LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Economic Development Advisory Committee this week will discuss business survey results and city projects.

The committee, or LEDAC, will meet from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Wednesday, July 18, at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

The meeting is open to the public.

As part of the Lakeport Economic Development Strategic Plan 2017-2022, Chair Wilda Shock said the committee on Wednesday will review results from the Business Walk surveys and discuss the report to the Lakeport City Council, scheduled for Aug. 21.

In addition, LEDAC members will begin a discussion of the Economic Development Element of the City’s General Plan.

There also will be an update on city projects.

Following the Wednesday meeting, the next LEDAC meeting will take place on Sept. 12.

LEDAC advocates for a strong and positive Lakeport business community and acts as a conduit between the city and the community for communicating the goals, activities and progress of Lakeport’s economic and business programs.

Members are Chair Wilda Shock and Vice Chair Denise Combs, Secretary Terre Logsdon, Candy De Los Santos, Bill Eaton, Melissa Fulton, Pam Harpster, Judith Kanavle, Andy Lucas, Dan Peterson and Panette Talia. City staff who are members include City Manager Margaret Silveira and Community Development Director Kevin Ingram.

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.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council is set this week to discuss a proposed ballot measure that would ban fireworks and consider supporting the county’s formation and operation of a tourism improvement district.

The council will meet in closed session beginning at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, July 17, to discuss negotiations with the Lakeport Unified School District for property at 800 N. Main St. and conference with labor negotiator regarding the Lakeport Police Officers Association before the open portion of the meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

On Tuesday’s agenda is a proposal to place before city residents in November a ballot measure “to prohibit the use, discharge and explosion of all fireworks, including the ‘safe and sane’ fireworks.”

Lakeport voters adopted Measure C in 2009, which amended the Lakeport Municipal Code to allow for the sale and use of California state fire marshal approved safe and sane fireworks within the city of Lakeport.

The sale of the fireworks are conducted by four local non-profit groups in accordance with the ordinance adopted by Measure C.

“Over the years, residents have lodged complaints about the sale and use of fireworks, including County residents outside of the incorporated area of Lakeport. With the devastating wildland fires occurring in Lake County, the number of protests has continued to rise,” said City Clerk Kelly Buendia in her report to the council.

She said that, in response to those protests, the city’s Public Works and police departments began public education campaigns which included placement of signs at the city limits warning passersby that fireworks were illegal beyond the city limit.

“The Police Chief conducted outreaches via social media regarding the law and providing safety precautions for legally purchased fireworks. Finally, communication was provided reminding residents about Measure C adopted by voters in 2009,” Buendia wrote. “Regardless of these efforts, public outcry has continued; prompting the item to be placed on the agenda for discussion.”

On Tuesday morning, the Board of Supervisors will consider offering a letter in support of the proposed ballot measure to ban fireworks.

The council on Tuesday also is scheduled to consider a resolution granting consent to the county of Lake to establish the Lake County Tourism Improvement District.

There also will be a public hearing as part of the proposed adoption of a resolution ordering Community Development Director Kevin Ingram to abate properties where nuisance weeds, rubbish, refuse and dirt have been identified.

In other business, the council will hold a public hearing to consider a general plan amendment and zone change to revise the existing general plan and zoning land use classification for the Pacific West Communities housing project at 1255 Martin St.

Finance Director Nick Walker will take to the council a proposal for the city manager to enter into an agreement with Lake County Broadband Solutions for the Library Park and Downtown Wi-Fi Project, and Police Chief Brad Rasmussen will seek authorization for staff to conditionally cancel the council’s regular meeting on Aug. 7 and approve the participation of the city of Lakeport in the National Night Out event, with street closures and the gazebo in Library Park reserved for the event.

Also on Tuesday, the Lake County Chamber of Commerce will present a donation for the annual July 4 fireworks show in Library Park.

