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Caltrans said it's expediting a safety project on a half-mile-long stretch of Highway 20 east of Walker Ridge Road, located between Clearlake Oaks and the Colusa County line.
The project is in response to an increased number of collisions that have occurred on the downhill curve. Officials said the goal is a better, safer highway.
“This is just going to construction,” said Caltrans spokesman Phil Frisbie.
The project will take place in the area of mile post marker 44.19, located across the highway from the location of the now-mitigated Abbott and Turkey Run mines.
As Lake County News first reported in March, the area had been the site of several crashes in the last two years. By June 15 there had been seven collision in the area, at least two of which – including a March crash – have been fatal.
The California Highway Patrol has maintained that speed was the primary cause in all of the collisions, and all but one happened on wet or icy pavement.
But earlier this year, defense attorney Angela Carter told Lake County News that part of the problem was the roadway itself. Carter's firm is defending Suisun City resident Debra Curtis, who is being prosecuted for vehicular manslaughter for a fatal May 2008 crash in which a Sebastopol woman died.
Earlier in the year, Caltrans took several actions in an attempt to reduce crashes in the area. They included reducing the advisory speed at the curve from 40 to 35 miles per hour, and adding larger signage and rumble strips meant to raise motorists' awareness. Officials also shortened a passing lane prior to the curve.
Frisbie said Caltrans' Traffic Safety Office initiated this latest safety project in May.
The project went out to bid, with bids closing last month. The bids were opened on July 28 and the project, coming in at nearly $137,000, was awarded to Santa Rosa's Argonaut Constructors on Aug. 5, Frisbie said.
Frisbie, who anticipated that work on the project will start around the first week of September, said the project will begin with grinding off the top layer of asphalt.
Argonaut Constructors will then pave that section of highway with a 1-inch aggregate open-graded asphalt, which has a higher coefficient of friction and will provide more traction than smaller aggregates more commonly used, according to Frisbie.
The open-graded asphalt also contains open spaces between the aggregate which work with the grooves on vehicle tires to help insure against hydroplaning in wet weather, according to Frisbie.
The expedited construction schedule is meant to insure that the project is completed by the end of October, before the wet winter weather begins, Frisbie said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
Dennis Scoles, 66, and Viola Scoles, 65, were transported to the hospital following the crash, which occurred at around 2:50 p.m. on Highway 29 north of Highway 175 to Cobb, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP said Dennis Scoles had stopped his 2001 Volvo V-70 station wagon on the northbound shoulder of Highway 29 within a private driveway entrance, facing in a southwesterly direction and preparing to make a U-turn onto southbound Highway 29.
Kay White, 49, of Sacramento, was driving a 1998 Peterbilt tractor truck with two flatbed trailers following a car, traveling northbound on Highway 29 at a stated speed of about 45 to 50 miles per hour, approaching Scoles' position.
Behind White was Olivia Peregrina, 26, of Cobb in a 2002 Dodge Neon with a 3-year-old boy in the car with her, the CHP said.
When the car ahead of White passed Scoles, he is reportedly to have suddenly pulled into White's path, according to the report.
The CHP said White aggressively applied the truck's brakes and attempted to avoid Scoles but couldn't.
The front of the Peterbilt struck the Volvo's driver's side, causing the Volvo to spin off the road and onto a dirt area south of the highway where it came to rest on its wheels, facing in a southerly direction.
The CHP said Peregrina noticed quite a bit of smoke created by the braking Peterbilt and aggressively applied her own brakes.
She veered off the highway to the north to avoid striking the Peterbilt's rearmost trailer. The action caused her to run off the road onto a dirt embankment, suffering a flat right front tire.
White safely brought the Peterbilt to rest on the highway's northbound shoulder, the CHP said.
Both Dennis and Viola Scoles were airlifted to Sutter Santa Rosa for treatment of their injuries, the CHP reported.
UPPER LAKE – About midway through the set of the Bottle Rock Blues & Rhythm Band’s set, vocalist Neon Napalm asked the crowd to join her in a moment of meditative Zen; a quick moment of silent appreciation, not only for the artistic vision of Bernie and Lynne Butcher, but also for the good fortune of just being able to be blessed by the music, food and camaraderie we all experienced at the third annual Blue Wing Blues Festival.
It was certainly a unique moment, one that perhaps went past some of us in attendance, yet appreciated as well by audience members who realize that this burgeoning event is destined to cement and enhance the perception of the capabilities of what goes on in the County of Lake.
This year’s festival kicked off on Wednesday, Aug. 5, in the picturesque garden courtyard between the Tallman Hotel and Blue Wing Café & Saloon.
Opening each night of the four-day festival was renowned country folk blues artist Barry “Big B” Brenner.
