LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A virtual town hall this week will discuss tree mortality concerns and fire prevention efforts across Lake County.
The event will take place beginning at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 10, via Zoom.
The meeting ID is 955 1024 4148, pass code is 895673. It also can be accessed via one tap mobile at +16699006833,,95510244148#,,,,*895673# US.
From any mobile or landline phone, you may also dial 1-669-900-6833, and enter the Meeting ID and Passcode above, when prompted. To contribute to this meeting from a phone, press *9 to raise your hand, and *6 to unmute, once you are recognized to speak.
The meeting is presented by the Lake County Community Risk Reduction Authority, a collaboration of county and city governments, tribal nations, fire protection districts, water purveyors and other partners.
Many people visit and relocate to Lake County because of the wild beauty and drama of our landscapes.
In recent years, wildfire, drought and bark beetles have ravaged local forests, bringing climate-informed risks to communities more quickly and frequently than had been projected.
Taking action in response to tree mortality has become an urgent and critical priority throughout Lake County.
What are the root causes of this crisis? What is already being done to reduce risk of further wildfire and tree death? What strategies and steps are needed to make sustainable progress?
Scheduled presenters include:
· District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon and District 5 Supervisor Jessica Pyska, who will offer the introduction;
· Michael I. Jones, PhD, University of California Cooperative Extension forest advisor, who will give a tree mortality overview;
· Melinda Rivera, local government affairs representative for Pacific Gas & Electric Co., and Peyton May, the company’s vegetation program manager, will discuss current PG&E projects;
· Paul Duncan, Cal Fire North Division operations chief, will speak on early fire season and community wildfire resilience projects;
· Korinn Woodard, US Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service District conservationist, will present resources for large property owners;
· Will Evans, executive director of the Clear Lake Environmental Research Center, will provide an update on ongoing projects; and
· Lindsay Dailey, program director for the Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance, will give a summary of that group’s projects.
“In our Board’s Vision 2028 Priorities Statement, we committed to ‘Developing and maintaining a high standard of Disaster Prevention, Preparedness and Recovery, in collaboration with community stakeholders,’” said Pyska. “We must be responsible stewards of our local environment and ecosystems, and take preventive action where we can.”
“Every Lake County resident can take steps to make our communities safer, and provide a healthier environment for the next seven generations,” said Simon. “It starts with educating ourselves, and this town hall is a great place to learn and get your questions answered.”
LAKEPORT, Calif. — This week, the city of Lakeport will host a forum for community members to answer questions about the proposed south Lakeport annexation.
The forum will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 10, at Lakeport Cinema, 52 Soda Bay Road.
The city of Lakeport is proposing to annex 137 acres, composed of 50 parcels, adjacent to South Main Street and Soda Bay Road.
In January, the city and county of Lake reached a sales tax agreement for the annexation area that opened the door to the process moving forward.
The Lake County Local Agency Formation Commission is now reviewing the annexation proposal.
Community members who have questions — such as how the annexation will affect them, impacts on taxing and how they can weigh in — are invited to attend. Experts will be on hand to answer questions.
Snacks and refreshments will be provided.
For more information, contact City Manager Kevin Ingram at 707-263-5615.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — When Pomo basket weaver Corine Pearce was just 9 years old, her great-grandmother came to her in a dream to tell her that she could weave baskets.
Pearce, who is a member of the Little River Band of Pomo Indians in Redwood Valley and has lineage in Lake County through her Pomo grandfather, was on a school camping trip at the time of her dream. A presenter had come to talk about baskets, and later, while Peace slept under a willow tree, she had the dream that changed her life.
As she slept, she dreamed that she walked to her great-grandmother’s house, where she sat on her lap. Touching the young Pearce’s hands, her great-grandmother said, “You can weave. You’ve got my hands, you can weave.”
Pearce says that when she awoke the next morning, she looked at the willow tree under which she slept in an entirely different way. She saw it through the eyes of a basket weaver.