On the consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances; minutes of the council’s regular meeting on June 19 and hte special meeting on June 26; the July 10 warrant register; rejection of Claim No. 2018-005, filed by Mario and Lyann Williams, as recommended by REMIF; approval and authorization for the city manager to execute a professional services agreement with Polestar Computers for the provision of IT support services; approval and authorization for the city manager to execute the professional services agreement with JJACPA for independent auditing services; authorization for the city manager to sign a contract with West Consultants Inc. not to exceed $35,541 for the preparation of reservoir inundation maps and an EAP for the dam serving CLMSD’s wastewater reservoir; adoption of the proposed resolution electing to have delinquent water and sewer user charges, fees, and penalties for fiscal year 2017-2018 collected on the tax roll, and set a public hearing for Aug. 7 at 5:15 p.m.

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.

071718 Lakeport City Council meeting agenda packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors this week will look at sending a letter to the city of Lakeport in support of a ballot measure to ban fireworks and is scheduled to continue a discussion on a proposed ordinance that would go before voters for approval this fall to establish a cannabis business tax.

The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 17, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

The meeting can be watched live on Channel 8 and online at https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx . Accompanying board documents, the agenda and archived board meeting videos also are available at that link.

In an untimed item, the board will consider a letter to the city of Lakeport in support of a proposed ballot measure for the November election that would ban the sale of fireworks inside the city.

The city of Lakeport is the only place in Lake County where “safe and sane” fireworks can be sold or used. On Tuesday night, the Lakeport City Council is considering taking the ballot measure to the community based on fire concerns residents have raised.

In another untimed item, the board will continue its discussion and consideration of a county ordinance to establish a new cannabis business tax. The ordinance is anticipated to go before county voters on the November ballot.

The full agenda follows.

CONSENT AGENDA

6.1: Adopt Proclamation designating the week of July 16 to 22, 2018, as Invasive Species Awareness Week in Lake County.

6.2: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approve the agreement between the county of Lake and Lake County Office of Education - Safe Schools Healthy Students Program for School-Based Specialty Mental Health Services for Fiscal Year 2018-19 for a contract maximum of $250,000 and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.

6.3: Approve second amendment to agreement between the county of Lake and CALSERVE Inc. for Service of Process for the period from July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019, for an amount not to exceed $25,000, and authorize the chair to sign.

6.4: Adopt resolution establishing an in-lieu reimbursement method for the Lake County Juvenile Justice Commission Pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code Section 231 and confirming the designation of the Juvenile Justice Commission to serve as the Lake County Delinquency Prevention Commission.

6.5: (a) Adopt resolution accepting official canvass of the Statewide Direct Primary Election held on June 5, 2018; declaring certain county officials duly elected; declaring certain county officials duly elected; and declaring the results of the county measure under the board’s jurisdiction; and (b) accept the elections officials certification of the official canvass of the election results with the statement of vote as well as the certification of results of write-in votes cast for qualified candidates election prepared by the Registrar of Voters Office.

TIMED ITEMS

7.2, 9:10 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating the week of July 16 to 22, 2018, as Invasive Species Awareness Week in Lake County.

7.3, 9:30 a.m.: Public hearing, Sitting concurrently as Clearlake Keys CSA#1, #3,#6,#7,#13, #16, #18, #20, #21, #22, Kelseyville County Waterworks District #3 and Lake County Sanitation District, Board of Directors, consideration of (a) resolution confirming collections of annual lighting fees; (b) resolution confirming collections of delinquent water fees; (c) resolution confirming collections of delinquent water and sewer fees; and (d) resolution of delinquent sewer fees for lake county sanitation district.

UNTIMED ITEMS

8.2: Consideration of Letter to the city of Lakeport in support of a ballot measure, for the November 2018 election, banning the sale of fireworks.

8.3: Consideration of Advisory Board Appointments Lake County Resource Conservation District .

8.4: Continued from July 10, discussion and consideration of a county ordinance adding Article VII to Chapter 18 of the Lake County Code Establishing a Cannabis Business Tax

8.5: Discussion and consideration of a draft ordinance effecting administrative fines for violations of lake county code relating to adult-use cannabis operations.

