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Youth hunters have a special opportunity coming up the weekend of Feb. 4 and 5.
Youth Waterfowl Days will provide young licensed hunters an extra weekend to hunt after the regular season ends.
Each year, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) opens many of their wildlife areas for these special hunt days, as allowed under federal regulations.
Last year an estimated 2,000 youth hunters took to the field to try their luck waterfowl hunting on state, federal and private lands.
Federal regulations require that hunters must be 17 years of age or younger and accompanied by a non-hunting adult 18 years of age or older. All hunters must have a valid license and stamps as required by state and federal law.
The daily bag and possession limits apply along with all other waterfowl regulations for the 2016-17 waterfowl season. The regulations can be found online at www.wildlife.ca.gov/hunting/waterfowl .
This year, some state and federal areas normally open for the Youth Waterfowl Hunting Days may be closed due to flooding.
The main portion of Grizzly Island Wildlife Area is closed, though the Island Slough and Gold Hills units remain open. Some refuges may limit the number of young hunters being admitted for each day of hunting. Many private clubs normally hosting youths on this hunt also face water problems.
For updated information on state and federal land closures, please see www.wildlife.ca.gov/hunting/area-alerts .
“This is a great opportunity for young hunters to have the fields and marshes to themselves, learn skills and techniques from their mentors and share a wonderful experience,” said Melanie Weaver, CDFW Waterfowl Program biologist.
This is only one of the special Youth Waterfowl Hunting Days and Junior Waterfowl Hunts held during the 2016-17 season.
The Northeastern Zone Federal Youth Waterfowl Hunt days were held Sept. 24-25, and Sacramento and Delevan National Wildlife Refuges have held special junior hunts where all blinds were reserved for junior hunters.
Private organizations like the California Waterfowl Association, chapters of Ducks Unlimited and private clubs provide special youth hunting opportunities throughout the season.
“Youth Waterfowl Hunting Days are something California Waterfowl really looks forward to as a chance to pass on the tradition of waterfowl hunting to another generation,” said the California Waterfowl Association’s Vice President of Conservation Jake Messerli.
In the Central Valley, Delevan, Colusa and Sacramento National Wildlife Refuges are scheduled to be open for the youth hunt days while Sutter National Wildlife Refuge will remain closed. Gray Lodge Wildlife Area will be completely open. Little Dry Creek will have a limited quota if no new flooding occurs.
Each of these hunt areas are part of the CDFW reservation system and may fill for the opening Saturday. Gray Lodge Wildlife Area is not expected to fill by reservation and will offer walk-on opportunities. Last year at Gray Lodge, 55 young hunters averaged four ducks each.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The community of Watershed Books and LakeWorks at 305 N. Main St. in Lakeport invites everyone to celebrate the liftoff of local musician Dennis Purcell's latest album "Foggy Dew."
The launch will take place during the “First Friday” event on Feb. 1.
This month sing along and tap your foot to Purcell's guitar and voice, enjoy refreshments and good conversation.
Watershed Books and LakeWorks along with the Main Street Gallery are open late, from 5 to 7 p.m., on the first Friday of every month to celebrate local artists, authors, crafters and community.
For more information call Cheri at 707-263-5787.
LUCERNE, Calif. – One person was seriously injured as the result of a structure fire on Monday night in Lucerne.
The fire at 5890 Grove St. was first reported at 10:15 p.m., according to radio reports.
The initial report from a neighbor was that there was an explosion with flames seen at the home, with one person possibly trapped inside. The caller told Central Dispatch that they couldn't access the front door, because it was blocked.
The crew of the first Northshore Fire Protection District engine on scene reported that flames were coming out of a window, according to Deputy Chief Mike Ciancio.
Firefighters were able to rescue one person from the home, who Ciancio said had burns and was transported by Northshore Fire Protection District ambulance to Sutter Lakeside Hospital.
