LAKEPORT, Calif. – A bridge replacement project on Hendricks Road is set to start this month.
Effective Monday, July 11, and continuing through Aug. 19, Hendricks Road bridge will be closed to all traffic in order to replace the bridge, according to the Lake County Department of Public Works.
Signage will be in place directing through traffic to use alternate routes.
This is a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week closure.
For additional information contact the Public Works Department at 707-263-2341.
Caltrans has officially launched California’s new pay-by-mile Road Charge Pilot Program, where selected volunteer participants will help the state gain insight into an innovative way to finance California’s transportation infrastructure.
This pilot will be an opportunity to study road charge alternatives to the gas tax and will provide the Legislature with the data needed to better determine whether a road charge funding concept is viable for California.
No actual money will be exchanged during the pilot.
“We’re proud that thousands of Californians have signed up to volunteer for the California Road Charge Pilot Program,” said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty. “The opportunity to provide valuable input and evaluate the viability of a mileage-based user fee system demonstrates the commitment that Californians have to our roads and keeping them well maintained.”
Volunteers that have been accepted to participate in the pilot are made up of drivers from all parts of California with various socioeconomic backgrounds.
In addition, some out-of-state volunteers will be featured in the pilot in order to help California determine how a road charge tax could impact visiting drivers.
Pilot participants will not actually pay a road charge while participating in the pilot. Instead, they will make simulated payments based on how far they drive.
The pilot offers several options for participants to report their mileage, including six different low-to-high tech methods. They are as follows.
– Time permit: Purchase a permit for unlimited road use in California for a specific period of time.
– Mileage permit: Purchase a block of miles based on your expected use of California’s roads.
– Odometer charge: Make payments based on periodic manual odometer readings.
– Plug-in device (location optional): Report miles using a plug-in device for your car with optional smartphone app.
– Smartphone app (location optional): Report miles using a smartphone app.
– Car’s built-in technology: Report using your car’s built-in technology (only available in select, recent models).
The pilot is set to run for nine months, from July 2016 to March 2017.
When concluded, the California State Transportation Agency will report the pilot’s findings to the Road Charge Technical Advisory Committee, the California Transportation Commission and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature.
The Legislature will make the ultimate decision on whether to enact a full-scale permanent road charge program in California.
Even if the Legislature decides not to implement a road charge, Caltrans said California will still be in need of a more sustainable roadway funding mechanism than the current fuel excise tax.
The fuel excise tax only funds approximately $2.3 billion of work to maintain the 50,000 lane-miles and nearly 13,000 state-owned bridges on the state highway system. This leaves nearly $5.7 billion in unfunded repairs each year.
Road charging is based on the same principle that the current gas tax was created upon: the amount drivers pay to maintain roads should correspond to the number of miles they drive. However, the gas tax no longer serves this purpose now that cars drive farther and need less fuel.
California is not the only state researching alternative road funding options. Several other states – including Washington, Colorado, Utah and others – also are exploring the road charge concept of pay-by-the-mile.
Last July, the state of Oregon launched phase one of its OReGO program, where volunteers are paying a road charge of 1.5 cents per mile driven instead of the fuel tax.
There is still time to volunteer for the California Road Charge Pilot. To sign-up and learn more about California’s program, visit http://californiaroadchargepilot.com/sign-up .
When Jet Garner socializes with fellow combat veterans who are studying at the University of California, Berkeley, the conversation often turns to battlefield memories he’d rather forget.
But while whitewater rafting on the American River last summer, Garner and other members of the campus’s Cal Veterans Group were so busy having fun that the topic of their military past barely came up.
“It felt like we were really living in the moment,” says Garner, a veteran of two tours in Afghanistan who is majoring in political economy at UC Berkeley. “It really felt like we were moving on beyond our hang-ups.”
Garner, who has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is among two dozen UC Berkeley veterans whose psychological and physiological response to the awesomeness of big nature is being studied as part of a multi-year UC Berkeley research project.
