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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Roman Calderon, 57, died of his injuries after being ejected from his pickup, the CHP’s Williams Area office reported.
Just before 8 p.m. Sunday, the CHP said Calderon — driving westbound on Highway 20 at Highway 16 at an undetermined rate of speed — crossed the double-yellow lines in his Toyota Tacoma pickup and hit a Dodge Durango driven by 27-year-old Orland resident Jacob Funk head-on.
The CHP said Calderon was not wearing his seat belt and was ejected from his pickup after the driver’s side door came off. He was declared dead at the scene.
Funk, his passenger Vicky Davis, 40, and two children, all of Orland — and all of whom were using safety equipment — were flown to regional trauma centers by air ambulance due to their injuries, the CHP said.
The CHP’s initial report said the investigation so far has indicated alcohol and/or drugs may have been factors, but the agency has not released additional information on the crash’s cause.
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Sarah Marikos, who analyzes and tracks Lake County’s COVID-19 data, last spoke to the board in June.
She returned on Tuesday for an update during which she said that Lake County’s testing rate has declined to the lowest rate since the case surge at the start of the year.
The testing positivity rate had dropped to a low of less than 1% in mid-June but has since increased to a high of 6.3%, the highest rate since the winter surge, Marikos said. The state also is seeing a testing positive case increase.
Over the past three weeks, Lake County’s cases have increased. Marikos said they’ve identified 36 cases for the week beginning July 4.
As of Tuesday, Lake County’s daily case rate, over a seven-day average, was 10.3 cases per 100,000, while Marikos said the state’s rate was between 3 and 4 per 100,000. That’s the highest daily case rate in the state.
On Wednesday, the California Department of Public Health reported that Lake County’s cases per 100,000 over a seven-day average had edged up further still, to 11, remaining the highest daily case rate in California.
Marikos said case rates also have doubled in recent weeks in the Bay Area, Southern California and the greater Sacramento region.
As of this week, Lake County’s COVID-19 deaths is at 63, Marikos said.
Earlier this month, Lake County Public Health reported that its medical staff was looking at documentation regarding deaths not previously recognized as COVID-related that the state had sent to Lake and other counties.
Since then, 18 deaths — none of which were recent, and which date back as far as October, officials said — have been added to the overall total, bringing it to 63.
“It’s standard best practice with any communicable disease to do a review of cases and deaths, and that’s what’s happened over the last couple of weeks. Many counties have undertaken that quality control effort as we’ve gotten through the surge and as we’ve gotten through the big vaccination push,” Marikos said.
In assessing Lake County’s cases, Marikos explained to the board that the majority of them are in younger people.
She said the 20 to 44 age group, which makes up only 26 percent of the county’s population, is disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, and makes up 55 percent of the caseload. That group, she noted, is of working age and is out and about in the community.
At the same time, three out of five people in the 18 to 49 age group are completely unvaccinated, she said.
Marikos said focusing on vaccinations for young people is very important as the county moves into the summer and as the more transmissible Delta variant — which already has been confirmed in Lake County — increases across the state.
She said 50.2%, or 27,700 Lake County residents age 12 and older, are fully vaccinated, while 6.9%, or 3,800, are partially vaccinated, and the remaining 42.9% of the population are not vaccinated.
In contrast, 61% of Californians are vaccinated. Marikos showed data putting Lake County in the middle of California’s counties for vaccination rates, with Lassen County at the bottom, with 30%, and Marin County at more than 80%.
Board Chair Bruno Sabatier asked Marikos about the percentage of those testing positive who have been vaccinated.
Marikos said she didn’t have that data in front of her, but that the number of people testing positive who have been vaccinated is extremely low.
However, she said a state report from a few weeks before had put the daily case rate for unvaccinated individuals at 4 to 5 per 100,000, while in vaccinated individuals it was 0.5 per 100,000.
Sabatier asked to have that information in the next presentation. Marikos said she would be happy to bring it.
