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Joshua Caleb “Buck” Brown, 43, of Kelseyville, Calif., is wanted for shooting at a group of law enforcement officers, Caltrans workers and a county supervisor on Monday, August 14, 2017. Photo courtesy of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said Monday afternoon that it is continuing the search for a Kelseyville man who shot at a group of law enforcement officers, Caltrans workers and a county supervisor earlier in the day.

Joshua Caleb “Buck” Brown of Kelseyville, 43, is the suspect in the case, as Lake County News has reported.

In the Monday afternoon update, the sheriff’s office reported that at 10:30 a.m. employees with Caltrans were in the area between Cruickshank Road and Cole Creek Road on Highway 29 in Kelseyville conducting road work, assisted by the California Highway Patrol.

County Supervisor Rob Brown told Lake County News that he was with the group. He said Caltrans was putting up k-rail in the area due to an illegal road access that Buck Brown had cut in the area.

The sheriff’s report said Buck Brown, whose home is nearby, confronted the group and fired two shots in their direction.

Rob Brown said Buck Brown had first come toward them with a gun in his hand before returning to his pickup to get a rifle, which is the weapon he used to shoot at the group.

Lake County Sheriff’s units responded to assist, arriving at the location at 10:45 a.m. Shortly after a sheriff’s unit arrived on scene, Buck Brown fired another shot towards the officer’s direction, according to the report.

At approximately 10:52 a.m. Brown fired two additional shots at a State Parks officer who was at a neighboring residence assisting with a perimeter, the sheriff’s office reported.

Brown then fled on foot into an area which consists of brush and trees, officials said.

The sheriff’s office said a perimeter was established and additional assistance from allied agencies was requested.

Officers from the CHP, Lakeport Police Department, Clearlake Police Department, Lake County District Attorney’s Office, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office and Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office responded to assist. California Highway Patrol and Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office assisted with air support, the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office said the search for Brown is continuing.

Brown is considered armed and dangerous and should not be contacted. If you see someone you believe to be Brown avoid contact and immediately call 911, officials said.

The search for Brown led to a closure on Highway 29, which officials said remained in effect to all traffic between Live Oak Drive and Bottle Rock Road. An alternate route of Soda Bay Road to Highway 29 can be used.

Live Oak Drive is also closed between Cruickshank Road and Cole Creek Road, officials 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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KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Kelseyville Unified School District Board this week will hold a discussion related to its recent decision to move forward with giving the Kelsey Creek Schoolhouse to the Lake County Historical Society.

The board will meet beginning at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 15, in the district office board room, 4410 Konocti Road.

The Kelsey Creek Schoolhouse – also called the Hells Bend Schoolhouse – was built in 1871 and moved to its current location in the 3500 block of Finley Road East in Finley in 1882.

The Lake County Historical Society proposes to move the schoolhouse to the Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum on Soda Bay Road.

The matter of giving the schoolhouse to the historical society had been approached at a board meeting in November, but the board took no action then.

At that time, community member, archaeologist and college professor Doug Prather argued against the move in a letter to the board, explaining that he couldn’t abide “wanton destruction of our local history.”

Prather said “historic structures often retain specific characteristics or qualities that warrant a special status in the archaeological and historical community. Those structures that
maintain certain ‘integrities’ will often qualify for the National Register of Historic Places.”

He said the schoolhouse is one of the few structures in Lake County that can still qualify for this list, noting that the main integrity for this structure is its setting.

“For more than 100 years the building has not moved. It is in its natural location. As an archaeologist, this is a rarity for me. Not only has this building not moved, but it still maintains its original shape; no additions, and no modern adaptations with the exception of the concrete front steps and the newer roof. People driving by do not mistake this structure for a modern building. It looks old and incredibly interesting. In fact, this is the oldest schoolhouse in Lake County that still retains its original character of construction. If moved to the Ely Stagestop, that integrity of setting, construction, and feeling would be immediately lost,” Prather wrote.

Several months passed with no further discussion of the matter and then Board member Gary Olson asked for it to be placed on the July agenda as a discussion and action item, said Superintendent Dave McQueen.

Olson also had asked for the matter to be brought before the board last year, at the time the board considered a letter from a group calling itself the Friends of the Kelsey Creek Schoolhouse that suggested the building be given to the historical society. Olson also signed that letter as a member of that group.

During the July 18 meeting, Lake County Historical Society members Peter Windrem and John Parker made another pitch for taking the building, with Windrem stating that the building is a liability and hazard to the district, and is susceptible to fire.

Parker, an archaeologist, also wants the district’s donation to include any physical and cultural materials in and around the site.

The board then took two unanimous votes, each moved by Olson, to direct McQueen to get separate appraisals on both the schoolhouse and the land on which it sits and to direct McQueen to begin the process of transferring the building.

McQueen told Lake County News that before the schoolhouse can be donated or moved, it has to be appraised and the board has to pass a resolution to transfer it, actions that he anticipated would take place over the course of the Aug. 15 and Sept. 19 board meetings.