Mr. Brenner was born and raised on Chicago’s South Side and is heavily steeped not only in the traditional blues that migrated to Chicago and became an urban style of its own, but also the regional styles that migrated to the big city, including Mississippi Delta, Texas Plains, Piney Woods, Piedmont Seaboard, Ragtime and Louisiana Swamp Bayou.
A virtuoso on six-string, 12-string and National Resonator, Brenner keeps four guitars on stage and intersperses them all throughout his set list which included selections from masters such as Tampa Red, Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, Leadbelly and so many others. A craftworthy and accomplished songwriter, Big B also performs original works.
Over the four nights, Brenner proved to be not only a great player, but accommodating and gracious to the attendees also. Often he inserts vocal histories and anecdotes into the performance, educating and entertaining. It was a welcome return to the Blue Wing for Brenner, who last played here at the original Blue Wing Festival back in 2007. More info on “Big B” Brenner can be obtained at www.bigbbrenner.com .
Lynne and Bernie Butcher, speaking separately yet of the same mind, concurred that the stark contrast between Barry Brenner's strictly acoustic roots-inflected sets and the electric blues ensembles of Mighty Mike Schermer, Chris Cain, Levi Lloyd, Twice As Good and Curtis Lawson made for a first class festival event.
One of the festival goers was also heard to remark that in the near future they're gonna have to block off Main Street in Upper Lake to contain the blues-loving throngs.
Closing the opening nights festivities was the Mighty Mike Schermer Band with special guest, Lara Price. Now some of you know of the resume of Mighty Mike. This is the guy whom Elvin Bishop says kicks his booty every night they play together.
For over 20 years Mighty Mike has solidly represented on guitar other heavyweights including Willie Dixon, Booker T., Bonnie Raitt, Maria Muldaur Howard Tate, The Gospel Hummingbirds and many, many others. He has a smokin' new CD entitled “Live Set” and he and the band reprised much of it Wednesday night
When Schermer, the fellowette and fellows hit the stage the first thing he inquired was, “got any blues lovers in the house?” They then launched into their arrangement of CC Rider and by the second number, “Jump, Rock & Wail,” the dancers in attendance were up an moving.
Midway through the third number, Schermer had to come out of his jacket. It was gettin' hotter up there. Schermer and his very talented saxophonist Nancy Wright traded “touch the sky solos” throughout their set.
Mike Schermer is the author of the song “Big Sister's Radio,” a poignant, autobiographical, intensely soulful rocker that was No. 1 on XM radio in 2006. When he played it Wednesday night, the CyberSoulMan went a little nuts and sang along a little too loudly. When he hit a wrong note and was looked at crazily by a nearby blues lover, he shut up and went back to reporting to you what went on.
What transpired next was the introduction of the dynamic Lara Price. The music press keep calling her up and coming but trust me, she's already here. With four CDs already released, Ms. Price also has four live projects she performs with – Lara Unplugged, Velvet Plum, The Lara Price Band and Lara Price & Yesterday's Band.
She came out singing “I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water” and followed it with a blues medley that included, I believe, “The Love You Left Behind.” She and Mighty Mike then did a cover of Ike and Tina Turner's “It's Gonna Work Out Fine.” It was a great and different arrangement of a wonderful song. In fact it was one of the first records, that the young CyberSoulBoy bought. Ever!
The Schermer Band closed their first set with an extended jam medley that kept the dance floor sizzlin'. The songs included “Honky Tonk,” “Shotgun,” “I Got You,” “Knock On Wood,” “Signed, Sealed and Delivered,” “Pretty Woman,” “Satisfaction,” “Paint It Black,” “You Really Got Me,” “Shout,” “Tequila,” “Johnny B. Goode” and “Wipeout.” The list goes on from there. I think they were out to hurt the dancers!
Stay tuned for part two, coming soon.
Keep prayin’, keep thinkin’ those kind thoughts.
T. Watts is a writer, radio host and music critic. Visit his Web site at www.teewatts.biz.
UKIAH – We learn about recycling in grade school: reduce, reuse, recycle.
We used to have to separate our glass, plastic, cardboard/paper into separate bins and then stack the bins for pick up. In an effort to make recycling more “user friendly” the single stream recycling method was introduced. Utilizing this method, more people have chosen to recycle, as it does not require too much effort.
The big blue cans lining the streets on garbage day are a reminder of how more people are pitching in.
But, do you ever think beyond placing the blue can at the curb? Many people are proud of their efforts to recycle, but they may not actually know what happens to recycled goods once they leave the blue can.
