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- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
Cal Fire’s burn permit suspension in Napa County will be lifted on Monday, Nov. 6.
In Lake County, this does not apply to the annual burn ban which is still in effect.
Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Chief Mike Marcucci is formally canceling the burn permit suspension and advises that those possessing current and valid agriculture and residential burn permits can now resume burning after these dates for the respective counties on permissible burn days.
Agriculture burns must be inspected by Cal Fire prior to burning until the end of the peak fire season.
Inspections may be required for burns other than agriculture burns. This can be verified by contacting your local air quality management district.
Cooler temperatures, higher humidities and the chance of winter weather have helped to begin to diminish the threat of wildfire.
Property owners and residents are asked to use caution while conducting debris or agriculture burns, follow all guidelines provided and maintain control of the fire at all times.
Individuals can be held civilly and/or criminally liable for allowing a fire to escape their control and/or burn onto neighboring property.
Residents in the counties where Cal Fire is lifting the ban who wish to burn must verify it is a permissive burn day prior to burning.
Check with the following agencies depending on county:
• Lake County Air Quality Management District, 707-263-7000.
• Colusa County Air Pollution Control District, 530-458-0581.
• Bay Area Air Pollution Control District, 800-792-0787.
• Northern Sonoma County Air Pollution Control District, 707-433-5911.
• Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District, 530-757-3660.
For information on burn permits for Lake County, please visit the South Lake County Fire Protection District website at https://www.southlakecountyfire.org./home/permits/.
Pile burning requirements:
• Only dry, natural vegetative material such as leaves, pine needles and tree trimmings may be burned.
• The burning of trash, painted wood or other debris is not allowed.
• Do NOT burn on windy days.
• Piles should be no larger than four feet in diameter and in height. You can add to pile as it burns down.
• Clear a 10-foot diameter down to bare soil around your piles.
• Have a shovel and a water source nearby.
• An adult is required to be in attendance at the fire at all times.
Visit https://burnpermit.fire.ca.gov/ to learn more or to apply for a permit.
Safe residential pile burning of forest residue by landowners is a crucial tool in reducing fire hazards.
State, federal and local land management and fire agencies will also be utilizing this same window of opportunity to conduct prescribed burns aimed at improving forest health and resiliency on private and public lands.
For more information on burning, visit the Cal Fire website at www.fire.ca.gov.
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- Written by: Rebeccah Sokol, University of Michigan; Marc A. Zimmerman, University of Michigan, and Patrick Carter, University of Michigan
Firearm injuries are now the leading cause of death among U.S. children and teens following a huge decadelong rise.
Analyses published on Oct. 5, 2023, by a research team in Boston found an 87% increase in firearm-involved fatalities among Americans under the age of 18 from 2011 to 2021.
Such an increase is obviously very concerning. But as scholars of adolescent health and firearm violence, we know there are many evidence-based steps that elected officials, health care professionals, community leaders, school administrators and parents can implement to help reverse this trend.
Trends in firearm deaths
The latest study is based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This data also provides information on whether firearm deaths were the result of homicide, suicide or unintentional shootings.
We have seen increases over time in all three areas. The steepest increase has been in the rate of firearm homicides, which doubled over the decade to 2021, reaching 2.1 deaths per 100,000 children and teens, or about 1,500 fatalities annually. Firearm-involved suicides have also increased steadily to 1.1 deaths per 100,000 children and teens in 2021.
Whereas the proportion of youth firearm-involved deaths due to unintentional shootings is typically highest during childhood, the share of gun deaths due to suicide peaks in adolescence.
In 2021, homicide was the most common form of firearm-involved deaths in almost every age group under the age of 18, with an exception of 12- and 13-year-olds, in which suicide was the leading cause of firearm fatalities.
Racial disparities in firearm deaths, which have been present for multiple generations, are also expanding, research shows.
Black children and teens are now dying from firearms at around 4.5 times the rate of their white peers.
This disparity is the consequence of structural factors, including the effects of systemic racism and economic disinvestment within many communities. Addressing racial disparities in firearm-involved deaths will require supporting communities and disrupting inequity by addressing long-term underfunding in Black communities and punitive policymaking.
More research is needed to fully understand why firearm-involved deaths are universally increasing across homicide, suicide and unintentional deaths. The COVID-19 pandemic and its exacerbation of social inequities and vulnerabilities likely explain some of these increases.
How to reduce gun fatalities
Reducing young people’s access to unsecured and loaded firearms can prevent firearm-involved deaths across all intents — including suicide, homicide and unintentional shootings.
Gun-owning parents can help by storing all firearms in a secure manner – such as in a locked gun safe or with a trigger or cable lock – and unloaded so they are not accessible to children or teens within the household.
Data shows that only one-third of firearm-owning households with teens in the U.S. currently store all their firearms unloaded and locked.
