LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Millions of dollars could soon be headed to Lake County for important projects.

On Wednesday, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) announced that every request he submitted for community funded projects within Lake County was included in the Fiscal Year 2023 funding legislation released by the House Appropriations Subcommittees.

The projects include the Lakeport Armory Facility Repurposing Project, the Middle Creek Flood Damage Reduction and Ecosystem Restoration Project, and the Clearlake Burns Valley Sports Complex & Recreation Center Project.

“Community funded projects provide an opportunity for vital programs in our community to receive the funding they need to be completed,” said Thompson. “Each year, I am proud to submit requests for each county in California’s Fifth District to fund their priorities, and Lake County’s projects will expand opportunity, support ecosystem restoration, and support law enforcement. I look forward to continuing to work with local leaders to ensure these projects are included in the final appropriations bill.”

The projects that Thompson was able to secure inclusion for include:

• $2,000,000 for the Clearlake Burns Valley Sports Complex & Recreation Center Project which will support the construction of a large sports and recreation center complete with baseball fields, soccer fields, a 20,000 square foot rec center, a small amount of retail space, a public works corporation yard and an 80-unit affordable housing project.

• $988,600 for the Lakeport Armory Facility Repurposing Project which will rehabilitate and repurpose a decommissioned National Guard Armory facility to establish a permanent location to co-locate the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Lake County’s Emergency Operations Center in north Lakeport.

• $750,000 for the Middle Creek Flood Damage Reduction and Ecosystem Restoration Project which will restart an authorized Corps of Engineers project near Upper Lake to reduce flood and catastrophic loss, improve water quality, and restore vital wetlands habitat with cultural significance for the surrounding tribal communities.

Thompson also secured funding for the UC Davis Smoke Taint Research Project which will allow the university to conduct critical research about grape smoke exposure.

More information about Thompson’s FY2023 community funded project requests can be found here.

California’s attorney general said Wednesday he has launched an investigation into how the personal information of thousands of individuals who have sought or obtained concealed and carry weapons permits over the last decade was exposed online to the public.

The California Department of Justice said that personal information was disclosed in connection with the June 27 update of its Firearms Dashboard Portal.

“This unauthorized release of personal information is unacceptable and falls far short of my expectations for this department,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “I immediately launched an investigation into how this occurred at the California Department of Justice and will take strong corrective measures where necessary. The California Department of Justice is entrusted to protect Californians and their data. We acknowledge the stress this may cause those individuals whose information was exposed. I am deeply disturbed and angered.”

Based on the department’s current investigation, the incident exposed the personal information of individuals who were granted or denied a concealed and carry weapons, or CCW, permit between 2011 and 2021.

Officials said information exposed included names, date of birth, gender, race, driver’s license number, addresses and criminal history.

Social Security numbers or any financial information were not disclosed as a result of this event, Bonta’s office said.

Additionally, data from the following Assault Weapon Registry, Handguns Certified for Sale, Dealer Record of Sale, Firearm Certificate Safety and Gun Violence Restraining Order dashboards were impacted.

The California State Sheriffs’ Association said it is alarmed to learn of the data breach and it issued an alert to make CCW permit holders aware of the situation so they can take appropriate precautions.

"It is infuriating that people who have been complying with the law have been put at risk by this breach," said CSSA President and Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea. "California’s sheriffs are very concerned about this data breach and the risk it poses to California’s CCW permit holders." 

CSSA said it will continue to engage with DOJ in an effort to ensure that the risk to CCW permit holders is mitigated and a breach of this nature does not happen again.

The DOJ is investigating the extent to which any personally identifiable information could have been exposed from those dashboards and will report additional information as soon as confirmed.

In the coming days, the department said it will notify those individuals whose data was exposed and provide additional information and resources.

California law requires a business or state agency to notify any California resident whose unencrypted personal information, as defined, was acquired, or reasonably believed to have been acquired, by an unauthorized person.

Lauren Berlinn, spokesperson for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, said that agency had no further information on the matter beyond statements made by the DOJ and the California State Sheriffs’ Association regarding the breach, so couldn’t answer how many Lake County residents had their information exposed.

When the exposure occurred; actions to take to protect against fraud

The DOJ’s Wednesday report said that on the afternoon of June 27, the agency posted updates to the Firearms Dashboard Portal.

DOJ was made aware of a disclosure of personal information that was accessible in a spreadsheet on the portal.

After DOJ learned of the data exposure, the department took steps to remove the information from public view and shut down the Firearms Dashboard on Tuesday morning. The dashboard and data were available for less than 24 hours.

