Health officer.

8.2: Conference with legal counsel: Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Gov. Code section 54956.9(d)(2)(e)(3): California River Watch.

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

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