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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Lake County Youth Services – which operates the Clearlake Youth Center – is holding its third annual Youth Fest on Memorial Day weekend.
The free 'Fun in the Sun Day' will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 23, at the youth center, 4750 Golf Ave.
Highlights of the day will include a car show, music, games, raffle prizes, face painting, arts and crafts, Zumba dancing and vendors.
As part of the event's goal of promoting services for Lake County youth and families, exhibitors will offer information on community resources.
For more information, contact the Clearlake Youth Center between the hours of 2 to 6 p.m. at 707-994-KIDS (5437) or call Joyce Overton at 707-350-2898.
More than a few kind-hearted Californians are unnecessarily “rescuing” western pond turtles this spring, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is imploring to the public to leave them alone.
Turtles normally travel away from water during a portion of their life cycle, and a solo turtle is not necessarily a lost or distressed turtle.
Spring is nesting season, so many turtles are leaving their aquatic habitat and traveling upland to lay eggs.
Wildlife rehabilitation centers and animal shelters report that a surprising number of people have been bringing healthy western pond turtles – California’s only native freshwater turtle species – to their facilities, thinking there is something wrong with them because they’re not in a pond.
The common name “pond turtle” doesn’t mean they never leave ponds. In fact, this species more frequently lives in rivers, streams, lakes, and permanent and temporary wetlands.
It requires terrestrial habitats not only to nest, but also to wait out extended hot, dry periods or overwinter in a state of dormancy throughout many parts of California.
While most western pond turtles nest somewhat near water, they have been documented traveling long distances (more than 500 yards) to upland habitat to lay eggs and sometimes even farther to overwinter.
With water becoming more scarce as the drought persists, more turtles are moving upland earlier in the season to estivate (summer dormancy).
People may encounter turtles during these travels and think they are lost or sick, since they are quite some distance from water.
CDFW receives many contacts from well-meaning people who report that they have found and collected what they believe to be a sick turtle, when in reality the turtle was traveling to upland habitat as part of its natural activities.
Western pond turtles are designated as a “species of special concern” in California, “critical” in Oregon, and “endangered” in Washington. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced in April that the species may warrant protection under the federal Endangered Species Act.
The turtles are known to inhabit parts of Lake County, according to wildlife officials.
“Western pond turtles face a number of threats throughout their range,” said Laura Patterson, CDFW’s Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Coordinator. “They are shy animals and sensitive to human disturbance. Anyone who removes a healthy turtle from the wild is potentially compromising its ability to successfully reproduce and survive in the future. In addition, anyone – other than a licensed wildlife rehabilitator – who releases turtles that have been kept in captivity is not only breaking the law but putting the health of wild populations at risk by spreading disease. These actions are almost always unnecessary and often quite counterproductive, so I urge the public to take a hands-off approach to caring for these sensitive, imperiled animals.”
Western pond turtle populations have declined significantly in some parts of the state, especially Southern California, due to habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation.
Predation, competition and diseases from non-native species, including pet turtles released into the wild, have also contributed to declines and localized extinctions.
According to the California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 40, it is illegal to capture, collect, intentionally kill or injure, possess, purchase, propagate, sell, transport, import or export any native reptile or amphibian, or part of one, with very few exceptions.
Native reptiles covered under the law include western pond turtles and desert tortoises.
Once they’ve been in captivity, they may not be returned to the wild without written authorization from CDFW.
It is best to leave all native wildlife alone. If you care, leave them there!
A brochure with more information on western pond turtles and what to do if you find one can be downloaded at http://tinyurl.com/ljy5cmu .
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Local and state firefighters swiftly contained a wildland fire on Tuesday afternoon in the hills above Clearlake.
The fire was dispatched shortly before 2 p.m. in the area of Napa Street and San Joaquin Avenue, according to radio reports.
Lake County Fire Protection District Chief Willie Sapeta said the origin of the fire appeared to have been a quarter-mile past Napa Street, right off of San Joaquin Avenue.
He said it started at the road and burned up to the top of the ridge on Carter Lane.
Altogether, by the time the fire was contained just after 2:30 p.m., it burned between five and seven acres, Sapeta said.
Cal Fire and Lake County Fire had unified command on the incident, based on radio reports.
Winds were a concern for firefighters, with Sapeta reporting that gusts of up to 14 miles per hour were recorded.
However, he said Cal Fire air resources helped knock the fire down fast.
Altogether, in addition to aircraft, Cal Fire sent four engines and two crews, and Lake County Fire responded with an engine, two medic units and a water tender, plus three chief officers, Sapeta said.
Mop up continued for a few hours afterward. “We'll make sure everything is out,” he said.
