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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The prospect of giving birth and learning to care for a newborn baby can be a joyful but daunting experience, and one for which not every expectant mom is prepared.
For uncertain new moms who can use education, support and encouragement, St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake offers the “Bright Start” program.
Bright Start provides coordinated care and education to eligible low-income pregnant women, according to Kari Donley, the nurse who serves as Bright Start coordinator and educator.
Donley said 97 percent of the women who come to the Bright Start program are from Clearlake.
What makes the existence of Bright Start – a state-approved comprehensive perinatal services program – critical is that for a large segment of the newborn in Clearlake there is the likelihood of:
– Being born poor. Approximately 36.4 percent of Clearlake residents live below the poverty line – more than double state poverty level of 15.3 percent and well above the overall 24 percent poverty rate for all of Lake County – with 52.7 percent of children under age 18 in Clearlake living below the poverty line, according to the most recent data available for 2008-2012 by the American Community Survey.
– Being born into an area that is disadvantaged in health care.
– Being born – often to a single mother – in an area known to have a high incidence of substance (drug, alcohol and tobacco) abuse.
The problem, asserted Donley, is too many expectant women – often those who use drug substances – don't take advantage of the program's many services or don't even know it exists.
“We typically don't see a lot of moms who use substances,” Donley said. “They'll show up at the hospital to have their babies. So getting these moms in here early in their pregnancy is our goal.”
For good reason. Prenatal substance use has been associated with potentially deleterious and even long-term effects on exposed children.
On a more positive note, there are many expectant mothers such as Dawn Gaddy who are wise enough to avail themselves of this six-year-old service.
Has Bright Start really helped her with the birth and care of Jakob, her 6-month-old son?
“Absolutely,” said Gaddy, who with Jakob and her mother, Patricia Stone, were present for a reporter's interview in Donley's office in the Clearlake Family Health Center.
Gaddy, 29, gave birth to her first child on Sept. 17 of last year.
“It's helped me take care of him and take care of myself before Jakob was born,” Gaddy added. “They even offered to help educate me on how to breastfeed him.”
Donley beamed.
“Dawn is one of our rare moms,” she said, “because she takes advantage of the whole program.”
Bright Start is a St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake-based program. It is indeed comprehensive.
“Beginning with prenatal we take (expectant mothers) through the various stages of pregnancy up to the delivery and childbirth package,” Donley explained. “We follow up providing care and support for mothers during the postpartum period.
“We offer the program to every new (low-income) mom in Clearlake that comes in. We have a constant caseload of about 120 women,” Donley said.
Taken from the top, the Bright Start process for expectant mothers begins when they come into the hospital’s Clearlake Family Health Center.
For prenatal care, they will be counseled by one of two doctors or one of two midwives.
“We provide transportation if there's a need,” said Donley.
She said the program can provide vouchers for high-risk pregnant women who need to go to, for instance, University of California San Francisco Medical Center. “That's a fairly new program we've had for just a couple of months.”
The bedrock of the program is a document that welcomes pregnant women to Bright Start and spells out the program's goals, which are to decrease the incidence of low birth weight; improve the outcome of every pregnancy; give every baby a healthy start in life; and lower health care costs by preventing catastrophic and chronic illness in infants and children.
The document also lists Bright Start's plethora of services, beginning with the fetal development stage and ending two months after childbirth.
Expectant mothers can create their own program by picking and choosing from this document what they want to learn.
As an incentive for coming into the program, Bright Start provides five “Baby Bucks” for each visit by an expectant mom to spend at its recently established baby store.
“Women are able to gather what they need for themselves or their baby while they're pregnant at the baby store and it helps them build their nursery,” said Donley.
For more information, contact the Clearlake Family Health Center at 707-995-4500.
Email John Lindblom at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – As weather and water experts are predicting the worst statewide drought in recent history, there are many things to consider before planting a garden.
Lake County Special Districts understands that food is a basic necessity, just as water is, and believes that with some proper planning, determination and willingness to exert a little extra effort, people can continue to grow food despite the possibility of a severe water shortage.
Special Districts will host two workshops on planning and planting a garden in the midst of a severe drought.
Master Gardeners from the University of California Cooperative Extension will conduct these workshops. Topics covered will include:
- How to make your existing garden more drought tolerant;
- What you must know if you are planning a new garden (complete with recommended plant list);
- What you want out of your garden and how you can achieve it with less water.
