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Sunshine Week takes place March 15 through 21. It puts the focus on the public's right to know about what its government is doing, at all levels.
Since 2006, the percentage of adults who believe the federal government to be somewhat or very secretive has grown steadily; from 62 percent in 2006 to 74 percent in 2008. The latest survey finds 73 percent characterizing federal government as secretive.
This mood is perhaps buoyed by the nearly eight in 10 adults who think President Barack Obama's Freedom of Information directive calling for a presumption of disclosure is the right thing to do.
“Trust in government has been on the decline for some time in the United States. The previous administration's disclosure policies certainly contributed to public skepticism,” said Jerry Miller, director of the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University. “People now appear more optimistic, but still guarded, about President Obama and the current administration's disclosure practices under the Freedom of Information Act.”
As in previous years' surveys, people see their state and local governments as more open than the federal system. At the state level, 54 percent view government as open, 44 percent as secretive. People also are more trusting of local public officials. More than half, 56 percent, say their local government is very or somewhat open, with 44 percent rating it as very or somewhat open.
“The more open our government, the more inclusive the processes that impact our everyday lives,” noted Rich Boehne, president and chief executive officer of The E.W. Scripps Co.
Two-thirds of adults (67 percent) say they've heard of the federal Freedom of Information Act, and when told about it, slightly more (77 percent) think it is a good law. However, hardly anyone surveyed had ever used it. Nine in 10 adults (94 percent) have never requested information using a FOIA request. None of this, of course, dulls their skepticism about compliance with the law: 61 percent say they believe the federal government only sometimes, rarely or never obeys FOIA law.
“It's heartening there is a reversal in the downward trend of public confidence in the openness of the federal government,” said Andrew Alexander, co-chair of the American Society of Newspaper Editor's FOI Committee.
“But it's sobering to note that more than half of those surveyed said they still believe their government only sometimes, rarely or never abides by disclosure requirements mandated by law,” added Alexander, who is ombudsman at The Washington Post.
The survey of 946 adults was conducted by telephone from Feb. 16 through March 11 by the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University under a grant from the Scripps Howard Foundation. The survey has a margin of error of about 4 percentage points.
The survey has been commissioned by ASNE for Sunshine Week since 2006, Sunshine Week is a non-partisan open government initiative led by ASNE, with print, online and broadcast media; public officials; civic groups and non-profit organizations; public and special libraries; educators and students; religious leaders; and others. It is primarily funded by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
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For me, purchasing shrimp is a moral dilemma. I have to have conversations with a pantheon of deities in order to just put a package of shrimp in my shopping cart.
Why would something as simple and tummy-rubbing as shrimp do this to my already fragile psyche? Because the methods used to get it to my grocer’s seafood case are environmentally detrimental.
Both wild-caught shrimp and farm-raised pose problems that just make me squirm. When I was younger I was Mr. Environmentalist. My school reports were always about natural power sources (that was before it was called “alternative energy” or “green energy”). As a teen, I wrote letters to the leaders of foreign governments about environmental issues and my concerns about their countries’ practices. There is even a law in Minnesota (my homeland) dealing with the proper disposal of toxic chemicals that I was the instigator for and major force behind.
Now I’ll admit in recent years my stance has softened and I’m not walking around with petitions to get free dental care for the whales anymore, but I still consider environmental factors when I go to the grocery store. Deciding what kind of shrimp to buy brings these issues to the front of my mind.
Let’s start with wild-caught shrimp, which has been the bane of environmentalists for a long time. I was once an activist against shrimp trawlers. Shrimp caught by trawl is the worst environmental disaster since the seven plagues. A giant net is dragged behind the boat scooping up everything in its path. Law requires a special escape hatch to allow turtles to escape, but everything else goes in.
When full, the net is pulled in and dumped onto the deck of the boat. The crew then picks through all of the creatures and removes the shrimp individually. Once all the shrimp are pulled out the remaining “bycatch” is dumped back into the ocean, most of it now dead or near death. Seagulls follow these boats because they know that eventually a smorgasbord of dead fish will be served from the back of it.
