Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-04) on Tuesday weighed in on the announcement that President Joe Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom made regarding more than $600 million from the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law being rolled out to communities throughout California and across the country for climate resilience projects.
“The climate crisis is one of the most pressing issues facing our world today and it demands our immediate attention,” said Thompson. “Last Congress, we made significant strides towards taking on the climate crisis through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Now, we are seeing the direct impact of these laws through investments in climate and grid resilience programs in California and across our country. The successes of the last Congress are just a first step, and I am committed to continuing this progress so we can protect the planet for generations to come.
The funding announced by President Biden and Gov. Newsom is part of a first-ever Climate Resilience Regional Challenge to help coastal and Great Lakes communities, including tribal communities in those regions, become more resilient to extreme weather and other impacts of the climate crisis.
The funding will support innovative coastal resilience and adaptation solutions, such as building natural infrastructure, planning and preparing for community-led relocation, and protecting public access to coastal natural resources, that protect communities and ecosystems from sea level rise, tidal flooding, hurricanes and storm surge, among other severe climate impacts.
The challenge is part of the $2.6 billion in resilience funding for NOAA included in the Inflation Reduction Act.
In addition, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is investing $2.3 billion in states, territories, tribes and the District of Columbia over the next five years to bolster grid resilience across the country.
As part of this investment, California is set to receive $67.4 million in the coming days, with the ability to apply for additional funding in the future, to modernize its electric grid to reduce impacts from extreme weather, natural disasters, and wildfires, and to ensure the reliability of the state’s power sector.
On Monday, President Biden and Gov. Newsom visited the Baylands Nature Preserve, one of the largest tracts of undisturbed marshland remaining in the San Francisco Bay.
The preserve is part of the Strategy to Advance Flood protection, Ecosystems and Recreation along the San Francisco Bay Project, a flood and sea-level resilience project that will protect almost 1,600 properties and will enable the restoration of approximately 600 acres of marsh from former salt ponds.
Thompson represents California’s Fourth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Ten minutes of your time can help California and Lake County get more broadband funding.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Act allocated $62 billion to improve nationwide broadband availability and access, with an emphasis on unserved and underserved communities.
The more input, feedback, and involvement is shown by residents, the more likely California counties will receive the maximum available broadband dollars from the federal government.
Part of the state of California’s community engagement effort involves distribution and participation in a brief digital equity survey.
To meet statewide goals, at least 250 Lake County residents must complete the survey by June 30.
The survey is anonymous and takes about 10 minutes to complete.
California State Parks has reopened the application period for the State Park peace officer cadet exams.
The department invites individuals to “Live the Parks Life” as rangers or lifeguards in the nation’s largest state park system.
The new deadline to apply is Monday, July 31.
Cadet academy graduates can serve the state as rangers and lifeguards to safeguard both visitors and the historical, cultural and natural resources found in 280 state park units.
Offices are located near beaches or waterways, or in deserts, parks, museums, historic parks and state vehicular recreation areas.
“I know firsthand how rewarding it is to be a ranger to not only ensure public safety, but to educate our visitors about the rich history and amazing state parks available here in California,” said California State Parks Director Armando Quintero. “We invite you to Live the Parks Life by applying to the State Park Peace Officer Cadet Academy.”
The minimum age to be a peace officer is 21 years old. Candidates are required to have a valid California driver’s license and have 60 units of college credits, with 21 units being general education.
The entire selection process for becoming a ranger or lifeguard takes approximately 15 months.
The first step in the selection/examination process is to mail, email or hand deliver an application during the open application period. The application is used to determine if the candidate meets the minimum qualifications for admission into the examination, which consists of the Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST, Entry Level Law Enforcement Test Battery written exam.
This exam is used to admit the candidate into the next phases of the selection process, which include the physical agility test, background investigation, oral interview, and medical and psychological evaluations.
Successful applicants will be sent a notification to attend the eight-month-long POST-certified law enforcement academy.
