LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — High winds and heavy precipitation throughout January and mid-February — coupled with past wildfires — have brought heavy damage to two areas in the Mendocino National Forest.
Out of concern for public safety, forest officials are closing National Forest System trails designated for off-highway vehicle use on the Upper Lake Ranger District and the Deer Valley Campground.
The closure is in effect from Feb. 15 through June 30, per Forest Order 08-24-07.
“The Upper Lake District has experienced severe wildfire, including the 2018 Ranch Fire, back-to-back winters where annual average rainfall is exceeded in just a few weeks, and hurricane-force winds recorded at weather stations,” said Forest Supervisor Wade McMaster.
Winter storms and the forest’s post-fire conditions resulted in extensive damage and downed trees.
Trails are unsafe for public use, with additional concerns of possible resource damage from riding around obstacles on trails. Downed trees and stump holes are making travel impossible and unsafe.
“Right now, we wouldn’t be able to get emergency vehicles into the area in the event of an accident or search and rescue,” McMaster said.
More fire-damaged and live trees are expected to fall as saturated soils may no longer be able to support the weight of the trees. Future storms and snowmelt may also cause additional damage to roads and trails.
“The post-fire conditions of the forest combined with these strong winter storms are challenging. I want to commend our OHV recreation program and volunteers who are actively working to assess damage and restore safe, sustainable access to our campground and trail system,” said McMaster. “Protecting trails now gives us time to repair and recover from the storm damage sustained during this wet winter.”
Last year volunteers mobilized to help the Forest Service reopen trails after a storm damage closure. Several volunteer work days are planned for this spring, weather permitting. Those interested in volunteering can email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more details.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A crash on Wednesday night has resulted in the third pedestrian death in Lake County this month.
The victim was a 67-year-old woman from Nice whose name has not yet been released pending notification of family, according to an early Thursday morning report from the California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office.
The CHP said the crash occurred at 7:38 p.m. Wednesday on Highway 20 just west of Benton Avenue in Nice, in dark, rainy conditions.
The preliminary investigation indicates that the pedestrian was walking northbound across Highway 20 from the south side of the road.
The CHP said 56-year-old Dawn Marie Johnson of Lucerne was driving a 1995 Buick eastbound at approximately 40 miles per hour.
The pedestrian walked into the eastbound lane, directly into the path of the Buick, and was struck, the CHP said.
The CHP said medics arrived on scene and tried to perform life saving measures on the woman, however, she succumbed to her injuries.
Officer Leal Santana is investigating the collision, the CHP said.
The crash Wednesday night has resulted in February’s seventh traffic-related death on Lake County’s roadways.
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. — An elderly man was hit and killed while walking along Highway 29 on Tuesday morning, the latest victim in a series of fatal incidents involving vehicles over the past week and a half.
Pending family notification, the California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office did not identify the 90-year-old Kelseyville man in its report on the crash, which occurred at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The CHP said the pedestrian was crossing Highway 29 north of Seigler Canyon Road, walking eastbound from the northbound No. 1 lane to the northbound No. 2 lane.
Antonio Ceja, 44, of Yuba City, was driving a 2024 Kenworth truck northbound in the No. 2 lane at 55 miles per hour, the CHP said.
As Ceja approached the pedestrian’s location, the CHP said the man continued walking eastbound in the No. 2 lane.
The report said Ceja was late to see the pedestrian walk directly into the path of his truck, and the left front side of the truck hit the pedestrian, killing him.
The CHP said the crash remains under investigation by CHP Officer J. Mahorney.
The Tuesday crash involving the pedestrian is the fifth traffic fatality over the past week and a half and the second involving a pedestrian.
The other fatal involving a pedestrian occurred on Feb. 4 on Highway 20 in Nice, where the woman was crossing the road from Robinson Rancheria’s casino to Pomo Pumps.
Just since Friday, three motorists have died in crashes, including a solo-vehicle rollover on Friday afternoon and a head-on double-fatal on Monday morning near Upper Lake.
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.
Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, has introduced legislation that would help safeguard Californians from wildfires and protect the environment by streamlining the process for clearing combustible brush and trees from alongside roads.
“Many fires are caused by sparks and burning debris from cars that ignite dry brush near our roads,” Sen. Dodd said. “We must make it easier for firefighters to clear this vulnerable land and remove these flammable materials. It will help keep the public safe and defend our exposed forests.”
Under current state law, brush clearing for fire-prevention purposes is exempt from provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act if it is conducted within 30 feet of a structure.
That distance can be extended to 100 feet of a structure if extra-hazardous fire conditions exist.
Sen. Dodd’s new proposal, Senate Bill 1159, would require the Natural Resources Agency to consider granting a CEQA exemption to roadside vegetation management projects undertaken solely for wildfire risk reduction.
