How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Traffic collisions are the leading cause of death of teenagers in the United States and in California.
Each year, thousands of young drivers and their passengers are killed in collisions.
To help bring awareness to this national problem, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) will participate in the sixth annual National Teen Driver Safety Week, Oct. 14-20.
“This week is dedicated to focusing attention on a national concern as a way to bring about change locally,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “By educating new drivers early on and arming them with the information needed to become a safe driver, our goal is to prevent future tragedies from occurring on the road.”
According to the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System for 2010, the most recent year that finalized data is available, there were more than 57,000 drivers between the ages of 16 to 19 involved in collisions in California. A teen driver was determined to be at fault in 67 percent of those collisions.
“Safe driving habits begin at home,” added Commissioner Farrow. “Parents can help by communicating the rules of the road to their teen driver and serving as a good role model behind the wheel.”
Bringing new drivers and their parents together, the CHP offers Start Smart a free, two-hour driver safety education class that is offered throughout the state.
Parents or guardians are encouraged to contact their local CHP office for additional details and information on when classes are scheduled.
On Saturday, Oct. 20, there also will be a daylong teen car control clinic sponsored by the National Auto Sport Association and the CHP in Lakeport.
For more information on that clinic visit www.nasacarcontrol.org , or contact CHP Officer Kory Reynolds at the CHP at 707-279-0103 or Lake County resident and clinic coach Eric Wheaton at 707-535-9148. Cost for the clinic is $99.
National Teen Driver Safety Week, established by Congress in 2007, is dedicated to raising awareness and seeking solutions to preventable teen deaths on the road. It is held annually during the third week of October.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County’s median and mean incomes for households were up slightly last year, while median and mean incomes were down for families.
The information came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2011 American Community Survey, which provides a wide range of important statistics about the people, housing and economy in all communities in the country.
American Community Survey information showed that the U.S. median household income for 2011 was $50,502, while California’s was $57,287.
Lake County’s median – or midpoint – household income last year was $35,991, up from $34,910 in 2010.
A Lake County News review of American Community Survey statistics going back to 2005 found that in that time Lake County household median incomes peaked at $40,946 in 2007.
The household mean, or average, income in Lake County was $50,990 in 2011, up from $47,688. During the 2005-2011 review period, that mean number had peaked at $55,200 in 2007.
Median income for Lake County families was $44,516 in 2011, down from $46,260 the previous year. Families’ median income peaked in the county in 2007, at $51,994.
The mean income number for Lake County families in 2011 was $54,931, down from $57,912 in 2010. It had been at a high of $65,784 in 2009.
Lake County couples’ median income was $54,242 in 2011, down from $57,982 in 2010. The peak since 2005 was in 2009, when the county’s couples had a median income of $60,256. Mean income numbers were not available for Lake County couples.
Census numbers also showed that the number of Lake County households was at 28,885 in 2011, the highest since 2005 and up by more than 4,300 households since 2010.
The U.S. Census Bureau’s report, “Household Income for States: 2010 and 2011” – which presents statistics on median household income at the national and state levels – showed that in 2011, median household income ranged from $36,919 in Mississippi to $70,004 in Maryland.
Between the 2010 and 2011 American Community Survey, Vermont was the only state that showed an increase in median household income, the U.S. Census Bureau reported. At the same time, median household income declined in 18 states.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A new low-cost program is being offered to help address the feral cat problem in Clearlake.
Bill Davidson, Lake County Animal Care and Control director, said the nonprofit Animal Coalition of Lake County had requested help getting a program in place to reduce the city’s feral cat population.
Davidson said he consulted with the county’s Animal Control Advisory Board and local veterinarians, and came up with a proposal to allow the coalition to issue city residents vouchers for altering, vaccinating and ear notching stray community cats.
While not free like the program offered to county residents – which is funded through a grant from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals – Davidson said the new Clearlake program is low cost, at $25 per cat.
The program is being operated and funded by the Animal Coalition of Lake County.
For more information, contact the Animal Coalition of Lake County, 707-995-0552, and ask for Rita.
NORTH COAST, Calif. – The Fort Bragg City Council member and forester who was slain a year ago has been honored posthumously honored with the California State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection’s highest award.
The board awarded Jere Melo, a registered professional forester, with the Francis H. Raymond Award for Outstanding Contributions to California Forestry.
Melo was shot to death in August 2011 by Aaron Bassler as he was working on forest land near Fort Bragg. Bassler later was shot by law enforcement.
The award presentation was made during the Board Meeting on Wednesday in Sacramento.
Representing Melo and accepting the award was his wife, Madeleine Melo.
The board recognized Jere Melo for his dedication to professional forestry in California.
His career in the timber industry spanned 45 years, primarily as the chief forester for Georgia-Pacific in Fort Bragg.
