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Tuesday’s meeting saw the board once again allowing for in-person participation by the public. At the board’s first meeting in January, it had voted to move back to virtual meetings only due to a COVID-19 case surge.
But with Lake County moving out of the purple tier – the most restrictive on the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy – as of last week, it triggered the board’s return to its hybrid meeting format.
Supervisor Jessica Pyska participated via Zoom while the rest of the supervisors were present in the board chambers and seated on the dais, with masks and partitions in place.
Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace told the board that the county is continuing to see dropping case rates.
“We are doing well with the vaccine rollout,” he said, explaining that 30 percent of county residents aged 16 and older have gotten at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
Sarah Marikos, Lake County’s epidemiologist, said the state’s test positivity rate has fallen to 1.7 percent, the lowest it’s been since the beginning of the pandemic. She said it’s dropped rapidly over the last few months but that change is beginning to slow.
Similarly, the rate of change in Lake County is slowing after having seen a rapid drop in recent months, Marikos said.
On Tuesday, Lake County remained in the red tier on the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, which Marikos said its case numbers indicated it would.
Giving further explanation to the vaccination numbers, as of March 21, Marikos said that 6,500 county residents over age 16, or 12 percent of the population, are partially vaccinated, while 18 percent, or 9,200, are fully vaccinated and 70 percent are not vaccinated.
That information from the California Immunization Registry doesn’t include the vaccinations conducted by the Lake County Tribal Health Consortium. With Tribal Health’s number included, Marikos said it brings Lake County’s vaccination coverage closer to 33 percent.
As for progress by age group, she said 62 percent of those aged 75 and older are vaccinated; age 65 to 74, 57 percent; age 55 to 64, 24 percent; age 45 to 54, 24 percent; age 35 to 44, 18 percent; and age 20 to 34, 16 percent.
By ethnicity, 69 percent of those vaccinated identify as white; Latino/Hispanic, 22 percent; Native American, 3 percent; multiracial, 3 percent; Black, 2 percent; Asian, 1 percent; Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, less than 1 percent; and other, 3 percent. Marikos said those numbers don’t include Tribal Health’s contributions to the vaccination effort.
Regarding progress for vaccinating the lowest-performing quartiles on the Healthy Places Index, a priority for the state, Marikos said 5,149 people, or 44 percent of the population in six local zip codes – Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Finley, Lucerne, Nice and Upper Lake – that make up the lowest-performing quartile have been partially vaccinated.
In the next-highest quartile – which includes zip codes for Cobb, Kelseyville, Lakeport, Lower Lake, Middletown and Hidden Valley Lake – Marikos said 10,219 people, or 56 percent of the population, are partially vaccinated.
Pace told the board that vaccine inventory in the county is now quite good and that they’re seeing a decrease in demand; he was not sure if that was a function of more vaccine availability.
On Monday, Lake County returned to the use of the MyTurn vaccination scheduling app, which the state had required it to do, but still had some issues. Pace said the state has indicated that the county can open up vaccinations to residents age 50 and above but the app wasn’t allowing that.
He said both Adventist Health and Sutter Health are planning to restart vaccinating again and Public Health is sharing vaccines with them.
Pace also reported that on Tuesday Public Health was expecting the arrival of 40 people the state was sending to help staff vaccination sites.
Those staffers are supposed to help the county for up to two months, and Pace said receiving the help was “a big deal.”
“We need about that many to staff the site every day,” he said, adding that Public Health had been struggling to keep the clinics going with volunteers and other county staff.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Sen. Mike McGuire and his wife, Erika, welcomed their first child over the weekend.
Connor Michael McGuire was born at 5:16 a.m. Sunday. He weighed 8 pounds, 10 ounces.
“He’s healthy, happy and nursing like a champ,” his proud dad reported on Facebook.
McGuire said his wife was doing well, too, although they were, understandably, “a bit sleep deprived.”
In addition to the new baby, the McGuire family also includes Gertrude the pug.
McGuire, 41, has represented the Second Senate District – which includes Lake, Del Norte, Humboldt, Marin, Mendocino, Sonoma and Trinity counties – since 2014.
During that time, he’s championed Lake County through multiple disasters, in particular, fires and floods, and most recently the COVID-19 pandemic.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The county of Lake is seeking four individuals to serve on a committee that will plan community visioning forums focused on promoting tolerance, respect, equity and inclusion in Lake County.