He said that in speaking with the district’s legal counsel, the district can transfer the schoolhouse to a nonprofit, but there are stipulations, such as the appraisal.

The Tuesday agenda calls for the schoolhouse matter to be an action item, but does not state if the resolution or the appraisal will be considered.


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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"Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." – Nathaniel Hawthorne

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Any place that you can think of is a potential home for an insect – in woods and water, at the desert and on a tropical island.

In North America alone there are around 100,000 species of insects. Mother Nature is fortunate to employ many birds and insects to aid in pollinating her plants.

Taking just a few minutes to observe a pollinator in action, one becomes compelled to watch and learn more about the lives of the little creatures.

Like bird-watching, observing pollinators such as butterflies and bees is fascinating fun. The many and varied insects and animals that pollinate plants are vital to both the ecosystems in which they reside and for all of humankind since they are essential in agriculture.

Pollinators, unfortunately, have been in crisis mode for at least a decade here in our country.

Beekeepers have noted major losses in hive production for a variety of reasons. Bees and other pollinators need plenty of blossoms, so you can aid them by planting a variety of blooms in succession so that there is almost always something blooming throughout the season.

Steer clear of harsh chemicals while gardening, and opt, instead, for an organic garden which employs companion planting.

Pollinators include wasps, ants, flies, hummingbirds, bats, moths and butterflies, to name a few. These useful critters budge pollen on flowers when they visit the plant for its pollen or nectar.

According to Birds and the Bees 101, pollen travels from the plant's male anther to the stigma, which is female, when fertilization of the ovules occurs.

Butterflies and moths, like bees, come in all shapes and sizes. One way butterflies can be distinguished from moths is through their antennae.

Another colorful pollinator. Photo by Kathleen Scavone.


While butterflies have a more simple-looking antennae structure, a moth's antennae are feathery in looks. Both creatures have scales all over their wings and bodies. Another distinguishing fact is that moths usually fly at night.

Mother Nature has many creative means of attracting pollinators. Pollinators are attracted to various color patterns in plants, their scents, and even a feature called a nectar guide which can be spotted via ultraviolet light.

Bees, among the most well-known of the pollinators, hold onto their cargo of pollen by their scopa, or the pollen-holders located on their hind legs.

Honey bees, as well as bumblebees have an enhanced version of the pollen-holder, known as its corbicula or pollen-basket.

These industrious creatures can also carry pollen because of a built-in electrostatic charge!

For more information on encouraging pollinators in your garden:
http://cagardenweb.ucanr.edu/General/Encouraging_Native_Bees_-_Other_Pollinators/ or https://www.fws.gov/pollinators/pollinatorpages/yourhelp.html.

Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also formerly wrote for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.
Another colorful pollinator. Photo by Kathleen Scavone.
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KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Law enforcement agencies from around Lake County and beyond are in Kelseyville attempting to apprehend a man who on Monday morning fired numerous shots at officers and other officials over a property issue.

Shots were first fired in the area of Highway 29 near Cole Creek Road at about 10:45 a.m. Monday, according to radio reports and the California Highway Patrol.

The suspect in the shooting is identified as 43-year-old Joshua Caleb “Buck” Brown of Kelseyville, according to Sheriff Brian Martin.

Brown, who is reported to be angry about road and property issues, shot at a group that included Caltrans workers, law enforcement officers and County Supervisor Rob Brown, who was at the scene.

Rob Brown said the Buck Brown had cut an illegal road access to his property and then dumped concrete to block access to another property owner, which created an issue for Caltrans and also was a county abatement issue.

Caltrans was on scene to install k-rail until the property cut was fixed, Rob Brown said.

Rob Brown said he was with several Caltrans workers and CHP officers on Highway 29 about a quarter-mile north of Cole Creek when the shooting occurred. Also on scene were California State Parks rangers.

“He came running down the hill with a gun in his hand,” Rob Brown said of Buck Brown.

CHP Officer Rob Hearn yelled for everyone to get back. Buck Brown then ran back to his pickup, got his rifle and began shooting, Rob Brown said.

There were four shots, all of which he believed came from the suspect, as law enforcement at that point didn’t return fire, according to Rob Brown’s account.

Rob Brown said Buck Brown then moved back onto his property behind some oak trees in order to take cover.

At 11:30 a.m. the Lake County Sheriff’s Office issued an alert to the public telling them to stay clear and that drivers should avoid the area between Kelseyville and Kit’s Corner.

The agency’s alert also directed nearby residents to shelter in place.

The Lake County Sheriff’s SWAT Team responded, and shortly after 12:15 p.m., a SWAT team from Mendocino County also had arrived, with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s helicopter Henry-1 also reported to be responding, based on radio reports.

Sheriff Martin told Lake County News shortly before 1 p.m. that Buck Brown was not yet in custody.

