Being a gardener, mead brewer and occasional resident of the planet, I have a love of honeybees and the honey they produce.

You may have heard in the news that honeybees are disappearing at an alarming rate and that we should all be very afraid of the consequences. Albert Einstein is credited with a now infamous quote that if the honeybee disappeared from the planet mankind would be extinct within four years.

I can happily say that my genius is so great that I can knowledgeably disagree with Einstein’s opinion on the subject. I’ll admit it’s pretty easy to argue with someone who is dead and can’t defend their comments; nevertheless, I shall present you with my evidence to ease your troubled mind.

Reports on the cause of the honeybee disappearance vary from Colony Collapse Disorder to honeybee HIV to deadly mites. There are even reports that cell phone signals cause honeybees to get lost and never make it back home. With all this happening it seems we’re doomed before I can even start on the problem. Let me explain what’s going on.

Colony Collapse Disorder is the catchphrase used to describe what is happening to all of the honeybees, but there is no one thing that anyone can point at and say, “THIS is what is happening!” Colony Collapse Disorder is just a label used for the sake of discussion. As of now nobody has found any single definable reason that is causing beehives to lose 30 percent to 70 percent of their population in a short period of time.

Getting an explanation about the theories of Colony Collapse Disorder from a group of beekeepers is like asking how to fix the economy from a roomful of economists: you’ll get a lot of stories and theories but in the end be no closer to knowing what to do.

There are certain symptoms that occur to let you know that your beehives are suffering from Colony Collapse Disorder but nobody can say why the process occurs. It’s like trying to explain why Ryan Seacrest is famous: he just is, but nobody can explain how he did it or why he’s still around with any reasonable justification.

Some laypeople have coined the term “honeybee HIV,” as if giving the condition a more frightening name will cause people concern and spur them into action. Honeybee colonies are susceptible to many pests and diseases, including some viruses, but not anything that attacks the immune systems in a way similar to HIV. The average beekeeper is aware of the illnesses that afflict honeybees and can treat for all of them.

Colony Collapse Disorder and bee HIV have been blamed for the loss of entire colonies of bees. Although many reports talk about beekeepers losing massive numbers of bees, this “disorder” doesn’t seem to be as prevalent in wild bees or hobbyists’ colonies.

One apiarist (beekeeper) I spoke to said it is found most commonly in the large commercial beehives that are driven across California’s Central Valley and other massive orchard areas.

The bees are taken by truck to one location and released to forage and pollinate. At sunset they return to their mobile hive, and overnight are driven to a new location to be released again. Often the fields they visit don’t provide enough food for the entire colony to survive so the beekeepers supplement their food with sugar water.

The apiarist I spoke with compared this treatment of commercial bees to being a traveling salesman who spends his working life flying across the country eating junk food all of the time; after a while he would naturally become run down and sickly.

Now call me crazy, but running these migrant bees off their wings day in and day out and feeding them junk food just makes conditions ripe for these poor bees to collapse but that wouldn’t explain all of the problems.

Another thing might be a tiny species of mite called a Varroa mite that can climb onto a honeybee, feed on it and eventually kill it. When the bee dies the mite moves to the next bee or larvae in the hive. Enough of these mites can destroy an entire colony, and these mites are now spreading across the United States.

The European honeybees that American beekeepers currently raise are very susceptible to this mite. Asian and African honeybees are known to remove and kill mites as infested honeybees enter the hive. The Asian style of beehives is different from western hives and it allows for more interaction between the bees, which in turn provides more of a chance of a mite being seen and removed. So even if every bee in the US dies from mites, Asian honeybees can fill the gap.

The idea of cell phones affecting a honeybee's ability to find its way home is laughable at best. We have known for a long time that when a honeybee locates a plentiful food source like a field of clover, she (all of the bees you see collecting nectar and pollen are female; yes, yes, women of all species have it rough, they are under-appreciated martyrs, fine, I get it) returns to the hive and does a dance that tells the other girls how to find the field by using the position of the sun. Experts in bee behavior can actually watch this dance and tell you where the bee is guiding the others to go. So unless cell phones are changing the position of the sun, this theory doesn’t even qualify as junk science.

So there is some confusion about what’s causing the bees to die off, some ideas bogus and inflammatory, and some ideas legitimate. Just for argument’s sake, how about we assume the absolute worst? Bee HIV-infested mites using cell phones manage to kill every honeybee on every continent.

I still don’t have any worries; we’ll be fine. Why am I so confident? I mean, besides having the ability to outthink nuclear physicists? Why, when Albert Einstein says mankind would be extinct in four years, do I rest easy at night?

First of all, honeybees aren’t native to North America and yet pollination has been occurring here without their production skills for longer than man has been on this continent. Many things pollinate plants. Orchard Mason bees are excellent pollinators and I recommend them for every gardener. They can even be purchased to improve pollination in your home garden. They are smaller than a housefly and fairly docile. Their sting is milder than that of honeybees, being merely annoying with the pain dissipating almost instantly after a sting (I know from experience).

Bumble bees also are first-rate pollinators that are very docile, and they are very easy to see buzzing about your garden. Bumble bee homes are also available to purchase to encourage a colony on your property. There are also species of flies, moths, bats and rodents that pollinate plants.

