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MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – With the completion of the volunteer dormitory in Middletown Central Park, a major obstacle has been overcome in Lake County’s efforts to rebuild itself after losing over 1600 homes to five major fires since 2015.

Although homeowners with good insurance are just now finishing their rebuilds, most of those who were uninsured or underinsured have been languishing on a long waiting list for assistance from Team Lake County, or TLC, a community-based consortium of nonprofits, churches and other volunteer humanitarian agencies which have been collaborating together to aid the needy.

Members of TLC since it was formed in October of 2015 have been North Coast Opportunities, St. Vincent de Paul, United Methodists, Mennonite Disaster Services, Catholic Charities, Hope City, New Harvest Community Church, Middletown Rancheria and Lake Area Rotary Clubs Association.

Nonprofit builders such as Kevin Cox’s Hope City, which performs the actual construction of new homes, have been hampered until now because it is with volunteers that they get their work accomplished.

Lack of housing for volunteers is no longer a problem. “We can house 47 volunteers,” Tim Saunders of Hope City said as a team of 10 AmeriCorpsvolunteers were moving in for a three-month assignment on Jan. 12.

“We’ve just arrived today,” said a determined looking young man wearing an AmeriCorps t-shirt as he was carrying some of his belongings from his vehicle into the dorm’s sleeping quarters. “We’ll start working tomorrow.”

Cox is the ringleader of the new volunteer headquarters in Middletown Central Park. It was his vision and leadership that inspired its creation.

The major donor for purchasing the building materials for the dorm was Lake County Rising, a fundraising entity for local winegrowers who contributed $200,000. Cox has also credited Kelseyville Lumber for their invaluable partnership.

Hope City, based in Indiana, has experience drawing upon groups of evangelical missionaries from throughout the United States and Canada who volunteer for a week or two at a time to assist in disaster recovery.

Mennonite Disaster Services, based in Pennsylvania, has been a major ally for Hope City in the construction of new homes. Their volunteer dormitory is at the Clearlake Methodist Church in Clearlake.

About 10 homes have been finished by Team Lake County in the first two years of building. Now, with the new dormitory available in Middletown Central Park, it is expected that the production rate will double or triple.
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If you live in the western part of North America, Alaska, and the Hawaiian islands, you might set your alarm early the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 31 for a lunar trifecta: a pre-dawn “super blue blood moon.”

Beginning at 2:30 a.m. PST on Jan. 31, a live feed of the Moon will be offered on NASA TV and NASA.gov/live. You can also follow at @NASAMoon.

“For the (continental) U.S., the viewing will be best in the West,” said Gordon Johnston, program executive and lunar blogger at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Set your alarm early and go out and take a look.”

The Jan. 31 full moon is special for three reasons: it’s the third in a series of “supermoons,” when the Moon is closer to Earth in its orbit – known as perigee – and about 14 percent brighter than usual.

It’s also the second full moon of the month, commonly known as a “blue moon.” The super blue moon will pass through Earth’s shadow to give viewers in the right location a total lunar eclipse. While the Moon is in the Earth’s shadow it will take on a reddish tint, known as a “blood moon.”

Jan. 31 brings a lunar trifecta: the super blue blood Moon! This full moon is the third in a series of “supermoons,” when the Moon is closer to Earth in its orbit – known as perigee – and about 14 percent brighter than usual. It’s the second full moon of the month, commonly known as a “blue moon.” The super blue moon will pass through Earth’s shadow to give viewers in the right location a total lunar eclipse. While the Moon is in the Earth’s shadow it will take on a reddish tint, known as a “blood moon.”

If you live in North America, Alaska, or Hawaii, the eclipse will be visible before sunrise on Jan. 31. For those in the Middle East, Asia, eastern Russia, Australia and New Zealand, the “super blue blood moon” can be seen during moonrise in the evening of the 31st.

