[PM News Update]
It promises to be a busy weekend on Clear Lake. Fishermen will have lines in the water with several bass tournaments on tap. They won’t be alone, though, with regular folks (that’s recreational fishermen) out there as well. And why is that? It’s because Clear Lake is in amazing shape. The lake is full and the water is getting clear. The other tournament scheduled this weekend is a two-day catfish derby sponsored by Lakeport Bait and Tackle. The tournament is Saturday and Sunday and goes out of Library Park in Lakeport. That’s a team tournament. And the weather has been awesome. That makes it great for ALL fishing.
The Affordable Connectivity Program has been available so individuals and families could get Wi-Fi and high-speed internet for just thirty bucks a month. But that program is ending and that same service could now cost 75 dollars a month. About three million Californians now have to decide to pay the new few or give up internet access in their home. Congress failed to allocate more funding, so that money runs out this month. Nationwide, more than 23 million Americans benefited from the program. An additional 30 million eligible people never received the subsidy. The move will affect students, families and individuals and create an even larger digital divide.
Good news for Lake County when it comes to the unemployment rate. The latest report from the California Employment Development Department’s showed a positive pattern. Here’s the specifics. Lake County’s March jobless rate was 6.6%, down from 7.2% in February and 7.4% in January. It was the second month in a row. And like Lake County, California had a better jobless rate in March of 2023, at 4.7%. For March, Lake County’s jobless rate was No. 35 out of California’s 58 counties and that was the same as February. Lowest unemployment rate in the state was San Mateo county at 3.5%.
