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On Feb. 23, the Board of Supervisors unanimously proclaimed “Promoting Tolerance, Respect, Equity and Inclusion” among its utmost priorities.
That historic moment culminated significant community efforts, and was punctuated by each supervisor reading a portion of the proclamation, and affirming their commitment to host a community visioning forum to unearth priorities in the following categories:
· Meaningful actions and activities that will build bridges where there may be walls;
· Fostering tolerance, respect, understanding, equity and inclusion;
· Promotion non-violence and non-violent conflict resolution;
· Focusing resources on underlying causes and conditions that lead to inequitable resource and justice distribution; and
· Relevant solutions for any social injustices, as they may come to light.
Community members and governmental leaders that resonated with the board’s proclamation volunteered to be a part of this historic effort, by applying for a spot on the county’s new Community Visioning Forum Planning Committee.
Members include Supervisor Eddie Crandell, Beniakem Cromwell, Angela Cuellar-Marroquin, Delores Farrell, County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson, Sally Peterson, JoAnn Saccato, Supervisor Tina Scott, Clearlake Mayor Dirk Slooten, Lakeport City Councilwoman Mireya Turner and Sue Williams. The law enforcement representative seat is vacant.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday took action to lift pandemic executive orders as the state moves Beyond the Blueprint next week to fully, safely reopen.
That includes terminating the stay-at-home order that was implemented early in the pandemic to protect Californians and retiring the Blueprint for a Safer Economy.
Effective June 15, restrictions such as physical distancing, capacity limits and the county tier system will end.
The governor is also continuing the wind down of executive actions put in place since March 2020 to help facilitate a coordinated response to the pandemic and ensure the state could quickly and efficiently respond to the impacts of the pandemic.
A subset of provisions that facilitate the ongoing recovery — such as the provision allowing pharmacy technicians to administer vaccinations as the state continues to vaccinate millions of eligible Californians every week — will remain in place.
“California is turning the page on this pandemic, thanks to swift action by the state and the work of Californians who followed public health guidelines and got vaccinated to protect themselves and their communities,” said Gov. Newsom. “With nearly 40 million vaccines administered and among the lowest case rates in the nation, we are lifting the orders that impact Californians on a day-to-day basis while remaining vigilant to protect public health and safety as the pandemic persists.”
The state’s decisive and early action through the stay-at-home order directing Californians to limit their interactions with people from other households and the blueprint criteria guiding the tightening and loosening of allowable activities based on the level of community transmission helped slow the spread of the virus, saving lives and protecting the state’s health care delivery system from being overwhelmed.
With nearly 40 million vaccines administered and among the lowest case rates in the country, California is entering a new phase, lifting these restrictions to fully reopen on June 15.
The Governor’s Office on Friday established a timeline and process to continue winding down the various provisions of the 58 COVID-related executive orders, which suspended statutes and regulations to help the state and businesses continue operations during the pandemic.
To ensure that impacted individuals and entities have time to prepare for the changes, the provisions will sunset in phases, beginning later this month, in July and in September.
For example, the suspension of certain licensing requirements for manufacturers to produce hand sanitizer will end on June 30, as shortages are no longer a concern.
By the end of September, nearly 90 percent of the executive actions taken since March 2020 will have been lifted.
On Friday the California Department of Public Health released a new state public health officer order that goes into effect on June 15.
The order replaces the previous pandemic public health orders with limited requirements related to face coverings and mega events, as well as settings with children and youth pending an expected update later this month to the K-12 school guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The action supports the full and safe reopening of the state, while maintaining focused public health requirements that address the risk posed by variants as some regions across the nation and world continue to experience high levels of transmission.
Dennis Fordham. Courtesy photo. Lifetime gifting of property is an approach to estate planning that has its place under the right circumstances.
Lifetime gifting can either be outright or subject to a retained interest by the donor. An owner of real property, who owns their property free and clear, can deed (gift) their real property to another and still reserve (retain) a life estate for their lifetime. A deed with a life estate approach has its pluses and minuses.
A life tenant — i.e, the person with the life estate — has the use, rents and enjoyment of the real property until the life tenant either dies or relinquishes (gives up) their life estate. Thus, the life tenant can live there and/or collect any rent on the real property.
