LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lake County Sheriff’s Office has identified the Lucerne man killed in a solo-vehicle crash near Upper Lake last week.
Frederick M. Burns IV, 56, died following a crash that occurred just before 1:30 p.m. Friday on Highway 20 just east of Upper Lake Lucerne Road.
Burns was driving a 1996 Ford Ranger eastbound on Highway 20 at an unknown speed when the pickup went off the highway and overturned while going down an embankment, coming to rest in a ditch containing water.
The California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office said Burns, who was not wearing a seat belt, was declared dead about an hour after the crash at Sutter Lakeside Hospital.
The CHP said the crash remains under investigation.
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 semi truck hauling cattle crashed on Highway 20 east of Clearlake Oaks on Sunday night, causing an extended closure of the highway.
The wreck was reported at around 7 p.m. Sunday on Highway 20 east of Mule Skinner Road near Walker Ridge Road, in the area of mile post marker 41, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP reported that the big rig, full of 36 head of cattle loaded in Orland and headed to Arcata, rolled over onto its side. Cows were out of the truck and the roadway was blocked due to the animals.
About 45 minutes after the initial crash, there was a report that a sedan had hit one of the cows. The CHP received calls about other cows in the roadway.
Livestock trucks and heavy tow trucks responded to the scene on Sunday night to move the living and dead animals as well as the overturned truck itself.
The CHP reported that there also were resulting hazmat issues.
Officials closed Highway 20 shortly after 8 p.m. near Walker Ridge Road on the Lake County side and near E Street in Williams, the CHP reported.
Caltrans reported late Sunday that the roadway was expected to be reopened by midnight.
However, the CHP said it was 1:30 a.m. Monday before one-way traffic control was in place at the crash site and the closure on the Williams side had been cleared.
This is the second overturned semi on that stretch of Highway 20 in the last four months.
On Oct. 6, a double-decker semi truck transporting cattle from Fortuna to Tennessee overturned on Highway 20 near Cache Creek, about three miles from the location of the Sunday wreck, after the CHP said the driver took the turns in that stretch of highway too quickly.
That crash also resulted in animals being killed. A multiagency rescue took place to remove the surviving animals.
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.
Manning Creek on the recently purchased Keithly Wetland Preserve near Lakeport, California. Photo courtesy of the Lake County Land Trust. LAKEPORT, Calif. — In 2007, the Lake County Land Trust developed its first “Land Conservation Priority Plan,” which outlined the most critical and endangered lands that the Land Trust felt it should focus on.
At the top of the list was crucial shoreline habitat on Clear Lake, from the Clear Lake State Park down to south Lakeport.
In 2021 the Land Trust purchased the 200-acre Wright Ranch, now the Wright Wetland Preserve.
In December of 2023, the Land Trust closed escrow on the purchase of the 86-acre Keithly Ranch property in south Lakeport, adjacent to the Wright Preserve.
This means the Lake County Land Trust has now protected almost 300 acres of near shore, upland wetlands and riparian land in the south Lakeport area.
Another 30-acre parcel at Holiday Cove in Big Valley is also part of the Big Valley Wetlands project.
Both the Keithly and Wright acquisitions have created a combined area that will protect 16% of Clear Lake wetlands.
The Keithly acquisition is of utmost importance because of the existence of Manning Creek, which runs through the property and empties into Clear Lake.
The creek is a major spawning creek for the threatened Clear Lake hitch. The Land Trust is working with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife on funding to reconnect the creek to its original delta.
Lake County Land Trust President Val Nixon and Board member Merry Jo Velasquez exploring the recent Lake County Land Trust land acquisition, the Keithly Ranch, near Lakeport, California. Photo courtesy of the Lake County Land Trust. Many generous supporters contributed funds for this acquisition, the full cost of which was $900,000.
In addition to the required $50,000 match that the Wildlife Conservation Board required, expenses for a land agent, appraisals, title report, lawyer fees, a required environmental review, and closing costs were needed to complete this purchase.
The Land Trust will develop a comanagement plan with the nearby Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians as this area is a significant part of their tribal homeland.
The Land Trust thanks everyone who has supported this project and worked so hard to see it completed.