DOJ asks that anyone who accessed such information respect the privacy of the individuals involved and not share or disseminate any of the personal information.

In addition, possession of or use of personal identifying information for an unlawful purpose may be a crime; see Cal Penal Code Sec. 530.5.

Bonta’s office said it is communicating with law enforcement partners throughout the state. In collaboration, DOJ will provide support to those whose information has been exposed.

In an abundance of caution, the Department of Justice will provide credit monitoring services for individuals whose data was exposed as a result of this incident. DOJ will directly contact individuals who have been impacted by this incident and will provide instructions to sign up for this service.

Any Californian may take the following steps to immediately protect their information related to credit:

• Monitor your credit. One of the best ways to protect yourself from identity theft is to monitor your credit history. To obtain free copies of your credit reports from the three major credit bureaus go to https://www.annualcreditreport.com.

• Consider placing a free credit freeze on your credit report. Identity thieves will not be able to open a new credit account in your name while the freeze is in place. You can place a credit freeze by contacting each of the three major credit bureaus:
Equifax: https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/; 888-766-0008
Experian: https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html; 888-397-3742
TransUnion: https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze; 800-680-7289

• Place a fraud alert on your credit report. A fraud alert helps protect you against the possibility of someone opening new credit accounts in your name. A fraud alert lasts 90 days and can be renewed. To post a fraud alert on your credit file, you must contact one of the three major credit reporting agencies listed above. Keep in mind that if place a fraud alert with any one of the three major credit reporting agencies, the alert will be automatically added by the other two agencies as well.

• Additional resources. If you are a victim of identity theft, contact your local police department or sheriff’s office right away. You may also report identity theft and generate a recovery plan using the Federal Trade Commission’s website at www.identitytheft.gov.

• For more information and resources visit the attorney general’s website at www.oag.ca.gov/idtheft.

Independence Day is on a Monday this year, resulting in a three-day weekend for many and a likely increase in vehicles traveling California’s roadways.

The California Highway Patrol, or CHP, is reminding motorists that driving too fast is not only illegal, but the leading cause of traffic fatalities.

To help slow down motorists and increase safe travel, the CHP will deploy extra patrol officers over the holiday weekend as part of a maximum enforcement period, or MEP.

Beginning at 6:01 p.m. on Friday, July 1, through 11:59 p.m. on Monday, July 4, the CHP will observe the MEP with a special focus on speed enforcement. In addition to speeding violations, officers will be on the lookout for distracted and aggressive drivers, and motorists suspected of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

“Give yourself plenty of time to reach your destination. Speeding not only endangers your life, but the lives of everyone on the roadway,” said CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray. “Fill the holiday weekend with celebration and fun activities, not reckless choices that lead to tragedy.”

There were 43 people killed in crashes on California’s roadways during the 2021 Independence Day MEP, and more than one-third of the vehicle occupants who died within CHP jurisdiction were not wearing a seat belt.

In addition, the CHP made 997 arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs during the 78-hour holiday enforcement effort.

Last year’s stepped-up efforts to enforce speed limits during the Independence Day weekend, July 2 to 5, resulted in CHP officers issuing nearly 10,000 citations statewide.

“Speed is the number one factor in roadway crashes in California, causing one-third of the traffic-related deaths,” added Commissioner Ray.

A report issued in May 2022 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, shows the number of people killed in speed-related crashes is on the rise nationwide.

According to the NHTSA data, 11,780 deaths in the U.S. were attributed to speeding last year, a 5% increase over 2020.

 

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

Social Security benefits make it easier for older Americans to afford the food they need to live a healthy, active life, according to our recently published research.

Although this finding may seem obvious, to our knowledge this is the first study to directly examine the link between income from Social Security in old age and food insecurity, whereby a household can’t get adequate food because it has insufficient money and other resources.

We used data from a unique national household survey, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, to examine changes in the ability of a household to purchase food from year to year. We focused on how just under 1,000 households receiving Social Security benefits for the first time or experiencing an increase in Social Security benefits affected their food insecurity.

We found that becoming a Social Security beneficiary for the first time lowers the odds of food insecurity by 54%. After that, an increase in benefits by 10% reduced the probability of someone’s being food insecure by over half a percentage point, we found.

Another way to put this: We estimate that if overall benefits were increased by 10%, about half a million senior citizens would no longer be food insecure.

Why it matters

Unfortunately, in our view, the debate over Security Security isn’t whether or how much to increase benefits but how much to cut them.