At the end of the life estate, ownership of the real property automatically passes to the holder(s) of the remainder interest named on the deed. No probate or trust administration is required. All that is required to transfer title is that an affidavit of death of life tenant or surrender of life estate, as relevant, be recorded with the county recorder’s office.
During the period of the life estate, the life tenant has all the obligations of ownership, including paying the real property taxes and insurance.
However, the life tenant alone can neither sell the property nor take out a reverse mortgage because the life tenant does not own a fee simple absolute (complete title).
To sell the property, the life tenant and the owner(s) of the remainder interest would all have to join together. The proceeds of the sale would be allocated (divided) based on the appraised value of the life estate at the time of sale factoring in the life expectancy of the life tenant.
Avoiding an administration at death may be viewed as particularly beneficial in some family circumstances. By transferring the property during the owner’s lifetime with a reserved life estate, no notice is required at the owner’s death to the owner’s heirs, as is required with either probate or trust administration.
This means that the heirs do not have an opportunity to contest the trust or will that might otherwise have been used as the owner’s estate planning tool.
Another use of the life estate applies when the owner wants to allow someone else the right to live in the property during their lifetime but wants the property to pass to a different person when the life tenant dies.
This is frequently seen in second marriages where the real property is owned by one spouse who wants to ensure that his or her children ultimately inherit the real property when the surviving spouse dies.
As life tenant, the surviving spouse can live at the residence but cannot prevent the deceased spouse’s own intended beneficiaries (usually the deceased spouse’s own children) from inheriting full ownership at the surviving spouse’s death.
However, in the foregoing situation it is more common for the owner to use a trust — and not a deed with a life estate — that allows their surviving spouse the right to live in the residence and gives the property to the owner’s children at the surviving spouse’s death.
The terms of the life estate are inside the trust. Using a trust to provide the life estate can allow the residence to be sold and a replacement residence to be purchased by the trust while the surviving spouse is alive. That way the surviving spouse can move or downsize their home.
The foregoing is a simplified discussion and not legal advice. Anyone considering or dealing with a life estate should consult an attorney.
Dennis A. Fordham, attorney, is a State Bar-Certified Specialist in estate planning, probate and trust law. His office is at 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, California. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and 707-263-3235.
Mysterious blasts of radio waves from across the universe called fast radio bursts are getting more attention from astronomers. ESO/M. Kornmesser, CC BY-SA
On June 9, 2021, my colleagues and I announced the discovery of 535 fast radio bursts that we detected using the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment telescope (CHIME). Detected in 2018 and 2019, these bursts of radio waves last only milliseconds, come from far across the universe, and are enormously powerful – a typical event releases as much energy in a millisecond as the Sun does over many days.
Every newly captured event is allowing astrophysicists like me to learn more about these weird cosmic phenomena. And, as this is happening, some astronomers have begun to use fast radio bursts as incredibly powerful tools to study the universe itself.
The name “fast radio burst” is pretty on the nose. These signals are bursts of radiation in radio frequencies that last for mere milliseconds. A defining property of these bursts is their dispersion: The bursts produce a spectrum of radio waves, and as the waves travel through matter, they spread out – or disperse – with bursts at higher radio frequencies arriving at telescopes earlier than those at lower frequencies.
This dispersion allows researchers to learn about two important things. First, telescopes like CHIME can measure this dispersion to learn about the stuff that radio bursts pass through as they travel toward Earth. For example, some of my colleagues were able to solve a long-standing mystery of missing matter that was scattered across the universe.
Second, by measuring dispersion, astronomers can indirectly determine one of the most important pieces of information in all of astronomy: how far apart things are. The larger the dispersion measure, the more material the signal encountered. So, presumably, passing through more stuff means the burst traveled farther across the universe.
The dispersion measures for fast radio bursts are so large that astronomers know the signals must be coming from outside of the Milky Way galaxy, but these estimates can be inaccurate because of the uneven distribution of matter in the universe. We therefore needed another way of finding distances to the sources of fast radio bursts to avoid assumptions on how matter is distributed and thus unlock a large amount of information and opportunities.
A striking solution to this problem came in 2017, when colleagues of mine were able to pinpoint the exact location of the source of a repeating fast radio burst in the sky. By taking images of repeating bursts on the sky, they found the specific galaxy that the bursts were coming from. Then, using optical telescopes, they determined the distance to this galaxy – approximately 3 billion light-years away from Earth.