Pitcairn Island also will save us. The descendants of the mutineers on The Bounty have a honeybee industry that is a source of income for the island, and they can boast the only completely disease-free honeybee population in the world.

Since the island is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean their bees can’t intermingle with other honeybees and contract any of the diseases they may have. So if all of our bees die off, they can slowly but surely re-supply the planet with their extra queens once our problems are dealt with. Keep in mind they don’t accept bee-related donations in order to stay disease free. You can purchase Pitcairn Island Honey on the Internet to support their community at www.nic.pn/shop/honey.html.

Now, even if all these methods weren’t enough, if faced with extinction mankind has a special knack for preventing that very outcome. I’m sure we would see advertisements on daytime TV for “colleges” promoting their new “flower pollinator” degree.

A while back I spoke to a bee removal company about taking down a hive in a tree near my home. They said that due to all the factors that are afflicting bees these days and the fact that nobody is medicating them, the colony would no doubt die off on its own within two years. It’s now three years later and the hive is still there and going strong. There are also several more trees with hives in them in my neighborhood. So that (in a small anecdotal way) disproves that it is affecting ALL the honeybees.

About 20 years ago there was a lot of concern about the disappearance of bees and many bee removal services were removing wild bees from homes and properties for free so they could keep the bees for themselves. This practice is no longer followed and people are often stunned when beekeepers quote prices to remove swarming bees. The reason is that the market for these bees just isn’t there like it was in the past. It’s like calling someone to remove a skunk from your house: there isn’t really a market for secondhand skunks so you’re going to have to pay for its removal.

Now that I have made my case and have proven that I have a brain the size of the planet, but before I go on to disprove Einstein’s theory of relativity and show that it’s actually ME the solar system rotates around, I will have to confess one thing. There is no evidence that Albert Einstein ever actually made any quotes about honeybees; it’s just an Internet rumor like Nostradamus predicting 9/11 or that Nigerian princess who wants to give you millions of dollars if you will simply cash a check for her. So relax. Bees or no bees, Colony Collapse Disorder or just a life cycle, we’ll be OK.

Ross A. Christensen is an award-winning gardener and gourmet cook. He is the author of "Sushi A to Z, The Ultimate Guide" and is currently working on a new book. He has been a public speaker for many years and enjoys being involved in the community.

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The Employment Development Department's (EDD) monthly unemployment report showed that the county's unemployment spiked from 13.8 percent in December to 16 percent in January, giving it a rank of 47 – it's tied with Stanislaus – among the state's 58 counties.

Marin County had the state's lowest unemployment rate, with 6.6 percent.

In January of 2008, Lake County's unemployment rate was 10.9 percent, with 2,590 unemployed local workers. But this past January, the number of unemployed rose to 3,990, according to preliminary EDD numbers.

California's current unemployment rate is 10.6 percent, with the nation's rate at 8.5 percent.

The news came as a shock to local officials, including county Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Cox, who said he didn't remember such a high rate before.

Neither did Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Melissa Fulton. “In the 20 years I've lived here, I've never seen anything approaching 16 percent.”

Supervisor Jim Comstock said he had been concerned when the state's overall unemployment rate was reported to be just over 10 percent last week.

EDD's historical unemployment data for Lake County shows 16 percent to be the highest unemployment rate going back to 1990, the earliest numbers they have available in their online statistical database. In February of 1993, the county's unemployment was 15.8 percent.

An EDD labor market official couldn't be reached on Thursday to find out many years it's been since 16 percent unemployment was seen locally.

Comstock said he's seeing a lot of businesses shutting down in his south county district, especially in Middletown.

Cox added that those strains on businesses are everywhere throughout the county.

Fulton said December and January are typically slower months for the local economy because of its agricultural and tourism base.

She said she's not aware of many more businesses closing, but she knows many people have been laid off because of the business slowdown. Fulton thinks the local economy's growing unemployment is more a matter of employers scaling back on overhead to stay afloat.

“Everybody is just trimming as close to the bone as they can to keep the doors open,” she said.

From the local government standpoint, Cox has serious concerns of his own.

“The higher the unemployment, the greater the impact on our revenues,” said Cox.

Sales tax and property tax particularly are expected to be impacted, he said. “If people don't have jobs, they're spending less money.”

Cox said it's very frustrating that there are so many forces affecting the economy that local government can't control.

“We're able to handle this better than most counties,” Cox said.

The county also is expected to feel the impact in another way – as more people are out of work, they're likely to use the county's social services, which will cause the county government's costs to rise, he said.

“Those caseloads are going to be up when the revenue is going down,” Cox explained.

Cox said the county is trying to give as much work as possible to local vendors and contractors to keep more of its $201 million budget going into the local economy as possible.

Snapshots of specific industries and the region

Looking at specific sectors within the local economy, the industrial category of natural resources, mining and construction has lost 16.4 percent of its workforce over the last year, followed by goods producing, which lost 11 percent. Other sectors within the top five for declines are durable goods, 9.1 percent; information, 7.1 percent; and state government, 6.3 percent.

Industries showing the biggest employment gains included other services, 10.3 percent; federal government, 7.7 percent, an improvement that may be linked to recruitment for the 2010 Census; nondurable goods, 4.5 percent; local government, 1.1 percent, which accounts for approximately 40 jobs; and the overall government category, 1.0 percent.

Lake's neighboring counties also are seeing impacts.