“Weather permitting, the West Coast, Alaska and Hawaii will have a spectacular view of totality from start to finish,” said Johnston. “Unfortunately, eclipse viewing will be more challenging in the Eastern time zone. The eclipse begins at 5:51 AM ET, as the Moon is about to set in the western sky, and the sky is getting lighter in the east.”

So for viewers in New York or Washington, D.C., the Moon will enter the outer part of Earth’s shadow at 5:51 a.m., but Johnston says it won’t be all that noticeable.

The darker part of Earth’s shadow will begin to blanket part of the Moon with a reddish tint at 3:48 a.m. PST, but the Moon will set less than a half-hour later.

“So your best opportunity if you live in the East is to head outside about 6:45 a.m. and get to a high place to watch the start of the eclipse – make sure you have a clear line of sight to the horizon in the west-northwest, opposite from where the Sun will rise,” said Johnston.

If you live in the Central time zone, viewing will be better, since the action begins when the Moon is higher in the western sky.

At 4:51 a.m. CST the penumbra – or lighter part of Earth’s shadow – will touch the Moon. By about 6:15 a.m. CST the Earth's reddish shadow will be clearly noticeable on the Moon. The eclipse will be harder to see in the lightening pre-dawn sky, and the Moon will set after 7:00 a.m. as the Sun rises.

“So if you live in Kansas City or Chicago, your best viewing will be from about 6:15-6:30 a.m,” said Johnston. “Again, you’ll have more success if you can go to a high place with a clear view to the West.”

In the Rocky Mountain region, the show begins as the umbra touches the edge of the Moon at 4:48 a.m. MST. The peak of the blood moon eclipse is at about 6:30 a.m. local time, and the Moon will set shortly after 7 a.m.

Californians and viewers in western Canada will be treated to the total eclipse phase from start to finish, though the penumbral shadow will pass after the Moon has set. The umbral eclipse begins at 3:48 a.m. Pacific Time. At 4:51 a.m., totality will begin, with best viewing between about 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. local time. The totality phase ends about 6:05 a.m.

Weather permitting, eclipse fans in Hawaii will experience the lunar eclipse from start to finish, as will skywatchers in Alaska, Australia and eastern Asia.

If you miss the Jan. 31 lunar eclipse, you’ll have to wait almost another year for the next opportunity in North America. Johnston said the Jan. 21, 2019 lunar eclipse will be visible throughout all of the U.S. and will be a supermoon, though it won’t be a blue moon.

Johnston has been following and writing about the Moon since 2004, when he and about 20 colleagues at NASA Headquarters would get together after work during the full moon in “celebratory attire”—which for Johnston meant his signature bow tie. Long after the socializing fell by the wayside, Johnston’s monthly blog lives on, with a dedicated following on NASA’s lunar website, http://moon.nasa.gov.

Said Johnston, “I have always been fascinated by the night sky. Most of what we can see without a telescope are points of light, but the Moon is close enough that we can see it and the features on it, and notice what changes and what stays the same each night.”

Take notes and record your own illustrations of the Moon with a Moon observation journal, ready to download and print at http://moon.nasa.gov.
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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The discovery of the bodies of two women – one in a freezer, one in a pond – at an Arbuckle almond arm has led to a man’s arrest.

Martin Christian Ehrke, 49, who along with the women and other individuals was reported to have lived at the farm, was arrested on Thursday, according to the Colusa County Sheriff’s Office. He was arraigned on Friday.

The women whose bodies were found at the farm were identified by authorities as 39-year-old Kimberly Lynn Taylor and 25-year-old Jessica Lynn Mazak.

At 3:55 a.m. the Colusa County Sheriff’s Office responded to a residence in the 6000 block of Hillgate Road in Arbuckle, for a report of suspicious circumstances, officials said.

Upon the arrival of first responders, deputies were informed of a possible human body in a freezer, located in an attached residence on the property. The sheriff’s office said deputies discovered evidence of a crime scene as well as a possible body inside a freezer.

On-scene deputies notified detectives from the sheriff’s office, who also responded. A search warrant was prepared for the entire property and served at approximately 10 a.m. Thursday, according to the sheriff’s office report.

