LAKEPORT, Calif. — Next week, the Lakeport City Council will receive a report on an outreach program to city businesses.
The Business Walk program in Lakeport is designed to familiarize the business community with the city and other resources available to them.
City staff and members of the Lakeport Economic Development Advisory Committee, or LEDAC, contact local owners and managers, providing them with the opportunity to speak with representatives about issues of concern.
The goal is to help local businesses thrive and grow.
Last fall, 16 teams of staff and volunteers, totaling 29 individuals, surveyed 115 businesses in 16 areas of the city.
Findings from the visit have been compiled by LEDAC and will be presented to the Lakeport City Council at its meeting on April 4.
The city’s economic development strategic plan identified annual in-person visits as an important element in the support and retention of existing local businesses.
The walks were put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic and were resumed to engage with and hear from the business community.
“Respondents were satisfied with business life in Lakeport, describing it as a laid-back, friendly, cooperative environment” in which to do business,” said Denise Combs, chair of the Business Walk Subcommittee.
“Significant challenges have changed since the last survey in 2019, with worries about lack of business declining considerably while the inability to find competent staff has more than doubled, reflecting national trends,” said Pam Harpster, another subcommittee member.
The report contains recommendations to the Council for action items to address specific findings.
The public is encouraged to attend the meeting in person at City Hall at 6 p.m. or via https://www.cityoflakeport.com/agendas_and_minutes/index.php.
LEDAC is an advocate for a strong and positive Lakeport business community, and serves as a conduit between the City and the community for communicating the goals, activities and progress of Lakeport’s economic and business programs.
The committee meets bimonthly on the second Wednesday, 7:30 to 9 a.m. All meetings are open to the public.
From left, Yuba Community College District chancellor finalists Dr. Beatriz Espinoza, Dr. Eugene Giovannini, Dr. Shouan Pan and Dr. Wei Zhou. Photos courtesy of Yuba Community College District. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA — The search for a new chancellor for the Yuba Community College District has reached a key stage, with finalists named and public forums arranged for early April.
Yuba Community College District’s Search Committee for the next chancellor has chosen four finalists for the position.
The finalists are Dr. Beatriz Espinoza, Dr. Eugene Giovannini, Dr. Shouan Pan and Dr. Wei Zhou.
Dr. Espinoza has spent more than 30 years in higher education. She completed her undergraduate studies in psychology at UT-Pan American, her master’s and doctor’s degrees in rehabilitation psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a post-doctorate in community college leadership at the University of Texas-Austin, and served as a Kellogg Fellow with the Minority Serving Institutions higher education leadership program. Her university and community college experiences expand the roles of faculty, researcher, counselor, director, dean, vice president, vice chancellor and president/CEO across six states.
Dr. Giovannini has 14 years of experience as a community college president and six years of experience as chancellor of a multi-campus community college. In his latest position as Chancellor of Tarrant County College District, Giovannini oversaw six campuses. He also served the Maricopa County Community College District in Arizona as founding President of Maricopa Corporate College in Scottsdale, including 11 years as President of Gateway Community College in Phoenix. Giovannini earned his doctorate in Community College Education from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and his Bachelor of Science in Business Education and Master of Education from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Pan has held several senior-level positions, including as chancellor of Seattle Colleges, president of Mesa Community College, provost of Broward College, South Campus, executive dean of Instruction and Student Services at Florida State College at Jacksonville. As an immigrant, Dr. Pan is deeply passionate about serving the community college mission. Dr. Pan has been actively engaged at both national and local levels, including serving on the Board of Directors for American Association of Community Colleges, League for Innovation in the Community College, National Asian Pacific Islander Council and Arizona Commission for Post-secondary Education.
Dr. Zhou is a University of California, Davis, Center for Community College Leadership and Research Wheelhouse Fellow and California Community College Inaugural CEO Leadership Academy graduate with a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin’s top-ranked doctoral program in education. He has extensive California community college administrative experience in multi-college districts and Hispanic serving institutions, serving large geographical areas including positions as dean of math, science and engineering at Evergreen Valley College, vice president for academic affairs at Copper Mountain College, vice president of instruction and interim president at Cuyamaca College, president of Crafton Hills College and assistant superintendent/vice president of academic affairs at Cerritos College.