The academy instruction prepares cadets physically, mentally and emotionally to enter the workforce as a state park peace officer ranger or lifeguard.
Rangers and lifeguards are sworn officers equipped with a firearm and badge. Cadets will learn how to conduct investigations, make physical arrests, use firearms and perform emergency responses.
Training also includes how to actively protect park resources, assist visitors and run interpretive programs.
Below are some frequently asked questions regarding the State Park Peace Officer Cadet Academy:
Do I have to carry a firearm to serve as a ranger or lifeguard? Yes. Cadet training includes how to conduct investigations, make physical arrests, use firearms and perform emergency responses.
What is the age minimum and age maximum to apply? Candidates must be at least 21 years of age to become a peace officer. State Park Peace Officer's mandatory retirement age is 65 years, but there is no maximum application age.
I have not completed two years of college yet. Can I still apply while I am still taking classes? Candidates may be enrolled in college at the time of application but must have at least 21 units of general education credits satisfying general education curriculum standards with courses (which may include courses in natural science, social science, mathematics, language and humanities). By the time of appointment, a candidate must have completed 60 semester units of study at a state-accredited college or university. A degree in park administration, natural sciences, social sciences, law enforcement or a related field is desirable.
Where is the Cadet Academy located? Most cadets attend training at Butte College Law Enforcement Academy (Butte County). However, the department may utilize several academy sites, including Mott Training Center at Asilomar in Pacific Grove, South Bay Regional Public Safety Academy at Fort Ord in Monterey, and the Ben Clark Law Enforcement Training facility in Riverside. It is at the department's discretion to determine an academy location for each class.
Do I get paid while at the academy? Yes. Cadets earn a salary; currently, the monthly salary range is $3,930 to $5,300. Most cadets start at the low end of the range unless they are a current state employee with a salary within the range.
To hire a workforce reflective of California’s diverse population, California State Parks is committed to ensuring equal access and connecting all job seekers to opportunities through fair hiring and employment practices. For more information on the cadet exams, minimum qualifications, additional frequently asked questions and a timeline of the recruitment cycle, please visit LiveTheParksLife.com.
Please send questions regarding other employment opportunities at California State Parks to the Workforce Planning and Recruitment Office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Gov. Gavin Newsom joined President Biden and a California Climate Action Corps volunteer in Palo Alto on Monday for the president’s announcement of more than $600 million in federal grant funding for climate resilience projects across the country.
President Biden also announced that California will receive $67 million in federal funding to help build power lines and transmission infrastructure, supporting the state’s transition to 100% clean electricity by 2045.
President Biden and Governor Newsom visited the Baylands Nature Preserve, one of the largest tracts of undisturbed marshland remaining in the San Francisco Bay.
The preserve is part of the Strategy to Advance Flood protection, Ecosystems and Recreation along the San Francisco Bay, or SAFER Bay, Project, a flood and sea-level resilience project that will protect almost 1,600 properties and will enable the restoration of approximately 600 acres of marsh from former salt ponds.
“California’s wildfires, heat waves, and extreme swings from drought to flooding show how climate change is impacting our communities,” Newsom said. “There is no better partner in the fight against climate change than President Biden, who is making unprecedented investments and approaching this crisis with urgency. This new federal funding will support our ongoing climate action to protect our coastal communities from rising oceans and build the clean energy we need.”
“Throughout our history, we’re the only nation in the world to come out of crisis stronger than we went into it,” President Biden said. “We’re doing it again here on the climate crisis. When I think of climate, I think of jobs. When I think of climate, I think of innovation. When I think of climate, I think of turning peril into progress.”
Historic state investments
California’s Climate Commitment, the $48 billion climate budget, includes $4.1 billion in climate resilience funding:
• $1.4 billion in investments over multiple years for nature-based solutions. • $1.6 billion in investments over multiple years to promote community resilience. • $734 million in investments over multiple years for coastal resilience. • On June 1, the Coastal Conservancy awarded $78 million for climate resilience, public access, habitat restoration and wildfire resilience projects. • $444 million over multiple years to address extreme heat.
