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Opinion
As I sit at home safely with my family, watching the updates from our county leadership on COVID-19, I am so grateful for the proactive planning by Dr. Gary Pace, our department heads, law enforcement, healthcare workers, the County Administrative Office and the supervisors.
When Dr. Pace first came to the Board of Supervisors on Feb. 4 to give an update, there were six cases in California. Although the information on the virus was still unclear, he was already "putting the pieces in place" to "slow the spread" in our community.
Two months later, the aggressive shelter in place order and closures that he mandated are working, our healthcare system has gotten the critical time needed to prepare for what is coming, and we have slowed the infection rate by staying home.
The economic burden is substantial, Joel and I are feeling it with our business, as with so many other Americans.
Watching the governor of New York wish that they had been able to "get in front of the virus" clarifies that this is quite simply about saving lives.
Through the many challenges we have faced together, we have all found comfort in the videos from Sheriff Brian Martin and now Dr. Gary Pace. They speak for the county, but we appreciate the calm, compassionate, transparent and candid delivery of these updates.
We have an exceptional, disaster-tested team in place, leading us through this crisis, and I applaud all who are working tirelessly to lessen COVID-19's impact on Lake County.
At last week's virtual town hall meeting, Dr. Pace asked each of us to continue making the difficult personal sacrifices for the good of our society.
We are making a difference, and hopefully, changing the trajectory of this pandemic locally.
There is no better way to show support and gratitude to those on the frontlines than to continue staying home.
Jessica Pyska is a business owner and educator who lives with her family in Cobb, California. She is a candidate in this year’s race for District 5 supervisor.
When Dr. Pace first came to the Board of Supervisors on Feb. 4 to give an update, there were six cases in California. Although the information on the virus was still unclear, he was already "putting the pieces in place" to "slow the spread" in our community.
Two months later, the aggressive shelter in place order and closures that he mandated are working, our healthcare system has gotten the critical time needed to prepare for what is coming, and we have slowed the infection rate by staying home.
The economic burden is substantial, Joel and I are feeling it with our business, as with so many other Americans.
Watching the governor of New York wish that they had been able to "get in front of the virus" clarifies that this is quite simply about saving lives.
Through the many challenges we have faced together, we have all found comfort in the videos from Sheriff Brian Martin and now Dr. Gary Pace. They speak for the county, but we appreciate the calm, compassionate, transparent and candid delivery of these updates.
We have an exceptional, disaster-tested team in place, leading us through this crisis, and I applaud all who are working tirelessly to lessen COVID-19's impact on Lake County.
At last week's virtual town hall meeting, Dr. Pace asked each of us to continue making the difficult personal sacrifices for the good of our society.
We are making a difference, and hopefully, changing the trajectory of this pandemic locally.
There is no better way to show support and gratitude to those on the frontlines than to continue staying home.
Jessica Pyska is a business owner and educator who lives with her family in Cobb, California. She is a candidate in this year’s race for District 5 supervisor.
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- Written by: Jessica Pyska
Every morning is beautiful in this county, with the exception of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lake County is the exception at this time because most of the population is abiding by the stay in place ordered by the Lake County Department of Health, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
We have no confirmed cases, as of today. Public Health Office Dr. Gary Pace has been very informed and informative to the residents of Lake County about COVID-19.
I don’t think I have missed a meeting, either remotely or in-person, to inform Lake County residents of the extreme danger this virus could inflict on the population all over the world, including our county.
Because we are adhering to these guidelines and realizing the extreme risk we would be taking if we venture outside these guidelines it has kept our county free of this dangerous, possibly fatal disease called the coronavirus.
DO:
1. Wash your hand several times a day for 20 seconds. Use sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol or soap and water:
A. Before cooking or eating;
B. After using the bathroom;
C. After blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing.
2. Learn the symptoms, which are similar to the flu:
A. fever;
B. cough;
C. shortness of breath.
3. Consider taking precautions and staying out of public places:
A. If you are over 60 years old or have a condition such as heart disease.
B. Reconsider travel to affected countries, and avoid cruises.
C. Get ready to stay in place. You may need to be quarantined for 14 days.
D. Stay at least 6 feet away from anyone who is coughing or sneezing.
E. Prioritize your health. Don’t do things that can weaken your immune system.
4. Check in on high-risk neighbors, even if it only by phone or computers.
DON’T:
1. Touch your eyes, nose, and mouth (touching your face can help it enter your body).
2. Wear a mask if you are sick.
3. Don’t travel if you have a fever. Contact a health professional.
4. Don’t panic. At this point, health officials say the risk of becoming infected with COVID-19 is low if you take the proper precautions.
