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Initiated by Lake County District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown, the fire extinguisher giveaway is designed to arm local residents with a valuable tool that could help prevent a small fire from becoming a wildfire.
“We have seen when a wildfire starts, someone is usually near enough to see it and call in a report,” Brown said. “So we thought, wouldn’t it be good if that person also was armed with a fire extinguisher in their vehicle that could be used to knock back flames while firefighters are on their way?”
Brown said the 500 fire extinguishers that will be given away are not small auto or kitchen extinguishers but rather larger extinguishers that could make a real impact in the first few minutes of a blaze.
“We know that early actions can make a big difference in how rapidly a fire grows,” said Kelseyville Fire Protection District Chief Joe Huggins. “Getting these types of extinguishers in the hands of the public has the potential to help slow the spread and possibly help prevent another disastrous wildfire.”
A team from Kelseyville Fire Protection District will be on site providing training on how to use both types of extinguishers immediately after the giveaway.
Two types of fire extinguishers will be available during the giveaway: 150 of the 2.5-gallon stainless steel water-filled extinguishers, which weigh about 40 pounds each, and 350 of the ABC chemical-filled extinguishers that weigh 10 pounds each and are used to smother flames.
The extinguishers are being made available for the giveaway at a significantly reduced cost thanks to the generous support of Ukiah Oxygen.
Major funding for the fire extinguisher giveaway is covered by the Lake County Rising Fire Relief Fund, which is administered by the Lake County Wine Alliance.
“We jumped at the chance to support this,” said Kaj Ahlmann, president of the Lake County Wine Alliance, which was one of three wine-industry organizations that together raised more than $1 million in the Lake County Rising Fire Relief Fundraising Effort after the Valley fire.
The Lake County Wine Alliance committed the entire $28,000 necessary to fund the fire extinguisher giveaway.
Ahlmann said, “Our organization has been so active in supporting fire relief and rebuilding efforts that it is a natural extension to support programs to help prepare for and prevent wildfires.”
The Lake County Wine Alliance hosts the annual Lake County Wine Auction fundraiser, and this year, the organization is committing one-third of the funds raised at the event to support the needs of the five fire protection districts in Lake County.
This year’s wine auction will be held Saturday, Sept. 21, at Chacewater Winery in Kelseyville. For details on how to attend, sponsor, or donate, visit www.winealliance.org .
Riviera Elementary School is located at 10505 Fairway Drive in Kelseyville. The giveaway will begin promptly at 9 a.m. in the school parking lot, and the fire-extinguisher training will follow immediately after the giveaway.
For questions about the giveaway, contact Rob Brown, 707-349-2628.
As one of the three organizations that established the Lake County Rising Fire Relief Fund after the Valley Fire, the Lake County Wine Alliance, in partnership with the Lake County Winegrape Commission and Lake County Winery Association, raised more than $1 million that helped with community rebuilding.
Funds were disbursed to organizations to support: youth sports, agriculture, and music programs and equipment replacement; youth science camp and garden program; mental health services and temporary housing for needy families; a community art center that offered programs for community healing; medical clinics, food pantries, and meals for seniors; chipping programs and seedlings for reforestation efforts; an environmental assessment report for a wastewater system in a devastated community; and construction of a dormitory to house much-needed volunteer builders.
Formed in 2000, the Lake County Wine Alliance is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization operated under the guidance of a six-member volunteer board of directors with the purpose of supporting charitable and other local programs in the arts, health, and community. To learn more or to donate, visit: www.winealliance.org .
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – If you heard about Shakespeare at the Lake and maybe even thought about going, but just didn’t make it to Lakeport to see it, there is some great news for you.
The event has been expanded this year to include a second weekend at Austin Park in Clearlake.
This free event was presented for the first three years in Lakeport.
Lisa Wilson, a member of the marketing committee for the city of Clearlake, had attended two of the performances and found the outdoor event to be “wonderful” and “well attended,” and she heard lots of positive feedback.
She asked the city and the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce to consider inviting the Lake County Theatre Co. to expand to Austin Park.
She spoke to Director John Tomlinson, who was very interested in the idea of more than doubling the number of performances. In fact, it has long been a hope of his to expand the performances to not two, but four separate locations around the lake.
Wilson is excited to be the first to set the wheels in motion. “It makes so much sense to expand an offering, so much easier than creating new events.The Clear Lake Chamber and the city of Clearlake are thrilled to support LCTC and offer quality performances to the citizens of Clearlake,” she said. “We hope that this is the beginning of a new tradition at Austin Park. Guests will look forward to Shakespeare at the Lake every summer. Next year will bring a major renovation of Austin Park and the performance space will be stellar and something that will bring a sense of pride to everyone.”
This collaboration is about more than just bringing Shakespeare to the other side of the lake.
“The Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to economic vitality and believes that family activities are an important part of the equation,” Wilson said. “When families spend an evening together at a wonderful event they feel a sense of pride and they want to take care of and invest in their community. Shakespeare at the Lake will become a flagship event at Austin Park, which is an important downtown location at the intersection of Lakeshore and Olympic.”
