Opinion
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- Written by: Melinda Young
1. Spaying or neutering your dogs is mandatory. If you do not comply with the law you face hefty fines. There are organizations that help defray these costs for income-qualifying people, i.e., the Animal Coalition of Lake County, located in Clearlake at the store From Me to You and the SPCA in Lower Lake.
2. You may not tie/chain/tether your dog to a stationary object. You must have him/her on a run, which allows them ample room to move about.
3. No. 3 also ties to No. 2: If your dog is on a run be certain that he/she can access adequate shelter. (Remember that you like shade in the summer and a dry place in the winter, so does your dog.)
4. A continual supply of water is the law. Regular feeding also is required.
5. Animal mistreatment, abuse and/or neglect is a crime.
Dogs are pack animals and love nothing more than to be with the family. It is a proven fact that families that allow animals to cohabit with them are healthier, teach children to be kind and are just a loving addition to any home.
Remember there are rescue organizations that will help you to modify behaviors in your pets or even to help find loving homes for animals that you are unable to provide the above for. Animals cannot speak for themselves so let's do it for them.
Thank you for your consideration on this important matter.
Melinda Young lives in Clearlake.
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I feel compelled to write yet another commentary about what I perceive to be more than an environmental issue but a native issue, making it clear that I am only expressing my opinion and would not assume to speak for anyone else.
I am not an “expert” on native issues, and would not pretend or aspire to be, as any attempts at such would be arrogant and inappropriate, not to mention ridiculous. My opinions are my own, and if they seem to coincide, here and there, with some native world views, it is not from any attempts at “playing Indian” but from pure coincidence, although I did read somewhere the humorous comment that artists are the Indians of the white world.
I am certain many who are involved in the Mt. Konocti conservation project have the best intentions at heart. I have been following this process and I must admit that I am disappointed that, once again, the native people of this area have not been given the consideration they deserve regarding a decision that concerns a mountain that is to them a religious or sacred site.
From what I understand, what I have heard from local traditional people, Konocti is a place that has specific religious significance to the Pomo and other tribes, and has had for thousands of years. It is an important place, and has never been considered by any of them to be a “recreation area.” Certain codes of behavior, restrictions and taboos regarding the mountain, as well as ceremonies, were, and still are, part of the religious practices of the native people who live here.
These do not need to be revealed to the non-Indian community for us to acknowledge the religious and spiritual significance of the mountain to native cultures.
Once such indisputable facts are acknowledged, it is no longer possible, legally and ethically, for the county to regard, or rather disregard, the Pomo as just another part of the public and merely equal their concerns to that of any other citizen, because their claim to the mountain as a religious site takes precedence over any other claim, as it should.
I cannot imagine the Disney corporation building an amusement park on the site of the Vatican, or lay authorities anywhere declaring a church, a temple, a mosque, a cathedral or a monastery to be a recreation or tourist area, except for the communist Chinese in Tibet.
Now I understand that it is still very difficult for some members of the mainstream culture to admit that valid religious and spiritual traditions exist whose records are not written on stone or paper, and that things other than stone monuments or manmade artifacts can be sacred.
I understand that the notion of a sacred place of worship in the so-called wilderness, in a pristine, untouched natural place, and used by non-Europeans, was in the not so distant past thought to involve the devil, and to be a threat to Christianity.
I also know that organized religions, which form the foundations of many cultures and societies and the mind-sets of their citizens, do not recognize the validity of indigenous religions, which they call paganism, myths or superstitions, and dismiss with the same blind enthusiasm as do some scientists and other prejudiced or misinformed individuals.
However, and in spite of these obstacles, I believe many people are today willing to open their minds and hearts to new visions regarding our specie’s relationship with the natural earth, and because of this shift are receptive to the notion of a mountain as a sacred place.
I believe that before any final decisions are rushed through regarding the mountain, a genuine conversation needs to take place between traditional native people and the county, and that it will be crucial for the county to be made to comprehend that traditional native spiritual leadership cannot be expected to originate from tribal government, that to merely contact tribal government regarding this matter could, for the county, amount to ignorance, negligence or hypocrisy.