More information about each finalist is available on the YCCD website.
As a final step in the selection process, the public, staff and students are invited to attend public forums to be held April 3 to 5 at both Yuba and Woodland Community Colleges.
The public forums will give staff, students and community members an opportunity to meet each finalist, learn about his/her/their vision for the district and answer questions.
Questions will be reviewed for appropriateness and related or similar questions will be grouped together and asked as one question.
After the completion of the forums, attendees may continue to provide feedback on each candidate using the forms located on the Chancellor Search webpage. The feedback forms must be completed by noon on Thursday, April 6.
Community input from the public forums and the feedback forms will be used by the YCCD Board of Trustees in rendering the selection of the new chancellor.
The Board of Trustees will conduct finalist interviews April 3 and 5, and anticipates hiring the new chancellor this spring.
The Board of Trustees hired search firm PPL Inc., to lead the search for a permanent chancellor and appointed the 14-member Search Committee.
The committee is made up of highly-diverse members including faculty, staff, students and community members. The finalists were chosen through a rigorous process and all four interviewed with the entire Committee before the slate of finalists were identified.
Visit the YCCD website for more information about the public forums and the search process.
NORTH COAST, Calif. — A virtual town hall this week will offer community members the opportunity to hear the latest on the economy and potential impacts for the North Coast.
On Wednesday, March 29, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-04) and Moody’s Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi will hold a Zoom town hall to discuss the state of the economy and other top-of-mind issues facing our communities.
The town hall will take place from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Pacific time.
For the first half hour, Rep. Thompson will be joined by Mr. Zandi. For the remaining time, Rep. Thompson will answer questions on general topics.
All constituents of California’s Fourth Congressional District and members of the press are invited to attend.
RSVP to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for a Zoom link or watch live on Rep. Thompson’s Facebook page.
Thompson represents California’s Fourth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
Lucas Berenbrok, University of Pittsburgh; Janice L. Pringle, University of Pittsburgh, and Joni Carroll, University of Pittsburgh
The use of naloxone administered by nasal spray can be a lifesaving drug with minimal side effects. TG23/iStock via Getty Images Plus
On March 29, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Narcan for over-the-counter sale. Narcan is the 4-milligram nasal spray version of naloxone, a medication that can quickly counteract an opioid overdose.
The FDA’s greenlighting of over-the-counter naloxone means that it will be available for purchase without a prescription at more than 60,000 pharmacies nationwide. That means that, for 90% of Americans, naloxone nasal spray will be accessible at a pharmacy within 5 miles from home. It will also likely be available at gas stations, supermarkets and convenience stores. The transition from prescription to over-the-counter status is expected to take a few months.
We think that making naloxone available over the counter is an essential step in reducing deaths due to overdose and destigmatizing opioid use disorder. Over-the-counter access to naloxone will permit more people to carry and administer it to help others who are overdosing. Moreover, increasing naloxone’s over-the-counter availability will convey the message that risks associated with substance use disorder warrant a pervasive intervention much as with other illnesses.
Naloxone can be a lifesaving intervention from opioids and other drugs that are laced with the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
What is naloxone?
Naloxone reverses overdose from prescription opioids like fentanyl, oxycodone and hydrocodone and recreational opioids like heroin. Naloxone works by competitively binding to the same receptors in the central nervous system that opioids bind to for euphoric effects. When naloxone is administered and reaches these receptors, it can block the euphoric effects of opioids and reverse respiratory depression when opioid overdose occurs.
There are two common ways to administer naloxone. One is through the prepackaged nasal sprays, such as Narcan and Kloxxado or generic versions of the drug. The other method is via auto-injectors, like ZIMHI, which deliver naloxone through injection, similar to the way epinephrine is delivered by an EpiPen as an emergency treatment for life-threatening allergic reactions.