Expediting these projects would reduce the possibility of roadside fires and improve evacuation routes, among other benefits.
Also, eliminating red tape would decrease costs to treat roadside areas that currently present a financial burden to small agencies and under-resourced communities.
SB 1159 is expected to be supported by fire agencies statewide.
“Wildfire is a peril that threatens both lives and homes throughout,” said Dave Winnacker, chief of the Moraga-Orinda Fire District and member of the California Fire Chiefs Association. “Few areas are more critical than roadsides near populated areas. Commonsense legislation that streamlines the approval process to maintain these areas will allow more of our limited wildfire risk-reduction resources to be used for fuel mitigation work while reducing the time required for planning and approvals. We appreciate Sen. Dodd’s continued leadership in this area and look forward to this legislation being enacted.”
Dodd represents the Third Senate District, which includes all or portions of Napa, Yolo, Sonoma, Solano, Sacramento and Contra Costa counties.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The death toll on Lake County’s roadways this month has risen again as the result of a solo-vehicle wreck early Wednesday morning.
The California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office did not release the name of the 67-year-old woman who died in the crash pending the notification of her family.
The CHP said the crash occurred at 6 a.m. Wednesday on Highway 281 west of Highway 29 in the Kelseyville area. Conditions at the time were foggy and dark.
The woman was driving alone in a 2019 Buick Encore, heading eastbound on Highway 281 at an unknown speed.
For a reason that the CHP said is unknown, the driver steered the Buick to the left and crossed the westbound lane of Highway 281, leaving the south roadway and overturning onto its left side after colliding with shrubbery.
Medical personnel pronounced the woman dead at the scene, the CHP said.
She was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash and the airbags on the vehicle were deployed, according to the report.
The cause of death is still under investigation, led by CHP Officer Efrain Cortez.
The fatal Wednesday crash led to the sixth traffic-related death this month.
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.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. — The Clearlake City Council will discuss the ratification of an emergency proclamation and consider proposed amendments as part of the midyear budget review.
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
Comments and questions can be submitted in writing for City Council consideration by sending them to City Clerk Melissa Swanson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
To give the council adequate time to review your questions and comments, please submit your written comments before 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15.
On Thursday, the council will consider ratifying City Manager Alan Flora’s proclamation, issued on Friday in his capacity as Clearlake’s director of emergency services, of a local emergency for the winter storms.
In other business, the council will consider adjustments to the city’s budget as part of the mid-year budget reviews.
Also on the agenda is the review and approval of the use and retention of the development impact fees for fiscal year 2022-23, and approval of the purchase of shade structures for Austin Park using a cooperative purchasing agreement with park planet in the amount of $147,942.51.
The meeting also will include the presentation of February’s adoptable dogs and the North Bay Animal Services Annual Report.
On the meeting's consent agenda — items that are considered routine in nature and usually adopted on a single vote — are minutes and warrants.
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.
“Fawn.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Clearlake Animal Control has more new dogs, including many puppies waiting to be adopted.
The Clearlake Animal Control website lists 58 adoptable dogs.
The adoptable dogs include two litters of puppies, one of which is “Fawn,” who is 2 and a half months old, with a blonde and black coat.
There also is “Layla,” a female American Staffordshire terrier mix with a black and white coat.
The shelter is located at 6820 Old Highway 53. It’s open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
For more information, call the shelter at 707-762-6227, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.
This week’s adoptable dogs are featured below.
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. — Authorities have released the names of two more people killed in crashes on Lake County’s highways in the past week.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office identified the 90-year-old man who was hit by a truck on Highway 29 north of Seigler Canyon Road early Tuesday morning as Kenneth John Beech of Kelseyville.
Beech was crossing the highway on foot when he was hit and killed by a semi truck whose driver didn’t see him.
On Monday, a head-on crash on Highway 20 east of Witter Springs Road near Upper Lake killed two people.
So far, one of them has been identified — Evaristo Hernandez Hernandez, 43, of Ukiah, who was a passenger in a pickup driven by a driver who is believed to have been under the influence of alcohol.
The driver of the other vehicle, who also died, has not yet been identified.
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.
Following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s efforts to bolster Cal Fire’s firefighting fleet, President Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act which authorized the official transfer of seven C-130H aircraft from the United States Coast Guard to Cal Fire.
This finishes the partnership which was started by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein and continued in recent months by Sen. Alex Padilla and other California leaders.
“We’re putting more planes in the sky and boots on the ground than ever before to protect Californians from the threat of devastating wildfires. These new C-130H aircraft, when they’re modified to fight fires, will significantly boost our capabilities,” said Gov. Newsom.