At that point Martin said Buck Brown had fired at law enforcement five times.

Additional details will be posted as they become available.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council is set this week to consider a Texas development firm’s appeal of a decision last month by the Lakeport Planning Commission to turn down a proposal for a Dollar General store.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 15, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

On the Tuesday agenda is the appeal by Cross Development of the planning commission’s July 12 decision to deny an application for architectural and design review for a 9,100-square-foot Dollar General store at 1405 S. Main St.

Cross Development has built Dollar General stores in Clearlake Oaks and Nice. Its plan for a store in Middletown has been denied by both the Lake County Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors, with the firm now proposing to build a 7,500-square-foot store, which would put it under the 8,000-square-foot threshold that triggers the major use permit process.

Unlike the county, Lakeport’s planning rules don’t have thresholds for higher levels of review triggered by square footage, according to a statement from Community Development Director Kevin Ingram at the July meeting.

However, the commission denied the store proposal on the basis of concerns that it didn’t qualify for a categorical exemption from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, as staff had suggested and that the application, therefore, wasn’t complete.

Staff said CEQA guidelines allow exemptions for development on parcels less than five acres substantially surrounded by urban uses, which are consistent with the general plan and zoning, determined to have no impacts on rare, threatened and endangered species, and no traffic, noise, air quality or water quality impacts.

If the council were to grant the appeal and find that the project qualifies for the categorical exemption, it would send the store plan back to the planning commission to consider the architectural and design review application’s adequacy.

Also on Tuesday, the council will consider adopting a resolution to formally declare an end to the stage one water emergency and to address ongoing water conservation efforts by restricting wasteful practices.

In other business, the council will consider approving a Gann limit revision for a corrected appropriations limit of $11,852,201 in Fiscal Year 2017-18 and $11,463,663 in Fiscal Year 2016-2017; receive a donation from the Lake County Chamber of Commerce for the
annual fireworks show in Library Park; and hear a presentation by the promoters of the 2017 Downtown Lakeport Criterium, which was held July 15.

Items on the consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances; minutes of the regular council meeting on July 18 and the special council meetings on July 24 and Aug. 8; the warrant register of July 24; approval of Application No. 2017-028, with staff recommendations, for the Recovery Happens event to be held Sept. 16 in Library Park; receipt and filing of the draft minutes of the July 31 Measure Z Advisory Committee meeting; and approval and authorization for the city manager to execute a professional services agreement with Polestar Computers for the provision of IT support services.

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.

081517 Lakeport City Council agenda packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd

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NASA's Cassini spacecraft will enter new territory in its final mission phase, the Grand Finale, as it prepares to embark on a set of ultra-close passes through Saturn’s upper atmosphere with its final five orbits around the planet.

Cassini will make the first of these five passes over Saturn at 12:22 a.m. EDT Monday, Aug. 14 (9:22 p.m. Pacific Time Sunday, Aug. 13).

The spacecraft's point of closest approach to Saturn during these passes will be between about 1,010 and 1,060 miles above Saturn's cloud tops.

The spacecraft is expected to encounter atmosphere dense enough to require the use of its small rocket thrusters to maintain stability – conditions similar to those encountered during many of Cassini's close flybys of Saturn's moon Titan, which has its own dense atmosphere.

"Cassini's Titan flybys prepared us for these rapid passes through Saturn's upper atmosphere," said Earl Maize, Cassini project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. "Thanks to our past experience, the team is confident that we understand how the spacecraft will behave at the atmospheric densities our models predict."

Maize said the team will consider the Aug. 14 pass nominal if the thrusters operate between 10 and 60 percent of their capability. If the thrusters are forced to work harder – meaning the atmosphere is denser than models predict – engineers will increase the altitude of subsequent orbits. Referred to as a "pop-up maneuver,” thrusters will be used to raise the altitude of closest approach on the next passes, likely by about 120 miles.

If the pop-up maneuver is not needed, and the atmosphere is less dense than expected during the first three passes, engineers may alternately use the "pop-down" option to lower the closest approach altitude of the last two orbits, also likely by about 120 miles.

Doing so would enable Cassini's science instruments, especially the ion and neutral mass spectrometer (INMS), to obtain data on the atmosphere even closer to the planet's cloud tops.

"As it makes these five dips into Saturn, followed by its final plunge, Cassini will become the first Saturn atmospheric probe," said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at JPL. "It's long been a goal in planetary exploration to send a dedicated probe into the atmosphere of Saturn, and we're laying the groundwork for future exploration with this first foray."

Other Cassini instruments will make detailed, high-resolution observations of Saturn's auroras, temperature, and the vortexes at the planet's poles. Its radar will peer deep into the atmosphere to reveal small-scale features as fine as 16 miles (25 kilometers) wide – nearly 100 times smaller than the spacecraft could observe prior to the Grand Finale.