The FDA will review a second over-the-counter application for naloxone auto-injectors at a later date. Although no interaction with a health care provider will be needed to purchase over-the-counter naloxone, when naloxone is purchased at a pharmacy, a knowledgeable pharmacist will be able to help people choose a product and explain instructions for use.
Research shows that when people who are likely to witness or respond to opioid overdoses have naloxone, they can save patients’ lives. This also includes bystanders as well as first responders like police officers and paramedics.
But until now, people in those situations could intervene only if they were carrying prescription naloxone or knew where to retrieve it quickly. Friends and family of people who use opioids are often given prescriptions for naloxone for emergency use. Over-the-counter naloxone will help make the drug more accessible to members of the general public.
Naloxone works on a variety of opioids, including fentanyl.
Reducing stigma and saving lives
Naloxone is a safe medication with minimal side effects. It works only for those with opioids in their system, and it’s unlikely to cause harm if given by mistake to someone who’s not actively overdosing on opioids.
Since approximately 40% of overdoses occur in the presence of someone else, we believe public access to naloxone is extremely important. People may wish to have naloxone on hand if someone they know is at an increased risk for opioid overdose, including people who have opioid use disorder or people who take high amounts of prescribed opioid medications.
Community centers and recreational facilities may also keep naloxone on hand, similar to the placement of automated external defibrillators in public spaces for emergency use when someone has a heart attack.
There’s a long-held public stigma that suggests addiction is a moral failing rather than a chronic yet treatable health condition. Those who request naloxone or who have an opioid use disorder experience stigma and often aren’t comfortable disclosing their drug use to others, or seeking medical treatment. Removing naloxone’s prescription requirements by making it over the counter could decrease the stigma experienced by individuals since they no longer must request it from a health care provider or behind the pharmacy counter.
In addition, we encourage health care providers and members of the general public to use less stigmatizing language when discussing addiction.
Questionable accessibility
Often, medications switched from prescription to over the counter are not covered by insurance. It remains unclear if this will be the case with Narcan. If so, the costs will shift to the patient, highlighting the reason continued support of programs that offer naloxone free of charge remains important.
What’s more, over-the-counter access could paradoxically cause a decrease in the drug’s availability. A rise in purchases could make it harder to buy naloxone if manufacturer supply does not keep up with increased consumer demand. The U.S. experienced such shortages of over-the-counter drugs in late 2022 during the nationwide surges in flu, respiratory syncytial virus and COVID-19.
Federal and state governments could lessen these potential barriers by subsidizing the cost of over-the-counter naloxone and working with drug manufacturers to provide production incentives to meet public demand.
The effects of nationwide access to over-the-counter naloxone on opioid-related deaths remain to be seen, but making this medication more widely available is an important next step in our nation’s response to the opioid crisis.
In the wake of Monday’s tragic mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee that took the lives of three children and three adults, Congressman Mike Thompson is renewing his call for universal background checks.
“Congress has the power to help save lives and reduce gun violence. The shooting in Nashville is an horrific tragedy that is going to leave a lasting impact on the students, teachers, staff, and the entire Covenant School community. It does not have to be like this, we can act and pass legislation to save lives,” said Thompson (CA-04), chairman of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force.
“When will Republican leadership have the guts to stand up to the gun lobby and join us in passing reforms that will help keep our kids safe in school and save lives? Let’s put my Bipartisan Background Checks Act up for a vote and get it to President Biden. This legislation will reduce gun violence, and if my colleagues truly care about protecting American children, this is an easy step for them to take,” Thompson said.
Thompson and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) reintroduced the Bipartisan Background Checks Act on Feb. 1, 2023.
Chairman Thompson has introduced background check legislation every Congress since the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting which killed 20 children and six adult staff members.
The Bipartisan Background Checks Act was first introduced in the 116th Congress by Rep. Thompson and was passed in the House by a vote of 240-190, and again passed in the 117th Congress and passed the House by a vote of 227-203.
The bill languished in the Senate due to the filibuster.