As part of a comprehensive conversion strategy, Cal Fire will equip each C-130H aircraft with a 4,000-gallon Retardant Delivery System, reflecting a strategic investment to optimize firefighting efficiency.
The first of these aircraft are expected to begin flying in the fall.
Cal Fire plans to strategically deploy five C-130Hs to air attack bases in Chico, Fresno, Paso Robles, Ramona and Sacramento, with two additional aircraft for surge capacity and maintaining response capabilities during mandatory maintenance cycles.
LAKEPORT, Calif. — In order to help explain a recently implemented information order for the Clear Lake watershed, State Water Resources Control Board staff members will hold a public workshop in Lakeport this week.
The in-person workshop will take place beginning at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 16, in the Board of Supervisors chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St. in Lakeport.
The letter is the result of a newly approved state information order that is rooted in the Board of Supervisors’ action this month last year to approve an emergency regarding the Clear Lake hitch, a minnow native to Clear Lake and its streams.
The information order letter has caused significant consternation amongst the community members who have received it, who can report their information either through the State Water Resources Control Board or the Lake County Farm Bureau.
During the Friday workshop, water board staff will review with attendees the information order requirements and reporting timelines, go over the certification process, explain the reporting pathway options and review groundwater extraction measurement requirements and methods.
In addition to the planned topics, water board staff also will be available to answer individual questions one-on-one and help people who would like to complete the certification process during the workshop. Attendees are urged to bring their information order letter.
The water board said the meeting will focus on the process for complying with the information order and, due to time constraints, it will not discuss the status of the Clear Lake hitch populations or management strategies. However, board staff say they look forward to future conversations this year on watershed health and water quality.
Visit the information order and reporting requirements for the Clear Lake Watershed website for more information about how to report, reporting pathways and timelines. You are also welcome to email questions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The water board will hold another workshop, this one online, at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 22. The information presented at the online workshop will be the same as the information presented at the in-person workshop.
Links to join the Feb. 22 workshop will be sent out soon, the water board reported.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
California is making it easier to charge your electric vehicle.
The California Energy Commission on Wednesday approved a $1.9 billion investment plan that advances the state’s electric vehicle charging and hydrogen refueling goals.
This funding builds on $1.8 billion already invested and will help deploy 40,000 new public EV chargers statewide and other zero-emission vehicle, or ZEV, infrastructure across California, creating the most extensive charging and hydrogen refueling network in the country.
The investments are part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s unprecedented $10 billion budget for ZEVs, which is bolstered by billions of dollars for clean transportation from the Biden-Harris Administration.
At least 50% of the ZEV infrastructure deployed through the four-year funding plan will benefit disadvantaged or low-income communities — places often hit the hardest by air pollution.
Combined with funding from the federal government, utilities and other programs, these investments will help the state achieve its goal of deploying 250,000 public EV chargers at sites throughout California, such as highway corridors and shopping centers. This is in addition to private installations and home chargers.
“Our clean transportation future is here with more than 1 in 4 new cars sold in our state being electric. That’s why California is building a bigger and better zero-emission charging network – the most extensive in the nation,” said Newsom. “No other state in America is doing more to make our zero-emissions future a reality.”
As the state nears two million ZEVs sold, these investments are critical to meeting projected infrastructure needs.
Last year, Gov. Newsom signed a bill extending the Clean Transportation Program and providing a dedicated source of funding for EV charging through 2035.
In addition, to improve the EV charging experience, the CEC is developing first-in-the-world state regulations for EV charger reliability and reporting.
A performance-based standard will apply to all new publicly funded EV chargers which, among other things, will be required to disclose operational data to help drivers make more informed choices about when and where to charge their EVs.
California’s ZEV Market Momentum: In 2023, 25% of new cars sold in California were zero-emission.
The state surpassed both its zero-emission truck sales and vehicle sales goals two years ahead of schedule and surpassed its 10,000 fast EV chargers goal more than a year ahead of schedule.
The success of the state’s programs has led to ZEVs becoming a top export and has spurred major advances in manufacturing and job creation.
Did you know that anorexia is the most lethal mental health condition? One person dies from an eating disorder every hour in the U.S. Many of these deaths are not from health consequences related to starvation, but from suicide.
Up to 1 in 5 women and 1 in 7 men in the U.S. will develop an eating disorder by age 40, and 1 in 2 people with an eating disorder will think about ending their life. About 1 in 4 people with anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa will attempt to kill themselves, and those with anorexia have a risk of death by suicide 31 times higher than peers without the disorder.
In fact, nonsuicidal self-injury, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and suicide deaths are all more prevalent among those with any type of eating disorder compared to those without an eating disorder.
Why might that be?
I am a clinical psychologist who studies eating disorders and self-harm, and I have spent the past 15 years researching this question. We still don’t have the answer. But new work on perception of the internal state of the body points to some promising possibilities for treatment. And what we’re learning could help anyone improve their relationship with their body.