5. Don’t skip the flu shot. There is still time to get the flu shot.
These are simple things that can substantially lower your risk of contracting the coronavirus.
Bill Kearney, R.Ph., is a pharmacy consultant and a District 5 supervisorial candidate. He lives in Kelseyville, California.
Lake County is the exception at this time because most of the population is abiding by the stay in place ordered by the Lake County Department of Health, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
We have no confirmed cases, as of today. Public Health Office Dr. Gary Pace has been very informed and informative to the residents of Lake County about COVID-19.
I don’t think I have missed a meeting, either remotely or in-person, to inform Lake County residents of the extreme danger this virus could inflict on the population all over the world, including our county.
Because we are adhering to these guidelines and realizing the extreme risk we would be taking if we venture outside these guidelines it has kept our county free of this dangerous, possibly fatal disease called the coronavirus.
DO:
1. Wash your hand several times a day for 20 seconds. Use sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol or soap and water:
A. Before cooking or eating;
B. After using the bathroom;
C. After blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing.
2. Learn the symptoms, which are similar to the flu:
A. fever;
B. cough;
C. shortness of breath.
3. Consider taking precautions and staying out of public places:
A. If you are over 60 years old or have a condition such as heart disease.
B. Reconsider travel to affected countries, and avoid cruises.
C. Get ready to stay in place. You may need to be quarantined for 14 days.
D. Stay at least 6 feet away from anyone who is coughing or sneezing.
E. Prioritize your health. Don’t do things that can weaken your immune system.
4. Check in on high-risk neighbors, even if it only by phone or computers.
DON’T:
1. Touch your eyes, nose, and mouth (touching your face can help it enter your body).
2. Wear a mask if you are sick.
3. Don’t travel if you have a fever. Contact a health professional.
4. Don’t panic. At this point, health officials say the risk of becoming infected with COVID-19 is low if you take the proper precautions.
5. Don’t skip the flu shot. There is still time to get the flu shot.
These are simple things that can substantially lower your risk of contracting the coronavirus.
Bill Kearney, R.Ph., is a pharmacy consultant and a District 5 supervisorial candidate. He lives in Kelseyville, California.
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- Written by: Bill Kearney
I know, I know, I’ve talked about this before, in the many previous articles I have written for the newspapers… but it’s worth repeating. Anxiety, another word for unnamed fears. When I heard a CBS News caster say, “Anxiety can be worse than death for people living alone than death,” I decided to write down my thoughts. The odds are a bit greater for we oldsters to recover quickly from a bout of COVID-19 than it is for the kids. According to Monday’s CBS report, children recover at, or nearly, a hundred percent.
How soon will we have a vaccine? I had heard that a vaccine is more than a year away. Although there is still no vaccine for the swine flu, it too passed. That same program passed on the welcome news that there are, at least, five companies in California alone working on a vaccine. There are millions of good people, out there, who are desperately working to heal this wound… and they will succeed.
Lake County, at this writing, has not yet reported any infections. Meanwhile, let us not allow fear to manage our lives. There are things you and I can do to get us through this bump in the road.
Know you are not alone. People know you are there and they want to help. They will, once they know you need help.
Call a friend. Help somebody you know who needs your help. Maybe it will be only a phone call to their neighbor to look in on the person suffering anxiety. Listen to them tell you their fears about COVID-19 and about whatever is causing their anxiety. It will help them feel better and you will feel less anxious.
Write down your fears, or email them to a friend. My dear daughter wrote an entire email page to me about the way she felt and how my phone call to her had helped. I answered that email like the first, to tell her how much better she had become at writing. That page she wrote, like a phone call, helped take the poison out of her fears. I felt better as well.
