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NORTH COAST, Calif. – On Wednesday, Oct. 9, the Mendocino-Lake Community College District Board of Trustees welcomed Noel O’Neill to its board as provisional trustee for area No. 1, which includes Willits and Fort Bragg.

The board vacancy is a result of the recent resignation of Paul Ubelhart, who served on the board for 15 years.

O’Neill ran unopposed for the seat on the board, and was interviewed in a public meeting format at the regularly scheduled October meeting.

The board discussed O’Neill’s qualifications following his interview and agreed by majority vote that he would be an excellent candidate to fill the opening.

“I am very appreciative to Mr. O’Neill for continuing to serve the public in this very important role as a trustee for area No. 1,” said Board President Robert Jason Pinoli. “His background will be invaluable to the important work we have before us. I am also pleased that Mr. O’Neill fills the last vacant seat making our board whole once again.”

O’Neill, a retired Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, has more than 35 years of experience working in the behavior health industry, most of which he spent working for Mendocino County Behavioral Health.

He also has ties to Mendocino College, having worked as a part-time academic counselor and instructor from 2001 to 2008.

O’Neill currently is a council member for the California Behavioral Health Planning Council and serves on the Mendocino County Juvenile Justice Commission.

He is an advocate for student support programs in higher education and due to his background has a familiarity with the unique challenges students sometimes face when going through the college process.

“I am very eager to serve as a trustee on the Mendocino College Board representing area one where I have lived for more than half of my life. It is a privilege to both advocate for my immediate community and also support the overall growth and development of this amazing academic institution,” O’Neill said.

“We are thrilled to have Mr. O’Neill join our College Board of Trustees representing the coast and north county. With so many initiatives guiding us towards improving student success measures, Mr. O’Neill’s proficiency in higher education and behavioral health will enable him to provide valuable input regarding current and future student needs,” said interim Superintendent/President Eileen Cichocki.

The Mendocino-Lake Community College District Board of Trustees is responsible for the performance of the Mendocino-Lake Community College District, which serves approximately 8,000 students at locations in Ukiah, Fort Bragg, Lakeport, Willits and online, by providing vital educational services to the various communities in the region.

Each year more motorcycles are ridden on California’s roadways.

Through a federal grant, the California Highway Patrol has developed the Get Educated and Ride Safe II campaign, also known as GEARS II, to promote motorcycle safety and awareness.

The GEARS II goal is to reduce the number of motorcycle-involved crashes and crash victims.

The number of motorcycle-involved crashes increased approximately five percent in Federal Fiscal Year 2017 from the previous year and increased three percent in Federal Fiscal Year 2018.

Although crash numbers may continue to rise, the CHP is working to make that percentage as low as possible.

“Motorcycle safety is a top concern,” CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley said. “Improving motorcyclist and motorist safety through education and enforcement is the focus of this year’s GEARS grant.”

With the $700,000 grant, the regions with the highest number of motorcycle incidents will see enhanced motorcycle safety operations.

A year-long series of motorcycle traffic safety education campaigns, including the “May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month,” is planned.

The campaigns will promote the use of U.S. Department of Transportation approved motorcycle helmets for all riders and will work to raise motorists’ awareness of sharing the road with motorcyclists.

The campaigns will also focus on the most dangerous traffic violations, including speeding, improper turning, and driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has a big group of new cats and kittens ready to be adopted.

The following cats and kittens at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption.

Female domestic short hair

This female domestic short hair has a tortoiseshell coat and gold eyes.

She is in cat room kennel No. 4a, ID No. 13054.

Male domestic short hair

This male domestic short hair cat has a calico coat and gold eyes.

He is in kennel No. 4b, ID No. 13057.

Domestic short hair kitten

This male domestic short hair kitten has a gray tabby and white coat and gold eyes.

He is in kennel V No. 10, ID No. 13033.

Male Siamese

This male Siamese has a short cream and seal point coat and blue eyes.