There, the CalStar 4 air ambulance was expected to meet them for transport. However, at the scene Ciancio could not yet confirm if the patient would in fact be transported out of county.
The fire at the stick-built home was said to be out within about 15 minutes of the dispatch, with Ciancio reporting that firefighters were looking for the source of the smoke.
Units remained on scene into the early morning hours on Tuesday for mop up operations, according to radio reports.
Along with Northshore Fire, Lakeport Fire responded on mutual aid, Pacific Gas and Electric sent a truck and two Lake County Sheriff's units also were on scene.
Ciancio told Lake County News that the cause of the fire remained under investigation.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County has had its first flu-related death in a person under age 65 so far this season, which state officials said has been especially severe.
Lake County Health Officer Dr. Karen Tait said her department received a report on Monday of a woman in her 40s who had died with a positive flu test.
Tait said she had essentially no background information at that point about risk factors the woman had for flu complications.
Lake County hasn't had a reportable flu-related death since the 2013-14 flu season, according to state records. Tait had confirmed that fatal case – in a woman between 30 and 40 years of age, in February 2014.
Earlier this month, the California Department of Public Health reported that the state was experiencing more severe influenza activity than last year, with “significantly higher numbers of hospitalizations and outbreaks.”
The last information on reportable flu deaths released by the agency, through Jan. 21, confirmed 23 influenza-associated deaths statewide.
CDPH said the numbers it has are only a fraction of the statewide flu deaths because only deaths in people younger than 65 are reported to the state and not all influenza-related deaths are easily attributable to influenza.
Overall, Tait said Lake County is experiencing a lot of flu activity this year.
She did not have total case numbers, but added that they are confirmed to be up from last year, just as they are all around California.
She said outbreaks in health care facilities are reportable to the county Public Health Department, which – along with CDPH’s Licensing and Certification Division – works with those facilities to take measures to interrupt the spread of infection. Tait said she does not make public specific facility information when it comes to such outbreaks.
“I will say that we have had some reports of outbreaks in congregate settings, and one of them was probably another respiratory illness other than influenza,” she explained. “There are various viruses circulating at this time of year that can look like flu, including parainfluenza viruses and, in young children, respiratory syncytial virus, which has been confirmed in a number of pediatric cases of illness.”
Tait encouraged people to get vaccinated, noting that it's not too late in the season to do so, although she said it takes a couple of weeks for the protective effects to kick in.
“There is a good match between the vaccine and circulating strains this year,” she said. “Even so, vaccination is not 100-percent effective at preventing infection, but a vaccinated person is less likely to be hospitalized or die from any infection that occurs.”
Since this is the season for all kinds of respiratory virus infections, Tait also suggested taking other measures to be protected from illness, including good hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette – coughing into an elbow rather than into one's hand – and staying home when sick.
She said people with chronic medical conditions should contact their health care provider right away if they develop fever with sore throat or cough because they might benefit from antiviral treatment for influenza.
Tait said anyone interested in a flu shot can call the Lake County Public Health Department at 707-263-1090 to arrange for a vaccination.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Clearlake man charged with setting fire last week to a residential care and mental health facility where he lived is due to appear in court on Tuesday to enter a plea in the case.
Anthony Wayne Conley, 29, was arrested early Thursday morning shortly after police officers and firefighters arrived at the fire at San Sousee adult care facility on Konocti Street in Clearlake, as Lake County News has reported.
The Clearlake Police Department reported that its officers arrested Conley for setting the fire at the facility, where the agency confirmed he was a resident.
Conley was arraigned in Lake County Superior Court on Friday, and is due to reappear on Tuesday morning along with his appointed legal counsel to enter a plea, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff.
Hinchcliff said Conley is charged with one count of arson, four counts of attempted murder and three counts of elder or dependent abuse.
He said the latter three charges were for other residents at the facility, which is for individuals with mental health issues. A fourth attempted murder charge was for a staff member present at the time.
