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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The statewide network of county First 5 commissions will honor Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, with a Champion for Children Award on May 2 as part of First 5’s 20th Anniversary celebration on May 2nd at the capitol steps.

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) will deliver the keynote for the award ceremony.

Champion for Children Awards are given to legislators who have demonstrated their commitment to young kids in California by consistently supporting policies that improve the lives of families and children ages 0 to 5.

Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry is sponsoring a bill this legislative session to increase pay and recruitment of child care providers (AB 2292).

Only 14 percent of eligible infant-toddlers in California have access to subsidized care, in part due to a workforce shortage that ensued after more than $1 billion was cut from child care spending during the Great Recession.

Aguiar-Curry’s bill would create start-up grants to rebuild child care capacity and increase the reimbursement adjustment factor for infant-toddler care.

“The current reimbursement rate for infant-toddler care providers does not cover the cost of providing care, which has caused many providers to shut down or stop offering care for subsidized families,” said Camille Maben, executive director of First 5 California. “Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry’s bill will help reverse this trend and put our young children on track for kindergarten and beyond.”

Assemblymembers Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno) and Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) will also receive Champion for Children awards on May 2.

First 5’s 20th Anniversary event will celebrate the local partners and state legislators who support its mission of ensuring California’s kids thrive. Kids’ games, a visit from Sesame Street’s Walkaround Rosita, and appearances by visits by state legislators will mark the event.

“Our kids are our collective future. These legislators’ commitment to the wellbeing of California’s youngest children is a step in the right direction,” said Moira Kenney, executive director of First 5 Association, which represents First 5s in the state’s 58 counties. “Families are struggling across our state – with poverty, quality child care, and access to early intervention services. By supporting kids in the early years, we can shape the course of their lives—and our society.”

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County’s annual burn ban – which addresses concerns over both fire hazard and air quality – starts on Tuesday, May 1.

All burn permits expire on April 30.

The burn restriction applies to all areas in Lake County. It includes all open waste burning, though exemptions are possible for agricultural operations, essential control burns for fire hazard reduction projects, public safety burns and others.

The annual burn ban was first implemented in 1986 in response to weather conditions that often create extreme fire danger and poor air quality.

A managed approach incorporating fire and air agency concerns has been implemented and improved upon for many years.

The ban allows a quick fire agency response to all fires observed from May 1 on, as they are all assumed to be uncontrolled fires unless specifically authorized by an exemption permit. This successful program is one of the primary reasons Lake County has superior and healthful air quality.

To obtain an exemption permit to burn after May 1, first contact Lake County Air Quality at 707- 263-7000 to determine need, then contact your local fire agency so that your burn site can be inspected for fire safety. After the fire agency notifies the air district that the proposed burn site is fire safe then an exemption permit may be obtained.

Anyone responsible for open burning during the ban without an exemption permit may be subject to citation, fines and fire agency response costs to extinguish the fire. Burn restrictions will remain in effect until Cal Fire declares an end to fire season.

Officials ask that community members help to reduce the danger and losses caused by uncontrolled fires, and protect Lake County’s clean air.

“Public cooperation is greatly appreciated and results in a safer and more healthful environment for us all,” Lake County Air Quality Management said in a statement on the ban’s implementation.

“I was born of the struggle and the torment and the pain. A child of the wheel, a brat of the cogs, a woman of the dust … When a laborer sweats his sweat of blood and weeps his tears of blood a remedy is thrust upon the world. I am that remedy.”

Thus Mother Jones, the “most dangerous woman in America” according to those in power, described her life of suffering.

And really, those few words are a good summation of the first 60 years of her life. Hers was a life lived largely on the margins of the world, far distant from the tectonic movements of her day.

We know this at least: Mary Harris was born in Ireland in 1837 (although she later claimed a birthdate of 1830 to add to the grey-haired persona of a grandmotherly figure). She immigrated to Canada with her parents, graduated from school and worked for a time as a school teacher in Michigan.

She married a man named George Jones in Memphis in 1861 and had several children. Her first major encounter with tragedy saw her entire family, husband and children, die of yellow fever in 1867.

She travelled to Chicago and opened a seamstress shop just in time for the great 1871 Chicago fire. She had become the female counterpart to the protagonist in the old folk song “A Man of Constant Sorrow.”

Up until then, Mary Jones had lived a life of obscurity, leaving no trace of her daily struggle on the historical record beyond census records and what she later recalled to journalists. Her story is a warning to those who would oppress and a comfort for those who suffer still, that even the most obscure of us can blaze a trail across society, whose passing forever alters the status quo.

Her husband had been a member of a union in Tennessee. Perhaps that’s what spurred her to action after her life burned to ashes in 1871. Or maybe she was just plain pissed off and tired of the drudgery she had wallowed in her whole life.

