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California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Director and State Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith has warned consumers about the risks associated with wearing decorative contact lenses.
“Wearing any kind of contact lens, including decorative lenses, without proper consultation of an eye care professional can cause serious injury,” Dr. Smith said. “The risks include infection, ulcers, decreased vision, cuts or scratches to the surface of the eye, itchiness or redness. If these conditions are left untreated, the injuries can progress rapidly. In severe cases, blindness and eye loss can occur.”
The sale of contact lenses without a prescription is illegal. Only Board of Optometry licensed optometrists and ophthalmologists are authorized to prescribe and dispense prescription contact lenses.
Medical Board of California registered opticians and optical shops are authorized to fill contact lens prescriptions.
Decorative contact lenses are intended to temporarily change the appearance of the eye, but do not correct vision.
Advertised as color, cosmetic, fashion and theatrical contact lenses, they are especially popular around Halloween. Decorative contact lenses are typically sold at beauty supply and novelty stores.
Consumers who have experienced any injury or illness with decorative contact lenses should contact their health care provider. Consumers can report the illegal sale of decorative contact lenses without a prescription to CDPH’s Food and Drug Branch Hotline at 1-800-495-3232 to initiate an investigation.
I respect Jose “Moke” Simon III and the job he does as council tribal chair of the Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians.
However, did you know that if elected as the District 1 supervisor, he will be setting ordinances for all of us in Lake County that he and his tribe, as members of a sovereign nation, do not have to follow? That concerns me.
Monica Rosenthal is, fortunately, another strong candidate running for District 1 supervisor. She knows county government and the people who run it and she has a history of bringing people together to make the process work.
Most importantly, she wants to preserve what we value in our beautiful county while raising our standard of living through responsible economic development.
Please join me not just in voting for Monica, but in getting to know her and helping others to know her. It is so important for us to carefully choose our county representatives.
Feel free to contact me with any questions or go to www.monicaforsupervisor.com for more information.
Beth Rudiger lives in Lower Lake, Calif., and owns a business in Middletown, Calif.
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Lake County Public Works Department reported that a portion of Dry Creek Road was closed on Tuesday morning.
The impacted portion of roadway is at the Dry Creek Bridge, where the heavy rains led to a washout of the roadway. The agency is now making repairs to make the road passable again.
The road is closed until further notice.
For more information contact Lake County Public Works at 707-263-2341.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – After a heavy day of rain on Monday, forecasters are predicting Lake County has still more precipitation to look forward to this week thanks to more incoming storm systems.
Steady rain fell over the county on Monday and into Monday night, with light rain continuing into early Tuesday morning.
The National Weather Service's 24-hour rainfall totals ending at 3 a.m. Tuesday were as follows, in inches:
– Bartlett Springs: 1.69.
– Bear Creek (Lake/Colusa County line): 0.99.
– Cobb: 3.83.
– High Glade Lookout (above Upper Lake): 1.82.
– Indian Valley Reservoir: 0.99.
– Kelseyville: 1.77.
– Lakeport: 1.0.
– Lower Lake: 2.09.
– Lyons Valley: 0.86.
– Middletown: 2.27.
– Upper Lake: 1.40.
– Whispering Pines: 2.88.
The US Geological Survey gauge on Clear Lake showed that the lake rose from just under 1.35 feet Rumsey on Sunday to a peak of about 1.5 feet Rumsey on Monday due to the rain. By early Tuesday the lake level had dropped back to just under 1.40 feet Rumsey.
The National Weather Service's updated forecast for Lake County calls for two more storm systems to impact the county and much of Northern California through the remainder of the week.
The forecast calls for a 50-percent chance of showers during the day and night on Tuesday, with rainfall totals of less than four-tenths of an inch predicted.
Forecasters said rain is expected to continue through Sunday.
Temperatures will remain cool, with daytime highs in the high 50s and nighttime lows in the high 40s, forecasters said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – At its October meeting, the Lakeport Planning Commission approved a daycare expansion, approved an architectural and design review for a commercial property and gave the go-ahead for a couple who lost their home in the Valley fire last year to build a new home in the city.
The commission on Oct. 12 approved Jamie Young Day Care's plans to expand into a large daycare facility in an existing single family residence at 1097 N. Tunis.