Upon service of the search warrant, detectives confirmed that an adult female body had been placed inside a chest freezer, inside a bedroom, in an attached residence on the property.

The sheriff’s office identified the deceased adult female as Taylor.  

The Colusa County Sheriff’s Office and the California Department of Justice continued to investigate the scene as well as interviewing persons who reside at the property.

Evidence from the investigation led to request of the Colusa County Dive Team to search a large pond located on the property. A second adult female was found submerged in the pond and recovered by the dive team. The deceased adult female was identified as Mazak, the sheriff’s office said.

Authorities said both Taylor and Mazak were known to reside on the property, but had no relationship to the property owner. Investigators also found an illegal marijuana grow and narcotics on the property.

Ehrke was detained on Thursday and taken to the Colusa County Sheriff’s Office for questioning. During the investigation, it was discovered that he left the residence on Wednesday evening and checked into the Colusa Medical Center for an unknown reason. He was released from the hospital a short time later, officials said.

The investigation led the Colusa County Sheriff’s Office to a residence in Colusa, where Ehrke was found and detained for questioning.

Ehrke was later charged with two counts of homicide and booked into the Colusa County Jail.

If anyone has information regarding this incident, they are asked to contact Sgt. Jose Ruiz or Detective Marvin Garibay at 530-458-0200.
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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Qualified Clearlake residents are being sought to participate in a new ad hoc committee on animal control-related issues.

On Thursday, the Clearlake City Council approved the creation of an Animal Control Ad Hoc Committee to help work cooperatively with the city of Clearlake staff to resolve the challenging issues the community is facing due to stray dogs.

Plans are in process to create a new animal control facility and the input of the ad hoc committee will be very helpful, according to city officials.

The ad hoc committee also will look at ways to help reduce the stray animal population in the city.

Applications will be available at Clearlake City Hall starting Monday, Jan. 29, and completed applications for the ad hoc committee will be accepted until Thursday, Feb. 8.

Clearlake residents with knowledge, experience or connections with animal rescue operations are encouraged to apply.

Applicants must be able to attend meetings during normal city business hours.



Clearlake Animal Control Ad Hoc Committee Member Application 2018 by LakeCoNews on Scribd

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From left, Ashley Sharday Bell, 29, and Quintin Celestine, 32, both of Oakland, Calif., were arrested on weapons charges in Clearlake, Calif., on Wednesday, January 24, 2018. Lake County Jail photos.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Two Oakland residents were arrested this week in Clearlake on several weapons charges after officers found the two in possession of a stolen firearm.

Quintin Joseph Celestine, 32, and Ashley Sharday Bell, 29, were arrested on Wednesday night, according to a report from Clearlake Police Sgt. Elvis Cook.

Cook said that at 9:40 p.m. Wednesday Clearlake Police officers located a male and a female in a verbal dispute near the Walmart parking lot.

Officers were placing the male subject, later identified as Celestine, into custody for several charges. Cook said the female subject, later identified as Bell, was standing at the bus stop yelling at all officers.

Cook said Bell started approaching the officers and yelling. She had a camouflage backpack in her left hand with a sawed off firearm sticking out of the backpack.  

Officers gave her verbal commands to place the firearm down, which she failed to do. Cook said she then began walking away, in what was believed to be an attempt to conceal or remove the firearm.

The officers on scene physically took ahold of Bell and the backpack, placing her under arrest for several felony charges as well as felony warrant out of Oakland, Cook said.

Cook said the officers collected the firearm, which was discovered to be loaded, with the safety off.

The firearm was identified as a stolen firearm from a case the Lake County Sheriff's Office investigated, Cook said.

Cook said Bell and Celestine were placed under arrest for carrying a loaded firearm, carrying a loaded firearm that’s stolen, possession of a short-barreled firearm, concealed firearm on a person, possession of stolen property, conspiracy, obstructing a peace officer and a felony warrant from the Oakland Police Department and booked into the Lake County Jail.