Colusa County has the state's highest unemployment, at 26.7 percent for January, up from 22.1 percent in December, which gives it the state's highest unemployment rate.

In Yolo County, unemployment is at 11.6 percent, compared to 9.7 percent in December, ranking it No. 26. Mendocino County's unemployment rose from 8.8 percent in December to 10.8 percent in January, giving it a rank of No. 22.

Sonoma and Napa counties seem to be doing better than other counties in the region.

Sonoma has the ninth lowest unemployment statewide, with its January rate at 8.6 percent, up from 7.3 in December. Napa, ranking just ahead of Sonoma at No. 8, has a January unemployment rate of 8.5, up from December's 7.3 percent.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Parents, teachers, administrators and community members offered pleas for their schools as well as ideas about how to save money at a board meeting in Lower Lake on Wednesday night.

About 80 people attended the meeting at Lower Lake High School's new gym. Seventeen of them spoke to the board over about a two-hour period. Board member Hank Montgomery was out of town and unable to attend the meeting.

The district is looking at options including possible school closures or school curriculum realignments in an effort to cut $1.2 million out of its 2009-10 budget. The board has hosted a series of meetings around the district to receive community response to the district's budget proposals. Board members said they intend to look at making a final decision at a meeting set for March 11.

By the end of the evening, Superintendent Dr. Bill MacDougall offered his own suggestion to the board.

He said it was his belief that the best course was for the board to close Oak Hill Middle School. That will give them the savings they need to get through the coming fiscal year, he said.

The audience members offered very different viewpoints on what was best for the district.

Carl Stewart, himself a middle school teacher at one time, said he believed the middle school model is a bad one. “I just don't think it works.”

While he taught at a middle school in Southern California, his daughter attended a K-8 school, and he said the difference was “phenomenal.” At a K-8 school, a beloved kindergarten teacher would still be available to older pupils, and the children weren't as likely to misbehave in front of such a teacher.

At the middle school, “Kids had been yanked out at the most fragile point in their lives, been lumped together, and the behavior was atrocious,” he said.

Gina Fortino Dickson, who serves on the Clearlake Planning Commission, suggested moving the Lower Lake Elementary campus to Oak Hill Middle School and utilizing it as a K-8 school. That would allow the elementary campus to be absorbed by Lower Lake High next door, which she said was landlocked and bursting at the seams.

MacDougall asked her for her thoughts on how the move would save the district money. She said it was more an issue of giving them more access to resources now and allowing them space options later.

Some of the evening's most powerful testimony came from parent Jennifer Rodgers, whose children are at Oak Hill.

Rodgers, who had attended a previous community meeting held to take community input on the school closure proposals, said she's heard a lot of bashing of Oak Hill Middle school, and she wanted to share her experience with the staff, who she praised for their compassion, understanding and for “getting” the specific needs of middle schoolers.

She said her children would be considered “problems” by some, as her son has two disorders and her daughter is dyslexic. He son's behavior was so bad at one point that she had to homeschool him.

He's now at Oak Hill. “Many changes are happening in my son's life,” she said.

The boy is mentoring other students, and rather than drawing demons he's drawing hearts. “There's been a total 180.”

Rodgers added, “I believe with all of my heart that it has everything to to do with the staff at Oak Hill Middle School.”

A lot of bad things happen at schools, and Rodgers said she believed the ultimate responsibility lies at home with parents.

She said her daughter also is passing regular classes. Rodgers said she feels like she's in a partnership with teachers, and she wanted to thank them for helping her son reach his full potential.

“I know that a decision has to be made but I just hope that stories like that get heard, too, that Oak Hill makes a difference,” said Rodgers, adding she hoped they would find a different option than closing the schools.

During the hearing, Board Clerk Anita Gordon told the audience that they wouldn't be having the hearings about closing schools if it weren't for the decisions being made by legislators in Sacramento.

She asked people to write legislators to let them know what they're doing to communities. “At some point in time they'll have to listen to us,” said Gordon. “We're mad as heck and we're not going to take it anymore, but they don't know that.”

Johnnie Hathcock suggested cutting the district's nine principals – which she said cost the district $950,000 a year – down to five in order to save $400,000 annually. She also suggested they look at encouraging early retirements.

“The district has a reserve and we should use these monies before closing the schools,” she said.

Lower Lake Elementary teacher Peggy Ustick was concerned that by closing Oak Hill the other schools would be overcrowded, and portable buildings would be necessary. She said pushing so many additional students into current schools would cause issues both for discipline and safety.

Parent Cindy Crandell, who also attended a previous meeting at Pomo, said her daughter attends Pomo Elementary, which she wants to stay as a K-8 school, and not see it go to grades fourth through eighth.

She said he was glad to hear Rodgers' story about Oak Hill. “I wish we heard more heroic stories about Oak Hill, because we know there are some phenomenal teachers at Oak Hill.”

Parent Cheryl Barnes said her son is an interdistrict transfer, and she asked if the changes in the district could affect him. MacDougall said it could, that interdistrict transfers might not get priority when it comes to school placement.

He added, “I can't tell you it would happen for certain.”

Barnes suggested fundraising ideas and having people pay for more of the components of their child's education, or at least donate time to help the schools.