California’s sea level rise action plan
Last year, California finalized an action plan to tackle sea level rise with a coordinated roadmap including priority investments, programs and policies for 17 state agencies and departments.
The State Agency Sea Level Rise Action Plan includes over 80 actions grounded in the best available science, tribal and local partnerships equity, and other guiding principles.
California Climate Action Corps
As a part of California’s comprehensive strategy to address the climate crisis, Governor Newsom launched the country’s first state-level, climate service corps to empower all Californians to take meaningful action to safeguard the climate.
You can take meaningful action today to help communities across our state by serving in a year-long fellowship, volunteering or taking action at home.
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, June 20.
On Tuesday, Assistant City Manager/Finance Director Nick Walker will present to the council the proposed 2023-24 fiscal year budget.
The report gives the bottom line number for the budget as $29,798,367.
As part of its budgeting matters, the council also will consider approving the annual appropriations limit, or Gann limit, for the city in the form of a resolution.
Also on the agenda Tuesday are public hearings to approve a resolution adopting revised personnel rules and introduction of an ordinance amending Chapter 2.48, Personnel System, of the Lakeport Municipal Code and schedule a second reading and adoption on July 18.
The council also will consider adopting a resolution to cause a written report to be prepared and filed with the city clerk regarding delinquent water, sewer and solid waste user charges, fees and penalties for the period of June 1, 2022, through May 31, 2023 and setting a public hearing on the written report prior to collection on the tax roll.
In other business, Police Chief Brad Rasmussen will present a report on police statistics for 2022.
On the consent agenda — items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote — are warrants, ordinances; minutes of the regular council meeting on June 6; approval of application 2023-020, with staff recommendations, for the Dickens’ Faire; authorization for the city manager to execute amendment No. 1 to the PSA with JJACPA; and approval of an amendment to the city manager contract with Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley, PC.
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.
Hilary Seligman, University of California, San Francisco
Millions of Americans struggle to afford healthy meals and nutritious food. Known as “food insecurity,” this problem was already rising when Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits – previously called food stamps – were cut in 35 states this spring.SciLine interviewed Hilary Seligman, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, on rising grocery prices, the misconceptions about hunger in the U.S., and how food insecurity diminishes school and work performance.
Below are some highlights from the discussion. Answers have been edited.
Hilary Seligman: The most recent data suggests that about 1 in 10 households in the U.S. are food insecure. And this rate is even higher among certain groups, like Black and brown households and households with children.
Hilary Seligman: It’s clear that when food prices rise, households have to stretch a food budget even more. People have to make difficult choices about the kind of food they eat, and the amount of food they eat.
In many cases, when household budgets are stretched thin, people have to shift their purchases toward foods that are cheaper. And in the U.S., cheaper foods are almost always less healthy for you, more caloric and more deficient in vitamins and nutrients.
How does food insecurity affect people’s health?
Hilary Seligman: Over the last couple of decades, we’ve seen that food insecurity can have a profound impact on physical health and mental health, whether children, adults or older adults.
We also know that when you live in a food-insecure household, it makes it difficult to afford other things that are good for your health. For example, it would make it more difficult to afford your copayment to see your primary care doctor, or your medications.
How does food insecurity affect success at work or school?
Parents are probably really familiar with the way that their children behave when they’re hungry. And those same things happen in school environments when kids show up to school having not had the opportunity to eat a healthy breakfast.
The evidence is clear that food insecurity is associated with behavioral problems in school, absenteeism from school and poor academic performance. And this can have lifelong consequences for children.
A similar thing plays out with adults. Adults who are living in food-insecure households are less likely to be able to hold down a sufficient number of work hours to meet their household budget needs. They’re less likely to be able to devote a lot of hours to finding employment, because finding food takes a lot of time and a lot of energy.