That day she harvested willow and wove a little basket, and she’s been harvesting and weaving ever since.
Her great-grandmother was Mary Francisco, a highly skilled Pomo basket weaver, and though she wasn’t alive at the time of Pearce’s dream, through it a passion for basket weaving was infused into the heart of her great-granddaughter.
As a child, Pearce grew up with baskets surrounding her, and she always thought them beautiful. They instilled in her a sense of family pride, so much so, that someone once told her that she spoke about those baskets as though they were her siblings.
Despite the presence of the family heirloom baskets in her home, there were no basket weavers, family or otherwise, to pass on the tradition to her personally, and she was hungry to learn.
Renowned Pomo basket weavers Elsie Allen, Mabel MacKay, Laura Somersal and Pearce’s great-aunt Annie Lake provided inspiration for the young Pearce, but they were elderly when she was a child. Some were just months from death at the time of her dream.
Pearce knew that if she wanted to learn basketry, she’d have to teach herself.
Thankfully, her mother, an avid researcher, had a huge library of books in their home, including many on basket weaving. Pearce read every one of them and learned not only the techniques of weaving, but how to tend and harvest the native plants needed for the art.
In addition to her passion for weaving the baskets of her ancestors, a pressing life goal for Pearce is to teach others the almost-lost art.
Pearce began teaching basketry to family members at the age of 12, and by age 14 was teaching outside of her community.
Much of her early teaching experience came through her mother, who at the time worked for the University of Oklahoma’s Native Wellness Program. The teenage Pearce taught basketry to adults throughout the United States and Canada at the various wellness conferences with which her mother was involved.
Between that experience and the classes taught since then, including in the Middle East and Europe, Pearce estimates that she’s introduced literally thousands of people to the art of Pomo basket weaving.
Through teaching internationally, Pearce came to believe that every person has a basket inside them, wherever they may live.
The best in the world
Pomo basket weavers were the best in the world, according to Sherrie Smith-Ferri, Ph.D., who has studied and written extensively about Pomo basketry. She recently retired after 30 years as executive director and curator of the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah.
Sophisticated environmental knowledge is needed to be a successful basket weaver, says Smith-Ferri. It’s a collaboration of weaver and plant working together.
Because of the botanical diversity of the area where the Pomo people lived — now Lake, Mendocino and Sonoma counties — they made baskets from more types of materials than anyone else in the world.
Pomo basket weavers also employed feathers and beads of clamshell or wood in their basket making. Some decorative Pomo baskets were completely covered in feathers, something unseen in the work of other tribes.
In addition, Pomo baskets display a high degree of technical virtuosity. More weaving techniques were employed when making Pomo baskets than in any other basket making culture worldwide.
Pearce enjoys employing a favorite Smith-Ferri quote in her basketry classes: “Pomo basket weavers were the best basket weavers at any time and in any space.”
Currently Pearce tends and harvests a variety of plants throughout Lake, Mendocino, and Sonoma counties, the traditional lands of the Pomo people.
These include sedge root (which comprises most of the tan materials used in baskets), willow (an important component of cradle baskets), dogwood, hazel, bulrush root, tule (from which boats and mats are made), oak (a keystone in making cradle baskets) and redbud.
The color and characteristics of these native plants vary depending on the area. For example, Pearce says that the volcanic soil in Lake County makes our redbuds far more vibrant in color than those in Mendocino County.
It takes a deft hand and years of experience to properly prepare plants for weaving. Something that’s imprecise must be made perfect for the task. Pearce splits redbud branches over and over to get the appropriate thickness and width for basket weaving.
One must also know the optimal harvest time for the varied plants. According to Pearce, climate change has made this task unpredictable, as plants are now blooming earlier than usual.
As intricate as weaving a basket is, it’s the tending, harvesting and preparing of the plants that makes up the bulk of the process.
One of Pearce’s specialties is making cradle baskets, evidenced by the book she authored, “Pomo Cradle Baskets: An Introduction.” She made 16 full-size cradle baskets in 2020, more than one a month, which she feels might be a record for a single person.