On Sept. 11, a distant encounter with Titan will serve as a gravitational version of a large pop-down maneuver, slowing Cassini’s orbit around Saturn and bending its path slightly to send the spacecraft toward its Sept. 15 plunge into the planet.

During the half-orbit plunge, the plan is to have seven Cassini science instruments, including INMS, turned on and reporting measurements in near real time.

The spacecraft is expected to reach an altitude where atmospheric density is about twice what it encountered during its final five passes.

Once Cassini reaches that point, its thrusters will no longer be able to work against the push of Saturn’s atmosphere to keep the spacecraft's antenna pointed toward Earth, and contact will permanently be lost. The spacecraft will break up like a meteor moments later, ending its long and rewarding journey.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA and the Italian Space Agency. JPL manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini spacecraft.
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LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Lower Lake residents and community leaders gathered on Sunday to remember the beginning of the devastating Clayton fire and also to celebrate the fire department that has protected the town for more than seven decades.

The Lake County Fire Protection District hosted the anniversary event at the Lower Lake Station 65 on Main Street.

The gathering marked two anniversaries – the beginning of the Clayton fire, which occurred on Aug. 13, 2016, and the fire district’s 75th anniversary.

Local officials in attendance included District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon, Clearlake City Manager Greg Folsom, Clearlake City Councilman Phil Harris – who acted as master of ceremonies – as well as Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg, Cal Fire firefighters and the fire board’s members.

The Clayton fire was first reported just minutes after 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016.

Lake County Fire Protection District Chief Willie Sapeta said the fire, which began off Highway 29 at Clayton Creek south of Lower Lake, had first been reported as a 100-foot spot.

Firefighters had made progress on the blaze and had it bedded down for the night at about 1,000 acres, he said. At that point, it had appeared to be well on the way to be contained.

But the next day, Aug. 14, the situation changed dramatically as – whipped by winds and high temperatures – the fire turned into a conflagration.

It made a furious run, turning back toward Lower Lake, jumping containment lines, triggering the evacuations of thousands more residents in Lower Lake as well as in parts of Clearlake, and leading Sheriff Brian Martin to declare a local emergency.

For several hours, the fire savaged the town and its historic Main Street, destroying historic buildings – and coming just feet from burning the Lower Lake Historic Schoolhouse Museum – while surrounding Station 65 itself.

Much of the damage was done in that first day, with 300 buildings – about 200 of them homes – destroyed. By the time the fire was fully contained on the evening of Aug. 26, it had burned a total of 3,929 acres, according to Cal Fire.

While Aug. 14 – the date the fire turned on Lower Lake – has cast a shadow over the town, it’s the fire department’s goal that this year it will have new meaning.

Beginning at 8 a.m. Monday, Aug. 14, Station 65 will for the first time begin regular 24-hour staffing, said Sapeta.

He said that’s the result of Measure D, the parcel tax district voters approved in March.

Sapeta said it was paramount that the Measure D funds were rolled out immediately to benefit the district and its residents.

The measure not only prevented the district from having to make staffing cuts but has allowed it to recruit and hire new firefighters. It’s also funded updates to Station 65 including new sleeping quarters and a kitchen, Sapeta said.

For the 2017-18 budget year, the station will have one person for every eight-hour shift, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to Sapeta.

Then, in the 2018-19 budget year, Sapeta said that staffing will be increased to two people per shift.

Sapeta believes that having the station staffed from this point forward will play a huge part in the community’s recovery.

It also will be part of improving community protection and filling in a coverage hole, Sapeta said.

He said there now will be a five-minute response time for fire and medical calls in the Lower Lake area.

That’s important, as he said it can take from 7 to 10 minutes for units responding from Clearlake.

In addition to adding paid staff, Sapeta said the district hopes to increase the ranks of its volunteers.

He said volunteers age 18 and above are welcome; the district will train them. Interested community members can call the fire district’s main office at Station 70, 707-994-0733, or Sapeta invited them to call his cell phone at 707-489-0966.

Community members visit with firefighters during an open house at Lake County Fire Protection District’s Station 65 in Lower Lake, Calif., on Sunday, August 13, 2017. Photo by Elizabeth Larson/Lake County News.

Offering comfort; looking ahead

A woman who had played a big role in supporting the community in the days and weeks after the fire is Susie Novak, who visited the station on Sunday afternoon.

Novak ran the Brick Hall located next door to Station 65 as a “community comfort zone” for about a month after the fire.

She fixed special meals and encouraged both firefighters and community members alike to come in, sit down and do just the basics – eat, rest, drink water and talk.

“It was kind of an escape for me,” said Novak, who had worked nonstop from early in the morning until late at night during the weeks that the comfort center operated.

She said she did it because people were hungry and didn’t have a place to go. For town residents seeking to retrieve some sense of community, Novak turned the Brick Hall into a friendly, welcoming place.

Novak was accompanied on Sunday by her 1-year-old Italian Mastiff, Gelato, who Sapeta said was a staple of the comfort center.