Founded in 1993, the Lake County Land Trust is a nonprofit, charitable 501 (c) (3) organization funded mostly by local contributions.
The Land Trust was founded to protect and conserve the land and water resources of Lake County with important natural, scenic, cultural and historical value.
The Land Trust owns and operates the Rodman Preserve that features a small nature center and is open every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for visitors and hikers.
Other properties include Rabbit Hill Preserve in Middletown, the Melo Wetland Preserve in Big Valley, a chaparral preserve on Mt. Konocti and Monitor Island near Clearlake Park. The Land Trust also comanages the Boggs Lake Preserve with the Nature Conservancy.
Merry Jo Velasquez, vice president of the Lake County Land Trust, at the gate of the Keithly Ranch in south Lakeport, California. The Land Trust recently acquired the ranch which will create almost 300 acres of preserved land. Photo courtesy of the Lake County Land Trust.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lake County Registrar of Voters Office is reminding community members that the deadline to register to vote for the March 5 presidential primary is Feb. 20.
New residents of Lake County, and registered voters who have moved to a new address, changed their mailing address within the county, or changed their name need to register or reregister to vote no later than the Feb. 20 deadline, the elections office reported.
If you are a registered voter and your mailing address has changed, official voting materials — sample ballots, vote-by-mail ballots, etc. — cannot be forwarded to another address and will be returned to the Registrar of Voters Office by the postal service.
Residents may personally phone the Registrar’s office to verify if their voter registration information is correct and up-to-date.
The elections office urges people not to delay. A completed voter registration form must be either personally delivered to the Registrar of Voters Office on or before Feb. 20 or postmarked on or before Feb. 20 and received by mail by the elections office or complete an online voter registration form on or before 11:59 p.m. Feb. 20.
Eligible Lake County residents who miss the voter registration deadline still have the option to vote in this election by conditionally registering to vote and casting a conditional provisional ballot by personally visiting the Registrar of Voters Office, 325 N. Forbes St. in Lakeport, from Feb. 21 until prior to 8 p.m. on Election Day; or personally visiting their polling place no later than the close of the polls (prior to 8 p.m.) on Election Day.
Residents may register to vote at the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office in Lakeport; phone staff at 707-263-2372 or toll-free 888-235-6730 for a form to be mailed to you; or you may register to vote online by visiting: http://registertovote.ca.gov/.
Registration forms are also available at most local post offices, libraries, city offices, and chamber of commerce offices.
Please be aware that pursuant to Section 2101 of the California Elections Code: “A person entitled to register to vote shall be a United States citizen, a resident of California, not imprisoned for the conviction of a felony, and at least 18 years of age at the time of the next election.”
For more information call the Registrar of Voters Office at 707-263-2372.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — After several dry days, Lake County is expected to get more rain midweek, but a larger storm is expected over the weekend.
Rain is expected to return on Valentine’s Day and continue on into the weekend when a larger storm system is expected to arrive over much of the state.
The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center said hazardous rains, winds and flooding could return to California from Saturday, Feb. 17, through Wednesday, Feb. 21.
Lake County is in the area projected to receive heavy rainfall, based on the center’s mapping.
The Climate Prediction Center said the storms will bring significant flooding risk throughout California, especially those areas — including Lake County — where soils remain saturated by the storms that took place in late January and early February.
In addition to chances of flooding, the Climate Prediction Center said there is at least a 60% chance of “hazardous, heavy precipitation” across California, with heavy snow possible in higher elevations.
High winds are also in the forecast for Lake County during that time period, the Climate Prediction Center reported.
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.
The Yurok Tribe and Wilton Rancheria are sponsoring the second annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, or MMIP, Summit and Day of Action on Monday, Feb. 12, and Tuesday, Feb. 13, in Sacramento.
“We are putting on these events to give a voice to the state’s missing and murdered Indigenous People and their families. For too long, we have suffered in silence as countless loved ones have been lost to the MMIP crisis,” said Joseph L. James, chairman of the Yurok Tribe.
