LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Tuesday, California’s Supreme Court chief justice signed an emergency order allowing the Lake County Superior Court to put trials on hold until the last week of January.
Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye signed the order in response to Presiding Judge Michael Lunas’ request for emergency relief under Government Code section 68115(a)(10), which addresses court operations during a state of emergency.
The order extends the time in section 1382 of the Penal Code for the holding of a criminal trial by not more than 30 days. In this case, it’s applicable only to cases in which the statutory deadline otherwise would expire from Dec. 30. The deadline is now extended to Jan. 28.
Court officials reported that they sought the order “as a result of the increasing COVID-19 cases both locally and statewide.”
This is the fifth emergency order the state has approved for the Lake County Superior Court to allow for the adjustment of court operations during the pandemic. Previous orders were issued on March 16 and March 27, April 28 and Aug. 14, according to the order the chief justice signed Tuesday.
Earlier this month, Lunas also ordered that trials would not resume before Dec. 30 and moved most of the court proceedings – with few exceptions – online in the wake of Lake County moving into the most restrictive tier on the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy.
In the weeks since, the court has confirmed that two employees have tested positive for COVID-19.
Court officials said Tuesday that no jury trial will take place before Jan. 27, so anyone who has received a jury summons for any date prior to that is not required to appear.
As for the impact on court operations, Court Executive Officer Krista LeVier told Lake County News, “While there are other jury trials that will be continued, the emergency order only impacts two in-custody defendants who have not waived their right to a trial within the statutory time frames.”
The court said all safety measures remain in place, including mandatory remote appearances in nearly all proceedings.
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. – A judge has given a four-year state prison sentence to a man convicted by a jury last month of involuntary manslaughter in the August 2019 killing of his traveling companion.
Judge Andrew Blum handed down the sentence to 22-year-old Mavrick William Fisher on Dec. 21.
In November, a jury convicted Fisher of involuntary manslaughter for the death of 25-year-old Grant David Whitaker of Mackinaw, Illinois, on Aug. 20, 2019. They also found Fisher guilty of taking a vehicle without permission, as Lake County News has reported.
At the same time, the jury found Fisher not guilty of murder and hung on charges of voluntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon with a special allegation of great bodily injury or death.
Fisher and Whitaker, both deaf, had been traveling around California in a car loaned to Whitaker by his grandmother when they had a physical confrontation while camping at Richardson Grove State Park in Humboldt County.
Fisher claimed he used a rock to hit Whitaker in self-defense. He then took Whitaker’s body to a ranch in Scotts Valley near Lakeport and disposed of it before he fled to Mexico, where he was arrested days later. Authorities extradited him to Lake County, where the criminal proceedings were transferred because Whitaker’s body was located here.
In a Dec. 11 hearing, Judge Blum had ruled against retrying Fisher for voluntary manslaughter, concluding from his research that the law does not allow for conviction of both voluntary and involuntary manslaughter.
Blum also dismissed the other charges the jury hung on, assault with a deadly weapon and the special allegation of great bodily injury or death, in the interest of justice, which is his prerogative under the state’s penal code.
Defendant’s mother appears at sentencing hearing
During the Dec. 21 sentencing hearing, District Attorney Susan Krones – who personally prosecuted the case – said 12 impact statements by Whitaker’s family and friends were read to the court and Fisher.
Defense attorney Tom Feimer said Fisher’s family and friends also submitted letters in support of him, but Feimer opted to not read them aloud in court since they were already made available to the judge.
The case’s unique nature – involving both a defendant and a victim who are deaf – has received a large amount of attention from the deaf community nationwide.
The Daily Moth, a news outlet serving the deaf community, covered the trial extensively and posted a video of the sentencing that included the reading of the victim impact statements.
Also appearing during the sentencing was Fisher’s mother, Michelina Fisher of Nevada, who described her son’s accomplishments both as a student and after his graduation.
Through an interpreter, Michelina Fisher told the court, “I would be thrilled to have him back home. He can work on his land again. So he can keep his dreams up.”
Part of the result of the nationwide attention for the case has been “a lot of terrible and untrue things” said about Mavrick Fisher in online comments, Feimer said.
“There was a level of vindictiveness to it” in the online attacks that Feimer said left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.
Feimer said he understood why Whitaker’s family members feel the way they do. But he noted that his client’s reputation has been tarnished well beyond the charges, and some of the claims about him worked their way into the victim impact statements from people who Feimer said don’t know Fisher personally.
While Feimer said that as a defense attorney he can’t offer much in the way of response to victim impact statements, he said Judge Blum did respond to some of the comments in the statements that targeted the jury for criticism.
“This jury gave the case their full attention,” said Feimer. “I’ve rarely seen a jury so engaged in terms of questions asked.”
He said the jurors asked very good questions – as good or even better than the attorneys asked during the trial – and added that they deserve a lot of thanks for their performance under the unique circumstances of being involved in a trial during a pandemic.
Judge decides on maximum sentence
Blum gave Fisher a four-year state prison sentence, which Krones said is the maximum term.
“I am pleased that the court gave him the maximum sentence as that is what I had argued to the court and I feel that is appropriate given the facts of the crime in this case,” she said.
She explained that the four-year sentence requires Fisher to concurrently serve time for both charges for which he was convicted – the involuntary manslaughter and taking a motor vehicle without permission of the owner.
She said Blum found that Fisher’s use of great violence and use of a weapon – in this case, a rock – were aggravating factors that outweighed any mitigating factors including the fact that Fisher had no prior criminal record.
Blum also concluded that Fisher displayed a high degree of callousness by not going to get help for Whitaker. Instead, Fisher dumped Whitaker’s body a few days later and lied, telling people that Whitaker was still alive for several days after he had killed him.
Because Fisher has been in custody for over a year he received 965 days total credits as of Dec. 21, Krones said.
Based on her calculations, as of Monday Fisher should have about 240 days left to serve.