C&S Waste Solutions – which includes Clear Lake Waste Solutions and Lake County Waste Solutions – transfers recyclables from Clearlake, Kelseyville, Nice, Lucerne and Upper Lake to the Pacific Recycling Solutions new Material Recovery Facility (MRF).
The new MRF, located in Ukiah, is where the contents of your blue can make their first stop.
Julie Price, C&S Waste Solutions' expert on recycling education, took Lake County News on a tour of the new facility.
The facility opened in January and uses a combination of manual labor and machine to sort all of the recyclables into high-density polyethylene (HDPE), which include milk cartons and heavier plastics; Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which are soda and water bottles and other food containers; mixed paper; cardboard; aluminum; glass; and tin.
The trucks drop off the mixed recyclables at the site. A tractor takes loads of the unsorted recyclables and places them on a conveyor belt that goes up to the platform where the laborers quickly perform a visual inspection, pulling off clothing, electronics, plastic film (the thick plastic wrapped around flats of bottled water, for example), plastic bags, and other things that cannot be recycled on site. This is called the pre-sort section. Here, they also remove all cardboard from the belt to be recycled.
Glass falls down to a system that breaks it down into small pieces and puts it on another conveyor belt that takes it to a pile that is distributed to manufacturers that make various recycled glass products.
The next station sees the paper taken off the belt via ascending rubber plates that bounce the lighter objects (such as paper and magazines) up and allow the other, heavier, recyclables to continue on.
The conveyor belt is again visually inspected and laborers take off plastic bottles and cartons and drop them down chutes into separate stalls. The belt then reaches a magnet that snatches up tin objects and puts them in another stall. The final station on the trip utilizes an electric current that bounces aluminum off of the conveyor belt and down to the appropriate stall.
The remaining articles drop off of the conveyor belt into a pile and this pile is sent back trough the entire system to ensure that all recyclables are taken to their appropriate space.
When a stall fills up, its contents are taken to a small conveyor belt that feeds into a baler that then bales each specific type of recyclable good with wire. These bales are then stacked and ready to de distributed to approximately five different manufacturers.
It is important to recognize all of the work that goes in to separating the recyclables that we put in the blue can. In order for all of our articles to be recycled properly, they need to be clean, loose in the blue can, and tops separated from bottles and jars.
The new MRF in Ukiah is a great step in recycling for Lake County, according to the company. Not only does it decrease carbon emissions due to its proximity to Lake County, the single stream system makes it easy for more people to contribute.
Price said that C&S Waste Solutions' eventual goal is to get households to limit their weekly garbage to a 10-gallon can. This will be possible if residents continue to use the blue can.
For more information on Ukiah’s Material Recovery Facility, as well as to discover what you can and can not recycle, visit www.candswaste.com .
To see who your hauler is, visit http://recycling.co.lake.ca.us/collection/collection.asp . Here you will find a map that breaks down the different haulers around Lake County.
E-mail Caitlin Andrus at
Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears, I have come to bury Caesar, not to praise him!
Actually the Caesar salad has nothing to do with Julius Caesar – I’m just being theatrical.
Theatrics has everything to do with Caesar salad, not to mention it’s my favorite salad and I order it almost everywhere I find it.
There are several stories on how Caesar salad was created with the most popular and most believable being this ...
Cesare (the original spelling of his name) Cardini was born in Italy (Feb. 24, 1896) and he and his brother Alessandro emigrated to the United States when he was in his early 20s and worked in restaurants several places in California.
He eventually started “Caesar’s Place” in Tijuana in 1923 to escape the limitations of prohibition. He is credited with the invention of the salad over a long Fourth of July weekend in 1924.
There are other claims of the date of its invention by others at the very same restaurant but we’ll look at that more later.
During prohibition Americans including many Hollywood celebrities would cross the border into Mexico and eat dinner and have drinks at Caesar Cardini’s restaurant. One day due to a lack of ingredients or some say due to a staff shortage, he started making his Caesar salad tableside and to be eaten with the fingers.
I tend to believe a combination of both the staff shortage story and the lack of ingredients since eating with the fingers would alleviate the need for a dishwasher, being prepared tableside would lighten the workload on the kitchen, and the salad is very minimalist when it comes to ingredients.
One fact we can rely on is that the Fourth of July was on a Friday in 1924, which supports the long weekend story. Most of the stories tend to agree that it was invented when he was swamped with customers from the long holiday weekend.
“Alex,” Caesar's brother and a World War I fighter pilot, had a story claiming to be the inventor of the salad in 1926 and calling it the “Aviator's salad” in honor of Rockwell Field Air Base but eventually changed the name.
Paul Maggiora a partner of Cardini’s, told the exact same story but with the salad being created in 1927. Livio Santini, a cook at the same restaurant, claims the recipe was his mother's and when he was 18 he prepared it in the kitchen and Cardini took it from him.
