Clearlake’s City Council is ready to pull back control of the Lake County Sanitation District on Thursday after getting nowhere with the county on long-running maintenance and planning problems. Staff say they’ve spent more than a year trying to get the Board of Supervisors to sit down and talk, and the silence has gotten old enough that they’re recommending the city take its authority back. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. at City Hall and streams online.
Lakeport is now taking applications for Police Officer Trainee positions, giving new recruits a chance to start a law enforcement career with full training. The job pays between $19.50 and $24.89 an hour and is based right in Lakeport. City leaders say it’s a good entry point for anyone thinking about public safety work. More information and the online application are posted on the city’s website.
More floating toilets are set to hit California’s waterways. A grant program to fund floating restrooms on lakes and reservoirs with limited land access aims to keep the state’s water bodies clean. Government agencies can apply for a share of just over one million dollars. Applications are due by noon on December 19. Since 1978, The Floating Restroom Grant Program has secured about 21 million dollars, resulting in almost three hundred restrooms, of which around 120 are still in use. The floating toilets are solar-powered and can hold up to five hundred gallons of waste. They are towed to land for service or serviced by boats that pump out the sewage.
The Ukiah City Council is taking up new rules for street vendors tonight, aiming to rein in sidewalk vending while staying within California’s pro-vending law. The draft ordinance would require visible permits for anyone selling food or goods and bar stationary vendors from setting up in neighborhoods or too close to hydrants, driveways, schools, bus stops or events without approval. City staff say the rise in vending on busy streets and corners makes a clear, enforceable framework overdue. The council meets at 5:15 p.m. at the Ukiah Civic Center, and residents can weigh in in person, online or by sending in comments.
The Little Hoover Commission is hosting a public hearing Thursday at 2 p.m. to dig into how data centers are affecting California’s power grid, with experts from universities, energy labs and tech fields set to testify. The meeting is being held online, and Zoom details are posted on the commission’s website. Commissioners will also take a look at a draft report on how the state handles grants and contracts with nonprofits. Anyone watching can weigh in during the public comment period at the end.
Fort Bragg is taking aim at long-empty storefronts downtown, proposing fines and new rules for landlords who leave commercial buildings sitting vacant and rundown. The ordinance would force owners to register properties that have been empty for 90 days or more, post visible signs about whether they’re for sale or under repair and pay extra fees if they ignore the rules. The council plans to vote on the proposal November 24 at Town Hall, and residents can weigh in in person or online.
Home sales are on the rise across California. That’s according to the latest data from the California Association of Realtors. October home sales were up one-point-nine percent from September and four-point-one percent year-over-year. Statewide sales figures were at their highest since February. The average price of a single-family home was 886-thousand-960 dollars. That’s an increase of four-tenths of a percent from September but a decrease of two-tenths of a percent from October of last year.
