Richard Birk, president of Habitat for Humanity Lake County, with new a Bolivian homeowner family celebrating the complete of their home. Birk is presenting a gift that symbolizes peace and a long and healthy life. Courtesy photo.

I have just returned from a journey to Bolivia, where I participated in a Habitat for Humanity project to build homes in that impoverished country.

Bolivia is a landlocked country in South America, the poorest country on that continent. Although blessed with the majestic mountains of the Andes and Lake Titicaca, a large portion of the population of 10 million lives in substandard conditions.

Most of those affected are the indigenous Indians who make up 60 percent of the population. Many have to live in unhealthy adobe huts with dirt floors, no water, no sanitation services, no electricity, and many families are forced to live in only one room.

For two weeks I and other volunteers carried bricks and rocks up a steep hill, hand mixed concrete, dug trenches – all at an elevation of 9,000 feet, sometimes in the rain. The work was very strenuous, but working alongside the future homeowners made the work so much more rewarding.

Did I sweat? Yes. Did I have a sore body? Yes. Was I tired? For sure, but the personal rewards were priceless.

The local Bolivian people were very grateful and motivated to improve their living conditions as exemplified in how hard they worked on building their homes. Something else that was apparent was that by being there we renewed the idea that others do care and we were a messenger of hope.

A Bolivian working on building her Habitat for Humanity home. Courtesy photo.

Just before departing on the last day of work, I said to the grandfather of one of the future homeowners whom I had been working alongside for several days, “Hasta luego” (see you later). His face grew a big smile and he grabbed me and gave me a big hug. With that he was saying “thank you” for not forgetting them in the future, and thereby giving hope for a better life.

I knew then that I could never forget the plight of those less fortunate in this world and in particular the people of Cochabamba, Bolivia.

The travel to Bolivia is via a long flight to La Paz, where the airport is at an elevation of more than 12,000 feet.

As an American I was very proud to find so many people from our country assisting in making a better life for the people of Bolivia. On the flight to La Paz I sat next to a fellow who had made it his mission to help the poor rural natives find a better way to grow and store potatoes, which is one of their major staples, without which they could starve. Also, on the same airplane were a group of American volunteers associated with the nonprofit Operation Smile, who specialize in surgically correcting children born with cleft palates and other facial deformities.

In the town where we worked, Cochabamba, I met another American, a professional civil engineer, who has dedicated his life to serving the poor by helping bring drinking water to many of the small villages located in the high plateau regions. This is what America is really about.

Regarding Habitat for Humanity, we operate in Bolivia and in more than 90 other countries. Most of the funding needed for these efforts comes from the individual Habitat affiliates in the United States.

We here at Habitat for Humanity Lake County have funded to our international operations enough money to support the purchase of materials for five homes, which average $4,500 each.

If you are interested in volunteering/donating here in Lake County and/or in our international work please call us at 994-1100.

Richard Birk is president of Habitat for Humanity Lake County.

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For example, over the years, you have read about the activities of high school and middle school students to bring attention to "Middletown Days." Students actually created a worldwide buzz for this small town western parade and festival that culminated in Adam Housley of the Fox News Channel showing up, addressing the crowd and getting the event mentioned on the network. That was in 2006.

Then, in 2007, the young people impressed KRON 4 TV's "Bay Area Backroads" host Doug McConnell so much he offered to showcase "Middletown Days" on his new venture, Open Road at www.openroad.tv. (You will not see anything on the site right now about "Middletown Days." The Middletown Central Park Association has yet to decide what pictures should be sent.)

Two other interesting examples are located in Clearlake. One is the "Hot Spot" which is providing wonderful activities for young people.

The other is the soon-to-come Lake County Community Co-op. The driving force behind the co-op is JoAnn Saccato. Saccato actually was featured on an online talk show that originated from Lake County recently. You can hear what she had to say about starting this food coop by going to www.talkshoe.com/tc/1833.

In Hidden Valley Lake, perhaps one of the most unlikely places to expect to find any kind of technological innovation, is a mom and pop restaurant that specializes in serving Thai cuisine. However, Ting's Thai Kitchen is hoping to soon introduce ALL of Lake County to FREE Wi-Fi with splash page advertising. You can learn more about this by visiting their Squidoo lens at www.squidoo.com/TTK. Although this FREE Wi-Fi has yet to happen, you can see from looking at the signers of their guest book that people from around the world are endorsing this activity. Is that not amazing?

Make no mistake, there are some big challenges for the county in pressing forward. The marketing study posted online from July 2002 tells you that Lake County remains the county that is still "waiting to happen." The study says the county remains Northern California's "undiscovered country."