Pearce uses oak, proven to be stronger than steel, for the round rim of the basket. It takes a lot of strength to bend the oak into a circle, which Pearce said made her shoulder feel like that of a major league pitcher in 2020, her marathon cradle-making year. She says it took 25 years for her to learn to bend the oak properly.
According to Pearce, materials for cradle baskets should be harvested from the area where the baby is born to give them a spiritual tie to the land. Oak is appropriate not just for its strength, but because acorns were a staple food for the Pomo people.
Historically, it was the job of the father to make a cradle basket for his child. Pearce says this tradition has been asleep for 80 years, so it particularly pleased her to teach a cradle-making class in Upper Lake to Pomo men in January. Ten men ranging in age from 13 to 72 took part in the class.
Currently Pearce is central to the ongoing Weaving Baskets, Weaving Bridges (“Weaving”) project at the Middletown Art Center, or MAC, where she’s taught several classes on Pomo basketry and has more on tap in upcoming months.
The program kicked off in November with “Speak of Who We Are,” a presentation by Pearce and Tribal Elder Millie Simon from the Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians.
According to Lisa Kaplan, director of the MAC, “Weaving” uses the art of basketry as a vessel for healing and understanding through the holistic practice of weaving, from native plant cultivation and preparation to weaving in community. Building (or weaving) bridges is a central goal of the project, she says, with baskets as a vehicle for cross-cultural engagement.
“I am in awe of the opportunity to have all of this ancient knowledge and sense of place shared with us,” Kaplan said. “I’m grateful, honored and humbled to be collaborating with Corine Pearce, Millie Simon, Rose Steele, Mary Wilson and others. At our last workshop, nearly 40 people were outside weaving. Indigenous and non-Indigenous people were working, talking, and meditating together on their weaving. Corine is the center of the spokes of this basket that we’re all weaving together.”
Millie Simon, who sits on the MAC board in addition to being involved with its “Weaving” project, said she’s honored to be part of the basket weaving program honoring her ancestors.
Pearce also enjoys working at the MAC. “The program has become something truly amazing,” Pearce said. “I’ve been weaving within tribal culture for quite a while, as well as outside of that, but to combine the two has been great. I hope even more people will become involved in the upcoming months.”
Pearce will teach another weaving workshop at the MAC on Saturday, March 12. To sign up or to learn more about other “Weaving '' events, visit the MAC’s website at www.middletownartcenter.org.
In addition to the program at the MAC, Pearce recommends viewing the permanent exhibit on Pomo culture at the Lake County Courthouse Museum in Lakeport, where a myriad Pomo baskets in all their diversity is on display. Included is a small basket covered in bright yellow feathers, an example of the artistry and intricacy of Pomo technique. Information on the Lake County museums and their hours of operation can be found at Lake County Museums (lakecountyca.gov).
Pearce, who was named the 2021 Arts Champion by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, is also a 2020 Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award recipient and a 2020 Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellow. She was featured in the PBS documentary series “Craft in America: California,” which aired in 2018.
Pearce is currently working with schools in the Ukiah area to teach basketry and assist with student native plant gardens. She’s thankful that she’s been able to connect students in every district school with their native roots through this program.
Pearce can be heard on KZYX, Mendocino County’s public radio station, where she hosts a monthly radio program. The show, “Good Ancestors and Local Treasures,” features Pomo art and culture and is aired from 9 to 10 a.m. the first Monday of every month.
To follow Corine Pearce and learn more about her work, please visit her website at www.corinepearce.com.
Esther Oertel is a freelance writer in Middletown who's contributed to Lake County News since 2010. She especially enjoys writing about the people and places that make Lake County unique. For comments, questions and story suggestions, she may be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. — The Middletown Area Town Hall will meet this week to discuss area projects and hold an election.
MATH will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 10, via Zoom. The meeting is open to the public.
To join the Zoom meeting click on this link; the meeting ID is 659 964 1209. Call in at 669-900-6833.