There is ample evidence, throughout the nation, to demonstrate that traditional native people’s viewpoints and interests are rarely represented by tribal government, which are usually “progressive,” that is to say frequently favoring assimilation, and not very interested in anything genuinely Indian when it comes to religion or cultural values.
Certainly, sacred sites have little meaning to such tribal councils.
The dialogue, to be relevant and honest, must consequently take place with those in the native community who are the keepers of traditional spiritual values and are willing to educate us about their relationship to the mountain, rather than with tribal governments that may or may not have any interest in this topic or any knowledge of their own cultural and religious ties to the mountain.
And there are traditional native people who are now willing and ready to have this dialogue. We need to hear them with open hearts, open minds, without prejudices or any preconceived notions, and of course with an awareness of federal laws regarding native sacred sites.
Now I think I can hear some people grumbling, “I don’t believe this is happening … here we go …another sacred site …”
Just because this land is now called America does not mean that 1,000-year-old cultures and traditions have vanished, and that Indians have lost all memories of who they are, although that was the plan.
Indians are not artifacts of the past collecting dust in a museum, they are still here, and from what I hear many have every intention of remaining Indian and raising their children as Indians, rather than disappearing in the melting pot as just another disempowered, acculturated and rootless minority, and that is a very, very good thing, for every time the cultural identity of a people is lost, shredded by the implacable and oblivious modern world, we, meaning all of humanity, loose not only diversity but an important part of our collective consciousness, and become ever more impoverished as a specie in our hearts and souls.
Do we wish to take the path of disrespect that leads to spiritual impoverishment by turning this sacred mountain into yet another “recreation” area? I personally do not.
Raphael Montoliu lives in Lakeport.
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
Lake County is geographically situated in a basin, and smoke does not dissipate quickly. Smoke was especially bad in our neighborhood, possibly because the surrounding hills trapped the air. Neighboring homes were visible only through a smoky veil months after the fire storm.
Inhalation of polluted air can result in a toxic injury to the airways, which may cause changes in some people similar to asthma (technically, fibrosis and T-cell activation) and can be experienced as coughing, bloody cough, shortness of breath, reduced lung capacity or related symptoms.
If reaction to airborne toxins is immediate or exposure is severe, the ensuing condition is called Reactive Airways Dysfunction Syndrome (RADS); if exposure is spread out over time or is a lower level of toxin, the reaction is called irritant induced asthma (IIA). The medical establishment does not uniformly recognize the second definition, so chronic or low-level exposure is often called “low-dose RADS.”
Both diagnoses agree, however, that symptoms appear fairly quickly upon exposure (usually within one to 10 days), so if someone has symptoms appearing weeks after exposure has ended, RADS is likely not the cause of lung distress. Both RADS and low-dose RADS are similar to “occupational asthma,” like the condition suffered by firefighters or clean-up workers in a chemical spill. And instances are on the rise.
Many people will recover completely, some may take as long as six months to two years to become free of symptoms, and some may develop a persistent asthma-like condition. Many will remain vulnerable to further toxic exposure like smoke or chemicals.
A summary prognosis of RADS is given by Environmental Health Perspectives (EHPonline.org):
Patients that seek timely medical help often have excellent recovery. Some patients do experience ongoing night-time symptoms, and may intermittently develop acute symptoms for some time. Some patients that are prescribed corticosteroids may develop steroid dependency.
Understanding of RADS could save time and money in diagnosing sufferers. Often, this irritation does not show up on x-rays, and usually all other options are ruled out by expensive medical tests before RADS is considered. This delays the treatment of symptoms so that the body can begin recovery. The accepted short-term treatment is corticosteroids, which treats symptoms only, by reducing inflammation.
There are implications for local health officials if, as I suspect, others in the county experienced similar ailments. The county’s health department could ask local doctors to report increased complaints of any unusual nature, and officials could review methods of informing the public about air warnings and health measures. Perhaps the dangers of smoke inhalation could be made part of the county’s fire prevention program.
