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Letters
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- Written by: John Ward
Lake County has a town baseball history that has yet to be fully captured on the www.goodoldsandlotdays.com Web site.
Despite our best efforts we have only been able to track down a few pieces of memorabilia such as Kelseyville’s team schedule in 1941, box scores of games played at Hoberg’s Resort as well as a poster of a special game played at Upper Lake in 1927.
We are hoping that this letter will be read by some former players or family members of players in the Clear Lake area.
There were teams at Lower Lake, Clearlake Highlands, Lakeport, Cobb Mountain (Giants) and Middletown (Blues) among others that played in leagues or hosted traveling teams from San Francisco before and after World War II.
This Web site is a hobby and features more than 1,000 semi-pro/non-pro teams from all over Northern and Central California.
Please contact us if you have any information:
Thank you.
John Ward lives in Burlingame, Calif.
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- Written by: Sue Williams
I recently attended and presented at a winter workshop for early childhood educators held at Ukiah High School.
The conference was on a Saturday, which meant early childhood educators were giving up a much-needed rest on the weekend.
While at the conference I met the most dedicated administrators and educators of young children. The conference was put on in a very organized way supporting the work of early childhood educators.
In the State of the Union speech, President Obama spoke to the need for more early childhood education and making this education more accessible for families.
After working in the field for 56 years I can tell you any federal funds spent on young children are reflected in the positive outcomes of research looking at the benefits of early education for children and their families.
Let me tell you from firsthand experience, if someone if looking at early childhood education as a career the pay back is in the progress of the children and their families.
Early childhood educators need to be paid equivalent to what elementary school teacher’s make, (which still falls far below the good work done by educators).
Early childhood educators do not get the credit they deserve for the work they do each day.
The truth is as a society we end up putting more money into teen and adult mental health services and the prison system.
If more money was directed towards early childhood education, the payoff is more healthy and productive adults and a better society for all.
Please check out the good work of the Redwood Empire Association for the Education of the Young Child and visit and support child development programs in your area.
Young children are our future and we certainly need to know we as a society have a brighter future for all human beings.
If you can read this article, you have teachers to thank and thank again.
Sue Williams has a master's degree in child development. She lives in Kelseyville, Calif.
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- Written by: Ellen Karnowski
The state of Maine recently became the second state to require labeling of genetically modified food ingredients on products that are sold in grocery stores.
Changes are going on now in our government agencies that are increasing the threat to our health.
The latest draft regulations proposed and open for comment until Feb. 20 in regard to our food that the USDA may approve allows increasing use of genetically engineered Roundup Ready products using glyphosate.
Millions of pounds of the chemical is used annually and we don’t even know it. This material that is used by Dow and Monsanto among others leads to increasing health problems including contributing to Alzheimer's among other diseases as well as leaky gut syndrome which does not allow us to get the full nutritional value from our food.
We need to urge the USDA to stop rubber stamping what the chemical companies are asking them to approve with likely donations and compensation. The agency often defers to the EPA but they have similar views.
Twenty six states have proposals to stop these products in our food supply. We need to continue to make an effort to keep our food safe.
The genetically altered products are not grown to save water, improve taste, nutrition or to increase yield but only to resist herbicides. This leads to less biological diversity because many more pounds of toxic chemical can then be used without “killing” the target plant.
When a field is sprayed, there are some plants or weeds that don’t get completely saturated and new forms have to be used to combat pests.
The latest development pushed by the corporations are resistant to ever-increasing levels on corn, wheat and cotton and are called “Enlist” and is engineered to resist the effects of 2,4,D-the same chemical used on the fields of Vietnam to wipe out the plants there.
The herbicide itself is toxic to the liver in small doses, is associated with higher risk of Lou Gehrig’s disease, malformed sperm and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The ingredient glyphosate is currently not approved for use on lawns and gardens in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Kuwait and the Canadian provinces of Québec and Ontario.
Meanwhile, the USDA acknowledges that allowing these crops on the market will likely more than triple use of 2,4-D in the U.S. – an increase of tens of millions of pounds per year.
On average, soy products that are genetically altered carry many times the load of these chemicals-up to 40 times more-than previously used.
I urge anyone who cares about these developments to contact the local office of the USDA and express your concern. The state executive officer is Val Dolcini and his email address is
Ellen Karnowski lives in Kelseyville, Calif.
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- Written by: Melissa Fulton
At its Jan. 21 Board of Directors meeting, the Lake County Chamber Board voted to support Measure L, the Healthy Lake Tax.
This measure will appear on the June 3 primary ballot.
The chamber is joining forces with several organizations and entities in the county to educate all residents about Measure L.
We will also advocate for several public forums in different areas of the county to provide opportunities for questions and answers on this issue of imposing a ½ percent transactions and use tax countywide.
This tax will be imposed not just on county residents but on purchases made by everyone who visits the county. Some estimate that the cost for a family of four will be less than $30 a year.
An expenditure plan is part of the measure as is the implementation of an oversight committee comprised of 11 members to be established by the Board of Supervisors.
In selecting members for the oversight committee, the supervisors shall consider members of the public and nominations that may be presented by, including but not limited to, the city of Clearlake, city of Lakeport, Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee, Lake County Invasive Species Council, Lake County Chamber of Commerce, Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce, Lake County Board of Realtors, Lake County Farm Bureau, Lake County Tribes and the Sierra Club.
The chamber and others will be publishing more information as the Committee to Support Measure L is formed and meetings are scheduled.
Melissa Fulton is chief executive officer of the Lake County Chamber of Commerce, headquartered in Lakeport, Calif.