Thompson represents California’s Fourth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
Yurok Firefighter Faith Tracy, a Yurok citizen, performs a cultural burn on the Yurok Reservation in Northern California. Photo by Matt Mais/Yurok Tribe. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA — A program that aims to bring more diversity into the firefighting profession is seeking Native American women trainees.
Through the Yurok Tribe’s partnership with Redwood National Park, the Yurok Fire Department was selected to train four female firefighters for the National Park Service’s forward-looking Women in Fire Program.
“It is a huge privilege to train these firefighters for the Women in Fire Program,” said Yurok Fire Chief Rod Mendes, who has trained hundreds of firefighters. “We look forward to providing four Native American women the skills and experience they need to acquire good-paying jobs with tribal, federal or state wildland fire departments.”
"It is the goal of this program to recruit, train, and offer exposure to multiple aspects of wildland fire in addition to exposure to the planning and implementation of prescribed fire projects,” said Redwood National Park Fire Management Officer Rick Young.
“After completion of this program the participants will not only be able to compete for a career in wildland fire as a crewperson, but hopefully be inspired to continue on to become future leaders in the fire service,” said Young. “I’m excited to partner with the Yurok Tribe in this effort and I hope to expand the program in the coming years, creating more opportunities for a large segment of our community that is currently underrepresented within the fire service."
With $100,000 from the National Park Service, or NPS, the Yurok Fire Department is recruiting four Native American women to participate in the paid program.
Once hired, the Yurok Fire Department will put the women through an intensive wildland fire training academy focused on the fundamentals of wildland firefighting.
Based out of the department’s headquarters on the Yurok Reservation, the comprehensive training will consist of classroom instruction and hands-on skill-building exercises.
The classroom part of the course will cover a wide variety of topics, such as wildland fire behavior, firefighting tactics and the Incident Command System, as well as communications, fire line safety and situational awareness.
In the field, the four trainees will perform exercises with many different forms of firefighting equipment, ranging from fire pumps to chainsaws. They will also learn to work as a team.
The in-depth training will prepare program participants to pass the written and physical tests required to receive an interagency-certified Incident Qualifications Card, or Red Card, and a Firefighter 2 credential, which will qualify them to land firefighting jobs anywhere in the United States.
After they complete the training and certification process, the four women will work out of the Yurok fire house in Tulley Creek. On a daily basis, the firefighters will be assigned duties and respond to calls for service as members of the Yurok fire crew until the end of the 2023 fire season.
Their duties may include fighting local forest fires, participating in cultural burns on tribal lands and managing woodland fuels to protect elders’ homes.
The female firefighters will also spend stints with Redwood National Park and US Forest Service fire crews, which will further expand their skill sets.
The Yurok Fire Department is the first tribal firefighting organization to administer the transformational Women in Fire Program in California.
The National Park Service launched the program in 2021 in an effort to make its workforce more resilient and encourage more females to pursue leadership positions within the male-dominated profession. Women currently make up just 12% of the federal wildland fire workforce.
Yurok Fire Chief Rod Mendes will oversee the Women in Fire Program training, which will be based out of the Yurok fire house. The four female Native American trainees will become credentialed wildland firefighters. Photo by Matt Mais/Yurok Tribe.
The Yurok Tribe and the park service recognize that diversity drives innovation, which is needed now more than ever before as the land managers confront climate change, drought and longer, more severe fire seasons.
Prior to partnering with the Yurok Fire Department, NPS implemented Women in Fire Programs with conservation corps in multiple states.
The Yurok Fire Department is an all-risk, all-hazard organization that focuses on fire detection, prevention and suppression in conjunction with traditional and conventional fuels management. The chartered tribal agency fights wildfires in the local area and across the US.
In addition to extinguishing fires, the Yurok crew conducts cultural burns to moderate forest fuel loads, improve wildlife habitat and increase access to traditional basket-weaving materials on tribal lands. When they are not contending with fires or performing controlled burns, the Yurok crew works on projects that reduce fire risk on the reservation.
The Yurok Fire Department is led by Chief Rod Mendes. Chief Mendes has more than 35 years of fire officer leadership experience, including lengthy terms as a district fire management officer for the Klamath National Forest and as the Chief of Fire and Office of Emergency Services for the Hoopa Valley Tribe, and over 20 years with Inter-agency Incident Management teams. He is also a governor-appointed member of California’s Homeland Security Advisory Committee.