“After serving his sentence he will either be on parole or Post Release Community Supervision for a time period,” said Krones.
“He was obviously hoping for less,” Feimer said of Fisher’s response to the sentencing.
However, Feimer added, “He’s still relieved that there won’t be another trial,” and that he now has a date when he knows he’ll be out of prison and can start moving on with his life.
One part of the case that remains unresolved is where, exactly, Fisher will serve the remainder of his time in custody.
Feimer said that, generally, under California’s criminal realignment, involuntary manslaughter is considered a local offense and so the prison sentence is served in local jails.
However, there are certain circumstances in which such terms are served in state prison. Feimer said Krones had argued – and the judge agreed – that, in this case, the circumstances called for Fisher to go to state prison and not serve the remainder of the term in the county jail.
Feimer said that while Blum sentenced Fisher to serve the time in state prison, he will allow for Feimer to argue for serving his sentence locally since neither the judge nor Krones could find a case on point that spoke to similar circumstances.
If his research supports it, Feimer said he’ll file a motion to seek to keep Fisher in the Lake County Jail for the remainder of his prison term.
Even if Fisher has to go to state prison, it could be some time before he’s sent there.
For months, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has not been accepting new inmates due to COVID-19.
Krones said it’s unknown when Fisher may be transported to state prison due to the pandemic.
Feimer agreed.
“Right now, for the foreseeable future, he’ll be staying here,” Feimer said.
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. – A newly awarded grant will help address canine overpopulation in the city of Clearlake.
Dogs Trust USA, based in New York, has awarded $30,000 to Jameson Humane to help fund its “Neuter Now Lake County Project,” which was launched in November 2020 and will last until October 2021.
Jameson Humane, headquartered in Napa Valley, has begun allocating spay/neuter vouchers, microchipping and vaccinations for dogs of low-income residents from Clearlake.
The group, founded in 2014, offers spay/neuter assistance across nine counties in the Bay Area and beyond.
Jameson Humane representatives said the group was honored to accept this funding so it could continue to directly impact the lives of animals by working with the community and collaborating across multiple organizations to offer financial assistance for those in need.
“Every day in the United States, 70,000 dogs and cats are born against only 10,000 humans – we will never rescue our way out of the problem if we don’t look at the systemic problem - overpopulation,” said Monica Stevens, Jameson Humane president and cofounder. “This is why Jameson Humane funds and facilitates lifesaving spay/neuter surgeries, necessary vaccinations and microchips throughout our extended community. By funding to date 5,000 lifesaving spay/neuter surgeries, Jameson continues to stem the tide of overpopulation, thus addressing the root of the problem.”
Over the past six years, the organization has provided the community with nearly 5,000 vouchers, resulting in an estimated 1,875,000 animal lives saved.
Since its inception, Jameson Humane has offered key assistance to local animal rescue organizations and animal control agencies in Lake County.
In 2015, just a year after its founding, Jameson Humane played a major role in assisting in the response to the Valley fire, helping evacuees and pets and gathering donations.
The following year, it was part of a team – including the SPCA of Lake County – that opened the “Pet Pantry” in Lower Lake to support Clayton fire survivors and their pets.
The group has continued to support and co-sponsor free spay and neuter and vaccination clinics in Lake County, particularly in Clearlake, in the years since.
Familiar with the continuing need to address pet overpopulation within Lake County specifically, Jameson Humane said it was primed to respond.
The city of Clearlake has a high poverty rate relative to the rest of the county – about 34 percent – which is why it is the top priority for the distribution of vouchers, Jameson Humane siad.
With the dog population in Clearlake estimated at around 8,900, this project contributes to Jameson Humane’s overarching goal to further increase the live-release rate at the two local shelters while also decreasing intake at a rate of 10 percent by 2022.
Jameson Humane representatives Amanda Vollstedt and Alyx Redmayne-Titley, who are part of the community animal assistance program, visited with Clearlake Animal Control staff and toured the new animal shelter on Dec. 17.
Charmaine Weldon, animal control technician as well as the adoption and rescue coordinator for Clearlake Animal Control, estimated that of the dogs that come through the shelter, 99 percent of them have not been spayed or neutered.
Vollstedt said Jameson Humane continues to want to assist Lake County, noting that about 50 percent of its requests for assistance come from here.
“We know the resources are limited,” Vollstedt said.
Jameson Humane estimated that the grant-funded 200 vouchers, some of which have already been distributed, will help prevent thousands of dogs being born who might have otherwise faced euthanasia.
“We are incredibly grateful to Jameson Humane for the ongoing partnership and collaboration the past five years. It takes a community and the success is attributed to the belief in the work that the city of Clearlake is doing for its animals. We thank Dogs Trust and Jameson Humane for making these 200 dog spay and neuters available to our community and keeping their pets healthy,” said Clearlake Police Chief Andrew White.
Ensuring that qualifying residents are aware of the opportunity to get their dog spayed/neutered, Jameson Humane has begun working directly with the SPCA in Lake County in Kelseyville and Totem Animal Small Animal Veterinary Practice in Napa County, which are the two designated clinics where the spay/neuter surgeries take place.
The veterinarians carry out an average of five surgeries per week, or 20 per month, Jameson Humane said.
"As president of the SPCA of Lake County, I am all too aware of the tremendous need in this county of pet owners. Lake County is large in geographical area, yet small in population, in a fairly remote area. Many of the people that live here are retired or disabled and living on a fixed income. The basic needs/expenses of companion animals such as vaccines, spay and neuter are often a financial stretch for this population,” said Brenda Crandall, SPCA of Lake County’s immediate past president.
“Jameson Humane has recognized that need and stepped in repeatedly to assist, through yearly vaccination clinics and through providing free spay/neuter vouchers to be used throughout the year. Because of Jameson’s assistance, the SPCA of Lake County is able to render assistance to a larger number of animals than would be possible without Jameson, and it is my firm belief that through this ongoing process, Lake County will have a reduced number of homeless dogs and cats in the coming years,” Crandall said.