Are there any common misconceptions about hunger?
Hilary Seligman: One of the misconceptions is that people who are experiencing food insecurity don’t want access to a healthier diet.
In many, many cases, if not most cases, the evidence is clear that people at all income levels often want access to a healthier diet. But in a household experiencing food insecurity, a healthier diet is simply out of reach financially.
Many people living in food-insecure households will tell you they perceive fruits and vegetables to be luxury items. They only splurge on fruits and vegetables when they have extra money in their budget. And so one of the things that we have to guard against is an assumption that people with lower incomes don’t want to eat a healthy diet.
What else works to reduce or eliminate food insecurity?
Hilary Seligman: The best solution for food insecurity is SNAP, which used to be called the food stamps program.
It is very, very clear that SNAP is enormously effective at supporting food security in U.S. households. And anything that reduces access to SNAP or makes it more difficult to enroll in SNAP is going to have the effect of increasing food insecurity rates in the United States.
Things like earned income tax credits protect families against food insecurity. Emergency stimulus checks like we saw during the COVID pandemic also protect families.
SciLine is a free service based at the nonprofit American Association for the Advancement of Science that helps journalists include scientific evidence and experts in their news stories.
Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, were present in the blood of 96.4% of Americans over the age of 16 by September 2022. That’s according to a serosurvey – an analysis testing for the presence of these immune defense molecules – conducted on samples from blood donors.
A serosurvey like this one helps researchers estimate how many people have been exposed to any part of the coronavirus, whether via vaccination or infection. Both can trigger the generation of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. And by identifying which kind of antibodies someone has in their blood, researchers can break down the 96.4% into different types of immunity: infection-derived, vaccine-derived and hybrid.
COVID-19 vaccines used in the United States are based on only one part of the virus – the spike, or S, protein. Researchers can tell that a person has been vaccinated and has not been infected if their blood has only anti-S antibodies that target that spike protein. If someone has anti-N antibodies, which target the virus’s nucleocapsid protein, it’s a sign that they’ve been infected by SARS-CoV-2. To reliably identify someone with hybrid immunity, a researcher would need to match someone who has anti-N antibodies to an official vaccination database.
What about the 3.6% without antibodies?
Immunologists know that antibody levels decrease in the months after a COVID-19 infection or vaccination, and this is true for many pathogens. It’s possible some people did have antibodies at one point, but they’re no longer detectable. And not every infection leads to a detectable antibody response, particularly if the case was mild or asymptomatic.
Another factor is the accuracy of the antibody test. No test is perfect, so a small percentage of people who truly have antibodies might come up negative.
Together, these considerations mean that the 96.4% number is likely an underestimate. It seems reasonable to conclude that almost no one in this population has neither been infected by SARS-CoV-2 nor received a COVID-19 vaccine.
A clearer picture of a virus’s spread
Serosurveys are useful for understanding how likely different types of people – of varying ages or races, for example – were to have been infected. For this purpose, a serosurvey can be much more reliable than using data on people who received a positive PCR test, or who report having had a positive rapid antigen test, because getting a positive test is heavily influenced by access to care, health care behavior and how severe your illness is. These are sources of what is called bias.
This bias has two effects: It leads to large underestimation of the proportion of the overall population infected, and it can lead to spurious differences between groups. For example, people with mild symptoms are less likely to get tested and are also likely to be younger. Researchers might draw the wrong conclusion that because they’re not getting tested these people aren’t actually catching the virus.
Looking at antibodies as a marker of infection is not biased by such behavioral factors. Many serosurveys, including ones that we worked on in Chennai, India, and Salvador, Brazil, found similar or even higher seroprevalence in children compared with young adults, contradicting an early narrative that children were less susceptible to the virus. Instead, our results suggested that infections in children were less likely to be detected.
What does this statistic mean for future waves?
Antibodies are not just a marker of previous infection; part of their job is to help prevent future infection with the same pathogen. So, serosurveys can be used to understand levels of immunity in the population.
