How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Sutter Lakeside Hospital will host its inaugural Heroes of Health & Safety Fair Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Lake County Fairgrounds.
This family-friendly event is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the fairgrounds, 401 Martin St. in Lakeport.
Admission is free.
The Heroes of Health & Safety Fair is the shared brainchild of Chief Willie Sapeta of the Lake County Fire Protection District and Siri Nelson, chief administrative officer with Sutter Lakeside Hospital.
“We wanted to create an experience where our community has the opportunity to see all of our county’s health and safety resources in one spot,” said Sapeta. “We’ll have three medical helicopters there and a whole range of rescue vehicles, including ladder trucks, police cars, and fire engines. We’ll hold a variety of demonstrations throughout the day, including a ‘Jaws-of-Life’ extrication, and attendees will get to see the ladder truck in action. We expect over 40 Lake County health and safety organizations to attend and we want to encourage families to come out and play.”
Sutter Lakeside Hospital and Lake County Public Health will provide free flu vaccinations for attendees.
Sutter will partner with the Lakeside Health Center, St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake and Lake County Public Health to offer health screenings.
Car seat safety inspections will be performed and free children’s bike helmets will be distributed throughout the day.
The American Red Cross will perform hands only CPR demonstrations and Lake County Public Health will offer TDAP vaccinations.
“We’re really pleased to be working with such great community organizations, including St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake and the Lake County Office of Education, on this event,” said Nelson. “When Chief Sapeta approached us with the framework for the fair, it resonated with us. Sutter Lakeside is focused on fostering collaborative partnerships within our community so that the people we serve have what they need. With the remote geography of Lake County, Sutter Lakeside feels it’s imperative to spotlight just how many organizations are available to support our community’s health and safety.”
The event is sponsored by Sutter Lakeside Hospital, the Lake County Fire Chief’s Association, California Highway Patrol, St. Helena Clear Lake, Lakeside Health Center, the American Red Cross, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, the Lake County Office of Education and The Hero Project, and the Lake County Behavioral Health Services.
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Celebrate “Halloween on the Green” with a charity golf tournament benefiting local nonprofit Hammers for Hope on Friday, Oct. 24.
The tournament will take place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Hidden Valley Lake Golf Course, located at 19120 Hartmann Road in Hidden Valley Lake.
The tournament will be a four-player scramble format.
The cost is $150 per player or $500 per foursome with space limited to 30 teams.
Entry fee includes green fees, golf cart, lunch, gifts, dinner and drinks. A silent auction will be presented. Registration and lunch are at 11 a.m. with a shotgun start at noon.
The event will celebrate “Halloween on the Green” with golfers, sponsors, and other participants invited to dress up in their spookiest, zaniest, most ridiculous Halloween costume.
The mission of Hammers for Hope is to assist seniors, low-income individuals and families, and people with disabilities in making minor home repairs and necessary accommodations for people with accessibility issues.
The goal is to keep homeowners living independently in the safety and comfort of their homes.
While the organization would like to be able to help everyone who needs assistance, services are based on need, funds available and volunteerism.
“Hammers for Hope relies on local volunteer help, in-kind support, and donations,” said Danielle Matthews Seperas, Hammers for Hope’s vice president and manager of government and community affairs for Calpine Corporation. “The goal with this tournament is to raise money to make our efforts go even further. We want to assist as many people in our community as we can.”
Hammers for Hope partners Kelseyville Lumber and Calpine Corp. are working together to host the golf tournament, which is the organization’s first fundraiser.
Several area businesses also have committed to sponsoring the event, including Moore Family Winery, GK Enterprises, Obie Drill & Casing and Hug’s Painting with TNG Energy Services and Southwest Contractors pledging Platinum sponsorships; Team Industrial Services and United Rentals as Gold sponsors; and B & L Casing Services, Clipper Controls, CTI, Mechanical Insulation Supply, MP Environmental Services, SPX Cooling Technologies and many others sponsoring as well.
“Funds raised from this tournament will help us continue our mission of providing charitable assistance to people right here in our community,” said Rob Brown, Hammers for Hope’s president. “Our local businesses have been extremely supportive of our efforts.”
Registration forms are available online at www.hammersforhope.org .
Checks may be made payable to Hammers for Hope (non-profit ID #46-0948170) and delivered to the Calpine Geothermal Visitor Center or mailed to Hammers for Hope, P.O. Box 1612, Middletown, CA 95461.
For more information about the golf tournament, call Vera at the Visitor Center at 707-987-4270.
Established in 2012, Hammers for Hope is a California nonprofit organization founded to assist seniors, low- to moderate-income individuals and families, and people with disabilities in making minor home repairs to improve their comfort and safety.
The organization provides free and low-cost home repairs and upgrades to those in need in Lake and Sonoma counties.