Radio reports indicated the incident was terminated at about 5 p.m.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, Sapeta said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Five Lake County men who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty as public safety officers will be remembered at a ceremony this week.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Chaplains will host the Safety Officer Memorial Ceremony at 5 p.m. Friday, May 15, at Lakeport's Museum Park.
The chaplains invite the public to attend the ceremony and honor the fallen – as well as those men and women who put their lives on the line every day to keep the community safe.
The men who will be commemorated at the ceremony include: from law enforcement, Sheriff George Kemp, Deputy William Hoyt and Sgt. Richard Helbush; and firefighters Michael Mattioda and Matthew Black.
Kemp, age 56, died on the night of May 5, 1910. He was attempting to take two suspects wanted for horse theft and burglary into custody near Lakeport when one of the suspects shot Kemp in the chest with a stolen rifle. Kemp died a short time later.
Hoyt, age 52, died Oct. 11, 1967. He was shot in the Lake County Courthouse by a prisoner who – while being led into the courtroom – grabbed another deputy's gun and began firing. A wounded Hoyt staggered to the counter, retrieved a gun kept below it and returned fire. He died later of his injuries.
Helbush, 34, was shot and killed on May 2, 1981, after stopping to help Robert Cox and Annika Deasy – who he didn't know were wanted for a Stockton murder – on the roadside. Cox and Deasy took Helbush's patrol car and later were apprehended after a high speed chase and gunfight on Cobb with deputies and a California Highway Patrol officer.
Mattioda, age 19, died on July 14, 1984, of injuries he suffered in a fire the previous day. According to press reports from the time, Mattioda, who worked for the Lakeshore Fire Protection District in Clearlake, was working on the Mount Baldy fire, which had begun as a structure fire before spreading into the wildland. He was burned over 70 to 90 percent of his body and died the following day of his injuries at a Chico hospital.
Black, age 20, who began working as a volunteer with the Lakeport Fire Department in 1998, died June 23, 1999. Black had responded to the scene of a grass fire that had reportedly been sparked by fallen power lines. While working at the scene to move fire hose into place, Black fell onto a live wire and was electrocuted, with his fellow firefighters unable to revive him.
Also at the Friday ceremony, the names of California law enforcement officers who died in 2014 will be read.
This week's local ceremony coincides with National Police Week, May 10 through 16.
Also on May 15, the National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Fund will mark National Peace Officers' Memorial Day and have a wreath-laying ceremony.
The organization reported that the names of 273 officers killed in the line of duty are being added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D,C., where the names of Helbush, Hoyt and Kemp are displayed on the memorial's west wall.
Those 273 officers to be added this week include 117 officers who were killed during 2014, plus 156 officers who died in previous years but whose stories of sacrifice had been lost to history until now.
The 34th annual National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend will be held October 3 and 4.
The U. S. Fire Administration Web site reported that 87 firemen died while serving the public in 2014. However, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation has not yet announced the number of men and women to be memorialized during the October event. Last year's event honored 104 firefighter who died in the line of duty in 2013.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A veteran Lakeport paraeducator has received a statewide honor.
Doreen McGuire-Grigg, a special education paraeducator at Terrace Middle School in the Lakeport Unified School District, traveled to Los Angeles last month to accept the Paula J. Monroe CTA Education Support Professional of the Year Award for 2015.
The 325,000-member California Teachers Association gave McGuire-Grigg the honor.
The organization said McGuire-Grigg's skills and dedication have made a difference for students and colleagues at the site, district and state education levels.
“I admire Doreen’s unabashed ability to do what she knows is right no matter what,” said Dean E. Vogel, president of the California Teachers Association. “CTA is a more unified and inclusive organization because of her union work and her inspiring solidarity.”
McGuire-Grigg has worked for the district 27 years. She started as a room mother when her son was in kindergarten and was hired by the district a few years later when he was in the fourth grade.
“I've been doing it ever since,” she said, adding, “I love what I do.”
For all of those nearly three decades she's worked as a teaching assistant in special education, working beside teachers at Terrace Middle School. Currently, she works one-on-one with fourth- through eighth-grade students.
During her education career, she's seen the requirements for her position change due to new laws. She was required to become “highly qualified,” which meant either taking two years of college classes or passing a test. She took some coursework and then passed a test in 2010.
“She’s been in this district for a very long time,” said Terrace Middle School Principal Jill Falconer. “She’s got so much experience.”
Falconer said there isn't a situation McGuire-Grigg couldn't handle with care. “She cares so much about the kids that she works with.”
McGuire-Grigg said the special education setting is completely different from regular classrooms.