Repeating fast radio bursts make it much easier to pinpoint the host galaxies of their sources by giving researchers multiple chances to catch them. While astronomers work to answer important questions about fast radio bursts – What are they? Are repeating bursts different from single bursts? Are they all caused by the same things? – these lingering mysteries don’t stop us from putting them to good use in the meantime.
The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment telescope has detected more fast radio bursts than any other telescope has.Z22/WikimediaCommons, CC BY-SA
Using fast radio bursts to study the cosmos
The unique properties of fast radio bursts and their host galaxies – combined with recent technological advancements like the CHIME telescope – have given researchers hope that these phenomena can be used to answer some long-standing questions about the universe.
For example, some theorists have proposed that fast radio bursts can be used to study the three–dimensional structure of matter in the universe. Others have shown that the most distant bursts could be used to learn about poorly understood early moments in the evolution of the universe. But to answer these and other questions, astronomers need a large number of fast radio bursts and their dispersion measures, strengths and locations in the sky.
And this is where our new catalog from CHIME comes in. By releasing information about 535 new fast radio bursts – including 61 bursts coming from 18 repeating sources – our team is more than quadrupling the total number of known events and pushing the field into an era of big data. With a large and growing number of measurements, all sorts of questions can finally start being addressed.
Recently, student members of the CHIME collaboration began releasing studies using this catalog. One study showed that the fast radio bursts detected by CHIME come equally from all directions – a fact that had previously been underdebate. Another team studied the shapes and sizes of bursts in the catalog and confirmed that repeating events behave differently from single bursts, pointing to multiple causes of fast radio bursts. And a third team for the first time confirmed that fast radio bursts are strongly associated with known galaxies. This means astronomers can use events to map out the structure of the universe.
CHIME and other telescopes are detecting more fast radio bursts every day, but researchers are just scratching the surface of what can be learned about – and done with – these mysterious and powerful cosmic events.
Colleagues of mine recently argued that attributing thousands of events to their individual host galaxies is “the most urgent observational priority for [fast radio burst] science.” Finding host galaxies is very challenging, though – only 14 galaxies that host fast radio bursts have been found so far. But other telescopes, like the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, have successfully detected and pinpointed a small number of nonrepeating bursts to their host galaxies. Next-generation telescopes are being designed to combine the high-detection capability of CHIME with the high-resolution imaging of the Australian telescope.
The field of fast radio burst astronomy is still in its infancy, and it is hard to predict what discoveries will be made next. But I expect the future of the field to be just like these profound cosmic events: bright and fast.
LUCERNE, Calif. — A Vacaville man died Friday afternoon after his motorcycle collided with a semi traveling along Highway 20 in Lucerne.
The fatal wreck occurred at 12:50 p.m. Friday on Highway 20 east of Rosemont Drive, the California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office reported.
The name of the 70-year-old man who died is not being released pending the notification of next of kin, the CHP said.
The CHP’s Friday evening report on the wreck said the Vacaville man was riding a 2009 Harley-Davidson westbound on Highway 20 east of Rosemont Drive.
Driving eastbound was Ryan Hicks, 50, of Stockton in a 2020 International truck-tractor and trailer combination, the CHP said.
Both vehicles were approaching each other within their respective lanes when, for reasons the CHP said are still under investigation, the motorcyclist entered the opposing lane of traffic and collided with Hick’s truck and trailer.
The CHP said a Northshore Fire Protection District ambulance transported the motorcyclist to Sutter Lakeside Hospital, where he died of his injuries.
Hicks was not injured. The CHP said both men were using their safety equipment.
Neither alcohol nor drugs are believed to be factors in the crash, the CHP said.
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 Board of Supervisors members and county administration with Congressman Mike Thompson on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, at the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport, California, where Thompson presented officials with a ceremonial check representing the $12.5 million the county of Lake is to receive from the American Rescue Plan Act. Photo courtesy of Congressman Mike Thompson’s office.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The American Rescue Plan Act is sending millions of dollars to Lake County to help communities that continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The $1.9 trillion economic stimulus legislation was signed into law by President Joe Biden in March.
On Wednesday, Congressman Mike Thompson, whose Fifth Congressional District includes half of Lake County, including Lakeport, was in town to present ceremonial checks to city and county officials.