8.6: Consideration of amendment to agreement between the county of Lake and Clean Lakes, Inc. to Treat Nuisance Aquatic Vegetation in 2018 and 2019 for a total not to exceed $397,000 and authorize the chair to sign.

CLOSED SESSIONS

9.1: Public employee evaluations: Special Districts administrator.

9.2: Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Gov. Code sec. 54956.9(d)(1): LCCOA v. County of Lake, et al.

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.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Library’s Summer Reading Program is in full swing.

Librarian Christopher Veach announced that so far 634 people have signed up. That’s 40 teens, 449 kids and 145 adults who have accrued a combined total rapidly approaching 311,000 points. Each page read counts as a point.

The Summer Reading Program has a few more weeks to go so there is still time to join the fun. You can sign up at any Lake County Library branch.

The last day to return books for credit is July 28. Prizes will be awarded in August.

Awards parties for kids will be held at all four branch libraries. Lakeport Library will have its party on August 4 at 10 a.m. Redbud Library will hold its party on Aug. 4 at 10 a.m. Middletown Library’s party will be Aug. 7 at 11:30 a.m. Upper Lake Library will celebrate on August 2 at 2 p.m.

The teen Summer Reading Program party will be Aug. 1 at 4 p.m. at Lakeport Library.

For adult participants, the prizes will be announced on Aug. 4. Winners will be notified that they can pick up their prizes.

Your prize will be available to pick up at the same library where you signed up even after the Summer Reading Program party. Prizes will be held until Sept. 1.

Jan Cook is a technician with the Lake County Library.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Staff of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region, will hold a board workshop on Wednesday, July 18, to discuss the status and the board’s potential next steps associated with the Clear Lake Nutrient Total Maximum Daily Load Control Program.

The Central Valley Water Board workshop will take place in two sessions: an on-site discussion from 11 a.m. to noon at Library Park with a meeting to take place from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St., across the street from the park.

In August 2017, Central Valley Water Board staff conducted a public meeting in Lake County regarding the status of the Clear Lake Nutrient TMDL Control Program. The upcoming board workshop is a response to the concerns heard during that meeting.

Stakeholders expressed concerns regarding a proposed extension of the June 2017 TMDL compliance date.

In response to the stakeholder concerns associated with an extension to the TMDL, board staff is recommending revising the next steps for the TMDL.

Though an extension of the compliance date continues to be a potential option, staff is prioritizing assessment of attainment of the waste load allocations by further gathering and evaluating water quality data and information from the responsible parties identified in the TMDL.

Once the board makes additional determinations regarding attainment of allocations, appropriate next steps will be identified.

At the August 2017 workshop, stakeholders also expressed a desire to speak directly to the board decision makers.

To address this request, and to provide an update to stakeholders on the status of TMDL implementation activities, the Central Valley Water Board will be hosting a workshop in Lakeport.

Board members and management will attend and be available to hear input directly from stakeholders on the TMDL, priorities the board should focus on within the Clear Lake watershed, and recommended next steps.

Stakeholders will also hear updates on various water quality efforts currently taking place within the watershed by other organizations.

At the afternoon meeting, board staff will present their current assessment of each responsible party’s load allocation progress, next steps in this process, and other board activities taking place related to the Clear Lake Nutrient TMDL Control Program.

In addition, other organizations will give presentations on their current efforts within the watershed. This will allow board members and the public an opportunity to learn about current water quality initiatives in the Clear Lake watershed.

A technical memorandum for the meeting can be found here.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A decade ago, a project of the Lake County Arts Council, the Soper Reese Theatre, reopened as the only dedicated performing arts center in Lake County.

The facility provides the community with a stage and venue for live music and dancing, theater productions, movie screenings, a space to rent for conferences and meetings, and is home to the Lake County Symphony – but fundraising is still under way.

Committed to providing a venue for a variety of performing arts, Soper Reese Executive Director Michael Adams – one of the many volunteers pitching in to make this center a success – said recently that, to date, they have raised more than $1.7 million.

However, the next phase – refurbishing the restrooms and constructing ADA-compatible access to the theatre – is still not quite funded.

The fundraising goal for the first phase of renovation, the “Restroom Re-Do,” is $350,000, Adams said.

