KELSEYVILLE
Lake County Community Orchestra begins rehearsals
String, woodwind, brass and percussion players with band or orchestra experience are invited to join the LCSA Community Orchestra. Rehearsals begin Sept. 19 at Presbyterian Church (Church and 3rd St.) in Kelseyville, 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Performances will be held at the Soper Reese Theatre.
“All styles of music will be performed,” said Conductor Sue Condit. “This is perfect for adults wanting to get back into playing music again!”
There is open enrollment for those wishing to participate, with a semester fee of $30. Middle School through adults are welcome to join. For more information and to print out an enrollment form, go to www.lakecountysymphonyassociation.org.
—Submitted
NAPA
Thompson celebrates an additional $2.45 Billion for fire suppression included in FY22 funding legislation
This week Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) announced that an additional $2.45 billion for fire suppression efforts was included in the recently-passed government funding bill. A statement from Thompson is below.
“Fire suppression efforts are often the costliest part of wildland fire management, but they are critical to ensuring fires don’t threaten our communities or our public lands. That’s why last week I voted to pass H.R. 4502, a government funding bill for the coming fiscal year that includes an additional $2.45 billion for fire suppression work. This will give everyone who responds to fires better tools to extinguish them and keep them contained. This funding level is more than $380 million over what was included last year and will go a long way toward managing this year’s Fire Season in our district and our state.”
H.R. 4502 included $5.66 billion for wildland fire management funding, which includes $2.45 billion in cap-adjusted fire suppression funding. The total funding is $385.82 million above the FY 2021 enacted level. The bill passed the House last week and is awaiting consideration in the Senate.
—Submitted
CALIFORNIA
Dixie Fire’s destruction
Gone is the town of Greenville, built during the Gold Rush. Its historic buildings, some of which survived a fire in 1880, are now burned to the ground.
They were destroyed by the Dixie Fire, a monstrous blaze possibly sparked by PG&E equipment that has already blackened more than 322,000 acres — making it the sixth-largest fire in California history. Fierce winds were set to whip Plumas County Thursday, likely directing the flames into a landscape that one fire chief said had the dryness of a month-old Christmas tree.
- Greenville resident Curtis Machlan: “It’s like losing a loved one. Like a death of a loved one.”
Yet another blaze, the River Fire, rapidly ignited Wednesday, charring more than 2,400 acres in Nevada and Placer counties, forcing thousands of evacuations and destroying or damaging at least 50 structures shortly.
- Colfax resident Isabella Vittoni: “There was full-on panic, adrenaline, everyone’s sweating, trying to get whatever you can. … People were driving dirt bikes and quads down the road just to get out.”
California’s wildfire season has reached such epic proportions that it’s difficult to imagine a policy that could adequately address it. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that California had secured a federal grant to help address the River Fire; the day before, the U.S. Forest Service said it would no longer take a “wait and see” approach to fires after Newsom and other Western governors criticized the tactic. Newsom recently secured 12 additional firefighting aircraft, and the budget includes billions for wildfire and drought.
But for many Californians, the aid isn’t nearly enough — and it’s not coming nearly fast enough.
Wine Country, which was devastated by wildfires last year, is apparently so dissatisfied with the state’s response that it wants to create its own fire department, rather than relying on Cal Fire, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Many vintners are buying their own firefighting equipment and training staffers how to use it. And some of Napa County’s wealthiest residents are willing to shell out $2 million of their own money to buy Black Hawk helicopters.
- Dawnine Dyer, owner of Meteor Vineyard: “If we can somehow train ourselves to be part of the response, then we won’t have to find ourselves in those situations where we’re shut out and feeling helpless.”
—Emily Hoeven, CALMatters
MIDDLETOWN
Middletown Art Center present second Sounds of Liberation event
Join us August 28 at 7pm at MAC for our second Sounds of Liberation event with singer-songwriter Gloria Scott. Sounds of Liberation is a series of intimate performances and conversations about race and music with Black musicians living in Lake County hosted by local composer/musician Clovice Lewis.
Scott is known for her work during the 1960s and 70s. Her first recording “I Taught Him” (Gloria Scott and the Tonettes) was written and produced by Sly Stone. Her hit solo album “What Am I Gonna Do” was produced by Barry White. She was also an Ikette with Ike and Tina Turner and has written numerous hit singles for other musicians throughout her career.
Limited seating at MAC ~ $10-30 sliding scale. Livestream on Zoom ~ $0-25
For tickets visit https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E354376&id=31
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CALIFORNIA
Water managers confront illegal pot industry
Just as California’s public health officers likely never expected to need a sheriff’s security detail stationed outside their home, California’s water managers likely didn’t envision themselves becoming amateur detectives cracking down on the multibillion-dollar illegal pot industry. As CalMatters’ Julie Cart has reported, illegal marijuana farms sustained by stolen water are pervasive across the state, ranging from mountainous Siskiyou County in the far north to Southern California deserts. In this strikingly beautiful video, CalMatters’ Byrhonda Lyons went to San Bernardino County, where the problem — and danger — has grown so pervasive that one local water manager refused to show her face and another backed out of an interview.
—Hoeven, CALMatters
—Compiled by Ariel Carmona Jr.