In addition to locking household firearms, parents should consider storing a firearm away from the home, such as in a gun shop or shooting range, or temporarily transferring ownership to a family member if they have a teen experiencing a mental health crisis.
Families, including those that don’t own firearms, should also consider how firearms are stored in homes where their children or teens may spend time, such as a grandparent’s or neighbor’s house.
Community-based and clinical programs that provide counseling on the importance of locked storage and provide free devices are effective in improving the ways people store their firearms. In addition, researchers have found that states with child access prevention laws, which impose criminal liability on adults for negligently stored firearms, are associated with lower rates of child and teen firearm deaths.
Reducing the number of young people who carry and use firearms in risky ways is another key step to prevent firearm deaths among children and teens. Existing hospital- and community-based prevention services support this work by identifying and enrolling youth at risk in programs that reduce violence involvement, the carrying of firearms and risky firearm behaviors.
While researchers are currently testing such programs to understand how well they work, early findings suggest that the most promising programs include a combination of reducing risky behaviors – through, for example, nonviolent conflict resolution; enhancing youth engagement in pro-social activities and with positive mentors; and supporting youth mental health.
Support structures
In addition to ongoing focused prevention efforts, hospital-, school- and community-based interventions that support youth in advancing social, emotional, mental, physical and financial health can reduce the risk of firearm deaths. Such measures include both creating opportunities for children and teens – building playgrounds, establishing youth programs and providing access to the arts and green spaces – and community-level improvements, such as improved public transportation, economic opportunities, environmental safety conditions and affordable and quality housing. Allocating resources toward these initiatives is an investment in every community member’s safety.
Over the past decade, we have seen an 87% increase in firearm-involved fatalities among children and teens in the United States. But we also have the strategies and tools to stop and reverse this troubling trend.
Rebeccah Sokol, Assistant Professor of Social Work, University of Michigan; Marc A. Zimmerman, Professor of Public Health, University of Michigan, and Patrick Carter, Co-Director, Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention; Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
Lakeport Police Lt. Dale Stoebe said the threat was sent via email to Konocti Christian Academy, which is located on the Lake County Fairgrounds at 401 Martin St.
“The KCA received an email that had approximately 30 additional addressees, that included Anti-American rhetoric and the threat of an explosive device on campus with a set detonation time,” Stoebe said.
Stoebe said that, at that time, local and regional threat assessment information centers had no similar information from other locations.
“When presented with all of the known information, school administration elected to exercise an abundance of caution and send students home,” Stoebe said.
He said that a search was conducted of the campus with no suspicious objects located.
The school did not immediately respond to a message sent via email by Lake County News Monday afternoon seeking comment.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
The agenda can be found here.
The council chambers will be open to the public for the meeting. Masks are highly encouraged where 6-foot distancing cannot be maintained.
If you cannot attend in person, and would like to speak on an agenda item, you can access the Zoom meeting remotely at this link or join by phone by calling toll-free 669-900-9128 or 346-248-7799.
The webinar ID is 973 6820 1787, access code is 477973; the audio pin will be shown after joining the webinar. Those phoning in without using the web link will be in “listen mode” only and will not be able to participate or comment.
Comments can be submitted by email to
During Tuesday’s meeting, City Manager Kevin Ingram will ask the council to consider a resolution officially renaming the park at 800 and 810 N. Main St.
The proposed name is Xabatin — pronounced Ka-bah-ten — “Big Water” Community Park.
The seven-acre park is located on the site of the former Natural High School. It’s funded by a $5.9 million grant from the Proposition 68 State Parks and Water Bond.
Ingram’s report explained, “The park project was initially referred to as ‘Lakefront Park’ in the grant application, though this was a placeholder name employed to facilitate the grant application process. City staff never intended for this nondescript name to be the permanent designation for this vital community asset.”
Ingram said the city has worked with local tribes to select a name that pays tribute to the area’s Native American heritage.
The result is that the park will be called Xabatin, which translates to “Big Water,” the original Pomo name for Clear Lake, Ingram reported.
Also on Tuesday, Police Chief Brad Rasmussen will give an overview of the Lakeport town hall on homelessness and mental illness held on Sept. 27.
In other business, the council will present a proclamation designating October 2023 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and meet new Public Works employees AJ Adams, Jonathan Ocana and Nicolaj Murray, and Utilities Department employee Anthony Casanova.
Assistant City Manager Nick Walker will update the council on the challenges and opportunities related to the city’s fee program and Utilities Director Paul Harris will ask for the council’s approval of a purchase agreement for the procurement of a HOMA Sewer Pump - Model AMSS644-300.
On the consent agenda — items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote — are ordinances; minutes of the regular council meeting on Sept. 19; approval of Application 2023-024, with staff recommendations, for the 2023 Lakeport Elementary School Halloween Parade; and authorization for the mayor to sign the Second Amendment to the 2019 PEG agreement extending the term of the agreement through June 30, 2025.
Email Elizabeth Larson at