Whatever the reason, beginning in the 1870s, Mary Jones sought community in the Knights of Labor, a national labor union that sought fair wages and working conditions for the country’s laborers. Having lost her family and her business, Mary Jones threw herself into her new role, and found in the struggle a new family. She was rechristened Mother Jones.

Following the philosophy of “wherever there’s a fight,” Mother Jones travelled the nation to support strikes by laborers in the railroad, steel, copper, brewing and textile industries. In the 1890s, she found her a home as an organizer for the United Mine Workers of West Virginia.

In a style that today would seem rambling and bombastic, Mother Jones’ public speeches were widely hailed at the time for their fervor and intensity. Upton Sinclair, author and exposer of the unhealthy meat packing industry in his book The Jungle, was a huge fan of Mother Jones. He described her fiery perambulations in these terms:

“All over the country she had roamed, and wherever she went, the flame of protest had leaped up in the hearts of men; her story was a veritable Odyssey of revolt.”

Her most powerful tool was her ability to weave stories into her speeches. In 1912, she gave her famous speech at a miner’s meeting in West Virginia – famous in part because it was faithfully recorded by a stenographer and remains the most complete example of her speaking style.

In that speech alone, she weaves together stories of the doomed miners and their meager lunch boxes, the clueless U.S. Sen. Dick and the mine owner’s wife and her pampered dog.

She exhorts the crowd, calling them her “boys” and passes around a hat to collect beer money for “the miners who came up here broke.” Is it any wonder she was labelled “the most dangerous woman in America” by a West Virginia attorney?

She was a self-proclaimed “hell-raiser” and when she spoke, the powerful groaned.

She focused so much on the economic and social evils of her day that she ended up on the wrong side of a few social justice causes.

For instance, she was opposed to woman suffrage. She believed that to advocate for the vote would serve as a distraction from the underlying economic issues facing working women. She saw the whole movement – in retrospect not entirely incorrectly – as a rich woman’s battle.

On the topic, she said publicly “the plutocrats have organized their women. They keep them busy with suffrage and prohibition and charity.”

As for her people, the workers, they had more pressing concerns. When the Colorado militia killed 20 women and children at a miner’s tent colony in Ludlow in 1914, Mother Jones raised enough hell for a Congressional hearing to finally be called. Oh sure, Mother Jones lost as many fights as she won. But in a career that spanned decades, that was still a lot of wins.

As the years went on, the gray-haired agitator continued her fight for the oppressed. She travelled to Mexico in 1921 for the Pan American Federation of Labor.

She lived her final years with friends and on her self-proclaimed 100th birthday, May 1, 1930, she gave her final public speech.

Although a short one, her final message to her “boys” the world over, was recorded on a moving picture camera, giving future generations a tantalizing peek at the woman who led a movement.

Antone Pierucci is curator of history at the Riverside County Park and Open Space District and a freelance writer whose work has been featured in such magazines as Archaeology and Wild West as well as regional California newspapers.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Dozens of volunteers joined in the effort to spruce up Clearlake this weekend.

On Saturday, the city of Clearlake – in coordination with the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce, Clearlake Waste Solutions and Citizens Caring 4 Clearlake – sponsored the annual Clearlake Clean-up Day event.

Volunteers, including elected officials, service clubs, citizens, and city staff, spent the morning picking up trash and cleaning various areas in Clearlake.

“We estimate we collected over 120 tons of debris, 50 tires and five tons of scrap metal during today’s cleanup,” said Bruce McCracken of Clearlake Waste Solutions.

Doug Herren, Public Works director for the city of Clearlake, added, ”We had a great turnout this year with over 86 volunteers and were able to remove a lot of trash from the roadsides and the lake. This community is terrific the way they come together for a common cause.”

“Once again it was my privilege to participate in such a great showing of community spirit,” said City Manager Greg Folsom. “It’s amazing to see the impact that such a group of dedicated citizens can make in cleaning up parts of our city. Thank you to all the staff and volunteers that came out on a Saturday morning to show their Clearlake pride.”

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council this week will hear from the city’s police chief about the ongoing effort to increase traffic safety on 20th Street, consider a request from the organizers of a sprint boat race and get a presentation from the head of Sutter Lakeside Hospital.

The council will meet in closed session at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 1, to discuss a case of anticipated litigation before the public portion of the meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

Under council business, Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen will give the council an update on traffic issues on 20th Street, where the city is working on speed surveys and traffic control measures in order to reduce speeding between Alden Avenue and Hartley Street.

Rasmussen also will present to the council the request for the use of city streets, property and city resources and personnel to staff and accommodate Clearlake Motor Sport Enterprises LLC for the second annual Lakeport Sprint Boat Grand Prix event set for June 1 through 3.

In other business, Utilities Superintendent Paul Harris will ask the council to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Lakeport Unified School District as well as a budget adjustment not to exceed $60,000 to fund a sewer main project.

Dan Peterson of Sutter Lakeside Hospital also will give a presentation during the meeting.

