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MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Do you live in Middletown, Hidden Valley, Cobb or Loch Lomond? Are you looking for a physically and mentally challenging adventure?
Would you like the opportunity to help protect and serve your neighbors? Can you give up your valuable time to feel rewarded and appreciated?
If so, the South Lake County Fire Protection District is accepting volunteer firefighter applications through Nov. 30.
To qualify, volunteers must be at least 18 years of age and reside within six minutes or two miles of the district's boundaries; possess and maintain a valid Class "C" California Driver's License; be a high school graduate or have a GED equivalent; fill out an application in full and provide a DMV printout with your application; complete a physical agility test prior to starting the academy; and meet district medical standards by the district's designated physician, including drug screening.
Pick up an application at the main station, located at 21095 Highway 175, Middletown during normal business hours.
Mandatory orientation and interviews will take place in December. The academy will begin in January or February and meet twice weekly from 6 to 10 p.m. and one Saturday a month. The academy will last through spring.
Call 707-987-3089 for more information.
CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – Authorities are investigating a Thursday morning wreck that claimed a life on the Northshore.
The crash occurred just before 7 a.m. on Highway 20 at Island Drive in Clearlake Oaks, according to preliminary reports from the California Highway Patrol.
A car collided with a vacuum truck owned by a private contractor, resulting in one fatality, said Northshore Fire Chief Jay Beristianos.
The car's male driver was trapped inside the vehicle and later died, according to reports from the scene.
Firefighters reported that the vehicle was taken to the nearby Caltrans yard to extricate the victim.
The highway was reported to have been blocked for a time, reopening shortly before 10:30 a.m., according to the CHP.
Additional details will be posted as they become available.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Another winter storm is expected to hit Northern California this weekend, making it the third storm in a row in recent weeks, forecasters said.
The National Weather Service in Sacramento is predicting that a Pacific frontal system will move into Northern California Saturday night, bringing rain, thunderstorms and mountain snow across most of the region for the remainder of the weekend and into the start of next week.
In the case of snow, the two recent storms have coated California's higher elevations – including the mountains in northern Lake County – with a thin layer of snow, according to satellite imagery and mapping provided by the National Weather Service.
The specific forecast for Lake County puts the chance of showers beginning on Saturday night at 50 percent, with showers likely on Sunday.
Conditions are expected to clear during the day Monday, with chances of rain from Monday night through Wednesday, according to the forecast.
Total rainfall from the storm is expected to be between a quarter and half an inch of rain throughout most of Lake County, with between half an inch and an inch in the county's northern mountain areas.
The National Weather Service continues to urge caution in burn areas due to the potential for rain to cause heavy debris flow.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Library invites the public to get to know about Lake County’s Soper Reese Theatre in the Nov. 21 installment of Know Lake County, a free lecture series.
The diverse programs take place on the third Saturday of each month from February through December at 2 p.m. at the Lakeport branch of the Lake County Library, 1425 N. High St.
Mike Adams, the operations executive director for the Soper Reese Theatre, will present a program on the “Soper Reese Theatre – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.”
Adams will discuss the history of the Lakeport Theater, the Reese family, the acquisition by the Lake County Arts Council and the renovation process to date.
The conversion of the Lakeport Theater, a movie house, into the Soper Reese Theatre, a performance venue, began in the 1990s and will continue into the future.
Adams also will cover the long- and short-range plans and the current and future uses of the theater. The theater's Web site is www.soperreesetheatre.com .
Adams is a general contractor and was the facilities planner at Mendocino College from 1985 to 2013. He has been involved in the planning and renovation of the theater from 2004 to the present. He has been operations executive director since 2011.
Know Lake County delves into many facets of Lake County, including human history, natural history, outdoor recreation, science, performing arts and programs for children.
The family-friendly programs are designed to inform and entertain Lake County residents about Lake County.
Some programs will cover interesting lore about the county and others will cover the work that community organizations perform.
Know Lake County’s 2015 series will conclude in December with Carolyn Jarrett from the Children’s Museum of Art and Science.
Know Lake County will continue in 2016 with a new series of lectures beginning in February.
For more information about Know Lake County and other library programs call 707-263-8817.
The Lake County Library is on the Internet at http://library.lakecountyca.gov and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LakeCountyLibrary .
Library events are also posted at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Lake_County_CA__Library/Calendar.htm .
Jan Cook works for the Lake County Library.
California continues to experience high numbers of motorcycle-involved collision deaths and injuries within the California Highway Patrol’s jurisdiction.
In 2013, motorcycle-involved fatal and injury collisions increased approximately 4.5 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively, during the previous 12 months.
The CHP has been awarded a grant, Have A Good Ride II (HAGR II), to promote motorcycle safety and awareness.
From Oct. 1, 2015, through Sept. 30, 2016, the HAGR II grant goals are to reduce the number of motorcycle-involved fatal and injury traffic collisions statewide.