“We have built much momentum since last year’s summit and day of action, but we know there is a long road ahead of us,” James said. “In California, Indigenous people continue to go missing and/or are murdered at higher rates than almost anywhere in the US. This is not acceptable. In addition to giving a voice to those who can no longer speak, we are putting on these events to ask lawmakers to stand with us and say, ‘no more, not on my watch.’”
“Although we have increased awareness and resources to combat the MMIP epidemic, we are seeing California trend the wrong way,” added Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino). “Our number of unresolved cases has gone up instead of down. We must continue to expand our efforts to prevent these cases from occurring and to do all we can to reverse the current trend. This gathering of decision makers, tribes and others is essential to determine needed action. I applaud the Yurok Tribe and Wilton Rancheria for sponsoring this initiative and never letting us forget the families and lives affected by the MMIP epidemic.”
At the MMIP Summit and Day of Action, tribal leaders from across California, along with state and federal legislators and leaders, including Assemblymember Ramos, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, as well as law enforcement and families contending with unsolved murder cases will advocate for solutions that target the crisis’s root causes.
“It is an honor for Wilton Rancheria to join with the Yurok Tribe to host this important event. We proudly stand with our brothers and sisters from across the state to not only bring awareness to the MMIP crisis but to demand action from our local and state leaders,” said Wilton Rancheria Chairman Jesus Tarango. “While progress has been made, there is so much work to do. Our hope is that these two days are an opportunity for our state elected officials to listen and learn from our people and they inspire funding and legislative action for tribally led initiatives to help bring an end to this epidemic.”
Compared to most states, Indigenous people are far less safe in California. In the U.S., California has the fifth highest number of MMIP cases, the vast majority of which involve young women and girls.
Even worse, a disproportionate number of the murders are unsolved, such as Nicole Smith’s case.
In the early morning on Nov. 19, 2017, Smith, a mother and member of the Manchester Band of the Pomo Indians, was sleeping at her sister’s home on the Mendocino coast when a drive-by shooter shot several times at the residence. One of the rounds hit Smith and she perished a few minutes later.
There were multiple young children in the home and Smith’s niece suffered a bullet wound too, but she recovered. The perpetrator has yet to face justice in this underreported case.
Smith, 32, left behind three young children, not to mention many relatives and friends.
The murders of Indigenous women, like Smith and many others, are seven times less likely to be solved. In California, more than 50% of the perpetrators of violence against Indigenous women are non-Indian, according to an in-depth study conducted by the Yurok Tribal Court.
Today, there are at least 20 MMIP cases recorded every year in Northern California, but the actual number is significantly higher. There are serious issues with the accuracy of data on cases involving missing and/or murdered Indigenous people.
Bonta is currently working with tribes to improve the quality of MMIP data. The attorney general is also speaking at the MMIP Summit.
The MMIP Summit starts at 8:30 a.m. Monday. The informative event will include multiple panel discussions, starting with commentary from MMIP survivors, families and advocates.
During the second panel, titled “Justice & Policy Issues: Challenges and Solutions to Address MMIP,” representatives from tribal and nontribal justice systems will report on successes and challenges they have faced in their efforts to arrest and prosecute those who commit violence against Indigenous people.
At noon, Attorney General Bonta will provide the keynote address, with an overview of MMIP in California.
“This event represents an opportunity to engage with one another, share knowledge about the MMIP crisis, and learn how we can be better partners in justice. We must stand together to tackle what is happening across jurisdictional lines, happening here and now in our own communities — the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples crisis must end,” said Bonta.
“The history of this state is intrinsically intertwined with the history of native peoples, people who have been here since time immemorial. That’s why I’m proud to implement efforts to support public safety on tribal lands — including studying challenges related to the reporting and identification of missing and murdered Native Americans, to work alongside California tribal governments, families, and advocates to develop new guidance about the MMIP crisis, and proud to meet with tribes and Native peoples across our state, to ensure their voice is heard at the California DOJ,” Bonta said.
The third panel, “Beyond Law Enforcement: Tribal Health, Housing, and Supporting Indian Families to Address MMIP” will include an analysis of housing and children’s policies that play a role in the MMIP crisis, such as the Indian Child Welfare Act. There will be question and answer periods throughout the day.