On the consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances; minutes of the council’s regular meeting on April 17; the April 20 warrant register; approval of Application WP-2018-001, with staff recommendations, for the 2018
Grillin’ on the Green event, to be held August 4; approval of Application 2018-017, with staff recommendations, for the 2018 Cardboard and Duct Tape Regatta, to be held July 4; approval of Application 2018-018, with staff recommendations, for the 2018 Fun Walk and 5K run event, to be held May 27; approval of the memorandum of understanding between the Lakeport Unified School District and the city of Lakeport Police Department for the services of a school resource officer for fiscal years 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 and direct the city manager to sign; and receipt and filing of the draft minutes of the April 18 MZAC meeting.

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.

050118 Lakeport City Council agenda packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors this week will once again consider appointments to a committee that will study the health of Clear Lake and discuss a resolution related to cannabis cultivation.

The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 1, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

The meeting can be watched live on Channel 8 and online at https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx . Accompanying board documents, the agenda and archived board meeting videos also are available at that link.

In an untimed item continued from last week, the board will consider the appointment of members to the Blue Ribbon Committee for the Rehabilitation of Clear Lake for the purposes of discussion, reviewing research, planning and providing oversight regarding the health of Clear Lake.

The board also will consider an untimed resolution expressing its intent to prohibit a cannabis cultivation site within 1,000 feet of a water sphere of influence as described in Lake County Ordinance No. 3073.

The full agenda follows.

CONSENT AGENDA

7.1: Adopt proclamation designating the first week of May 2018 as Wildfire Awareness Week in Lake County.

7.2: Adopt proclamation designating the month of May 2018 as Cal Fresh Awareness Month in Lake County.

7.3: Approve minutes of the Board of Supervisors meetings held Jan. 23 and Feb. 13.

7.4: Approve retention schedule and destruction of documents.

7.5: Adopt the resolution approving the standard agreement for the No Place Like Home Technical Assistance Grant Award Multi-Year Agreement between the county of Lake and the Department of Housing and Community Development for Fiscal Year 2017-18 through Fiscal Year 2022-23 and authorize the Behavioral Health administrator to sign the standard agreement. not available.

7.6: Adopt resolution to make applicable to the Upper Lake Unified School District provisions of the education code permitting the formation of school facilities improvement districts.

7.7: Adopt resolution authorizing the director of the Public Works Department to sign a notice of completion for work performed under agreement dated July 11, 2017, for the Harbin Springs Road at Harbin Creek Bridge Replacement Project. Bid No. 17-04.

7.8: Approve purchase of three M7 In-Vehicle Computer Systems, at a cost of $20,280.50 from Data911, an approved vendor under the state CMAS contract.

7.9: Approve purchase of one M7 In-Vehicle computer system, at a cost of $6,554.61 from Data911, an approved vendor under the state CMAS contract.

7.10: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, per Ordinance #2406, Purchasing Code 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approve agreement between the county of Lake and PJ Helicopters for Calendar Year 2018 in the amount of $60,000 and authorize the chair to sign.

7.11: Approve three year Lease between Schall Investment Corp. and county of Lake for the annual amount of $31,200 with Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustment increases each subsequent year during the term of the lease terminating on June 30, 2021, and authorize the chair to sign.

TIMED ITEMS

8.2, 9:10 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating the first week of May 2018 as Wildfire Awareness Week in Lake County; and presentation of proclamation designating the month of May 2018 as Cal Fresh Awareness Month in Lake County.

8.3, 9;30 a.m.: Consideration of proposals for design services for South Lakeport Water Project; and authorize board chair to award contract to NEXGEN Utility Management Inc. of Sacramento in the amount of $49,200.

UNTIMED ITEMS

9.2: Continued from April 24, consideration of appointment of Blue Ribbon Committee members for the Rehabilitation of Clear Lake for the purposes of discussion, reviewing research, planning and providing oversight regarding the health of Clear Lake.

9.3: Approve Agreement between Lake County Behavioral Health and Lakeport Police Department for crisis responding services and authorize the Behavioral Health Administrator to sign.

9.4: Consideration of a resolution expressing the intent of the Board of Supervisors in prohibiting a cannabis cultivation site within 1,000 feet of a water sphere of influence as described in Lake County Ordinance No. 3073.

CLOSED SESSION

10.1: Public employee evaluations title: County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson.

10.2: Employee grievance complaint pursuant to Gov. Code sec. 54957.

10.3: Conference with legal counsel: Decision whether to Initiate Litigation Pursuant to Gov. Code sec. 54956.9(d)(4): PG&E.

10.4: Conference with legal counsel: Decision whether to Initiate Litigation Pursuant to Gov. Code sec. 54956.9(d)(4): One potential case.

10.5: Conference with legal counsel: Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Gov. Code sec. 54956.9 (d)(2), (e)(3): Claim of PG&E.

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.