Another group of UC Berkeley student veterans will go rafting this summer as part of the study, thanks to the ongoing support of the Sierra Club’s Inspiring Connections Outdoors program, which provides the guides and the rafting equipment, and GoPro, which provides the cameras.
Led by Craig Anderson, a Berkeley doctoral student in psychology, the study is focused on changes observed in war veterans and, separately, in more than 90 inner-city Bay Area middle and high school students during and after one-or two-day whitewater rafting trips along the North Fork American River near Sacramento.
Anderson launched the study in 2014 and hopes to raise enough funding to continue it and follow up with participants over months and even years.
At least 400,000 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have been diagnosed with PTSD. Symptoms include high stress, anxiety and depression and can lead to domestic violence, self-harm and even suicide. Similarly, PTSD has been recorded in untold numbers of residents of inner-city neighborhoods where gun violence is a common occurrence.
A prescription to get out in nature
Preliminary results of the study suggest that nature-inspired curiosity can trigger positive feelings and ease symptoms of PTSD in the most wary and withdrawn personalities.
Just one week after their rafting trips, for example, veterans reported a 30 percent decrease in PTSD symptoms. And both veterans and teens who had reported feeling a greater sense of awe during their rafting excursion later noted they got on better with friends and family.
“If doctors were able to write prescriptions for people to get out in nature, it would be one of the most cost-effective health interventions available, and would change our relationship to the outdoors,” says Anderson, a New Mexico native who has been an avid outdoorsman since his Boy Scout days.
Moreover, measures of stress hormones, immune function and dopamine regulators before, during and after the rafting trips, showed positive physiological changes in the study’s participants.
Researchers tested participants for pro-inflammatory cytokines, proteins that tell the immune system to work harder. They also measured levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which is thought to contribute to everything from inflammation to anxiety and memory loss.
Stress hormones can be helpful
Surprisingly, they found that higher levels of cortisol were correlated with more positive emotions after the river rafting trip.
“It’s an adaptive hormone. When we sit in front of computers being stressed out, cortisol doesn’t help us,” Anderson says. “But when we’re out in nature and we need more energy to achieve something physically demanding, cortisol goes up in a good way.”
Study participants were tracked via surveys, journals and footage from GoPro cameras attached to their helmets. Hundreds of hours of footage were coded based on facial expressions, body language and interactions.
While their emotions ranged from fear to joy, it was curiosity that most strongly aroused their desire to step outside their comfort zone and learn more about the world around them, especially for those accustomed to acting tough around their peers.
“If you’re in a rough neighborhood, it doesn’t pay to be open,” Anderson says. “You have to keep up a façade because if someone challenges you, you have to fight them. Otherwise you’re a pushover.”
So Anderson was heartened when one teenager who had initially resisted river rafting later asked him, “How could something scary feel so good?”
As for the veterans, Anderson was encouraged to see one former member of the armed forces, who had avoided swimming since his stint on a Swift Boat in Vietnam, frolicking in the water after a rafting trip.
The adrenalin rush and camaraderie of navigating the rapids while trying to stay inside the inflatable raft has left Garner feeling optimistic.
“I hope it’s something that sticks with me and helps me in the future as I recover from my experiences in the military,” he says.
The whitewater rafting study is being conducted under the auspices of UC Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner as part of a broader look at the psychological and physiological impact of awe. A presentation of the study is on the agenda of an all-day Art & Science of Awe conference on June 4 hosted by Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center.
Yasmin Anwar writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.
NICE, Calif. – The Lake County Republican Women will hold a lunch in Nice on Wednesday, July 13.
The group will meet at 11:45 a.m. at The Boathouse restaurant, 2685 Lakeshore Blvd.
Peter MacRae will be the guest speaker. He holds a master's degree in international relations from San Diego State University. His academic specialty deals with the inability of international law to deal with 21st century violent conflict.
During the master’s program he was the teaching assistant for upper division courses in conflict resolution. As a result, his academic interest and studies expanded to include today’s terrorism and terrorist organizations.