The summit will wrap up with tribal leaders’ roundtable with lawmakers.
The MMIP Day of Action will begin with a news briefing at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Tribal leaders, state legislators and MMIP survivors will participate in the briefing on the Capitol West Steps.
Tribal leaders will issue a call to improve the implementation of the Feather Alert bill. Since it was rolled out earlier this year, tribes have encountered major issues with the administration of the notification system for missing or at-risk Indigenous people.
For example, last summer, San Francisco Police denied a Feather Alert request for Yurok citizen Danelle Ipiña-Vigil. She was later found, but not before she experienced severe trauma that could have been avoided if she was located earlier.
Tribes will propose amendments to the bill to prevent similar situations from happening in the future. The press conference will be livestreamed here.
At 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sen. Padilla will kick off the Day of Action with an update on the federal government’s work on the MMIP crisis.
Tribes also will honor Sen. Padilla for his work to address MMIP at the federal level, including his successful efforts to get a federal study on Public Law 280, and his efforts to increase justice funding for tribes in PL-280 states.
Passed in 1953 without tribal consent, PL 280 gave criminal jurisdiction over tribal lands to several states, including California, but the bill did not provide funding for state law enforcement to cover a much larger geographic area.
An MMIP Walk will start at noon. There will be cultural demonstrations throughout the day, and again at 1:30 p.m. before the event concludes at 2 p.m.
The Yurok Tribe and Assemblymember Ramos sponsored the annual MMIP Day of Action in February of last year. The tribe led the first MMIP Summit in October of 2022.
These events catalyzed support for critical legislation, such as the Feather Alert bill and Assembly Bill 44, which granted tribal law enforcement and courts access to the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, or CLETS, a database containing criminal records, court orders and other vital information.
Tribes are currently advocating for a bill that would grant tribal police state peace officer status and the ability to enforce California’s criminal laws. A similar law was introduced last year, but peace officer status was removed from the bill’s language before it went to a vote.
Tribes are working hard to ensure that the new bill, AB 2138, becomes a law because it will help tribal police hold the perpetrators of MMIP cases accountable.
Tribes are also developing bills to address other critical facets of the crisis, including tribal housing legislation, and recently proposed AB 2108, which protects children missing from foster care.
The 2024 MMIP Summit and Day of Action are happening as the U.S. Congress reviews the Not Invisible Act Commission’s monumental “Not One More” report.
Spearheaded by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the report calls for a “decade of action and change” regarding MMIP.
The MMIP Summit is happening from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12, at the SAFE Convention Center, 1401 K St., Sacramento.
The MMIP Day of Action will start at 8:30 a.m. the following day on the West Steps of the California State Capitol building.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lake County Health Services Department has lifted the boil water advisory previously issued for residents using private intakes in the southern half of Clear Lake.
This measure was in response to a sewage overflow incident on Burns Valley Road in Clearlake.
Monitoring of water quality in the area indicates that cleanup efforts have reduced the risk of exposure.
No illnesses related to the community’s drinking water have been reported. Residents with health concerns are encouraged to contact the County of Lake Health Services Public Health Division at 707-263-1090 or the Environmental Health Division at 707-263-1164.
Microbial risks
Fecal coliforms and E. coli, bacteria indicating potential contamination with human or animal wastes, may pose health risks. Short-term effects such as diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms could result. Infants, young children, the elderly, and individuals with compromised immune systems are particularly vulnerable.
Residents at increased risk are advised to consult their healthcare provider regarding drinking water safety. General guidelines on minimizing the risk of microbial infection are available from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.
Residents drawing water directly from Clear Lake through private intakes, especially those who may not have received this notice directly, are encouraged to share this information with others. For more information, please contact the County of Lake Environmental Health Services 707-263-1164.