Gelato shares the same name as the frozen Italian dessert, along with some similar traits. “He’s sweet and he’s cool and he was the ambassador of joy,” Novak said.

Gelato was just 11 weeks old at the time of the fire, and he proved popular with firefighters and community members alike. Novak said pictures of the adorable pup playing with or loving on his human friends circulated far and wide.

On Sunday Gelato – now weighing in at 100 pounds – once again got a lot of attention, including ear scratches and pats from friends both old and new.

Also showing his support for the community on Sunday was Supervisor Simon, who took office in January.

Simon, while most associated with the Middletown area, said many people forget that his district also includes Lower Lake.

The town is important to him, as he first played youth football at the nearby Lower Lake High School football field.

Simon is focused on the rebuilding effort and said he welcomed the upcoming discussion on the Board of Supervisors’ Tuesday agenda regarding staffing issues in the Community Development Department.

He said problems can’t be solved until people start talking about them.

“We’re working on the challenges and we’re going to keep working on them,” he said.

He said he is confident that the county will work out its issues in the effort to recover from the devastating wildland fires that have hit it in recent years.

“We’re going to rebuild this community,” Simon 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.
Gelato the Italian Mastiff gets some love from friends during his visit to Lake County Fire Protection District’s Station 65 in Lower Lake, Calif., on Sunday, August 13, 2017. Photo by Elizabeth Larson/Lake County News.
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MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Area Town Hall hosted a visit with Congressman Mike Thompson at its Thursday night meeting.

With Congress in recess for the summer, Thompson is back in his Fifth Congressional District – which includes the southern half of Lake County, as well as all or part of Contra Costa, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties – for a district work period.

As part of his time back home, Thompson is holding public meetings, and he said that in recent months he’s held more public meetings than ever before.

In the past, he held town halls but quit doing them because very few people would show up. Then he switched to telephonic town halls, which at first attracted tens of thousands of people before attendance for those also started to taper off.

However, since the November presidential election, Thompson said people are more engaged than ever, and he’s once again started holding town halls that attract hundreds of people at each event.

He’s also started holding coffee klatsch-style events, such as one he held in Lakeport earlier that same day that he told Lake County News drew about 50 people.

During his Thursday night update, Thompson touched on some of the big news from Washington, DC, including the failure of the recent effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which Thompson doubts is over.

That’s because President Trump continues to want the bill repealed, despite the fact that poll numbers show that people across the country don’t agree with him, Thompson said.

Thompson said Congress needs to figure out how both sides can come together to expand the ACA to better serve everyone.

Beyond the ACA, the focus is now shifting to tax reform, Thompson said.

He said there is bipartisan agreement on the need to reform the tax code, but he cautioned that there is a “stark difference” between a tax reform and a tax cut. Thompson said he won’t vote for a tax cut that’s not paid for or that hurts the middle class.

For this session of Congress, Thompson noted, “There's very little runway left to do any major policy.” That, he said, raises concern that there may be an effort to push through a combination of infrastructure and tax reform legislation that actually is a tax cut that could be disastrous.

Thompson then switched to the dilemma of escalating tensions with North Korea.

“I think it's serious. I'm concerned about it,” he said, noting there are many allies and US citizens in that region.

He said the country’s leaders need to be working overtime to talk people back from the brink, rather than taking part in the kind of rhetoric coming from the White House, which he said bothers him.

Thompson said of Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, “He's a lot of things but I'm pretty sure he's not suicidal,” noting his affinity for good Cabernet and bourbon, the fact that he owns his own his private circus and enjoys hanging out with former basketball player Dennis Rodman.

If North Korea were to launch a first strike, the country and its leader would be annihilated, said Thompson, who is concerned that Kim will become fearful than the US will launch a first strike and decide to act first, taking people with him.

Thompson also pointed out that the US currently has no ambassadors for South Korea or Japan, and that’s important because the diplomats do the day-to-day work.

On Thursday night Thompson also touched upon his effort to reduce gun violence as part of his work as chair of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force for the last four and a half years.

He said he believes expanded background checks nationwide will help keep guns out of the hands of criminals and dangerously mentally ill people who shouldn’t have them in the first place.

Background checks, he said, won’t solve all the problems but he thinks they should be the federal government’s first line of defense.

He said he’s particularly concerned about a strong push for two bills in Congress that he thinks are harmful to law enforcement and public safety.

One would allow anyone with a concealed weapon permit to carry in all states. Thompson favors systems like California’s, which allows local sheriffs or chiefs of police to issue them, whereas in some places all that’s required is a call-in system.

The second bill of concern would allow for over-the-counter sales of silencers, which don’t silence the shot, only disperse it. That makes it harder for law enforcement to pinpoint the location of shots, he said.

Overall, “The district's looking good,” said Thompson, who has been from one end of the five-county area to the other over the last few weeks.

“What I’ve seen in the district is heartening,” with people working hard, plugged in, and involved in their communities and future, he said.