Jail records indicated that Celestine remained in custody on Saturday but that Bell had been released.
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Stages of the Jan. 31, 2018 “super blue blood moon” (weather permitting) are depicted in Pacific Time with “moonset” times for major cities across the U.S., which affect how much of the event viewers will see. While viewers along the East Coast will see only the initial stages of the eclipse before moonset, those in the West and Hawaii will see most or all of the lunar eclipse phases before dawn. Credits: NASA.

The lunar eclipse on Jan. 31 will give a team of scientists a special opportunity to study the Moon using the astronomer’s equivalent of a heat-sensing, or thermal, camera.

Three lunar events will come together in an unusual overlap that’s being playfully called a super blue blood moon.

The second full moon in January will take place on the 31st, making it the first blue moon of 2018.

It also will be considered a supermoon – one that appears slightly larger and brighter than usual because it occurs when the Moon is near its perigee, or the closest point in its orbit to Earth.

In addition, a lunar eclipse will take place in the morning on Jan. 31, temporarily giving the Moon a reddish color known as a blood moon.

For the researchers, the eclipse offers a chance to see what happens when the surface of the Moon cools quickly.

This information will help them understand some of the characteristics of the regolith – the mixture of soil and loose rocks on the surface – and how it changes over time.

“During a lunar eclipse, the temperature swing is so dramatic that it’s as if the surface of the Moon goes from being in an oven to being in a freezer in just a few hours,” said Noah Petro, deputy project scientist for NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Normally, the transitions into and out of darkness, and the temperature changes that go with them, are spread out over the course of a lunar day, which lasts 29-and-a-half Earth days. A lunar eclipse shifts these changes into high gear.

From the Haleakala Observatory on the island of Maui in Hawaii, the team will conduct their investigations at invisible wavelengths where heat is sensed. They’ve done this kind of study a few times already, singling out individual lunar locations to see how well they retain warmth throughout the eclipse.

“The whole character of the Moon changes when we observe with a thermal camera during an eclipse,” said Paul Hayne of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder. “In the dark, many familiar craters and other features can’t be seen, and the normally non-descript areas around some craters start to 'glow,' because the rocks there are still warm.”

How quickly or slowly the surface loses heat depends on the sizes of the rocks and the characteristics of the material, including its composition, how porous it is and how fluffy it is.

Lunar scientists already know a lot about the day-to-night and seasonal temperature changes from the data collected by LRO’s Diviner instrument since 2009. Those longer-term variations reveal information about larger features and the bulk properties of the top few inches of regolith. The short-term changes due to the eclipse will get at details of the fine material and the very top layer of the regolith.

By comparing the two types of observations, the team is able to look at variations in particular areas – say, the lunar swirls at Reiner Gamma or an impact crater and the loose debris around it.

This kind of information is useful for practical purposes such as scouting out suitable landing sites. It also helps researchers understand the evolution of the surface of the Moon.

“These studies will help us tell the story of how impacts large and small are changing the surface of the Moon over geological time,” said Petro.

Launched on June 18, 2009, LRO has collected a treasure trove of data with its seven powerful instruments, making an invaluable contribution to our knowledge about the Moon. LRO is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and is part of the Discovery Program managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Elizabeth Zubritsky works for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
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From left, Zoe Richardson, Jim Dvorak, Larry Richardson and Tina Scott are the two teams that will participate in the “Dancing with the Stars” in April 2018. Courtesy photo.


LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – This year Lake County will be sending two dance teams to compete in “Dancing for the Stars and Stripes” to help raise money for the Veterans Resource Center of Northern California.

The teams this year will be “Star” Jim Dvorak with professional Zoe Richardson and “Star” Tina Scott with professional Larry Richardson, under the direction of another Lake County Resident Rod Rehe.

This gala fundraiser for veterans, which takes place April 7, is based on the popular television show “Dancing with the Stars,” in that members of the public can vote for their favorites and our on-stage judges who will give immediate feedback about how they did.