He is in cat room kennel No. 15, ID No. 13066.

Female domestic short hair

This female domestic short hair has a torbie and white coat and gold eyes.

She already has been spayed.

She’s in cat room kennel No. 16, ID No. 12983.

Male domestic short hair

This male domestic short hair has a buff coat and gold eyes.

He is in cat room kennel No. 36, ID No. 13039.

Male domestic short hair cat

This male domestic short hair cat has a gray and white coat and green eyes.

He is in cat room kennel No. 63, ID No. 12710.

Male domestic short hair kitten

This male domestic short hair kitten has a flame point coat and blue eyes.

He’s in cat room kennel No. 96a, ID No. 13040.

Male domestic short hair kitten

This male domestic short hair kitten has a black coat and green eyes.

He’s in cat room kennel No. 96b, ID No. 13041.

Male domestic short hair kitten

This male domestic short hair kitten has a black coat and green eyes.

He’s in cat room kennel No. 96c, ID No. 13042.

Female domestic long hair

This female domestic long hair cat has a seal point coat with blue eyes.

She is in cat room kennel No. 132, ID No. 13021.

Male brown tabby

This male brown tabby has a long coat and green eyes.

He’s in cat room kennel No. 143, ID No. 13006.

Male domestic short hair

This male domestic short hair cat has a flame point coat and blue eyes.

He is in cat room kennel No. 144, ID No. 13036.

Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm.

For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

I have magical memories of pomegranates from my childhood. After school, I and a friend or two would buy a pomegranate from our local small-town market and spend the afternoon picking out the jewel-like seeds from the membrane that held them fast to eat one by one.

This was a painstaking process, for each small seed had to be plucked individually, but we didn’t mind. At that point in our lives, we had nothing but time, and the sweet, juicy flavor of the fruit was well worth our effort.

It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten a pomegranate in that fashion, for truly – as I’ve heard it said – “only a child has the time to eat a pomegranate.” We adults look for ways to make the process quick and easy. Pomegranates, along with long sessions of cloud watching, have fallen by the wayside in my adult years.

Pomegranates remind me of every Arabian Nights story I’ve ever read, of ancient Hebrew Scriptures, of fanciful stories in Greek mythology, and of medieval European art. Not to mention my carefree memories of pomegranate consumption in childhood.

Amazing that so much can be wrapped up in a brightly colored spherical fruit, eh?

Pomegranates are native to the historical region of Persia (modern day Iran) and the Himalayan ranges of India. They’ve been cultivated in various places in Asia, the Middle East, and Mediterranean Europe for several millennia. They truly are an ancient fruit.

A warm weather crop, pomegranate trees are drought resistant and do well in arid areas. For this reason, in the U.S. they’re grown mainly in California and Arizona.

In our hemisphere they’re in season from October through February, and in the southern hemisphere their season is from March to May.

The pomegranate is a berry – and a large one at that – and they hang on the boughs of the shrub-like trees that bear them like Christmas ornaments. It’s quite a striking presentation, as when pomegranates are in season, the trees are resplendent in bright gold fall foliage, a contrast to the red of the fruit.

The scores of tiny, bright, flavorful red globules that glisten within the leathery exterior of a pomegranate are called arils, and within each one of these is an edible seed. It is the arils that hold the juicy flavor of the fruit.

As might be expected, pomegranates are featured in traditional Persian cuisine, as well as in the cuisine of such places as India, Pakistan, Turkey, and Greece. The arils are added to salads, soups, and relishes, and the juice is used in sauces, desserts, and glazes for meats.

In these cuisines, pomegranate is paired with a wide variety of foods, including raisins, lentils, eggplant, lamb, yogurt, garlic, walnuts, and avocados. A thickened version of pomegranate juice, also known as pomegranate molasses, is often used in cooking. This is made by cooking the juice until it reduces and thickens.

If you’re looking for a good pomegranate recipe (or several dozen of them, for that matter), I highly recommend a website devoted to the marketing of pomegranates, that of the Pomegranate Council, whose U.S. address is in the city of Sonoma.