Chief Mendes will design and oversee the Women in Fire Program training.
“I can say from experience Chief Mendes is a tremendous resource for new firefighters, especially those who want to climb the ranks. The park service couldn’t have selected a better mentor for participants in the Women in Fire Program,” said Yurok Firefighter and Yurok citizen Faith Tracy.
To apply for the Women in Fire Program on the Yurok Reservation, please fill out the Yurok Tribe employment application, which can be found here.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to major changes in employment for all types of U.S. workers, but these changes looked different for women and men.
Some employees transitioned to remote or hybrid work, while essential workers faced hazardous conditions in the workplace. Many workers had to adjust their schedules or leave their jobs. And sudden shifts in demand for goods and services led to fluctuations in employment across different occupations, leading to different changes for men and women.
Overall, full-time, year-round employment declined by 4.4 million workers from 2019 to 2021, according to the Census Bureau’s 2019 and 2021 American Community Survey’s Women and Men’s Detailed Occupations and Median Earnings Tables.
Men lost more of these jobs than women but continued to outnumber women in the labor force. Women’s losses were concentrated in service and retail sales occupations, while men’s were distributed across a broader range of occupations, including construction, transportation, service and sales.
Some occupations grew during the pandemic. Both men and women’s job gains were mostly in the broad category of management, business, science and arts occupations in which men were paid 26% more than women, on average.
In recognition of Equal Pay Day on March 14 and Women’s History Month, this article examines differences in occupational employment shifts for women and men during the COVID pandemic.
Different occupations for women and men
Despite reduced occupational segregation over time, women and men continue to be separated in different kinds of work and receive unequal pay.
Men are much more likely to work in natural resources, construction and maintenance, as well as production, transportation and material moving occupations. And women are more likely to work in: sales and office; service; and management, business, science and arts occupations.
This segregation means that changes in the labor market affect men and women differently.
Between 2019 and 2021, the number of women working full-time, year-round declined 3.4%, and men’s employment declined 4.1%.
Figure 1 shows the total change in employment for all occupations and where these changes were concentrated for men and women. Only one major occupation group (management, business, science and arts) saw employment gains; the other four categories experienced dips for both men and women.
Women’s job losses were concentrated in service occupations (a decline of 1.4 million workers) and sales and office occupations (a decline of around 839,000 workers). Men’s losses were more evenly distributed across the occupational categories.
Declines for women, mostly service and retail
When looking at detailed occupations, the numbers highlight specific kinds of jobs that declined and grew for women between 2019 and 2021.
Service occupations were among those with major declines in women’s employment, including:
• Maids and housekeeping cleaners (an occupation that was 83% women in 2021) declined 31% among women. • Occupations related to food service – waiters/waitresses and cooks (68% and 41% women, respectively) – also saw significant declines for women (39% and 22%, respectively). • Hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists (90% women) declined 35% among women. • Nursing assistants (88% women), many of whom were employed in nursing care facilities, decreased 15% among women. • Child care workers (94% women) declined 23% among women, as many day care and child care centers closed during the pandemic.
Women retail workers were also heavily affected. Cashiers, retail salespersons, and supervisors of retail workers all decreased from 2019 to 2021.
Service and retail sales occupations tend to involve face-to-face work, and many of the organizations that employed these workers closed or experienced reduced demand during the pandemic. These workers also tend to earn significantly less than the median earnings among all full-time, year-round workers ($54,339 in 2021).
While women’s overall employment numbers decreased, some occupations expanded from 2019 to 2021. Many were in management, business, science and arts – occupations that tend to pay more than the median earnings for all workers.
Examples include elementary and middle school teachers (median earnings $55,272 among women), project management specialists ($88,411), and financial managers ($72,352).
Many of these occupations likely allowed remote work and flexible schedules, making it easier for both men and women to accommodate pandemic-related health and family needs.