MacRae has written numerous essays on international conflict, international law and terrorism. He has three published works: “A Measured Response: The United Global Security Partnership,” “The Poppies of Mohammed,” a fact-based novel; and his master’s thesis, “Twenty-first Century Violent Conflict: The Insufficiency of International Law.”
In addition to his interest in world affairs, MacRae's recreational interests include fishing, spearfishing, boating, hiking, travel and cooking. As a former lifeguard for the city of San Diego, MacRae has been active in the United States Lifesaving Association and the World Lifesaving Federation ocean rescue competitions.
Along with his wife Patricia, MacRae lives in the Lake County. He will have copies of his books available for sale at the meeting.
Lunch selections include a French dip sandwich with au jus, smoked tri-tip smothered with Swiss cheese on a garlic sourdough roll or an oven-roasted turkey melt with cheddar and Swiss cheese, and sliced tomato on grilled sourdough. The meal comes with a choice of French fries, coleslaw, macaroni salad, soup or salad, plus ice tea, hot tea or coffee. everything else no host bar.
The price is $20 per person. Please RSVP by Monday morning so the restaurant can be notified.
Call 707-994-3543 with your reservation or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Be sure to indicate which entrée you want for lunch.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Sunday, July 10, at 2 p.m. at Rancho de la Fuente (in The Barn) there will be a lecture/slideshow presentation exploring the unique blend of races, languages and cultures – Spanish, African, Native American – that combined to make early California one of the most diverse societies in North America.
The lecture by Deb Baumann is titled “Californios: Born of Three Cultures.”
Baumann has lectured on this topic for 25 years. She has partnered with the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, the Smithsonian Institute, and the Santa Ynez Historical Society in past Californio presentations.
"Most people know little or less about this period in our history," said Baumann, "and I guarantee there will be many surprises in this lecture. It was a fascinating time in California, a truly multi-racial society, in many ways more progressive than the society that came after, under US statehood."
Rancho de la Fuente is at 2290 Soda Bay Road south of Lakeport.
Admission is free to this event, but RSVPs are appreciated at 707-275-9234.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Following the lifting of a health advisory in the same area, the commercial and recreational rock crab fisheries are now open from Pigeon Point in San Mateo County south to the U.S. - Mexico border.
The commercial and recreational seasons for rock crab are open all year.
The open area along the mainland coast for rock crab fishery has been extended northward to include Pigeon Point, San Mateo County (37 1 N lat.).
This follows the lifting of the health advisory today by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and a recommendation from the director of the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), after consultation with the director of CDPH, to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the Fish and Game Commission (Commission) to lift the closure.
The recreational and commercial rock crab fisheries are now open in ocean waters between 37 11 N lat. (Pigeon Point, San Mateo County) to the U.S - Mexico border. A closure remains in effect north of this point.
As a precaution, CDPH and OEHHA recommend that anglers and consumers not eat the viscera (internal organs, also known as "butter" or "guts") of crabs.
CDPH and OEHHA are also recommending that water or broth used to cook whole crabs be discarded and not used to prepare dishes such as sauces, broths, soups or stews.
The viscera usually contain much higher levels of domoic acid than crab body meat. When whole crabs are cooked in liquid, domoic acid may leach from the viscera into the cooking liquid.
This precaution is being recommended to avoid harm in the unlikely event that some crabs taken from an open fishery have elevated levels of domoic acid.
CDFW will continue to closely coordinate with CDPH, OEHHA and fisheries representatives to monitor domoic acid levels in rock crabs to determine when the fishery can safely be opened north of this location.
Areas open to crab fishing include:
– Commercial and recreational rock crab fisheries are open along the mainland coast south of 37 11 N lat. at Pigeon Point, San Mateo County and in state waters off the Channel Islands. – Recreational Dungeness crab fishery is open north of the Sonoma/Mendocino county line. The recreational season is scheduled to close north of the Sonoma/Mendocino county line on July 30. – Commercial Dungeness crab fishery is open north of the Sonoma/Mendocino county line and is scheduled to close on July 15.