Move around. Do some light exercise or calisthenics. A few toe touches, waist twisting, knee bends (if your knees are better than mine) all help. Mind and body are friends. When your body feels better, your mind is clearer and more positive.
Do something you love to do. To lose yourself in a project or activity, or work toward some goal you wish to reach, gives you the power to forget to be sorry for yourself and will make you feel like a winner.
Reach out for small successes, whether it’s a crossword puzzle, cleaning the refrigerator, ironing some article of clothing, repairing a hole in a sock, or emptying the garbage for recycling. A success of any kind, whether small or great, always makes you feel more above the fight and more in control.
I would wish to help every person who needs help. Since I cannot, I will continue to practice what I preach. One thing I know is that you and I will get through this. Have no fear. You are stronger than you know. Here is a salute to a better tomorrow and a better world for everyone.
Gene Paleno lives in Witter Springs, California.
How soon will we have a vaccine? I had heard that a vaccine is more than a year away. Although there is still no vaccine for the swine flu, it too passed. That same program passed on the welcome news that there are, at least, five companies in California alone working on a vaccine. There are millions of good people, out there, who are desperately working to heal this wound… and they will succeed.
Lake County, at this writing, has not yet reported any infections. Meanwhile, let us not allow fear to manage our lives. There are things you and I can do to get us through this bump in the road.
Know you are not alone. People know you are there and they want to help. They will, once they know you need help.
Call a friend. Help somebody you know who needs your help. Maybe it will be only a phone call to their neighbor to look in on the person suffering anxiety. Listen to them tell you their fears about COVID-19 and about whatever is causing their anxiety. It will help them feel better and you will feel less anxious.
Write down your fears, or email them to a friend. My dear daughter wrote an entire email page to me about the way she felt and how my phone call to her had helped. I answered that email like the first, to tell her how much better she had become at writing. That page she wrote, like a phone call, helped take the poison out of her fears. I felt better as well.
Move around. Do some light exercise or calisthenics. A few toe touches, waist twisting, knee bends (if your knees are better than mine) all help. Mind and body are friends. When your body feels better, your mind is clearer and more positive.
Do something you love to do. To lose yourself in a project or activity, or work toward some goal you wish to reach, gives you the power to forget to be sorry for yourself and will make you feel like a winner.
Reach out for small successes, whether it’s a crossword puzzle, cleaning the refrigerator, ironing some article of clothing, repairing a hole in a sock, or emptying the garbage for recycling. A success of any kind, whether small or great, always makes you feel more above the fight and more in control.
I would wish to help every person who needs help. Since I cannot, I will continue to practice what I preach. One thing I know is that you and I will get through this. Have no fear. You are stronger than you know. Here is a salute to a better tomorrow and a better world for everyone.
Gene Paleno lives in Witter Springs, California.
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- Written by: Gene Paleno
As of this date, the passage of Proposition 13 (decided by California voters on the March 3, 2020, primary election) appears tenuous. With a remaining five million votes to count, the breakdown is 45 percent in favor and 55 percent opposed.
So what is Proposition 13?
This was a state construction bond for $15 billion to repair public school health and safety hazards, specifically testing for lead in drinking water, and its remediation.
Other projects included renovations of school heating and cooling systems, building upgrades and renovations and new classroom construction for grades K-12.
Nine of this $15 billion bond would be awarded to K-12 schools. Priority would be given to rural school districts, with English language learners and foster youth.
The remaining $6 billion would be awarded to California State University and University of California educational systems.
The expressly stated top two spending priorities of Proposition 13:
1. Testing and remediation of K-12 health and safety hazards; and
2. Small or rural school district financial assistance, specifically slated for counties without the economic development capacity to fund their own school projects.
In short, this bond measure was tailor-made for the rural school districts within Lake County.
We all know that money is constantly circulating throughout our state and national economy. If this proposition passes, the bond money would come from the state to individual school districts.
It would then be used to hire and pay: local engineers, building contractors, and subcontractors: electrical, heating and cooling, carpentry, roofing, etc. to repair existing school buildings or construct new ones. The only requirement in the bond language was that any contractors be “state-licensed.”
So if Prop 13 passes, how much tax money will each person in California owe to pay off the bond debt?