For some diseases, like measles, immunity is essentially lifelong, and having antibodies means you are protected. However, for SARS-CoV-2 this is not the case, because the virus has continually evolved new variants that are able to reinfect people despite their antibodies.
Nevertheless, many studies have shownthat individuals with hybrid immunitywill be more protected against future infection and variants than those with vaccine- or infection-derived immunity alone. It may be useful to know the proportion of the population with single-source immunity in order to target certain groups with vaccination campaigns.
Whenever I tell high school students in classes I visit that I appreciated learning about slavery as a child growing up in the Caribbean, they often look confused.
Why, they ask, did I like learning about slavery given that it was so horrible and harsh? How could I value being taught about something that caused so much hurt and harm?
That’s when I tell them that my teachers in St. Thomas – and my fourth grade history textbook – didn’t focus just on the harsh conditions of slavery. Rather, they also focused on Black freedom fighters, such as Moses Gottlieb, perhaps better known as General Buddhoe, who is credited with leading a nonviolent revolt that led to the abolishment of slavery in the Danish-ruled West Indies on July 3, 1848. The historic date is now observed and celebrated in the United States Virgin Islands as Emancipation Day.
The holiday – and the lessons I learned about it – instilled in me a sense of cultural pride and gave me a better appreciation for the sacrifices that Black people made for freedom. It also encouraged me to always push on when faced with challenges.
Students often tell me that they’re not learning much about slavery beyond the suffering and harsh conditions that it involved. As a historian who specializes in how slavery is taught in K-12 classrooms, I believe there are several ways educators can incorporate Juneteenth into their instruction that will give students a broader understanding of how Black people resisted slavery and persevered in spite of it. Below are just a few.
Start early, but keep it positive
As early childhood experts assembled by the National Museum of African American History point out in a guide they created to help develop lessons about Juneteenth, children in the U.S. will probably hear about slavery by age 5. But lessons about slavery at that age should avoid the pain and trauma of slavery. Instead, the lessons should celebrate and teach stories of Black culture, leadership, inventions, beauty and accomplishments. This, the authors of the guide say, will better equip children to later hear about, understand and emotionally process the terrible truths about slavery.
“Juneteenth events can be wonderful opportunities to introduce the concepts of slavery with a focus on resilience and within an environment of love, trust, and joy,” the guide states.
Focus on Black resistance
Many Juneteeth celebrations not only commemorate the end of slavery, but they also honor the generations of Black men and women who have fought to end slavery and for racial justice. As Black history education professor LaGarett King puts it, Black people have always “acted, made their own decisions based on their interests, and fought back against oppressive structures.” Stressing this can help students to see that although Black people were victimized by slavery, they were not just helpless victims.
Juneteenth can also be a way for educators to help students better understand contemporary demands for racial justice. That’s what George Patterson, a former Brooklyn middle school principal, did a few years back at the height of protests that took place under the mantra of Black Lives Matter.
Patterson has said he believes that when students study Juneteenth, they are “better equipped to understand the historical underpinnings of what’s going on in the streets and to put the demands being made in context.”
Teachers need not wait for Juneteenth to be included in textbooks in order to draw lessons from the holiday.
“If it’s not in the textbook, then we need to introduce it, we need to teach it,” Odessa Pickett, a teacher at the Barack Obama Learning Academy in Markham, Illinois, stated during an interview about teachers infusing Juneteenth into their lessons. “We need to bring it to the forefront.”
Educators can make Juneteenth about so much more than the end of slavery. Teaching lessons about the holiday offers an abundance of opportunities about what it means to fight for freedom and maintain a sense of self-determination in the face of oppression.
On Monday, the state of California rolled out a first-of-its-kind approach to curbing the state’s catastrophic wildfire problem by providing new protections for prescribed fire and cultural burning practitioners.
