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Thursday, March 30, is National Doctor’s Day, an annual opportunity to pay tribute to a group of professionals who have dedicated their lives to caring for our physical, mental and spiritual health.
St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake is blessed to have skillful physicians whose hard work and sacrifice make a huge difference for each of us who live in Lake County, and it is my privilege to recognize their incredible contributions to our community.
As part of our ongoing brand transformation as we become Adventist Health Clear Lake, we have adopted a new mission: “Living God’s love by inspiring health, wholeness and hope.”
Our physicians and providers are essential in helping us achieve this mission, and we continue to seek only the best providers to join our team.
These men and women carry on the vital work of healing each and every day, and we are honored to work alongside them in settings ranging from the hospital to the emergency department and in medical offices throughout our county.
St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake’s provider team includes knowledgeable and passionate experts in addiction medicine, behavioral health, dentistry, surgery, obstetrics, pain management and more.
In the last year, we welcomed specialists in cardiology, psychology, family medicine and other vital services.
As I walk through the hospital, emergency department or through one of our Family Health Centers, I am impressed with each provider’s passion for the health of our community and desire to see each person achieve true wellness.
Today is a special day to celebrate our physicians and providers for their dedication to our community throughout the year.
Please join me in thanking our tireless healers. I know that messages of appreciation touch the hearts of these selfless individuals. Send a letter, email a message of gratitude or go on our Facebook page and send a note of thanks to the physician or provider (or many) who has made a difference in your life.
On behalf of the board, administration, staff and volunteers at St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake, Happy Doctor’s Day to all our physicians and providers in the community!
David Santos is president and chief executive officer at St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake in Clearlake, Calif.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Wednesday, April 5, the Sons In Retirement group will start the golf season off with a scramble played at the Aetna Springs Golf Course.
Two weeks later on April 26, the group will play at the Hidden Valley Lake course.
Jim Cary, the golf chairman for branch 133 and 168, has organized the schedule for the remainder of the year, including golf tournaments in Reno in June and in Monterey in September.
These events are in addition to the local tournaments that Cary has scheduled to take place about every two weeks from April through November.
Bob Specht, the travel chair, is working on plans for a trip to Sacramento on Thursday, May 25, to see the show “Phantom of the Opera.”
There are a few tickets left for this great musical. It's a matinée at the Sacramento Civic Theater. Bus transportation and lunch at the Spaghetti Factory are included.
The show costs $115 per person. Guests are invited. Call Bob at 707-279-0187 or Bill at 707-277-8846 for more information or reservations.
Sons In Retirement is a social organization for men of retirement age who are pursuing the goal of enjoying their later years.
It has 142 branches with 18,000 members throughout the state. Branch 168 holds a luncheon on the second Friday of each month at the TNT’s restaurant in Lakeport.
Anyone interested in learning more about Sons In Retirement is encouraged to contact Larry Powers, chair of the membership committee, at 707-263-3403 or to visit the state Web site at www.sirinc.org .
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – One of Lake County’s remarkable women has received a special honor from Congressman Mike Thompson.
Thompson announced that he has selected Madelene Lyon of Kelseyville as this year’s Woman of the Year in Lake County.
“I am so honored, believe me. I am just so honored and so delighted,” Lyon told Lake County News on Tuesday.
This is the third annual Woman of the Year Awards, which Thompson created in honor of Women’s History Month.
Each year, one woman from the each of the counties in Thompson’s Fifth Congressional District – Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties – is recognized for her contributions to the community.
In February, Thompson began accepting nominations for the award, which he presented to the honorees at Franciscan Estate Winery in St. Helena on Saturday.
In addition to Lyon, this year’s winners include Sylvia Villa-Serrano, Contra Costa County; Karen Cakebread, Napa County; Dr. Rhonda Renfro, Solano County; Ronit Rubino, Sonoma County; and Magrit Mondavi (a special posthumous award was presented to her daughter, Annie Roberts).
“I feel in very good company with these other women that have been honored,” Lyon said, calling her fellow honorees “amazing.”
Thompson’s office said Lyon was selected for her work with the Kelseyville Food Pantry, Redbud Audubon Society, Hospice Services of Lake County and other charities.
Lyon served on the executive board for March of Dimes Lake County for 18 years, including as its chair. She currently serves on the Lake County Board of Education and has been the president of the Clear Lake State Park Interpretive Association since 1998.
She’s a past winner of awards including Stars of Lake County, Hospice Services of Lake County Volunteer of the Year and the Lake County Pioneer Award.
“Madelene’s volunteerism and conservation efforts are truly remarkable,” said Thompson. “From her work with the Kelseyville Food Pantry to organizing the Bird Count Dinner and Annual Dinner for the Redbud Audubon Society, Madelene gives selflessly of herself and her time. Her service to our community has greatly enriched us all, and I am honored to present her with this award.”