“Totem Small Animal is greatly looking forward to helping the dogs and their guardians of lake county with this spay/neuter project,” said Dr. Katy Wilson of Totem Small Animal.
Impact is measured through shelter data from the two public shelters in Lake County – Lake County Animal Care and Control in Lakeport and the shelter in the city of Clearlake.
Jameson Humane said it focused on intake rates as a measurement metric for this project and obtained data on litters too to better represent the effects of its efforts.
Thanks to its collaborative relationship with local authorities, Jameson Humane also tracks the number of calls to animal control to report stray dogs and expect them to decrease over time.
A limited amount of vouchers are still available, so low-income Clearlake residents are encouraged to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or contact the Jameson Humane helpline at 707-927-3536 as they are allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis.
The requests for vouchers are approved based on a series of questions on income, proof of receipt of government assistance or other type of financial aid.
Those who are allocated a voucher receive instructions on how to schedule an appointment and drop off pets at the hospital.
If it weren't for this award, cross collaboration, and participation by the residents, these dogs’ health would remain at risk, including being more susceptible to cancer and pyometra, Jameson Humane reported.
“The education that results from such a service such as this, helps affect real change and save animal lives,” the organization said.
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. – After 19 years of continuous operation, the Lake County Hunger Task Force is disbanding.
The group said the primary reason is lack of volunteers to help with projects all year long.
The Hunger Task Force was formed in January 2001, the result of recommendations made following a hunger study conducted in Lake and Mendocino counties.
The first meeting was held in the board chambers of the courthouse in Lakeport, and there were 45 people in attendance.
That evolved into monthly meetings, throughout the years, held at various venues. Committees were formed, a mission statement and goal were decided upon.
Attendance soon slipped to about 20 people, as talking was the only activity. In October 2001 the garden committee created and planted the first community garden, at the former homeless shelter in Clearlake. This was accomplished on Make A Difference Day.
Following that time, membership slipped and only the garden committee survived. “We were led extremely capably for many years by Pete Johnson, then the leader for Habitat for Humanity in Lake County. He dedicated many years to our organization,” the group said.
Our other project that day was a food drive, with the food given to pantries around the lake. From that year on until 2019, the task force participated in the nationwide Make A Difference Day, which was accomplished with the help of volunteers from AmeriCorps, Kelseyville High School Interact students, K-Corps, and others from various organizations. This food drive morphed into the Stuff-A-Bus event at the urging and cooperation of Lake County Transit.
The task force extended its thanks to Lake Transit, Clearlake Grocery Outlet, Lakeport Grocery Outlet, and all who contributed items. “From 2000 until 2019, we collected and distributed 73,588 pounds of nonperishable food.”
In 2002 the task force held what is believed to have been the first-ever local "food summit," gathering all groups who had pantries and food programs. Another was held about four years later. “We hoped to coordinate information and schedules for the county, which proved to be only partially successful,” the task force said.
From 2002 until 2019, the group conducted canning lessons once a year. They were able to help 236 families and individuals learn the skills necessary to home can, and provided them with a canner, jars, books and a jar lifter to take home. These lessons were all hands-on, giving participants experience and confidence to do this on their own.
“We will forever be eternally grateful to the Kelseyville Presbyterian Church for the loan of their wonderful commercial kitchen,” the task force said.
Until the group was awarded a grant from the Lake County Wine Alliance in 2003 for $9,600, it relied on donations alone. “We applied for, and received, an additional $2,500 in 2009, for which we will always give kudos. They also donated $2,500 in 2019 to the Lake County Holiday Fund.”
In 2006, and again in 2012, the group conducted hunger surveys, which were compiled into booklets and disseminated throughout the county. Social work students from Pacific Union College conducted most of the surveys, and additional ones were done at food pantries and extended into the unhoused population. “Our gratitude is extended to Fiona Bullock, who led the students in these surveys, provided the compilation and conclusions,” the task force said.
Without the task force’s close alliance with North Coast Opportunities, including warehouse space, it would not have been able to conduct many of its activities.
North Coast Opportunities’ leader in Lake County, Tammy Alakszay, was a member of the task force since 2002. She originally came onboard as an employee of the Lake County Office of Education, working with the AmeriCorps volunteers.
“Over the years we participated in Hunger Action Day in Sacramento, tabled at the farmers market, talked with groups around the county, helped with school gardens, maintained and disseminated a food resource list, and helped feed people via other groups. Our most successful endeavor was our gardens,” the task force reported.
The group said it was fortunate to have landowners donate land and water for our gardens. The longest surviving garden was at Yoxagoi Farms, with Maile Field and Lars Crail supporting the efforts.
Later Bernie Butcher let the group use the Old Feed Mill property in Upper Lake. That garden is still operating and will be maintained by the Upper Lake High School FFA and 4H students, led by the extremely energetic Erica Boomer.
From 2010 until 2020, the task force’s gardens produced 68,584 pounds of produce. “We did not keep records until 2010, so the total is not really known,” the group said.
“No mention of our gardens would be complete without saying that without the mentorship and guidance of Sky Hoyt we could not have accomplished all we did. He taught us what grew best in Lake County, and helped us to achieve a high rate of production. He invented the waist-high tabletop growing system that we would incorporate in our gardens. He also allowed us to glean produce at his farm, as well as donating excess to the food pantries. We cannot thank him enough,” the task force said.
The task force said it was fortunate to have the loan of a greenhouse from the Lake County Office of Education, where it started all of its plants from seed. The money to buy all of the plant starts the group needed would have been impossible to sustain, so this greenhouse was integral to its garden projects. The garden alone had 98 tomato plants.
“We spent a lot of time gleaning in the late summer and fall. We gleaned pears, walnuts, and red flame seedless grapes. Our many, many thanks to Maile Field, Dan Goff, Nellie Dorn and Diane Henderson,” the task force said.
