School bonds have been and continue to be the primary funding mechanism to build new school facilities and address major repairs and upgrades. Bonds allow school districts to accommodate smaller class sizes and keep vocational labs up to current industry standards. Safety and health issues are also addressed with school bonds.

School bonds remain key to keeping Lake County school facilities on par with schools throughout the region and state. The children in Lake County deserve to attend schools that are able to access 21st century instructional strategies.

Our local communities should be involved in the bond process by helping to set district priorities. Additionally, most local school bonds require a citizen’s oversight committee to assure the community that the school district is spending the bond revenues appropriately.

It is important to support our children and our schools by voting for state and local school bonds. Please hold school districts accountable for the safety and outcomes of our children, the performance of our schools, and the protection of our facilities. Vote yes on Measure Y in Konocti Unified School District, and help our local districts leverage resources by voting yes on Proposition 51.

Brock Falkenberg is the superintendent of schools for Lake County, Calif.

Sandra Catherine West
July 15, 1949 – Oct. 18, 2016

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Sandra West, 67 years old, a Lakeport resident, passed away suddenly on Tuesday, Oct. 18.

A resident of Kelseyville since 1996, she was born in San Francisco to Anna Belle Parrish and Walter Roger Liu. She was raised in South San Francisco by her mother Anna and stepfather Prospecto Cruz Palacios (Poppa Tom).

She attended El Rancho Elementary School, Alta Loma Junior High and graduated from El Camino High School where she met life-long friends.

She attended City College in San Francisco and majored in business. She was experienced in many areas of business – her favorites being finance, public relations, sales and marketing.

Sandra was the former co-owner of the Edgewater Resort in Kelseyville and facilitator for the Mt. Konocti Facilitation, a California Nonprofit Organization.

Early on Sandra was a devoted youth education teacher/facilitator for the National Council on Alcoholism & Other Drug Addictions in San Francisco.

Sandra is survived by her beloved and cherished dogs, Bita and Rachael; her sister, Ilona Montoya and husband Victor Montoya; nephew, Victor Michael Montoya; niece, Elisa Montoya-Takahashi and husband Kuniuki Takahashi and their children Toshiuki and Ariuki Takahashi, along with her daughter Cassandra Daughtry and two grandchildren, Mercedez and Sabrina.

A celebration of life is being planned in Kelseyville in January. If you would like to be notified with details of The Celebration, please send your email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Arrangements by Chapel of the Lakes Mortuary, 707-263-0357 or 707-994-5611, or visit www.chapelofthelakes.com .

Over the years, a great deal of information and medical data has been collected on the proliferation of cell towers and the associated risk they pose in health hazards, in particular, the overwhelming amount of evidence that living near a cell tower can cause and greatly increases the likelihood of cancer, including prostate, breast, lung, kidney and liver cancer caused by the exposure to the electromagnetic fields emitted by these towers.

Humans are exposed to more than 100 million times the amount of electromagnetic radiation than our grandparents were which is attributed to the rise of cancer related deaths. Additionally cell phone tower electromagnetic radiation is linked to the development and acceleration of cardiovascular disease, neurological disorders and numerous other health compromising consequences.

While the telecom industry denies the scientific evidence and says that claims of ill health effects from cell tower radiation are unfounded, there is a preponderance of mounting evidence to prove that a rising death and disease toll appears in areas where these cell towers have been installed. This is not the first industry to buy studies to support their own claims denying complicity while pushing forward with their profit making ventures and releasing reports to the public to debunk any information, no matter how credible that cell towers are harmful to your health. 

Most people by now are aware of the dangers of holding a cell phone close to one’s head for a period of time every day and the links that medical data shows us to the high incidence of brain tumors developing on the side of the head where the cell phone was used. We use cell phones as a part of our daily lives and have learned to depend on them for much of our communication and activities. This does not however mean that they are safe and those who are aware of the dangers take reasonable precautions.

In the case of cell towers though, we are essentially defenseless and powerless because of the amounts of deadly radiation we are exposed to that we have no control over. This makes cell towers a health menace to society when the companies that put them up do not take care that to erect these towers as far away from people as possible.

In fact, studies have also shown adverse effects to animals after exposure to cell tower radiation. A study into the effects of a cell tower on a herd of dairy cattle showed that following erection of the tower, adverse health effects were observed as well as a measurable drop in milk yield. When these animals were relocated, their milk yield returned to near previous levels.

