LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has three adult cats and a cute kitten waiting to meet their new human families.
The following cats at the shelter have been cleared for adoption.
This female domestic medium hair kitten is in cat room kennel No. 88, ID No. 13481. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female domestic medium hair kitten
This female domestic medium hair kitten has a brown tabby coat and green eyes.
She has been spayed.
She is in cat room kennel No. 88, ID No. 13481.
“Shelby” is a male orange tabby in cat room kennel No. 108, ID No. 13565. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Shelby’
“Shelby” is a male orange tabby with a long coat and green eyes.
He has been neutered.
He is in cat room kennel No. 108, ID No. 13565.
This male domestic short hair cat is in cat room kennel No. 134, ID No. 13591. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male domestic short hair
This male domestic short hair cat has a brown tabby and white coat and gold eyes.
He is in cat room kennel No. 134, ID No. 13591.
This female domestic short hair cat is in cat room kennel No. 138, ID No. 13560. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female domestic short hair
This female domestic short hair cat has a gray tabby coat and gold eyes.
She is in cat room kennel No. 138, ID No. 13560.
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.
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.
Anderson Marsh State Historic Park. Courtesy photo. LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association will hold its annual meeting and open house on Wednesday, March 4.
The meeting will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. in the historic Anderson Ranch House at Anderson Marsh State Historic Park, 8400 Highway 53, Lower Lake.
The event is free and open to the public.
AMIA Treasurer Henry Bornstein invited everyone to attend
“This is not only an opportunity to explore the Anderson Ranch House but also a way for both AMIA members and the general public to get answers to any questions that they may have about AMIA and Anderson Marsh State Historic Park,” Bornstein said.
The annual meeting will include music and light refreshments and a slide show depicting the wildlife found in the park, highlights of AMIA’s past year and a discussion of upcoming plans.
AMIA’s 2020 officers and the board will be introduced, and there will be a presentation of AMIA’s Volunteer of the Year Award.
For information about the event, contact AMIA at either This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 707-995-2658.
Micah K. Akima, 39, of Lakeport, California, was arrested for false imprisonment and domestic violence after authorities said he assaulted his girlfriend on Friday, February 28, 2020. Photo courtesy of the Lakeport Police Department. LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Police Department said its officers – assisted by other local law enforcement agencies – took a man into custody after he assaulted his girlfriend on Friday evening and tried to prevent her from calling police for help.
Micah K. Akima, 39, was arrested on felony charges of domestic battery, false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon and preventing the summoning of 911, the Lakeport Police Department said.
At 6 p.m. Friday Lakeport Police officers responded to the area of Armstrong Street at South Russell Street on the report of an assault that had occurred, police said.
Officers met with a 47-year-old female victim at the location. Police said she had bruising to her face as well as cuts and bruising on her arms.
Police said the victim reported to officers that her boyfriend, Akima, had attacked her following a verbal argument after she had returned from shopping. The victim reported that she had been thrown to the ground and kicked and stomped on her face repeatedly by Akima.
The woman told police that Akima had taken her phone and she had been unable to call for help. She said she had been able to flee from the residence by escaping out the back door, police reported.
The victim at that point told officers that Akima was still at their residence, located on North Brush Street. Police said the woman told them that Akima was a former mixed martial arts fighter who was possibly suffering from a mental health crisis.
Lakeport Police officers responded to the address and attempted to contact and detain Akima with the assistance of Lake County Sheriff’s deputies. Police said they attempted to contact Akima but were ultimately unable to at that time.
Police said the officers followed up with the victim and obtained an emergency protective order to protect her from Akima.
Lakeport Police officers, with the assistance of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol, returned to the residence where they attempted to contact Akima and place him under arrest per probable cause, police said.
The officers announced their presence multiple times to Akima and ordered him to surrender and exit the residence. Police said Akima refused to comply and remained inside the residence.
Officers and deputies then forced entry from the back of the residence, at which time Akima fled out the front door where he was intercepted and ultimately detained without further incident or injury to himself or law enforcement, police said.
Police said Akima was later booked into the Lake County Jail on the felony charges.
Lakeport Public Works employees responded and assisted with security repairs to the residence, police said.
The Lakeport Police Department thanked its partners with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, the California Highway Patrol and Lakeport Public Works Department for their assistance in bringing the incident to a safe conclusion.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – For the first time in 20 years, the incumbent supervisor for District 5 is not seeking another term, leading to a wide-open race between four candidates.
Supervisor Rob Brown is in the final year of his fifth term. He originally had planned to leave the board after his fourth term but changed his mind after the Valley fire.
Since then, he’s made clear that this would be his final term, and as it became clear that the seat would open up, several candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds went forward with the effort to place their name on the ballot.
The four individuals seeking to succeed Brown as District 5’s next supervisor are Kevin Ahajanian, an activist and musician from Cobb; Bill Kearney, a retired pharmacist and business owner, from the Buckingham area of Kelseyville; Jessica Pyska, an educator and business owner of Cobb; and Lily Woll, who has taught Spanish and English as a second language at both the community college and high school level, of Kelseyville.
The district they want to represent includes the greater Kelseyville area, as well as Buckingham, parts of Cobb Mountain, the Clear Lake Rivieras and Loch Lomond.
Much has changed since the seat was last open to a general race, without an incumbent on the ticket.
Looming over the race is one of the county’s defining issues – wildland fire.
The threat of wildland fire has always been an issue around Lake County, but the problem has escalated over the past decade.
Much of Cobb was devastated by the 2015 Valley fire, the district was evacuated in 2018 due to the Mendocino Complex and there have been several close calls, such as the August Golf fire that ignited above Buckingham and resulted in evacuations for nearby residents in the Riveras.
Two of the candidates for District 5 – Ahajanian and Pyska – lost homes in the Valley fire.
Supervisor Rob Brown, Lake County News file photo. Recovery is a key economic and social issue in the wake of the fire disasters, but just as concerning is what might yet happen, in an area where many communities are clustered around the base of Mount Konocti, an area that has been a concern for a major wildland fire for decades.
Brown, in a January Board of Supervisors meeting, said that when his term ends, he hopes his greatest accomplishment will be to have prevented the communities that interface with Mount Konocti from burning down.