How men fared
Men’s decreases in employment were more spread out across four occupational groups: service occupations; sales and office occupations; natural resources, construction and maintenance occupations; and production, transportation and material moving occupations.
Among jobs with steep declines: cooks, carpenters, truck drivers and retail salespersons (Figure 3). Men’s earnings in these occupations tended to pay less than the median across all workers.
Men saw increases in highly paid jobs like software developers and engineers (median earnings of $122,738 and $104,517, respectively, for men in 2021) and low-paid occupations like couriers/messengers and stockers/order fillers (median earnings of $40,384 and $31,648, respectively, for men).
Like women, most gains were in management, business, science and arts occupations, though the specific occupations with the biggest increases differed for men and women.
Continued disparities between men and women
Although men lost more jobs than women from 2019 to 2021, they continued to outnumber women among full-time, year-round paid workers: 61.7 million compared to 47.8 million.
In addition, men continued to earn more than women overall and in many of the occupations that grew during the pandemic. For example, among business operations specialists, an occupation that experienced large employment increases for both men and women, women’s median earnings were $60,982, compared to men’s $80,204.
The bottom line: overall, employment declined between 2019 and 2021. But the nature of the changes differed and inequalities persisted between men and women.
The full extent of the impact of the pandemic on employment is still unknown, but the ACS data provide a snapshot of the disparate changes to the labor market for women and men.
Ananda Martin-Caughey is a sociologist in the Census Bureau’s Social, Economic, and Housing Statistics Division.
Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a bill signing on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. Photo courtesy of the Governor’s Office. On Tuesday, surrounded by legislators and community leaders in the rotunda of the California State Capitol, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation to implement the strongest state-level oversight and accountability measures on Big Oil in the nation.
Newsom’s office said the move brings transparency to California’s oil and gas industry, shining new light on the corporations that have for decades operated in the shadows while ripping families off and raking in record profits.
It is the latest instance in which the Governor’s Office said he has successfully taken on the historically powerful industry for putting profits over people.
Last year, Gov. Newsom signed legislation adding new reporting requirements to oil refiners, as well as a law protecting neighborhoods and schools from oil drilling.
“With this legislation, we’re ending the oil industry’s days of operating in the shadows. California took on Big Oil and won. We’re not only protecting families, we’re also loosening the vice grip Big Oil has had on our politics for the last 100 years,” Newsom said.
Authored by Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), co-sponsored by Attorney General Rob Bonta and approved by a supermajority in both the Senate and Assembly, SBx1-2 creates a dedicated, day-in and day-out, independent watchdog to root out price gouging by oil companies and authorizes the California Energy Commission, or CEC, to create a penalty to hold the industry accountable.
The law will go into effect on June 26, the 91st day after the end of the special session.
“I am proud of my colleagues for passing this first-in-the-nation protection against price gouging by Big Oil,” said Skinner. “Californians faced outrageously high gas prices last year, prices that strained family budgets an extra $600 or more a month. In calling for immediate action, Governor Newsom responded decisively in proposing SBX 1-2, the strongest, most effective transparency and oversight measure in the nation. This landmark law will allow us to hold oil companies accountable if they pad their profits at the expense of hardworking families. With SBX 1-2, California has sent a clear message to the oil industry: Open your books and prove you’re not price gouging, otherwise Big Oil will pay the price — not consumers.”
When the law’s new transparency and oversight requirements go into effect at the end of June, the state will begin receiving more information than ever before, including last year when it appeared that oil producers suppressed supply to drive up prices and rake in record profits.
Industry knows that the new independent watchdog division will be closely monitoring them and will refer any violation of law — including industry misconduct or market manipulation — to the attorney general for prosecution.
“Record high retail gas prices — and record-breaking profits for Big Oil — hurt those who can least afford it most of all. For too long, Californians have been left in the dark when it comes to the practices of the gas industry. And while oil companies have been lining their pockets, many Californians are struggling to make ends meet. I proudly stand with the Governor as he signs into law our co-sponsored bill to bring accountability and transparency to the gas industry. Together, we are fighting to even the scales for California consumers and take this burden off their shoulders,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta.