Shrimp trawlers catch approximately 2 percent of the world’s shrimp but produce one-third of the world’s bycatch. The ratio of sea life caught in the nets that isn’t shrimp but that will inevitably die on the deck of the boat ranges between 5 to 20 pounds of bycatch for every 1 pound of shrimp caught. The thought of up to 20 pounds of sea life dying so I can have 1 pound of shrimp is very distressful to me.
The fact that wild shrimp have to fight for survival makes them have thicker shells (thicker shells mean more flavor), firmer flesh and more complex flavor. There is even a movement starting promoting that wild shrimp be sold with identifiers, like American Viticultural Areas or special regions, similar to what oyster farms did with marketing “Blue Points” and “Hog Island.”
While the flavor of wild shrimp is usually better than farmed shrimp, the quality can vary a great deal. After all, the shrimp has had no standards placed on it until it hits the processor. So now I have to consider ... wild shrimp will most likely (though not definitely) taste better than farmed, but what about all of that wasted sea life?
Farm-raised shrimp was the savior of the ocean when it was first started but the profit caused a problem. It was TOO profitable. Everyone wanted in and shrimp farms sprang up all over. Farming solves the issue of the massive amounts of dead bycatch, but miles and miles of coastal mangrove forests have been cleared to make the shrimp farms. Mangrove forests create intertidal habitats where the trees grow in a great tangle of roots and branches, giving prime breeding and nursery habitat for countless aquatic species. The removal of these forests now leaves these small creatures no place to hide from predators.
The shrimp farms feed the shrimp fish meal until they reach a harvestable size, at about four and a half months. Farm-raised shrimp is not fed for a week prior to harvest, which not only saves money for the farmer but cleans out the digestive tract (sand vein) of the shrimp so they don’t need to be de-veined.
The flavor of farmed shrimp isn’t generally quite as good as wild-caught, but the consistent quality is assured. It is so reliable that a plate full of farm-raised shrimp look like they were cloned. Yet the loss of the intertidal habitat that shrimp farming has caused may result in grave damage to the species that used to breed in them. Though the effects may not be felt for another decade or more, by then it may be too late to repair the damage.
I get a sad chuckle at the idea that the very bycatch that shrimp trawlers throw out as waste into the ocean to rot could be kept and turned into fish meal that the shrimp farmers could then use. I guess it’ll be a while before we live in that world of cooperation. All these issues make me want to become a vegetarian, but when you look into the eyes of a young potato and it just tugs at your heart ...
Shrimp is a lot like fowl. Just like chicken, turkey, guinea hens and hummingbirds all taste differently, shrimp varieties taste different from each other. Where the shrimp lived and what it ate greatly affects the taste. All shrimp are high in calcium, iodine, and protein. The cholesterol levels in shrimp actually improve the levels of LDL to HDL and lowers triglycerides, so in the end shrimp is great food for dieting. But it should be mentioned here that the only seafood species higher in cholesterol than shrimp are squid and caviar. A typical meal of 10 medium/large sized shrimp gives you about half of the American Heart Association’s recommended daily amount.
Personally I believe one of the reasons that shrimp is so popular in American cuisine is because the average person doesn’t know what a poorly cooked shrimp looks or tastes like. When I look at grocery store pre-cooked shrimp I cringe because most of it looks overcooked already. You can tell if shrimp is overcooked by looking at it. Perfectly cooked shrimp will make a “C” or half moon shape. If the shrimp makes a full-circled “O”, or even a full curl like the number nine, that shrimp is overcooked, and though it will still taste like shrimp it will be overly chewy. If you want truly superior tasting shrimp you need to buy it raw with the shell on, cook it in the shell and peel it yourself.
Cooking the shrimp with the shell on will give you more shrimp flavor, but if you want to flavor your shrimp with a traditional Louisiana shrimp boil or Old Bay seasoning you will want to peel the shrimp first.
So with all of this information about shrimp, I bet you’re wondering: when I do buy shrimp, what kind do I purchase? Most of the time I get farm raised tiger shrimp, but once in a while one of the deities in my head get me to purchase wild shrimp. Gotta go with what they recommend.
This recipe will cook a dozen shrimp perfectly.