MacDougall noted during the public comment period that the reasons the board was there asking for public input was the $1.2 million cut looming in the fiscal year ahead. Keeping the status quo wouldn't help the district make that big cut.

“It always comes down to reduction in staff,” he said. “That's the hardest part of the decision ahead of us.”

Lacy Christensen, whose daughter is in the eighth grade at East Lake Elementary, thanked the board for being fiscally responsible.

She said the plan she could support was closing Oak Hill and making the rest of the elementary schools K-8. Christensen said it was the best plan from a business perspective. She added that Oak Hill is in a bad location and has structural problems, and that the district could sell the facility.

Assistant Prinicipal Gavin Huffmaster said if they close a school, other schools will be very full. Considering the community's growth, Huffmaster guessed that would only be a stopgap measure, and that schools eventually would need to expand.

Carle High School teacher Angela Siegel, also a former middle school teacher, suggested various ways to save money – about $500,000 in all.

She was concerned that the proposal to close at least one school wasn't about the budget.

“This is about a complete reconfiguration of the school district, and we're doing it on a very, very tight deadline,” she said.

She questioned closing Oak Hill Middle School just to reopen it elsewhere or in some other form. If the closure is programmatic, not fiscal, the district needs to say so, she said. They need to make cuts that won't directly affect the classroom, Siegel added.

“This is going so fast and it's going to have such a scattershot effect on every school in the district,” she said.

John Roddy suggested that the district needed to seek the advice of Lake County's chief administrative officer, Kelly Cox, who he said has worked to keep the county in the black for 27 years. MacDougall said Cox was on a consolidation committee.

Roddy went on to suggest that MacDougall should be the first one to take a pay cut.

MacDougall told Roddy that the Konocti Unified School District has always stayed in the black, and as long as he's superintendent it will stay that way.

Kristyn Leigh-Freeman, co-principal of Oak Hill Middle School, said she needed to start thinking about the changes to programs that would come from the board's ultimate decision. She urged them to keep to a timeline in order for changes to be made, including the logistics of moving school facilities.

Superintendent offers his perspective

Following the close of public comment, MacDougall recounted the months of meetings – beginning last September – that he and other administrators have taken part in as they've looked for solutions to meet the coming budget cuts.

He said he'd given the topic his best thinking and a lot of time.

“Financially, we only have one option,” he said, estimating it will take three to five years for the budget picture to recover.

While he agreed that Oak Hill has great teachers, he felt closing the school was the district's best option.

The district has estimated that closing Oak Hill Middle School and changing Pomo, Burns Valley and Lower Lake Elementary schools into K-8 would save between $400,000 to $968,000, while closing Oak Hill and establishing grade separation in two schools would save between $540,000 and $1 million.

MacDougall encouraged the board to keep class size reduction measures in place, which is a priority for schools and administrators. He added, “The parents want it and I desperately want it.”

Keeping class size reductions in place, which MacDougall told Lake County News on Tuesday that the state is financially supporting for this year and the next, will save the jobs of 15 teachers.

Board Chair Mary Silva thanked the public for taking part in the process.

“It was clear to me at all these meetings that people love their schools,” she said, recounting offers of parents to help and noting that many district staff members are doing additional work for free.

“We're all trying to pull together for our kids,” she said. Silva said she was proud to be part of such a community.

“We're all hurting in this,” Silva added. “Nobody wants to see a school close.”

Later in the meeting, the board voted to hand out 52 layoff notices to teachers, a large number that is meant to cover all budget options at this point. The district plans to rehire many of those teachers.

Because of the uncertainty of the situation ahead, the board also voted to give notices to several administrators that they may be released at the end of the school year from any position requiring an administrative or supervisory credential.

Those named were Oak Hill co-principals Maria de los Angeles Friedrich and Kristyn Leigh-Freeman; Ed Zander, Carle High School's new principal; Burns Valley Elementary Principal Troy Sherman; Pomo Elementary Principal April Leiferman; and Debra Sorenson Malley, principal of East Lake Elementary.

“We have some of the finest administrators in California,” said MacDougall, emphasizing the action was a formality, similar to that taken to lay off teachers.

He said the district's administrators give a lot, from their hearts to their Saturdays, to work in the best interests of children. “They love children all the way down to their toes.”

He added, “We will rectify this situation as soon as we possibly can,” and said he hoped they would remain with the district until it can ensure the action isn't needed.

At the end of the meeting, all of the named administrators came forward to receive their notices and sign for them. MacDougall and board members told the administrators they regretted having to take the action.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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T. Watts at the KPFZ microphone. Courtesy photo.

After a couple of semesters at Willamette University ending in the spring of 1969, I returned to Hayward, Calif., and attended Chabot College for a few quarters. I had a great friend at that time by the name of Walter Pittman.

One day during a Black Student Union program, in strode Walter Pittman with Big George Forman. Mouths dropped open. Your CyberSoulMan thought it was due to some profound utterance he had stated. You see, I was standing at the podium, reciting for the assembled audience some self-composed poetry.

When I realized that my oral musings had been preempted by the presence of the then-recently turned professional, 1968 Olympic Heavyweight Champion, I got a little steamed. I turned up the heat and directed my diatribe toward George.

A little explanation is due here. Judge not thyself, CyberSoulChildren! Perhaps only wizened geezers like me remember the tenor of the times during the 19th Olympiad held in Mexico City.