Beginning in about 2010, the task force participated in the holiday box program, at that time run by Lou Denny of the Lake County Community Action Agency. This role has been taken on by North Coast Opportunities, Community Action. Those boxes of food were provided by funds donated from citizens locally to the fund started years earlier by Judi Pollace of the Lake County Record-Bee.
In 2016 the group was asked to be the fiscal agent for the funds, and have been helping with it yearly. With eternal thanks to Scully Packing Co., which provided all of the boxes used – approximately 25,000 boxes over the years – along with Dennis Darling of Foods, Etc, Carlos Fagundes of Bruno's Shop Smart, Rotary Club of Lakeport, Beth Berinti of the Lake Family Resource Center, and Lou Denny of the Hunger Task Force. That program continues today.
Due to COVID, this year recipients were given gift cards to shop for themselves, 400 each in Lakeport and Clearlake.
The group offered a huge thank you to Dennis Darling for matching the funds to be used at Foods, Etc, and Carlos Fagundes, whose corporate offices donated an additional $5,000 to be spent at Bruno's Shop Smart.
That program will continue under the financial auspices of the Lake Family Resource Center. Donations to the Lake County Holiday Fund may be made at any time of year, either at Umpqua Bank or WestAmerica Bank.
In 2010 the task force began its most successful fundraising event, the Bountiful Boxes. The idea originated with Michelle Scully, and was carried out by group members, with help from other volunteers.
Yearly, due to the incredible generosity of Scully Packing Co. (primarily Toni and Pat Scully), the task force put together gift boxes full of Lake County products. The donation of premium Comice pears was the basis for the boxes, and all included a bottle of local wine or olive oil, wonderful walnuts, and a few years' delicious apples. The task force offered many thanks to all who donated, primarily Scully Packing Co., Six Sigma, Steele, Shannon, Chacewater, Lake County Walnut, Mike Marshall, Colleen Rentsch and Nellie Dorn.
For approximately four years the task force ran a backpack program for the children of Nice, Lucerne and Upper Lake, which is a very underserved population.
Every Friday selected children were sent home with a backpack full of food they did not have to cook, but could eat immediately. Many of those were latch key kids, so there was no one home to cook for them. This gave them some healthy, nutritious food to eat over the weekend when they were not getting lunch at school.
The task force ran this through the HUB in Upper Lake, and the group is deeply appreciative of their coordination with local families.
“There are many other accomplishments we achieved, but too numerous to mention here. As our final act, per our by-laws, all our remaining funds have been distributed to 14 other nonprofit organizations, to be used for food only,” the group said.
“It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye. It seems that in 2020 there are fewer people with either the time or inclination to volunteer. People need to eat daily, not just during holiday seasons. We have spoken with many other groups that are having the same problem, from churches to fraternal organizations to food pantries. We are aging out of being volunteers,” the group said in a farewell message.
The group concluded, “A million thanks to all who supported us with our efforts, whether it be physical labor, distributing food or other items, serving on our board, donating money and time, attending meetings, or just providing us with moral support. We will all still volunteer in the communities, just not as an official group.”
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County’s Public Health officer said Monday that the local COVID-19 case rate and number of active infections are at record-high numbers and he urged people to be prepared to get the vaccine and to take precautions in the meantime because of the virus’ spread throughout the community.
Dr. Gary Pace gave a Monday update on the local COVID-19 situation in a Facebook video.
Pace said that the statewide case growth curve is starting to flatten a little bit, which he attributed to the beginning of a decrease in the Thanksgiving surge and stay-at-home orders in other parts of the state having some effect.
He said that now that the Christmas weekend is past, there could be another case increase in the next few weeks.
The hospitalization rate usually lags a week or two behind the positive case rate, and Pace said the hospitalization curve is still on an upward swing.
Lake County is in the Northern California region, one of five regions the state is using to track case rates and hospitalizations. So far, that’s the only region not in a lockdown because of falling below a 15-percent intensive care unit bed availability.
Pace said Northern California still has about a 25-percent ICU bed capacity, while the Central Valley and Southern California are each under 5 percent and the Bay Area has about 10 percent.
He said Lake County’s case rate started rising in November and is now at 41 cases per 100,000, the highest it’s ever been.
Lake County’s testing positivity rate is now 11 percent, Pace said.
As of Monday, Lake County had a total caseload of 1,791 cases, 1,462 cases recovered and 23 deaths, according to Public Health.
Lake County on Monday had 300 active cases, which Pace said also is the highest ever for that measure.
Twelve residents currently are hospitalized with 98 total hospitalizations to date, the county reported.
Of those hospitalized cases, Pace said 50 have been transferred to other regional hospitals in Napa, Sonoma, San Francisco and Ukiah.
Pace expects to see increased pressure in trying to move people out of the county to other ICU beds in the region. “It’s a little bit of a tight situation we might find ourselves in in the coming weeks.”
New approach to case management
COVID-19 cases are now showing up all over Lake County, Pace said.
He said outbreaks in the tribal community and in local skilled nursing facilities appear to be slowing down, and while schools are closed now for winter break some were reporting cases as well.
There also are reports of positive cases amongst employees at small and large businesses alike, Pace said.
Pace said Public Health is taking a new approach to managing cases in businesses. “Our No. 1 goal is to protect the health of the public and decrease the spread out in the community.”
He said Public Health is not trying to close down businesses for the 24-hour disinfection period – which doesn’t appear to have been effective – but working directly with them on how to disinfect and do contact tracing.
So far, the business community has been very responsive, as it also wants to keep the community safe and stay open, he said.
Pace said his staff is focusing on community outreach as it doesn’t have enough staff for contact tracing on the very large number of cases and, in some instances, people are not being cooperative. The county also is still working to get enforcement officers in place to work on compliance with the county’s COVID-19 enforcement ordinance.
