Opinion
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- Written by: Teresa Frankovich, M.D.
As adults, many of us put vaccines in the back of our minds after finishing our childhood immunizations. But the truth is that vaccines save lives at every age.
Whether you are a healthy, young-to-middle-aged adult or a senior citizen, getting routine vaccinations can help protect your life and your health.
The Tdap vaccine protects against three different diseases — tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis. The bacterial infections diphtheria and tetanus can lead to severe illness and even death.
Thanks to the effectiveness of the Tdap vaccine, you have probably never met anyone who has had either of those diseases.
Unfortunately, infections caused by pertussis, also known as whooping cough, are far more common and have been surging in California this year due to fewer people being vaccinated.
While deaths in adults from pertussis are rare, infants and young children can become sick enough to need hospitalization, and some die. When you receive a Tdap vaccine, you are protecting yourself and the people around you.
While influenza (flu), which circulates every year, may seem like not much to worry about, it is important to remember that thousands of people in the U.S. die every year from influenza and its complications. Infants and young children, those with certain chronic health conditions, and seniors have the highest risk. A simple yearly flu vaccine helps to protect not only you from serious illness but also those most at risk in your community.
Two more vaccines to highlight are the shingles and pneumococcal vaccines. Shingles infections occur when the chicken pox virus, which can live quietly in your body for years after infection, becomes active. This can cause a very painful rash.
About one to two out of every 10 people who get this infection develop persistent pain that may last for weeks, months, or even years. Risk of this infection increases with age, so the shingles vaccine is routinely recommended for adults age 50 or older.
The pneumococcal vaccine provides protection against infections — particularly serious and invasive infections — from bacteria called pneumococcus. While these bacteria cause common problems, like ear and sinus infections, they can also cause more serious infections of the lungs (pneumonia), blood stream (bacteremia), and of the brain and spinal cord (meningitis). Fortunately, research shows that getting vaccinated can decrease the risk of these serious infections by 60-70%.
Vaccination recommendations may vary with age, health conditions, and even with pregnancy. Please talk with your health care provider often about the vaccines needed, at every age, to help protect you, your family, and your community. Vaccines are time-tested, safe, and effective. Make the healthiest choice: Get vaccinated.
Dr. Teresa Frankovich is an associate medical director at Partnership HealthPlan of California, a community-based, safety-net health care organization that contracts with the state to administer Medi-Cal benefits. Partnership provides quality care to over 900,000 Medi-Cal members. Starting in Solano County in 1994, Partnership now serves 24 Northern California counties – Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Marin, Mendocino, Modoc, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo, and Yuba. Learn more about Partnership at PartnershipHP.org.
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- Written by: BERNIE BUTCHER
On Nov. 5, the American people voted for a change in national direction — reduced immigration, a move toward traditional values, less government spending and regulation, stronger support for domestic manufacturing, and a retreat from foreign entanglements. Like many elections before it, the people voted for a pendulum swing — not a revolution.
But what Americans did NOT vote for was a rejection of our constitutional democracy.
The people did NOT vote to abandon the republican form of government outlined in the Constitution — with its careful balance of powers and its deep respect for the rule of law. And the people did NOT vote to discard the ideals expressed 249 years ago on July 4 in a hot Philadelphia courthouse, when the Founders declared independence from a king.
That declaration — the foundation of our national identity — warned of the dangers of concentrated power. It told of a “long train of abuses and usurpations” by a single ruler, King George III. The kingly abuses are different today, but some of the warnings of our Founders still ring true.
From the Declaration of Independence (bolded phrases are from the original text), here are just a few “abuses and usurpations” that resonate today:
He has kept among us standing armies without the consent of our legislators.
— Today, we see the National Guard and Marines in the streets of Los Angeles without local approval and a budget for a massive expansion of an ICE federal enforcement force.
He has dissolved representative houses for opposing his invasions of the rights of the people:
— Today, we see executive threats to shut down departments like Education and USAID without Congressional consent. Public universities, the press, and the legal profession are being intimidated for exercising institutional independence.
He has made judges dependent on his will alone:
— Today judges face physical threats while duly convicted insurgents and allies of the administration receive pardons.
He has sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people:
— Today we see mass firings of civil servants by un-elected officials, indiscriminate ICE raids in the dead of night, and agency closures with no effective oversight.
He has cut off our trade with all parts of the world:
— Today the world is subject to sudden whimsical tariffs and trade barriers imposed without Congressional approval.
He has transported us beyond seas for pretended offenses:
— Today we see mass deportations without due process or adequate legal representation.
He has excited domestic insurrections among us:
— Today we see pardons for Jan. 6 insurrectionists and rallies, speeches and posts that demonize opposing viewpoints and widen the partisan divide.
Our system was built to withstand moments like this — but only if the people stand up. The ballot box remains a path to redress, but we must not wait for 2026 or 2028 to defend our democracy.
The time to act is now. Our democracy has successfully pursued change — even bold change — without handing the power of a king to any one individual.
The Founders wisely rejected a monarch in 1776. And we don’t need a new king now.
Bernie Butcher writes on behalf of Indivisible Lake County CA. To hear him read this editorial, visit here.
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- Written by: TIMOTHY TOYE
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” So goes the ancient proverb. The City Council of Clearlake wants to help its citizens by improving the quality of its housing. That is its good intention.
It is concerned that tenants living in the city are afraid to go to code enforcement to complain about their sub-standard housing out of fear of reprisal from the landlord, even though that is already illegal in California.
We are not sure how the current method of addressing code enforcement complaints is being addressed, if at all, but the city has a better idea, which is to require every single rental property, every single vacation rental, and every single hotel room to register with the city and to allow for regular annual inspections, through enforcing an ordinance which has been on the books for some years, but has not been actioned till now.