“When we reach $300,000, we will break ground,” Adams said, noting that they have raised over half of that goal to date.

Being fiscally responsible for the funds raised, Adams explained that it made no financial sense to repaint the outside of the building, when it will have stucco applied for waterproofing and painted in the future.

“I don’t want to spend money doing the same thing twice,” Adams said.

Early on after reopening the theatre, a major donor chose another community project in Ukiah to give their $1 million donation to because, at that point, the Soper Reese did not have a financial reserve, nor had they raised all of the funds to complete projects once they were under way.

“We learned a valuable lesson from losing that major donation,” Adams explained, and they now have a policy that requires them to maintain a financial reserve, and added that they have no debt.

After Phase I, the Restroom Re-Do, Phase II will expand the lobby facade and the stage at an estimated cost of $250,000, Adams said.

He said Phase III will create a multipurpose room that can be used for conference breakout rooms on the Martin Street side and add another marquee for $200,000, for a total of $800,000 that will need to be raised to complete all major renovations.

Depending on the type of event, seating capacity at the Soper Reese ranges from 271 to 300 guests, making it an ideal venue to rent for large meetings and trainings, as well as musical and theatrical productions, movie screenings and more.

Regularly scheduled events at the theatre include two movie series – Classic Cinema and Gen X Cinema – which can be sponsored by an individual or business, the Lake County Symphony, Chamber Music series and Third Friday Live, along with other recurring events like Bastille Day Fete, Harmonica Slapdown, comedy shows, fundraisers with live music and more to come, including a jazz music series.

Beginning in October, another way to help the theatre – and have a good time – will be to sponsor a movie that you would like to see again on a big screen in a theatre.

“For $150, any member of the public will be able to sponsor a movie, as long as we can get the licensing and we’ll show it,” Adams said, and the sponsor will get to take the copy of the movie home.

For more information on events, to donate, or to volunteer with the Soper Reese theatre, visit www.soperreesetheatre.com or call 707-263-0577.

Terre Logsdon is a freelance correspondent for Lake County News.

Each decade, the Census calculates the mean center of population – the place where an imaginary map of the U.S. would balance perfectly if every American weighed the same.

In other words, it’s the middle point of where all Americans live.

The first census of 1790 located this center of population 23 miles east of Baltimore, Maryland.

By the next decade, the point had moved to 18 miles west of Baltimore and by 1820, the migration of Americans had tipped the center even further westward to a point 16 miles east of Moorfield, West Virginia.

The history of the United States is a story of movement – of restless men and women spreading out across the continent, over mountains and across prairies like the spores of a great fungus cast to the wind.

And like a fungus, wherever these wayward people landed, they propagated and expanded, consuming the nutrients of the land and driving out all native life before sending forth their own spores to race ever westward.

That’s one analogy for our nation’s westward migration. Another, far rosier, version positions the migrant at the center of some divine prerogative. In this schema, the western land and its people were put on this earth to test the mettle of the young nation, to harden and temper the raw material so that it could go on to do greater things still.

Horace Greeley, famous American journalist and then vice president during the mid-19th century, canonized this vision of the west when he exhorted his readers to, “Go west, young man, and grow up with the country!” We’re told that he wrote those famous words on July 15, 1865, as the editor of the New York Tribune.

But, like so much of the golden west itself, this now famous slogan is just a mirage – its pomp and esteem billow away to nothing upon closer inspection. If you were to search out a copy of the July 15, 1865, Tribune, you would be rightly frustrated in not finding this phrasing anywhere. If you happen to look at other issues of the paper during that week, or month, or year, you still wouldn’t find it. In fact, here is no evidence whatsoever that Horace Greeley ever wrote those words.

Sure, he said things similar to that slogan, like the following:

“We earnestly urge upon all such [returning Civil War veterans] to turn their faces Westward and colonize the public lands.”

“O, deceive not yourselves thus, young men! To the rightly constituted Man, there always is, there always must be, opportunity.”

“Fly, scatter through the country – go to the Great West.”