*****
Advertencia de Hervir el Agua ha Sido ha terminado para la Mitad Sur del Lago Clear Después del Incidente de Desbordamiento de Aguas Residuales
CONDADO DE LAKE, CA (Febrero 12, 2024) - Los Servicios de Salud del Condado de Lake han concluido la advertencia de hervir el agua previamente emitida para los residentes que utilizan tomas privadas en la mitad sur del Lago Clear. Esta medida fue en respuesta a un incidente de desbordamiento de aguas residuales en Burns Valley Road en Clearlake, CA. Los residentes y negocios en el área especificada ya no están obligados a hervir su agua potable. Monitoreo de la calidad del agua en el area indica que los esfuerzos de limpieza han reducido el riesgo de exposicion.
Información de Salud Comunitaria:
No se han reportado enfermedades relacionadas con el agua potable de la comunidad. Se recomienda a los residentes con preocupaciones de salud a comunicarse con el Departamento de Salud Pública del Condado de Lake al (707) 263-1090 o la División de Salud Ambiental al (707) 263-1164.
Riesgos Microbianos:
Los coliformes fecales y E. coli son bacterias que indican contaminación potencial con desechos humanos o animals y pueden representar riesgos para la salud. Los efectos a corto plazo como diarrea, calambres, náuseas, dolores de cabeza u otros síntomas podrían ser presentes. Los bebés, niños pequeños, ancianos y personas con sistemas inmunológicos comprometidos son particularmente vulnerables.
Se recomienda a los residentes con mayor riesgo que consulten a su proveedor de atención médica sobre la seguridad del agua potable. Las pautas generales para minimizar el riesgo de infección microbiana están disponibles en la Línea Directa de Agua Potable Segura de la EPA al 1-800-426-4791.
Se exhorta a los residentes que extraen agua directamente de Clear Lake a través de tomas privadas, especialmente aquellos que pueden no haber recibido este aviso directamente, a compartir esta información con otros.
Para obtener más información, comuníquese con los Servicios de Salud del Condado de Lake al (707) 263-1090 o (707) 263-1164.
LAKEPORT, Calif. — The Lakeport City Council will hold a special meeting this week to adopt an emergency declaration for the winter storms that peaked earlier this month.
The council will meet Tuesday, Feb. 13, at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
The council chambers will be open to the public for the meeting. Masks are highly encouraged where 6-foot distancing cannot be maintained.
If you cannot attend in person, and would like to speak on an agenda item, you can access the Zoom meeting remotely at this link or join by phone by calling toll-free 669-900-9128 or 346-248-7799.
The webinar ID is 973 6820 1787, access code is 477973; the audio pin will be shown after joining the webinar. Those phoning in without using the web link will be in “listen mode” only and will not be able to participate or comment.
Comments can be submitted by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. To give the city clerk adequate time to print out comments for consideration at the meeting, please submit written comments before 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 13.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the council is set to adopt the resolution confirming the existence of a local emergency due to the February storms.
The full text of the resolution is below.
RESOLUTION NO. ________ (2024)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
LAKEPORT CONFIRMING EXISTENCE OF A LOCAL EMERGENCY
WHEREAS, Chapter 2.28 of the Lakeport Municipal Code, adopted as Ordinance Number 832 of the City of Lakeport empowers the Director of Emergency Services to proclaim the existence or threatened existence of a local emergency when the City of Lakeport is affected or likely to be affected by a public calamity and the City Council is not in session, subject to ratification by the City Council within seven (7) days; and
WHEREAS, conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property have arisen within this City as a result of severe weather conditions including heavy rain, and extreme wind, commencing on or about February 4, 2023, which has resulted in significant damage to property, infrastructure, and public safety within the city limits; and at which time the City Council of the City of Lakeport was not in session; and
WHEREAS, the City Council does hereby find that aforesaid conditions of extreme peril did warrant and necessitate the proclamation of existence of a local emergency; and
WHEREAS, the Director of Emergency Services of the City of Lakeport did proclaim the existence of a local emergency within the City on the 7 th day of February, 2024; and
WHEREAS, the City Council does hereby find that aforesaid conditions of extreme peril did warrant and necessitate the proclamation of existence of a local emergency.
