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NORTH COAST, Calif. — One Lake County man is dead and a second is missing following a boating accident near Fort Bragg last week.

The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday it has identified a body that washed ashore on Friday as that of 58-year-old Charles Case.

A second Lake County resident, Kenneth Silva, 61, remains missing, the agency said.

At 3:41 p.m. Friday Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies responded to the report of a deceased adult male washed ashore near the Ten Mile Dunes, north of MacKerricher State Park near Fort Bragg.

Authorities said that man later was identified as Case.

Deputies arrived and determined that Case had been aboard a small pleasure craft that had capsized and also washed ashore, approximately one-half mile north of where Case was located.

The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said its deputies developed information that Silva also was aboard the vessel when it was launched from Noyo Harbor less than two hours prior.

Over the next 24 hours, the ocean area was searched by the US Coast Guard and the shoreline was checked by California State Park Rangers and Mendocino Sheriff's Search and Rescue volunteers, which was unsuccessful in locating Silva.

Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputies are continuing daily searches with limited in-county resources when they are available.

Friends of the two men posted memorials to them on Facebook, where Case’s account lists him as a self-employed commercial fisherman.

Both men reportedly grew up in the Richmond area.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The long-running effort to improve Clear Lake’s water quality and reduce flood risk in the Middle Creek area has taken another step forward.

The county of Lake has received $750,000 in federal funding to support the Middle Creek Flood Restoration Project.

Congressman Mike Thompson visited with Lake County officials on Oct. 30, when he formally presented the check.

“Cleaning up the environment and protection from flooding is crucial to the health and safety of our community,” said Thompson. “This restoration is critical to preserving Clear Lake, reducing the cost of treating our drinking water, and preventing severe flooding. Proud to have secured this funding for Lake County.”

Thompson had announced receiving the funds for the Middle Creek project — as well as the city of Clearlake’s Burns Valley Sports Complex and Recreation Center Project and the Lakeport Armory Facility Repurposing Project — in December as part of the final 2023 appropriations government funding bill.

That explains the Dec. 29, 2022 date on the check that Thompson handed over to the county.

“There is no project more critical to sustainable Clear Lake water quality and a strong outdoor-recreation based Lake County economy than the Middle Creek Flood Damage Reduction and Ecosystem Restoration Project,” District 3 Supervisor Eddie Crandell said in a written statement. “Congressman Thompson understood completing final Feasibility Stage steps with the United States Army Corps of Engineers was highly urgent and essential to moving this project forward, and we were grateful he fought hard to ensure this work was funded.”

The Middle Creek project will restore 1,650 acres near Upper Lake in the confluence of Middle and Scotts creeks to wetlands.

It’s meant to improve water quality in Clear Lake by removing up to 40% of phosphorus that comes from Middle and Scotts Creeks, the lake’s two largest tributaries, and reduce by 33% the concentration of chlorophyll.

Another critical outcome of the project will be flood reduction to protect nearby residents from catastrophic losses.

The funding that Thompson secured will help facilitate the removal of three miles of substandard levees, one pumping station and one weir structure.

Removal of the structures will carry tremendous ecological benefits by improving Clear Lake water quality and storage capacity, Thompson’s office said.

“Clear Lake is one of the oldest lakes in North America, and it needs more wetland area to thrive,” said Marina Deligiannis, deputy Lake County Water Resources director. “Current sediment and phosphorus loads are estimated to be twice the pre-European levels, and about 71% of the sediment and phosphorus entering Clear Lake comes from Scotts and Middle Creek watersheds. This project could reduce Clear Lake phosphorus levels by 40%, helping to preserve a national treasure. Thank you to Congressman Thompson for recognizing this as a matter of high federal priority.”

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKEPORT, Calif. — The Lakeport Unified School District said a medical emergency that occurred at the campus on Tuesday afternoon is under investigation by police.

Superintendent Matt Bullard issued a statement that came through the Lakeport Police Department’s Nixle alert account on Tuesday evening.

“This afternoon the LUSD school community experienced a traumatic event on campus,” Bullard wrote. “At the end of the school day a medical emergency that included symptoms associated with a chemical overdose or poisoning occurred on campus. School employees responded to the emergency and Emergency Medical Services were summoned. The swift and efficient response provided the necessary medical intervention needed in a timely manner. This incident has been referred to the Lakeport Police Department and is currently being investigated.”

Bullard said that on Wednesday, “and for as long as needed,” Lakeport Unified will have additional counselors and support providers on campus for students and staff impacted by Tuesday’s event.

“Unfortunately our community, like many communities across the country, is recognizing an increase in chemical health emergencies. In order to promote a safe school environment, LUSD will be partnering with the Lakeport Police Department to randomly search all campus facilities with narcotics detection dogs,” Bullard said.

Bullard concluded, “Please talk with your children and loved ones about the dangers associated with drugs and alcohol.”

We’ve known for more than a century that women outlive men. But new research led by UC San Francisco and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health shows that, at least in the United States, the gap has been widening for more than a decade.

The trend is being driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and the opioid overdose epidemic, among other factors.

In a research paper, published Nov. 13, 2023, in JAMA Internal Medicine, the authors found the difference between how long American men and women live increased to 5.8 years in 2021, the largest it’s been since 1996.