Hinchcliff did not have details on why Conley was at the facility, and said even if he did he did not believe they could be released due to health care privacy laws.
Conley has no adult criminal history in Lake County, according to Hinchcliff, who added that he could not discuss any possible juvenile issues.
Since his arrest, Conley has remained in custody at the Lake County Jail, with bail set at $800,000.
San Sousee is an adult residential facility with a capacity of six clients, ages 18 through 59, that's been licensed since 2009 with the California Department of Social Services' Community Care Licensing Division, according to state records.
The county of Lake has a $133,000 agreement with the facility for adult residential support services and specialty mental health services for this fiscal year that was updated in September.
Lake County Behavioral Health's report on the contract said it places at San Sousee clients ready to be transitioned from mental health institutes or whose who have been brought back to Lake County from out-of-county placements.
Asked if there are likely to be issues with the prosecution because of Conley's mental health, Hinchcliff replied, “We don't know yet, but I would expect that under the circumstances.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Sen. Mike McGuire joined a group of his colleagues in the California Senate on Monday in introducing a resolution to condemn President Donald Trump's recent executive orders on immigration and border security.
McGuire, whose district includes Lake County, called Trump's orders “dangerous and ill-conceived.”
“California is a state of immigrants,” McGuire said. “Diversity is a part of who we are. It’s what makes our communities strong, economy prosper and it’s what distinguishes us from everyone else.”
With the resolution, he added, “We have drawn a line in the sand.”
McGuire added, “The tragically ironic fact about President Trump’s dangerous actions is that there has not been one deadly terrorist attack by a refugee from any of the countries listed in the executive order on US soil since the passing of the 1980 Refugee Act. This weekend’s actions were shameful and we stand ready for the court fight.”
Separately on Monday, Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA-05), one of the two members of Congress representing Lake County, said he was cosponsoring a bill to overturn and defund the president’s executive orders banning refugees and those from Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.
“These bans are not just anti-Muslim, they are anti-American,” said Thompson. “Barring refugees or members of any religion runs counter to our country’s principles, values, and history. I stand in strong opposition, and will do everything in my power to see they are reversed.
“I had the deep privilege of working with a refugee from Afghanistan. He put his life on the line serving as a translator for our troops, and later worked as an intern in my office. I am better for having known him, and our country is better for having opened its doors to him. This is the America we must protect – not one that would let hate and fear govern its policies.”
Thompson is the cosponsor of the Statue of Liberty Value (SOLVE) Act, which would defund the President’s executive order and establish that it has no value.
Below is the full text of Monday's California Senate Resolution, No. 16, introduced by Senators De León, Allen, Atkins, Beall, Bradford, Dodd, Galgiani, Glazer, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leyva, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Newman, Pan, Portantino, Roth, Skinner, Stern, Wieckowski and Wiener.
Senate Resolution No. 16 — Relative to immigration.