Another concern dominating the race’s landscape is the economy. Economic development and solutions to build and strengthen opportunities in the local business landscape have been raised by all of this year’s candidates.
Regarding fundraising totals, counting 2019 and 2020 totals, so far Kearney has raised just over $34,000 in monetary contributions, Pyska has raised nearly $16,000 and Woll has raised about $4,800. Ahajanian filed forms for both 2019 and 2020 saying he would raise less than $2,000 for each year.
Ahajanian said he’s not asking anyone for money. In describing his campaign, he said, “No big-money donors, no consultants, no expensive campaign managers telling me what to do.”
Many of the candidates are using social media to reach constituents, but door-to-door interactions, mailers, forums and other events remain key to their strategies.
Going door to door “is my favorite thing to do,” said Woll. “I really appreciate it.”
They also are regularly attending county and Board of Supervisors meetings.
The new supervisor is expected to be a key swing vote on a board that is reportedly considering issuing millions of dollars in raises to county employees as the result of a classification and compensation study that has been pushed by County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson. Huchingson, who for the last several years has stated that the county government is in a fiscal crisis, is reportedly in line for a hefty raise herself.
At the Lake County News forum for the District 5 candidates held in February, Kearney said that Huchingson – now also the subject of a multimillion-dollar tort claim alleging wrongful termination and discrimination filed by the county’s former human resources director – needs to go.
In the Super Tuesday presidential primary, District 5 voters will cast their votes for who they want to represent them in the critical years ahead; it’s a race that could extend until a November runoff unless the top vote-getter gets 50 percent plus one to clear a majority.
Ultimately, there is a question of whether who is elected will signify a value shift from Brown, who has been known for a more conservative political approach and a goal of smaller government while he’s remained an ally of Huchingson.
Kevin Ahajanian. Courtesy photo. Ahajanian: Emphasis on sovereignty, private property rights
Newest to the county of the four candidates is Ahajanian, 48, who moved to Cobb in the summer of 2015, after his father’s death and just months before he would lose his home in the Valley fire.
He went to high school in Napa, lived in Seattle for eight years, then lived in the desert in Southern California before later moving to San Francisco and Sonoma County.
He acknowledged that while living in Riverside County in 2012, he had a domestic violence case involving the mother of his child.
“This is a hard thing to talk about,” he said.
However, Ahajanian addressed it in his interview with Lake County News, stating that he owned up to it in three different courts. Court records show he completed the required domestic violence program, served community work time and satisfied the terms of his probation.
Ahajanian said he sought to rebuild their family life. He said his daughter’s mother and her new husband later moved to Loch Lomond and they are on good enough terms that the couple signed his nomination papers to run for supervisor, which Lake County News confirmed with the elections office.
In order to reduce his stress and raise his young daughter in a better environment, he said he came to Lake County to live his “so-called libertarian dream,” and found his niche in a place where he could be more outspoken and could have an acre of his own. Lake isn’t as expensive and overbuilt as he found Napa and Sonoma counties to be.
The Valley fire destroyed his home, and after the property was cleaned up, he sold the lot and bought a house at another location. “After the cleanup, I saw the writing on the wall,” he said, referring to the difficulties of rebuilding.
Ahajanian, running for the first time for public office, gives his occupation now as “activist.” However, prior to moving to Lake County, he had a nearly three-decade-long career in the culinary industry, working as an executive chef in places including San Francisco. He’s also a rock musician.
Of the four District 5 candidates, Ahajanian has courted the most controversy and been the target of the most criticism for his political stances, which even in a nonpartisan supervisorial race have come to the fore.
“Your worldview is going to matter in your decision-making process,” he said.
In the statement he submitted for the ballot booklet, Ahajanian stated, “I have been an organizer of free speech rallies within the Patriot movement of Northern California, for the past few years. My views are libertarian leaning, with a strong emphasis on civil liberties and a free market economy.”
He explained that he began putting on those rallies in response to what he said is an attack on free speech by the far left, as well as the polarization of politics in California and the violent actions of Antifa. Antifa similarly has called him out on social media for his activities.
Ahajanian defined the Patriot movement as a reaction to polarization and ostracization, especially with people in the Bay Area, where the rallies he’s been involved with have taken place.
The Proud Boys also have reportedly endorsed him. That group has been identified as a far-right neofascist organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a group that Ahajanian in turn criticized. Like the Patriot movement, Ahajanian described the Proud Boys as a reaction to the actions of the left.
When asked if he’s a white nationalist, Ahajanian replied, “Absolutely not. Under no circumstances,” adding, “I cannot stand identity politics at all.”
Ahajanian rejects attempts to lump him into that group, saying that he can sit down and talk to people with different political ideologies all over the political spectrum.
He has been active on the local level, joining the Lake County Republican Party and acting at one point as the group secretary. He said that one of the reasons he chose to run is that the local Republicans were trying to find a candidate for the seat and after they couldn’t locate one he decided to join the race himself.
Asked about his big issue, Ahajanian replied, “It’s going to be sovereignty and private property rights, and that’s why I’m running. It kind of feels like the walls are closing in.”
He cited issues with property owners’ insurance as well as the Second Amendment, stating that his neighbors in Cobb are concerned about Gov. Gavin Newsom coming to their doors to take their guns. During the Lake County News candidates forum, he spoke about arming militias locally.
Ahajanian said he also plans to stand against any attempts to raise property tax.
He said Lake County needs money coming in, and pointed to the Maha resort project near Middletown as one project that can help do that. He said there is a big difference between a project like that and the Dollar General that had been slated for Middletown. He said it’s easy to say no to Dollar General due to the low wages it pays and what it does to local businesses.
In speaking with constituents, he said people want help with vegetation management to prevent further first. “But a lot of folks want to have it done properly.”
He said there have been too many demands on tree crews on what can be cut down and can’t in the wake of the area’s fires. “I wish every tree was given a judicial process but it’s not possible,” he said, questioning if local contractors familiar with the area and its needs are being passed over for the work.
Ahajanian and other candidates were at the February meeting of the Lake County Public Safety Power Shutoff Committee, which hosted Aaron Johnson, a Pacific Gas and Electric vice president.
At that time, Ahajanian said he took the opportunity to speak with Johnson about the local concerns.