“A motorcyclist has the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities as any other motorist on the roadway,” CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow said. “The educational efforts supported by this grant will improve safety for motorists as well as motorcyclists.”
The CHP will deploy officers on enhanced motorcycle safety enforcement operations in regions with a high number of motorcycle incidents.
Periods of traditionally heavy motorcycle activity such as May, which is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month; Memorial Day; Fourth of July; and designated motorcycle events in 2016 will also be targeted.
A year-long series of motorcycle traffic safety education events will be held. The campaigns will include HAGR II public service announcements for radio stations, the Internet and movie theaters.
The PSAs will promote the use of approved helmets for all riders and raise motorists’ awareness of sharing the road with motorcyclists. The messages also will remind riders to refrain from speeding, improper turning, and driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
Throughout the HAGR II campaign, the CHP will emphasize the “Share the Road” message.
To help get that message across to the motoring public and to reach the goals set for the grant, the CHP, in conjunction with the California Department of Transportation, will display “Share the road – Look twice for motorcyclists” on changeable message signs on highways across California.
Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
NORTH COAST, Calif. – Two young women are at the heart of a new effort that seeks to bring awareness to the problem of suicide among veterans while addressing suicide's enduring stigma.
Cassie Shapiro of Petaluma and Evita De La Cruz of Oak Hills have taken on the campaign because both lost husbands to suicide and so have experienced the tragedy firsthand.
While both are continuing the process of grieving and understanding their husbands' struggles, they want to help others facing the same challenges and, at the same time, prevent more deaths through a new organization De La Cruz founded in July, the Veteran Suicide Awareness Project.
A definitive veteran suicide rate remains an issue that appears to be in dispute among health experts, with studies in recent years offering different possible numbers and conclusions.
However, some recent data suggests a spike in suicides among younger veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, and that suicide deaths among members of the military are far higher than the general population. Still other reports assert that thorough research needed to arrive at solid numbers is lacking.
Shapiro and De La Cruz said people are reaching out to them to share their own stories and to offer support, and on the Veteran Suicide Awareness Project Facebook page there are numerous reports from individuals about friends and family members in the military who died by suicide.
The organization also aims to offer assistance for the families of veterans who die by suicide, who De La Cruz said often are excluded from the help offered to other military families that experience a service member's death.
Fundraising efforts include t-shirt sales and a “ruck march” to raise awareness. The first was held in September – which is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month – in Southern California and another in Rohnert Park is scheduled for this Saturday, Nov. 14, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Sunrise Park, 5301 Snyder Lane.
A wife searches for answers
Cassie Shapiro met her husband, Steven, when she was 17 and he was 21. By that time, Steven Shapiro had already been through a lot in life. He never knew his father, who his mother had met while they were serving in the Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base. After his mother was discharged, his father was sent to Germany.
His mother later died by suicide, and so he spent most of his life in foster care after authorities couldn't track down his father. When he was 18, the woman who had been his only foster mother died, leaving him on his own. His wife said he considered himself homeless, staying on couches and working odd jobs.
“It was very rough and rocky up until he and I started dating,” Cassie Shapiro said. “He wasn't very open with his life and what he had gone through.”
They didn't start dating until Cassie was 23. Steven Shapiro met Cassie's parents – who live in Hidden Valley Lake – and enjoyed spending time with her father, an Army veteran and a member of the National Guard. A few months into the young couple's' relationship, he went with her father to a recruiting station in Santa Rosa and signed up to go into the Army.
The couple married at the end of December 2009, and that following March Steven Shapiro left for basic training in Fort Knox, Kentucky. After basic training, he was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas. Cassie Shapiro said her husband came back to Lake County, they packed her things and drove to Texas.
At the start of February 2011 Steven Shapiro deployed for Iraq. After he left, his wife found out she was pregnant with their son – happy news she gave him over the phone when he landed in Kuwait. They then decided it was best for her to move back to Hidden Valley Lake to stay with her parents.
When their son was born at the end of September 2011, Steven Shapiro came home on a two-week leave so he could be home for the birth.
When he went back to Iraq, he received news from his unit that they were returning to the United States within a week, and his wife said he went to work preparing to depart for Iraq while she started making arrangements to move with her son back to Texas.
But, on Oct. 21, 2011, just a few days before he was set to return from his assignment supporting Operation New Dawn, Army Private First Class Steven Shapiro – assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division as an M1 armor crewman – died at age 29.
At the time, Army officials said publicly that his death was the result of a “noncombat related incident,” and that it was under investigation. Few details were made available to his family.
While his wife was told how he died, she was told not to mention it to the press. “Things have changed a lot since then,” Cassie Shapiro said, noting now there is more awareness and more people are talking openly about the issue of suicide among veterans and active duty service members.
After her husband's death, Cassie Shapiro said she received a lot of support from friends and neighbors in the Hidden Valley Lake and Middletown communities.
“The entire town lined the streets for my husband,” she said, breaking down, recalling the procession for the return of his body.