“This bill provides important tools to help Californians get the answers we deserve about oil company profits and price gouging,” said Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego). “Through the leadership of Senators Skinner, Bradford, Limón, and McGuire, and our colleagues in the Assembly and the Administration, these new reforms are strong on transparency and accountability. That’s a big part of what it will take to stop any wrongdoing and protect California consumers.”
“This landmark reform makes California the first state in the nation to authorize a windfall profits cap on oil refiners so that they can no longer gouge consumers at the pump,” said Jamie Court, president, Consumer Watchdog. “Combined with unprecedented transparency measures and a new watchdog bureau, this price gouging penalty will prevent Californians from enduring the price spikes and profits spikes that have plagued the gasoline market last year. Gov. Newsom has balanced the scales on behalf of millions of Californians who no longer will have to choose between $6 per gallon gas and putting food on their tables.”
In the rotunda of the California State Capitol, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation holding Big Oil accountable on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. Photo courtesy of the Governor’s Office.
Grace Melo, Texas A&M University; Pourya Valizadeh, Texas A&M University, and Rodolfo M. Nayga Jr., Texas A&M University
We looked specifically at kids whose families were participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – commonly known as SNAP – the government program that helps low-income Americans afford food.
The government began to boost SNAP benefits in early 2020 to help offset pandemic-driven food insecurity for participating families, which now number around 41 million.
To learn whether these extra benefits affected children’s mental and emotional health, we analyzed five years of data collected by the National Survey of Children’s Health on 30,748 low-income families with children aged 6 to 17 years. The data, which included both families who were and were not getting SNAP benefits, covered the four years prior to the pandemic, as well as 2020.
Among the 8,680 families getting SNAP benefits during this period, 38% had at least one child with problems such as doctor-diagnosed mental, emotional, developmental or behavioral health issues – including anxiety and depression.
To assess whether the temporarily expanded benefits had an impact on these children, we conducted a “difference in differences” analysis: We compared data regarding children whose families enrolled in the SNAP program over time with children whose families didn’t get those benefits. In addition, we considered the potential influence of several factors that could play a role, such as parents’ mental health.
We found that children in families getting SNAP benefits in 2020 did not generally experience any change in their mental or emotional health compared to prior years, despite the heavy stress of the pandemic.
While 2020’s extra SNAP benefits protected children’s mental and emotional health, they did not improve it. This suggests that actually reducing food insecurity for low-income families would have required additional steps.
We are now studying the effects of pandemic-related changes to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, better known as WIC.
We are looking at, for example, how expanding WIC benefits to cover canned, frozen and dried fruits and vegetables in addition to fresh produce has affected the low-income families’ purchasing behavior. Our team for this research also includes public health and nutrition scholars Alexandra MacMillan Uribe and Elizabeth Racine,
What is not known
When we did our study, data from the years after 2020 wasn’t yet available, so we couldn’t investigate the potential impact of subsequent pandemic-related changes to SNAP benefits. Notably, in 2021, the federal government increased maximum benefit levels by 15% and extended the extra $95 or more in monthly food assistance for the lowest-income households.
Jesse Running Gonzalez, 18, of Kelseyville, California, was arrested on Tuesday, March 28, for attempted murder and attempted robbery. Lake County Jail photo. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A Kelseyville teenager has been arrested after authorities said he was responsible for the shooting and attempted robbery of a man in Nice.
Jesse Running Gonzalez, 18, was arrested Tuesday afternoon and booked into the Hill Road Correctional Facility on charges of conspiracy to commit attempted murder and attempted robbery.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were dispatched to the area of Sentry Market in Nice at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday for a reported gunshot victim.
Deputies arrived on scene and located an adult male victim who was suffering from a gunshot wound to the arm, the sheriff’s office reported.
Authorities said the victim was transported to a hospital where he was treated for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.
Deputies were able to locate the original scene where the shooting took place, which was in the 4400 block of Lakeview Drive in Nice, according to the sheriff’s office report.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit responded and took over the investigation, officials said.