Whatever happens, Ahajanian said his future “is wide open.”
“I’m a little bit older and wiser,” he said, adding he’s going to be more cautious about getting things done as he negotiates the new political climate.
Bill Kearney and wife, Dana. Courtesy photo. Kearney: A focus on economy and business
For nearly 40 years, Bill and Dana Kearney worked in their local pharmacy business, building up North Lake Medical Pharmacy, which has two Lakeport locations. Last year, they sold the business and retired.
Since then, Bill Kearney, 77, has turned his mind to becoming a county supervisor. He said he wants to bring to it his longstanding commitment to helping others.
In addition to successfully owning and operating a local business, Kearney – a US Army veteran who served during Vietnam – has four decades of community service, including previously holding the president’s job for both the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and the Sutter Lakeside Hospital board.
Kearney said he’s concerned about a variety of challenges Lake County is facing, chief among them wildland fire, the need to protect against them and recover from their impacts.
He also pointed to a lack of local jobs, to rising fire insurance costs – which he said is making it different to buy and maintain homes – and the public safety power shutoffs.
One of his key goals is to bring in more jobs and revenue-generating businesses, and one aspect of that is his plan to focus on recruiting high tech jobs.
He said Lake County offers a more affordable option and a better quality of life when compared to the Bay Area, explaining that he has friends who work for Apple and commute by plane.
“I’m looking for ways to get that message out to the high tech industry in Silicon Valley,” he said, adding you can work anywhere thanks to technology.
Kearney wants to see high-speed Internet get stronger, and said he has invested in local broadband improvement efforts to help make that happen.
Just as difficult as finding jobs is finding employees with the skills who will regularly show up, he said.
“If we aren’t paying minimum wage, we should be,” he said.
Kearney said he worked to create a good working environment for his employees, giving them medical insurance and paying them even when the pharmacy was closed during the fires. “That’s how valuable a good employee is here.”
He added, “You can make a decent living up in Lake County, we just have to take care of our employees.”
Kearney also is a proponent of the tourism industry, explaining that in 1984 he started bass fishing tournaments on the lake – which remain a local economic staple – in order to keep people coming to the lake year-round, not just during the height of the summer tourist season.
Other concerns for Kearney are the impacts to residents and business owners of increasing taxation in the state, water resources and the impact on local farmers, getting a fire station in the Buckingham and Rivieras areas to drop insurance costs, and increasing access to affordable housing.
Kearney said he’s heard from many people who believe he is against cannabis, which he said he isn’t.
He said the cannabis industry offers the county tremendous revenue opportunities and it needs to take advantage of that.
Kearney said he also wants to address Lake County’s growing homeless issue.
He plans to tackle that complex matter on a variety of fronts, with the main goal of working with nonprofits to secure the funding needed for mental health and addiction treatment, and transitional housing.
Jessica Pyska. Courtesy photo. Pyska: Rebuilding and creating economic vitality
Pyska, 44, is a Lake County native. Born in Lakeport, she attended schools in Cobb and Middletown. Her father, John Jennings, was a Calpine employee for more than 30 years, and her mother, Karen Jennings, worked in the Middletown School District before serving two terms on the school board.
She went on to graduate from the University of California, Santa Cruz and worked in commercial real estate in San Francisco before she and her husband, Joel, returned to Lake County to raise their two children.
She and her husband own a technology consulting business, JP Consulting, and she is a classified employee at Cobb Mountain Elementary School, where she works part-time, teaching gardening, nutrition, cooking, science, art, math and environmental education to students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
Her family lost its home in the Valley fire, and since then they’ve rebuilt. Pyska has a wider vision for rebuilding the Cobb community and improving Lake County through disaster resilience and economic recovery.
In recent years she’s been a member of the Cobb Area Council. She said her work as the council’s economic development chair won it a $200,000 grant to develop an economic development strategy to overlay over the Cobb area plan.
They’ve also launched a microloan program for local businesses and she helped found and produce the Blackberry COBBler Festival, which had its debut last year.
In addition to the Cobb Area Council, she serves on the Lake County Risk Reduction Authority Ad Hoc Committee. She said she’s provided input on the county’s hazardous vegetation abatement ordinance that was approved last year, as well as the dark skies proclamation, and the tourist improvement district.
As she’s been speaking to voters, Pyska said that the biggest issue is fire – not just in those areas that have burned but those areas that haven’t.
“It’s terrifying for a lot of people. It’s terrifying for me,” she said.
“That’s the biggest issue, figuring out we can fortify those communities from a major disaster,” she said.
At a Lake County News candidates’ forum on Feb. 19, Pyska said concerns about fire and how to establish evacuation routes to safely get people out keep her awake at night. With the county experiencing a dry winter, Pyska is concerned about the potential for an extremely dangerous summer ahead.
For Pyska, the most important issue is the economy. Key to the economy, she explained, is rebuilding homes, getting new business and improving infrastructure.
Her focus on economic development includes updating area plans, as well as the county’s housing element and general plan. While the general plan is 11 years old, and such plans usually are updated every 20 years, Pyska thinks it needs updating now.
Thanks to the fires, “We’ve got a whole new landscape,” she said.
Once all of those documents are up to date, Pyska said the county can go after Community Development Block Grant funding for the purposes of updating infrastructure.
She said that infrastructure that needs upgrading ranges from roads, to water and sewer, to broadband.
Those are the components the county needs to have in place before it can grow sustainably, Pyska said.
Another big push for Pyska is the effort to rebuild homes in the areas of the county devastated by wildland fires. She said that’s key to recovering the county’s property tax roll.
She said she still sees empty neighborhoods, building moratoriums due to lack of water supply and destroyed roads.
If she wins the supervisorial seat, Pyska is gearing up to make it her full-time job in order to be fully committed to the big to-do list she’s laid out for herself.
While she enjoys her work with Cobb Mountain Elementary’s students, she said she has lined up someone to take over for her if she’s elected to succeed Brown.
Like Woll, Pyska – who was an exchange student in Bolivia – is fluent in Spanish and has made outreach to the Hispanic community.
Pyska was the first to enter the race last year – she made her announcement in May – and has since then landed key endorsements. She’s got the support of State Treasurer Fiona Ma; Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry; Kelly Cox, the retired county of Lake administrative officer; Kelseyville Unified School District Trustee Gary Olson; Lakeport City Councilwoman Mireya Turner; and Tim Gill, an assistant superintendent for the Lake County Office of Education, among many others.