There also is a story of the salad being invented in Chicago by Giacomo Junia at the New York Café in 1903. He allegedly named the salad after Julius Caesar, “The greatest Italian of all time.”
Yet, no real evidence backs any of the claims.
Anchovies are contentiously debated with Caesar salad and were never in the original recipe. Anchovies are naturally in Worcestershire sauce and that is where the misconception of anchovies being in Caesar salad.
Nobody knows when anchovies were first introduced; Caesar himself was against their use in his recipe. James Beard, the legendary epicurean, said, “This famous salad is often served, but seldom made correctly.” But his personal recipe includes anchovies.
Anchovies probably appeared from a person eating the salad and trying to copy it at home and misjudging the amount of anchovy flavor in the salad.
The process of making the salad was a show in itself. Cardini would roll a cart up to a table and would start talking to the guests with that Italian restauranteur's charm and begin tossing the salad while adding ingredients one at a time. “You look lovely tonight” and “What a handsome suit that is!” probably was said at every table as he charmed his way from table to table, salad to salad.
The egg would go in and would be tossed until combined, then the Worcestershire sauce would be added and the salad tossed again until combined, vinegar, tossed – you get the idea.
Once complete he would arrange the lettuce with the bases facing outward from the plate and the leafy end facing inward. This way the diner could pick up the firm base with their fingers and start eating the leafy end.
By the 1930s Caesar salad was being eaten in Europe by most royal families and was announced by the International Society of Epicures in Paris to be “the greatest recipe to originate from the Americas in 50 years.”
No matter what story you believe the thing that should really baffle the mind is (although he was living in the U.S. and commuting to Tijuana), why is Caesar salad called an “All American classic” when it was invented by an Italian in Mexico?
Caesar salad dressing started to become so popular that diners started showing up to dinner with jars and bottles so they could take it home with them. In 1935 the family was living in San Diego while bottling and marketing the dressing. They sold it out of the back of their family station wagon at the Los Angeles Farmers Market. The family trademarked the recipe in 1948 and kept control of it until it was purchased by Marzetti Foods and currently has thirteen versions of “Cardini’s Dressings.”
Caesar salad has several fears associated with it so the recipe changes on a regular basis. The original recipe called for a raw egg then it changed to a coddled egg, and now some recipes recommend using egg substitutes (which are sterile) or no egg at all but using mayonnaise instead. Then people started to worry about soil microbes on raw garlic in the recipe so cooking the garlic in oil is found in many recipes.
Although the exact recipe has been lost the oldest known recipe for “The original Caesar’s salad” that I could find says this ...
The original Caesar’s salad
(For four persons)
3 medium heads of romaine lettuce, chilled dry, crisp
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Grated Parmesan cheese 5 or 6 tablespoons
Croutons about 1 cup
Salt
Garlic-flavored salad oil, about 1/3 cup
Wine vinegar, 1-2 tablespoons
Juice of 1 ½ lemon
1 raw egg
Freshly ground pepper
That’s it. No other instructions. The lettuce needs to be dry or the egg won’t adhere to the lettuce well and the dressing won’t be perfect. Just my guess that the list of ingredients is referring to “one half of a lemon” and not “one and a half lemons.” If you wanted to make the dressing in a bowl or jar before adding it to the lettuce that is always an option.
Julia Child’s memoirs talk of eating at Caesar's in 1925 or 1926 she was very young at the time and wasn’t exactly sure. What we know from Julia Child’s memoirs is that Cardini didn’t toss the salad but rolled it to avoid bruising the leaves. She described it as the leaves cascaded towards him like a wave to the shoreline. To me this sounds like he would hold the bowl and flip the salad as if sautéing in a pan rather than tossing it with spoons.
If I were to apply any of my own changes to the salad's presentation it would be that the croutons would be whole slices of toasted baguette lightly rubbed with a slice of garlic and instead of grated Parmesan topping the salad with shaved Parmesan (shave it with a vegetable peeler).
The larger croutons and shavings of Parmesan cheese are easier to eat with the fingers and give a sexier look to the finished salad … Yes, of course salads can be sexy!
I haven’t found anywhere that still makes Caesar salad in the classic fashion tableside but would be thrilled if someone did. I don’t have the food paranoia that many people have about raw eggs or soil microbes so I would happily order Caesar's “classic” salad and watch it made tableside just for the thrill of the experience. Let me know if you find one!
Ross A. Christensen is an award-winning gardener and gourmet cook. He is the author of "Sushi A to Z, The Ultimate Guide" and is currently working on a new book. He has been a public speaker for many years and enjoys being involved in the community.
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