The bond required a payback of $750 million a year for the next 35 years. If you take the 40 million population of California and divide it into the $750 million annual payback requirement, you get $18.75/year, per person; or $1.56/ person per month. (For a family of four that would be $6.24 per month to help upgrade our public schools.)
If Proposition 13 does not pass, it appears the majority of California taxpayers (approximately 55%) have voted their priorities. That $1.56 you saved, per person (instead of helping our children go to school in safe buildings and drink lead-free water) must be a relief.
Just before the election, I received my packet in the mail from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. The packet letter began with the statement: “Politicians literally taxing retirees out of their homes.” The remainder of the information provided was also false.
Proposition 13 is not a parcel tax on your home or commercial business, nor is it an assault on the original Prop 13 which lowered local property taxes. These false statements were mailed to California voters and presented as “true.”
The truth is: The Proposition 13 on the March 3 ballot is a construction bond which would be paid back from the state general fund. The general fund is financed by state personal income taxes, sales and use taxes and corporate taxes. It is not funded by local property taxes, nor would it create an added parcel tax to your home or business.
Proposition 13 was supported by the California Chamber of Commerce.
So hold onto the $1.56/monthly savings if Proposition 13 does not pass. With that money you can buy one cigarette, a candy bar or almost one half gallon of gas. And explain to your children or grandchildren why you could not afford to put them in a safe public school.
Anna Rose Ravenwoode is a life-long educator. She lives in Kelseyville, California.
So what is Proposition 13?
This was a state construction bond for $15 billion to repair public school health and safety hazards, specifically testing for lead in drinking water, and its remediation.
Other projects included renovations of school heating and cooling systems, building upgrades and renovations and new classroom construction for grades K-12.
Nine of this $15 billion bond would be awarded to K-12 schools. Priority would be given to rural school districts, with English language learners and foster youth.
The remaining $6 billion would be awarded to California State University and University of California educational systems.
The expressly stated top two spending priorities of Proposition 13:
1. Testing and remediation of K-12 health and safety hazards; and
2. Small or rural school district financial assistance, specifically slated for counties without the economic development capacity to fund their own school projects.
In short, this bond measure was tailor-made for the rural school districts within Lake County.
We all know that money is constantly circulating throughout our state and national economy. If this proposition passes, the bond money would come from the state to individual school districts.
It would then be used to hire and pay: local engineers, building contractors, and subcontractors: electrical, heating and cooling, carpentry, roofing, etc. to repair existing school buildings or construct new ones. The only requirement in the bond language was that any contractors be “state-licensed.”
So if Prop 13 passes, how much tax money will each person in California owe to pay off the bond debt?
The bond required a payback of $750 million a year for the next 35 years. If you take the 40 million population of California and divide it into the $750 million annual payback requirement, you get $18.75/year, per person; or $1.56/ person per month. (For a family of four that would be $6.24 per month to help upgrade our public schools.)
If Proposition 13 does not pass, it appears the majority of California taxpayers (approximately 55%) have voted their priorities. That $1.56 you saved, per person (instead of helping our children go to school in safe buildings and drink lead-free water) must be a relief.
Just before the election, I received my packet in the mail from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. The packet letter began with the statement: “Politicians literally taxing retirees out of their homes.” The remainder of the information provided was also false.
Proposition 13 is not a parcel tax on your home or commercial business, nor is it an assault on the original Prop 13 which lowered local property taxes. These false statements were mailed to California voters and presented as “true.”
The truth is: The Proposition 13 on the March 3 ballot is a construction bond which would be paid back from the state general fund. The general fund is financed by state personal income taxes, sales and use taxes and corporate taxes. It is not funded by local property taxes, nor would it create an added parcel tax to your home or business.
Proposition 13 was supported by the California Chamber of Commerce.
So hold onto the $1.56/monthly savings if Proposition 13 does not pass. With that money you can buy one cigarette, a candy bar or almost one half gallon of gas. And explain to your children or grandchildren why you could not afford to put them in a safe public school.
Anna Rose Ravenwoode is a life-long educator. She lives in Kelseyville, California.
- Details
- Written by: Anna Rose Ravenwoode