Lily Woll. Courtesy photo. Woll: A desire to improve government, welcome cultures
Woll, 38, was born and raised in Kelseyville, and she said she plans to stay in Lake County.
Her parents owned Roto-Rooter of Lake County for 35 years and also farmed walnuts for more than 25 years. She’s owned a small grocery store in Mexico, which she said gave her a passion for preserving small, family-owned businesses.
A graduate of Kelseyville High School, she received bachelor’s degrees in Spanish and international studies at City College of New York; served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guyana for two years, focusing on HIV/AIDS education and forest conservation; earned two master’s degrees in Spanish and education at Sonoma State University; worked for a year for Lake County Department of Social Services as a bilingual eligibility worker; worked as a family advocate for Lake County Tribal Health; and has been an instructor of Spanish, English as a second language, high school equivalency test preparation, and basic studies at Mendocino College and Woodland Community College.
In the fall, she began teaching Spanish at Kelseyville High School. Between teaching high school and entering the supervisorial race, Woll acknowledged embarking on two huge endeavors that are out of her comfort zone.
Like Pyska, she intends on leaving her teaching job at the high school if elected to the Board of Supervisors because she wants to be fully available to attend meetings and events and interact with constituents.
“When I’m supervisor, I plan to only be a supervisor. I want to give it 120 percent,” and be “as connected as possible to the community,” she said.
Woll has a particular interest in the Hispanic community, explaining that friends and neighbors introduced her to the culture at a young age, and she’s loved it ever since.
“It has been one of the best gifts that I have ever been given in this life, this connection with Latino culture,” she said.
She is married but separated; her husband, who she said is of Mexican heritage, remains a friend.
Woll’s outreach has included a focus on the local Hispanic community, both at events and church services. The response? “It’s been incredible.”
She added, “No one talks about this population, how important it is to speak Spanish, how important it is to include them in our community, now more than ever.”
As she’s been meeting voters, Woll said a key issue is the difficulty of rebuilding in the fire-devastated areas of Lake County. She cited a backlog in county permitting, as well as the lack of availability of workers and services to aid the rebuild. Woll wants to work on educational paths to aid the contracting industry.
She said people also are scared about the coronavirus. In response, she has organized a town hall that will take place at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 2, at Grace Evangelical Free Church in Kelseyville, where local officials will give updates. Woll will be on hand to translate the updates into Spanish.
Woll has a wide variety of issues she wants to tackle, including education about Clear Lake and Lake County’s natural offerings to aid tourism, reforestation of fire-damaged areas, finding solutions and support for drug and alcohol rehabilitation and mental health programs, addressing homelessness, offering youth programs and exploring how to raise the wages of In-Home Supportive Service workers.
But, first, if elected, she would start with the local government. “The first thing I would look at is, I would go to every department head and I would say, ‘What can I do for you?’”
She added, “My biggest concern is that the county government is not running smoothly right now,” and she thinks changes need to be made.
For her, economic development also is a key area for focus. She believes it starts with improving the government so businesses can expand. She also believes Lake County lags behind other areas when it comes to supporting business, and she wants to facilitate business growth and permitting.
How to find out more
For more information about the candidates, visit the following websites and social media pages, or contact the candidates.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control is featuring more new dogs for adoption this week.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Anatolian Shepherd, dachshund, German Shepherd, hound, husky, Jack Russell Terrier, Labrador Retriever and pit bull.
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”).
“Smokey” is a male dachshund mix in kennel No. 6, ID No. 11555. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Smokey’
“Smokey” is a male dachshund mix with a short black and brown coat.
He already has been neutered.
He is in kennel No. 6, ID No. 11555.
This male Anatolian Shepherd puppy is in kennel No. 18, ID No. 13603. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Anatolian Shepherd puppy
This male Anatolian Shepherd puppy has a tan and white coat and brown eyes.
He is in kennel No. 18, ID No. 13603.
“Tyson” is a male German Shepherd in kennel No. 20, ID No. 11202. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Tyson’
“Tyson” is a male German Shepherd with a medium-length tan and black coat and brown eyes.
He is in kennel No. 20, ID No. 11202.
“Spankey” is a male Jack Russell Terrier mix in kennel No. 21, ID No. 13566. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Spankey’
“Spankey” is a male Jack Russell Terrier mix with a short white coat with brown markings and brown eyes.
He has been neutered.
He’s in kennel No. 21, ID No. 13566.
“Nook” is a female hound mix in kennel No. 23, ID No. 11790. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Nook’
“Nook” is a female hound mix with a short tricolor coat and brown eyes.
She has already been spayed.
She is in kennel No. 23, ID No. 11790.
This male husky is in kennel No. 24, ID No. 13585. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male husky
This male husky has a medium-length black and white coat and brown eyes.
He is in kennel No. 24, ID No. 13585.
This young male Chihuahua is in kennel No. 26, ID No. 13590. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male Chihuahua
This young male Chihuahua has a cream-colored coat and brown eyes.
He is in kennel No. 26, ID No. 13590.
“Chase” is a male husky-pit bull terrier mix in kennel No. 32, ID No. 13541. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Chase’
“Chase” is a male husky-pit bull terrier mix with a short tan coat and blue eyes.
He is in kennel No. 32, ID No. 13541.
This male pit bull terrier is in kennel No. 33, ID No. 13549. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male pit bull terrier
This male pit bull terrier has a short red and white coat and brown eyes.
He is in kennel No. 33, ID No. 13549.
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.
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.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – With the situation involving the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, rapidly evolving, Lake County’s Public Health officer is offering the latest information on the illness and a community town hall is planned next week.
This week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a possible first case of person-to-person transmission of COVID-19 in California, specifically, a resident of Solano County who is receiving medical care in Sacramento County, as Lake County News has reported.
In that case, the individual had no known exposure to the virus through travel or close contact with a known infected individual.
That brings the total number of confirmed cases in the United States to 15, with 12 related to travel and three the result of person-to-person spread, the CDC reported.
In response to local concerns, a coronavirus town hall will take place at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 2, at Grace Evangelical Church, 6716 Live Oak Drive in Kelseyville.