Individuals and caregivers could benefit from a public education program that addresses masks, air filters, keeping doors and windows closed on “bad air” days, and how to keep informed about local air conditions.
For further information, see the following.
Corticosteroids for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD):
www.questdiagnostics.com/kbase/topic/detail/drug/hw165533/detail.htm
Inhaler Eased Lung Problems in 9/11 Workers/Firefighters who used drug early gained some symptom relief, study found:
Occupational Asthma: A Review:
www.ehponline.org/members/2000/suppl-4/697-704lombardo/lombardo-full.html
Reactive Airways Dysfunction Syndrome (RADS) and irritant induced asthma (IIA):
http://toxicology.leadingexperts.com/rads.html
Reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS). Persistent asthma syndrome after high level irritant exposures:
www.chestjournal.org/content/88/3/376.abstract
Short-term Effects of Wood Smoke Exposure on the Respiratory System Among Charcoal Production Workers:
www.chestjournal.org/content/119/4/1260.abstract
When Asthma and COPD Coexist
www.copd-international.com/Library/asthma-coexist.htm
Janis Paris lives in Spring Valley.
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- Written by: Sarah Shems
Tuesday's fiscal report to the Board of Supervisors lists an obscene, ongoing millions of dollars spent by Lake County on an aggregate of residential treatment in other counties, hospitalizations in other counties, incarcerations (of Lake County's mentally ill) and on board and care facilities in various locations, including one local one.
Kristy Kelly, director of Mental Health Services, explained that persons exiting board and care where clients “lives are laid out for them” are simply not equipped to occupy any other housing available in Lake County. She notes the Lighthouse project as an example: It assumes an independent level of functional ability. When clients return to our community from any number of locked, residential, or board and care facilities, they face the immediate bleak fact that there exists no proper level of care for them here. It's either “all laid out for them” or it does nor exist – not at all – for our most seriously mentally ill.
This is the fast road to institutional recidivism. It also costs Lake County an incredible amount of money.
Supervisor Anthony Farmington conjectured out loud to Kelly today that “residential treatment within Lake County has probably already been discounted as a solution based on some analysis or other?” “No” is the answer to that. “Residential care has not been cost evaluated because,” according to Kelly, “we do not have enough staff.”
Hmm.
On Tuesday I shared with the board my personal story and passionate plea for sound crisis intervention including the staffing (rather than layoff) to create a local crisis center. Imagine a mission to prevent hospitalizations and wrongful incarcerations. The Lighthouse could be such a place (not included on the list of deficit spending that the board received Tuesday). Envision a clinically supervised stabilization center skilled in suicide prevention, contracting for safety, family crisis counseling, and a day program to provide that vital missing link: the intermediate development of essential skills, that practical community bridge, locally situated, staffed with eight county employees whose names and lives are slated to a chopping block instead.
I shared this: My daughter was incarcerated for two months (charges dismissed due to mental illness), two hospitalizations in another county, and just returned home this week from two months in board and care. All this ensued since last October when our pleas for crisis prevention were denied expressly for reasons of “understaffing.” Today the only thing that stands between my daughter and a return to costly institutional care rests with In-Home Supportive Services, a funding put at imminent risk today as Lake County Mental Health raids Social Service funds to pay the jail or the hospital. This means, if IHSS funding is cut, she is at immediate risk. Again. Tuesday I learned how much Lake County went into debt over my situation since last October; I wonder how much they saved by not providing crisis intervention six months ago.
If you or your family are affected by these issues, please contact me at 707-355-9209 and share. We are returning to the process of reestablishing a local National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) in Lake County. This was initiated last summer, but I dropped my ball last October and I'm sorry for that. State Mental Health Funding (MHSA) from Sacramento requires that local agencies carefully consult consumers and their families in planning expenditures to address the right needs. Let's talk.
Sarah Shems is a social worker who lives in Hidden Valley Lake.
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