While that may have significant appeal to those folks here to retire, play golf and card games, it is not good news for local businesses in need of customers. There is a major need for Lake County to stop exporting its workforce and therefore its revenue earners to other counties. People are more inclined to spend their money near where they work than where they live – especially when they get a better deal for their dollar. For example, gasoline is cheaper in Santa Rosa than it is anywhere in Lake County.

What can be done to encourage folks who travel through Lake County to stop and shop? One helpful solution is advertising in a eye-catching manner to the passing traffic. And, what does that mean? It means bringing the wonders of digital signage to Lake County.

For the uneducated, this does not mean turning beautiful Lake County into some kind of Las Vegas nightmare. What it does mean is actually reducing the total number of billboards in the county to further bring out the natural beauty of the area. At the same time, it means increasing the number of small business messages (and community service messages) regarding what this area has to offer.

A few strategically placed large digital signs can do a great more for the area than the current crop of stagnant billboards that only promote a single business. However, digital signage is not just going to improve outdoor communication. The software used to create outdoor digital signage can also transform Lake County's own press kits by enabling them to showcase the county with DVDs that deliver dynamic multimedia presentations.

The time has come to replace those stagnate PDF pictures with exciting videos. What would that even look like? See for yourself. Visit www.scala.com and watch the Scala V demo.

Believe it or not, right now Lake County does not even have an opinion on digital signage. According to District 1 Supervisor Ed Robey, the county's signage ordinance has not been updated for nearly 20 years. The time has come for an update. And, Rick Coel in the Lake County Planning Department is the one who needs to be encouraged to do it.

Lake County Administrator Kelly Cox has been in communication with Kevin Comora of Vizicast Multimedia – the company that handles digital signage for the Fisherman's Wharf and the Convention and Visitors Bureau in the Bay Area. Cox is eager to see Lake County move forward. But the antiquated sign ordinance must first get updated.

You may be surprised to learn that Lake County is actually listed in the Haines City-Directory system, which is nationwide. But, our own library system thinks otherwise. This citywide directory can be extremely beneficial to small businesses looking to conduct direct-mail campaigns for targeted marketing purposes – if only the library system would bother to carry them. Please contact your local public library and ask them to carry the Haines Directory for Lake and Mendocino counties. You can easily see that it is available online at www.haines.com/covfull1.htm#Lake-Mendocino_Counties.

Lake County need not stay "undiscovered" or always "waiting to happen." Remember, when caring people connect with other caring people, wonderful things can happen.

Whatever you feed grows. Whatever you starve dies. Let's stop starving Lake County's growth. Let's instead start feeding it. Need some additional ideas? Visit “Tools to Move Middletown Forward” at www.squidoo.com/TMMF.

Lamar Morgan owns CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing. He live in Hidden Valley Lake.

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With the Real ID Act in place, we will be forced to provide personal recorded documentation, upon demand, in order to identify ourselves as citizens. Sound familiar? If not, think a little harder. This system was used in Germany by Hitler, whereupon, persons were forced to produce documentation concerning their private lives in order to identify themselves as Germans. In Nazi Germany, it was sold as a way to protect the security of the motherland. In the U.S., the Real ID Act is being sold to us as a way to improve homeland security.

Speaking of private lives, remember back in the day when only criminals were fingerprinted? Nowadays, for whatever reason, we have allowed ourselves to be treated like criminals. First we give up a fingerprint and then an iris scan. Eventually, it should be no problem giving up our bodies for a chip. Sound far-fetched? It is already being done, not for national security but to make it easier to pay a bar tab. Yes, our right to privacy, the protection of our bodies, seems to have diminished along with our good sense. So, why not take it a step further?

As if identity theft isn’t bad enough, why not put ALL our information in one place? Let’s think about this for a moment. In your home, do you keep all your valuables out where people can see them and know exactly where they are at all times? I would hope not. Is your life valuable? I would hope so. So, why then would we ever want to keep all of the valuable personal information about our life in one place where everyone in the world knows where it is and has access to it? Think about how many times a day your information is accessed and who accesses it from a card, currently. How many times a day does a card of yours get swiped, recorded and filed? (Yes, they keep records now, even on what you buy with that little discount card at the grocery store.)

Now, imagine this access coming from a single card. Your driver’s license, your bank card, your social security card, do you really want all that information in one place? Well, with the Real ID Act, it is only a step away. Don’t believe me? Look it up, they now have a way to pay your gas with your driver’s license. Do you really want the person running the gas station or the kid who slings your burgers to have access to all your personal identification information, in the future?