The $20 million allocated for the “Prescribed Fire Liability Claims Fund Pilot” will cover losses in the rare instance that a prescribed or cultural burn escapes control.
State Sen. Bill Dodd authored the 2022 bill (Senate Bill 926) that made this fund possible, continuing his many years of leadership on wildfire and prescribed fire-related legislation. Dodd formerly represented Lake County in the State Assembly.
“Prescribed fire is a cost-effective way to minimize the scope and severity of wildfires,” said Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa. “It’s a tool that has been used for millennia by Native American tribes and one that will continue to play a big role in wildfire prevention. The rollout of this fund is a big step toward keeping California communities safe.”
The use of prescribed fire and cultural burning — sometimes collectively called “good” or “beneficial” fire — is a key component of wildfire risk management in California.
These projects reduce hazardous fuels, help restore ecological and cultural values, and make our communities safer and our ecosystems more resilient to wildfire.
However, lack of liability insurance for practitioners has been a major barrier to increasing the use of prescribed fire, even as firefighters, fire scientists, at-risk communities, and state, federal and tribal leaders call for more.
“The Prescribed Fire Claims Fund pilot project removes a significant barrier to obtaining insurance for potential damages from a prescribed fire or cultural burn conducted by a certified prescribed fire burn boss or a cultural fire practitioner,” said Cal Fire Director/Chief Joe Tyler. “As we continue to focus on increasing the resiliency of the state’s forests, creating a pathway for private burn bosses to have the significant protection this claims fund provides is a critical step toward reaching the goals of the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan.”
The fund will provide up to $2 million in coverage for prescribed fire projects led by a qualified burn boss or cultural practitioner.
It is meant to demonstrate that prescribed fire, when carefully planned, resourced, and implemented, is a low-risk land management tool that mitigates the larger, more damaging risks of high-severity wildfires.
The fund is the first of its kind nationally and is the result of several years of collaboration by a diversity of partners working with Sen. Dodd’s Office, including the Nature Conservancy, Cal Fire, the University of California Cooperative Extension, the California Department of Insurance, tribal representatives and many others.
“Launching this program is a key step in scaling ecologically based forest management to reduce the risk of megafires. We appreciate Sen. Dodd’s leadership and the expedient work of Cal Fire and beneficial fire practitioners to develop this fund as the next fire season quickly approaches,” said Dan Porter, the Nature Conservancy’s Forest Program director.
The fund will also advance cultural burning, helping Indigenous Californians restore their connection to fire.
“Cultural burning is an essential practice to meet diverse objectives, including biodiversity stewardship, ecological health, and community safety. The availability of this pilot fund provides cultural fire practitioners a safeguard against financial risk in the unlikely event of an escaped burn. This is a significant incentive to support revitalization of burning traditions following the legacy of policies banning such practices,” said Don Hankins, professor of geography and planning at California State University, Chico, and co-founder of the Indigenous Stewardship Network.
This fund is part of a larger vision for restoring beneficial fire across California’s fire-adapted Ecosystems.
Last year, the state released its Strategic Plan for Expanding the Use of Beneficial Fire, which identified this claims fund as a priority.
The state has also rolled out a state-certified burn boss program, changed the liability standard for prescribed fire, and made investments in prescribed burn associations, agency staffing, and other related efforts.
“We are using every tool to protect Californians, including using prescribed fire to fight wildfires,” said Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. “The Prescribed Fire Claims fund will be critical to assisting our tribal groups, nonprofits and private landowners who are leading the way. This is an example of government being innovative and leading by example. The data that we get from the claims fund is going to be essential to our ongoing education with insurance companies to support insuring this important work.”
Lenya Quinn-Davidson, Fire Network Director for the University of California’s Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, said the recent momentum is unparalleled.
“Californians are desperate to have a better relationship with fire, and only with innovative approaches like this Claims Fund will we be able to unleash the good work that needs to happen,” said Quinn-Davidson. “It’s a challenging time to be working on fire in California, but also an incredibly inspiring time.”
