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Recreation
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- Written by: Editor
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The Cougar Classic at Upper Lake High School will take place on Saturday, Sept. 7.
The event will begin at 8 a.m.
After having to cancel the meet in 2012 due to heavy smoke from wildland fires, the Cougar Classic at Upper Lake High School is back for its sixth annual high school cross country race.
All high school cross-country teams in the empire are invited to this event.
There will be four races, starting at 8 a.m.: Girls JV, Boys JV, Girls Varsity and Boys Varsity.
Teams must fill varsity races with at least five runners before entering junior varsity runners.
The course is 2.07 miles, all flat and fast. It include 60 percent grass, 30 percent dirt and 10 percent pavement.
Entries are $10 per runner or $100 per team (whichever is less). Coaches, please bring check on race morning.
Meet t-shirts, which cost $7 each, will be available in a limited supply. (If anyone wants to pre-order t-shirts let coach Woods know in their entries.)
Distinctive awards are 10 deep in each race. Team awards include two places in each race.
To enter notify Coach John Woods at
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- Written by: Editor
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – “Mission Youths” are the champions of the 2013 Youth Coed Softball Tournament, held Saturday, Aug. 3, and Sunday, Aug. 4, at Lakeside County Park.
This was the fourth annual event sponsored by ReachOut, a program of Sunrise Special Services Foundation, a nonprofit health and social services agency.
This coed softball tournament for ages 13 to 17 is known to be a fun, family annual event.
Second place went to “Pomo Youths,” third place to “Robinson Rec” and fourth place to “Middletown Youths.”
The mixed teams of youths ages 9 to 12 played their championship games during the lunch hour of both days.
The barbecue lunch was provided for players and family.
The sponsoring program is grateful to Twin Pines Casino for donating the hamburgers and hot dogs, Foods Etc. for donating water, Tracey Avila for the chips and April Shepherd for the awesome beans. Additional support came from Lakeview Market, Big 5, Disney Trophies, and the county of Lake Parks and Recreation.
This annual tournament is not grant funded but sustained by entry fees and joined efforts of local businesses, individuals and coaches.
For more information or to sign up, coach a team, volunteer or donate for the 2014 Youth Coed Softball Tournament call 707-274-9121, Extension 4, or email at
Information and calendar for all other ReachOut activities are on www.sunrisespecialservices.org .
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- Written by: Carrie Wilson
Question: I have some ducks that I would like to find a good home for but am not sure where to start.
They have been pets and I don’t want to eat them or risk giving them to someone else who will eat them. I’d like to release them into the wild and am hoping you can advise where I can do this.
I’m willing to donate them someplace as long as I know they won’t get eaten. (Mike)
Answer: I understand you are seeking a good home for your pets, but releasing domestic animals into the wild is a bad plan and often has disastrous results.
Typically, domestic animals depend on humans for food and are ill-equipped to take care of themselves in the wild. When released to the wild, many end up starving to death or falling prey to any number of predators.
If the animals do survive, they typically become a nuisance in their new home and may cause damage because they tend to seek out people for food.
Domestic animals also compete for resources with wildlife, and in some cases may breed with their wild counterparts which reduces the genetic fitness of wildlife populations.
There is also a real possibility of introducing domestic diseases to wildlife that have no immunity. This may cause die-offs, sometimes quite massive ones.
In addition to all of this, it is also against the law. Any person who willfully abandons an animal is guilty of a misdemeanor under California Penal Code, section 597s.
You might try posting a notice at a local farm or agricultural store because many of these stores regularly sell domestic ducklings. You could also search for petting zoos or small city zoos to see if they may be interested in giving them a good home.
If that doesn't work out, try advertising on the Internet. You might also check with local schools and ask friends.
Bottom line … you have a number of options to explore in your quest to find a new home for your feathered friends, but releasing them to the wild should not be one of the them.
Selling abalone jewelry
Question: I’ve recently been to a few beaches where I’ve found red abalone shells that have washed up on the shore. I’ve collected a few shell fragments and have made jewelry from them. Friends of mine have shown the items to others and now they want me to make them items as well.
My questions is ... Is it illegal for me to collect red abalone shells, and then make jewelry, then sell them to friends, and so forth?
I’ve gotten mixed answers from the Web and have tried to navigate your Web site. I have seen no definitive answer. (Matt R.)
Answer: You may give the shells away or use them for personal use, but shells collected under the authority of sport fishing license cannot be legally bought, sold, traded or bartered.
People often ask what they can do with their old abalone shells. We get requests for shells from Native American tribes who use them for ceremonial purposes. Shells can be donated directly to a Native American tribe, or they can be given to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and we will distribute them to Native Americans when we get requests.
Deer decoys
Question: I know that baiting for big game is illegal in California, but what about using deer decoys to attract deer to a certain location when deer hunting? (Matt W.)
Answer: Yes, decoys are legal to use while deer hunting in California. However, decoys that employ any recorded or electrically amplified bird or mammal call or sound are illegal to use for big game.
Transporting smoked/canned fish
Question: We have a vacation house on the North Coast where we spend a lot of time ocean fishing and enjoy smoking and/or canning our fish.
How can we legally transport this processed fish back to our home in the valley? (Jim S., Redding)
Answer: As long as you possess only the legal limit and the fish were taken legally, transporting these fish as smoked or canned is not a problem.
Regardless of whether they are fresh, frozen or otherwise preserved, no more than one possession limit may be possessed by any one person (CCR Title 14, section 1.17).
Carrie Wilson is a marine environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. While she cannot personally answer everyone’s questions, she will select a few to answer each week in this column. Please contact her at
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- Written by: Ron Hallman
HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. – The HVL Men’s Niners Golf Club held a two-man team (3X3X3 format) tournament on Thursday, July 25th.
The results were:
- “A” Flight: The team of Jim Brown/Jim Wilson took first with combined net, 28. Fred Figg/Jeff Markham was second, 30. The teams of Joe Vallee/Paul Bertlin, Don Dornbush/Jim Stratton, and Bill Brewster/Randy Brown tied for third, 31.
- “B” Flight: Jim Hodges/Jay Hodges was first with the lowest net of the round, 25. Ed Carver/Don Holland was second, 28. The teams of Mike Casolo/Phil Tyler, Dennis Day/Dick Kistner, and Olie Smith/Bob Costello tied for third, 30.
Closest to the Par 3 Pins were Fredd Figg and Paul Bertlin.
Chip-ins were had by Jay Hodges and Paul Harvey.
Sixty men (30 teams) participated in the day’s events.