This year the Mendocino College Lake Center and the Lake County Theatre Co., in cooperation with the city of Lakeport, the city of Clearlake, the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce and the Lake County Friends of Mendocino College present the “Taming of the Shrew,” a dark comedy about about a power struggle and a battle of the sexes in which an ambitious man tames his female bride to be.
But, this production flips the dialogue. Women wield the power and the men are expected to conform. All of the roles have been gender swapped and the concept is sure to spark conversation.
Come watch the events unfold as they bring a twist to this old tale about love, romance and raucous wit.
This is a free show on the shores of beautiful Clear Lake. Outdoor seating is on a first come, first-served basis.
Performances run Friday, Aug. 2, Saturday, Aug. 3, and Sunday, Aug. 4 in Clearlake at Austin Park. All shows start at 6:30 p.m. and it is recommended that you bring a beach chair or a blanket. The performance is free and food, beverages, and wine will be for sale.
For more information visit www.LCTC.us.
MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. – The Trust for Public Land, a national conservation nonprofit organization, has donated approximately 3,000 acres within the boundaries of the Mendocino National Forest in Mendocino County.
The Trust for Public Land parcel is called the Sanhedrin Donation and is part of the broader 11,800-acre Sanhedrin Acquisition Project.
The forest has partnered with The Trust for Public Land and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to purchase the remaining 8,800 acres with Land and Water Conservation Funds and private philanthropic donations.
The land parcel is in the Middle Fork Eel River watershed, the largest sub-basin in the Eel River drainage. The donation will help protect critical habitat for the threatened Northern California steelhead.
The donation stipulates that the land must be incorporated into the adjacent Congressionally-designated Yuki Wilderness under Section 6(a) of the Wilderness Act of 1964 (16 U.S.C. §1135(a)).
“Other benefits from this generous donation include: enhancing recreational access to isolated areas of the forest, preserving wildlife migration connectivity between the Yuki and Sanhedrin Wilderness Areas, and improving water quality within the Elk Creek watershed, a major tributary to the Middle Fork,” said Forest Supervisor Ann Carlson. “We appreciate the widespread support we have received for the Sanhedrin Donation and the Sanhedrin Acquisition Project.”
“We are thrilled to be able to work with the US Forest Service to protect this land,” said Guillermo Rodriguez, California State director for The Trust for Public Land, “This addition to the Mendocino National Forest represents the rare opportunity to protect a piece of land not just because it’s a great place to recreate outside but also because it protects drinking water and the habitat for wildlife. This project would not have been possible without the support of Sen. Feinstein and Representative Huffman. We are grateful for the work they’re done to protect some of California's most special places."
The gift was supported by generous donations from the Wyss Foundation and the landowner, Coastal Forestlands Ltd.
After acceptance by the Secretary of Agriculture, the land shall become part of the designated Wilderness Area under Section 6(a).
Sanhedrin Donation map by LakeCoNews on Scribd
Do you feel like nutritionists are always changing their minds? Do you want science-based information about diet but don’t know whom or what to believe?
If you’re nodding in agreement, you’re not alone: More than 80% of Americans are befuddled.
Yet it’s a lament that’s getting quite tiring – if you’re a nutrition scientist, that is. So much so that I refocused my career to shine scientific light on today’s critical food conversations, which have profound impacts on public health and the environment. My mantra: From farm to fork, what we eat matters.
In fact, did you know that 80% of chronic diseases are preventable through modifiable lifestyle changes, and diet is the single largest contributing factor?
Science says plants are better for you and our planet
Clean eating or keto? Paleo or gluten-free? Whole 30 or vegan? Forget fad diets, because science has the answers – there is far more agreement about diet and health than you may know. The scientific report from the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, for example, concluded that a plant-based diet is best for human health and the environment alike. More than 75% of your meal should comprise vegetables, fruits and whole grains, and protein sources should include beans, peas, nuts, seeds and soy.
Canada’s 2019 Food Guide is similarly plant-focused, as is Harvard’s Healthy Eating Plate, while Brazil emphasizes foods “mainly of plant origin.” These guidelines and others also stress the importance of limiting processed and ultra-processed foods.
There’s also consensus from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and others that plant-based diets are more sustainable, largely due to the high energy inputs and environmental damage of livestock.
While it may sound like a fad, a “plant-based” diet has been studied for decades. Awareness escalated as it addresses two urgent public health challenges: the chronic disease epidemic and the climate change crisis. It’s a win-win for human health and the environment. Plant-based diets can be adapted to suit your taste preferences, traditions and cultures, as the Blue Zones, or regions of the world where people typically live longer than average and with fewer chronic diseases, indicate.
If science has the keys to a health-promoting, disease-preventing, planet-saving diet, why are people so confused? A closer look will arm you with the skills to sort fact from fiction.
