LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The last Valley Fire Long-Term Recovery Task Force meeting of 2015 was held at Black Rock Golf Course in Cobb on Tuesday night at 6 p.m.

Meetings will resume for 2016, with the next meeting taking place at Twin Pine Casino Event Center in Middletown on Jan. 5.

Additionally, Long-Term Valley Fire Task Force Coordinator Carol Huchingson will not be holding office hours during the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – After five years of drought, many owners of homes and second homes in California may shrug off the suggestion of buying flood insurance.

El Niño and the recent wildfires may change the minds of many, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

In California, El Niño means extremely heavy rainfall that could lead to devastating flooding, especially in areas affected by prolonged drought and recent wildfires.

The winter of 1997 was one of the strongest El Niños on record. The rains were so unrelenting in California that they led to mudslides, causing houses to crumble off disintegrating cliffs and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.

This winter’s El Niño is expected to be as strong or even stronger. El Niño conditions will be strongest between January and late March, and could linger through May.

While flood insurance cannot prevent damage to a home, it is a good investment for protecting it. Property owners can purchase up to $250,000 in building coverage and up to $100,000 for contents.

Especially vulnerable are the areas where wildfires hit. Burn scars leave the ground unable to absorb water, creating conditions ripe for flash flooding and mudflow for up to five years until the vegetation is restored.

Standard homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage. Flood insurance is available through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and covers a general and temporary condition of rapid and unusual accumulation of surface water displaced over two acres or two properties as defined in the standard NFIP policy.

Since there is a 30-day waiting period before flood insurance coverage becomes effective, property owners are urged to speak with their local insurance agent soon.

For additional information on the NFIP or to find an agent, call 800-427-2419 or visit www.floodsmart.gov .

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards.

LUCERNE, Calif. – The Lucerne Friends for Locally Owned Water – or FLOW – will meet Saturday, Dec. 19.

The meeting will begin at 11:30 a.m. at the Northshore Community Center, 3985 Country Club Drive in Lucerne.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – Caltrans reports that the following road projects will be taking place around the North Coast during the coming week.

Included are Mendocino County projects that may impact Lake County commuters.

In observance of the Christmas holiday, Caltrans crews and contractors will not be performing any activity on state highways that would include lane closures from Thursday, Dec. 24, through Sunday, Dec. 27. However, Caltrans will respond to emergency situations with traffic control as required.

Caltrans wishes everyone a happy, healthy and safe holiday season.

LAKE COUNTY

Highway 20

– Guardrail repairs from Saratoga Springs Road to Witter Springs Road will continue. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.
 
– Pavement repairs from Rosemont Drive to the junction of Routes 20/53 will continue. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. Motorists should anticipate 15-minute delays.

– Rocky Fire repairs from Gravel Plant Road to the Lake/Colusa County line will continue. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.

Highway 29

– Valley Fire cleanup from the Lake/Napa County line to Hidden Valley will continue. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days per week. Motorists should anticipate 15-minute delays.
 
– PG&E has been granted a Caltrans encroachment permit for utility repairs about 0.6 mile north of the junction of Routes 29/281 on Wednesday, Dec. 23. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.
 
– Pavement repairs from Main Street in Kelseyville to the junction of Routes 29/175 near Lakeport will continue through Friday, Dec. 18. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. or from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. Motorists should anticipate 15-minute delays.
 
Highway 175

– Fire recovery work from the junction of Routes 29/175 in Middletown to Loch Lomond will continue. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. 7 days per week. Motorists should anticipate 30-minute delays.

MENDOCINO COUNTY

Highway 1

– Bridge painting at the Navarro River Bridge will continue. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.

– Highway repairs just north of Ocean Meadows Circle will continue. One-way traffic control with a temporary signal will be in effect 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.
 
Highway 101

– Caltrans will perform slide repairs near the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge (near Frog Woman Rock). Northbound traffic will be restricted to one lane 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Motorists may experience minor traffic slowdowns.