Eating disorders and interoception
To understand why people with eating disorders are at risk of dying by suicide, I first want to ask you to do a little thought exercise.
I’d like you to really think about your body: Think about your hair, face, arms, stomach, chest and legs. What words and feelings come to mind? Are there any things you wish you could change? Feel free to close your eyes and try this out.
I’m guessing as you did this thought exercise, you probably weren’t thinking, “Every part of my body is amazing. Five stars, wouldn’t change a thing!” In fact, many people tend to have pretty negative andhighly critical thoughts about their bodies.
Here’s another question for you: What do you do with things you don’t like? For instance, what do you do when you encounter someone you dislike, a food you can’t stand or an overwhelming list of chores? Do you care for or accept them? Probably not. Most people tend to avoid, despise or criticize the things they don’t like. This allows them to separate and disconnect themselves from these loathed things.
But when you think negatively about and try to avoid your body, you end up disconnecting from it and losing the ability to understand what’s going on inside your body. You start to see it not as your body but as an object.
That ability to recognize, interpret and respond to internal signals in your body actually has a name: interoception, also known as the sixth sense. It refers to your ability to recognize, interpret and respond to a variety of bodily sensations, such as emotions, hunger and fullness, temperature and pain.
Interoception can be divided into various components, and interoceptive accuracy, or how accurately you notice various internal sensations, can be measured in various ways. These include psychophysiological measures like a heartbeat perception test, which compares a person’s perceived number of heartbeats without taking their pulse to their actual number of heartbeats over a period of time. People with greater discrepancies between their perceived and actual heartbeat counts are thought to be worse at sensing cardiac sensations and thus have worse interoception.
Interoception and health
My research over the past decade has found that the worse your interoception is, the more disconnected you are from your body and the less aware you are of what’s going on inside it. And the more disconnected you are from your body, the easier it becomes to harm yourself, whether that be through an eating disorder or suicidal behaviors.
Interoception is crucial to understanding and caring for your body. For instance, you need to be able to perceive hunger and fullness in order to properly nourish yourself. If you were unable to perceive pain, you might end up hurting yourself. And you need to be able to understand the emotions you’re feeling in order to respond adaptively to different situations.
Research suggests that interoception is integrally related to mental and physical health, and impaired interoception is considered a risk factor for various mental disorders. For example, if you are unable to sense when you’re hungry or full, that could lead to restrictive or binge eating. Conversely, if you are hyperaware of your internal sensations, such as your heart rate and breathing, that could lead to panic disorder symptoms.
As you lose connection with your body, it becomes easier to harm your body as an object you’ve grown to loathe. Research from my team has found that people who have attempted suicide have worse interoception than people who haven’t, and people who have attempted suicide multiple times have worse interoception than those who have only attempted suicide once. People with more recentand lethal suicide attempts have worse interoception than those with more distant or less lethal attempts.
Impairment in interocepton is more strongly associated with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts than other risk factors like hopelessness, gender and post-traumatic stress.
Reconnecting with the body
But many people weren’t always this disconnected from their bodies.
I have two young kids who are learning what their bodies can do and are finding their bodies more and more amazing. My 7-year-old son and his friends are delighted when they do gymnastics, standing on one foot or walking across a balance beam. And my daughter, almost 3 now, loves her round tummy: She proudly sticks it out and plays it like a drum. Young kids haven’t yet learned to talk to their bodies in the harsh way many teens and adults do. They haven’t begun to disconnect from their inner senses.
To reduce self-harm, I encourage you to try to regain a sense of connection and care for not only your body but also the bodies of those you love. This isn’t easy, but researchers are studying multiple ways to improve interoception.
For instance, my team has developed a training program to improve interoception called Reconnecting to Internal Sensations and Experiences, or RISE. First, we educate participants about interoception and the importance of cultivating awareness of internal sensations for improved mental and physical health.
After that, we introduce participants to the concept of body functionality by asking them to think of what their bodies can do rather than evaluating their bodies on appearance. For instance, rather than thinking, “I’m getting fat” or “I’m too old” or “I’m too slow,” they can think, “My legs helped get me out of bed today” or “My arms allow me to hug those I love” or “This scar demonstrates my body’s ability to heal.” This is important because body image is linked to multiple aspects of interoceptive awareness.
Finally, we teach participants about recognizing their emotions and changing their behaviors. Emotional awareness is a core component of interoception, so we ask participants to think about where they feel those emotions in their body, how they can distinguish between certain emotions, and how they can more effectively respond to stress.
Consumer culture doesn’t tend to promote listening to your body, so relearning how to do this may take time and dedicated practice. But I believe the rewards can be literally lifesaving.