Vaccine update
Pace said that Lake County has received just over 1,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, and as of Monday morning a little over 300 health care workers had been vaccinated.
He said the county is following the guidelines handed down from the state that prioritize the order of those who receive the vaccine. He said the first tier include staff at hospitals and nursing homes, EMS/first responders and then dialysis centers.
One of the challenges is that the state is not communicating with the county about how much of the vaccine it can expect to get. Pace said Lake County Public Health is ordering more vaccine doses every week, and sometimes they get the doses and sometimes they don’t.
He said the hospitals are supposed to be getting more vaccine shipments through their corporate structures, but there also is a breakdown in communication between the hospitals and the state.
Once the hospitals receive more of their own supply, Pace said the county can back off and redirect its vaccine supply elsewhere.
Two local skilled nursing facilities have an agreement with CVS, which Pace said will send out workers to vaccinate staff and residents.
However, Pace said he just got word a few days ago that those vaccinations won’t take place before the middle of January, so Public Health is going to start vaccinating skilled nursing facility staff as soon as possible.
Once CVS and Walgreens – which are partnering with the state of California to provide Pfizer vaccines to residents and staff in long-term care facilities – begin distributing the vaccines locally, Pace said Public Health will back off of its efforts for those facilities.
On Monday a vaccination clinic was held for EMS and first responders, and Pace said another clinic for that group will be held on Wednesday.
He expects that next week the next tier of vaccinations – for outpatient clinic workers and In-Home Supportive Services workers who are providing services in other people’s homes – could begin, with two standup clinics planned for that group.
The next group will be jail medical staff and those working in other congregate living facilities, and then toward the end of January the focus will move to dentists, labs, optometrists and residents of congregate living situations, he said.
Pace said the state is working on guidelines for the next tier after that, which is expected to include essential workers, people over age 74 and those with chronic medical illnesses.
“We’re really trying to support the medical community right now” because they’re needed to keep people safe during the outbreak, Pace said.
He reassured people about the vaccine’s safety, noting that while there have been some reports of people having allergic reactions to the vaccine, that on the local level they’re getting good results.
Both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines require second vaccinations about three weeks apart. Pace said so far there have been no issues with the first shot but it’s possible that the second shots could have more of a side effect.
He said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is now estimating that up to 85 percent of the United States’ population will need to get the vaccine before the country can go back to normal.
As such, Pace encouraged people to get the vaccine as soon as it becomes available to them, both to protect against the virus and because there could be delays due to issues with the supply chain at various times.
Pace continued to warn that there are difficult months ahead and that the holidays could lead to another case surge.
“It’s a different landscape right now” due to more virus in the community, he said, cautioning that being in crowded stores right now is a bad idea.
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. – As 2020 comes to a close, the California Highway Patrol wants to highlight some new roadway safety laws that take effect in 2021.
License points for distracted driving (AB 47, Daly; 2019): Using a cell phone in a handheld manner while driving is currently punishable by a fine. Beginning July 1, 2021, violating the hands-free law for a second time within 36 months of a prior conviction for the same offense will result in a point being added to a driver’s record. This applies to the violations of talking or texting while driving (except for hands-free use) and to any use of these devices while driving by a person under 18 years of age.
Unattended children in motor vehicles (AB 2717, Chau): Exempts a person from civil or criminal liability for trespassing or damaging a vehicle when rescuing a child who is 6 years old or younger and who is in immediate danger from heat, cold, lack of ventilation, or other dangerous circumstances. The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2021.
“Move Over, Slow Down” amendments (AB 2285, Transportation Committee): Extends the provisions of the “Move Over, Slow Down” law currently in place on freeways to also apply to local streets and roads so drivers approaching a stationary emergency vehicle displaying emergency lights, including tow trucks and Caltrans vehicles, must now move to another lane when possible, or slow to a reasonable speed on all highways, not just freeways. The law is effective Jan. 1, 2021.
Emergency vehicles (SB 909, Dodd): Allows authorized emergency vehicles to use a “Hi-Lo” warning sound. This distinctive sound, different than a siren, would be used to notify the public of an immediate need to evacuate an area in an emergency. The CHP is currently developing regulations to standardize the Hi-Lo warning sound statewide. Until the regulations are adopted, law enforcement agencies can use the Hi-Lo warning sound by obtaining a permit from the CHP. The law went into effect Sept. 29, 2020.
The mission of the CHP is to provide the highest level of safety, service and security.
Bennett Doughty, Binghamton University, State University of New York and Pamela Stewart Fahs, Binghamton University, State University of New York
The enormous job of vaccinating the nation is underway, but for rural Americans, getting a COVID-19 vaccine becomes harder the farther they are from urban centers.
We work in ruralhealth care settings and have been examining the barriers to health care for these patients to find ways to ensure health and safety.
The problem with big batches and cold storage
The first two authorized vaccines – one made by Pfizer and BioNTech and the other by Moderna – are mRNA vaccines. It’s a new type of vaccine that uses the molecular instructions for building virus proteins rather than injecting parts of the weakened virus itself. Both must be kept in very cold temperatures.
To ensure stability, the vaccine doses are shipped in special containers with dry ice, and for now, vaccines are being delivered only in large batches. The Pfizer vaccine is shipped in increments of 975 doses at a time, which creates a challenge for small hospitals.
Urban areas will be able to quickly distribute those doses, but finding enough patients to vaccinate quickly in rural areas may prove more difficult.
Both vaccines also require two doses per person, with the second dose of Pfizer’s vaccine given 21 days later and Moderna’s 28 days.
As a result, the vaccine distribution efforts will favor hubs that cater to more populated areas to avoid wasting any vaccine or leaving patients unable to get their second dose.