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED AND ORDERED that the City Council hereby proclaims a local emergency due to the existence or threatened existence of conditions of disaster or of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the City of Lakeport; and
IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED AND ORDERED that the Director of Emergency Services’ Proclamation of Existence of a Local Emergency is hereby ratified and confirmed; and
IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED AND ORDERED that the local emergency shall be deemed to continue to exist until its termination is proclaimed by the City Council of the City of Lakeport; and
IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED AND ORDERED that during the existence of this local emergency the powers, functions and duties of the Disaster Council of the City of Lakeport and its Director of Emergency Services shall be those prescribed by state law, and by the ordinances and resolutions of this City; and
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Resolution be forwarded to the State Director of the Office of Emergency Services; and
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Kevin Ingram, Director of Emergency Services of the City of Lakeport, is hereby designated as the authorized representative of the City of Lakeport for the purpose of receipt, processing, and coordination of all inquiries and requirements necessary to obtain available State and Federal assistance. This resolution shall be effective upon its adoption.
THIS RESOLUTION was passed by the City Council of the City of Lakeport at a regular meeting thereof on the 13th day of February 2024, by the following vote:
AYES: NOES: ABSTAINING:
ABSENT:
_________________________________ Michael Froio, Mayor
ATTEST:
_______________________________ Kelly Buendia, City Clerk
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control has many dogs and puppies in need of new homes.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Alaskan husky, Australian cattle dog, Australian shepherd, border collie, boxer, bulldog, chihuahua, Doberman pinscher, English bulldog, German shepherd, hound, Labrador retriever, pit bull, Queensland heeler, shepherd and terrier.
Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.
Those dogs and the others shown on this page at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption.
Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online for information on visiting or adopting.
The shelter is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport.
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. — Authorities are investigating a double-fatal crash that occurred near Upper Lake Monday morning.
The California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office said the head-on crash occurred at 6:24 a.m. Monday on Highway 20 east of Witter Springs Road.
The CHP said the driver who is believed to have precipitated the crash has been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.
The names of the two men who died — one in each of the vehicles involved — were not released Monday pending their identification and the notification of their families.
The CHP said that the vehicles involved were a 2000 Nissan Frontier pickup and a 2011 Toyota Prius.
The pickup’s driver, a male Ukiah resident, was traveling westbound on Highway 20 at an unknown speed with two male passengers, a 44-year-old man from Ukiah, with the second passenger’s city of residence not known by authorities as of Monday, according to the report.
The CHP said the pickup driver steered the vehicle into the opposing eastbound lane while attempting to pass other vehicles and collided head-on with a 2011 Toyota Prius driven by a 59-year-old man from Miranda.
The Prius driver and the Ukiah resident in the pickup both died as a result of the crash, while the pickup driver and his other passenger were extricated from that vehicle and sustained major injuries, the CHP said.
The CHP said alcohol intoxication is suspected to be a contributing factor in the cause of this crash and, as a result, the pickup’s driver was arrested for driving under the influence at the scene before he was airlifted to a hospital in Vacaville.
The two drivers and the Ukiah passenger in the pickup were reported to have been wearing their seat belts. It was not noted in the report if the pickup’s second passenger, who survived, was using safety equipment.
The crash remains under investigation by CHP Officer K. Brown.
This is the second double-fatal to happen in the stretch of Highway 20 between Upper Lake and the Lake and Mendocino County line in the past month and a half.
On Dec. 26, two female drivers, one from Lakeport and one from Redwood Valley, were killed on Highway 20 west of Bachelor Valley Road — a short distance from Witter Springs Road — when they collided head-on after one crossed over the double-yellow lines.
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.
Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, Harvard Kennedy School
We gathered elections data on city, county and school district elections over the last three decades from medium and large places – any city with a population of at least 50,000 people and any county with a population of at least 75,000 in 2020. These 877 different cities and 1,005 different counties encompass more than half of the U.S. population. Using that data, we calculated the share of winning candidates who were members of several racial and ethnic groups.
In each place, we compared the percentage of the population from each of those demographic groups with the percentage of elected officials from those same groups. This allowed us to gauge whether each of these demographic groups was proportionally represented, or if they were overrepresented or underrepresented among their local politicians.
Municipal officials
Across cities in the U.S., we looked at the offices of mayor and city councilor. One commonality stands out: Nearly universally, the percentage of elected officials who are white is higher than the white share of the population. This overrepresentation persists from the early 1990s – the first time period from which we have data – to more recent years among mayors. Among city councilors, it’s a bit closer to parity with the population.
