It’s official. After 4 weeks, the final results are in from the Lake County Registrar of Voters. Lake County News reports the results show Helen Owen as the winner in the District 11 Board of Supervisors race–getting just 179 votes more than challenger John Hess. Primary night results showed a 118 margin for Hess. In other results, a turnover on the Clearlake city council with Mary Wilson, Tara Downey, and Jessica Hooten winning three available seats from incumbents Mayor David Claffey, Joyce Overton, and Russell Perdock. And it was a clear decision by voters to retain the “Kelseville” name. Voters overwhelmingly rejected a plan to change the community’s name to Konocti. It was a split decision on two school funding issues. In the Konocti School District, voters said year to Measure “S” for a 50 million dollar bond issue for school facilities. In the Kelseyille district, a 36 million dollar bond fell short of the 55 percent needed.
The wildfire season is winding down, but Cal Fire is still warning of potentially dangerous conditions. Since Monday, crews with the Sonoma-Lake-Napa unit have responded to two fires. One of them burned approximately 1/4 acre to the east of Middletown on the south side of Butts Canyon Road, off Black Oak Hill Drive–the other in the Sonoma County community of Cotati. Major fires happened in early December before. On December 3rd, 1959, a 3,500-acre fire burned in Napa County for several days
Home heating is more of a concern as we close in on the cold weather. Fire departments say it’s important to keep fire safety in mind. They say space heaters are to blame for many fires. The advice is to make sure your wiring is up to the increased load the heaters draw and to check if the heater’s tip-over switch is working. Chimney fires are common too, so it’s probably time for a good cleanout if you haven’t in a while. And, if you heat with gas or wood, be sure you have working smoke and CO2 detectors