One of the rewards, she said, it witnessing when her students experience breakthroughs.
“Having the opportunity to see those 'a ha moments' is huge,” she said.
Seeing students move ahead also is rewarding. In the Read Across America event, she invited past students who now are in high school to come and read to her current students and make breakfast.
“They see what they can do when they get older,” she said of her students.
McGuire-Grigg also works with students in the mainstream school population on yard duty, and helps the special education students work with those other populations of children. “It's really good for them for socialization.”
In her work, she sees children with different challenges and conditions, including autism, but said she can't be more specific about other conditions due to confidentiality. Mostly, she works with the learning disabled who tend to be a grade level or two behind their counterparts.
In those cases, students are sometimes caught up on grade levels and then can be moved from special education to resources classes, she said.
These days, McGuire-Grigg – who is president of the Lakeport Unified Classified Employees Association – also represents California educators on the National Education Association Board of Directors and is a delegate to the State Council of Education, CTA’s top governing body, which consists of nearly 800 elected educators. She's one of the first school support staff to be elected to national and state offices.
Those responsibilities require her to travel to meetings around the nation, as well as conferences where she conducts trainings. She recently traveled to Washington, DC and also has been to Hawaii and New Orleans for her duties.
As a result of that travel, McGuire-Grigg estimates she's away from school about half a year, or between 75 and 90 days annually. While she's away, a substitute fills in for her.
Her travels have taken her to a lot of schools in Northern California, and as a result McGuire-Grigg has concluded, “Lakeport is one of the best places for our kids.”
She calls her school “an amazing place,” noting that wonderful things are happening all the time there.
One of the projects McGuire-Grigg is working on now is a national paraeducator institute through the National Education Association. The goal is to create and share more professional development for paraeducators nationwide through a mostly online program.
“Right now we're kind of limited in the professional development we do receive,” she said. “It's nice that I get to help with that.”
Falconer said McGuire-Grigg has been an advocate for ongoing education for paraeducators, who she said need training and advice. “They’re dealing with challenging students,” she said.
Falconer added that McGuire-Grigg has been a great advocate for such professional development in the Lakeport Unified School District.
McGuire-Grigg said the big push now for paraeducators is professional development in the Common Core curriculum. “We're expected to know what to do but we're not always receiving the information.”
She said the teachers are expected to share it with their paraeducators. “It would be better if we could all go in as a team and learn together, because we're all teaching the same thing.”
McGuire-Grigg also is working on getting an anti-bullying training together this summer – ahead of the start of the new school year – for classified staff at Lakeport Unified.
She said students, teachers and administrators often are trained in anti-bullying, but that's not necessarily the case with staff including bus drivers, campus supervisors and cafeteria workers.
“It's not often that we're included in the training,” and she said anyone who works with students should be trained.
McGuire-Grigg has two years left in her term with the National Education Association Board. After that, “I plan to continue my advocacy for quite awhile,” but she may not be doing it on the national level.
She said a lot of times classified employees are “kind of the unsung heroes” of education.
Without bus drivers driving, secretaries opening doors, custodians keeping facilities clean and groundskeepers mowing lawns in the heat of the day, “the school wouldn't run.”
She added, “It's not always just about the teachers, it's about all of us working together to educate the whole child.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Four felines are waiting for adoption at Lake County Animal Care and Control this week.
The two adults and two kittens are cleared to go to new homes.
In addition to spaying or neutering, cats that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are microchipped before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.
If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets there, hoping you'll choose them.
In addition to the animals featured here, all adoptable animals in Lake County can be seen here: http://bit.ly/Z6xHMb .
The following cats at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (other cats pictured on the animal control Web site that are not listed here are still “on hold”).
Domestic short hair mix
This female domestic short hair mix has a gray tabby coat.
Shelter staff said she's very sweet and affectionate.
She's in cat room kennel No. 8, ID No. 2141.
Siamese mix kitten
This male Siamese mix kitten has a white coat with gray markings, and big blue eyes.
He's in cat room kennel No. 13c, ID No. 2148.
Siamese mix kitten
This female Siamese mix kitten has a white coat with gray markings, and like her brother has big blue eyes.
She's in cat room kennel No. 13d, ID No. 2149.
Domestic medium hair mix
This male domestic medium hair mix has an all-black coat.
Shelter staff said he is a sweet cat.
He's in cat room kennel No. 58, ID No. 2187.
Adoptable cats also can be seen at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Cats_and_Kittens.htm or at www.petfinder.com .
Please note: Cats listed at the shelter's Web page that are said to be “on hold” are not yet cleared for adoption.
To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .
Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.
Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .
For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.
Email Elizabeth Larson at