If we are willing to voluntarily give away our right to privacy in order to some clerk to buy groceries, beer and cigarettes, do you really think it is going to matter if the new card is tamper-proof and read by machine? Remember, we decided to make our California Driver’s License tamperproof by adding the hologram and making it machine readable. Did that stop anyone from ID theft? No, I daresay, it didn’t.

Think this ID won’t be used and abused for these purposes in the United States Of America? Did you know that originally the social security card was to be used strictly for tax id purposes? In fact, it originally stated very clearly on the card that it was NOT to be used for ID purposes. In fact, it was applied for when you were ready to get a job and not as soon as you were born, contrary to what it is today. Now, ask yourself, what is the number one use of the social security card today? Now, think again, do you really want to get behind a Real ID?

Or do you want to get in front of it and stop it before it is too late? At least three states have opted out of the Real ID Act, altogether. At least 16 others have passed resolutions against it. California Assemblyman Pedro Nava of Santa Barbara introduced resolution AJR 51 which asks California Congressional delegates to re-appeal the Real ID Act or opt out, as well.

I urge you to write to our congressional representatives, our governor and even our president, concerning this issue, before it is too late and history repeats itself.

Andrea Anderson lives in Lakeport.

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My son will not be attending public school as of May 8. I will be home-schooling him for the rest of the year. What follows are my reasons for pulling him out.

My son has enjoyed much of his time in his kindergarten class; especially the precious though limited time spent on art, music and playtime. After observing “stations” however, and my son's (and other students’) demeanor during that period, I am gravely concerned about the continued academic emphasis that is still being wrought upon these young children.

As an experienced, credentialed teacher myself with a background in child and language development, I am sad to see that the irresponsible pattern of shoving academics onto young children has gotten worse than it was even a few years ago.

Not only is it developmentally inappropriate to expect 5- and 6-year-olds to sit still daily for three, 30-minute periods doing worksheets and copying sentences off the chalkboard, it is educationally unsound. When my son was sick last weekend he told me he hoped he wouldn’t get well by Monday because he didn’t want to go to school. What adult alive today remembers hating kindergarten?

I know I’m not the only one who sees the danger here. Remediation rates are starting to increase in the fourth grades when students have to start actually reading to learn – not just sound out words to please the teacher. Public schools are sacrificing the development of the right brain to make their immediate test scores look good, but hobbling students’ overall brain and academic development by focusing so exclusively on the left brain.

Very young students are also “misbehaving” in class at alarming rates – not surprising since it’s not natural for them to do the things they are being expected to do. Why are we surprised when children act like children? Do we also argue with water because it’s wet or criticize a dog because it can’t meow nicely like a cat does?

My son resents having to miss recess if he can’t finish his “work” and has learned to copy from the children sitting next to him because he’s afraid the classroom aide will get mad if he circles the wrong answer. He dreads this endless “circling and crossing out” that pervades his school day and follows him home as homework.

I know that finger-painting, Play-Doh, blocks and dress-ups are not tested in the later grades, but real academics are; academics that now have no foundation to build on since they are taught in isolation, through endless drill, mindless copying, and parroting back answers that the Education Testing Service has decided students need to know to make their schools look good for the newspapers and local Realtors.

I feel for the excellent teachers, my son's included, who are caught up in a system that determines the direction of education by the current whim of the public and government officials. These days it shouldn’t even be necessary to go to college and study brain development, child development or developmentally appropriate educational programming. Teachers are reduced to classroom managers who can photocopy nice workbook pages and hand out glue and scissors for the exciting cut and paste activities.

Gale Tompkins lives in Kelseyville.

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Queries directly focused on environmental consequences – which include detrimental effects on biological and cultural resources, water quality, air quality, infrastructure, orderly growth patterns and traffic – can most easily be investigated by reading the material posted on line at www.lakelive.org/provinsalia, but the project’s equally doubtful economic implications have not yet been subjected to exhaustive scrutiny.

Some nuggets of information did emerge from the April 22 City Council/Planning Commission "workshop" on the project, including the revelation that the developers propose to retain title to the subdivision's golf course and other open land, instead of turning these recreational amenities over to a homeowners association or equivalent as is common practice.

Since it is also proposed to finance these improvements with bonded indebtedness backed by the full faith and credit of the municipality (which thus assumes a massive potential liability), with the bonds eventually repaid by assessments on project residents, retention of ownership seems at the least startling. In any case, why would the developers have any interest in retaining such a notoriously unprofitable "asset"?

Other questions are many and various. Why is the city planning to invest a huge amount of staff time in negotiating a development agreement on the project before environmental impact report certification – a necessary precondition to any further action – is complete?