Lily Woll, a local teacher and District 5 supervisorial candidate, said she’s heard from community members regarding their concerns about coronavirus, so she helped organize the event.
The event will include a panel discussion about the local preparations for dealing with coronavirus, and there will be a question and answer period following the presentations.
Woll said hospital and emergency officials, the Lake County Office of Education and Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace will attend. Spanish translation services will be provided.
Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg said his agency’s coordinator for emergency readiness, Rob Young, will attend and take part in the panel.
Pace told Lake County News that he plans to discuss the current situation, local preparations and answer questions.
Pace offers Lake County situation update
Separately, in a Friday report, Pace noted, “The situation with the coronavirus is changing rapidly. While the risk locally continues to be very low, clearly the virus is spreading widely – now with outbreaks in Iran, Italy, Japan and South Korea – and the global impacts are beginning to be felt.”
Pace said there are currently no cases in Lake County, but regionally, there are two known cases in Humboldt County of people that had recently traveled to China.
In addition, there are two cases of repatriated travelers housed at Travis AFB who tested positive and are now being hospitalized in Napa County, with no known community contact.
Regarding the Solano County case confirmed this week, where there was no known travel exposure, Pace said, “It may have been a situation where the person acquired the infection in the community, but we don’t know all of the details yet.”
Pace said the public health strategy up to this point has been to slow the spread of the virus through travel restrictions and isolation of suspected cases.
“Fortunately, this containment approach has allowed us to get some preparations in place and given us time to learn more about the activity of the virus. Now as COVID-19 is spreading into more countries, we can reasonably expect it to make its way into the wider community here over the coming weeks or months, and the containment focus may shift to one of trying to control the impact,” Pace said.
While Pace said that the experts are not yet calling this a “pandemic,” it looks like it may be classified as one soon.
“Calling it a pandemic does not indicate how serious it will be in terms of debilitating disease, but it does suggest that it seems to be spreading to new countries rather quickly. Will it be mild, moderate, or severe in terms of illness and disruption of society? We just don’t know at this point. Also, some local areas like San Francisco are calling it a ‘health emergency,’ but that really is an indication of how many resources they are devoting to trying to prevent the spread, rather than an indication of the immediate risk to the population,” he said.
Much of the behavior of this virus is familiar in the way it is transmitted via droplets, and prevention strategies are similar to those used in influenza or other viral outbreaks, Pace said.
He offered the following guidance on how to stay healthy:
● COVID-19 spreads by respiratory means, so it is important to cover the mouth when coughing, cough into the arm, not touch your face, wash hands regularly, and don’t go to school or work when sick. Getting the flu shot, if you haven’t already, at least gives protection from the influenza virus.
● Most people with the virus have mild illness, with maybe 20 percent getting quite sick. The fatality rate seems to be less than 2 percent, and the people most at risk are elderly people with prior medical problems. Children don’t seem to be as affected. So, the strategy will be to protect the most vulnerable people in our community, and when people do begin to get ill, contact their medical providers. Call beforehand and let the office know of the cough and respiratory symptoms, so the patient can get masked before going into the waiting room.
● Masks. N95 masks are in short supply and should be reserved for people in close contact with infected people – health care workers or close family members. Surgical masks should be worn by people with cough and respiratory illness to prevent spread.
● An important step is to practice not touching our faces all of the time because this is a frequent source of infection. Also, replace handshakes with “elbow-bumps” or other forms of greeting.
If the situation worsens, and the illness spreads, there may be some additional preparations. None of these are in effect now, Pace said:
● Travel restrictions may get instituted. The CDC website is a good source to follow any developments.
● Sometime in the future, officials may start limiting large public gatherings (as is happening in China, Japan and Italy). This will depend on how widespread the virus becomes.
● Businesses may want to consider planning for potential spread. See the CDC website and look for “interim guidance for businesses.”
● It may be a good idea to get a few months of prescription medications stockpiled in case there are supply chain problems.
● Sometimes preparations and planning need to be made about how to care for sick family members, or who can tend to children if schools are closed.
● Storing some nonperishable food at home may be a good idea, in case there is “social distancing” required further down the road.
“Preparation and communication are key, and we continue to be on regular calls with the CDC, the California Department of Public Health, and local Public Health departments in the Bay Area. Especially in small, rural counties like ours with scarce resources, we receive a huge benefit by learning from the experiences of the larger urban areas,” Pace said.
“Keeping Californians safe and healthy is our number one priority,” said Dr. Sonia Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health and State Public Health Officer. “This has been an evolving situation, which California has been monitoring and responding to since COVID-19 cases first emerged in China last year. This is a new virus, and while we are still learning about it, there is a lot we already know.”
Angell added, “As in any public health emergency, the Department of Public Health's Emergency Operations Center has been actively coordinating response efforts across the state and preparing for possible community transmission. California continues to prepare and respond in coordination with federal and local partners.”
“We appreciate that this is a confusing time due to the rapidly changing nature of the information,” Pace said. “We will continue to update our community as new information becomes available. Lake County Public Health is in communication with our health partners in the county, with EMS and law enforcement, and the schools in an attempt for all of us to keep up to date on this evolving situation.
For more information about COVID-19, please visit the websites for CDPH or CDC, or call Lake County Public Health, 707-263-1090.
Pictured are Storybook Stout and Mixed Berry Sour at the Kelsey Creek Brewing taproom in Kelseyville, California. Photo by Esther Oertel. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – When my husband and I moved with our sons to southern Lake County nearly 20 years ago, we were happy to discover Mt. St. Helena Brewery, a family-owned operation in a historic building in downtown Middletown.
It became a favorite place to dine out, both for the elevated pub food and the taste of their craft beer.
Though a restaurant remains on-site (more casual than its former iteration), brewing there ceased quite a few years ago. Since then I’ve found myself chasing the thrill of my first sip of their orange and coriander infused IPA.
At long last, the chase has ended.
Much to my delight (and even more so, to my husband’s), Lake County is home to not one, but two craft beer breweries, Kelsey Creek Brewing on Main Street in Kelseyville and the O’Meara Bros. Brewing Company just a few minutes away in Lakeport.
Both offer a selection of beer spanning a broad spectrum from light ales to dark stouts, many with playful ingredients to tickle the palate.
