News

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Library will present two LEGO events for the public in April.

On Friday, April 21, at 3:30 p.m. the Lakeport branch of the library will host the first meeting of a LEGO club. The library is located at 1425 N. High St. The free program focuses on elementary school children, but is open to all ages.

On Friday, April 28, at 3 p.m. the Redbud branch of the Lake County Library, located at 14785 Burns Valley Road in Clearlake, will host a LEGO event that is open to all ages.        

The LEGOs were purchased with a generous grant from the Lake County Wine Alliance to the Friends of the Lake County Library to improve Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM, resources at the library.

The idea for the LEGO club is for children to get a chance to use their imaginations to design, build and invent.

For more information about the LEGO programs please call the library at 707-263-8817.        

The Lake County Library is on the Internet at http://library.lakecountyca.gov and Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LakeCountyLibrary .

Jan Cook works for the Lake County Library.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Chi Council for the Clear Lake Hitch will meet on Wednesday, April 26.

The group will meet at 3:30 p.m. at the Lake County Agriculture Center, 883 Lakeport Blvd., Lakeport.

Group members have been busy recording the recent hitch migration. Information and observations on the migration can be found at http://lakelive.info/chicouncil/2017results.html .

Check the latest meeting minutes at http://lakelive.info/chicouncil/pdffiles/3.22.17minutes.pdf .

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Worldwide Healing Hands, the organization dedicated to eliminating maternal and infant mortality in developing areas of the world, is proud to announce its fourth annual Hike 4 Healing event to take place from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 29.

Participants will hike six miles round-trip over 1,600 feet of elevation on the Wright Summit Trail on Mount Konocti in California’s Lake County.

Hikers are asked to donate $25 for their participation and encouraged to get friends and employers to additionally sponsor their “boots on the ground” efforts.

All donations will directly benefit Worldwide Healing Hands and its mission to deliver critical health care services to underserved areas of the world.

“The annual Hike 4 Healing event was launched four years ago as a fundraiser for Worldwide Healing Hands’ mission,” says Hike 4 Healing coordinator Anthy O’Brien, a Worldwide Healing Hands board member and supporter. “Each year has brought more supporters who have chosen to dedicate a day to hike Mount Konocti so that mothers and children in far-flung areas can have a chance at life.”

Worldwide Healing Hands works to stop the needless deaths of mothers who are dying of preventable causes and is dedicated to improving the quality of healthcare for women and children in the most underserved areas of the world.

The organization is led by Dr. Paula Dhanda, an obstetrician and gynecologist based in Kelseyville.

The missions of her and her fellow physician and nurse volunteers to Uganda, Nepal, Chad and Haiti have met with extraordinary success with countless lives saved.

Hike 4 Healing is a fundraising event to perpetuate the ongoing efforts of Dhanda and WHH.

Participants are encouraged to sign up or get additional information by calling 888-627-1262 or visiting http://worldwidehealinghands.org .

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Tony was born Nov. 19, 1966, in San Francisco. He was taken unexpectedly on March 19, 2017, in the city that he loved. His passing is a great loss for our world.

Tony was a a native of San Francisco. He loved everything about the history and culture of his city. He was a brilliant photographer. He could capture beauty and art in his pictures.

Tony was a joker and a sarcastic prankster. He would laugh, tease and poke fun all the time. He loved music and all sports. Fishing was his game, but he never caught anything. He loved camping and all sorts of adventures.

His biggest joy in life was his daughter, Jamie. He took her everywhere: games, fishing, concerts and his favorite place “The Double Play” just to have a PBR or two. He would move mountains for Jamie. He was her bodyguard and best friend.

Tony didn't think twice about helping people. He was always there no matter what; he truly had a heart of gold. To know Tony was to love him. He will always be missed and remembered.

Tony is survived by his loving daughter, Jamie (Johnny); brothers, Rick (Darlene) and John Moreno; sister, Terry (Sylvestre) Hurtado; grandchildren, Gia, Shaun, Evan, Johnny, Aliyah, Angelina and Monique; grandma, Susan; nephews, Rick (Cherice) and Joey (Rose) Moreno and children; and great friends, Karen and Sherry McWilliams.