During a question-and-answer period with community members, Thompson answered a variety of queries about involvement, health care, redistricting and immigration reform, with Thompson noting on the latter topic that he has received indications that a bill he’s introduced isn’t going to be granted a hearing this session.

He was also asked if he supports universal health care. Thompson received applause when he said he would like to see some form of single payer, and added that he hears from more and more doctors who would like to not have to argue with insurance companies.

“It’s not something that is pie in the sky,” he said of single payer.

Thompson also said he’s not afraid of “socialized medicine,” explaining that it treated him well when he was a wounded soldier during Vietnam. He said he also has friends in Canada, and he’s never heard stories about long lines for medical care from a Canadian.

However, such major changes in health care won’t happen overnight, he said.

He said the country needs to keep the ACA and fix it to make it better and more affordable for everyone. He’s also in favor of putting the public option back into the ACA and is the coauthor of legislation to expand access to Medicare to people over age 50

During the discussion, Thompson emphasized that he’ll fight to the mat anyone who wants to hurt his district.

Thompson emphasized that on key issues it’s important to reach out to fellow community members, write letters to the editor, and to call or write him, even if community members agree with his standpoint. Thompson said it’s good to know what people are thinking and that he has their support.

Visit Thompson’s Web site at https://mikethompson.house.gov/ to find out how to contact him about issues and access constituent services.

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. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has a brand new group of dogs ready for new homes.

This week’s available dogs include mixes of Chihuahua, corgi, husky, shepherd and pit bull terrier.

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

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

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

This male Chihuahua is in kennel No. 2, ID No. 8233. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male Chihuahua

This male Chihuahua has a short black and tan coat.

He’s in kennel No. 2, ID No. 8233.

This male shepherd-corgi mix is in kennel No. 7, ID No. 8198. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Shepherd-corgi mix

This male shepherd-corgi mix has a short black and tan coat.

He’s in kennel No. 7, ID No. 8198.

“Moose” is a male pit bull terrier mix in kennel No. 9, ID No. 8211. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

‘Moose’

“Moose” is a male pit bull terrier mix with a short red and white coat.

He’s in kennel No. 9, ID No. 8211.

This male shepherd mix is in kennel No. 13, ID No. 8186. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male shepherd mix

This male shepherd mix has a short red coat.

He’s in kennel No. 13, ID No. 8186.

This young male pit bull terrier is in kennel No. 19, ID No. 8212. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Pit bull terrier

This young male pit bull terrier has a short blue and white coat.

He’s in kennel No. 19, ID No. 8212.

This female shepherd mix is in kennel No. 20, ID No. 8170. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Female shepherd mix

This female shepherd mix has a short black and tan coat.

She’s in kennel No. 20, ID No. 8170.

This male husky is in kennel No. 22, ID No. 8090. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male husky

This male husky has a medium-length gray and white coat.

He’s in kennel No. 22, ID No. 8090.

This young male shepherd mix is in kennel No. 29, ID No. 8229. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Shepherd mix

This young male shepherd mix has a short tan coat.

He’s in kennel No. 29, ID No. 8229.

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

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

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

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

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – Staffing issues in the county of Lake’s building department – which are having a critical impact on the pace of rebuilding the communities impacted by the wildland fires – will be the topic of an agenda item on this week’s Board of Supervisors agenda.

The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 15, 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 at https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx. Accompanying board documents, the agenda and archived board meeting videos also are available at that link.

At 10 a.m., the board will consider and discuss the staffing issues in the Community Development Department’s Building Division and consider a contract for chief building official and plan examiner services with Bureau Veritas of Sacramento.

Supervisor Rob Brown discussed the issues with building division staffing at the Aug. 7 Kelseyville Business Association, which prompted businessman Mark Borghesani to speak to the issue during public comment at the board’s meeting Aug. 8.

Borghesani, whose family owns Kelseyville Lumber, said the county has a “catastrophic issue” on its hands.

Being in a lumber yard with a pro department that deals daily with contractors, “We’re kinda like the bartenders of the building industry,” he said.

He asked who was accountable for the staffers who are leaving and the lack of an experienced plan checker. Borghesani also questioned where the focus of the planning department is – if it’s on marijuana or the general plan.

“Our building industry and our contractors and the people that need to get back in their homes are suffering,” he said.

Also on Tuesday, at 9:30 a.m. the Lake County Resource Conservation District will present its annual report.

The full agenda is below.

CONSENT AGENDA

7.1: Approve appointment of Michelle Scully as permanent part-time deputy county administrative officer I.

7.2: Adopt resolution amending Resolution No. 2017-70 establishing new classifications, the effective date thereof, and amending the position allocation chart for Fiscal Year 2017-2018 to conform to the recommended Budget, Budget Unit No. 1012, Administrative Office.

7.3: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approve the agreement between the county of Lake and Women’s Recovery Services for Fiscal Year 2017-18 for a total maximum of $30,000 and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.