At that point in the discussion, she reported that she had just gotten a note from her team that of the hundreds of cases they’ve had since the vaccine rollout, only about five involved vaccinated individuals.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Bureau of Land Management Ukiah Field Office invites public comment on travel management planning for trails and roads within the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument on BLM-managed public lands.
BLM will host a virtual public meeting, via Zoom, on Wednesday, July 21, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., part of a 30-day public scoping period, which ends Aug. 16.
This scoping period provides an open process for determining the scope of issues to be addressed and builds upon public input received during two previous workshops held to identify existing trails and roads, determine appropriate uses and ways to improve the trail network.
Public input helps the BLM develop a range of alternatives to improve the recreational experience, while protecting natural and cultural resources.
Participants must register for the Zoom meeting here.
After registering, participants will receive a confirmation email with instructions, a link to join the meeting and phone numbers for those unable to join online.
Zoom virtual meeting tutorials can be viewed here. Please contact the BLM as soon as possible for reasonable accommodations to participate.
On July 10, 2015, the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument was designated by Presidential Proclamation.
It contains nearly 331,000 acres of public lands comanaged by the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service within Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Solano and Yolo counties.
The proclamation allows for continued historic uses of the area, including hunting, fishing and livestock grazing, while protecting important recreational areas for camping, biking, hiking, horseback riding, designated off-road vehicle trails, sightseeing, remote backcountry travel and white-water rafting.
The area also contains one of the greatest concentrations of biodiversity in California, and is home to threatened and endangered plant and wildlife species.
Learn more here about the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument.
More information about this planning effort can be found on the project website.
Written comments may be submitted electronically to the project ePlanning website; via email to
For specific questions, contact Monument Manager Rebecca Carr Wong at 707-468-4023 or
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The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has confirmed outbreaks of adenovirus hemorrhagic disease in deer in several northern California counties and is asking California residents to help curb the spread by not feeding wild animals, and report potential cases to the department.
“Providing attractants for deer — food, salt licks or even water — is against the law for good reason,” said Dr. Brandon Munk, senior wildlife veterinarian with CDFW’s Wildlife Investigations Laboratory. “Because these artificial attractants can congregate animals and promote the spread of disease, it’s particularly imperative to leave wildlife alone during an outbreak. There is no cure or vaccine for this disease, so our best management strategies right now are to track it carefully, and to take preventive measures to limit the spread.”
Beginning in May, CDFW began receiving increased reports of mortality in deer, both free-ranging and at fawn rehabilitation facilities. With the assistance of wildlife rehabilitation facilities and the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory, CDFW confirmed cervid adenovirus 1, or CdAdV-1, as the cause of hemorrhagic disease outbreaks this year in Kern, Napa and Nevada counties.
The disease is typically fatal to young deer, particularly fawns, and can be spread by animals in close contact with each other. The virus is not known to affect people, pets or domestic livestock.
CdAdV-1 was the cause of a 1993-1994 outbreak of hemorrhagic disease in black tailed deer and mule deer that spanned at least 18 California counties.
Since then, CdAdV-1 has been identified as the cause of sporadic, often widespread, outbreaks of hemorrhagic disease in California and other Western states.
Deer fawns are at greatest risk, with high rates of mortality following infection. Yearlings and adult deer are more resistant but mortalities in these age groups occur as well. Outbreaks can be widespread and may have significant impact on affected deer populations.
Affected deer are often found dead without any obvious symptoms. They may be found near water. Sick animals may have excessive salivation (drooling or foaming at the mouth), diarrhea, regurgitation or seizures.
In addition to removing food and other attractants, Californians can help wildlife veterinarians track and study the disease by reporting sightings of sick or dead deer.
Anyone who observes a deer exhibiting symptoms, or encountering a deer that has died from unknown causes, can submit the information to CDFW through the department’s online mortality reporting system.