They have a mouth-watering array of dishes utilizing pomegranates, as well as instructions on things such as how to make juice or how to get the seeds out of the fruit. They can be found at www.pomegranates.org.

Generally, juice is made by liquefying the seeds in a blender, then straining through cheesecloth. It’s interesting how many times the warning, “caution: pomegranate juice stains” is used in all the instructions I’ve seen. Apparently, there’s a reason pomegranate juice was used as dye in ancient times.

Several sites (as well as a person or two) recommend an underwater method of removing the seeds from the skin. When this method is employed, the arils sink and the membrane floats to the surface, making for easy separation and gathering of the prized jewel-like arils. Once done, a good supply is available for making juice, using in recipes, or eating out of hand.

To do this, cut the crown off the pomegranate and score the skin from top to bottom in several places so it will open up. Then plunge the entire thing underwater as you separate the seeds from the rind by hand.

Pomegranate has been discovered to be a “super fruit” of sorts in terms of our health. It’s high in antioxidants – higher even than antioxidant power houses red wine and green tea – which bode well for cancer prevention and heart protection.

Its health benefits are legion, with an amazing list of things it enhances, protects, or prevents within our bodies. According to my research, it is said that pomegranates are high in vitamins A, B, and C, iron, calcium, and other essential minerals.

In addition, the antioxidants they contain are beneficial for blood circulation, making them useful for helping to prevent heart disease, arteriosclerosis, and inflammatory conditions.

Studies indicate they assist with ailments such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and menopausal symptoms. As well, they help with the retention of LDL cholesterol (the so-called “good cholesterol”) in the bloodstream.

I can tell you one more thing they’re good for: the enjoyment that comes when gazing upon a thing of beauty. Just Google images for pomegranates and you’ll see what I mean. It’s one of the most beautiful food-related image searches I’ve ever done. They’re truly the most photogenic of fruits.

I just love it when appetizers are easily prepared and still manage to provide a wow. The recipe below does just that. Not only is it beautiful, it tastes amazing. Enjoy!

Easy pomegranate – cream cheese plate

1 block cream cheese
Pomegranate seeds
Honey for drizzling

Place cream cheese whole on a serving platter and drizzle generously with honey. Sprinkle abundantly with pomegranate seeds. Arrange hearty crackers of your choice around the cream cheese.

Esther Oertel is a writer and passionate home cook from a family of chefs. She grew up in a restaurant, where she began creating recipes from a young age. She’s taught culinary classes in a variety of venues in Lake County and previously wrote “The Veggie Girl” column for Lake County News. Most recently she’s taught culinary classes at Sur La Table in Santa Rosa, Calif. She lives in Middletown, Calif.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Pacific Gas and Electric reported Saturday afternoon that it has completed the process of restoring power to 738,000 customers in 34 counties who were impacted in a public safety power shutoff that began on Wednesday.

The company said it initiated the shutoff – believed to be the largest of its kind carried out by any utility in the state – in response to a wind event that brought with it increased fire risk.

In Lake County, the all clear was given on Thursday afternoon to begin system inspections in order to restore power to the more than 37,409 customer accounts that had been shut off.

Power began to come on across Lake County on Thursday night, with the restoration process continuing through Friday and into Saturday.

Sumeet Singh, PG&E’s vice president for asset and risk management and the Community Wildfire Safety Program, said at a press briefing that the company on Saturday had confirmed 50 instances of weather-related damage to its system in the shutoff-impacted areas, and were reviewing another 100 locations with potential damage.

As examples, he showed pictures of trees and branches that had fallen into overhead power lines in Glenn, Shasta and Napa counties.

A map presented at the briefing appeared to indicate four damage locations in Lake County, with a total of 13 overall in the North Bay.

Bill Johnson, PG&E’s president and CEO, emphasized that safety – and no other motivation – was behind the shutoff.