At 7:05 p.m., MATH will get an update on area projects, including the We Grow cannabis project and the North Bay Forest Improvement Program.
The group also will hold a special election at 7:30 p.m.
Other agenda items include board reports, a discussion on returning to in-person meetings and an update from Supervisors Moke Simon.
The MATH Board includes Chair Monica Rosenthal, Vice Chair Rosemary Córdova, Secretary Todd Fiora, Ken Gonzales and Lisa Kaplan.
MATH — established by resolution of the Lake County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 12, 2006 — is a municipal advisory council serving the residents of Anderson Springs, Cobb, Coyote Valley (including Hidden Valley Lake), Long Valley and Middletown.
For more information email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Board of Supervisors this week is set to consider changing the masking requirements in county facilities and to discuss potential reforms to the county’s cannabis tax.
The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 8, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The meeting ID is 917 9771 8692, pass code 233443. The meeting also can be accessed via one tap mobile at +16699006833,,91797718692#,,,,*233443#.
All interested members of the public that do not have internet access or a Mediacom cable subscription are encouraged to call 669-900-6833, and enter the Zoom meeting ID and pass code information above.
In a discussion timed for 9:15 a.m., the board will consider rescinding an urgency ordinance requiring everyone in county facilities to wear face coverings, regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status.
Health Services Director Jonathan Portney’s report to the board cited the state’s lifting last week of masking requirements for public indoor places — although a strong recommendation to mask remains in place.
Portney said that, based on updated state and federal guidance, new Public Health Officer Dr. Erik McLaughlin is recommending the board rescind the ordinance requiring masking in county facilities. “Instead, Dr. McLaughlin highly recommends masking in County facilities.”
At 9:45 a.m., the board is set to get a presentation on the Big Valley Groundwater Basin Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and implementation, and at 10 a.m. will receive a presentation from the Lake County Cannabis Alliance.
In an untimed item, the board will consider taking action to reform the county’s cannabis tax.
Options staff is presenting include changing the taxable area from “cultivation area” to “canopy area,” which would reduce the tax by 15%; extend the due date for the cultivation tax’s second installment from May 15 to Oct. 30 and, going forward, resetting the future due dates; and temporarily reducing the cultivation tax rate by 50% for cultivation in 2022 and 25% for cultivation in 2023.
The proposal arose after the board heard from cannabis business owners in January who said the taxes, combined with market forces, were forcing them out of the industry.
The full agenda follows.
CONSENT AGENDA
5.1: Approve letter to the United States House of Representatives Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands in support of expansion of the existing Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument to include Walker Ridge, authorizing the chair to sign.
5.2: Adopt proclamation commending Tim Celli for his 26 years of devoted service to the residents of Clearlake and Lake County.
5.3: Approve Northshore Fire Protection District Wildland Fire Fuels Crew Grant agreement for the purchase of equipment for an amount not to exceed $521,779.
5.4: Adopt resolution amending Resolution 2021-31 and replace Appendix A to include an updated legal description of the property exchange agreement with the state of California (APN 010-043-01) executed on Oct. 29, 2021.
5.5: Approve an amendment to the September 2021 letter of commitment between the county of Lake and Trane Technologies, enabling pursuit of grant funding toward a firemain linked auxiliary supply hydraulic energy storage (FLASHES) system project in north Lakeport.
5.6: a) Reaffirm action taken on Oct. 26, 2021, adopting resolution No. 2021-135 authorizing the agreement in the amount of $757,550.00 between the county of Lake and the California Mental Health Services Authority for the period of agreement execution through Dec. 31, 2024; and b) authorize the Behavioral Health director to sign the agreement.
5.7: Approve amendment to the agreement between county of Lake and Hilltop Recovery Services for substance use disorder outpatient drug free and residential services for a new contract maximum of $292,050.00 for fiscal year 2021-22 and authorize the board chair to sign.
5.8: Approve Board of Supervisors meeting minutes Feb. 15, 2022.