More information about the Pilot Prescribed Fire Claims Fund can be found on the Cal Fire website, including frequently asked questions and an enrollment form for practitioners.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A procession for a Cal Fire captain who died in an off-duty motorcycle crash is set to be held this week.
The Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit said the procession for Capt. Ronnie Boyd will take place on Tuesday from the Napa County Coroner’s Office to Jones and Lewis Clear Lake Memorial Chapel in Lower Lake.
Cal Fire’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit, or LNU, will begin the procession for Capt. Boyd at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Napa County Coroner’s Office.
The procession will use Highway 29 through Napa and the city of St Helena, and turn to go through downtown Calistoga on the way to Lake County.
Once they reach Twin Pine Casino in Lake County there will be a procession pass-off by the Napa County resources to Cal Fire LNU’s Lake County Crews, South Lake Fire Protection District, and Lake County Fire District.
Once the procession has transitioned to the Lake County resources it will continue down Highway 29 through Middletown, passing the community of Hidden Valley Lake, and proceeding to the destination in Lower Lake.
Throughout the route you can expect delays and traffic in these areas.
“We ask if you would like to pay your respects to Capt. Boyd, please do not block the road, stay on the sidewalks, and do not approach the procession at any time,” Cal Fire said.
Cal Fire said Boyd started his career with Cal Fire in 2003 as a firefighter I in the Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit and was promoted to a limited-term fire apparatus engineer in 2007.
In 2009, Capt. Boyd was promoted to a permanent fire apparatus engineer position in the Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit followed by a promotion to a limited-term fire captain position in the Shasta-Trinity Unit.
In 2016, he was promoted to a permanent fire captain position in the Humboldt-Del Norte Unit where he worked up to his passing.
“Capt. Boyd was well known for his glee for life, contagious smile, and willingness to serve the public,” Cal Fire said.
The statement added, “Please keep Capt. Boyd and his family, and the Cal Fire family that knew him, in your thoughts as they grieve through this tragic loss.”
Information regarding memorial services will be provided by the Boyd family at a later date.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Friends and family are remembering a Clearlake couple for their contributions to the community after both died last week as the result of a motorcycle crash in Napa County.
Ronnie Boyd Jr., 51, died at the scene of the crash on Sunday, June 11, and his wife, Dena Boyd, 52, died two days later.
They’ve been memorialized this past week with a moment of silence at the Clearlake City Council meeting, a remembrance post on Facebook from Cal Fire, Ronnie Boyd’s employer, and in numerous social media posts by friends and family.
“We extend our deepest sympathies to Captain Boyd's family, friends, and colleagues during this difficult time. #neverforget,” Cal Fire headquarters and the Cal Fire Humboldt-Del Norte Unit posted on their Facebook pages on June 12, the day after his death.
“Ronnie and Dena were a huge part of this community for many years, and great friends to many,” said friend and neighbor Pastor Tee Stacy.
A procession is planned for Tuesday to bring Ronnie Boyd’s body home to Lake County from Napa County, said his daughter, Rachel Weidner. Additional details will be released early in the week.
Those who knew them are struggling with the loss of a vibrant, involved and loving couple, who took pride in their family and their community, and had a lot left to do.
The couple also were preparing to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary in August, said Weidner.
They had gone for an afternoon motorcycle ride last Sunday when something went wrong.
The California Highway Patrol’s Napa Area office reported that the couple was riding a 2015 Harley Davidson motorcycle northbound on Butts Canyon Road north of James Creek Road at an unknown speed when, for reasons that remain under investigation, the motorcycle went off the east edge of the roadway and down a hillside, where it crashed.
The Boyds were thrown from the motorcycle. Ronnie Boyd died at the scene and Dena Boyd was airlifted to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with major injuries. She died on Tuesday.
A passion for firefighting
Ronnie Boyd spent nearly 30 years working his way up through the firefighting ranks before becoming a captain with Cal Fire in the Humboldt area.