They cannot leave it to the people, or to code enforcement or to the market. City staff are counting 6,600 of these properties.
Every property must be registered, by the owner, for a $105 annual fee, as well as another fee, when the inspection happens of $135, more for re-inspections. There will be fines if repair conditions are not rectified. Do the math on that? It’s a substantial amount of money. Very close to a million dollars annually.
It has been suggested that, if the City Council is concerned about the quality of its housing and their citizens being afraid of reporting to Code Enforcement, they educate their citizens as to what is considered a safe and healthy home. That would be cheaper to do, but, no, it is not helpful enough, and it would not require the collection of fees, and produce income for the city.
Every tenant would have to make their home available for inspection, and will be given a four hour window during the work week, to await the arrival of the inspector. The inspector may require upgrades, which may be inconvenient for the tenant, might even require them to move out?
The property owner will be required to pay these fees, but because landlords view their rental properties as a business, will they take these additional fees into account when setting or raising the rent? I think we know that answer. The extra money for the city has to come from somewhere.
Will this increase or reduce the supply of housing in the city? Some landlords are already now looking to sell and get out of the business. If supply reduces, will rents increase?
If you live in Clearlake, do you think this is a good or bad idea? If you are a tenant or a landlord, it will affect you, so it might be the time for you to be part of the consideration?
The problem with good intentions is unintended consequences. That is the road to hell. Is that one Clearlake should risk taking? The city of Salinas in Monterey County just repealed a similar ordinance after passionate pushback from its citizens over increased rents as a result. Larkspur in Marin County just did the same.
There is a suggestion that rental properties under professional realtor management be exempted because the landlord is already paying for annual inspections to ensure the rental property is healthy and safe. Otherwise, these landlords would be double billed.
There is another suggestion by county Supervisor Bruno Sabatier that a pilot program be put into place before jumping in the deep end with this considerable expansion of city authority and intervention into its citizen’s housing.
Are these good ideas? You are invited to be part of the conversation before it is too late.
Timothy Toye has been selling real estate in Lake County, California, for more than 30 years. His brokerage, Timothy Toye & Associates is one of the largest property managers of homes in the county. He can be contacted at 707-928-6900 or
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- Written by: Jordan Cade
In 2022, the PACT Act was signed into law, allowing veterans suffering from conditions linked to toxic exposure to access compensation and free healthcare without having to prove a link between this exposure and their disease.
However, PFAS, also known as the so-called forever chemicals, are not listed as presumptive toxic agents under this Act, despite evidence of their toxicity.
These substances are widely used by the U.S. Military on a large scale, including firefighting foams and equipment, protective gear, lubricants, and coatings. Yet, clear documentation of exposure for veterans is lacking.
To address this problem, the PFAS Registry Act of 2023 was proposed.
The act seeks to create a comprehensive national registry of active-duty personnel and veterans who may have been exposed to PFAS during their military service.
This registry would serve as both a tool for tracking long-term health outcomes and a mechanism for identifying exposure patterns across branches, bases, and roles. By collecting consistent data, the act seeks to close the gap in exposure documentation, which is currently a major barrier to compensating affected veterans.
Identifying exposure zones and environmental health risks in Lake County
The U.S. Geological Survey, or USGS, conducted a study in 2021 that found at least 45% of U.S. drinking water contains PFAS, with higher concentrations detected across various regions and states, including California.
In the United States, a total of 720 military bases are contaminated with PFAS or are suspected of being contaminated with these chemicals.
In California, 62 military facilities have been identified with known or suspected PFAS releases. While Lake County does not host major military installations, contamination can spread.
California has the largest veteran population in the country, with more than 1.8 million former service members.
Almost 5.000 of these veterans live in Lake County, and many were stationed with their families across military bases in this state.
Many of these veterans and their loved ones may now experience PFAS-related diseases, and cannot benefit from compensation unless they go through a lengthy bureaucratic and legal process of proving causality.
Barriers to implementing the PFAS Registry Act
With clear documentation of exposure and sufficient scientific evidence on toxicity, PFAS could be included as presumptive toxic agents under the PACT Act. However, the VA may be unable to sustain at this time an increase in claims processing, as well as an increase in funds allocated for compensation.
Since the implementation of the PACT Act, over 1.7 million claims have been processed, with more than 1.1 million approved. This is a 25% increase in all claims approved when compared to 2021. More than 6.8 billion have been granted in compensation within the first two years since the Act took effect, whereas in 2021, the total amount granted in new claims was only $3.7 billion.
An analysis by the Office of Inspector General, or OIG, found that more than 31.000 PACT Act-related claims were processed with incorrect effective dates, resulting in approximately $6.8 million in improper payments. This raises significant concerns about the VA’s capacity to process a high volume of claims and grant proper compensation to veterans and their families.
Even with well-documented evidence of exposure, including PFAS, and without the necessary staff and infrastructure for claims evaluation, errors may occur in the system.
Nevertheless, despite these barriers to implementing the PFAS Registry Act, as evidence of toxicity for various forever chemicals accumulates, so does social pressure.
Veterans and their communities are increasingly demanding recognition, accountability, and support for PFAS-related illnesses. Ignoring the growing body of evidence not only delays justice but also undermines the very purpose of the PACT Act, which is to honor service with meaningful care and compensation.
Jordan Cade is an attorney at Environmental Litigation Group, P.C., working closely with veterans and their families to secure compensation for toxic exposure. He is a dedicated advocate for fair access to healthcare and legal support for communities affected by environmental hazards.