“I hold that tens of thousands, who are now barely holding on at the East, might thus place themselves on the high road to competence and ultimate independence at the West.”

All in their own right decent sentences, but none quite as punchy as “Go West, young man, and grow up with the country!” So who has the honor of bringing forth the motto of westward migration?

No one, actually. The earliest written occurrence of that exact phrasing appears the August 20, 1870 issue of the magazine Punchinello, in a piece titled “The Mystery of Mr. E. Drood: An Adaptation,” by Orpheus C. Kerr (the pseudonym of Robert Henry Newell:

“As for you, an American boy, why don’t you go to h-I mean to the West. Go West, young man! Buy a good, stout farming outfit, two or three serviceable horses, or mules, a portable house made in sections, a few cattle, a case of fever medicine and then go out to the far West upon Government-land. You’d better go to one of the hotels for to-night, and then purchase Mr. GREELEY’s What I Know About Farming, and start as soon as the snow permits in the morning.”

Wouldn’t it be grand if this were the actual origin of that phrase? Rather than coming from the most eloquent writer of his generation, the now-famous slogan was actually written by a famous humorist for a satirical magazine, which went out of business after only nine months of operation (seriously, Punchinello was inspired by the British satirical magazine Punch, and it only lasted from April to December of 1870).

Alas, we don’t know if that is true or not. But even if the exact phrasing can’t be attributed to him, it is true to say that Greeley was the loudest proponent of westward migration at the time.

Although he himself never went farther west than Colorado, he some form or another, he urged his nation to cast its spores to the westward-blowing wind. By the time of this admonition to “Go West,” the center point of the United States’ population had already crossed the Appalachians and settled in the fertile valleys of Ohio.

After more than a century of inching westward, the mean center entered the state of Missouri, where it has remained since 1980.

Antone Pierucci is curator of history at the Riverside County Park and Open Space District and a freelance writer whose work has been featured in such magazines as Archaeology and Wild West as well as regional California newspapers.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The region’s largest wildland fire was fully contained on Saturday, while officials confirmed that a Cal Fire equipment operator was killed on the Ferguson fire on Saturday morning.

The County fire’s vast area – it has burned 90,288 acres since June 30 – was fully contained as of Saturday night, when Cal Fire issued its final report on the incident.

The fire, which began in Guinda in Yolo County before burning into Napa County, destroyed 20 structures and damaged three others.

Cal Fire said fire suppression repair teams continue working around the fire perimeter and
affected areas.

In Butte County, the Stoney fire in Chico’s Bidwell Park continued to burn on Saturday.

The fire, which began on Thursday night, has so far burned 956 acres and was 65-percent contained as of Saturday night, Cal Fire said.

To the south, tragedy struck on Saturday on the lines of the Ferguson fire on the Sierra National Forest.

Officials confirmed on Saturday that Cal Fire Heavy Fire Equipment Operator Braden Varney, 36, from the agency’s Madera-Mariposa-Merced Unit, was killed.

Varney, a second generation Cal Fire employee who had worked with the agency for 10 years, is survived by his wife, Jessica, 5-year-old daughter Malhea and 3-year-old son Nolan.

Cal Fire said the Ferguson fire started Friday at 10:35 p.m. near El Portal in Mariposa County. The fire was under Unified Command with Cal Fire Madera-Mariposa-Merced Unit and the US Forest Service-Sierra National Forest but was turned over to the Forest Service on Saturday.

The Ferguson fire on Saturday night was 1,000 acres and 5 percent contained.

On Saturday Gov. Jerry Brown honored Varney.

“Anne and I were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Heavy Equipment Operator Braden Varney, a man who dedicated his life to protecting his fellow Californians. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family, friends and many colleagues who are mourning this sudden and tragic loss,” Gov. Brown said.

In honor of Varney, Capitol flags will be flown at half-staff, the Governor’s Office reported.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has several big dogs waiting for homes at its shelter this week.

Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of border collie, German Shepherd, Labrador Retriever, mastiff, pit bull and and spaniel.

Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.

If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets hoping you'll choose them.

The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).