When American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos were awarded the gold and bronze medals for placing first and third along with second place and silver medal awardee, Australia’s Peter Norman, the demonstration of the African-American athletes at the podium during the playing of the national anthem caused an uproar heard around the earth.

According to a history of the Oct. 16, 1968, event by The Tommie Smith-John Carlos Project, Smith's “raised right black-gloved fist represented black power, the knotted black scarf around his neck represented pride, and the box in his left hand contained an olive tree sapling which stood as an emblem of peace. John Carlos’s raised left black-gloved fist represented unity in black America and the

beads around his neck signified lynchings suffered by blacks. Both men wore black socks but were shoeless during the ceremony to represent black poverty in racist America. Together they formed an arch of unity and power.”

The crowd booed men the men as they left the podium.

*****

George Foreman won the Olympic gold medal for his heavyweight boxing prowess three days later. In celebration of his victory, Foreman danced around the ring with an American flag held high, seemingly disavowing the somber protest of Smith and Carlos.

So, in my youthful exuberance and agreement with the protesters, I kinda scowled at Big George that poetic day in 1969 in an effort to let him know that I was supportive of what Smith and Carlos had done at the Olympics.

When I left the podium, Big George walked up to me and said, “Hey, man. I really dig your poetry.”

BLAM. It was like a straight right to my temple. George Foreman had totally TKO’d me with kind words. We became pretty good friends.

Walter Pittman and I would hang out at George’s apartment. He intimated to us that he hoped Ali and Frazier would both retire before he got to the top. I remember once we were walking down Mission Boulevard just minding our on business. As we walked past the Ford Lincoln car dealership a very excited salesman ran up to us with jingling keys.

“George. George. Check out that Lincoln Towncar. Just check it out. Take your time. No rush. Just check it out.”

We piled in and took a Sunday drive to Oakland. Took our time. Ah, the perks of celebritydom. A Sunday drive in the middle of the week!

I eventually interviewed George for print media twice. The first time was when he was training for Kenny Norton. He was training at the fairgrounds in Pleasanton. It was my first time at a professional boxers training camp. All this machismo strutting and posturing. All these big, buffed dudes. Foreman had a cadre of sparring partners with different boxing styles. Then there was the wannabees. I remember one huge guy, walking around all puffed up, spouting believable nonsense.

“Where’s Foreman at? When I see him, I’m gonna knock his ass out!”

It was amazing theater. This cat looked like he could pull it off.

I remember George sparring with Stanford Harris and George hitting him so hard his protective headgear flew off. Wow.

I was able to be in the locker room with Big George, the great Archie Moore and George’s manager Dick Sadler.

After the training session was over George invited us to dinner. I never will forget that George had a medium rare steak and tossed salad with no dressing. I had brought my cousin Ronnie along to take pictures. When it came time to get a shot of George and I, my cousin wouldn’t take the picture. He was too scared! I ended up taking a picture of George and Ronnie. I was so mad I sold Ronnie a copy.

Some of you may remember the Rumble in the Jungle, Muhammad Ali’s rope-a-dope and George Forman’s loss of his heavyweight title in 1974. When he lost the second fight of his pro career to Jimmy Young in 1974, Foreman has stated he had a near-death experience in the locker room after the fight. George became a born-again Christian. He didn’t box professionally again for 10 years.

I interviewed George again on the comeback trail in 1990 after he TKO’d Gerry Cooney. Two things sticks with me that George said in that interview. The first is how he envisioned that he could win the Heavyweight Title again at age 40-plus.

“I took 10 years off from the ring. I wasn’t being pounded on physically and I treated my body well. No drugs or alcohol. A lot of young guys in the boxing game can’t say that. They train but damage their bodies and minds in and out of the ring. I believe my body is in the shape of someone in their late 20’s.”

Turns out he was right. The second thing that that I remember about the last time I interviewed George was what he said to me as we were saying goodbye, “Man, I still have a picture of you.”

That makes me feel pretty good.

Keep prayin’, keep thinkin’ those kind thoughts!

*****

Upcoming cool events:

Blue Wing Blue Monday Blues. Hansen Raitt Band. Monday, March 9, 6:30 p.m. at the Blue Wing Saloon & Café. 9520 Main St., Upper Lake. 275-2233

The Paramount Theatre at 2025 Broadway in Oakland presents The Whispers, Stephanie Mills Howard Hewitt and Andre Williams on Friday, March 13. 510-465-4600.

Calling For Light: A Spring Concert of Poetry and Music. Carolyn Hawley, piano, plays Chopin and original works. Accompaniment to poetry. T. Watts, accompaniment on trumpet. Lake County Poets Laureate Mary McMillan, Sandra Wade, Carolyn Wing Greenlee, James BlueWolf and Jim Lyle. Sunday, March 15, 3 p.m. Galilee Lutheran Church, 8860 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville. Tickets cost $10 in advance at Watershed Books, Lakeport, and Wild About Books, Clearlake. $15 at the door. Children free. A benefit for KPFZ 88.1 FM.

T. Watts is a writer, radio host and music critic. Visit his Web site at www.teewatts.biz.

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The board approved the layoffs of a total of 17 district employees – 13 classified staff and four certificated – in answer to $500,000 in lost revenue due to the state's budget cuts and a $300,000 revenue shortfall based on falling enrollment.