That’s because the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, which funds benefits, is expected to be depleted by 2034, at which point Social Security taxes alone will cover just 77% of scheduled benefits.

Social Security was originally conceived in 1934 as a way to cut poverty among older Americans. Researchers have previously shown that receiving Social Security income indeed reduces overall levels of poverty among older Americans, but they didn’t explicitly look at the impact on food security.

Since aging is often associated with increased medical expenses, these additional costs may offset any income gains seen from Social Security. Older adults with limited incomes may need to make difficult choices about what expenses to cover and may choose to prioritize health care expenses over food expenses.

Currently, 11% of adults age 60 or older are food insecure, which is a little higher than the 10.5% for all U.S. households. Seniors can begin receiving Social Security benefits as soon as age 62.

Our study suggests that cutting Social Security benefits would be likely to cause more retirees to struggle to access the food they need and push more retirees to enroll in government-sponsored programs such as SNAP, which provide funds to purchase food.

What still isn’t known

The impact of receiving Social Security benefits varies from group to group.

The small sample size of the data set we used limited our ability to fully explore this. Continuing this research using a larger nationally representative data set such as the Current Population Survey could make it possible to explore this issue in more detail across different groups of people.

In addition, we did not explore exactly how Social Security benefits reduce food insecurity. Social Security benefits may have direct impacts by boosting income overall or by reducing fluctuations in income from month to month, allowing people to consistently acquire more healthy food. Social Security benefits may also affect food insecurity through indirect channels by improving physical or mental health. Future research that captures more detailed information about health and getting Social Security benefits could explore these impacts more closely.

Sophie Mitra, Professor of economics, Fordham University; Debra Brucker, Research Associate Professor at Institute on Disability, University of New Hampshire, and Katie Jajtner, Assistant Scientist, Center for Demography of Health and Aging, University of Wisconsin-Madison

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A week after it accepted the resignation of the county’s Public Health officer of less than four months, the Board of Supervisors approved an interim appointment and a contract for a permanent candidate.

Dr. Erik McLaughlin resigned on June 21 following a closed session evaluation with the supervisors, as Lake County News has reported.

McLaughlin’s tenure, which began March 1, was the shortest of any permanently appointed Public Health officer in Lake County in 20 years.

At the start of the board’s Tuesday morning meeting, County Administrative Officer Susan Parker brought to the board a request for an extra item allowing them to consider the interim Public Health officer appointment of Dr. Gary Pace, who held the position until he stepped down in the spring of 2021, and ratification of a physician consultation services contract with Pace.

Parker said that after the board accepted McLaughlin’s resignation last week, Health Services Director Jonathan Portney informed her that there was “an urgent and immediate need for a public health officer or alternate to provide services and to comply with state regulations.”

At the time when the agenda was posted late last week, Parker said she was still evaluating all of their options for filling the Public Health officer position.

To ensure continuity of services, Parker said she temporarily authorized Pace’s appointment and contract and asked for the board to ratify that action on Tuesday.

The board voted unanimously to add the item to the agenda and then took it up immediately.

“After last Tuesday, I began researching our options to retain a public health officer in the interim” while starting a new search to replace McLaughlin, Parker said.

That’s when she heard of the urgent need to fill the Public Health officer position as soon as possible.

Not explained by Parker or staff during the meeting is that state law requires counties to have health officers to enforce local health orders and ordinances, as well as state regulations and statutes relating to public health.

Her written report explained that after McLaughlin’s resignation, “I learned that a replacement would be delayed in order to fully develop the scope and complete the administrative review and State approval.”

She said she was still evaluating the county’s options to ensure continuity of services. “As such, I was unable to confirm the full range of related medical services including the backup PHO [Public Health officer] services until after the posting of this agenda. Therefore, I authorized this very temporary appointment and have now brought the contract to your Board to ratify.”

Parker said Tuesday that she drafted the contract with Pace with the assistance of County Counsel Anita Grant.

The agreement runs from June 22 to July 31, unless renewed in writing before the termination date. It also can be extended annually with mutual written agreement.

Under the agreement’s terms, Pace will be paid a flat rate of $500 per week for on-call coverage, not to exceed $2,000 per month; will receive a rate of $150 per hour for remote working, or on-site or in-county work on Fridays, one day per week or four days per week within the month, not to exceed $4,000 per month; and a total combined compensation not to exceed $6,000.

Supervisor Bruno Sabatier pointed out that the agreement said notices, reports and communications are to be given to Public Health Services, but he said the Public Health officer answers to the Board of Supervisors so he wanted to have a board signature added.