For mayors in recent years, there is a particularly large gap: On average, 78% of mayors are white, while only 68% of the population in the cities in our data is white. City councilors, on the other hand, tend to look much more like the population in their cities.
This overrepresentation of white residents comes at the expense of Hispanic and Asian residents. Nearly 17% of residents in cities are Hispanic and 5% are Asian. But only 6% of mayors are Hispanic and only 2% are Asian.
County officials
In medium and large counties where we collected elections data, we made similar comparisons for county executives, county legislators, sheriffs and prosecutors. Again, across these local elected offices, there are far more, as a percentage, white elected officials than there are white residents of these counties.
Just under 70% of residents of the counties in our data are white. But over 76% of county executives are white, over 85% of county legislators are white, 83% of sheriffs are white, and nearly 89% of prosecutors are white.
Again, the overrepresentation of white residents among local elected officials happens as other racial and ethnic groups are underrepresented in their county governments. Black residents make up 11% of the population in counties in our data, but only 9% of county legislators. And Hispanic and Asian residents are more drastically underrepresented in county offices. In our data, 11% of county residents are Hispanic, while 3% are Asian. But 5% or less of politicians holding office in any county elected position are Hispanic. And Asians make up 1% or less of elected county legislators, sheriffs and prosecutors.
School boards
Data on school boards’ representation is less clear because our data collection on school boards was less comprehensive than our data on city and county elections. But the apparent trend among the school districts where we gathered data is similar.
School boards have become a flashpoint for various political efforts, including teaching about race and racism and requests to ban books. And they are substantially more white than the communities they serve.
Less than half of the constituents in the school districts in our data are white, but more than two-thirds of school board members are white. Of the districts in our study, 22% of the residents were Black and 6% were Asian, but just 10% of board members are Black and just 3% are Asian. Hispanic residents, who made up 24% of the population, were more closely represented, but still not equally, with 20% of board members.
What does this mean for representation across the U.S.? Local elected officials make important and often contentious decisions governing the lives of millions of city and county residents. Race and other demographic features of both residents and elected officials do not, by any means, offer a conclusive picture of their respective policy preferences. But the fact that local governments look so different from their residents doesn’t paint a sunny picture of representation in local government.
A paleontologist wears a T-shirt showing Strophodus rebecae, a shark species with flat teeth that lived millions of years ago. Juan Pablo Pino/AFP via Getty Images
Human fear of sharks has deep roots. Written works and art from the ancient world contain references to sharks preying on sailors as early as the eighth century B.C.E.
Relayed back to land, stories about shark encounters have been embellished and amplified. Together with the fact that from time to time – very rarely – sharks bite humans, people have been primed for centuries to imagine terrifying situations at sea.
In 1974, Peter Benchley’s bestselling novel “Jaws” fanned this fear into a wildfire that spread around the world. The book sold more than 5 million copies in the U.S. within a year and was quickly followed by Steven Spielberg’s 1975 movie, which became the highest-grossing film in history at that time. Virtually all audiences embraced the idea, depicted vividly in the movie and its sequels, that sharks were malevolent, vindictive creatures that prowled coastal waters seeking to feed on unsuspecting bathers.
But “Jaws” also spawned widespread interest in better understanding sharks.
Previously, shark research had largely been the esoteric domain of a handful of academic specialists. Thanks to interest sparked by “Jaws,” we now know that there are many more kinds of sharks than scientists were aware of in 1974, and that sharks do more interesting things than researchers ever anticipated. Benchley himself became an avid spokesman for shark protection and marine conservation.
In my own 30-year career studying sharks and their close relatives, skates and rays, I’ve seen attitudes evolve and interest in understanding sharks expand enormously. Here’s how things have changed.
Marine biologist Greg Skomal of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries captures video footage of a white shark off Cape Cod, Oct. 21, 2022.Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images
Swimming into the spotlight
Before the mid-1970s, much of what was known about sharks came via people who went to sea. In 1958, the U.S. Navy established the International Shark Attack File – the world’s only scientifically documented, comprehensive database of all known shark attacks – to reduce wartime risks to sailors stranded at sea when their ships sank.