On Feb. 23, the Board of Supervisors unanimously proclaimed that promoting tolerance, respect, equity and inclusion is among its top priorities, as shown in the video above.
At that meeting, each supervisor read a portion of the proclamation and affirmed their commitment to hosting Community Visioning Forums to unearth priorities in the following categories:
· Meaningful actions and activities that will build bridges where there may be walls;
· Fostering tolerance, respect, understanding, equity and inclusion;
· Promotion nonviolence and nonviolent conflict resolution;
· Focusing resources on underlying causes and conditions that lead to inequitable resource and justice distribution; and
· Relevant solutions for any social injustices, as they may come to light.
Board members are working to develop these listening sessions now, and looking for four community members that can help ensure they are inclusive and effective.
“For nearly 80 years,” said District 4 Supervisor Tina Scott, “Americans have cast the vision that our nation should be, ‘indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.’ That isn’t a simple objective that can be outlined once, accomplished, and crossed off a list. It is a call, in everything we do, to ask the hard questions, and strive toward a more perfect union.”
“It is also a demand to develop policies that offer all of our neighbors an equal opportunity to thrive,” said District 3 Supervisor Eddie Crandell. “It is a privilege to partner with and inspire Lake County residents to promote that ideal.”
Does the board’s proclamation resonate with you? Do you have experience designing effective and engaging events?
To apply for a spot on the Community Visioning Forum Planning Committee click here.
Trips canceled: 2.93 billion. International border closures: 1,299. Lives interrupted: Countless.
After the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, most countries in the world closed their borders – though public health experts initially questioned this strategy for controlling the spread of disease.
I study migration, so I began tracking the enormous changes in how and where people could move around the world. The COVID Border Accountability Project, founded in May 2020, maps travel and immigration restrictions introduced by countries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here is how our world shuttered – and how it’s starting to reopen.
1. March 11: It begins
Travel restrictions peaked right after the World Health Organization declared a pandemic on March 11. That week, our data shows a total of 348 countries closing their borders, completely or partially.
Complete closures restrict access to all noncitizens at international borders. Partial closures – a category encompassing border closures and travel bans – restrict access at some borders, or bar people from some, but not all, countries.
2. Fully closed borders
Most countries stopped all foreign travelers from entering at some point last year.
From Finland to Sri Lanka to Tonga, 189 countries – home to roughly 65% of the world’s 7.7 billion people – put a complete border closure in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to our database. The first to isolate itself from the world was North Korea, on Jan. 22, 2020. The last was Bahrain, on June 4, 2020.
Most countries eventually eased border restrictions, and many opened their borders only to close them again as COVID-19 cases spread globally. By the end of 2020, roughly half of all countries remained completely closed to noncitizens and non-visa holders except for essential travel related to health emergencies, humanitarian or diplomatic missions, commerce or family reunification.
3. Targeted bans and partial closures
Last year 193 countries closed down partially, restricting access to people from specific countries or closing some – but not all – of their land and sea borders.
Among these, 98 countries introduced targeted bans, which restricted entry to specific groups of people based on their recent travel or nationality. The first travel bans targeted China, followed soon by other countries that experienced the earliest known outbreaks of the novel coronavirus.
For instance, the United States was quick to pass a string of targeted travel bans, barring travelers from China first, then Iran, and then 26 European countries.
Most countries added land border closures to air travel bans, including the United States. In March the Trump administration closed its borders with Canada and Mexico.
4. Restrictions on US residents
Americans faced serious restrictions on their movement last year, too. People in the U.S., with its high COVID-19 spread, were barred from 190 countries either specifically – via a travel ban – or generally, due to closed borders.
The U.S. passport, usually one of the world’s most powerful for travel access to other countries, ranked 18th place in 2020. Regions newly off-limits to Americans include most of Europe and nearly all South America.
5. Visa seekers and immigrants
Of the 98 countries that implemented targeted bans, 42 specifically restricted all visa seekers from entering the country. The week following the U.S. closure of immigration offices worldwide, 20 countries, including the Philippines, Benin and Nepal, stopped issuing all visas. More than 100 visa bans barred visa seekers from specific countries or groups.
In September, the Trump administration halted the U.S. asylum program, barring refugees from seeking asylum. The only other country that explicitly targeted immigrants and asylum seekers with a COVID-19 travel ban was Hungary.
The world today
I initially wondered whether international travel restrictions would stay in place after the pandemic ended, leading to more permanent restrictions on freedom of movement.
[Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.]
But, by and large, the world is reopening. By the end of last year, 137 of the world’s 189 complete closures had been lifted, and 66 of the 98 targeted bans had ended.
In addition to the staggering numbers of closures and the occasional international spats, I’ve been struck by the level of cooperation between countries, especially within the European Union. Virtually every EU country complied with the bloc’s travel recommendations – a testament to its ability to manage crisis as a unified region.
Travel restrictions will continue to emerge, end and evolve, dependent on context. As wealthier countries vaccinate their populations at rapid speed, less equipped countries continue to suffer severe outbreaks. International travel may soon require a COVID-19 “vaccination card.” New targeted travel bans could emerge.
“Normal” is a long way away.
Nikolas Lazar, Thuy Nguyen and the COBAP Team assisted with this story.
Mary A. Shiraef, Ph.D. Student in Political Science, University of Notre Dame
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Authorities arrested a Ceres couple last week who were found living in a stolen travel trailer in the hills above Lucerne with drugs, weapons and stolen tools.
John Wesley Buckhanan, 37, and Rochelle Ellene Slaybaugh, 32, were arrested on Wednesday, March 17, according to Lt. C orey Paulich of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Paulich said that at 8 a.m. March 17, Lake County Sheriff’s deputies were contacted by the Ukiah Police Department, which had received information regarding a burglary that had occurred in the city of Ukiah.
The victim reported locating one of the stolen items in an unpopulated area on Fulton Road in Lucerne, Paulich said.
The deputies went to the location on Fulton Road where Paulich said they located a Keystone travel trailer that was not hooked to any utilities.
The deputies made contact with the trailer’s two occupants, identified as Buckhanan and Slaybaugh. Paulich said a records check showed Buckhanan had a felony arrest warrant out of Stanislaus County related to stolen property and was placed under arrest for the warrant. Further investigation also revealed that that travel trailer was reported stolen out of Stanislaus County.
Paulich said the deputies conducted a search of the trailer and surrounding area, locating numerous tools that were reported stolen by the victim in Ukiah.
The theft victim was able to come to the Fulton Road location, identify the items that were stolen and recover them, Paulich said.
Deputies also located a short-barreled shotgun, a handgun and ammunition for various guns, miscellaneous rifle parts, burglary tools, and small amounts for heroin and methamphetamine, according to Paulich’s report.
Paulich said Buckhanan was transported and booked at the Lake County Jail on charges of felon in possession of a firearm, possession of stolen property, and possession of controlled substances.
Buckhanan remains in custody related to his warrant and being a felon in possession of a firearm, with bail set at $170,000, according to jail records.
Paulich said Slaybaugh was arrested and transported to the Lake County Jail where she was booked on the charge of being under the influence of a controlled substance.
The sheriff’s office is also requesting the district attorney seek additional charges against Slaybaugh for possession of stolen property, possession of a short barreled shotgun, and possession of controlled substances, Paulich said.
Due to $0 bail rules, Paulich said Slaybaugh was not able to be held in jail on these charges.
Sheriff’s detectives will be attempting to identify victims for additional items that were located and believed stolen, Paulich said.
Paulich told Lake County News that the sheriff’s office sent the location to Community Development for possible abatement.
He said the sheriff’s office had no previous contact with Buckhanan and only one prior minimal contact with Slaybaugh.
The sheriff’s office reminded the public to take a moment when purchasing items to document serial numbers. This can be easily done by taking a photo or video with a cell phone. This will assist law enforcement with identifying and returning property if it is stolen.
The museum system – which includes the Historic Courthouse Museum in Lakeport, the Schoolhouse Museum in Lower Lake and the Gibson Museum in Middletown – will reopen to the public on Thursday, March 25, Lake County Public Services reported.
Social distancing and masking will be required at all times in the facility in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, county officials said.
When Lake County went into the most restrictive purple tier on the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy at the end of November, restrictions included closure of facilities like museums.
However, last week Lake County dropped into the less-restrictive red tier, allowing for reopening of some sectors, as Lake County News has reported.
The days and hours of operation at each museum site will be Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Historic Courthouse Museum will resume normal hours of operation as staffing allows.
Museum visitors can sanitize their hands with sanitizer readily available throughout the building.
Staff will be monitoring the building to ensure the capacity limits set by California state guidelines are not exceeded.
Learn more about the Lake County Museums at http://museums.lakecountyca.gov.