Cold storage is another challenge, since small hospitals are less likely to have expensive freezers. The Pfizer vaccine must be stored at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 70 Celsius) and Moderna’s at minus 4 Fahrenheit. There are limits on how many times the vaccine shipping containers can be opened and how quickly the vaccines must be distributed. Once thawed and prepared, the Pfizer vaccine must be used within five days and Moderna’s within 30 days.
Each patient must receive both doses of the vaccine from the same manufacturer to ensure safety and effectiveness, adding to the challenge. Manufacturers have included personal dosing cards for patients to carry with them to help address this challenge.
Rural America’s take on COVID-19 and vaccines
Rural America already has difficult barriers to health care access.
It has fewer health care providers serving a more geographically diverse population than in metropolitan communities. And in many of these areas, rural hospitals have been closing at an alarming rate, leaving people to travel farther for care. The population is also older. Public transportation that could help poor or elderly residents reach hospitals is rare, and distance and geography, such as mountain roads, can mean driving to those sites takes time.
Getting accurate information about the vaccine and how to receive it into rural areas has also proved difficult. Many rural counties still have limited access to broadband internet connections, smartphone service and other technologies. That often means residents rely on television, newspapers and radio for news, which can limit the depth and scope of information.
Rural nonprofit health care organizations have tried to bridge that gap and improve rural communications about vaccines and the pandemic. Care Compass Network, which coordinates organizations across southern New York, has offered educational webinars with the latest information about the virus and the vaccines, for example. But there is still much work to do.
Rural Americans’ views on vaccines are influenced by media and word of mouth, politics and religion, as well as previous experience with vaccinations and, perhaps most importantly, the difficulty of accessing health care.
In a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation in December, about 35% of rural Americans said they probably or definitely would not get the vaccine, higher than the 27% nationwide.
Small batches, new vaccines and pharmacies
Getting enough of the U.S. vaccinated to eventually end the pandemic will require more work in all of these areas. That includes improving shipping and storage processes so orders can be broken up and distributed to smaller hospitals, distributing more vaccine doses, and improving communication.
With Moderna’s vaccine arriving in smaller batches and not requiring such low temperatures for stability, it may prove to be more accessible for rural areas in the near future. Utah has already taken advantage of those characteristics to get initial doses to smaller hospitals outside its urban areas and has started vaccinating health care providers. Pfizer has said it may be able to offer smaller batches by April.
Other vaccines on the horizon are also expected to have less stringent storage requirements and may potentially be delivered in a one-shot method rather than a two-dose series. The falling number of rural hospitals still remains a challenge for getting vaccines to patients, though. Allowing community pharmacies to offer the vaccine – particularly if independent pharmacies are included – could eventually help expand the distribution network in rural areas.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced that California has opted into the federal COVID-19 Pharmacy Partnership.
At no cost to the state or local government, CVS and Walgreens will administer the Pfizer vaccine to residents and staff in long-term care facilities.
Starting Monday, CVS and Walgreens began with nursing homes, which will take an estimated three to four weeks, and then vaccinate staff and residents in assisted living, residential care and other long-term care facilities.
“Vaccinating those most vulnerable among us is critical to fighting this virus,” said Gov. Newsom. “By leveraging CVS and Walgreens resources, we can effectively deploy vaccines to residents and staff at our long-term care facilities, which are at higher risk of Covid transmission – and do it at no cost to the state or local government.”
The program will enable counties to leverage CVS and Walgreens pharmacy staff to administer the vaccine more broadly with pharmacy staff going directly to care facilities.
Skilled nursing facilities will receive vaccine from staff from CVS and Walgreens. Approximately 499 nursing homes will be provided vaccine by CVS and 357 by Walgreens.
Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace confirmed to Lake County News that CVS and Walgreens will be providing the services to local skilled nursing facilities.
However, he noted, “Unfortunately they are slow.”
Separately, in a Monday COVID-19 update, Pace said Public Health will begin vaccinating skilled nursing facility staff ahead of the CVS and Walgreen vaccination program, which isn’t set to roll out until mid-January in Lake County.
The state program with CVS and Walgreens calls for the vaccines to be administered at skilled nursing facilities by pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and nurses.
Pharmacy technicians are participating under a recent waiver by the Board of Pharmacy that requires appropriate supervision under California law and specialized training.
“This partnership is an opportunity to augment other vaccination efforts at the local level to prioritize our most vulnerable Californians where we are seeing the most outbreaks, hospitalizations, and deaths,” said Interim State Public Health Officer Dr. Erica Pan. “The partnership also allows us to continue to vaccinate other high priority individuals such as our front-line health care workers who are critical to our ongoing response to a surge of cases.”
Specifically, the program:
– Schedules and coordinates on-site vaccine clinic dates directly with each facility. Pharmacy staff will visit each facility several times to ensure that all residents and employees who wish to be vaccinated get the vaccine. – Orders vaccines and associated supplies (e.g. syringes, needles, personal protective equipment). – Ensures cold storage for the vaccine. – Provides on-site administration of the vaccine to all residents and staff.
The average square footage of new homes sold in the United States increased from 2,457 in 2010 to 2,724 in 2015 but dropped in 2019 to 2,518, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Characteristics of New Housing.
The report is based on data collected in the Survey of Construction (SOC) which is partially funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It provides national and regional details on new privately owned single-family and multifamily residential structures.
Characteristics include square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, types of wall material, parking, sales prices and more.
No downsizing
Despite the decline in average square footage, the share of homes with four bedrooms or more that were sold increased from 41 percent in 2010 to 49 percent in 2019.
In 2010, 27 percent of the 323,000 new single-family homes sold in the United States had three or more bathrooms. In 2019, 36 percent of the 683,000 U.S. homes sold had three or more bathrooms.
Rising prices
The average sales price of new single-family homes sold in 2019 was $383,900, up from $272,900 in 2010. Prices are not adjusted for inflation.
In 2019, 69 percent of new single-family houses sold were purchased using conventional financing – and other types of financing excluding Federal Housing Administration, or FHA, Veteran’s Administration, VA, or cash purchases – up from 58 percent in 2010.