1 pound (about 25) medium/large shrimp
Fill your largest (2 quarts) pot about 2/3 full with water and add a generous amount of salt, old bay or whatever seasoning you like. Cover, heat to a furious boil, and then add shrimp, replace the cover and immediately turn off the heat. Let sit for 15 to 20 minutes until shrimp is done. (If you don’t know what size your pot is or what size the shrimp is just figure two-thirds water to one-third shrimp; the cooking process for any size shrimp or pot will stay the same.)
Drain the water. You can serve the shrimp immediately hot with melted butter, but if you’re cooking the shrimp ahead you’ll want to throw the shrimp in an ice water bath to chill them down and stop the cooking process.
I’m not a big fan of cocktail sauce since anything you eat with it tastes like cocktail sauce and nothing else, but my daughter loves it so I make it. One day I left her at home with a bunch of shrimp and no cocktail sauce and she called me to get instructions on how to make it!
The following recipe is what I came up with for her to make herself if it ever happens again. It’s very simple, so feel free to add or subtract anything you like (for example, herbs could do some wonders). This recipe is enough for half a pound to a pound of shrimp, depending on how heavy a dipper you are.
Cocktail sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon prepared horseradish sauce
1 or 2 shots of hot sauce to taste
Mix, chill, serve.
Ross A. Christensen is an award-winning gardener and gourmet cook. He is the author of "Sushi A to Z, The Ultimate Guide" and is currently working on a new book. He has been a public speaker for many years and enjoys being involved in the community.
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Earlier this week I was surfing for vinyl on Ebay and I came across a collectible copy of the Flamin Groovies album entitled “Now” from 1978. Packed away in my CyberSoulMan arsenal of facts is the knowledge that the Groovies were No. 4 on the San Francisco Chronicle’s Top 100 Bay Area Bands, a list which was published in the Chron’s pink section at dawn of the new millennium. I actually have a copy of that article in my personal archives.
Virtuoso musician Mike Wilhelm, former lead and rhythm guitarist of the group, as some of you well know is a Lake County resident. Wilhelm also played in one of San Francisco’s first psychedelic bands, The Charlatans. This is the man that Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead proclaimed was his favorite guitar player way back in uh, nineteen and sixty-seven. I’ve been privileged to become gradually acquainted with him over the last couple of years. Recently he gave me several tracks of music he produced for air play at KPFZ.
So, as kind of a favor in return, I called up Wilhelm to let him know that a nice copy of some of his recorded work was available for bid on Ebay. Just in case there was a gap in his archives. We music aficionados have to stick together you know.
Brother Wilhelm has his stuff together. He already has two copies of “Now.” But the call set the stage, if you will, for a very cool musical dialogue that I would like to share with you.
When I finally realized we were talking some deep cultural Americana information and started taking notes, we were knee deep in a conversation about the great Johnny Otis. Johnny Otis has had an extraordinary music career also. Bandleader, composer, producer – you name it in the world of rhythm and blues, Mr. Otis has done it. He discovered (Little) Esther Phillips, Etta James, Sugar Pie DeSanto and a host of other huge names in R&B. Though he was of Greek ancestry, Johnny Otis always purveyed an African-American persona.
Wilhelm talked about growing up in L.A. and watching the Johnny Otis television show every Friday night in his home. Reminiscing about the rich diversity present in Southern California in his childhood, Wilhelm recalled the other King of Western Swing, Spade Cooley. Cooley had a big band and a Saturday night TV show. Cooley had become an actor through his association with Roy Rogers and parleyed that into a very successful TV show. Throw in Lawrence Welk’s TV show in conjunction with Wilhelm’s parents' classical music collection and stuff he sought out on radio, Mike Wilhelm couldn’t help but be exposed to a lot of great music.
Wilhelm and David Crosby were tight before Crosby joined the Byrds. This was during the pre-rock folk scene days. Crosby was with Les Baxter’s Balladeers at the time.
Wilhelm spoke of playing a gig as a Charlatan at the Fillmore with Arthur Lee & Love. Arthur Lee & Love were once upon a time L.A.’s biggest rock band. Lee wouldn’t tour outside the West Coast. He brought Jim Morrison and the Doors to Elektra Records who soon became L.A.’s biggest band.