Grant said if the board approved the agreement that a line would be added for the board chair to sign it and indicating formally that the ratification occurred.

She said the board could adjust the agreement as it sees fit, and if the supervisors wanted the communications to come to the County Administrative Office directly, they could change the agreement to reflect that.

Supervisors Moke Simon and Tina Scott both said they agreed with taking that action.

Sabatier moved to appoint Pace as interim Public Health officer and ratify the physician consultation services contract with the amendments. Simon seconded and the board approved it 5-0.

Also on Tuesday, as part of its consent agenda — a slate of noncontroversial items usually accepted with one vote — the supervisors waived the formal bidding process and approved a contract with Mosaic Public Partners for the recruitment of a permanent Public Health officer.

The contract is not to exceed $29,000 and runs through June 30, 2023, unless terminated sooner.

Parker’s memo with the contract explained, “It has been challenging to recruit for a full-time Public Health Officer (PHO) for the County of Lake. This challenge is not unique to Lake County; other counties are experiencing the same challenges due to the repercussions of the COVID-19 health pandemic and the shortage of available health professionals.”

She said based on the responses to the Public Health officer recruitment last year, Human Resources contacted those firms that had submitted proposals and additional ones, for a total of six, and only one qualified firm, Mosaic Public Partners, responded.

“Most firms do not have the capacity to respond as they are currently unavailable to provide the services we need,” Parker wrote.

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.

A new bill would create a “Feather Alert” system for the public and media to stem disproportionate violence and abductions of California Indians.

AB 1314, by Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-Highland), would create a state Endangered Missing Advisory, or EMA, system when Native Americans are at risk.

On Tuesday, the State Senate Public Safety voted 5-0 to pass the bill following a hearing.

Currently, law enforcement agencies use the EMA to investigate suspicious disappearances of at-risk missing children or other threatened persons.

The California Highway Patrol’s website states, “EMAs provide immediate information to the public to aid in the swift recovery of at-risk persons.”

In April, Washington state approved similar legislation, and Colorado is considering implementing an alert program.

In California, a case used as an example of why the new system is needed comes from Mendocino County.

On Feb. 8, 2018, Khadijah Rose Britton, age 23, joined hundreds of Native American women who are missing.

Witnesses saw her leave a party at gunpoint in Covelo. but it took days for law enforcement to treat the disappearance as suspicious.

More than four years later the young woman’s family continues searching for her and believe more could have been done at an earlier point in Britton’s disappearance.

“My bill, AB 1314, would help us get the word out sooner when an individual is missing or endangered by asking the public for tips and leads as quickly as possible when quick action is critical. Creating an alert or advisory system was a top recommendation from tribal leaders at a May 4 hearing to highlight this issue,” said Ramos, the first and only California Native American serving in the state Legislature.

Ramos also noted that California, the state with the greatest population of Native Americans in the nation, is also among the states with the highest rates of reported cases of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People.

Various studies found there are more than 5,700 cases of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women — known as MMIW — but only 116 of the women in the cases were placed on the United States Department of Justice missing persons list.

In 2020, the Sovereign Bodies Institute found only 165 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit, or MMIWG2, were reported across California. The report was funded and co-authored by the Yurok Tribe.

“The Legislature and administration are listening to those in the trenches fighting these crimes. These violent acts affect not only victims, but also families — and in too many instances, the lives of children who are left without a parent. We have much more work to do, but this is one step that can help now,” Ramos said.

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon stated, “Assemblymember James Ramos has repeatedly worked to remind us that California’s indigenous peoples are still here, and their needs must be recognized. Establishing the Feather Alert to help stem the high rate of disappearances and violence against native Californians is another important way to do that.”

“In a recent statewide study conducted by Sovereign Bodies Institute in 2021, the research found that 45 percent of respondents felt uncomfortable or unsafe calling 911,”said Annabella Hernandez, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Tribal Youth. “This bill will serve as the healing process to reunite the relationships between law enforcement and the Native American community.”

AB 1314 is sponsored by the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and the Tachi Santa Rosa Racheria. Also supporting the bill are the California Consortium for Urban Indian Health, California Tribal Business Alliance, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.

Assemblymembers Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) and Devon Mathis (R-Visalia) are joint authors and co-authors are Assemblymembers Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno), Lisa Calderon (D-Whittier), Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles), Sabrina Cervantes (D-Corona), Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella), Mike Gipson (D-Carson), Luz Rivas (D-San Fernando), Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield), and Phil Ting (D-San Francisco). Senators Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach), Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) and Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) are also authors.