This is an increase from 4.8 years in 2010, when the gap was at its smallest in recent history.

The pandemic, which took a disproportionate toll on men, was the biggest contributor to the widening gap from 2019-2021, followed by unintentional injuries and poisonings (mostly drug overdoses), accidents and suicide.

“There’s been a lot of research into the decline in life expectancy in recent years, but no one has systematically analyzed why the gap between men and women has been widening since 2010,” said the paper’s first author, Brandon Yan, MD, MPH, a UCSF internal medicine resident physician and research collaborator at Harvard Chan School.

“While rates of death from drug overdose and homicide have climbed for both men and women, it is clear that men constitute an increasingly disproportionate share of these deaths,” Yan said.



Interventions to reverse a deadly trend

Using data from the National Center for Health Statistics, Yan and fellow researchers from around the country identified the causes of death that were lowering life expectancy the most. Then they estimated the effects on men and women to see how much different causes were contributing to the gap.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the largest contributors were unintentional injuries, diabetes, suicide, homicide and heart disease.

But during the pandemic, men were more likely to die of the virus. That was likely due to a number of reasons, including differences in health behaviors, as well as social factors, such as the risk of exposure at work, reluctance to seek medical care, incarceration and housing instability. Chronic metabolic disorders, mental illness and gun violence also contributed.

Yan said the results raise questions about whether more specialized care for men, such as in mental health, should be developed to address the growing disparity in life expectancy.

“We have brought insights to a worrisome trend,” Yan said. “Future research ought to help focus public health interventions towards helping reverse this decline in life expectancy.”

Yan and co-authors, including senior author Howard Koh, MD, MPH, professor of the practice of public health leadership at Harvard Chan School, also noted that further analysis is needed to see if these trends change after 2021.

“We need to track these trends closely as the pandemic recedes,” Koh said. “And we must make significant investments in prevention and care to ensure that this widening disparity, among many others, do not become entrenched.”

Additional authors are affiliated with the National Center for Health Statistics and the Boston University School of Public Health. The study received no funding, and the authors have no conflicts of interest.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A Lake County agriculture leader has received an award for leadership from a nationwide organization.

American Agri Women, or AAW, a national coalition of farm, ranch and agribusiness women's organizations that educate consumers, advocate for agriculture and offers networking and professional development opportunities, announced that Sharron Zoller, from the Lake County Chapter of California Women for Agriculture, is the 2023 recipient of their highest honor for members the LEAVEN award for exemplary leadership.

The event was held in Sacramento where the two organizations came together for AAW’s national convention hosted by California Women for Agriculture, or CWA.

Nominated by her peers, Zoller exemplifies the meaning of the words that make up “LEAVEN”: Loyalty, Enthusiasm, Anticipatory, Valiant, Effectiveness and Nurturing.

AAW annually recognizes an individual who has made a significant impact within the agriculture community through their leadership skills, dedication and service. and has been instrumental in driving positive change.

Also, a recipient of this year’s LEAVEN award for her exemplary leadership, Kathy Goodyke of Minnesota Agri-Women.

Sharron Zoller and her husband, Broc, are first generation farmers. She has been active in CWA for decades, is currently the state president and has been involved with AAW for many years.

“Leaven” (yeast) is a small element that can interact and influence everything around it. It permeates and raises the elements it’s mixed with. Leaven multiplies its effectiveness for good.

California Women for Agriculture was founded in 1975 and is the most active, all-volunteer agricultural organization in the state, with 20 chapters and more than 1,300 members comprising farmers, ranchers, bankers, lawyers, accountants, marketing professionals, support services, consumers and the vast stakeholders of the agriculture industry.

CWA promotes leadership within local communities, advocacy on key local, state and federal issues, public service and outreach, agriculture literacy in our schools, and promotional initiatives to preserve and educate those living in our increasingly urbanized California landscape. CWA advocates for the economic sustainability of the diverse California agriculture community so future generations can continue to produce a healthy diverse food supply.

The Lake County Chapter of CWA was organized in May 1976 as the fifth chapter in the state.

The chapter gives a face to Lake County agriculture through community involvement and supports local farmers and ranchers by advocating, promoting and educating on behalf of agriculture within the community.

Each year, the Lake County Chapter of CWA presents its annual AgVenture program to educate local community leaders and others about the role of agriculture in Lake County and awards scholarships to graduating high school seniors and full-time college and vocational students whose educational emphasis is related to agriculture.

LUCERNE, Calif. — Authorities have identified a Northshore man who died last week after being electrocuted in an incident involving a powerline.

Steven Michael Green, 36, of Nice died in the incident on Nov. 7, said Lauren Berlinn, spokesperson for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Shortly after 5:15 p.m. Nov. 7, Northshore Fire was dispatched to the area of Sandy Beach mobile home park in Lucerne on the report of a possible fatal electrocution, with CPR in progress, according to radio traffic.

“The initial investigation revealed he was attempting to dislodge a drone from a tree using an aluminum pole while standing on an aluminum ladder when the pole touched a powerline close to the tree,” Berlinn said.

“First responders attempted life-saving measures for close to 30 minutes, which were unfortunately unsuccessful,” Berlinn added.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.