Young currently is operating a small daycare facility, which under state licensing requirements can have a maximum of eight children, according to city Associate Planner Dan Chance.
Requirements for the larger operation include a use permit, an outdoor play area that's enclosed by a 4-foot fence plus a 6-foot fence separating it from other properties, operating hours of 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., two onsite parking spaces and certain fire safety precautions, Chance said.
Chance said there currently are other daycare facilities about a half-mile away. He said staff recommended that two onsite parking spaces be used for dropoff and pickup, and noted that the facility proposes hours of 4:15 a.m. to 6 p.m. due to the fact that some of the parents work out-of-county. He said he believes the location works well for the early morning dropoff needs.
Due to concerns about sight distance, the commission gave consensus to add language to the requirements to include maintaining vegetation to appropriate standards.
Young told the commission during her brief comments that she hopes to have at least 14 children in her program.
The city received one letter voicing concerns from a resident of the area who believed the area is too dangerous to accommodate a facility, that the site isn't large enough and that he's heard other neighbors complain.
The commission moved to approve the project 4-0, with Commissioner Harold Taylor absent.
The commission also approved the architectural and design review for West Lake Auto at 2195 S. Main St., where two structures were built without required planning and building permits.
The project consisted of legalizing those two buildings – one an auto sales office, the second a commercial garage.
Because the property valuations would exceed the $56,874 valuation threshold at which frontage improvements would need to be made – which the city suggested should include 342 feet of curb and gutter – the city gave applicant Heath Fifield the choice of making the improvements or reducing the square footage so that the valuation would be reduced and the improvements would not be triggered.
Fifield told the commission he intended to do the latter, which would involve removing a 450-square-foot storage area on the garage/shop building.
Chair Ken Wicks Jr. said he wanted the timeframe to get building permits shortened to six months.
In other business, the commission unanimously approved Donald and Mary Einarsson's plans for a new home at 2024 Hampton Park in the Victorian Village development across from Kmart.
General contractor Bob Ore said the home needed to have most of its amenities on the first floor due to the needs of the Einarssons, an elderly couple whose home burned in the Valley fire.
The home matches the Victorian/Queen Anne-style homes in the development with a turret but at a lower elevation than the other homes. Ore said the development's guiding documents don't require a turret as a design element but only that it meets architectural guidelines.
The three-bedroom home is about 1,500 square feet, a reduction of about 400 square feet from the original design. Ore said the downstairs has a living room, a bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom that meets the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the additional bedrooms upstairs.
“I think it's going to be a good enhancement to the area,” said Ore.
Commissioner Suzanne Russell originally wanted the turret to be made to rise higher, but during the discussion it was decided that making such changes would only increase the cost of the already expensive building project.
Ray Somberg, one of Victorian Village's owners and president of the homeowners association, said the association favored the project as proposed.
“I think this is a good step forward. I encourage a lot more of it,” Wicks said before the commission voted to approve the project.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Air Quality Management District reported that Lake County's annual burn ban is still in effect.
Cal Fire has lifted its burn permit suspension, which prevents any burning during peak fire season, however they have not declared an end to fire season, the district said.
The district reported that the burn ban includes all open waste burning, though exemption burns are now possible, with the lifting of the burn permit suspension by Cal Fire.
These exemptions may include burns for agricultural operations, essential control burns for fire safety projects, public safety burns, specific burns in the Valley fire recovery areas and others, according to the district's report.
To obtain an exemption, first contact the Lake County Air Quality Management District at 707-263-7000 to determine need, then your local fire protection agency so that your burn site can be inspected and evaluated for fire safety.
The district said that only after the fire agency has inspected the burn site and notified the air quality management district that the proposed burn is fire safe can individuals obtain a written exemption permit.
Anyone responsible for open burning during the ban without an exemption permit may be subject to a citation, fines and the cost of the fire agency response to extinguish the fire, the district said.
Burn restrictions will remain in effect until Cal Fire declares an end to fire season, according to the district.
Lake County’s joint fire and air quality management district’s open burning program has incorporated both fire safety and air quality management since 1987, and officials say it has greatly contributed to Lake County’s fire safety and air quality.