Male border collie

This young male border collie has a short black and white coat.

He’s in kennel No. 11, ID No. 10334.

‘Wrynn’

“Wrynn” is a female German Shepherd with a medium-length black and brown coat.

She’s in kennel No. 17, ID No. 10433.

Spaniel-border collie

This male spaniel-border collie mix has a black and white coat.

He’s in kennel No. 19, ID No. 10380.

Male mastiff mix

This male mastiff mix has a short tan and white coat.

He’s in kennel No. 26, ID No. 10191.

Male mastiff mix

This male mastiff mix has a short tan and white coat.

He’s in kennel No. 27, ID No. 10192.

‘Yogi’

“Yogi” is a male Labrador Retriever-pit bull mix with a medium-length brown and black coat.

He already has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 31, ID No. 10082.

‘Lala’

“Lala” is a female German Shepherd with a brown and black coat.

She’s in kennel No. 32, ID No. 10420.

‘Kumo’

“Kumo” is a male pit bull terrier with a short blue and white coat.

He’s in kennel No. 34, ID No. 10424.

Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm.

For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

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.

BERKELEY, Calif. – Human activity is causing the planet’s mammals to flee daylight for the protection of night, according to a new study from UC Berkeley.

The study, published in the journal Science, and supported in part by the National Science Foundation, represents the first effort to quantify the global effects of human activity on the daily activity patterns of wildlife.

Its results highlight the powerful and widespread process by which animals alter their behavior alongside people: human disturbance is creating a more nocturnal natural world.

“Catastrophic losses in wildlife populations and habitats as a result of human activity are well documented, but the subtler ways in which we affect animal behavior are more difficult to detect and quantify,” said Berkeley PhD candidate and study lead author Kaitlyn Gaynor.

Gaynor, along with co-authors Justin Brashares and Cheryl Hojnowski of UC Berkeley, and Neil Carter of Boise State University, applied a meta-analysis approach, using data for 62 species across six continents to look for global shifts in the timing of daily activity of mammals in response to humans.

These data were collected by various approaches, including remotely triggered cameras, GPS and radio collars, and direct observation. For each species in each study site, the authors quantified the difference in animal nocturnality under low and high human disturbance.

On average, mammals were 1.36 times more nocturnal in response to human disturbance. This means that an animal that naturally split its activity evenly between the day and night increased its nighttime activity to 68 percent around people.

This finding was consistent across carnivore and herbivore species of all body sizes greater than 1 kg (small mammals were not included in the study).

The pattern also held across different types of human disturbance, including activities such as hunting, hiking, mountain biking, and infrastructure such as roads, residential settlement, and agriculture.

“While we expected to find a trend towards increased wildlife nocturnality around people, we were surprised by the consistency of the results around the world,” said Gaynor. “Animals responded strongly to all types of human disturbance, regardless of whether people actually posed a direct threat, suggesting that our presence alone is enough to disrupt their natural patterns of behavior.”

According to Brashares, a professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management and the study’s senior author, the consequences of the behavioral shift in wildlife can be seen through contrasting lenses.

“On the positive side, the fact that wildlife is adapting to avoid humans temporally could be viewed as a path for coexistence of humans and wild animals on an increasingly crowded planet,” said Brashares. “However, animal activity patterns reflect millions of years of adaptation – it’s hard to believe we can simply squeeze nature into the dark half of each day and expect it to function and thrive.”

The authors describe a range of potential negative consequences of the shifts they report in wildlife, including mismatches between the environment and an animal’s traits, disruption of normal foraging behavior, increased vulnerability to non-human predators, and heightened competition.

They point out, however, that while many of the studies included in their analysis documented a clear increase in nocturnal activity, few examined the consequences for individual animals, populations, or ecosystems.

“We hope our findings will open up new avenues for wildlife research in human-dominated landscapes. We still have a lot to learn about the implications of altered activity patterns for the management of wildlife populations, interactions between species, and even human-induced evolution,” said Gaynor.