Lake County’s total allocation under the act, also known as ARPA, is $12,506,226, said Deputy County Administrative Officer Matthew Rothstein.
“The Board of Supervisors and county leaders are very grateful to Congressman Thompson for his strong advocacy on behalf of our county, and very much appreciate the congressman and his staff making a point to present our ceremonial check in person, yesterday,” Rothstein said Thursday.
The city of Lakeport will receive $1.2 million, said City Manager Kevin Ingram.
Ingram said the city hasn’t gotten any of the money yet.
“As a nonentitlement community we will be receiving our money in two tranches,” said Ingram.
“Tranche” is the term the federal government has used for the allocations.
From left, Mayor Kenny Parlet, Councilwoman Stacey Mattina, Congressman Mike Thompson, Police Chief Brad Rasmussen and City Manager Kevin Ingram at the gazebo in Library Park in Lakeport, California, on Wednesday, June 9, 2021. Thompson presented a ceremonial check representing the funds the city of Lakeport is to receive from the American Rescue Plan Act. The amount on the check is a previous figure; the city is now set to receive $1.2 million. Photo courtesy of Congressman Mike Thompson’s office. He said the first installment should be allocated to the city by the end of this month.
Ingram said that on Thursday the city submitted its paperwork to the state to receive the allocations.
The city of Clearlake, which is in Congressman John Garamendi’s Third District, will receive an allocation of $3,652,191, said City Manager Alan Flora.
“It sounds like we will get the first 50% of the money in early July and the remaining 50% next June,” Flora said.
Flora didn’t report what the city plans to do with the funds.
As for Lakeport, Ingram said they are waiting for the final rules from the U.S. Treasury on how the money can be used. Those rules are expected to be issued on Aug. 15.
He said a plan will be brought to the Lakeport City Council for public input and approval in September.
Referencing comments made by County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson and Auditor-Controller/County Clerk Cathy Saderlund at the county’s Wednesday budget hearings, Rothstein said the planning process is underway for the county’s ARPA spending plan, and a plan is expected to be finalized soon.
Saderlund also reported Wednesday that the county has received its first installment of the ARPA funds, with the second installment of more than $6 million expected in May of 2022.
“Our full complement of federal and state representatives have been important and invaluable partners, as we have navigated challenges and new demands brought by the pandemic,” Rothstein said.
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.
Dr. James L.J. Houpis. Courtesy photo. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA — On Thursday, the Yuba Community College District Governing Board appointed an interim chancellor after the departure of Dr. Douglas B. Houston.
After a nationwide search, the governing board appointed Dr. James L.J. Houpis to serve as interim chancellor beginning July 1, and continuing through June 30, 2022, as the recruitment for a permanent chancellor is conducted through the academic year.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Houpis to our Yuba Community College family,” said Board President Susan Alves, “Dr. Houpis brings a wealth of experience in student-centered leadership, innovation, and equity, that will best serve our faculty, staff, administration, and especially students. Dr. Houpis’ guidance and focus on clear communication, community building, and transparency will be instrumental as we move forward in our selection of a permanent chancellor.”
“I am excited about returning to the North State and joining such an outstanding community college district, and developing relationships and working with committed colleagues, faculty, staff, students and community members toward common goals,” said Dr. Houpis. “I am looking forward to returning to the North State and serving the community in reaching their educational goals.”
Dr. Houpis received his bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences and his doctorate in forest science from University of California Berkeley, his master’s degree in biology from San Diego State University.
He was an environmental scientist and project leader in the Health and Ecological Sciences Division for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory conducting and publishing research in the areas of climate change and air pollution.
Dr. Houpis also served as the dean of Natural Science at California State University, Chico from 2001 to 2010 where he launched the Gateway Science Museum, initiated reform in general education science courses, and doubled the number of science majors.
Dr. Houpis served as the provost and vice president of academic affairs, and professor of earth and environmental sciences at California State University East Bay from 2010 to 2015.
Under his leadership, CSU East Bay’s enrollment expanded to record highs, primarily drawing on students from underrepresented populations.
The campus also instituted expanded peer mentoring, established, and expanded advising in all colleges, developed, and initiated cultural and cohort-based programs, expanded community engagement (from 70,000 hours to 300,000 hours), and expanded co-curriculum and high impact programs across all levels of instruction. As a result, CSU East Bay’s first-year retention increased annually, and the second-year retention was at a 10-year high.