The most moving part of Wilhelm’s dialogue was his sharing of how Blues legend Brownie McGee gladly taught Wilhelm licks on the guitar that have continued to further his playing and appreciation of the blues to this day.
Wilhelm told hilarious anecdotes about finally moving to San Francisco’ Japantown in about 1963. Upper crusty white neighborhood on one side, black neighborhood on the other. A mysterious mixture of no man's land in between.
He said that most of the time, he chose to live in the black neighborhoods as the rent was more affordable and it was infinitely easier to rehearse your band in the ‘hood. People wouldn’t call the police if you were too loud. They’d simply knock on your door if you were bothering them.
In Wilhelm’s words, “I functioned well in that milieu. It wasn’t until the rents in the ghetto got as ridiculous as they were in the nice neighborhoods that I moved out. I survived no problem. People would come up and say, 'Hey, gimme 50 cents.' I’d say, 'I ain’t got nothin’ but trouble.' They’d say, 'I heard that' and leave me alone. They didn’t want any of that! I get by that way. Carry a walkin’ stick and dress sharp. People would ask me, 'How can you live down there?' I’d tell ‘em, it’s just like any other neighborhood. You just get to know your neighbors a little bit and it’s probably better in some respects. If you’re rehearsing your band in your dining room and your neighbor’s got to get up in the morning and go to work, he’ll just come over and communicate that to you and let you know when a cool time would be.”
Not wanting to be all take and no give, I told Wilhelm my Percy Mayfield story.
Percy Mayfield was the legendary songwriter and artist who wrote and sang some killer rhythm and blues hits for himself and people like Ray Charles. I stood with him in the alcove of a nightclub one morning from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. at his behest until his irresponsible booking agent of a ride showed up. I still remember his plaintive plea. “Don’t leave me, little brother.” It was like, my blues duty.
Finally, Wilhelm told me his Jimmy Reed story. It was like two stories in one.
The first was about how Wilhelm had observed Jimmy Reed in a bout of creative professionalism, told the audience he was having technical difficulties. Reed left the stage to relieve himself and returned a few moments later and announced the technical difficulty solved. He then proceeded to wow the crowd.
The second part of the story was near the end of Reed’s performing career. He was sober from booze. Reed was playing and singing magnificently. Between sets, Wilhelm and his friend asked Jimmy Reed to play a certain tune. Reed replied, “I can’t find a recording of that.”
Wilhelm’s friend asked, “What do you mean?”
The blues great replied, “Ever since I quit drinking, I can’t remember my tunes. I’ve had to relearn all my material off records. If I can get that record, I’ll be glad to do it for you next time.”
There it is. The case of the gap in the archives. It’s like a Dr. John song. Right place, wrong time!
Keep prayin’, keep thinkin’ those kind thoughts!
*****
Upcoming cool events:
Konocti Vista Casino presents Andre Williams & Friends, Friday, March 20. 2755 Mission Rancheria Road, Lakeport. 707-262-1900.
Blue Wing Blue Monday Blues: Twice As Good, Monday, March 16, 6:30 p.m. at the Blue Wing Saloon & Café. 9520 Main St., Upper Lake. 707-275-2233.
Calling For Light: A Spring Concert of Poetry and Music. Carolyn Hawley, piano, plays Chopin and original works. Accompaniment to poetry. T. Watts, accompaniment on trumpet. Lake County Poets Laureate Mary McMillan, Sandra Wade, Carolyn Wing Greenlee, James BlueWolf and Jim Lyle. Sunday, March 15, 3 p.m. Galilee Lutheran Church, 8860 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville. Tickets cost $10 in advance at Watershed Books, Lakeport, and Wild About Books, Clearlake. $15 at the door. Children free. A benefit for KPFZ 88.1 FM.
T. Watts is a writer, radio host and music critic.
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THE SPELLING OF A WITNESS' NAME HAS BEEN CORRECTED.
LUCERNE – Northshore Fire officials are still trying to determine what caused a fire that destroyed a Lucerne man's home on Friday evening.
The fire was dispatched at approximately 8:18 p.m. Friday to 6856 Lakeshore Boulevard, the home of George Riehl.