He then worked as a contractor for Campbell Timberland Management providing property management services on the 170,000 acres of forestland that they oversee in Mendocino County.
Melo served as an active member of the Jackson Demonstration State Forest Advisory Group from 2008 to 2011. In this capacity, he played an invaluable role in helping to build local support for a program of active management and research on the state's largest Demonstration State Forest.
He also was active in the development of the Coast Forest Practice Rules through the Coast DTAC and before the board.
Melo was a lifelong member of the Society of American Foresters and a founding member of the California Licensed Foresters Association, further demonstrating his strong commitment to his chosen profession.
In 1996, Melo was elected to his first term on the Fort Bragg City Council. He served as vice mayor from 1998 to 2000 and as mayor from 2000 to 2004. At the time of his death, Melo was in his 15th year and his fourth term of office as a city council member.
At the local level, Melo represented the city on the board of the Fort Bragg Fire Protection Authority for nine years and he was the chair of the Fire Protection Authority Board.
At the state level, Melo was very active in the League of California Cities. He served as president of the League’s Redwood Empire Division in 2000 and he served on the League Board of Directors from 2003 to 2008.
Melo had a commitment to public service at the County level and for 13 years he served on the Board of the Mendocino County Local Agency Formation Commission.
He loved working in the woods. He was dedicated to keeping the woods safe for timber workers and to protecting forestland from degradation by illegal trespassing, marijuana cultivation, dumping and encampments.
The award was named after Francis H. Raymond who was the director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection from 1953 to 1970, and was one of the primary advocates for the passage of the Professional Foresters Law in 1973.
Since 1987 it has been awarded to a group or individual who has achieved excellence in forestry in California.
MENDOCINO COUNTY, Calif. – A man who died in a house fire in Redwood Valley last week has been identified.
Courtney James Collins, 66, died in the fire on Oct. 3 on Radical Ridge Road, according to Lt. Greg Van Patten of the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.
Van Patten said the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office on Monday requested the assistance of a Sonoma County forensic odontologist in identifying the human remains located within the burnt structure.
On Tuesday, the results of dental comparisons showed the human remains were that of Collins, who had lived at the residence for the past several years, Van Patten said.
The investigation into the cause and origin of the fire is still currently under way, Van Patten said.
Van Patten said there are no obvious signs suggesting Collins’ death was the result of foul play.
Official results of the forensic autopsy conducted on Oct. 5 are pending blood alcohol and toxicology analysis, Van Patten said.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Skeletal remains found in a Glenn County park in July have been identified through DNA analysis as belonging to a woman reported missing in 2005 in the Chico area.
The Glenn County Sheriff’s Office reported that on Wednesday it received confirmation from the California Department of Justice crime lab in Richmond that the remains were those of Heidi Joanne Ring, who was reported to the Chico Police Department as an at-risk missing person in June 2005.
At the time she went missing Ring was 37 years old, officials reported.
On July 27 a Glenn County Public Works crew discovered a human skull on the outer edge of a large pile of brush and tree trimmings being burned at the Ord Bend Park near the Sacramento River, as Lake County News has reported.
The Glenn County Sheriff’s Office sealed off the area and, for a time, closed access to the park. In the 48 hours after the skull was found, detectives processed the area, including sifting through earth and removing bones and other evidence, including jewelry.
Forensic experts initially had identified the remains as belonging to a Caucasian female, between 35 and 45 years of age, with the sheriff’s office reporting that it was investigating the case as a possible homicide.
After Ring’s remains were identified on Wednesday, Glenn County Sheriff Larry Jones spoke with Captain Lori MacPhail of the Chico Police Department, informing that department of the confirmed identification.
Glenn County Detective Greg Felton, accompanied by Sgt. Rob Merrifield of the Chico Police Department, traveled to Cottonwood on Wednesday and at approximately 4 p.m. notified Gretchen Ring, Heidi Ring’s mother, of the results of the DNA testing, Jones reported.
No cause of death has been determined in this case and it is unknown how, or when, Ring’s remains came to be at the Ord Bend Park, according to Jones.
“It is a sad detail to inform a parent of the loss of their child; and when that child has been missing for years, knowing parents and relatives are holding out hope their loved one will be located alive, the task is much more difficult,” Jones said. “However, there can be some relief and solace in knowing the loved one has been accounted for.”
Jones added, “Though the trail is very cold, law enforcement must do its best effort in attempting to find out what happened to Heidi Ring, and hopefully bring anyone responsible for her death to justice. The Glenn County Sheriff’s Office and the Chico Police Department will work together towards that end.”
Jones said the investigation is continuing, and anyone with information regarding the case of Heidi Ring is encouraged to contact the Chico Police Department, 530-897-4900 or the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office, 530-934-6441.