Tony was predeceased by his son, Michael; mother, Hilaria Poggi; father, Joe Tellez; brother, Charles Poggi; and his beloved Mac and Janey.

Special thank you to Running Creek Casino and all of his friends and loved ones.

A celebration of life will be held at the Son's of Italy in Nice on Saturday, April 22, from 2 to 4 p.m. Please come and share your memories and stories of Tony, and always see the art of this world.

"Forgive, Forget, and move on,

drink a PBR and sing a song.

Go fishing and take a nap-

see a game and just relax."

For further information, please contact Chapel of the Lakes Mortuary at 707-263-0357 or 707-994-5611, or visit www.chapelofthelakes.com .

SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Public Health is warning consumers not to use certain skin creams that have tested positive for high levels of mercury. Mercury is a toxic chemical and regular or prolonged exposure can result in mercury poisoning.

The following products, La Tía Mána and an unlabeled cream, were recently tested and found to contain high levels of mercury. Both products were being sold by flea market vendors in California. Additional product photos are available on the CDPH Web site.

There have been no reports of illnesses associated with these specific products, however, similar skin creams have previously been associated with health issues nationwide.

Consumers should discontinue use of these products, as well as any skin cream that lists mercury, mercurio, mercurous chloride, cinnabar, or calomel in the ingredients, or is otherwise packaged without any labeling.

Symptoms of mercury poisoning include irritability, depression, nervousness, difficulty concentrating or remembering, fatigue, tremors, shaking or weakness, tingling or numbness in hands, feet or around the mouth.

If you have any of these symptoms and think they may be the result of using these skin products, see your health care provider.

For more information, contact the California Poison Control System at 800-222-1222, or the California Safe Cosmetics Program’s hotline at 877-325-3223. Information is also available on CDPH’s Mercury in Skin Creams Webpage.

Consumers who observe these products being sold are encouraged to call CDPH’s toll-free Food and Drug Branch complaint hotline at 800-495-3232.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The American Lung Association has released its annual State of the Air report, which once again puts Lake County at the top of clean air rankings nationwide.

In the 2017 report, state and local area air quality are graded on an A through F scale by comparing local ozone and small-particulate concentrations with the federal air quality standards.

Although many areas, especially within California, were given failing grades, Lake County passed with flying colors.

Lake County received a “A” grade for Ozone and a “B” grade for short term particulate pollution, and is ranked the third-cleanest county in the nation for annual particulate average concentrations.

Lake County did not change significantly from previous annual averages even though the period of time covered by this report includes the Valley, Rocky and Jerusalem fires, according to Douglas Gearhart, air pollution control officer of the Lake County Air Quality Management District.

Out of California’s 58 counties, Lake County is one of only nine that did not have any days of ozone exceeds from 2013 through 2015. Gearhart said this impressive record has been documented by continuous air quality monitoring.

The report presents data showing what the residents of Lake County actually are breathing on a daily basis, Gearhart said. It does not exclude wildfire impacts or other natural events that may be excluded when determining attainment status.

The “B” grade for short term particulate pollution is the result of impacts from the 2015 wildfires. Gearhart said this shows that despite the Valley, Rocky, Jerusalem and other fires, the residents of Lake County still enjoy some of the cleanest air in the nation.

The American Lung Association grades are the latest recognition of a long history of air quality accomplishments in Lake County.

Strong local support for clean air measures has enabled the county to comply in full with not only the Federal Clean Air Standards, but also with the more rigorous California Standards for ozone and other air pollutants for the past 26 consecutive years. No other air district in California can match that record, Gearhart said.

Gearhart attributes the success of the program to strong community support, cooperation of local agencies, fire protection districts, Cal Fire, the agricultural community, industry, the district board of directors, and to the dedication and hard work of Air Quality Management District staff.

“The third cleanest county in the nation for particulate matter is a significant indicator of the hard work and dedication this community has to maintaining a healthful environment,” Gearhart said. “Even with the drought and wildfires of recent years, we still enjoy the Lake County clean air.”