Mackenzie Smith writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – You’ve probably seen them leafing out and blossoming all over the region, their newly formed leaves a bright chartreuse that will eventually turn darker green and take on a kind of fuzzy matt finish.

They’re trees that ignore the pre-set seasons so strictly adhered to by other trees: they wake up in the winter and settle down to sleep in the late summer.

They’re California Buckeyes (Aesculus californica), a species endemic to California – meaning that they grow here and nowhere else on earth.

The buckeye tree can grow up to 20 feet tall and have a branch-span of about 30 feet. When planted from seed it can sprout up 10 inches each year, and has the capacity to live for over 250 years. And it’s this tree’s seeds that are so spectacular.

Getting as a large as a fist, the dark chestnuts look like polished mahogany when they’re released from their leathery husks. The chestnuts drop to the ground in the wettest part of winter.

Each one sends out a long pinkish taproot that bores into the earth, and also releases a finely leafed sprout that forms above ground on a rose-colored stem. If it survives, this sprout will become the new tree.

Although they’re beautiful and fascinating, these are not the kind of chestnuts you can eat.

Sweet chestnuts are actually an entirely different species: Castanea sativa.

California Buckeye chestnuts contain a neurotoxic glucoside called “aesculin,” among other compounds, that can cause severe stomach pains, disorientation, muscle weakness and death in mammals, including humans.

Ingestion of the sprouts, leaves and seeds is also known to be linked to the spontaneous abortion of calves in grazing cattle.

Adult California ground squirrels, however, have a natural immunity to the toxins – just as they have a natural immunity to rattlesnake venom.

In the winter, you’ll often see the forest floor and areas around the squirrels’ burrows littered with chewed up, half-eaten Buckeye chestnuts.

Mule deer and Steller’s Jays have also been known to eat the leaves and chestnuts, but only in very small quantities.

Although not good as shade trees because they lose their leaves in the summer, California Buckeyes are great at binding the soil with their roots and are often used for erosion control. They can also thrive in drought stricken areas and in nutrient-poor soils where other trees fail.

In the spring, they display long 4- to 8-inch panicles of small, sweet-scented flowers (white or pink) which attract a wide variety of pollinators.

The blossoms are a favorite of the tiger swallowtail butterflies, and the trees are also the hosts to the caterpillars of the echo blue butterfly (Celastrina argiolus).

Care has to be taken not to plant the trees near apiaries, however, because the blossoms’ inviting nectar and pollen are poisonous to European honeybees.

Additionally, according to the USDA, “Human beings have been poisoned by eating honey made from California Buckeye.”

Of all of the flowers displayed on its panicles, only one will survive to actually develop into a chestnut. In the later summer months, you can see single chestnuts dangling here and there from branches of the trees like leathery bobs on pendulum strings.

As we mentioned before, the California Buckeye is one of the few trees in our state that “estivates” in summer.

All of its leaves shrivel and turn golden brown, and most fall off as the tree goes dormant. It’s this summer leaf-drop that can add fuel for wildfires in some of the trees’ natural range.

The chestnuts ripen in the fall, and then fall to the ground in the winter, starting the cycle from tree, to flower, to seed all over again.

Mary K. Hanson is a Certified California Naturalist, author, nature photographer and blogger (https://chubbywomanwalkabout.com/). She also teaches naturalist classes through Tuleyome, a501(c)(3) nonprofit conservation organization based in Woodland, Calif. For more information, visit www.tuleyome.org.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – With temperatures expected to climb early next week, the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for Lake County and other portions of Northern California.

The National Weather Service said the advisory will be in effect from noon to Sunday to 8 p.m. Monday.

A heat advisory means that a prolonged period of hot temperatures is expected and will create a situation in which heat illnesses are possible.

Forecasters said building high pressure will bring hot temperatures over the weekend with daytime highs from 10 to as much as 15 degrees above normal.

The specific Lake County forecast calls for temperatures topping the century mark on Monday, and remaining in the high 90s throughout much of the week.

The National Weather Service said thunderstorms are possible in the mountains at that time.

Close to next weekend, temperatures will drop as cloudy conditions arrive, according to the forecast.

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.