A human study (measured blood levels of serotonin and melatonin (important hormones involved in brain messaging, mood, sleep regulation and immune system function) both before, and five months after, the activation of a new cell site. Substantial unfavorable changes occurred with respect to these essential hormones.

All living things are affected by cell tower radiation. Among groups at great risk are pregnant mothers as cell tower radiation is known to cause birth defects.

Human population centers are flooded with massive amounts of powerful wireless microwave radiation. Cell phone towers emit high-frequency radio waves, or microwaves, that can travel as far as 45 miles. The closer you are, the greater the danger. Cellphone tower microwaves have a significantly higher frequency than even radio waves. The higher the frequency, the more powerful the wave and the more significant the effect on biological organisms.

Scientific research has been conducted all over the world showing that cell phone towers do in fact cause harm. One such study in Brazil’s third largest city for example established a direct link between cell towers and cancer deaths. In all, 7,000 deaths were attributed to cell tower radiation. Over 80 percent of those who succumbed to cell tower caused radiation cancer death resided approximately a third of a mile away from a cell tower.

Dr. Adilza Condessa Dode, one of the engineering researchers as well as the coordinator of the Brazilian study, addressed concerns among citizens living there adding that Brazil does not stand alone in dealing with this issue. He elaborated, "These levels (EMFs) are high and dangerous to human health. The closer you live to an antenna, the greater the contact with the electromagnetic field."

Local residents of Lake County are vulnerable to the health risks posed by the installation of these towers and as the industry grows, greater care must be taken in consideration of where these towers are to be located so as not to endanger human and animal health. Whether you are a cell phone user or not and most are, even those who choose to not use this technology will suffer the consequences of cell phone tower radiation.

A growing number of organizations and many more studies support the conclusions of the Brazilian study cited here. The International Association for Research on Cancer (IARC), based upon findings from research conducted by an international think tank, came to the conclusion that radiation spewing from cell towers is a carcinogen.

The BioInitiative 2012 Report written by a group of leading independent international scientists put out an unequivocal health warning against exposure to EMFs. This includes exposures from cell phone towers. This report concluded that cell towers are particularly dangerous because of the constant nature of the activity of the towers in that they emit pulsed radio frequency radiation which has been shown in thousands of studies to cause biological damage to the body and to be a precursor to disease.

Besides the risk of cancer and other diseases linked to cell towers, the following other disorders are also linked:

• Genetic mutations;
• Memory disruptions;
• Hindered learning;
• ADD;
• Insomnia;
• Brain disorders;
• Hormonal imbalances;
• Infertility;
• Dementia;
• Heart complications.

These dangers make it imperative to take action. It’s clear that cell towers should be located as far away from residential areas as possible and city, county and state officials and agencies should take heed of public safety concerns when considering cell tower site locations. Decisions as to where these sites are to be located is a paramount matter of public safety.   

A study performed by doctors in Germany monitoring 1,000 residents who had lived in an area around two cell phone towers for 10 years showed that during the last five years of the study, those living in these areas had a newly-diagnosed cancer rate three times higher than those who lived further away. Breast cancer topped the list, but cancers of the prostate, pancreas, bowel, skin melanoma, lung and blood cancer were all increased. Cancer rates anywhere where cell towers have been installed have shown to exceed 10 times what would otherwise be the average in those areas.

It should also be considered that not all cell tower related cancers occur right away. The effects of exposure are cumulative within the body. The longer term studies clearly indicate that the effects of cell tower radiation exposure accumulates over time before the damage is detected and by then it may be irreversible because after several years of exposure, by then the body’s defenses and repair mechanisms have been exhausted and overwhelmed.

Over time, our bodies become stressed by exposure to this type of radiation every day. This affects our health in many ways. Other cell tower radiation exposure health effects include
tumors, diabetes, heart rhythm disturbances, inflammatory conditions, joint and limb pains, frequent infections, headaches, sleep disturbances, depression and memory problems.

Doctors are discovering all kinds of illnesses showing similar patterns where patients have had a higher incidence of this type of radiation exposure.

The current legal limit for cell site radiation in the US and the UK is 1000 microwatts per square centimeter. Other countries have set more conscientious limits as low as 1 microwatt per square centimeter.  Switzerland, Italy, China and others manage perfectly well with a limit of 10 microwatts per square centimeter. The disparity manifests most where government is less concerned with safety than with the economic and political motives that propel the cell tower movement forward at a dangerous pace.