Conventional financing, the primary way new home buyers paid for their purchases, is a mortgage loan not guaranteed by any government agency, such as the VA or FHA.
Features of new homes
Of all the 903,000 new single-family homes completed in 2019:
– 849,000 (or 94%) had air-conditioning. – 102,000 (11%) had two or fewer bedrooms and 386,000 (43%) had four or more bedrooms. 32,000 (3%) had one and one-half or fewer bathrooms and 296,000 (33%) had three or more bathrooms. – 366,000 (41%) had a heat pump. Of these, 352,000 were air-source and 14,000 were ground-source. – 814,000 (90%) were framed in wood and 86,000 (10%) were framed using concrete. – 296,000 (33%) had a patio and a porch, while 71,000 (8%) had no outdoor features. – 549,000 (61%) had no fireplace.
In 2019, 683,000 new single-family homes were sold, up 111% from 2010.
A virtual tour of America’s new homes
A fun and easy way to get more details on new single-family homes is through this infographic.
Simply hover for a quick fact on completed or sold homes and click on the legend to go to the tables with the information.
Multifamily housing
The Characteristics of New Housing report also provides information on multifamily housing.
Multifamily housing is defined as residential buildings containing units built one on top of another and those built side-by-side without a ground-to-roof wall and/or common facilities, such as attic, basement, heating system and plumbing.
There were 352,000 new multifamily units completed in the United States in 2019, compared to 155,000 in 2010. The numbers include units for sale as condominiums or cooperatives.
What new multifamily units look like:
– 149,000 (42%) had one bedroom and 40,000 (11%) had three or more bedrooms. – 349,000 (99%) were conventional apartments and 3,000 (1%) were townhouses. – 203,000 (58%) were in buildings with four or more floors. – 304,000 (86%) had individual laundry facilities and 29,000 (8%) had shared laundry facilities. – 251,000 (71%) were in buildings framed in wood and 33,000 (9%) were in steel-framed buildings.
There were 321,000 multifamily units built for rent, a 157% jump from 2010.
Note: Differences between estimates may be attributed to sampling or nonsampling error, rather than to differences in underlying economic conditions. Caution should be used in drawing conclusions from the estimates and comparisons shown. Additional information on the survey methodology, including sampling error (e.g., standard errors and relative standard errors) and nonsampling error, is available at www.census.gov/construction/nrc/how_the_data_are_collected/soc.html.
Philip Thompson is a special projects and outreach coordinator in the Census Bureau’s Economic Management Division.
The California Highway Patrol announced Tuesday the availability of nearly $27 million in grant funds to help local communities combat impaired driving.
The funding is the result of Proposition 64, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act, which provided specified cannabis tax funding to the CHP to administer local grants for education, prevention, and enforcement programs regarding impaired driving.
Funding for the grants comes from a tax on the cultivation and sale of cannabis and cannabis products sold in California since January 2018.
For the current grant cycle, the CHP’s Cannabis Tax Fund Grant Program will be awarding grants based on a competitive process to California law enforcement agencies and local toxicology laboratories meeting the eligibility requirements described in the 2021 Request for Application, available on the CHP website.
The CHP will hold a virtual workshop on Jan. 6, 2021, to answer questions from potential grant applicants regarding the application process, the 2021 Request for Application, administrative program regulations, and other general questions.
Applications will be accepted beginning Jan. 7, 2021, through Feb. 23, 2021, for programs beginning on July 1, 2021.
These grants will enhance existing efforts to address impaired driving.
“These grants represent an opportunity for the CHP to work collaboratively with local traffic safety stakeholders to strategically address impaired driving issues while making California’s roadways a safer place to travel,” CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray said.
Those interested in this grant opportunity can learn more about the program, obtain workshop updates, and view the 2021 Request for Application by visiting the Cannabis Tax Fund Grant Program page on the CHP’s website, under the Programs and Services tab.
The mission of the CHP is to provide the highest level of safety, service and security.
When one of my co-workers found out about a tiny, orphaned kitten that needed a home a few months ago, he didn’t hesitate to adopt it. He says his new companion helped make the months of COVID-19 isolation at home much less stressful.
But after my co-worker returned to work, he says his adorable kitten started urinating on the kitchen counter while he was away.
Another friend is worried about how her dog will react when she returns to the office. Her big, goofy Labrador retriever follows her everywhere, even to the bathroom. When she leaves to run a quick errand, the dog sits by the back door and whines, awaiting her return.
Separation anxiety is more than a little whimpering when you head out the door. It’s major, unwanted behavior that happens every time you leave or are away.
For dogs and cats, this can mean excessive pacing, barking or howling, whimpering or self-grooming as you get ready to leave. In some cases it can mean urinating or defecating around the house, often in places where scents linger, such as on bedding or rugs, or destroying household items in your absence. Extreme clinginess or neediness is another symptom.
Separation anxiety won’t go away on its own, and it can be difficult to get rid of entirely. But there are ways to manage it. As a clinical veterinarian and professor, I am often asked to help people find ways to ease their pets’ anxiety.
What not to do
First, it’s important to understand that it’s not about you – it’s about your pet. Your dog or cat is not trying to teach you a lesson or get revenge. Animals don’t act out of spite.
Instead, it’s a signal of extreme distress and frustration that should be approached like any other medical ailment. Your pet doesn’t want to experience separation anxiety any more than you want to experience its consequences.
For this reason, punishment is never the answer. For one thing, your pet won’t connect the punishment with something that happened hours – or even a few minutes – earlier. And punishment may only exacerbate your pet’s anxiety and stress.
Similarly, going to the opposite extreme by praising or giving affection when your pet is suffering anxiety also will make the problem worse.
The goal is to create a balanced relationship so your pet tolerates being alone. First, get your pet checked out by a veterinarian to rule out physical conditions, such as a urinary tract infection if your pet urinates in inappropriate places.