Craft beers have become more and more popular in recent years, spawning an explosion of microbreweries in the United States.
In 1974, when beer was generally mass-produced and light on flavor, there were a mere 55 breweries in the nation.
Today there are more than 6,000 breweries in operation (1,000 in California alone), and that number continues to grow.
Beer is one of the oldest beverages known to man, as well as one of the most popular worldwide, third in line behind water and tea.
As to beer in antiquity, residue of a 13,000-year-old beer thick as gruel was found in a cave in the Carmel Mountains near Haifa in Israel. This represents the oldest archaeological evidence for fermentation of any kind.
The beer was used for ritual feasting by the Natufians, a semi-nomadic people in the Levant, an area in part of what is now the Middle East.
These days craft brewers practice a unique form of alchemy, turning simple ingredients (grain, water, hops, yeast) into flavorful liquid gold.
Brewing methods, sourcing and processing of ingredients, and the addition of spices, fruit or other flavors give rise to countless combinations, making the possibilities for beverage magic seemingly endless.
Both brewing establishments in Lake County are family-owned, Kelsey Creek Brewing by husband and wife team Jason and Caroline Chavez, and O’Meara Bros. Brewing Co. by the (literal) O’Meara brothers Alex and Tim.
Kelsey Creek Brewing is nestled between the Smiling Dogs Ranch wine tasting room and the A + H General Store on Kelseyville’s picturesque Main Street.
I had a chance to visit there with co-proprietor Jason Chavez on a recent Sunday. He does the brewing on-site in a room tucked behind the bar, where large silver vats preside, ringing the small space with their looming presence. Meanwhile, his Irish-born wife, Caroline, manages the bar as well as the business side of the brewery, appropriate since her parents owned a pub in Ireland for a time while she was growing up.
Chavez began making beer in the 1980s while in high school in San Jose, brewing batches on his mother’s stovetop. Since no alcohol changed hands, buying brew kits and ingredients for beer was legal for a minor, and his mother approved as long as he cleaned up after himself.
And just like that, a lifelong passion was born.
After high school, he helped out at a brewery in Mountain View, where he was encouraged to attend the UC Davis Master Brewers Certificate Program.
He enrolled in the intensive five-month program in 1997, finished it, and came away inspired, armed with the science behind the art of brewing beer.
Chavez has worked in breweries in San Diego and Santa Cruz and even did a four-year stint in our beloved Mt. St. Helena Brewing Co. in Middletown, leaving in 2007 to work again in Santa Cruz.
In 2015 he was offered an opportunity to purchase Kelsey Creek Brewing from its founder, Ron Chips, and in June of 2016 the sale was official.
Chavez’s brewing philosophy is simple: brew beer with a clean taste that’s consistent in quality and remains true to its style.
As to the latter point, sourcing ingredients is a key component for Chavez. For example, malt, hops and yeast are procured from Germany when making a German-style beer, and ingredients are imported from Belgium for Belgian Saison.
Food isn’t available for purchase in the Kelsey Creek taproom, but patrons are welcome to bring their own fare from a variety of nearby establishments. The local pizza joint, Pogo’s, delivers there.
And if you’re not too hungry, the complimentary popcorn may be just the ticket.
With so many intriguingly named brews on tap (Jade Monkey, Storybook Stout, Irish Donkey Red, to name a few), it was hard to choose one to try. I finally settled on the mixed berry sour, chosen in part because I’m not typically a fan of sour beers and wanted to see if this brew could expand my horizons.
I’m glad I tried it. It was only subtly sour (Chavez’s wife, Caroline, helps with taste-testing to be sure it’s not too strong), and it had a delightfully berry forward taste.
My husband tried two – the red ale and the stout – and enjoyed them both.
Jason Chavez, owner and brewmaster, and Caroline Chavez, owner and business manager, are pictured behind the bar of the Kelsey Creek Brewing Company taproom in Kelseyville, California. Photo by Esther Oertel. A local band was getting ready to play as we left. Regular patrons were comfortably settled in, sipping foamy quaffs, and a group of visitors shared lively stories and laughter. I turned for a final glimpse of this neighborhood gathering place and was rewarded with a cozy scene of hosts and patrons truly enjoying one another’s company.
Up the road in nearby Lakeport lies Lake County’s only gastropub, O’Meara Bros. Brewing Company, a place my husband and I are always happy to enjoy.
Located on Bevins Street just off Lakeport Blvd. and housed in a modern steel building, this microbrewery has ample room not only for its brewing operations but for a large and lively restaurant.
Brothers Alex and Tim O’Meara work together to run this successful venture, with Alex functioning as general manager, taking care of business operations and managing the restaurant and Tim doing the brewing. They share some duties, too: Alex helps decide what beers are offered and Tim jumps in a bit with “front of house” responsibilities at the restaurant.
The brothers homebrewed for a number of years prior to opening the brewpub, and like Jason Chavez, Tim O’Meara honed knowledge and skills through the intensive brewing course at UC Davis.
Inspired by the many brewpubs in the Pacific Northwest with a neighborhood feel, the brothers opened O’Meara Bros. in December of 2014 and realized the dream they’ve had since childhood of owning a business together.
The tag line for the O’Meara Bros. brews is “Easy Drinkin’ Ales,” and this is realized by using a light touch with ingredients like citrus, ginger, honey, and coriander to create a subtly flavorful and approachable beer.
While they do dabble in bitter ales from time to time, they tend not to focus too much on hops. Most of the ten or so varieties they brew are on the malty, fruity side.
A number of local restaurants have beer on tap from both Kelsey Creek and O’Meara Bros. To help you locate their brews when you’re out and about, a list is at the end of the article below the recipe.
As to St. Patrick’s Day celebrations on March 17, Kelsey Creek will have two stouts on tap in its honor. You’ll also be able to find them at Kelseyville’s downtown “Swig and Jig” on Sunday, March 15.
And in the words of Tim O’Meara, “As always, we’ll be pouring green beer, serving the county’s best corned beef and cabbage and we’ll have music and all kinds of carryin’ on. It’s always a big day for us, being Irish and all.”