5.9: (a) Adopt resolution recognizing, endorsing and accepting the technical and financial support provided to Lake County by the Northern California Coalition to safeguard communities in an effort to address criminal activities associated with the illegal cultivation of cannabis by drug trafficking organizations; and (b) adopt resolution amending Resolution 2021-115 to amend the adopted budget for FY 2021-22 by appropriating unanticipated revenue in the sheriff/coroner budget 2201.
5.10: Approve late travel claim for Water Resources Program Coordinator William Fox in the amount of $224.28 for the Western Groundwater Congress Conference held in Burbank, California, and authorize the auditor to pay.
TIMED ITEMS
6.2, 9:15 a.m.: Consideration to rescind Urgency Ordinance No. 3114 requiring all persons, regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status, wear face coverings in county facilities.
6.3, 9:30 a.m.: Consideration of hearing on account and proposed assessment for 12201 Widgeon Way, Clearlake Oaks.
6.4, 9:45 a.m.: Presentation of Big Valley Groundwater Basin Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA, and implementation.
6.5, 10 a.m.: Consideration of presentation from the Lake County Cannabis Alliance.
UNTIMED ITEMS
7.2: Consideration of resolution authorizing state of California cannabis equity funding.
7.3: Consideration of cannabis tax reform options.
7.4: a) Discussion and possible renegotiations of certain provisions of agreement approved on Sept. 28, 2021, with the Rural Communities Housing Development Corp. and b) discussion and direction on audit for financial activity regarding loan and loan forgiveness regarding Collier Avenue project.
7.5: Discussion of interest apportionment with the treasurer–tax collector.
CLOSED SESSION
8.1: Public employee evaluation: Health Services director.
8.2: Public employee evaluation: Public Health officer.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Mostly I’ve studied how charities help local communities after events like hurricanes and earthquakes, rather than war zones. But I’m also a human being, with friends and colleagues who are Ukrainian. Empathy and a personal connection to a cause are often what motivates donors to act.
You can wisely choose causes with the potential to do the most good in the middle of this humanitarian crisis by giving with your head as well as your heart. Here are the five guidelines I follow in my own giving decisions:
A useful shortcut is to look for organizations that have been vetted by others. I tried a simple keyword search “Ukraine charities,” and that was enough to turn up some promising lists posted by media outlets.
A good place to start your sleuthing on U.S.-based registered charities is the Internal Revenue Service. It also ensures you’re giving to the right group, rather than another organization with a deceptively similar name. Many scammers abuse the name recognition of established nonprofits, hoping you won’t notice the difference.
3) Give to charities with a track record in Ukraine
Some examples include Razom for Ukraine, which leads a variety of cultural and democratization initiatives. Another is UNICEF, a United Nations agency that protects children worldwide and is in a good position not only to provide immediate relief but also to pressure Russia to allow unrestricted humanitarian access. Because these groups have already built local relationships, trust and infrastructure, they are likely to be more adept at operating in these dire circumstances than the charities popping up now or those that are still mobilizing from half a world away.
Giving is a deeply psychological act. Effective – and satisfied – donors act on values important to them.
If helping refugees is your priority, consider organizations such as Fundacja Ocalenie, which means “the Rescue Fund” in Polish. About half a million Ukrainians had fled to Poland by March 3, 2022.
A lot of guidance about what makes charities good or bad to support can be misleading.
One common piece of advice I recommend you ignore is that donors should always support charities that spend as little money as possible on their overhead costs – things like rent and administrative pay.
Even leading charity rating and assessment sites, such as Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance, continue to rely in part on the outdated assumption that nonprofits with low overhead spending are automatically more efficient and let donors’ dollars stretch further.
Some charity-evaluation websites do provide valuable information. Charity Navigator has a helpful “advisory” page that alerts donors about nonprofit misconduct. But to research U.S. charities supporting the Ukraine crisis, I recommend Candid, formerly known as Guidestar. It evaluates charities on the basis of broader performance metrics, such as transparency, good governance practices and outcomes.