WHEREAS, The United States was founded as a refuge for those escaping religious and political persecution; and
WHEREAS, Wave after wave of immigrants seeking a better life have enriched our nation’s culture, increased our productivity and innovation, and bolstered our economy; and
WHEREAS, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order on January 27, 2017, that desecrates our American values and panders to fears and nativist instincts that have resulted in some of our nation’s most shameful acts; and
WHEREAS, The executive order bans individuals from the predominately Muslim countries of Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Somalia from entering the United States for 90 days, prevents all refugees from entering the United States for 120 days, and indefinitely suspends the entry of refugees from Syria; and
WHEREAS, The executive order titled “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States” ignores the fact that those being denied entry are themselves victims of terrorism and are fleeing the savagery, death, and destruction of the Syrian civil war; and
WHEREAS, The executive order is an affront to religious freedom — a principle so cherished by our nation’s founding fathers that it was included in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution; and
WHEREAS, The executive order was executed in a haphazard manner without having been fully vetted by the very departments charged with protecting our national security, such as the federal Department of Homeland Security, the United States Department of Justice, the United States Department of State, and the United States Department of Defense; and
WHEREAS, As an immediate result of the executive order, individuals in possession of current visas have already been detained or turned around at airports across the country, resulting in chaos, confusion, deep anxiety, and hardship; and
WHEREAS, Under this executive order, an estimated 134 million people are now temporarily barred from entering or reentering the United States, in addition to hundreds of thousands of current United States visa holders, including dual nationals who were born in one of the impacted countries but who also have citizenship in another unlisted country; and
WHEREAS, The executive order is against our national interests as it exacerbates the United States’ anti-Muslim reputation, providing a recruitment tool for terrorist organizations while alienating the more than 3.3 million Muslims living in the United States; and
WHEREAS, While President Trump has falsely stated there is no refugee-vetting system in place, refugees are subjected to the most stringent vetting system of any traveler seeking entry into to the United States — a system that can take up to two years or longer to complete; and
WHEREAS, While the executive order references the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as why his executive order is necessary, the 19 terrorists who carried out the attacks were from countries not listed in the ban — Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates; and
WHEREAS, Over fifty years ago, the federal Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 banned all discrimination against immigrants on the basis of national origin, in order to eliminate prejudice and bias from the immigration process and provide all countries with equal access to the quotas; and
WHEREAS, The federal Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 explicitly limits presidential authority by stating that no person could be “discriminated against in the issuance of an immigrant visa because of the person’s race, sex, nationality, place of birth, or place of residence,” and the only exceptions are those expressly granted by the United States Congress; and
WHEREAS, The executive order seeks to resurrect discriminatory immigration policies based on national origin and, therefore, is in direct violation of this long-standing federal law; and
WHEREAS, The history of the United States includes shameful actions beginning in the late nineteenth century, including exclusionary laws targeted at the Chinese, Japanese, and all Asians in the so-called Asiatic Barred Zone, and the “national-origins system,” which aimed to exclude most Eastern Europeans, Asians, and Africans from entry into the United States; and
WHEREAS, There is no darker stain on the moral character of our nation’s refugee history than the refusal to accept hundreds of German Jews who, in 1939, sought to escape the Third Reich; and
WHEREAS, 937 mostly German Jews boarded the transatlantic liner St. Louis at Hamburg, Germany, but the ship was refused permission to dock in Cuba and then in the United States; and
WHEREAS, The St. Louis returned to Europe where 254 of its passengers were murdered during the Holocaust; and
WHEREAS, President Trump’s signing of his executive order on Holocaust Remembrance Day is an insult to the six million Jews who were exterminated by the Nazis and displays an immoral callousness toward the welfare of the children, women, and men fleeing a brutal civil war; and
WHEREAS, The day after the executive order was issued, a class action lawsuit was filed and a federal district court in New York issued an emergency stay, which will stop federal officials from deporting individuals with approved refugee applications, holders of valid visas, and people from the seven impacted countries who have secured authorization to enter the United States; and
WHEREAS, This court decision by Judge Ann M. Donnelly states, “There is imminent danger that, absent the stay of removal, there will be substantial and irreparable injury to refugees, visa holders, and other individuals from nations subject to the January 27, 2017, executive order”; and
WHEREAS, Federal courts throughout the nation have also issued emergency stays, which will stop federal officials from deporting individuals with approved refugee applications, holders of valid visas, and people from the seven impacted countries who have secured authorization to enter the United States; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, That the Senate condemns this executive order as a discriminatory overreach that illegally targets immigrants based on their national origin and religion, and urges the President of the United States to immediately rescind the executive order; and be it further
Resolved, That the Senate urges the federal Department of Homeland Security to comply with the federal court orders as quickly as feasible and immediately permit detained individuals to have timely access to legal counsel; and be it further
Resolved, That the Senate commends the hundreds of attorneys across the nation who volunteer their time and services to ensure the due process rights and equal protection of these refugees and legal permanent residents, and the thousands who have peacefully protested to uphold our American values; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.