7.4: Approve agreements between the county of Lake and Coleman Environmental for asbestos removal and demolition of structures located at (a) 12545 Lakeview Drive, Clearlake Oaks (APN 035-152-65 – John Danuck), in the amount of $15,255.00; (b) 7271 Sierra Street, Upper Lake (APN 031-142-05 – Dominique McGowen), in the amount of $11,110.00); and (c) 9661 Elliot Street, Upper Lake (APN 027-182-03- Patrick and Betty Henry), in the amount of $32,452.00); and authorize the chair to sign.

7.5: Adopt resolution approving the Lake County Health Services Department to submit acceptance paperwork and a certification clause from the California Department of Public Health Tuberculosis Control Branch for real-time allotment funding for tuberculosis cases in Lake County in the amount of $3,937 for FY 2017-2018 and authorizing the board chair to sign said certification clause.

7.6: Approve long distance travel Sept. 5 through Sept. 8, 2017, to Atlanta, Georgia for Sherylin Taylor, PHN, Public Health nursing director, Public Health Division; fully funded through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

7.7: Approve contract between the county of Lake and Lake Family Resource Center for CAPIT Services in the amount of $75,883.00, from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018; and authorize the chair to sign.

TIMED ITEMS

8.2, 9:15 a.m.: Public hearing, consideration of an ordinance amending Subdivision (c) of Section 27-6 of Article 1 of Chapter 27 of the Lake County Code to revise fire mitigation fees for cases of locally declared emergencies.

8.3, 9:30 a.m.: Presentation of an annual report on the activities of the Lake County Resource Conservation District.

8.4, 10 a.m.: (a) Consideration and discussion of building division staffing issues; and (b) consideration of contract for services between Lake County and Bureau Veritas.

UNTIMED ITEMS

9.1: Consideration of the following appointments: Hartley Cemetery District Board of Trustees.

9.2: Sitting as the Lake County Watershed Protection District Board of Directors, consideration and presentation of the boat ramp gate feasibility study by Oscar Larson and Associates.

9.3: Consideration of agreement between the county of Lake and SCS Engineers for field investigation, engineering analyses, and preliminary design services for the Eastlake Landfill Expansion Project.

9.4: Second reading, consideration of an ordinance authorizing an extended idle speed zone near shore during high water on Clear Lake.

CLOSED SESSION

10.1: Conference with legal counsel: Significant exposure to litigation: Gov. Code sec. 54956.9 (d)(2), (e)(5).

10.2: Public employee evaluations title: Community Development director.

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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The gold rush in the Klondike, not in California, is the focus of this week’s look at the past.

August 16, 1896

Gold! Gold! Gold in the Klondike!

All gold rushes start with that first, serendipitous discovery – the glitter of metal under the water, the tentative, outstretched hand against the cold nugget and the rise of excitement as the reality of the discovery takes hold.

In 1849, it was James Marshall along the American River. On this day in 1896, it was four would-be miners on the small tributary of the Yukon River called Rabbit Creek.

From the very beginning, the Klondike Gold Rush proved a different beast entirely from its California predecessor.

For starters, James Marshall hadn’t even been looking for gold on that cold winter morning in 1848 – he was building a sawmill. The same couldn’t be said for the northwest region of Canada, along the disputed border of Alaska, where gold was known to exist.

By 1896 an estimated 1,000 prospectors eagerly dug along the banks of the Yukon and its tributaries. Those who staked claims in the area during the 1870s and 1880s had little to show for their efforts. The gold they did uncover barely paid for the supplies needed to survive in the harsh climate.

That all changed when an American prospector named George Carmack, his wife Kate Carmack (whose native name was Shaaw Tláa), her brother Skookum Jim (Keish) and their nephew Dawson Charlie (Káa Goox) came across the sluggish waters of Rabbit Creek.

Posterity doesn’t recall which one of them made the discovery, but that first flash of gold in the river soon turned into a stream as the miners began digging and sluicing away. Nearby miners in the area who heard about the discovery made a beeline to the area began staking their own claims.

The region’s isolation, and the amount of snowfall during the winter of 1896, conspired to keep word of the discovery firmly within the confines of Yukon River basin—to the benefit of the few dozen prospectors who had already been working in the area.

The first shipments of gold entered the ports of Seattle and San Francisco in the Summer of 1897. They also brought with them the newly-minted millionaires who had made the discovery. The cat was out of the bag and the rush was on.

The Chilkoot Pass scales in 1898. Public domain photo.


Stampeders

In 1849, they were called Argonauts, a romantic allusion to the classical Greek myth of Jason and his team of adventurers who set out in search of the Golden Fleece.

But in 1896, they were called stampeders.

A half-century of civil war, economic depressions, two presidential assassinations and increased industrialization had stripped the veneer off the whole affair. By the time the Carmacks discovered the precious metal in Canada, North Americans had grown used to the boom and bust reality of gold rushes. Classical allusions were too pat, too inherently optimistic to describe the horde of people sweeping towards the northwest wilderness. A stampede indeed.