Boyd began his firefighting career as a volunteer at Lakeshore Fire in Clearlake, before it became Lake County Fire, in March of 1995.
“At the time he worked at Homestake Mine but that was just his job, firefighting was always his passion. He was eventually promoted to a volunteer captain,” Weidner said.
“Growing up our lives revolved around the station, it was a second home and family not just for my dad but the whole family,” Weidner said.
After the Homestake Mine closed at the end of 2001, Weidner said her father decided he wanted to make firefighting his career.
In 2003, he joined Cal Fire — before it changed its name from the California Department of Forestry — as a seasonal firefighter in the Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit during the summer, working construction jobs through the winter and continuing to volunteer at the local fire department anytime he was home, Weidner said.
Cal Fire reported that Boyd was promoted to a limited-term fire apparatus engineer in 2007, was promoted to a permanent fire apparatus engineer position in the Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit in 2009 and then moved to a limited-term fire captain position in the Shasta-Trinity Unit.
Eventually, Boyd was hired by Cal Fire as a permanent employee and in 2015 he decided to step back from volunteering in the Lake County Fire Protection District, Weidner said.
“He still loved the department and very much thought of it as family but being a full-time firefighter and then serving during his limited time off was nearly impossible,” she said.
It was as a Cal Fire employee that Boyd became friends with Greg Bertelli, who later became a Cal Fire division chief before retiring in February 2021.
Bertelli told Lake County News that he and Boyd worked together at the Cal Fire Middletown station for almost four years.
“I could tell you how dependable he was, how he always had a calm demeanor at an incident, how he had an infectious smile and laugh. He never would try to sugar coat an opinion. All of these would be true,” said Bertelli.
“What I remember most is how much he loved and was proud of his children. I would get an update on what colleges his son was looking at. He would have a smile from ear to ear talking about him. I remember coming back from a fire call at 2 a.m. listening to Alicia Keys singing ‘No One’ mainly because Ronnie said how much his daughter enjoyed the song. That is how I remember Ronnie,” Bertelli added.
In 2016, Boyd was promoted to a permanent fire captain position in the Humboldt-Del Norte Unit where he worked for the rest of his life.
Great neighbors, proud grandparents
Stacy said she doesn’t remember when she met Ronnie Boyd, but he and his younger brothers, Jessie and Guy were just youngsters, about the same ages as Stacy’s own three sons.
“I remember Ronnie acting like he was more of a dad than a big brother. He made an impression on me, and I will never forget that,” she said.
“Years passed and I lost track of Ronnie, until I married my husband, and we bought a house in Clearlake. And Ronnie lived down the street from us. Through the many years of being neighbors we became pretty good friends. I watched his children grow, witnessed Ronnie’s work ethic, kindness to others, and his service to the community as a firefighter,” Stacy said.
She recalled Boyd having a wonderful sense of humor, being a redneck and set in his ways. He loved to hunt and to be outdoors, and was a great neighbor who looked out for others.
Stacy said she and her husband Jim didn’t know Dena Boyd as well as they did her husband, however, they liked her very much. “She was always smiling, and she too had a great sense of humor. She loved Ronnie, and he loved her very much.”
Stacy said the Boyds were wonderful grandparents to Weidner’s little girl Raegan. “Ronnie would light up with pride every time he talked about Raegan and being Papa Ronnie. And Dena loved being Raegan’s ‘Mimi.’”
Weidner added, “Of all their titles, Papa Ronnie and Mimi were their favorite. They loved being grandparents and it brought them endless joy. Dena's favorite thing to do was shop for the grandkids, making sure they all had the perfect Christmas or birthday gift or even putting together a little something for each holiday or new season.”
“My husband and I miss them terribly and will never forget them. Our hope is to see them again one day,” Stacy said.
Weidner said Saturday that the timeline for the Tuesday processing was still being finalized, with Cal Fire expected to release additional details soon.
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