The sheriff’s office reported that detectives were able to identify a suspect in the case and tracked him to the Lakeport area.
Late on Tuesday morning, detectives served a search warrant at a residence located on Red Feather Lane in Lakeport and gathered evidence related to the shooting, the sheriff’s office said.
It was at that time that detectives located and arrested Gonzalez, according to the sheriff’s office statement.
Gonzalez remained in custody on Tuesday night with bail set at $1 million.
Jail records show he is due to be arraigned in Lake County Superior Court on Thursday.
Detectives are asking anyone with additional information regarding this investigation to contact Det. Dean Preader by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 707-262-4200.
Jonathan Blank is the new executive director for Hospice Services of Lake County and Lake Palliative Care. Photo by Karen Pavone. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Hospice Services of Lake County and Lake Palliative Care recently named Jonathan Blank as the agency’s executive director.
He has previously served in leadership roles with hospice and palliative care organizations for 17 years nationally and globally.
His leadership, experience and passion for hospice care will guide the organization to sustain and grow the quality end of life care for residents in Lake County.
“We welcome Jonathan to the Hospice Services and palliative care team,” shared David Flaig, chair of the Hospice Services of Lake County Board of Directors. “His background in agency operations and strategic planning, along with his compassionate character, will play a pivotal role as we continue to extend our quality services to families in need. Our board of directors engaged in a thoughtful process to fill this leadership role. We are excited Jonathan Blank accepted this position and are thrilled how he has demonstrated commitment to mission-focused leadership and building a strong care team.”
Blank joined the organization in February, coming from a similar position in an Arizona hospice organization.
“I am excited to have this opportunity to work with the team at Hospice Services of Lake County,” says Blank. “We have outstanding employees and volunteers with an unwavering patient-centered culture that effectively aligns with other health care providers throughout the county. I look forward to sustaining the high standard of care the agency is known for and growing services that will meet the ever-changing health care needs in our community.”
Hospice Services and Lake Palliative Care is a nonprofit health care organization serving Lake County residents for over 44 years.
The core of hospice service is to provide patient- and family-centered symptom management, ensuring the highest level of comfort.
Services are available for individuals with an anticipated life expectancy of 6 months or less and their caregivers wherever they call home.
Services are paid for 100% by Medicare, Medi-Cal and the Veterans Affairs. Many private health insurances also cover hospice care.
Palliative care provides symptom management and support of all kinds to individuals with chronic conditions who have Partnership as their primary insurance.
“Community members are encouraged to learn how our compassionate team can assist you and your loved ones. Sooner is better,” said Blank.
Call 707-263-6222 or visit Hospice Services at 1862 Parallel Drive, Lakeport.
Additional information is also available on Hospice Services of Lake County’s website, www.lakecountyhospice.org.
Janine Smith-Citron is director of development for Hospice Services of Lake County.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — An incoming storm system is expected to bring more rain plus cold temperatures and windy conditions through this week.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook or Lake County, along with a freeze warning in effect until 9 a.m. Monday, a wind advisory for Monday at 8 p.m. to Tuesday at 5 a.m. and a winter weather advisory from 8 p.m. Tuesday to 5 a.m. Thursday.
“A strong storm system will impact the region Monday through Wednesday, resulting in heavy snow occurring across the interior mountains, as well as strong gusty winds developing over exposed ridges and coastal headlands,” the forecast explained. “After Wednesday, an additional period of wet weather is forecast to develop across Northwest California next weekend.”
The forecast said that Lake County’s highest ridges — primarily in the backcountry — will experience warning level snowfall amounts.
The specific Lake County forecast calls for rain beginning on Monday night and continuing through Wednesday night.
Thursday will be clear and sunny, before chances of rain return to the forecast Friday through Sunday.
The forecast expects winds with gusts of more than 20 miles per hour on Monday evening, with wind gusts of close to 40 miles per hour expected on Tuesday night.
Daytime temperatures this week and early into next week will range from a high of 50 degrees on Monday to a low of 45 degrees on Wednesday.
Conditions at night will range from the mid to high 30s, the forecast 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.
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