Today’s recipe is a classic beer bread with the addition of rosemary and olives, which I recommend serving with a Lake County extra virgin olive oil and a nice aged balsamic vinegar drizzled together on a plate for dipping.
There are endless possibilities for varying the add-ins to this basic recipe. I’ve jotted down some ideas below the recipe to get you started.
Enjoy!
The Kelsey Creek Brewing taproom is located on picturesque Main Street in Kelseyville, California. Photo by Esther Oertel. Beer Bread with Rosemary and Olives
3 cups unbleached white flour 3 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced ½ cup roughly chopped pitted kalamata olives 12 ounces (1 ½ cups) good quality beer 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13 x 9 x 2 baking dish with one tablespoon of the olive oil.
Stir together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl. Stir in the rosemary, then the chopped olives until both are well distributed.
Pour in the beer and stir until just incorporated into the mix. The dough will be sticky and somewhat heavy.
Spoon the dough into the baking pan and spread evenly. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the top.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Transfer bread to a trivet or cooling rack.
Cut into rectangles and serve warm.
Variations:
Eliminate olives and add ½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese.
Diced apple (from one medium peeled apple) can be added along with the cheese.
Go crazy with the olives and add several different types, up to 1 ½ cup total.
Substitute honey for the sugar.
Substitute half the white flour for whole wheat.
Use melted butter instead of olive oil.
Increase or decrease the sugar or honey. (Anywhere from one to four tablespoons will work.)
Increase or decrease rosemary to taste.
Add an equal amount of fresh thyme along with the rosemary.
Add a couple tablespoons chopped scallions or chives to any of the variations or on their own.
Add ¼ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes to the olives and rosemary.
Grilled ribeye steak with crispy onions and asparagus is on the menu at O’Meara Bros. Brewing Co. in Lakeport, California. Photo courtesy of O’Meara Bros. Brewing Co. Where can I find local beer on tap?
O’Meara Bros. Brewing Company beer is on tap here:
– Park Place, Lakeport; – The Yard, Lakeport; – Juicy’s Pizza, Lakeport; – Stonefire Pizza, Lakeport and Clearlake; – Blue Wing Saloon, Upper Lake; – Running Creek Casino, Upper Lake; – The Boathouse, Nice; – Romi’s BBQ, Nice; – The Spot, Clearlake; – Main Street Bar & Grill, Clearlake; – DJ’s Pizza, Lower Lake; – 101 Tap Room, Redwood Valley; – Slam Dunk Pizza, Ukiah.
Kelsey Creek Brewing beer is on tap here:
– Juicy’s Pizza, Lakeport; – Blue Wing Saloon, Upper Lake; – Red’s Sky Room, Lakeport; – The Saw Shop, Kelseyville (beginning the week of March 1, 2020).
Esther Oertel is a writer and passionate home cook from a family of chefs. She grew up in a restaurant, where she began creating recipes from a young age. She’s taught culinary classes in a variety of venues in Lake County and previously wrote “The Veggie Girl” column for Lake County News. Most recently she’s taught culinary classes at Sur La Table in Santa Rosa, Calif. She lives in Middletown, Calif.
Pictured are Saison Atticus and Hunter’s Moon Amber Ale brewed by O’Meara Bros. Brewing Co. in Lakeport, California. Photo courtesy of O’Meara Bros. Brewing Co.
NORTH COAST, Calif. – Firefighters have made gains in containment on a fire burning since Tuesday on the Mendocino National Forest’s Covelo Ranger District.
The Baseball fire was up to 80 percent containment on Saturday evening, according to the Mendocino National Forest.
The fire’s size is now estimated at 211 acres. Forest officials said the acreage is the result of a more precise measurement of the perimeter after a firing operation on Thursday where crews burned the vegetation between the main fire and an established handline to contain the fire.
The Baseball Fire straddles Glenn and Mendocino counties, 15 miles southeast of Covelo.
There are about 100 personnel on the incident including engines and crews from the Mendocino, Klamath and Six Rivers national forests and from Oregon.
On Saturday, crews continued to mop-up and patrol the fire.
Forest officials said the Baseball fire started from previous pile burning on the Baseball prescribed fire project.
The fire is burning in grass, brush and timber in steep, rugged terrain at a low to moderate rate in a mosaic pattern, similar to the desired effects from a prescribed fire. There are no immediate threats to property or structures.
California Highway Patrol Deputy Commissioner Amanda L. Ray. Courtesy photo. In a historical appointment, the California Highway Patrol has appointed the first African American woman to hold its second-in-command post.
On Friday, CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley announced his appointment of Assistant Commissioner Amanda L. Ray as deputy commissioner.
The appointment makes Deputy Commissioner Ray the first African American woman in the department’s 91-year history to hold the position of second in command of the nation’s largest state police agency.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last year reappointed Commissioner Stanley – who also is African American – to his post, applauded Friday’s announcement.
“The CHP is one of the most respected law enforcement agencies in California, if not the nation. As we mark Black History Month and Women’s History Month in March, I couldn’t be prouder of Deputy Commissioner Ray’s accomplishments and contributions to making the CHP the best of the best. Californians have every reason to be confident in the leadership of the CHP,” Newsom said.
Deputy Commissioner Ray stated she was “honored and humbled” to be appointed to her new post.
“I am grateful to continue to serve alongside the amazing women and men who each day are dedicated to providing the highest level of Safety, Service, and Security to the people of California,” she said. “I look forward to continuing to make the Department one that our employees and the people of this great state can admire and be proud of.”
A native of Oakland, Deputy Commissioner Ray, 53, is a 30-year member of the department, rising through the ranks and serving in assignments of increasing responsibility from cadet to assistant commissioner, staff, where she oversaw the administrative functions of the department, to include a $2.8 billion budget, departmental training, information technology, and personnel administration of a statewide organization of 11,000 women and men.
In her new role, Deputy Commissioner Ray will oversee the day to day operations, the administrative and field operations of the CHP as well as the Offices of Legal Affairs, Internal Affairs, Equal Employment Opportunity, Risk Management, the Office of Accreditation, and Community Outreach and Media Relations.
Deputy Commissioner Ray succeeds Scott Silsbee, who retired from the CHP in December.