About 30 people attended the meeting, which lasted just short of an hour and a half at the district office.

Throughout the meeting the board and Superintendent Erin Smith-Hagberg emphasized that the options before them constituted painful and potentially damaging cuts to the district's $10 million budget.

The 13 classified staffers laid off included the director of buildings and grounds, the day care program provider, director of special programs, two part-time after school program aides, one maintenance worker, an elementary and middle school library clerk, a night custodian, a part-time paraeducator and a part-time site assistant at the daycare program.

One lead teacher, two K-6 multiple subject teachers and one counselor also were laid off.

Smith-Hagberg said after the meeting that some of those employees could be be hired back or their jobs recreated if the budget situation improves or if there are some retirements.

During her report to the board before the budget discussion, Doreen McGuire-Grigg, president of the Lakeport Unified Classified Employees Union, told the board members that their decisions were going to affect not just those laid off but students as well.

“I just want everybody to understand that there are cuts that are being made and there are other cuts that could be made instead,” McGuire-Grigg said.

She said classified employees took “a huge hit” last year, and are facing a 19 percent cut this year. The result is that people are losing their jobs and, in some cases their homes. Many of those losing jobs have been working for the district for decades.

McGuire-Grigg said the people needed to let state legislators know how school budget issues are affecting students.

“I know that you guys aren't sleeping,” McGuire-Grigg told the board.

She added, “It's just not fair to our kids.”

Smith-Hagberg told the board that the budget isn't just affecting schools but families of the district's children. She said the needs of families are becoming more pronounced.

The numbers of those children now on the reduced price lunch program are growing dramatically. Smith-Hagberg said 64 percent of the district's elementary students, 58 percent of middle schoolers and 47 percent of high schools now use the program.

“Our poverty level is getting higher and higher,” she said.

The district also is feeling the affects of dropping enrollment, with families and their children moving out of the district. That's despite the “fabulous job” schools do to keep attendance up.

As the board prepared to listen to Smith-Hagberg's budget presentation, Board President Tom Powers noted, “It's a very liquid budget. The budget isn't even final yet.”

He said a special May 19 state election will change the budget again. “What we're doing tonight is based on the best information we have.”

Smith-Hagberg explained that the election will ask voters to approve some new funding sources. If those sources aren't approved, the district may face more cuts.

“It's not just the state budget cuts that are affecting our district significantly,” said Hagberg, referring to the $300,000 in lost attendance revenue. If those students come back, teachers can be rehired, she added.

She said district business manager Linda Slockbower will be on a call on Friday to find out how much of the one-time federal stimulus money the district stands to get. “We know we're getting money for the district, we just don't know how much,” Smith-Hagberg said.

Describing how the district administration arrived at its suggestions of where to cut, Smith-Hagberg explained that she, Slockbower and site administrators began by looking at ways to move programs and money around to achieve savings without hurting programs and students.

With the help of the district's budget committee, they focused first on management and district operations, then turned to school principals to look at educational programs.

“You can only cut so much out of management and operations and still function as a district,” she said.

The list of proposals came from district principals, Smith-Hagberg said.

“That we have all agonized over this is an understatement,” she said, adding that a lot of students and employees are being hurt by what the district has to do.

Powers said they've had to make cuts several years in a row as the state has reduced its funding. “We're down to the bone.”

Smith-Hagberg also asked parents and teachers to speak up on behalf of their schools by calling or writing legislators.

Children coming into school next year will have a different education than they've had in past years due to what's on the list of cuts, she said. (For the full list, see sidebar, “What the district is cutting.”

During public comment, Lakeport Elementary third grade teacher Paula Mune said she's not taken extra compensation for having more than 20 students in her classroom. The parent teacher organization also has helped raise $60,000 over the years for many needed items, and even helped support a salary.

She asked that cuts be as far away from the frontline teaching staff as possible, and said she didn't understand why the district office needed five full-time employees while students are lacking music programs and classrooms need to be cleaned.

“I'm doing my part and I hope you will, too,” she said.

High school counselor Paul Larrea said families are falling apart, and children are looking for a safe haven at school, which isn't always the classroom. Sometimes it's the library, sometimes a sports activity, but those need to be available for children.

Larrea urged the board to refuse to let some cuts take place, and have the administration find other ways. “You need to take a stand on some of these things and say, 'We just can't let that happen.'”

Board member Phil Kirby was clear about the tough decisions before the board. “It's always remarkably difficult to take a look at cuts that affect personnel.”

He said he respects the efforts by the district's budget committee, Smith-Hagberg and administration staff to come up with ideas.

“There comes a time, however, that decisions have to be made,” he said.

Board member Dennis Darling said the budget process has been lengthy and difficult, and he doesn't think anyone is happy with any of the choices. He added that people in the best position to make recommendations are the ones guiding the process.

Powers asked that the district look at ways of expanding the daycare program to 12 months, since daycare needs continue through the summer months. The idea would be for the district to see more money for the services.

The board approved the midyear budget reductions and those for 2009-10 in a 4-1 vote, with Board member Robyn Stevenson voting no. The vote for the certificated staff layoff was 5-0, and Stevenson was again the lone dissenting vote on the resolution for laying off classified staff.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Lake County Sheriff's deputies and California Highway Patrol pursued William Cressey on land and from the air – specifically, with the help of a CHP helicopter – on Tuesday, as Lake County News has reported.

Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said that Forestville resident Philip Wheeler drove up to a work site on top of Round Mountain and happened upon two males at his storage trailer.

When Wheeler pulled up, one of the men ran off and the other – who officials believe was Cressey – got in his black Ford Explorer and drove toward Wheeler, Bauman said.

Wheeler tried to block Cressey's path but he drove around him and Wheeler followed him down the mountain until Cressey reportedly pulled out a handgun and pointed it at him, Bauman said.

Bauman said Wheeler then backed off, called 911 on his cell phone, and followed the Explorer at a distance until it turned onto Red Rock Road. Wheeler waited there for law enforcement.

A sheriff's deputy and a CHP officer met Wheeler and as they started up a dirt road to look for the Explorer, a dirt bike came down the road towards them, said Bauman. The rider matched the description of the driver of the Explorer so they turned and pursued the bike.

The dirt bike was able to evade sheriff's and CHP cruisers, said Bauman. During the subsequent search of the area, one of the deputies determined Cressey had been staying at a residence on Red Rock Road and apparently switched from the Explorer to a dirt bike he had at the house which he used to get away.

Bauman said deputies eventually found the dirt bike but never located Cressey, who they determined had a warrant for parole violation out of Colorado.

CHP ground units and one of their aircraft assisted in the search, which lasted from about 1:30 p.m. to about 6 p.m., Bauman said.

Cressey is described as a white male, blonde hair and blue eyes, 5 feet 7 inches in height with a thin build.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts should call the Lake County Sheriff's Office, 262-4200.

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In addition, there will be a larger number of older adults whose health and other factors will force a

transition from driving to a reliance on other methods of transportation to accomplish daily living activities.

“It is imperative that we prepare Californians now for this growing demographic,” said California Highway Patrol (CHP) Commissioner Joe Farrow.

In an effort to deal with the increase and safely extend the driving years for mature Californians, a year-long grant totaling nearly $205,000 has been awarded to the CHP by the California Office of Traffic

Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Through Sept. 30, funds from the Keeping Everyone Safe (KEYS) grant will be used by the Older Californian Traffic Safety (OCTS) Task Force to establish the senior driver safety/mobility pilot program within three-select CHP field Divisions.

The Divisions chosen, Golden Gate (Bay Area), Southern (Los Angeles Area) and Border (San Diego

Area), have the highest concentration of seniors (age 65 and over).

The program, modeled after the CHP’s highly successful traffic safety corridor approach, uses a multi-disciplinary, community-based task force within each division to identify senior population areas where moderate to high levels of collisions involving seniors occur and develop a plan to address this issue.

The plan includes a public awareness campaign using a variety of available tools to address older adult traffic safety/mobility issues.

“Through education and awareness presentations, we’re hoping to have a positive safety impact on California’s senior driver population. This whole program is about safety,” added Commissioner

Farrow.

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Dr. Karen Tait said norovirus is a very contagious viral illness.

“We're seeing this viral illness circulating in the community, and that's not too surprising,” Tait said.

The Centers for Disease Control says that noroviruses cause gastroenteritis or what's more commonly known as the stomach flu.

Norovirus symptoms usually include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramping, according to the CDC. Other possible symptoms low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and tiredness. The viruses have a quick onset with symptoms lasting one to two days.

Tait said norovirus isn't a reportable illness – usually a more serious illness that could lead to major health emergencies – so the Lake County Health Department doesn't hear about individual cases. However, health facilities must report norovirus.

She said norovirus can survive on surfaces longer than some other viruses, so it can be a challenge to get rid of it. Even if measure are taken to prevent it, norovirus can still be transmitted.

Tait said norovirus can be especially difficult on seniors, who have other health conditions that make their health more fragile. As a result, norovirus can sometimes hospitalize seniors.

For more people it's a short-term illness, said Tait. “Up to about 30 percent of cases may have no symptoms.”

Paul Medlin, administrator of Evergreen Lakeport Healthcare, said the virus has impacted the facility for about a week. Only one patient currently has it.

“We're on the improvement side,” he said.

The recent outbreak is typical, said Tait, and county health officials work together with facilities to contain it.

Tait said she's seen much bigger outbreaks or norovirus in other areas, including an office building full of people with hundreds of people becoming sick at once.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Eric James Joaquin, 37, was found murdered on the morning of Feb. 28 in the Clear Lake Riviera home that he shared with roommates including John Robert Gray, 43, who was arrested later that same day and charged with murder.

Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office reported that an autopsy was performed on Joaquin on Tuesday at the Napa County Coroner's Office.

While the final autopsy report is pending and will not be completed for several weeks, Bauman said a preliminary cause of death has been determined to be multiple blunt force trauma.

No other patterns of injury, including gunshot wounds, were identified, Bauman added.

Bauman said it's not known why initial reports speculated that Joaquin “may have been shot” but there is no evidence at this point that a firearm was involved in the homicide.

The sheriff's office said the men had an altercation on Feb. 26.

Gray made his first court appearance on Tuesday, as Lake County News has reported. He remains in the Lake County Jail on $500,000 bail.

The case remains pending further investigation and no other information on the case is available at this time, Bauman said.

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Each week I spend many hours pouring over my health and nutritional journals and exploring Web sites promising new herbal and natural approaches to health problems.

