Halfway through COVID year 2020

Here we are more than halfway through COVID year 2020. I always meant to revive my journalism blog but a certain pandemic we are all familiar with now derailed everybody's timing and plans. Still working on my novel but at a very slow rate, was hoping to have that brushed off by end of calendar year 2020 which is also the year in which I turn the big 5-0 but the best laid plans as they say....

I think today the most rewarding aspect of the workday was talking to one of our subscribers who wrote a long letter saying she wanted to cancel her subscription which had been paid for a year in advance due to the same usual complaints. Not enough local coverage of local news and events, the newspaper leans too much to one ideology or another.

I did call her back, if not only to get her correct address so I can grant her wish to cancel her subscription but to point out that print newspapers have been in a steep decline, but not as a result of a bias of any kind per se, but many factors converging against the print industry: The rise of technology and the internet and social media, state laws that would like to compel the newspaper industry into making delivery drivers full time employees at a time when it may be impossible to fiscally do that. 

Also COVID 19's impact on our industry is as severe as many other local businesses. The ones in Lake County which have not shuttered their doors permanently are struggling to survive, trying to adapt to this changing economic landscape. It is not my place to tell you who to vote for in the upcoming 2020 election in less than 100 days, but the incumbent of course is making his case and the challenger is attacking what he believes to be an ineffective record. 

I don't have a crystal ball to predict outcomes, but I can tell you that I have a mechanism (as do you if you are on social media) to look back. A year ago to the day I was undergoing the seventh day of evacuations due to one of the big fires we have had here in Lake County, though I personally have only experienced a couple. As a resident and as a reporter, newspaper man, I am greatly concerned as is everyone else about fire preparedness, fire mitigation and response and planning. 

The Civil Grand Jury in their 2019-20 report brought up a valid point, one I am not sure our county or state leaders have fully addressed: What happens when or if a major disaster like the fire in Paradise hits our county? With COVID-19 still stalking us, this has the potential to be a catastrophic event.  I mean, it's not really possible to practice social distance in a crowded shelter. Where will people go? Can most residents even survive? Highway 29 for example is a major thoroughfare. But it could also be a death trap if there is no egress out of Buckingham, Soda Bay and the Clearlake Rivieras. I have experienced traffic delays and sitting still when there is a rollover accident like we had a few days ago, or during the crews cutting down the vegetation and trees on the side of the road. Can you imagine what would happen if there was a major fire and everyone took to the road trying to get out alive? 

These are some of the things and concerns that, on the eve of my 50th year on this Earth, keep me up at night.   

Thanks to Betsy Cawn, KPFZ programmer and the Essential Public Information Center in Upper Lake for this list of disaster preparedness resources. 

August 5, 2020 - Lake County Disaster Preparedness: Orgs/Agencies/Projects (D3) 

1. Lake County Disaster Council: Formed in 1996, Ordinance No. 2342. See Lake County Municipal Codes, Chapter 6 - CIVIL DEFENSE: https:// library.municode.com/ca/lake_county/codes/code_of_ordinances? nodeld=COOR_CH6CIDE. 

2. Lake County Office of Emergency Services: http:// www.lakesheriff.com/About/OES.htm. 

Lake County Emergency Operations Plan, Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan: http://www.lakesheriff.com/About/OES/Plans.htm 

3. Lake County Risk Reduction Authority: http:// www.lakecountyca.gov/Government/Boards/RRA.htm. 

4. Lake County Fire Safe Council: http://www.lakecountyca.gov/ Page3801.aspx. Lake County Community Wildfire Protection Plan: http:// www.lakecountyca.gov/Government/Boards/lcfsc/LCCWPP.htm. 

5. South Lake Fire Safe Council: http://southlakefiresafecouncil.org. 

6. California Fire Safe Councils: https://cafiresafecouncil.org/ resources/fire-safe-councils. 

7. Firewise Communities: https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Fire- causes-and-risks/Wildfire/Firewise-USA. 

8. Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network: https:// fireadaptednetwork.org. 

9. Lake County Community Organizations Active in Disasters (COAD): Website under construction; refer to the Napa Valley COAD for info, http://napavalleycoad.org. 

10. Lake County Resource Conservation District: https:// www.lakercd.org/about-us.html. 

11. Lake County Department of Public Health: http:// health.co.lake.ca.us. 

12. California Department of Public Health: https://www.cdph.ca.gov. 

13. California Emergency Medical Services Authority: https:// emsa.ca.gov/medical-health-operational-area-coordinator. 

14. Lake Transit: www.laketransit.org.