Some have questioned how close one can be to a cell tower and still be safe. Most studies show that living within a quarter of a mile of a cell tower poses significant health risks including a three times increased risk of cancer. This should not be taken lightly when companies are proposing sites for new cell tower installations in Lake County.

I urge and encourage you to contact your city, county and state decision makers to make your opinions heard on this subject.

Howard Glasser lives in Kelseyville, Calif.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Regional author Kevin Griffin will facilitate a daylong retreat titled “Living Kindness: Buddhist Teachings for a Troubled World” on Saturday, Dec. 3.

The retreat will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at A Positive Light Meditation and Spiritual Center at 6470 Kelsey Creek Drive in Kelseyville.

Loving kindness, or metta, is sometimes depicted as a simple “open your heart and love everybody” practice, but a closer look at the Buddha’s teachings reveals a more complex and nuanced picture.

In a time of great conflict and contention in our society, it can be extremely valuable to see how the Buddha addressed these relevant topics, such as, the challenges of living with other people; the risk of hating anyone, even your enemies; and the dangers inherent in conventional loving relationships.

Griffin uses his teachings on loving kindness to emphasize the importance of sila, or ethical behavior; the potential for opening into deeper meditative states of peace and equanimity; and the importance of developing a non-discriminating, unconditional love on the path of awakening. The retreat will include meditation, lecture, small group discussion, and questions and answers.

Griffin is a dharma teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, Calif., and has authored several books on recovery and Buddhism, including “One Breath At A Time,” “A Burning Desire,” “Buddhism and the Twelve Steps” and his most recent book, “Recovering Joy.”

He is a leader in the mindfulness recovery movement and a founder of the Buddhist Recovery Network. A longtime Buddhist practitioner and 12-step participant, he teaches nationally on the synthesis of these two traditions.
 
Griffin is hosted by local meditation teacher, Reiki Master, and proprietor of A Positive Light in Kelseyville, Joanie Lane, and local author, mindfulness teacher and life coach, JoAnn Saccato, MA.
 
"Kevin is one of my favorite recovery authors. I feel so incredibly blessed and grateful for the opportunity to host him again this year," said Lane. "He is an internationally recognized author bringing his generous heart and message to us. It is a real gift."
 
"I appreciate his unique way of clearly bringing together mindfulness and recovery from a heart-centered space," said Saccato. "I'm looking forward to learning more about working with a loving kindness approach to difficult times and relationships."
 
Space is limited for the event. For more information registration, visit http://www.apositivelight.com or call Joanie Lane at 707-279-6031.

The State of California’s payment processing system – responsible for paying hundreds of thousands of caregivers each month – has experienced significant failures and delays of payment to some of the hardest working, lowest paid employees each month for several years.

Approximately 14,000 In-Home Support Service workers time sheets are rejected by the State of California’s payment system every month resulting in devastating delays of the providers’ monthly paycheck.

In the June of 2016 payroll process, about 10,000 paychecks were delayed by up to ten working days. 

Almost 400 provider paychecks were delayed up to 30 working days. 

As of July 11, 2016, 1,772 providers were waiting for their June paychecks. That is nearly 1,800 people who were trying to patch together enough money for food, shelter and gas while caring for vulnerable residents without compensation.

In May of 2015, some 40,000 time sheets for In Home Supportive Services workers were lost and not discovered to be missing for weeks on end. These are the time cards for providers who care for elderly and disabled individuals in their homes – they often live paycheck to paycheck and this was just one example of many when issues with time sheets and pay delays caused a ripple effect in the lives of these providers.

On Tuesday, Nov. 1, at Los Angeles City Hall, Sen. Mike McGuire will chair the Senate Human Services Committee oversight hearing focused on the state’s payroll practices for IHSS workers.

“For years, the state has been hearing complaints that state-issued paychecks are often delayed for days or weeks in the In Home Support System and it’s time for this irresponsible practice to stop,” McGuire said. “California must step up and fix the payroll system to ensure these hard working caregivers who support hundreds of thousands of seniors and people with disabilities are paid on time and accurately.”

There are approximately 500,000 IHSS providers statewide, who care for about 400,000 elderly and disabled individuals, enabling them to remain living at home. Eighty percent of caregivers in California are women.