Neighbors initially had been concerned that Riehl, injured in a motorcycle crash a few years ago, was still inside. However, he was safely evacuated.
Sitting on the ground about a block down the street from his burning home, Riehl was crying out, “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!”
Some neighbors took the chance to get away from the scene, where propane tanks were said to be located.
One woman took her two small children and walked down the street and away from the street crowded with emergency responders, saying that if anything else exploded she wanted her children to be safe.
Fire hoses were stretched out for blocks and water was running down the streets from the house, tucked in at the end of Lakeshore Boulevard in the Lucerne Riviera.
A total of 10 Four Northshore Fire vehicles – including four trucks, two battalion chiefs, Chief Jim Robbins, two ambulances and another large pickup – plus two Lake County Sheriff's patrol vehicles responded to the scene.
“We're not sure what the cause was,” said Robbins, explaining that Riehl had driven up to the house and parked on power lines that the fire had knocked down.
The downed lines were sparking and hampering firefighters from getting into Riehl's home, said Robbins. Pacific Gas and Electric was called to the scene to deal with the power line issues so firefighters could work on the fire.
Barry Mac Leod, who lives next door in another home owned by Riehl, was standing in bare feet outside of his home, trying to find his dog and two cats. His wife took a cat out of the garage, tucking it into her coat.
He said he was in his kitchen when he heard barking dogs, then his daughter said that Riehl's house was on fire. About that time he said he heard an explosion, which he guessed came from a small propane tank on the side of Riehl's house.
Mac Leod said he got his grandson and family out of the house, then rescued his motorcycle from the garage, but hadn't been able to find his dog or second cat.
He said he used a garden hose to put out one of the burning power lines as the fire reached a point over his house. Mac Leod also wetted down the back of his own home and tried to put out the fire burning Riehl's home.
“His home is completely gone,” said Mac Leod.
As he was speaking another loud explosion from the direction of Riehl's home was heard. Acrid-smelling smoke came from the house and floated down the street.
The fire damaged the back of Mac Leod's home and its eaves, Robbins said.
Mac Leod pointed out that it was Friday the 13th. “I just mowed the lawn today, too.”
He said he was grateful he was there and able to take action.
“If we hadn't gotten home it might have taken everything,” he said, adding that he feared the fire could have reached two or three other homes, all of which are built in close proximity to one another along the street.
An arson investigator was called to the scene to help in determining the fire's cause.
Northshore Fire engines were still returning to quarters at nearly 1 a.m. Saturday after working on the scene all evening. One engine was reported to be staying on scene all night.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LAKEPORT – A sea of people in various shades of pink descended on Lakeport's Courthouse Square Friday afternoon, rallying to show their support for education in these uncertain times.
Educators, parents, students, community members and a few canines festooned with pink ribbons were on hand for the “Stand Up for Schools” event, coinciding with “Pink Friday” – the deadline day for districts to give pink slips to teachers for the coming fiscal year.
The afternoon rally in downtown Lakeport was punctuated by the incessant honking of passing cars, their drivers hitting the horns to show support for schools, teachers and students.
More than 100 local teachers, administrators and classified employees have received layoff notices so far this year, and at this point just how many of them stand to be hired back isn't yet known.
But what is certain is that California is “racing to the bottom,” according to Lake County Superintendent of Schools Dave Geck, who told the more than 200 people crowded into the square that California is now ranked 47th among the nation's 50 states in per-student spending.
Here in Lake County, local schools are being forced to cut more than $5 million in the coming fiscal year after having cut out $3 million to help balance the budget last September, he said.
The result is growing class sizes and loss of vital programs such as art, music, sports, and after school intervention and tutoring programs. Some districts are planning to close their library doors for all or part of the day, he said, while some districts are closing entire schools. That's the case in Konocti Unified, which on Wednesday voted to close Oak Hill Middle School.
Geck said that now, more than ever, schools need stable funding, but that aim is being defeated by a broken state budgeting system, and legislators need to know the budgetary cuts they're making are undermining students.
The state, he said, needs to commit to longterm funding for schools. Referring to stimulus money coming from the government, Geck called schools “the real economic recovery vehicle.”