There’s money in confusion
Celebrity junk science is an obvious player. It might even be cloaked in scrubs, like Dr. Oz – though chastised by the Senate for his quackery. (Physicians, in general, have little to no training in nutrition.)
Celebrities garner enormous platforms, often clouding the truth (or drowning it completely); the deal between Netflix and Gwyneth Paltrow, whose company Goop was sued over a certain jade egg, suggests that science is losing the battle.
One needn’t be a celebrity to hold sway, however. A list of the Top 100 influencers showed that most were bloggers or athletes with no expertise. (None were scientists.) These voices gain considerable traction on social media. Health Feedback, a network of scientists who review the accuracy of online content, conducted a study with the Credibility Coalition and found a minority of articles received a positive rating, with most “exaggerating the benefits and harms of various foods.”
Traditional media don’t always shed light, alas. Single-study sensationalism is ubiquitous – for example, glyphosate in oats, coconut oil and weight, coffee causing cancer – and findings lack context.
And science journalism has taken a hit, and is perhaps why CNN interviewed an anti-science zealot. Or why the Los Angeles Times tweeted that there’s a “growing belief” about the health benefits of celery juice. (Pro tip: It’s not a thing.)
Surrounding the din of bogus dietary advice and media hype is a backdrop of science denialism, which legitimizes anti-science when espoused from top levels of government. Science illiteracy also plays a role.
Nonetheless, there are knowledge gaps: 57% of Americans have never seen the dietary illustration from the U.S. Deparment of Agriculture called MyPlate or know little about it, and 63% reported it was hard to recognize sustainable choices. Shoppers also claimed that identifying healthy food was difficult (11%) or moderate (61%). Unsurprising, perhaps, since 48% looked to crowded food packages for guidance: Some labels are meaningful while others are little more than marketing. (All natural, anyone?) Indeed, powerful food and agriculture lobbies still exert influence on dietary guidelines and obscure the science.
Through all of this, I believe the nutrition science community has tacitly contributed by failing to participate collectively in the public discourse. Nor have we adequately defended our discipline when attacked, whether by journalists, physicians or food writers.
Changing the conversation
Potent societal powers create a culture of nutrition confusion that not only obfuscate the truth about diet, they undermine science as a whole. Three steps will help eaters navigate this rocky terrain.
Begin by asking critical questions when digesting diet news. Does the writer have an advanced degree in nutrition, or does she or he have expertise in science journalism? Are there references to peer-reviewed studies or scientific organizations? Is the source credible? Are miracle cures or quick results promised? Are there expensive price tags for magic bullets? Does it sound like clickbait? Questioning the who-what-where-why-how is paramount.
Second, remember that what flits through our newsfeeds often comes via algorithms that enable news to careen through our echo chambers and elicit confirmation bias, factual or not. Offline, too, we are more likely to share beliefs with friends and family, our tribe. Getting curious about what you eat and why it matters beyond your comfort zone is necessary: You may need to “unlearn what you have learned.”
Finally, try this on for size: Nutrition. Isn’t. Confusing. We all have cherished traditions and values – what we eat isn’t just about the science. (At least, I hope not.) But it is time to learn the fundamental food and nutrition facts that will inspire you to harness the power of food to promote health, prevent disease and protect the planet. Change is possible – and the truth is out there.
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P.K. Newby, Scientist, Science Communicator, and Author, Harvard University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Fire Prevention Specialist Bruce Lang said Cal Fire was dispatched to two structure fires at 18703 and 18717 North Shore Drive in Hidden Valley Lake at 12:23 a.m. Monday.
Upon arrival, firefighters found one structure was 60-percent involved and the other was 80-percent involved, with minimal spread to the vegetation, Lang said.
Lang said fire crews immediately began structure protection for the surrounding homes.
The fires were contained to the buildings of origin, and Lang said both homes were total losses.
One firefighter was treated for a minor burn and released to full duty, Lang said.
He said fire personnel remained on scene until 03:30 a.m.
The cause of these two fires remains under investigation, Lang said.
Lang said resources that responded included Cal Fire, South Lake County Fire District, Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Pacific Gas and Electric, Hidden Valley Community Services District and Hidden Valley Security.
The fire was first reported just before 12:30 a.m. Monday, according to radio reports.
Authorities received multiple calls reporting a large fire on North Shore Drive.
Firefighters from Cal Fire and South Lake County Fire arrived on scene about 10 minutes after dispatch, reporting over the air that there were two homes in the 18000 block of North Shore Drive that were fully involved and threatening other nearby structures and wildland.
Incident command reported that firefighters were in defensive mode and protecting the threatened structures and vegetation.
Just after 1:30 a.m., firefighters reported they were making good progress on the fire in the two homes, with resources estimated to be committed another three hours.
Pacific Gas and Electric also responded to help secure utilities at the scene, according to radio reports.
At the request of incident command, Northshore Fire sent its support team from the stations in Nice and Upper Lake. The team reported its arrival on scene at 3 a.m.
Additional information will be posted as it becomes available.
Email Elizabeth Larson at