A better signal of effectiveness than low overhead will be a responsive organization with real humans who are ready to answer your questions. It should also have a track record of working well with others and clearly communicates how it spends donors’ dollars.
Groups worth supporting are also likely to emphasize their results in their annual reports and other materials. Especially if you intend to make a big gift, you may find that the charity’s 990 forms – paperwork the IRS requires – contain a lot of useful information.
I hope that you will consider giving as well, and – like me – you’ll stick with your support. The need is going to continue long after Ukraine is out of the headlines.
LAKEPORT, Calif. — The Lakeport Economic Development Advisory Committee will meet to discuss plans and projects this week.
The committee, or LEDAC, will meet via Zoom from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 9.
The meeting is open to the public.
The meeting will be held via Zoom: Meeting ID, 847 9466 6151; pass code, 619840. Dial by your location, 669-900-6833.
On the agenda, Nicole Flora, executive director of the Lake County Economic Development Corp., will give the group a presentation about Lake EDC’s priorities, the work of the Mendo-Lake SBDC and new services being offered in Lake County, said Chair Wilda Shock.
Shock said LEDAC also will hear updates on city projects and continue work on the next economic development strategic plan.
There also will be updates on city projects and activities, and member reports.
The group’s next meeting is on Wednesday, May 11.
LEDAC advocates for a strong and positive Lakeport business community and acts as a conduit between the city and the community for communicating the goals, activities and progress of Lakeport’s economic and business programs.
Members are Chair Wilda Shock, Vice Chair Denise Combs and Secretary JoAnn Saccato, along with Bonnie Darling, Candy De Los Santos, Bill Eaton, Monica Flores, Pam Harpster, Scott Knight, Alicia Russell, Laura Sammel and Marie Schrader. City staff who are members include City Manager Kevin Ingram and Community Development Director Jenni Byers.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated regarding the membership and titles. . Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Lake County Vet Connect Volunteers will host a quarterly mobile Stand Down, an outreach event for local veterans who are homeless or experiencing uncertain housing.
The event will take place Wednesday, March 16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the American Legion Post 437, 14770 Austin Road.
The Stand Down offers immediate intervention support in the form of supplies and housing, employment services and other community resource information. A hot lunch will be provided. Veterans must provide their ID cards or DD Forms 214.
Resources will be offered covering a variety of topics including veterans’ services, housing and homeless assistance, employment, safe medication disposal, emergency preparedness, advance care planning, behavioral health, employment assistance and more.
“In the military, ‘Stand Down’ afforded battle-weary soldiers the opportunity to renew their spirits, enjoy warm meals, receive medical and dental care, mail and receive letters, and enjoy the camaraderie of friends in a safe environment,” said Vet Connect Chair Chris Taliaferro.
“Today, ‘Stand Down’ refers to grassroots, community-based intervention programs designed to help the nation’s homeless veterans ‘combat’ life on the streets. Homeless veterans are brought together in a single location and are provided access to the community resources needed to begin addressing their individual problems and start rebuilding their lives,” added Taliaferro.
The Lake County Veterans Council asks the public to spread the word regarding the event so that local homeless or near homeless veterans can be reached and may benefit from the assistance available.
The Veterans Stand Down will follow protocols recommended by the County of Lake Public Health Department to reduce the spread of COVID. Masks are required and will be provided.
For more information, contact Taliaferro at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Nikki Derr at 707-234-9950. For updates, visit the Vet Connect Hookup Hub on Facebook.
Janine Smith-Citron is development director for Hospice Services of Lake County.
NORTH COAST, Calif. — Long-awaited buds are forming on flowering trees, poppies are peeking their heads out of the cold ground, and the sun is shining longer and longer with each passing day.
Spring’s imminent arrival is near. If you’re a gardener, you know this is the most exciting time to sow the seeds in planning for bountiful spring and summer harvests.