While California's schools are ranked at No. 47 for the amount of funding devoted to each student's education, the massive budget cuts will push California to dead last for per-student spending, Geck said.
At the same time, the state's schools are saddled with the highest standards and expectations, and schools need the resources to meet those high performance requirements, said Geck.
He added, however, “We can't get overwhelmed by the bad news.”
Action is needed, said Geck, as the state begins gearing up for a special May 19 election which will examine new funding sources for schools. Getting out the message about the importance of voting in that election is critical if future cuts are to be avoided and California's race to the bottom is to be pulled up short.
Geck said the community must stand up for students, “Because they're depending on us.”
Local attorney Doug Rhoades, in a gray suit punctuated by a pink shirt, said he supports spending his tax dollars on the future, in the form of students.
Rhoades said his own children are no longer in the school system, but he wants his grandchildren to be able to have the finest teachers and education they can. He said he would rather pay higher taxes if it meant having better education.
Lakeport Unified School District Board member Bob Weiss said the Stand Up for Schools event was the beginning of community organizing.
He challenged everyone in the crowd to think of 10 people who weren't there and get them to work for education.
Weiss suggested that coordinated calls to Gov. Schwarzenegger's office and local legislators were in order, as well as a trip to Sacramento.
“We need a traffic jam down there,” he said.
Looking on during the event was Martin McClure, now in his 10th year of teaching.
A six-year resident of Lake County, last year McClure made the move from teaching in Ukiah to teaching kindergarten at Lakeport Elementary.
On March 6, he received a pink slip, a day after Lakeport Unified School District's board voted to lay off a total of 17 classified employees and teachers as part of a plan to address $800,000 in revenue shortfalls.
McClure doesn't know what to expect; it's not yet known whether the district will be able to hire him back.
“If they can they will,” the said. “They don't know. There's no money.”
The situation should become clearer after April 30, when the district holds kindergarten roundup and will get an idea of its kindergarten enrollment in the coming year. “That will be the first indication,” McClure said.
McClure said he really wants to keep teaching in the district. “I love teaching at Lakeport Elementary.”
He doesn't want to have to make the move to another school, but he's not ruling out the need to do that. If all else fails, McClure said he'll start putting together his resume.
McClure said it was uplifting to see so many people come out to support education. He's concerned that a lot of people still don't understand the budget games the state is playing at local districts' expense.
Legislators are trying to deal with the bad economy at the expense of education, “and that's just wrong,” McClure said.
Pam Klier, president of the Lakeport chapter of the California Teachers Association – who organized the Pink Friday event – said they had no idea so many people would come out to show their support.
What's next for teachers here and across the state?
“That's the big question, isn't it?” Klier said.
For years, a teacher shortage has been talked about, but with so many teachers no out of work, Klier said perhaps no such shortage still exists.
Many teachers affected by the recent round of layoffs – nearly 18,000 statewide, laid off as part of the effort to meet $11.6 billion in cuts to California's schools in grades kindergarten through 12th grades – still don't know what's ahead, said Klier.
Teachers and community members now need to figure out a way to channel the kind of energy that was in evidence on Friday afternoon, fortified with pink rice krispie treats and cotton candy.
Klier said a lot of attention will now be focused on the May election.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LAKEPORT – Lakeport Police have apprehended a man wanted in connection with a Thursday armed robbery.
Adan Lupercio Casares, 40, of Lakeport was arrested shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday, according to Lake County Jail records. He's being held on $10,000 bail.
On Thursday morning a 16-year-old teenager reported that a man had approached him at the Lakeport Car Wash on Martin and S. Forbes streets, showed him a folding knife and demanded his money before fleeing on foot, as Lake County News has reported.
Lakeport Police Chief Kevin Burke said Casares matched the description of the suspect, and was known to the department's officers through prior contacts.
Burke said the investigation into the armed robbery is continuing.
Armed robberies in Lakeport are rare, said Burke.
While a certain amount of petty thefts occur as part of the normal crime pattern, he said they haven't yet seen an increase in crime due to the economy.
Burke said the topic of correlating crime to the current economic situation is a hot topic in law enforcement circles these days.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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