A fair amount of my findings are redundant to earlier research but explained in perhaps a different light. Some “new” herbal remedies are in fact just new to western culture or new to the US.

One product that I am excited about is oil of wild oregano. Mediterranean peoples have used this oil (there are more than 40 varieties world wide) for hundreds of years for everything from allergies and asthma, colds, flu and eczema to gastritis, psoriasis, gum disease and much more. (I must say here that this particular oregano is not your kitchen cupboard variety, which is probably Mexican sage.)

It appears to hold wide spectrum antibiotic properties and phenols like carvacrol and thymol that are natural antiseptics. According to Dr. Cass Ingram (“The Cure is in The Cupboard”) the caustic nature of plant phenols creates a response that is destructive to microbes as well as cancer cells.

Oil of wild oregano also contains terpenes that are potent antiseptic, antiviral and anti-inflammatory agents.

Another exciting and rather “new” supplement is zeolite. Zeolites are minerals that have been commonly used for industrial waste cleanup because of their ability to scavenge sludge and other toxic wastes. And yet native peoples living close to volcanic areas have used these minerals to heal themselves of a variety of disorders.

Zeolites are formed from volcanic lava and are potentized when in contact with sea water. The zeolite molecules are negatively charged and are attracted to the positive charge of waste material and heavy metals within the human body. This makes them wonderful chelators.

Chelators are substances that remove toxins and heavy metals from the body. There are many known chelators but zeoilites seem to be among the most potent.

I am aware of one study that unfortunately was not double blind and placebo-controlled (the gold standard among study protocols). Yet is interesting to note that in that study of 58 stage 4 cancer patients using a zeolite supplement (and taking no other supplement or chemotherapy) 87 percent of the patients went into full remission.

Of course this is unheard of and yet other anecdotal evidence from people around the US seems to corroborate this finding. Good studies need to be forthcoming.

Steven West, ND is a Kelseyville- based naturopath and nutritionist. He graduated form the Institute for Natural Health Studies and has been in practice in California for 18 years.

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THE US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY HAS UPGRADED THIS QUAKE FROM 3.1 TO 3.3 IN MAGNITUDE.

THE GEYSERS – An earthquake was felt on Cobb Mountain Thursday afternoon.

The quake, measuring 3.3 on the Richter scale, occurred at 3:06 p.m., according to the US Geological Survey.

It was centered two miles north northeast of The Geysers, three miles west of Cobb and six miles northwest of Anderson Springs, the US Geological Survey reported. It occurred at a depth of three-tenths of a mile.

Residents of Cobb, Middletown and even distant Fresno reported to the US Geological Survey that they felt the quake.

The last earthquake measuring more than 3.0 occurred on Feb. 20, measured 3.7 in magnitude and was centered one mile north of The Geysers, as Lake County News has reported.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The meeting will begin at 6:15 p.m. at the Lower Lake High School gym, 9430 A Lake St. in Lower Lake.

At a meeting last month, the KUSD Board of Trustees hosted presentations by two committees formed late last year – one that looked at improving district revenues and the other that explored consolidating services and cutting costs.

The services consolidation committee made four recommendations that variously proposed closing Oak Hill Middle School and East Lake Elementary, and changing many of the other elementary and middle schools to serve kindergarten through eighth grade, as Lake County News has reported.

Konocti school board members made clear they didn't take any of the suggestions lightly.

President Mary Silva, Clerk Anita Gordon and board members Carolynn Jarrett, Herb Gura and Hank Montgomery also emphasized to community members that they didn't pretend to know the answers to how Konocti Unified would cut its budget in the coming fiscal year.

Over the last few weeks, KUSD officials have been holding public meetings throughout the district to find out the priorities of parents, students and the community at large.

“The biggest thing we've found is that people really love their schools and that they would prefer that nothing be done,” District Superintendent Bill MacDougall told Lake County News on Tuesday.

However, doing nothing isn't an option, said MacDougall. “We need to prepare for next year.”

While the district isn't expecting a big cut for the rest of this budget year, they're facing a staggering $1.2 million cut in the 2009-10 budget, MacDougall said.

At Wednesday's meeting, the board will offer the community another chance to give input in what is expected to be a much bigger meeting, said MacDougall. As a result, the meeting will move from the normal venue of the district office to the high school gym.

During the meeting, MacDougall said the district also will be formally giving out pink slips to teachers. Districts must give the notices by March 15.

In all, the district will give the layoff notices to 52 teachers, said MacDougall.

MacDougall said he expects that the vast majority of those teachers will be rehired once the board makes it budget decisions for the coming year. Once a decision is made regarding school consolidation, they can rescind some of those notices.

They want to be able to rescind those notices to teachers as soon as possible, said MacDougall. “We understand that it is disruptive to their lives.”

One decision that would be fairly easy to make at this point is we want to continue with class size reduction in the K-3 grades, he said.

The district recently received information that the state will fund class size reduction for this year and the next in the recently adopted state budget.

“It's a priority of our board so that is something I think they will choose to approve,” he said.

That school size funding will allow the district to keep 15 teachers they might otherwise lose, according to MacDougall.

The board is expected to discuss the budget situation again at a March 11 meeting. MacDougall said it's ultimately up to the board when a final budget decision will be made.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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