Dr. Houpis served as the president of Modesto Junior College from 2019 to 2021. As president, he established the College’s Online Campus, the Institute for Applied Creativity, and Community Transformation (for college-wide professional development), began MIT’s invention education program in partnership with local high schools, and expanded a zero-textbook cost program.
Throughout his career, Dr. Houpis has been a strong advocate of sustainability, social justice and diversity, and their connections. He has also been dedicated to serving and advancing the needs of students from underrepresented populations receiving several awards for his continued efforts on behalf of Latino students and exemplary service to students through modeling shared governance.
Yuba Community College District spans eight counties. Yuba College and Woodland Community College, offer degrees, certificates, and transfer curricula at college campuses in Marysville and Woodland, educational centers in Clearlake and Yuba City, and through outreach operations in Williams.
The two colleges in Yolo County and Yuba County and the campuses in Clearlake, and Colusa and Sutter counties, serve 13,000 students across the northern Sacramento Valley.
The Summer Reading Display at the Lakeport Branch of the Lake County Library in Lakeport, California. Courtesy photo. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lake County Library's annual Summer Reading Challenge begins Saturday, June 12.
By signing up for summer reading with the library, children, teens and adults will have the opportunity to win various prizes, including stickers, small toys, a Samsung tablet or gift cards to local businesses.
Participating in the library program is a fun way for residents to challenge themselves to read more over the summer.
For students, reading over summer break can prevent summer learning loss and help them start the next school year out on the right page.
The library has programs for pre-K, kids, teens and adults. Children who can't quite read on their own can still sign up and parents can record the books that they read together.
Once sign-ups start on June 12 residents can register on the Library's summer reading website. Registration is open at any time until summer reading ends on Aug. 29.
Residents don't have to go online. They can also register and take part by visiting their local branch. All library branches have been open to the public since late March.
Once registered, participants can start reading books and get points by logging their reading, either online or by visiting the library. All reading counts, including eBooks, print books, audiobooks, comics, or whatever participants like to check out from the library and read.
Reading is its own reward, but the library offers prizes to make summer reading more fun. There will be prize drawings throughout the summer. The more points participants earn the greater chance they have to win. The Friends of the Lake County Library, a community nonprofit membership organization, provides all the prizes.
Once participants read enough to earn 1,000 points the Friends of the Lake County Library will donate a book to the library in their name. The book will have their name inside commemorating their reading achievement and they will be the first person to check it out.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Clearlake Animal Control has five dogs waiting for their new homes this week.
The following dogs are ready for adoption or foster. The newest dog is listed at the beginning of the list.
“Bear.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Bear’
“Bear” is a male American Staffordshire terrier mix with a short brown coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 3476.
“Cleo.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Cleo’
“Cleo” is a female Doberman pinscher mix with a short gray coat who is new to the shelter.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 4865.
“Dusty.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Dusty’
“Dusty” is a male American Pit Bull Terrier with a tan and white coat.
He is dog No. 4750.
“Sassy.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Sassy’
“Sassy” is a female Labrador retriever and pit bull mix with a short black with white markings.
She is house-trained.
She is dog No. 4602.
“Toby.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. ‘Toby’
“Toby” is a friendly senior male boxer mix.
He has a short tan and white coat.
Toby is house trained and neutered.
He is dog No. 4389.
Call the Clearlake Animal Control shelter at 707-273-9440, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to inquire about adoptions and schedule a visit to the shelter.
Visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.
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. — The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said it is investigating another death related to Clear Lake that occurred over the weekend.
Lt. Corey Paulich said 60-year-old Efrain Antonio Menjivar of Martinez went missing while swimming on Saturday near Clearlake Oaks.
At 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Menjivar was swimming approximately 30 to 40 yards offshore near Harvey Boulevard when he went under and could not be located, Paulich said.
Menjivar’s body was located at 6 a.m. Wednesday near the shoreline in the area of Island Drive in Clearlake Oaks, Paulich said.
Paulich said an autopsy is scheduled for Friday.
Menjivar’s death is the third water-related death from the weekend, all of them from incidents that occurred offshore of Clearlake Oaks.
Early Saturday, a boating accident offshore of Island Drive led to the deaths of Webster Medley III, 51, and Novia Walton, 50, of Fresno, as Lake County News has reported.