Areas closed to crab fishing include:
– Commercial and recreational rock crab fisheries are closed north of 37 11 N lat. at Pigeon Point, San Mateo County. – Commercial and recreational Dungeness crab fisheries are closed south of the Sonoma/Mendocino county line. The season closed on June 30 in this area.
The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has announced the availability of $2,180,870 for organic certification assistance to organic operations in California.
Funds from the National Organic Certification Cost Share Program (NOCCSP) are available through CDFA’s State Organic Program (SOP) to help more organic operations succeed and take advantage of economic opportunities in this growing market.
Cost share helps farmers and processors afford the expense of organic certification by refunding up to 75 percent or $750 of their certification fees.
Cost Share funds are available to any eligible organic operation in California that has received or renewed organic certification between Oct. 1, 2015, and Sept. 30, 2016.
The SOP administers the Cost Share program in California, and is responsible for reviewing and approving cost share applications.
The SOP then works with the State Controller’s Office to process funds for the issuance of reimbursement checks to the organic operations.
In addition, the SOP collaborates with accredited certifying agents to ensure that cost share resources are available to their clients and information is posted on their respective certifier websites.
The deadline for submitting Cost Share applications to CDFA is Oct. 31, 2016. Applications must be postmarked by this date.
The following are needed to complete a Cost Share application:
• A copy of an organic certification document. • Copies of all associated organic certification and inspection expense receipts. - Please contact a certifier if you do not have the above documents. • Completed and signed CDFA Cost Share Application. The applications can be mailed, emailed, or faxed to CDFA. • Completed Payee Data Record (STD. 204) form. (Name on this form must match the name on the Cost Share application).
To apply, go to the CDFA Web site, http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/is/i_&_c/organic.html and download the Cost Share application packet/documents. Send the completed, signed application to CDFA with all supporting documentation listed above.
Applications are approved on a “first received, first approved” basis. Incomplete applications will be returned and the application process will need to be started again.
Applications must be sent to CDFA. Do not send the application to your certifier. Mail applications to California Department of Food and Agriculture, State Organic Program, Cost Share Reimbursement, ATTN: Sharon Parsons, 1220 N St., Sacramento, CA 95814.
Please allow six to eight weeks for the completion of the Cost Share process. For additional information or assistance, please contact Sharon Parsons at 916-900-5202 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The not-for-profit Sutter Health announced the launch of a new medical transport network serving the critically ill, injured and most fragile patients needing to transfer to higher levels of care in Northern California.
The network features a fleet of air ambulances operated by California Shock Trauma Air Rescue (CALSTAR) and a fleet of ground ambulances operated by American Medical Response (AMR).
Sutter Health collaborated with AMR and CALSTAR to establish the new medical transport network, which will help quickly and efficiently transport patients from facility to facility – both within the Sutter Health network and outside of it.
Minutes matter during medically delicate situations, and swift transfer to a facility with an appropriate level of care facilitates timely access to medically necessary treatment.
Sutter Health’s goal is for CALSTAR and AMR to achieve immediate and seamless dispatch of air and ground ambulances with one call from the patient’s clinical care team.
CALSTAR and AMR will strategically locate aircraft and vehicles across a dozen geographic deployment areas to minimize response and transport times.
“Our new transportation network helps us provide vital care quickly and efficiently,” said Stephen Lockhart, M.D., Sutter Health’s chief medical officer. “After initial examinations and tests, clinical care teams may determine some patients need more intensive care. For example, a patient may suffer from a stroke and require specialized treatment at a hospital with neurointensive services.”
“We’re committed to developing creative solutions so we can give the right care, in the right place and at the right time,” said Sarah Krevans, Sutter Health President and CEO. “Our new transportation network illustrates just one more way we’re innovating and deploying novel approaches to better serve and support patients.”
Special features of Sutter Health’s air-ground ambulance network include:
· One call to transfer a patient. Care teams needing to transfer a critical care patient make a single call to Sutter’s central transfer hub, which coordinates directly with AMR and CALSTAR.
· Rapid response time. Close coordination with Sutter’s central transfer hub enables AMR and CALSTAR to immediately dispatch the closest available critical care ambulance resources to achieve rapid response.