You can sponsor a team by going online to vote or purchase tickets to the event at www.dancingwiththestarsandstripes.org.  

For more information contact Tina Scott at 707-849-4414.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Tuesday, Jan. 30, at approximately 10 a.m., the Lake County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services will initiate an “All-Call” with the Nixle 360 system.  

The “All-Call” is designed to test the system to ensure it is operating correctly and reaching as many people as possible.  

Nixle 360 provides emergency notification services to the residents in Lake County. The notifications are primarily done through landline, cell phone, text message and emails.  
 
"By utilizing the Nixle 360 emergency alerting system, we’re able to streamline and make the process much more efficient in the way we notify residents of actual emergencies including imminent threats, saving time and redirecting valuable resources elsewhere that we need to protect our community in times of crisis,” said Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin.  

Officials encourage all residents and businesses to go to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Web site at www.lakesheriff.com and click on the Nixle 360 “Services” tab on the Web page, then click on the “Nixle Alerts” tab.  

Residents and business owners are strongly encouraged to enter their contact information, including additional phone numbers, cell phone, text and email addresses. By doing this, it ensures the best chance of being contacted during an emergency or critical situation.

If you do not have Internet access, please contact a friend or family member to help add your contact information to the emergency database. You can also call the Lake County Office of Emergency Services at 707-263-1813 for assistance.
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Taking action to further California’s climate leadership, Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday signed an executive order to boost the supply of zero-emission vehicles and charging and refueling stations in California.

The governor also detailed the new plan for investing $1.25 billion in cap-and-trade auction proceeds to reduce carbon pollution and improve public health and the environment.

“This executive order aims to curb carbon pollution from cars and trucks and boost the number of zero-emission vehicles driven in California,” said Gov. Brown. “In addition, the cap-and-trade investments will, in varying degrees, reduce California’s carbon footprint and improve the quality of life for all.”  

Zero-emission vehicle executive order

California is taking action to dramatically reduce carbon emissions from transportation – a sector that accounts for 50 percent of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and 80 percent of smog-forming pollutants.

To continue to meet California’s climate goals and clean air standards, California must go even further to accelerate the market for zero-emission vehicles.

Friday’s executive order implements the governor’s call for a new target of 5 million ZEVs in California by 2030, announced in his State of the State address yesterday, and will help significantly expand vehicle charging infrastructure.

The administration is also proposing a new eight-year initiative to continue the state’s clean vehicle rebates and spur more infrastructure investments. This $2.5 billion initiative will help bring 250,000 vehicle charging stations and 200 hydrogen fueling stations to California by 2025.

Friday’s action builds on past efforts to boost zero-emission vehicles, including: legislation signed last year and in 2014 and 2013; adopting the 2016 Zero-Emission Vehicle Plan and the Advanced Clean Cars program; hosting a Zero-Emission Vehicle Summit; launching a multi-state ZEV Action Plan; co-founding the International ZEV Alliance; and issuing Executive Order B-16-12 in 2012 to help bring 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles to California by 2025.

In addition to Friday’s executive order, the governor also released the 2018 plan for California’s Climate Investments – a statewide initiative that puts billions of cap-and-trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy and improving public health and the environment–particularly in disadvantaged communities.  

California Climate Investments projects include affordable housing, renewable energy, public transportation, zero-emission vehicles, environmental restoration, more sustainable agriculture and recycling, among other projects. At least 35 percent of these investments are made in disadvantaged and low-income communities.

The $1.25 billion climate investment plan can be found at http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2018-19/pdf/BudgetSummary/ClimateChange.pdf .
 