The newly engaged couple had been out with Medley’s family on the lake when the boat began to take on water and capsized.
Medley attempted to save Walton and disappeared, while Walton was taken to an out-of-county hospital and died on Saturday night. Medley’s body was found on Sunday morning.
The sheriff’s Marine Patrol is conducting additional follow-up, including an examination of Medley’s boat.
As of Thursday, the agency had not released any updates on the investigation into the fatal boating accident.
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.
Gehlen Palmer. Courtesy photo. MIDDLETOWN, Calif. — Gehlen Palmer, longtime resident and former Middletown librarian, is this year’s Middletown Days Pioneer award recipient.
Palmer will be featured at the Middletown Days Parade this year which starts at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 19. He will also be honored for his contributions to the community with a plaque, immediately following the parade, at the celebration near the arena at Central Park.
Palmer didn’t set out to be a librarian, he originally wanted to go into science, but, “Math,” he says, “was the issue.”
Born in 1947 in San Francisco, his formative years were spent around his father’s family who were readers and former teachers. He recalls driving his grandmother nuts by asking her to read “Ferdinand,” and Dr. Seuss’s “Bartholomew and the Oobleck” over and over again.
The family moved to Middletown in June of 1953, right after he finished kindergarten. His mom, Dorothy Rees, was a housewife and charter member of the Lioness Club. His father, Reis “Finney” Palmer, was a charter member of the Lion’s Club. He was also the milk man and owned the Golden State Foremost Dairy which is now known as Clover Dairy.
Palmer attended Middletown Elementary which at the time was located on Highway 175 and Middletown High back when the middle school and high school were still one.
His favorite teacher was Dave Robertson, the English teacher. They talked about books. The high school had just gotten a new library on campus. Palmer recalls typing up the check out cards during study hall.
After graduating high school in 1965, he headed to Humboldt State to study liberal arts. Then in 1967, in order to avoid being drafted and having to go to Vietnam, he joined the Coast Guard.
He was eventually sent to Indianapolis where he attended the Defense Department Journalism School. His last duty station was Governors Island in the middle of New York Harbor where the USO would give servicemen free tickets to Broadway shows. He ended his time with the Coast Guard five years later as an E5 Second Class Journalist.
Next, he headed off to Tampa and General Telephone and Electronics Services where he was a technical writer for two years before heading back to California, specifically, Monterey.
In 1975 he began what he calls “working in the book business.” He was a book clerk at the Navy Exchange bookstore at the Naval Postgraduate school by day and worked for the Pacifica Grove Public Library in the evening.
One day, he saw an ad for a bookstore manager in Astoria, Oregon and he packed up and moved. He held that job for the next three years before deciding to run his own bookstore. He had the store for 11 years, but when his mother died in 1993 — his dad having passed in 1978 — he moved back to Middletown.
He gave himself six months to find a job. One day he went into the Middletown Library and overheard the librarian lamenting that she only had two days left, hadn’t received very many applications and, of those received, not many were qualified.
Palmer put in his application and three weeks later he was the new librarian. At that time, the position was considered extra help and only 15 hours a week.
The old Middletown Library used to be housed across the street from the current library in what is now the Gibson Museum. If you had ever visited before construction of the new library, you know just how crowded it eventually became. There were stacks and stacks of books behind the counter because there was nowhere else to put them.
In addition to his librarian duties, Palmer, the sole employee, also served as janitor and groundskeeper for many years. He says he enjoyed the position and there was lots of work to be done, so he stayed to do it.
In 2000, as part of a classification and compensation study by the county, he was rewarded for his efforts. He received the largest raise of anyone in the county based on all the jobs he was covering. His hours were also increased. He said that he gave himself a “small raise” and put the rest away for retirement.
That same year a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation allowed the library to offer public access computers. That resulted in a conversion of an empty room into a Children's Room. The responsibility was left to Palmer who partnered with the Lioness Club to fundraise and to paint it. They also helped with the forming of the Friends of the Library.
Even with all the upgrades, the Gibson building eventually became too small to meet the needs. Planning for the new library actually began back in 1997 under then-Supervisor Ed Robey. The request for proposal didn’t actually go out until around 2010. Palmer thinks it was under Supervisor Jim Comstock.
County Librarian Susan Clayton gave Palmer leeway to help plan the new building. Palmer also helped to relay requests from library patrons as to what they would like in the new building.