The oversight hearing – “The Check is in the Mail: The State’s cumbersome IHSS Payroll Process is Unresponsive to Needs of IHSS Providers and Recipients” – will include testimony about the cause of payroll system delays and panelists will identify ways to streamline the payroll processing.

Panels will include testimony from state and local agencies charged with overseeing the IHSS system, as well as providers who have experienced rejected or delayed time cards and the effects of those delays.

Sen. McGuire is chair of the Senate Human Services Committee. Senator Connie Leyva (D-Chino), Senator Carol Liu (D-La Canada Flintridge) and Senator Richard Roth (D-Riverside) are scheduled to be in attendance.

The hearing will be in the Board of Public Works hearing room at Los Angeles City Hall on Tuesday, Nov. 1, from 9:30 a.m. to noon and will be live-streamed on the Senate Web site at www.Senate.Ca.Gov .

Beginning writers often tell me their real lives aren't interesting enough to write about, but the mere act of shaping a poem lifts its subject matter above the ordinary.

Here's Natasha Trethewey, who served two terms as U. S. Poet Laureate, illustrating just what I've described. It's from her book Domestic Work, from Graywolf Press. Trethewey lives in Georgia.

Housekeeping

We mourn the broken things, chair legs
wrenched from their seats, chipped plates,
the threadbare clothes. We work the magic
of glue, drive the nails, mend the holes.
We save what we can, melt small pieces
of soap, gather fallen pecans, keep neck bones
for soup. Beating rugs against the house,
we watch dust, lit like stars, spreading
across the yard. Late afternoon, we draw
the blinds to cool the rooms, drive the bugs
out. My mother irons, singing, lost in reverie.
I mark the pages of a mail-order catalog,
listen for passing cars. All day we watch
for the mail, some news from a distant place.

American Life in Poetry does not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2000 by Natasha Trethewey, “Housekeeping,” from Domestic Work, (Graywolf Press, 2000). Poem reprinted by permission of Natasha Trethewey and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2016 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.

MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. – Christmas tree permits will be available for purchase at Mendocino National Forest offices starting Tuesday, Nov. 1, and continuing until Friday, Dec. 23.

Permits sell for $10 each with a limit of one permit per household. The number of permits is limited and will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

Permits are good for this year only and trees can be cut and removed any day of the week through Dec. 24. All offices will be closed on Thanksgiving Day Nov. 24, but will be open on Friday, Nov. 25.

As part of the Every Kid in a Park initiative, all fourth graders are eligible for a free Christmas tree permit upon presenting a valid fourth grade pass. The pass allows free access to federal lands and waters across the country for a full year.

To obtain a free Christmas tree permit, the fourth grader must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and present their fourth grade pass or paper voucher. For more information about this initiative and how to obtain a fourth grade pass, please visit www.everykidinapark.gov .

Christmas tree permits will be available at the following locations.

Mendocino National Forest Supervisor's Office/Grindstone Ranger District Office
825 N. Humboldt Ave., Willows, CA 95988
530-934-3316
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Stonyford Work Center
5171 Stonyford-Elk Creek Road, Stonyford, CA, 95979
530-963-3128
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Covelo Ranger Station
78150 Covelo Road, Covelo, CA 95428
707-983-6118
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Upper Lake Ranger Station
10025 Elk Mountain Road, Upper Lake, CA 95485
707-275-2361
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., 1 to 4:30 p.m.

Paskenta Work Station
13280 Paskenta Road, Paskenta, CA 96074
530-833-5544
Hours: Saturday, Dec. 3, and Saturday, Dec. 10, ONLY, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Permits may also be available from the following vendors; please call ahead to check.

Sacramento River Discovery Center – Red Bluff
530-524-1196
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Hi-Way Grocery – Upper Lake
707- 275-2380
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

M&M Feed and Supply – Covelo
707-983-6273
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Keith’s Family Foods – Covelo
707-983-6633
Hours: Sunday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Individuals also may purchase a permit by mail. Mail-in requests received after Dec. 14 will not be filled. The mail order form is posted on the forest Web site, http://tinyurl.com/h8x4hwd .

Christmas tree cutting in the Mendocino National Forest is managed as a recreational experience. It is a chance to take the family out into the woods and cut a tree the old-fashioned way.

For more information, including tree cutting tips, please see the forest Web site http://tinyurl.com/h5o8h3h or call 530-934-3316.