The daughter of Swiss immigrants, Lyon lives on the ranch in Kelseyville where she was born and raised, and where her family had a dairy farm, and raised pears, prunes and walnuts.
“It doesn’t happen like that very often any more,” she said of remaining at her lifelong home, adding that she feels lucky to still be on the same spot.
She attended the University of California, Davis, for three years and later received her bachelor of science degree from the University of San Francisco.
She and her husband, Walt, began raising winegrapes on their ranch in 1969, and that same crop continues there today.
In 1984 she opened a catering business that was very popular around the county for decades. She retired from catering in 2014.
Together the Lyons raised five children, who in turn gave them nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Walt Lyon died in 2015.
She said she continues to grow winegrapes on her 50-acre farm, and stays busy with the many organizations for which she volunteers, as well as with spending time with her friends and family.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
SACRAMENTO – In light of the new tobacco tax going into effect this week, the California Department of Public Health, or CDPH, reminds Californians that resources are available to help them kick the habit.
On April 1, the tax on a pack of cigarettes will increase $2, from $0.87 to $2.87. This increase is a result of Proposition 56, the California Healthcare, Research and Prevention Tobacco Tax Act, which was approved by voters last November.
Californians who want help to quit smoking can call the California Smokers’ Helpline at 1-800-NO BUTTS. The helpline provides smokers free telephone counseling and plans to help them quit.
The Helpline is staffed with trained counselors who are fluent in English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean and Vietnamese. Additional resources and materials are available at www.nobutts.org .
“We know most smokers want to quit, and paying more for their habit could be the extra motivation they need to make an important life-saving step,” said CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith. “Quitting smoking helps protect your physical and financial health. A smoker who quits today could save nearly $1,500 in just one year.”
Smoking remains the number one cause of preventable death and disease in California. About 3.1 million, or one out of nine, California adults smoke, and an estimated 34,000 Californians die from smoking-related diseases each year.
The state’s new tax increase impacts tobacco products like electronic cigarettes and e-liquids, which are taxed based on their wholesale cost.
Proposition 56 funds tobacco-use prevention programs, the new state Oral Health Program and research on tobacco-related illnesses such as cancer and heart disease. It also strengthens the Medi-Cal health care system and provides additional resources for CDPH to enforce underage tobacco-sales laws.
The California Tobacco Control Program was established by the Tobacco Tax and Health Protection Act of 1988. California’s comprehensive approach has changed social norms around tobacco use and secondhand smoke. California’s tobacco control efforts have reduced both adult and youth smoking rates by 50 percent, saved more than one million lives and have resulted in $134 billion worth of savings in health care costs.
Learn more at www.TobaccoFreeCA.com .
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A new educational event for schoolchildren got off to a big start with its debut earlier this month, with organizers planning to make it a regular annual event.
The inaugural Lake County Ag & Natural Resource Day welcomed hundreds of local students to a unique hands-on educational experience on Thursday, March 16.
Organizers said the event, held from 9 a.m. to noon at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Lakeport, was a huge success.
Nearly 1,000 students from kindergarten through sixth grade attended the event’s debut, according to the Lake County Fair Foundation, which created the Ag & Natural Resource Day.
Lake County Ag & Natural Resource Day was presented in a field-trip style event for school children from all around the county.
It was offered free of cost, with schools invited to bring students from kindergarten through sixth grade to experience agriculture and natural resources firsthand.
Janeane Bogner, a member of the boards for the Lake County Fair Board and the Lake County Fair Foundation, said planning for the event started last year.
Bogner said Ag & Natural Resource Day was modeled after Sonoma County Ag Days. She said Fair Chief Executive Officer Debbie Strickler visited that event, which her sister-in-law manages.
“She was very impressed with it and felt we needed it in Lake County,” Bogner said.
That goal fit with the Fair Foundation’s bylaws, which call for the organization to host educational events about agriculture, Bogner said.
As a result, the Fair Foundation signed on as a sponsor, and soon was joined by many partner organizations, including the Lake County Farm Bureau, the University of California’s 4-H Youth Development Program and Umpqua Bank, in launching the event, according to Bogner.
“It was all these women sitting around the table and it went from there,” said Bogner.
In all, the Fair Foundation reported there were more than 40 “ag partners” in the event, including local FFA chapters, the Lake County Historical Society, the Lake County Office of Education and many other agricultural ambassadors from around the lake.
Bogner said they sent information about the event to all of the school principals in June and then sent out a reminder at the start of the school year.
When the children arrived at the fairgrounds on March 16, they received goodie bags filled with almonds, information on different crops plus classroom activities, and a pamphlet about agriculture. Bogner said children also were given strawberry plants and seeds.
She said 4-H, Future Farmers of America and Konocti Christian Academy students assisted with handing out items to the visiting schoolchildren.