How did the consultants happen to omit archaeologist Dr. John Parker's comment letter raising momentous questions regarding California Environmental Quality Act compliance from the "final" environmental impact report? This letter was received by the city and immediately forwarded to Pacific Municipal Consultants, apparently to be submerged permanently. Whether or not other comments were also lost, does this omission cast doubt on the validity of the results, doubts most appropriately rectified by recirculation of the environmental impact report?

Why was this important meeting scheduled barely five days after the "final" environmental impact report was made available to the public, even though the document had been presented to the city in the middle of March?

Who actually owns the Provinsalia project site itself? Modesto-based Price Development Group seems to be merely the first of several corporate layers that lead to Delaware, Mexico and possibly beyond. Who now owns the parcels to the east and south of the project site – approximately 200 acres of wilderness under county rather than city jurisdiction – that were included in geographic and biological surveys in 2004? What do the owners (whoever they may be) plan to do with this property?

Why does developer Dick Price assume that the members of the Planning Commission and City Council are unwilling or unable to read the environmental studies and other background materials necessary for a sound decision? He made dismissive statements to that effect at least twice.

If the owners of the land needed for construction of the new Provinsalia Avenue are reluctant to sell, is the city prepared to invoke its powers of eminent domain? If so, shouldn't that unpleasant possibility be stated explicitly from the beginning?

Who will repay the bonded obligations incurred to construct the Provinsalia golf course if the project is never built, or never built out? If these bonds are structured as now proposed, the city could be left holding the bag. Who will repair this pristine parcel if grading takes place but construction does not, as has happened many times in Lake County?

Answers to these questions, as well as the many additional questions raised during the EIR process, are essential components of a valid evaluation of Provinsalia’s effects on the city, the county, our people, and the land itself. We can only hope that some answers will eventually be forthcoming.

Victoria Brandon is chair of the Sierra Club Lake Group. She lives in Lower Lake.

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We love them as an important food, as the base of fishing economies, for sport recreation, and as symbols of fresh water and renewal. But we harvest them, dam, pave and pump their streams, pollute their water and mix their gene pool with hatchery fish.

Then there’s global warming and changing ocean currents.

When we look at Central Valley Spring Run salmon decline, we look back to the 1990s and realize, shocked, that the populations have crashed by over 90 percent. Estimates may make that 95 percent or worse.

But that only looks at a few years. We don’t like to acknowledge that less than two centuries ago, the fish were so plentiful that they supported cultures. They were so abundant, in fact, that they could be harvested with pitchforks. The run of fish supported animals, the soil and plants, and were a significant wild ocean resource as well.

Now the runs are on the ropes, and wild salmon will be disappearing from our plates, as well as our rivers, for the next couple of years … at least.

The problems that salmon, as a group of species, have encountered are epic. They include loss of habitat, fishing in the ocean, changing ocean and inland conditions, less water, more pollution and predation from other marine life. In addition, we have introduced hatcheries into the life cycle of the fish.

Our runs are hatchery-dominated, with survival and pathogen issues plaguing the raised fingerlings. The hatcheries stand with the dams, the mitigations for cutting off spawning habitat, adding up to hundreds of miles of major rivers and thousands of miles of tributaries, the small streams where fish reproduce.

Ocean-farmed fish are not a solution. There are so many problems of disease, escapement and pollution that California doesn’t allow factory salmon farms in state waters.

The problem of salmon collapse is not restricted to the Central Valley. We have lost significant salmon and steelhead runs in the Russian, the Eel and the Klamath Rivers as well, creating economic disasters for fishermen and the sport-fishing industry. Emergency relief funding will only last so long, and we cannot support the fishing community on handouts from the government (nor do they wish to be supported in this way).

On April 1, the Senate passed my bill (SB 562) to support salmon monitoring and restoration with nearly $5.3 million. This money, which may enable our state to secure up to $20 million in federal matching funds, will go to basic science and the repair of specific problems on creeks and rivers. It is an investment in this resource.

But we will need more than simple patience and investment to get salmon back to respectable runs. We will need cooperation from fishermen, farmers, water users, the tribes, power companies, the governor’s office and the Legislature to find an effective path to recovery.

We also need help from every citizen to “think at the sink” and “use your brain at the drain,” and not introduce oil, detergents and chemicals into our waters.

No less than recovery is necessary for our fishing and sport-fishing economy, for our responsibility to the species, and to have great tasting, healthy wild salmon as part of a continuing California tradition.

Patricia Wiggins represents California’s 2nd Senate District, which includes portions or all of six counties (Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Solano and Sonoma). She also chairs the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture. Visit her Web site at http://dist02.casen.govoffice.com/.

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