For the community to show so much love and support for him, “it meant more than I can even describe in words,” she said. “It's amazing what a small town can do.”
She added, it was like “getting a big hug from everyone.”
One of the first people to reach out to her was Gold Star mother Denise Wilson of Clearlake, whose son Ivan died in Afghanistan in June 2008.
The investigation the Army eventually would complete didn't pinpoint what caused Steven Shapiro to commit suicide, Cassie Shapiro said.
“There really were no signs,” she said, recounting they had been on Skype earlier on the day he died, discussing preparations for reuniting in Texas.
While the couple was financially stable, had a solid marriage and a new baby – Steven Shapiro had always wanted his own family – his wife believes his death was a combination of many things.
For one, she said the transition from “soldier mode” to a home visit took him almost the entire two weeks that he was home for their son's birth. He had only just started to relax when he had to return to Iraq.
There also has been another sign of trouble – upon his return to Iraq, he had been red-flagged during a mental health screening and told to get assistance. She later found out he had reached out to a rabbi, who wasn't able to connect with him before his death.
It was several months after his death that a colonel and a lieutenant colonel visited Cassie Shapiro's Sonoma County home to hand her a copy of the investigative report into her husband's death. She found out that he had left a note, saying he loved her and that he was feeling depressed, but he gave no reason for the decision to take his life. “That was it.”
She said it took more than a year for the Army to finally release to her all of his belongings, including his cell phone, laptop and external hard drive.
Cassie Shapiro said she has received a lot of support over the years. Through that network of support she and De La Cruz would meet online in a support group, meeting in person in February at a retreat for widows in Southern California.
“We automatically clicked,” De La Cruz recalled.
Their shared experience helped make the connection and build the bond.
Seeking to save others
Like Shapiro, De La Cruz was left a young widow with young children, and had to move forward and find answers – or, at least, start the search – on her own.
De La Cruz and her husband, James, a native of Houston, Texas, met while they both served in the military in Iraq – he a sergeant in the Army, she as an Air Force Reserve medic.
During their initial deployments, he was in Iraq for a year – “outside the wire,” in the combat zone – while she was there for six months, working on the base.
They were married in December of 2010 and their daughter was born the following April. The were based at Fort Hood.
James De La Cruz was deployed for the second time to Iraq when his daughter was 3 months old, which meant that he watched her grow up on Skype, his wife said. The couple also was raising her son from a previous relationship.
By the time her husband was deployed that last time, Evita De La Cruz said she knew he had post traumatic stress disorder. He returned home in July 2012.
Not long before he died at age 29 on Jan. 13, 2013, he had made comments both to his wife and other family members about committing suicide. It nonetheless came as a shock to his wife.
She said it took her more than a year to be able to accept that her husband died by suicide. “I would do anything I could to not say it,” she said. “It's such a stigma.”
However, through her own journey – which has included therapy and connecting with others who have endured similarly tragic circumstances – she said she came to understand that her husband's manner of death doesn't define who he was as a man, father and husband. She said she wants others to understand that as well.
He loved his country and he served with pride, she said.
“The suicide wasn't who my husband was. That wasn't who Cassie's husband was,” she said.
And their manner of death, she added, “doesn't mean that they shouldn't be honored.”
De La Cruz said she's also now had the opportunity to talk about the subject of suicide on military bases, which has been healing for her.
One of the problems her husband faced, she said, was that he didn't want to be seen as weak or to admit he had a problem for fear of repercussions.
Earlier this year, when she decided to start her organization, De La Cruz said she wanted Shapiro to join her in the effort, explaining that there was no one better to help because of her firsthand experience.
“She's my other half,” De La Cruz said of her friend.
Once De La Cruz decided to start the nonprofit organization, “She got to work right away,” said Shapiro. When De La Cruz, the president, asked her to be her vice president, “I gladly accepted, without hesitation,” Shapiro added.
They've already received a lot of support in a short amount of time, Shapiro said. In addition to future ruck marches – with the potential for up to four annually – there also are plans for a catfish tournament in May to support the organization.
De La Cruz said the money they are raising will go toward holiday boxes for children who lost veteran parents to suicide. “We have 22 families that we're going to be picking, but I would like to double that,” she said. “A lot of these families are struggling.”
The Nov. 14 ruck march will be the last one Shapiro can do on the North Coast, as she's planning to move from Petaluma to Texas to start nursing school. She's received help in her plans through the Army's Survivor Outreach Services program.
De La Cruz said she decided that she wanted to take the life she's been given and make something positive out of it, and in so doing try to prevent others from suffering the same.
If they can help at least one person not to take their own life, and spare other families from experiencing the pain of that loss, “Then our husbands did not die in vain,” De La Cruz said.
For more information about the Veteran Suicide Awareness Project, visit the Web site, the Instagram account @veteransuicideawarenessproject , the Facebook page, email
Email Elizabeth Larson at