Children got to meet a draft horse from Philo, a mini horse, pot-bellied pigs, baby goats and baby lambs, Bogner said.
The California Milk Advisory Board’s trailer came, and Bogner said a dairy cow was brought to show children about milking.
There also was a sheep shearer and his family there to demonstrate, and a group of tractors that was brought from Ukiah, she said.
“It was such a neat event and we were so lucky, it was a beautiful day,” Bogner said.
There also were essay, poster and mural contests for students, the results of which are posted below. Awards for those contests were presented at the end of the day, Bogner said, adding that Umpqua Bank provided each of the children with an ice cream sandwich as a parting gift.
“Everybody that was there was just thrilled,” she said.
Based on the overwhelming response to its debut, Bogner said the plan is to make Lake County Ag & Natural Resource Day an annual event.
Plans already are under way for next year, with Bogner expecting that the second annual event will be even bigger. “I think it’s going to just build from here on.”
To learn more about Lake County Ag & Natural Resource Day or the Lake County Fair Foundation, visit http://lakecountyfair.com/get-involved/ or https://www.facebook.com/lakecountyfairfoundation/ .
2017 AG DAY AWARD WINNERS
GRAND PRIZE WINNERS AND PRIZES
Essay: Abram Ferrell, $50
Mural: Mrs. Cortez’s class, Riviera Elementary, $50
Poster: Abigail Ortega, $50
ESSAY CONTEST
Third grade
First place: Madison Renfro
Second place: Cecilia Knight
Third place: David Erwin
Fourth grade
First place: Casey Huston
Second place: Beverly Fetters
Third place: Bodhi Moore
Fifth grade
First place: Abram Ferrell
Second place: Emily Bullaro
Third place: Krista Messer
Sixth grade
First place: Megan Call
Second place: Maddie Hayenga
Third place: Nadine Mahlen
POSTER CONTEST
First grade
First place: Elyse Haley
Second place: Abby Sombs
Third place: Davis Lincoln
Second grade
First place: Lovita Castro
Second place: Ryder Wiper
Third place: Kalina Santor
Fifth grade
First place: Abigail Ortega
Second place: Lucas Arredondo
Third place: Abram Ferrell
Email Elizabeth Larson at
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – With a strong showing of support in the Senate Judiciary Committee, state Sen. Mike McGuire and Sen. Scott Wiener’s Presidential Tax Transparency & Accountability Act that would share basic tax information with the American public and require that all presidential candidates release the last five years of their tax returns in order to appear on the California ballot, was approved on Tuesday.
“Transparency is a nonpartisan issue. And it’s transparency that provides the basis for accountability in Government,” said Sen. McGuire. “For the past 40 years, every US President – Republicans and Democrats alike – have released their tax returns. These patriots put the nation’s interests above everything else. Presidents are expected to put their own interests aside – whether it be business ties or relationships with a foreign government – for the greater good of our country. And that greater good is America’s security and the protection of its people.”
Senators McGuire and Wiener have been working with some of the preeminent constitutional attorneys in the nation, including Harvard Professor Larry Tribe; Richard Painter, retired chief ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush; and Ambassador (ret.) Norman L. Eisen from The Brookings Institution.
Those experts submitted definitive statements to the California Senate Judiciary Committee that the federal constitution allows states to create ballot access requirements, like SB 149, that ensure the ballots for every office, including the office of the president, are comprehensible and informative.
Their statement concluded that, “We have studied these state laws carefully and have concluded that they are constitutional. Our federal constitution allows states to create ballot access requirements that ensure the ballots for every office, including the office of presidential elector, are comprehensible and informative.”
“Anyone aspiring to be president of our nation should be willing to release their tax returns – unless they have something to hide,” said Sen. Wiener. “The almost daily revelations regarding the connections between the Trump administration and Russia are a perfect example of why we need basic financial disclosures before elections take place. This is about establishing trust so that the American public knows that they come first when the White House makes a decision, not second to some business or investment interest.”
Approval in the Senate Judiciary Committee today means SB 149 will head to the Senate Elections Committee before going to the full Senate for approval.
SB 149 will require a candidate for president, in order to have his or her name placed upon the primary election ballot, to file his or her income tax returns for the five most recent taxable years with the Secretary of State’s Office. The returns would also be made available to the public on the Secretary of State’s Web site.
Prior to Donald Trump’s refusal to release any tax returns, for more than 40 years, every president since Jimmy Carter have released at least one year of tax returns. During the 2016 Presidential election, Hillary Clinton (Democratic) and Jill Stein (Green) both released their tax returns.
Contrary to what Trump stated in public, that Americans don’t care about his tax returns, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll, 74 percent of respondents believe Trump should release his tax returns. This poll shows consistent results from an earlier poll conducted by Quinnipiac University back in August of 2016.