NCO Gardens Project’s free seed library has more than 230 varieties available to order for home delivery or pick up from North Coast Opportunities at 413 N. State St. in Ukiah. Visit bit.ly/ncoseeds to place your order today, or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to have an order form sent to you.
This season, the seed library is stocked with more than 10,000 seed packets donated by local farmers, seed savers and businesses.
The bulk of the seeds were donated by a grange in Oregon and distributed to Gardens Project and other Mendocino County organizations by North American Organics.
For more than 10 years, Gardens Project has operated the free seed library, and has watched its popularity rise during the pandemic while seeds have been in short supply elsewhere.
“Expanding our seed library through an online order form at this critical time when food insecurity has peaked across the country has allowed us to reach far more community members than ever before,” said NCO Gardens Project Manager Sarah Marshall. “Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve distributed seeds to more than 1,200 home, school, and community gardeners, along with public health emergency preparedness information and resources to connect community members with pandemic food access programs.”
The seed library is made possible by the participation of many community volunteers. Each year volunteers at the Ford Street Project categorize and sort through the seeds under the direction of horticultural therapist and gardener Carolyn Brown.
Generous donations help Gardens Project keep the seed library free for all by covering costs of shipping and staff time for packing orders.
To learn how to save seeds for your personal use, or to contribute to the Gardens Project or Mendocino County Seed Libraries, view the series “Mendo Seed Talks” on the NCO Gardens Project YouTube Channel.
Local experts Jen Lyon and Carolyn Brown share tips on basic seed saving techniques, as well as detailed instructions on how to save garlic, bean, and corn seeds.
Stay up to date with NCO Gardens Project by following @NCOGardensProject on Facebook, or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to sign up for the newsletter.
If you’d like to donate recent seeds that have been tested for germination, contact Sarah Marshall 707-462-1958.
NCO is the Community Action Agency that serves Lake and Mendocino Counties, as well as parts of Humboldt, Sonoma, Del Norte, and Solano Counties. NCO reacts and adjusts to community needs, including disaster response and recovery.
For more information visit www.ncoinc.org or call 707-467-3200.
Even before the pandemic hit, 98% of U.S. school districts said they didn’t have enough special education teachers to serve all the students who needed their help. During the pandemic, short-handed school districts were even more stretched to provide learning support to students with disabilities. Now, those students are struggling to catch up with where they should be.
In an early 2020 survey of parents of children enrolled in special education services, just 20% reported that their child received all the support the school was required to provide. Another 39% reported that their child actually received no services at all. A federal report in June 2021 documented schools continuing to have difficulty serving students with disabilities.
As a lifelong special educator who now studies the field, I have seen that many students who needed support before will need even more to get back on track. I worry that, as the pandemic ends, many students who did not previously have mental health difficulties, or whose conditions did not significantly affect their readiness to learn, may now have difficulties or disabilities that require assistance from a system that is already strained.
Business as usual
There are still shortages of special education teachers across the country. There are also reports that children are not receiving required services even after they’re back in school buildings. Services may include speech and language therapy, math and reading support, and instruction to improve social and emotional skills. Services vary from student to student, based on their individual needs.
Under a civil rights law, students who did not get proper services during the pandemic may be eligible for additional support – beyond their existing special education plan – to catch up with where they should be. When determining what a student may be entitled to, schools and families consider the benefits that were lost because the student did not get what they were entitled to. Services to address this problem will also vary from student to student.
But there are problems with that additional help as well, as schools continue to do their best with the resources that are available to them. A November 2021 survey by the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates – an advocacy group for students in special education and their families – found that 86% of parents reported that their child experienced learning loss, skill regression or slower-than-expected progress in school.
But just 18% of parents said their child received additional support to recover ground lost during the pandemic. And 14% of parents believed that school districts’ decisions about who got that additional help were unfair.