– Pavement repairs from Harwood Road to Rattlesnake Creek will continue through Saturday, Dec. 19. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. 7 days per week. Motorists should anticipate 15-minute delays.

Highway 128

– AT&T has been granted a Caltrans encroachment permit for utility repairs near Philo Greenwood Road on Friday, Dec. 18. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 9 a.m. to noon. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.

Highway 271
 
– PG&E has been granted a Caltrans encroachment permit for utility repairs from Cummings to Scandia beginning Monday, Dec. 21. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.

The Caltrans Traffic Operations Office has reviewed each project and determined that individual project delays are expected to be less than the statewide policy maximum of 30 minutes, unless noted otherwise above.

For information pertaining to emergency roadwork or for updates to scheduled roadwork, please contact the California Highway Information Network (CHIN) at 1-800-GAS-ROAD (1-800-427-7623).

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Law Library Board of Directors will hold a regular meeting on on Thursday, Dec. 17.

The board will meet at noon at the Law Library, 175 Third St. in Lakeport.

Agenda items include the financial report ending Nov. 30, liability insurance, the WordPerfect program, the law librarian's work hours and wages, and the December holiday schedule.

Board trustees include President Mike Ewing, Secretary Dennis Fordham, Judge Andrew S. Blum, Judge Michael S. Lunas, Shanda Harry and Mary Heare Amodio.

The Law Library Board's next meeting is Jan 21.

Visit the Law Library online at www.lakecountyca.gov/law .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The California State Library’s (CSL) California History Room is honoring Lake County’s own historical magazine, the Pomo Bulletin, published by the Lake County Historical Society, as the library’s Periodical of the Month.

Kathleen Correia of the CSL recently contacted Pomo Bulletin editor Jan Cook to announce the honor.

In her message Correia said, “We are writing first and foremost to thank you for all of your hard work in preserving and disseminating local history. Without the efforts of organizations like yours many stories would be lost to historians forever. One effort that the State Library particularly appreciates is your continued publication of the Pomo Bulletin. We value this bulletin so much that we have been indexing issues of it for over two decades. As a matter of fact, we are featuring indexed articles from the June 2015 issue as our December “Periodical of the Month.”

If you wish to see the index for this issue and others, it is available at http://www.library.ca.gov/pressreleases/spotlight.html . On the right hand side of the page look for: “Periodical of the Month.”
   
The Pomo Bulletin began as a single-page publication in 1956 and has grown to a twenty-page magazine published three times a year. It features stories about any and all aspects of the Lake County history: histories of places and events, biographies of interesting people and profiles of books on Lake County history. Illustrations often come from the historical society’s photo collection.

Previous editors have included Marion Geoble, John Hancock, Mildred Pickersgill and Lenore Clark. Henry Mauldin, Lake County’s first county historian, named the publication in 1956. Cook has been editor since 2012.

The October 2015 issue covered trains and railroads in Lake County. In the last few years the Pomo Bulletin published articles on such diverse topics as the founding of Anderson Marsh State Historical Park, women’s suffrage in Lake County, female toll-house keepers, El Roble Grande and historical research resources in Lake County.

The Pomo Bulletin welcomes submissions of stories about Lake County history. Call Cook at 707-263-3965 to find out more.

Lake County’s own historical magazine makes a good gift for someone who is interested in Lake County history. Some local medical offices display the Pomo Bulletin with other magazines in their waiting rooms. All branches of the Lake County Library have copies that can be checked out.

A membership in the LCHS includes the Pomo Bulletin. An individual membership is $15 per year and a household membership is $20 per year. More membership details and an application are on the LCHS Web site www.lakecountyhistory.org .

The LCHS holds meetings several times a year around Lake County and operates two museums, the Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum in Kelseyville and the Gibson Museum and Cultural Center in Middletown. The society’s extensive photograph collection can be viewed on the LCHS Web site.