The Local Assistance Center for the Boyles Fire opens today. It will only be open for three days: today, tomorrow and Wednesday from 10am to 7pm at the Clearlake Youth Center which is at 4750 Golf Ave. Among the agencies there to help: the DMV and the County Assessor/Recorder in case you lost important ID’s or documents, Behavioral Health, and the Department of Social Services which can help with Medi-Cal, CalFresh, and CalWORKS. Plus there will be teams that do Recovery Casework, Damage Assessment and Emergency Supplies. They encourage you to register in advance so your wait time will be shorter. https://ca-ltr.communityos.org/Disaster-Registration-Boyles-Fire-2024.
The City of Clearlake says they plan to share an update on the timing on the burn debris removal from the Boyles Fire by Saturday September 21. They say today some Watershed Assessment Teams will review the fire area and they are asking that the burn debris is not moved in the meantime. They also say the household toxic waste removal teams will be onsite in about a week on September 23. The Lake County Fire District’s final damage assessment for the Boyle’s Fire has 25 homes destroyed and about 90 other buildings and accessory buildings either destroyed or damaged.
The search is on for an inmate who walked off his work duty and out of the Hill Road Correctional Facility on Saturday. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is looking for Billy Ray Neldon who they say walked away around 245pm Saturday while he was supposed to be working in the kitchen. Neldon has been serving time for vandalism and was set to be released in January. You can see his picture on the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Facebook Page. They ask that you don’t approach him, just call 911 if you see him.
There are a couple of open seats on the Lucerne Elementary School District board of trustees and they are now taking applications if you are interested. Lake County News reports the governing board will appoint someone to those vacancies due to what they call “failure to elect”. You must be 18 years or older, live within the Lucerne Elementary School District, and be registered to vote there. Applications are available from the District office or online on their website and are due October 1. Candidates will be interviewed by the governing board at their October 9 meeting.
Some Ukiah residents are among 32,000 Californians tapped to get high speed internet thanks to a grant to the City of Ukiah. The money is coming from the Last Mile Federal Funding Account Grant Program through the California Public Utilities Commission as part of the ongoing effort to expand broadband access to unserved and underserved communities. The CPUC says in an announcement Ukiah’s Gigabit Project will build new fiber optic infrastructure for areas that lack access to reliable broadband. The announcement does not specify which areas will get the expansion or when it will start.
Cal Fire’s new C-130 Hercules air tanker has played a part in fighting a fire that started Sunday in Sonoma County. The Cougar Fire began around 120 pm in the Sears Point area. Forward progress was stopped within an hour and as of last night the fire was holding at 40 acres with no structures threatened and no evacuations anticipated. Cal Fire says this was the first time the C-130H has been used for the Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit. The C-130H can carry up to 4,000 gallons of fire retardant. By comparison their Fire Hawk choppers carry 1000 gallons of water and their S2T planes around 1200.
It’s been 14 years since Ukiah’s tax for hotel stays has gone up, but that could change in November. Measure W will ask voters to increase the city’s transient occupancy tax from 10 percent to 13 percent. That would affect bookings for visitors for hotels, motels, and vacation rentals for those staying for less than 30 days. The Mendocino Voice cites a city staff report that says the city’s revenue is not keeping pace with inflation and the “cost of doing business in general”. They say the new tax rate would put Ukiah on par with nearby cities that have the same tax and raise around $420,000 a year for the city.
Lake County Vet Connect’s annual Veterans Stand Down is this week. It helps connect Lake and Mendocino County veterans and active-duty personnel with resources such as Medical Services, Vet Works, audiology consultations, housing and homeless assistance, Woodland Community College, substance abuse counseling and more. And Lake County News reports officials will be giving out some personal supplies and clothing to those eligible. The Veterans Stand Down is Wednesday, September 18, from 10am to 4:30pm at the American Legion Post Konocti on Austin Road in Clearlake. Lake Transit will provide veterans free rides and lunch will be served by VetConnect and Sutter Health volunteers.