Hammers for Hope is a collaborative effort made possible by the work of local contractors and community volunteers with major funding provided by Calpine Corp. and assistance from Kelseyville Lumber.
For more information about Hammers for Hope or to apply for assistance, donate or volunteer, go online to www.hammersforhope.org .
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The deadline to register to vote for the upcoming general election is less than two weeks away, according to the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office.
Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley said the last day to register to vote for the Nov. 4 election is Monday, Oct. 20.
Fridley said new residents of Lake County and registered voters who have moved to a new address, changed their mailing address within the county or changed their name may need to reregister in order to be eligible to vote Nov. 4.
Pursuant to Section 2101 of the California Elections Code: “A person entitled to register to vote shall be a United States citizen, a resident of California, not in prison or on parole for the conviction of a felony, and at least 18 years of age at the time of the next election.”
Residents may register to vote at the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office or online by visiting http://registertovote.ca.gov/ .
Registration forms also are available at most local post offices, libraries, city offices and chamber of commerce offices.
For those using paper voter registration forms, the completed forms must be either personally delivered to the Registrar of Voters office, Room 209 on the second floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St. in Lakeport, on or before Oct. 20 or postmarked on or before Oct. 20 and received by mail by the Registrar of Voters Office.
For more information call the Registrar of Voters Office at 707-263-2372.
NORTH COAST, Calif. – The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau approved the new Eagle Peak, Mendocino County, American Viticultural Area, or AVA, this week.
The final rule will be published in the Federal Register in the next few days and the appellation will be available for use on labels after 30 days.
“It is important to have official recognition of this growing region in Mendocino County,” said Golden Vineyards owner, Julie Golden. “Our Heart Arrow Ranch (now in the new AVA) sits on a striking, southern facing ridge perfectly suited to growing world-class Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.”
Named after a prominent nearby summit, the Eagle Peak, Mendocino County, AVA consists of steep rugged terrain, high elevations, moderate temperatures, cooling winds, and well-drained mountain soils.
It is reported to be ideally situated in a climatic transition zone between the cool, wet climate of the Pacific coast and the warm, dry inland valleys of Mendocino County.
“We realized after doing soil tests and reviewing the growing degree-days data that we had an ideal terroir for making top quality wines. This was why we partnered with the Fetzer family and other nearby neighbors to propose the Eagle Peak, Mendocino County, AVA,” said Golden.
The new AVA is situated 125 miles north of San Francisco and encompasses nearly 21,000 acres of mountainous terrain.
Only 115 acres are currently under vine between Golden, Masút, Linholme, Sea Biscuit South and Turan Vineyards.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Hay is for horses. But what happens when there is a hay shortage?
Ensuring against such an eventuality is the reason a hay assistance program for horses of Lake and neighboring counties was formed.
The undertaking is under the direction of SAFER North Counties Horse Rescue.
A 501(c)3 nonprofit created by Kate Sullivan of Sonoma County in 2009, SAFER – which stands for “Sonoma Action for Equine Rescue” – has since expanded to include Lake and Mendocino counties.
Since its creation, SAFER has saved more than 80 horses, including 20 through an American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals matching grant of $4,000 – for a total of $8,000. More than 200 horses have been rehomed by SAFER, according to the organization.
“During the recession we were aware that people who owned horses were leaving their homes without places to keep their horses,” said Angie Herman, a SAFER board member from Mendocino County. “So our focus was to try to help people hang on to those horses by providing feed until they could get back on their feet … and if they were unable to find work or did lose their home we held rehome those horses.”
Herman has two horses of her own and recently lost another that lived to be 34 years old.
Lake County became a supporter of the hay assistance program when Rainbow Agricultural Services in Lakeport began making it possible for horse-loving customers to commit money from their own personal accounts to help feed horses at its cashier stand.
Rainbow Ag clerk Tammy Erickson said the fundraising effort has been successful.
Two Kelseyville area women, Barbara Kroboth and Carlene Cady, have been the liaisons for the hay assistance program in Lake County.
“All four of my children grew up with horses,” said Kroboth. “It kept them occupied and off the street.”
She supports the program because it helps people keep their horses a little longer, she said.
“With the recession it was pretty touch and go there for a while,” she added. “We couldn’t sell horses; nobody would buy them.”
While the vision of families providing a place for horses to live is warming, there's a darker, chilling side.
“Some of them end up in the Petaluma auction yard,” said Herman.
“We would go to the auction to try to get horses out of there. There are buyers who will go to the small local auction yards like Petaluma, bid for horses, and then take them to a larger auction, maybe in Turlock or Fallon, Nevada. The people who attend those auctions we call the ‘meat buyers,’ because they put them on a truck and haul them to Mexico,” she added.
There to become meat or glue.