Next, make sure your pet gets plenty of exercise and mental stimulation. For dogs, this may mean a long run or brisk walk every day. Getting exercise shortly before you leave the house may put your dog in a more relaxed state while you’re gone. It’s harder to feel stressed when the endorphin levels are elevated. For cats, this could mean a change of environment by being outdoors in a safe, enclosed area such as a “catio.”
Treating separation anxiety with behavior change
Here, we’re talking about your behavior. The goal is to make your absence seem like no big deal. Making a fuss over your pet when you leave or arrive home only makes matters worse. If you treat it like it’s routine, your pet will learn to do the same.
Try to figure out when your pet starts to show signs of anxiety and turn that into a low-key activity. If it’s when you pick up your handbag, for example, practice picking it up and putting it back down several times over a few hours. Similarly, get dressed or put on your shoes earlier than usual but stay home instead of leaving right away. Try starting your car’s engine and then turning it off and walking back inside.
Next, practice short absences. When you’re at home, make it a point to spend some time in another room. In addition, leave the house long enough to run an errand or two, then gradually increase the time that you’re away so that being gone for a full day becomes part of the family routine.
Changing the environment
Boredom makes separation anxiety worse. Providing an activity for your pet while you’re gone, such as a puzzle toy stuffed with treats, or simply hiding treats around the house will make your absence less stressful. Other options for dogs and cats include collars and plug-in devices that release calming pheromones.
To maintain your bond while you’re gone, place a piece of clothing that you have worn recently in a prominent place, such as on your bed or couch, to comfort your pet. Similarly, you can leave the TV or radio on – there are even special programs just for pets – or set up a camera so you can observe and interact with your pet remotely. Some of these come equipped with a laser pointer or treats you can dispense.
Using supplements or medication
In some severe cases, when the animal harms itself or causes property damage, medication or supplements might be necessary. These alter the brain’s neurotransmitters to create a sense of calm.
Separation anxiety is difficult for both you and your pet. But a few simple changes can make a huge difference as life returns to some semblance of normal.
The landmark Clean Air Act, or CAA, turns 50 this month, and its impact has been dramatic: Ambient measures of pollutants have fallen more than 90 percent in some areas, and improvements in air quality are credited with preventing hundreds of thousands of premature deaths.
Despite this success, the debate rages on over whether the costs to industry of further pollution reductions are too high – most recently, the Trump administration declined to tighten soot rules.
After five decades, has the CAA accomplished its mission?
Not even close, say two economists at the University of California, Berkeley who found a novel way to measure the compliance costs for industry by analyzing pollution offset markets.
In a newly released working paper, they concluded that on average, the benefits of additional air pollution regulation exceed the costs by 10 to one.
“We looked at many different cities, states, pollutants and years, and found that in nearly all circumstances, regulation is currently too lenient, rather than too strict,” said Reed Walker, an associate professor at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. “In other words, there are enormous social benefits to improving air quality just a little bit more when compared to the compliance costs for firms.”
As economists, Walker and co-author Joseph S. Shapiro, an associate professor with UC Berkeley’s Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, wanted to understand whether the CAA had reached the point of diminishing returns.
“Some of this debate stems from the remarkable improvements we’ve seen in air quality over the past 50 years,” Shapiro said. “Most economists would believe that tightening regulation further becomes incrementally more expensive for firms, which begs the question of whether an additional unit of pollution reduction is ‘worth’ the health and other benefits to society.”
Quantifying costs versus benefits
Estimates of the societal benefits of pollution abatement exist – for instance, research showed that 5 percent of premature mortality is from air pollution – but it’s been far more challenging to measure the true costs to producers.
Walker and Shapiro found a way to do this through a CAA provision that capped pollution levels in the counties with the dirtiest air.
When a manufacturer wants to open a new plant that would raise pollution above existing levels, it must either adopt cleaner technology or pay an existing plant to reduce its emissions in order to stay under the cap. These transactions – known as offsets – have led to the creation of over 500 pollution offset markets across several metro areas.
Offset prices are closely tied to the costs of additional pollution reductions. They can run into the millions of dollars, so a company only buys offsets when the cost of reducing its own pollution is even higher.
That gave the researchers a way to estimate the incremental costs of pollution abatement in different cities. They assembled data on 100 offset markets in 16 states. Next, they used previous estimates of the marginal benefits of pollution reduction to assess whether the benefits of additional reductions outweigh the costs.
“We compared the incremental costs of removing one ton of pollution emissions to the incremental benefits to society of reducing the same one ton of emissions,” Shapiro said.
For example, they estimated that an existing firm in the San Francisco Bay Area would receive almost $1,500 in offset value from lowering its nitrogen oxides emissions by one ton. However, those decreased emissions are worth over $50,000 in societal benefits, due to factors such as reduced premature mortality. This led them to conclude that on average, the benefits of additional pollution regulation are about ten times the marginal costs.
This was true in every market they looked at save Houston, where they determined that regulation was too stringent on volatile organic compound emissions. The result has been marginal costs for industry that are twice as large as the estimated marginal benefits.
The researchers’ new method of calculating pollution abatement costs has led to estimates that are dramatically different than traditional estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency, possibly because EPA estimates did not account for all the economic costs that firms face. Yet even taking into account their finding that abatement costs have increased by about 6 percent to 9 percent annually over the past couple of decades, the benefits of these regulations still greatly outweigh the costs, the researchers said.
“We should always think carefully ‘on the margin’ to understand whether additional improvements in air quality are worth it,” Walker said. “In the vast majority of cities in the United States today, the answer is yes.”
Though it was not a focus of the paper, Walker and Shapiro looked at how CAA regulations could be improved. They suggested that getting rid of the current offset markets—where polluters pay for the quantity of pollution they produce—in favor of a pollution tax could be a more efficient way to improve air quality.
Morgan Foy and Laura Counts write for Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.