A January 2021 survey from the JED Foundation, a nonprofit working to improve children’s and teens’ mental health, found that nearly two-thirds of U.S. parents reported their child experienced a mental or emotional challenge in the previous month. That included more common complaints like social anxiety and isolation, and less common but more severe episodes, such as suicidal thoughts. More than half of teenagers reported having experienced thoughts and feelings in that range in the previous month.
In October 2021, three major professional groups focused on children’s health – the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association – declared a “national emergency in child and adolescent mental health,” in part as a result of personal and family stress during the pandemic.
Students with mental health diagnoses can qualify for special education if their conditions affect their ability to learn in school. To me, the steep increase in mental health difficulties reported during the pandemic means there will likely be more students in need of special education support than ever before.
Research has identified ways that schools and special educators could meet the current need, and what I fear may be a future spike in demand. These recommendations focus on developing working conditions that promote teacher and student success, improving compensation and using special educators to provide small-group instruction. I believe now is an opportune time to make a commitment to teachers who are experts in specialized instruction and to the students who really need them.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control has three young male cats ready for adoption this week.
Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online for information on visiting or adopting.
The following cats at the shelter have been cleared for adoption.
‘Joel’
“Joel” is a 3-year-old male domestic longhair with an orange tabby coat.
He is in kennel No. 24, ID No. LCAC-A-2466.
‘Bruno’
“Bruno” is a young male Siamese with red markings and blue eyes.
He is in kennel No. 255, ID No. LCAC-A-2828.
‘Sticks’
“Sticks” is a young male Siamese with red markings and blue eyes.
He is in kennel No. 255, ID No. LCAC-A-2829.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control has a new group of mostly young dogs of many breeds waiting for adoption this week.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Anatolian shepherd, Australian cattle dog, border collie, Catahoula leopard dog, Chihuahua, German shepherd, Great Pyrenees, husky, shepherd, Pomeranian and pit bull.
Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.
The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control website not listed are still “on hold”).
Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online for information on visiting or adopting.
Female shepherd mix
This 5-year-old female shepherd mix has a tricolor coat.
She was in kennel No. 9, ID No. LCAC-A-2793.
Female shepherd mix
This 7-year-old female shepherd mix has a tricolor coat.
She was in kennel No. 10, ID No. LCAC-A-2792.
Male pit bull
This 2-year-old male pit bull has a short black and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 14, ID No. LCAC-A-2473.
Female German shepherd mix
This 2-year-old female German shepherd mix has a short brown and white coat.
She is in kennel No. 15, ID No. LCAC-A-2812.
Female German shepherd
This 2-year-old female German shepherd has a black coat.
She is in kennel No. 19, ID No. LCAC-A-2844.
Female shepherd mix
This 1-year-old female shepherd mix has a short tricolor coat.
She is in kennel No. 20, ID No. LCAC-A-2843.
‘Blue’
“Blue” is a 4-year-old female husky with a gray and white coat, and blue eyes.
She is in kennel No. 25, ID No. LCAC-A-2816.
Anatolian shepherd-Great Pyrenees
This 2-year-old male Anatolian shepherd-Great Pyrenees has a short white coat.
He is in kennel No. 26, ID No. LCAC-A-2536.
Female pit bull
This 1-year-old female pit bull has a short black coat.
She is in kennel No. 27, ID No. LCAC-A-2824.
Australian cattle dog
This 1-year-old male Australian cattle dog has a short blue and black coat.
He is in kennel No. 28, ID No. LCAC-A-2754.
‘Marmalade’
“Marmalade” is a 1-year-old female Catahoula leopard dog with a brown brindle coat.
She is in kennel No. 30, ID No. LCAC-A-2823.
‘Bruno’
“Bruno” is a 2-year-old male Catahoula leopard dog with a brown and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 31, ID No. LCAC-A-2825.
‘Zuko’
“Zuko” is a 1-year-old male border collie-cattle dog mix with a light reddish-brown and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 32, ID No. LCAC-A-2822.
‘Benji’
“Benji” is a 9-year-old male Pomeranian-Chihuahua mix with a brown and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 34, ID No. LCAC-A-2770.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.