“Some people take their horse to auction thinking they’ll find a new home,” said Herman, “then finally they get picked up by people who want to pick up 30 to 40 horses all at once.
“We were actually trying to help a person who had 97 stallions. They were not trained. While we were trying to figure out what to do (the horses’ owner) met somebody who offered to take the stallions and give them a wonderful home.
“A couple of days later they hauled them to the Petaluma auction.
“There are so many people out there who will say their daughter or granddaughter always wanted a horse of her own,” she added. “They’ll come up with some very heartwarming stories. People will give up horses only to find out that that person took their horse straight to auction so they could make a few bucks on them.”
Kroboth said that very few Lake County horses are sold to people who are in the quick-buck horse business, partly because the closest auction is in Petaluma.
SAFER is waging a strenuous campaign to save horses from inhumane lives and, ultimately, deaths.
“We have actually taken in a few horses from animal control who have been extremely emaciated,” says Herman. “One we took in was really untouchable ... I don’t know if he was abused or incredibly frightened, but most of them have new homes and new people and are doing beautifully.
“It really surprises you when you see how much they can come back,” she said. “Some look like walking skeletons. It may take several months, but they do come around and they can be great horses.”
For more information or to donate, visit www.saferhorse.com .
Email John Lindblom at
The chief of Cal Fire said Wednesday that the agency is grounding the 22 remaining Grumman S-2T airtankers in its fleet and will carry out an evaluation of the aircraft and pilots following a fatal airtanker crash on Tuesday.
Cal Fire also identified the airtanker pilot killed Tuesday afternoon as Geoffrey “Craig” Hunt, 62, of San Jose.
A 13-year veteran pilot of DynCorp International – which is under contract with Cal Fire – Hunt was working on the Dog Rock Fire near Yosemite National Park when the crash occurred.
Hunt was based out of Cal Fire's Hollister Air Attack Base. He is survived by a wife and two daughters.
“We continue to mourn the tragic loss of Craig,” said Chief Ken Pimlott, Cal Fire director. “We know wildland firefighting is an inherently dangerous job, but Craig made the ultimate sacrifice.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Craig’s family during this difficult time,” said Jeff Cavarra, program director for DynCorp International.
Pimlott said during a Wednesday morning press conference that contact with the Grumman S-2T airtanker – known as Tanker 81 – Hunt was flying was lost just before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, and an accountability process was immediately put into place.
He said a Yosemite National Park search and rescue team responded and began looking for the downed plane.
Pimlott said Hunt's plane was located shortly after nightfall in a remote area. The recovery effort continued on Wednesday morning.
“This affects the entire firefighting community when we have this tragic loss,” Pimlott said.
Pimlott said Hunt died serving the state and his community, and protecting lives and property.
The National Transportation Safety Board assumed command of the investigation on Wednesday, with Pimlott stating that Cal Fire was supporting the process.
The Grumman S-2T airtankers in Cal Fire's fleet date back to 1958, when they were in service with the United States Navy as carrier-based aircraft, Pimlott said.
The planes were made available to the state of California in the late 1990s through a federal excess property program, according to Pimlott.
He said all of the planes were completely retrofitted and rebuilt, and repowered with turbine engines. Essentially new aircraft, the planes were put into service in the early 2000s, with the final three tankers put into service in 2005.
The planes, manufactured by Grumman Aerospace of New York, have a 1,200-gallon fire retardant payload, and are used for a fast initial attack delivery on wildland fires, according to Cal Fire.
All of Cal Fire's aircraft go through an aggressive maintenance program and are rotated through the agency's Sacramento-based maintenance facility, Pimlott said. He added that all of the aircraft are within their maintenance cycle.
Pimlott said Cal Fire receives federal safety awards for its maintenance programs, and agency officials feel strongly about the safety of the aircraft.
Nevertheless, shortly after the Tuesday crash it was decided to place the rest of the Grumman S-2T tankers in a safety stand down, Pimlott said. All of the aircraft and the status of their pilots are now being evaluated.
With those aircraft temporarily unavailable, Pimlott said the US Forest Service has moved 13 large airtankers into California and deployed them to the areas of greatest need. Cal Fire also has available two DC-10 tankers and multiple helicopters.
California is the only state left with significant fire activity at this time, Pimlott said. If needed, the California National Guard can be activated.
“As of today we are very comfortable with the assets in play and will continue to evacuate as this process plays out,” Pimlott said.
Officials said the Dog Rock Fire's cause remains under investigation. By Wednesday night it had burned 250 acres.
Gov. Jerry Brown expressed his condolences to Hunt's family on Wednesday.
“Anne and I were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Craig Hunt, who bravely fought wildfires throughout the state. Our deepest condolences go to his family, friends and colleagues,” the governor said.
In honor of Hunt, Brown ordered State Capitol flags to be flown at half-staff.
Email Elizabeth Larson at