“These outages were intended solely – solely – to keep our communities safe from wildfire. And we achieved that purpose. We did not have catastrophic wildfire in our service area here in Northern and Central California like the ones going on in Southern California at the moment, despite the fact that winds that surpassed our safety threshold were blowing over vast, dry areas,” he said.

Johnson said vegetation coming into contact with energized distribution lines is the primary cause of fires involving electrical equipment.

“We will do better in communicating with all of our customers in future events,” Johnson said.

He thanked partners at various state and local agencies and the thousands of PG&E employees and contractors who had inspected 25,000 miles of line – a distance he pointed out is the same circumference as the Earth – and restored power to the impacted customers within 48 hours of the all clear.

Johnson acknowledged that the shutoff was not popular and that, as a result, PG&E has been the subject of intense scrutiny and criticism over the past week.

He addressed several misconceptions and story lines in the public, including PG&E turning off power to save its own skin or that its system was in shambles.

“What is true is the risk of wildfire has grown exponentially,” said Johnson, with more of PG&E’s system now in high fire threat areas.

He explained that in 2012, the state’s high fire threat area designation applied to 15 percent of PG&E’s system. This year, more than half of the system is in the high fire threat area.

“The fire risk geography has more than tripled in seven years,” he said, noting that more than 120 million trees across the state are dead, dying or diseased. “All of this has happened with unnerving speed.”

One of the ways PG&E can deal with the threat is turning off the power. “It’s the opposite of what we want to do,” said Johnson.

Johnson, who took over the leadership of PG&E earlier this year, admitted that PG&E has given people little reason in recent years to trust it because of events in which it didn’t keep people safe.

He said the company is trying to live up to its commitments and intends to earn back that trust.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Preparations are under way for the Lake County Land Trust’s annual “Dinner with Direction: Geography of Hope.”

The dinner will be held on Saturday, Oct. 19, at The Lodge at Blue Lakes, from 4 to 8 p.m.

The event will feature a silent auction, live music, a fund-a-need paddle raise, and Dr. Tosha Comendant, conservation science manager for Pepperwood Preserve, as the evening’s keynote speaker.

“We’re very excited. We plan on this event really taking the Lake County Land Trust to the next level of land conservation and stewardship. It will be an inspiring night,” said Val Nixon, Lake County Land Trust Board president. “There are so many people in Lake County who are really committed to our environment and who understand what is at stake.”

Tickets, $85 each, can be purchased by visiting the Land Trust’s Web site or by calling 707-262-0707.

Dinner, a selection of Lake County wines and entertainment are included in the price. Guests wishing to stay the night can make arrangements at the Lodge at Blue Lakes, who will donate ten percent of the proceeds (with ten or more bookings) to the Lake County Land Trust.

Proceeds from the event will go toward the maintenance and stewardship of the Lake County Land Trust’s existing properties and acquisition of land parcels that are part of the Land Trust’s Conservation Priority Plan.

This plan identifies the areas that are most critical for the health of our watersheds, especially Clear Lake; as well as wildlife corridors, and historically or biologically unique lands.

The Lake County Land Trust owns and/or manages four properties, including Rabbit Hill in Middletown, the Rodman Preserve in Upper Lake, Boggs Lake in the Cobb/ Kelseyville area, and the Big Valley Wetlands/ Melo Property in South Lakeport along the shores of Clear Lake.

The trust, with lots of community support, also protected the Black Forest near Buckingham, and oversees three conservation easements.

The Lake County Land Trust would like to thank their sponsors for this event: Adventist Health Clear Lake, Community First Credit Union, Clear Lake Dental, The Law Office of Dennis Fordham, Katzoff & Riggs LLP, Jonas Energy Solutions, Foods Etc. of Clearlake, Friends of Jessica Pyska, Tje Koski, Joyce & Russell Porterfield, and Kathy & Brad Barnwell.

For more information, contact the Lake County Land Trust at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 707-262-0707.