Those in attendance will receive a phone number for the permanent Master Gardener help-line to have gardening questions answered 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, throughout the entire year.
These workshops are open to the public and will be held as follows:
- Saturday, Feb. 22, 10 a.m., Lakeport Senior Center, 527 Konocti Ave.
- Sunday, Feb. 23, 10 a.m., Finley Grange No. 680, 1510 Big Valley Road.
The drought is a serious concern for the entire county. Special Districts has established a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/lakecountyspecialdistricts for general drought-related updates and information.
Anyone with questions about these or other drought-related meetings and workshops can call Jan Coppinger at Special Districts, 707-263-0119.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – California's flu season has claimed one local victim, with state officials reporting that the majority of those who have died from flu this season were not vaccinated against the illness.
As of last Friday, the California Department of Public Health said 202 Californians had died of influenza this flu season – which began last fall – including one Lake County resident.
Lake County Health Officer Dr. Karen Tait confirmed the local flu death that was reported by California Department of Public Health officials.
Tait said she was limited in the details she could divulge about the flu victim, who was a woman in the age range of 30 to 40 years.
“The patient did have health risk factors for severe complications of influenza,” she said.
Tait also wouldn't provide the date of the woman's death, noting that “it was around the time that appeared to be the peak of this flu season, assuming that the recent decline in reported cases continues.”
Regarding whether the woman had been vaccinated, Tait said her agency didn't have definite vaccination information on the case.
Statewide, the majority of individuals who have died of the flu this year had not been vaccinated, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Corey Egel, a California Department of Public Health spokesman, told Lake County News that of the 202 reported and confirmed flu deaths in California during the current flu season, approximately 84 percent were not vaccinated and approximately 16 percent were vaccinated.
“While it is better to get vaccinated than skip it, the protection is not 100 percent,” said Tait.
In addition to the one local flu death, Tait said there have been three other confirmed influenza cases from Lake County in individuals under age 64 who required intensive care. She said those individuals were unvaccinated.
There also was a fourth person who had the flu who was hospitalized and received special monitoring, but the monitoring was not related to the influenza illness, making it not a technically reportable case, Tait said.
She said Public Health also was aware of one additional person who was hospitalized with the flu, but the case was not technically because the patient was older than age 65.
“There may be others but, again, we might not hear about them all,” Tait said, noting that only reports of deaths are mandated by law.
Lake County Public Health has requested reports of intensive care hospitalizations from local hospitals, but those aren't legally required, she said.
Based on data from past years, Tait said there was one death and three ICU hospitalizations in Lake County during the 2009-10 pandemic, no deaths or ICU hospitalizations for people under age 65 for the years 2010 and 2011, and no deaths and two hospitalizations – both in patients between the ages of 30 and 40 years – in 2012.
Lake County Public Health still has flu vaccine available for people of all ages, Tait said.
Lake County Public Health, located at 922 Bevins Court in Lakeport, offers vaccinations for $2 each from 9 to 11 a.m. Tuesdays, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays and 2 to 4 p.m. Thursdays.
Tait suggested calling 707-263-1090 or 800-794-9291 first to assure availability and confirm the hours of the clinic before coming in.
A flu vaccine finder is available at http://www.flu.gov/about_the_flu/seasonal/index.html .
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – After a weekend of much-needed rain, the forecast indicates more rain is ahead this week.
Based on 24-hour reports put together by the National Weather Service office in Sacramento, Lake County received a large amount of rain from the end of last week through Monday.
The most rain reported in Lake County was in Whispering Pines on Cobb, where 8.84 inches of rain was recorded between Thursday and Monday, according to the National Weather Service.
The following monitoring station totals are for Thursday through Monday morning.