“That got us the donation of the Circulation Desk from Calpine (the reception desk in the Visitor's Center) and the transfer of custom shelving from the Gibson Children's Room to the new library,” he said.
Palmer credits many individuals with helping with planning.
In April of 2013, the efforts of so many came to fruition and the new library was opened. Palmer got to enjoy the new building until he retired in November of 2018.
It should be noted that when he retired the position was still not full-time at just 30 hours a week, which, he says, gave him more time at home and to do the things he wanted to do.
These days, he still has lots to do around his house as he is one of the folks who lost his home in the Valley fire. He is enjoying his retirement and his new home, especially the back porch which has a great view of Cobb Mountain. He calls the porch a “terrible distraction.”
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Public Health staff updated the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday about the latest developments with COVID-19, including case and testing rates, and efforts to include vaccine coverage.
Acting Public Health Officer Dr. Evan Bloom and epidemiologist Sarah Marikos joined the board via Zoom.
“The short of it is that things remain the same,” said Bloom, noting case rates are low at 3.3 per 100,000 people, with testing positivity of 2.5 percent
“There have been some upticks in cases around Northern California,” Bloom noted.
“We are seeing some indications of possible mild upticks within Lake County, however, that remains to be seen with our numbers,” he added.
Bloom said vaccination coverage rates also remain the same.
Marikos said testing is declining statewide, with an overall test positivity rate of 0.8% and the daily case rate at 2 cases per 100,000 people.
She said the state was set to release its updated tier metrics on the Blueprint for a Safer Economy later that day, with Lake County to remain in the orange tier, indicating moderate transmission. She said that ranking is based on data from May 23 to 29.
Lake is among 35 counties in the orange tier this week, with 19 in the yellow, or minimal transmission, tier and three in the red, or substantial transmission, tier. There are none in the widespread, or purple tier, according to the state’s blueprint website.
Marikos said the state will be running the blueprint for the last time next week as it’s planning to sunset the framework on June 15.
She said Lake County’s overall case rate has been really stable since mid-April, with the number of cases ranging from 12 to 24 per week.
Testing is declining slightly in Lake County and also is declining statewide, said Marikos. Compared to a lot of other rural counties, Lake County is doing a good job of testing people and keeping the testing rate up, she added.
Over the last two week, about 950 county residents were newly vaccinated. Marikos said 53% of Lake County residents age 12 and older are now fully or partially vaccinated, compared to 66% of Californians.
Marikos offered the following vaccination breakdowns by age group: 8% of those in the 12 to 17 age group are vaccinated; 37% of those ages 18 to 49; 67%, ages 60 to 64; and 61%, age 65 and older.
With vaccinations slowing, the disparity between Lake County’s numbers and state is growing, because the state is vaccinating at a higher pace, Marikos said.
Speaking to the sunsetting of the blueprint framework, Bloom said, “Although the restrictions for businesses are going away, and that we are all happy that they are going away, the virus is not going away. The virus is still here, which is why vaccination is important.”
He said the virus comes in waves, and its impact differs in times of the year and seasons, which is why he encouraged people to get the vaccine.
Public Health is concerned that the vaccination rate and coverage is slowing, particularly in the 65-plus and 18 to 49 age ranges, he said.
“Vaccination is still important because we have not reached a level where we would feel that we could avoid a significant surge based on vaccine coverage of the county,” he said.
He encouraged people to continue to take precautions after the tiers go away on June 15, including wearing a mask if necessary and continuing to use social distancing, including in large groups.
There were some big community events recently where masking and social distancing didn’t take place, and he said Public Health is starting to see some cases from people who attended those events. That leads them to be concerned about more upcoming events, like July 4.
“The virus is still with us, unfortunately, so use your common sense,” Bloom said.
All of the vaccines are available throughout Lake County, with Bloom noting that Public Health is working on a number of different fronts to try to increase vaccination coverage incrementally.
Bloom said Public Health is working with school boards and will soon be starting clinics for children and families that will rotate throughout Lake County’s school districts.
They also are working with Behavioral Health, Medicare and Medicaid providers, and Public Health has applied for support from the state for mobile vaccination teams, he said.
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.
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Mysterious blasts of radio waves from across the universe called fast radio bursts are getting more attention from astronomers. 