Today the file is managed by the Florida Museum of Natural History and the American Elasmobranch Society, a professional organization for shark researchers. It works to inform the public about shark-human interactions and ways to reduce the risk of shark bites.
In 1962, Jack Casey, a pioneer of modern shark research, initiated the Cooperative Shark Tagging Program. This initiative, which is still running today, relied on Atlantic commercial fishermen to report and return tags they found on sharks, so that government scientists could calculate how far the sharks had moved after being tagged.
After “Jaws,” shark research quickly went mainstream. The American Elasmobranch Society was founded in 1982. Graduate students lined up to study shark behavior, and the number of published shark studies sharply increased.
Field research on sharks expanded in parallel with growing interest in extreme outdoor sports like surfing, parasailing and scuba diving. Electronic tags enabled researchers to monitor sharks’ movements in real time. DNA sequencing technologies provided cost-effective ways to determine how different species were related to one another, what they were eating and how populations were structured.
This interest also had a sensational side, embodied in the Discovery Channel’s launch in 1988 of Shark Week. This annual block of programming, ostensibly designed to educate the public about shark biology and counter negative publicity about sharks, was a commercial venture that exploited the tension between people’s deep-seated fear of sharks and their yearning to understand what made these animals tick.
Contrary to the long-held notion that sharks are mindless killers, they exhibit a wide range of traits and behavior. For example, the velvet belly lantern shark communicates through flashes of light from organs on the sides of its body. Female hammerhead sharks can clone perfect replicas of themselves without male sperm.
Sharks have the most sensitive electrical detectors thus far discovered in the natural world – networks of pores and nerves in their heads, known as ampullae of Lorenzini, after Italian scientist Stefano Lorenzini, who first described these features in the 17th century. Sharks use these networks to navigate in the open ocean, using Earth’s magnetic field for orientation.
Snorkelers swim above a whale shark near the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. The largest fish in the sea, whale sharks are filter feeders that prey on plankton.Tchami/Flickr, CC BY-SA
Another intriguing discovery is that some shark species, including makos and blue sharks, segregate by both sex and size. Among these species, cohorts of males and females of different sizes are often found in distinct groups. This finding suggests that some sharks may have social hierarchies, like those seen in some primates and hoofed mammals.
Genetic studies have helped researchers explore questions such as why some sharks have heads shaped like hammers or shovels. They also show that sharks have the lowest mutation rate of any vertebrate animal. This is notable because mutations are the raw material for evolution: The higher the mutation rate, the better a species can adapt to environmental change.
However, sharks have been around for 400 million years and have been through some of the most extreme environmental changes on earth. It’s not known yet how they have persisted so successfully with such a low mutation rate.
Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research, describes how DNA analysis provides insights into shark science.
The marquee species
White sharks, the focal species of “Jaws,” attract enormous public interest, although much about them is still unknown. They can live to age 70, and they routinely swim thousands of miles every year. Those in the Western North Atlantic tend to move north-south between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico; white sharks on the U.S. west coast move east-west between California and the Central Pacific.
We now know that juvenile white sharks feed almost exclusively on fishes and stingrays, and don’t start incorporating seals and other marine mammals into their diets until they are the equivalent of teenagers and have grown to about 12 feet long. Most confirmed white shark bites on humans seem to be by animals that are between 12 and 15 feet long. This supports the theory that almost all bites by white sharks on humans are cases of mistaken identity, where humans resemble the seals that sharks prey on.
Still in the water
Although “Jaws” had a widespread cultural impact, it didn’t keep surfers and bathers from enjoying the ocean.
Data from the International Shark Attack File on confirmed unprovoked bites by white sharks from the 1960s to the present day shows a continuous increase, although the number of incidents yearly is quite low. This pattern is consistent with growing numbers of people pursuing recreational activities at the coasts.
In other words, people are roughly 200,000 times more likely to drown than to die from a white shark bite. Indeed, surfers are more likely to die in a car crash on the way to the beach than they are to be bitten by a shark.