- Clearlake (1,349 feet elevation): 3.52”
- Cow Mountain Ridge (3,355 feet elevation): 4.99”
- Gravelly Valley Airport (two miles southwest): 5.92”
- Hidden Valley Lake (one mile southeast): 2.15”
- Hidden Valley Lake (two miles east northeast): 2.46”
- Hidden Valley Lake (eight miles east northeast): 2.68”
- Hidden Valley Lake (four miles north): 4.05”
- High Glade Lookout (4,807 feet): 4.65”
- Kelseyville (two miles west southwest of Kelseyville, 1,607 feet elevation): 1.84”
- Konocti (2,163 feet elevation): 3.73”
- Lakeport (one mile south southwest of Lakeport at 1,381 feet elevation): 1.21”
- Lakeport (1,390 feet elevation): 4.19”
- Nice (three miles west southwest of Nice, 1,437 feet elevation): 4.55”
- Whispering Pines (2,700 feet): 8.84”
- Wilbur Springs (one miles south southeast, 2,085 feet): 4.34”
- Witter Springs (nine miles north northeast, 3,740 feet elevation): 5.97”
While the county got some sunshine and a chance to start drying out on Monday, this week's forecast indicates rain is set to return.
The National Weather Service says there are chances of light to moderate rain lasting from Tuesday evening through next Sunday and Monday.
In other weather news, the Sierra Nevada near Yosemite had about 7 inches of snow over the weekend, which is helping bolster the state's snowpack.
On Monday, the California Department of Water Resources reported that the snowpack's statewide percent of normal had risen to 29 percent from 15 percent last Thursday.
Meteorologist Scott Mace contributed to this report.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A special program offered by the Lake County Office of Education is giving veterans and internees the opportunity to receive long-overdue high school diplomas.
Many people in were unable to graduate with their high school class due to military service in World War II (Dec. 7, 1941-Dec. 31, 1946), the Korean War (June 25, 1950-Jan. 31, 1955), or the Vietnam War (Feb. 28, 1961-May 7, 1975), or because they were interned in WWII relocation centers for Japanese Americans, the Lake County Office of Education reported.
These individuals may now receive their high school diplomas from the Lake County Office of Education Operation Recognition program.
The program was offered for the first time in 2013. Last June, three veterans received their high school diplomas: Vietnam veterans Michael Dondero and James Sparks Jr., and Korean War veteran Lee Woodberry Sr.
Family members may apply for diplomas on behalf of qualifying persons who are deceased. The diploma recipient or the surviving family member must be current or former residents of Lake County.
“We are honored to offer the Operation Recognition program to recognize those who sacrificed for our country. This program is entirely free, and we hope many individuals and families will take advantage of the opportunity,” said Brock Falkenberg, senior director of Human Resources at Lake County Office of Education.
Form DD214 (or equivalent) or documentation of internment is required.
For assistance in locating discharge papers, contact the Lake County Veterans Service Office at 707-263-2384, 285 N. Main St., Lakeport.
Applications must be received by April 1, 2014, to qualify for the spring 2014 diploma awards ceremony, which includes a reception for honorees and family members.
For an application, visit www.lakecoe.org and type “Operation Recognition” in the search option, or contact Lake County Office of Education Human Resources at 707-262-4151.
NORTH COAST, Calif. – A Ukiah man who in February 2013 attempted to kill a Mendocino County Sheriff's deputy has received a sentence of 183 years to life.
On Monday Mendocino County Superior Court Judge John Behnke handed down the state prison sentence to 43-year-old Walter Kristopher Miller.
Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster prosecuted Miller, who was convicted of attempting to shoot Deputy Darren Brewster on Feb. 25, 2013, as Lake County News has reported.
Miller and an accomplice, Christopher Skaggs, confronted Brewster during a late-night traffic stop in Ukiah, according to the law enforcement report on the incident.
After the initial stop, Skaggs and Miller fled, with Miller leaning out of the window at one point and shooting several times at Brewster's patrol car, sheriff's officials said.
Skaggs would be taken into custody the day after the incident, with Miller surrendering following a negotiation with a law enforcement team at a Ukiah hotel two days after the shooting and chase.
The Mendocino County District Attorney's Office said a jury convicted Miller of the attempted murder of Brewster, two separate residential burglaries, threatening a witness by threat of force and felon in possession of a firearm.
Miller is a former Sonoma County resident who has a lengthy prior criminal record that includes 11 prior felony convictions and at least three prior prison commitments, which meant that California's Three Strikes law came into play to enhance his final sentence, according to Eyster's office.
Last month, Skaggs received a 13-year prison sentence after he reached a plea agreement with Eyster's office in which an attempted murder charge was dropped but he was required to plead guilty to first-degree burglary.
Email Elizabeth Larson at