· Trained medical personnel. Two registered nurses staff each air ambulance. EMTs and a critical care nurse staff critical care ground ambulances.
· A strategically located network. Sutter Health stationed 12 AMR co-branded critical care ground ambulances at 11 Sutter hospitals, and located four CALSTAR co-branded helicopters at four CALSTAR airbases across Northern California.
Sutter Health’s transport network will help meet the growing demand of patients needing transfers. Sutter Health coordinated 17,000 patient transfers in 2015.
The co-branded air and ground ambulances are located at the following deployment hubs:
Air: CALSTAR
· Auburn, Concord, Modesto and Merced County (helicopters) / Modesto and Merced County begin service Sept. 1, 2016.
Ground: AMR
· Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Summit campus, in Oakland.
· California Pacific Medical Center, Davies campus, in San Francisco.
· California Pacific Medical Center, NICU/PICU, California campus, in San Francisco.
· Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley.
· Memorial Medical Center in Modesto.
· Mills-Peninsula Health Services in Burlingame.
· Novato Community Hospital.
· Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch.
· Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento.
· Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, NICU/PICU.
· Sutter Roseville Medical Center.
Sutter Health believes its air-ground medical transport network is one of the largest air-ground medical transport networks in the nation.
The CALSTAR and AMR agreements do not include 911 first-responder services.
SACRAMENTO – Caltrans has released the California Transportation Plan (CTP) 2040, the State’s new long-range integrated approach toward transportation planning that is multimodal, sustainable and environmentally responsible.
The plan presents a set of supporting goals, policies and recommendations to chart a long-term vision to help guide transportation decisions and investments in the 21st century that meet our future multimodal mobility needs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“The California Transportation Plan 2040 sets the correct course for the state’s transportation future,” said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty. “With a growing population that requires an integrated, effective transportation system, the Plan will improve transit options while fulfilling economic and environmental goals.”
The CTP 2040 takes a “whole system” approach toward the state’s transportation system that integrates statewide long-range modal plans and programs with the latest technology and tools to articulate the State’s broad vision for a single, seamless transportation system that complements regional transportation plans, sustainable communities strategies and land-use visions for greater mobility choices.
Preparation of the CTP 2040 included an extensive outreach campaign through an open and collaborative planning process with input and guidance from transportation partners representing various governmental agencies, tribal governments, and advocacy groups who participated on the CTP’s Policy Advisory and Technical Advisory Committees.
The plan also gathered input from a wide range of stakeholders, including the public, elected and appointed officials, and community-based organizations across the state.
Achieving the goals and polices of the CTP 2040 and transforming the transportation system from where California is now to where it needs to be in 2040 will take significant effort among transportation partners and stakeholders, as well as broad public support.
The CTP provides recommendations for how California can move toward its greenhouse gas reduction targets and achieve the vision for a fully integrated, multimodal, and sustainable transportation system that enhances California’s economy and livability.
LUCERNE, Calif. – The Northshore Community Center will host its Open Mic Lucerne event from 6 to 11 p.m. Saturday, July 16.
There is no charge for attending or performing.
Performers are on stage with house band FOGG starting the evening at 6 p.m. with classic, heavy metal rock and roll with original numbers and covers of your favorites. FOGG and other entertainers will wrap up the evening by 11 p.m. Assistance is available with amplification.
Band are urged to call 707-274-8779 for your reserved time or come and sign-up beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Don’t miss this chance to showcase your talent. Being in the audience is great fun and free too. Music, comedy, mime, readings, and any other activity that is family-oriented is appreciated.
Room also is available for dancing and relaxing.
A spaghetti feed also is offered with traditional and vegetarian full meals available for $5.
Bring the whole family. All proceeds benefit Northshore Community Center, a not-for-profit serving the Northshore's families and senior populations with on-site lunches, Meals on Wheels, personal advocacy, activities, food pantry and other services.
For more information about events, call Northshore Community Center at 707-274-8779 or stop by at 3985 Country Club Drive, Lucerne.
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