The full text of the executive order is below:

EXECUTIVE ORDER B-48-18


WHEREAS California is the largest market in the United States  for zero-emission vehicles and approximately half of all zero-emission vehicles in the nation are sold in this state; and

WHEREAS  California increased the number of zero-emission vehicles in the state by 1300 percent in six years – growing from 25,000 in 2012 to more than 350,000 today – and zero-emission vehicles now account for approximately 5 percent of all new car sales in California; and

WHEREAS the transportation sector still emits 50 percent of California’s total greenhouse gas emissions and 80 percent of the smog-forming oxides of nitrogen; and

WHEREAS California’s 2017 Climate Change Scoping Plan – which charts the path for meeting the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and air quality goals – calls for major increases in zero-emission vehicles on the roads; and

WHEREAS Executive Order B-16-12 called for 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on California roads by 2025; and

WHEREAS California’s eight-year, $2.5 billion investment plan will help achieve the requirements of Executive Order B-16-12 by 2025 by funding more zero-emission infrastructure and continuing vehicle rebates for consumers;  and

WHEREAS California can exceed its existing 2025 zero-emission vehicle goals by increasing the availability of charging and refueling stations and other zero-emission vehicle infrastructure; and

WHEREAS further boosting California’s zero-emission vehicle market will strengthen the economy, improve air quality and public health, lower fuel costs for drivers and reduce the state’s dependence on fossil fuels; and

WHEREAS California must continue to attract and encourage significant investments in zero-emission vehicles and infrastructure from utilities, car manufacturers and vehicle charging and re-fueling companies.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Edmund G. Brown Jr., Governor of the State of California, do hereby issue the following orders to become effective immediately:

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that all State entities work with the private sector and all appropriate levels of government to put at least 5 million zero-emission vehicles on California roads by 2030.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all State entities work with the private sector and all appropriate levels of government to spur the construction and installation of 200 hydrogen fueling stations and 250,000 zero-emission vehicle chargers, including 10,000 direct current fast chargers, by 2025.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all State entities continue to partner with regional and local governments to streamline zero-emission vehicle infrastructure installation processes wherever possible. As part of this effort, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development shall publish a Plug-in Charging Station Development Guidebook and update the 2015 Hydrogen Station Permitting Guidebook.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all State entities, in carrying out programs under their authorities, shall collaborate with stakeholders to implement this order, including but not limited to taking the following actions:

– Update the 2016 Zero-Emission Vehicle Action plan to help expand private investment in zero-emission vehicle infrastructure, particularly in low income and disadvantaged communities.  
– Recommend actions that boost zero-emission vehicle infrastructure to strengthen the economy and create jobs in the State of California.
– Recommend ways to expand zero-emission vehicle infrastructure through the Low Carbon Fuel Standard Program.
– Support and recommend policies and actions that make it easier for people to install electric vehicle chargers in their homes and businesses.
– Ensure electric vehicle charging and hydrogen fueling are affordable and more accessible to all drivers.

This Order is not intended to, and does not, create any rights or benefits, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, against the State of California, its agencies, departments, entities, officers, employees, or any other person.

I FURTHER DIRECT that as soon as hereafter possible, this Order be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State and that widespread publicity and notice be given to this Order.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 26th day of January, 2018.

California’s climate leadership

Governor Brown continues to build strong coalitions of partners committed to curbing carbon pollution in both the United States through the U.S. Climate Alliance and around the globe with the Under2 Coalition.

The governor also joined Michael Bloomberg to launch America's Pledge on climate change to help compile and quantify the actions of America's businesses and non-federal jurisdictions to drive down their emissions consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

This September, the state of California will convene the world's climate leaders in San Francisco for the Global Climate Action Summit, where representatives from subnational governments, businesses, investors and civil society will gather with the direct goal of supporting the Paris Agreement.

Last year, the governor – serving as special advisor for states and regions – rallied city, state and regional leaders from around the world at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 23) in Bonn, Germany. Gov. Brown also traveled to China to build closer climate ties with President Xi Jinping, Russia to call for deeper trans-pacific collaboration on climate at the Eastern Economic Forum, Canada to officially link California's carbon market with Quebec and Ontario and the Vatican to deliver keynote remarks at a climate symposium hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

In recent years, Gov. Brown has signed landmark legislation that extends and improves the state's world-leading cap-and-trade program and establishes a groundbreaking program to measure and combat air pollution at the neighborhood level, as well as legislation establishing the most ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in North America; setting the nation's toughest restrictions on destructive super pollutants; directing cap-and-trade funds to greenhouse gas reducing programs which benefit disadvantaged communities, support clean transportation and protect natural ecosystems; and requiring the state to generate half of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and double the rate of energy efficiency savings in buildings.
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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake Planning Commission will hold a special meeting this week to discuss a daycare use permit application.