California Highway Patrol Deputy Commissioner Amanda L. Ray career highlights:
CHP / Academy: 03/12/90, cadet CHP / South Los Angeles Area: 08/09/90, officer CHP / Santa Fe Springs Area: 12/02/99, sergeant CHP / Santa Fe Springs Area: 04/01/03, lieutenant CHP / Riverside Area: 07/01/06, lieutenant CHP / Hayward Area: 09/01/11, captain CHP / Riverside Area: 10/31/12, captain CHP / Golden Gate Division: 09/01/15, assistant chief CHP / Inland Division: 03/02/17, assistant chief CHP / Assistant Commissioner, staff: 10/01/17, chief CHP / Assistant Commissioner, staff: 04/01/18, assistant commissioner, staff
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A pedestrian was killed on Saturday evening after being hit by a vehicle in Kelseyville.
The incident occurred just before 6:30 p.m. in the area of Highway 29 near Live Oak Drive, according to radio and witness reports.
Lake County Central Dispatch reported receiving multiple 911 calls because of the crash.
The California Highway Patrol reported over the air that a pedestrian had been hit by a vehicle and was down and unresponsive.
Kelseyville Fire personnel arrived on the scene minutes later and reported that the pedestrian had died, according to radio traffic. Additional fire units were canceled and the coroner was summoned.
A witness driving in the area reported that the person who died was a woman.
Additional information will be published as it becomes available.
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.
As a historian of mathematics, I have studied women in that field and use the book “Hidden Figures” in my classroom. I can point to some contemporary ideas we can all benefit from when examining Johnson’s life.
1. Mentors make a difference
Early in her life, Johnson’s parents fostered her intellectual prowess.
While at West Virginia State, Johnson took classes with Angie Turner King. King taught at the laboratory high school while she worked to become one of the first African-American women to earn masters degrees in math and chemistry. She would go on to earn a Ph.D. in math education in 1955.
King taught Johnson geometry and encouraged her mathematical pursuits. Thirteen years older than Johnson, she modeled a life of possibility.
Barack Obama awarded Katherine Johnson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.AP Photo/Evan Vucci
2. High school mathematics adds up
Once Johnson completed the standard mathematics curriculum at West Virginia State College, Claytor created advanced classes just for her, including a course on analytic geometry.
Mathematics concepts build on one another and the mathematics she learned in this class helped her in her work at NASA many years later. She used these analytical skills to verify the computer calculations for John Glenn’s orbit around the earth and to help determine the trajectory for the 1969 Apollo 11 flight to the moon, among others.
3. Grit matters
Long before psychologist Angela Duckworth called attention to the power of passion and perseverance in the form of grit, Katherine Johnson modeled this stalwart characteristic.
In 1940, she agreed to serve as one of three carefully selected students to desegregate West Virginia University’s graduate program. She also had to be “assertive and aggressive” about receiving credit for her contributions to research at NASA.
In 1960, her efforts helped her become the first African-American and the first woman to have her name on a NASA research report. Currently, the NASA archives contain more than 25 scientific reports on space flight history authored or co-authored by Johnson, the largest number by any African-American or woman.
4. The power of advocating for yourself
Katherine Johnson worked at NASA in 1966.NASA, CC BY
Initially, Johnson would ask questions about the briefings and “listen and listen.” Eventually, she asked if she could attend. Apparently, the men grew tired of her questions and finally allowed her to attend the briefings.
Later, she joined the West Computing Group at Langley Research Center where women “found jobs and each other.” They checked each other’s work and made sure nothing left the office with an error. They worked together to advance each other individually and collectively as they performed calculations for space missions and aviation research.
Katherine Johnson was at the Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, Va. in 2016.AP Photo/NASA
6. The power of women advocating for women
Although Johnson started as a human computer in the West Computing Group, after two weeks she moved to the Maneuver Load Branch of the Flight Research Division under the direction of Henry Pearson.
When it was time to make this position permanent after her six month probationary period, Dorothy Vaughan, then the West Computing department head and Johnson’s former boss, told Pearson to “either give her a raise or send her back to me.” Pearson subsequently offered Johnson the position and the raise.
7. The legacy of possibility
In March of 2014, Donna Gigliotti, producer of Shakespeare in Love and The Reader, received a 55-page nonfiction proposal about African-American women mathematicians at NASA in Hampton, Virginia.
The California Department of Public Health announced today that new Centers for Disease Control test kits used to detect Coronavirus Disease 2019, or COVID-19, now available in California can be used to do diagnostic testing in the community.
California will immediately receive an additional shipment of kits to test up to 1,200 people.
“These new testing protocols and resources will help California medical experts identify and treat COVID-19 cases, trace potential exposures and better protect public health,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom. “I am grateful to the CDC and federal government for quickly heeding our state’s requests and assisting California’s response to this evolving situation.”
“The availability to test at California’s public health laboratories is a significant step forward in our ability to respond rapidly to this evolving situation,” said Dr. Sonia Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health and State Health Officer. “As we face the likelihood of community transmission here in California, having this resource where we need it, is essential to better inform public health response and protect our communities.”
The California Department of Public Health has been prepared and is continuing with the following actions as the situation surrounding COVID-19 evolves:
– Activating the Emergency Operations Center to coordinate response efforts across the state. – Continuing to prepare and respond in coordination with federal and local partners, hospitals and physicians. – Deploying staff to assist with contact tracing in Solano and Sacramento counties for a patient whose source of infection is unknown. – Providing information, guidance documents, and technical support to local health departments, health care facilities, providers, schools, universities, colleges, and childcare facilities across California. – Coordinating with federal authorities and local health departments that have implemented screening, monitoring and, in some cases quarantine. – Engaging with local health departments in managing suspect and confirmed cases of COVID-19 patients over the past several weeks.
Beyond the work of health officials, each and every person can take steps to reduce the risk of becoming infected with this virus.
– Washing hands with soap and water. – Avoiding touching eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands. – Avoiding close contact with people who are sick. – Staying away from work, school or other people if you become sick with respiratory symptoms like fever and cough. – Follow guidance from public health officials.
If a person develops symptoms of COVID-19 including fever, cough or shortness of breath, and has reason to believe they may have been exposed, they should call their health care provider or local health department before seeking care. Contacting them in advance will make sure that people can get the care they need without putting others at risk.
For more information about novel coronavirus including various resources, please visit the CDPH website.