The siren call of wealth beyond imagining attracted a different class of people in 1896 than it had done in 1849.

The stampeders were largely single men, untethered to any one place – in this way at least, similar to those who went in search of California gold back in ‘49. The similarities end there, however.

By the end of the 19th century, the bulging urban centers of America had begun to birth a new class of men: factory workers. These perpetually underpaid men and women saw the news of gold to the north as nothing short of a godsend.

Those with little hope cleave that much more stubbornly to the faintest of hopes. The drive to strike it rich in the Klondike was appropriately likened to catching a disease. The name for this virulent strain? Klondicitis.

All that glitters

Within no time at all some 80,000 to 100,000 people infected with the fever set out for the Klondike. But where on earth was the Klondike?

In 1897 when the hordes of gold-seekers set out to the region, the Klondike wasn’t even yet a territory of Canada.

The primary towns of the region – if you could even call them by such a lofty name – were along the Yukon River and before the big discovery housed no more than a few thousand miners and natives.

For the stampeders eager for wealth, the path to the Klondike was along the Pacific coast by boat to one of the few coastal towns of Alaska.

From there, a tortuous hike over mountain passes brought them to Canada and the Yukon River. After a white-knuckled ride down the ice-choked river, the stampeders finally entered Dawson City, the new hub of the rush.

The most famous of the mountain passes that gold-seekers had to traverse was known as the Chilkoot Pass.

“Pass” is a bit too grandiose of a term for what essentially amounted to a small icy cleft in the coastal ranges that separated Alaska from Canada.

The first stampeders, led by native guides, cut steps into the ice-covered slopes leading up to the pass.

Eventually the installation of a length of rope for hauling oneself up each step made the climb marginally less deadly. At the top of the pass stood the Canadian Northwest Mounted Police, or NWMP, who acted as border patrol agents.

Canadians are nothing if not eminently practical and within a few days of the arrival of the first stampeders, the NWMP knew that these crazy Americans would get themselves killed in the Canadian wilderness of someone didn’t impose some order.

Therefore, NWMP ordered that entry into Canada would only be allowed to those stampeders who carried with them at least one-year’s supply of food and shelter.

So, in addition to pickaxes, gold pans, sluice boxes, hammers, nails, clothes and other knick-knacks for mining gold, the stampeders now had to carry what amounted to 1,000 pounds of provisions.

From the coastal Alaskan town of Dyea over Chilkoot Pass to the headwaters of the Yukon at Lake Bennett stretched a 33-mile long trail of overburdened, exhausted would-be gold miners. Each person’s nearly 2,000 pounds of supplies had to be hauled piecemeal, since the steep slopes leading to the pass made use of horses and mules nearly impossible. That didn’t stop some people from trying and today, Dead Horse Gulch stands as testament to their folly.

By the time the stampeders made it to the summit of the pass, the NWMP waited to charge an import fee for the very supplies they themselves had required each person entering Canada bring. Between just February and June of 1898, the Mounties collected $174,000 in duties, a sum that would today amount to about $4.9 million.

Between the cost of the required provisions, the duties charged by the Mounties, and the cost of a ticket aboard a steamship from Lake Bennett to Dawson City, most stampeders found themselves destitute at journey’s end. In fact, upwards of one-third of those who started out towards the Klondike turned back before arriving.

For those who stuck it out, their reward was sour. You see, by the time word had reached them in the summer of 1897, it was already too late, although it would take them the entire journey to figure it out.

By the time they arrived at the Klondike, those men and women who had risked life and limb at a chance to strike it rich found that most of the claims along the lode had been staked. Those that remained produced nothing. By the end of 1898 the rush was over.

Antone Pierucci is a Sacramento-based public historian and a freelance writer whose work has been featured in such magazines as Archaeology and Wild West as well as regional California newspapers.
Miners climb Chilkoot. Public domain photo.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A man who disappeared after falling into the lake on Friday afternoon has been found alive.

Sheriff Brian Martin said the man – whose name has so far not been released – was located in Lucerne early Saturday morning.

The search had begun on Friday afternoon after the man fell into the lake while riding a jet ski, Martin said.

Radio reports indicated that the REACH 6 helicopter participated in the search beginning shortly after 3:30 p.m.

The helicopter was asked to start around the middle of the lake and go toward the Clearlake Oaks area, according to radio traffic.

By Friday evening, the man hadn’t been located, with Martin explaining that the search area was very large.

The sheriff’s office was attempting to locate a forward looking infrared camera to use so the search could continue through the night. Otherwise, Martin said the search was to be suspended overnight and continue on Saturday morning.

Martin told Lake County News early on Saturday that the man was located at about 1 a.m. in Lucerne, where he swam to shore after going into the water.

The sheriff called the situation a “good case for wearing a life jacket.”

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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