The commission will meet beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 30, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.

The main item on the agenda is the use permit application from Maribel S. Aguilar Daycare Center for a proposed expansion of an existing small family daycare home of eight or fewer children to a large family daycare home of 14 or fewer children.

The daycare is located within a home on a 5,000 square foot parcel located in residential zoning at 16021 39th Avenue.

Commissioners are Nathalie Antus, Richard Bean, Russ Cremer, Dirk Slooten and Carl Webb.

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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LOWER LAKE, Calif. – A mountain lion was spotted in the Jago Bay area on Friday.

Jago Bay resident Paul Glendinning reported sighting to Lake County News.

He said the mountain lion was seen by a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. contractor at about 1:15 p.m. Friday at the corner of Anderson Road and Lake Boulevard, heading southwest up the mountain.

The animal was said to be 100 pounds and 2 and a half feet tall, according to Glendinning’s report.

Glendinning said he also reported the sighting to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. He was advised that while it’s common for mountain lions to wander through the area, they’re not typically down that far.

In his time in the area, Glendinning said he’s not aware of a mountain lion sighting there, and added that he was concerned for area residents – many of whom are elderly – noting that they have small animals and take walks throughout the neighborhood.

Mountain lion sightings have become more common around Lake County in recent years. This past year in the Lakeport area several different mountain lion sightings were reported.

For advice on living in mountain lion country visit https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/keep-me-wild/lion.
 
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 county of Lake has hired several new key Public Health and Environmental Health staffers in the wake of retirements that took place at the end of 2017.

Health Services Director Denise Pomeroy said the hires include the new health officer, deputy health officer, Public Health nursing director and Environmental Health director.

The county’s new health officer is Dr. Sara Goldgraben, M.D., Pomeroy said.

The Board of Supervisors confirmed Goldgraben’s appointment at its Tuesday meeting.

Goldgraben succeeds Dr. Karen Tait, whose retirement took place at the end of last year, as Lake County News has reported.

Pomeroy said Dr. Goldgraben is board-certified in preventive medicine and public health, with a master’s degree in public health and business administration as well as a bachelor’s degree in engineering and biomedical engineering. She holds medical licensure in both New York and California, and moved to Lake County from Southern California.

Joining the county in the role of deputy health officer Dr. Erin Gustafson, M.D.

Pomeroy said Gustafson is board-certified in preventive medicine, and has a master’s in public health as well as a bachelor’s in biochemistry. She holds medical licensure in California, New York and South Carolina, and relocated to Lake County from New York.

Gustafson’s appointment also was confirmed by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

Pomeroy said the new Public Health nursing director is Carolyn Holladay.

Holladay has been a member of the Health Department since April 2013 and has worked in many different programs, including the foster children’s program, Children Health and Disability Program, immunization program and Maternal Child Health, Pomeroy said.  

Pomeroy said Holladay was instrumental in supporting the medical shelters during the recent fires and has been a strong advocate of moving the Public Health Division into electronic records management.

Holladay holds an associate’s degree in liberal arts and Spanish, a Bachelor’s degree in nursing/psychology, is a licensed Registered Nurse and a Public Health Nurse, Pomeroy said.

Taking over as the new Environmental Health director is Jasjit “Jesse” Kang.

Kang comes to Lake County from Colusa County, and has more than 19 years of management and experience in the environmental health field, Pomeroy said.  

Pomeroy said Kang holds a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from California State University, Sacramento and is certified as a Registered Environmental Health Specialist in California.  

Kang succeeds longtime Environmental Health Director Ray Ruminski, who retired in December.

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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