MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. – In order to provide for public and employee safety, a temporary closure has been placed on Forest Service road M5 on the Grindstone Ranger District between the junction of 17N78 north and junction 17N78 south, located south of the Stonyford Recreation Area.

A substantial washout has made a section of the road impassable. The closure went into effect Dec. 27 and will remain in effect until it is repaired.

A detour is established on road 17N78 to bypass the washout. Signs are in place to direct vehicles to the detour.

The closure order is formally referenced as Order Number 08-15-13. It is available online at www.fs.usda.gov/mendocino .

“The M5 road is a popular area due to its proximity to the Mendocino National Forest world-class Off-Highway Vehicle trail system,” said Grindstone Ranger District Implementation Officer Lori Cayo. “Safety concerns to both visitors and forest resources arise when severe weather conditions bring unexpected hazards. We want everyone to enjoy their trip to the forest, while staying safe. To help with this, visitors are asked to check Forest closures before leaving, be prepared for changing conditions, and minimize impacts to saturated roads and trails.”

With recent drenching storms, and more to come this winter, other forest roads may be impacted. If you come across an area where the road is compromised or washed out, please report it to Forest Engineer Shannon Pozas at 530-934-3316.

For more information, please contact the Mendocino National Forest at 530-934-3316 or visit www.fs.usda.gov/mendocino . Get the latest updates and alerts easily by following us on Twitter, @MendocinoNF.

122715 Forest Road M5 temporary closure

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) wishes its customers a safe and happy new year. 

The utility encourages customers to celebrate responsibly and help prevent fire and electric hazards by following these safety tips.
 
Metallic balloon safety

· Celebrate with helium-filled metallic balloons by making sure they are tied to a weight heavy enough to prevent them from floating into power lines. Do not bundle metallic balloons together.

· If a balloon is caught in a power line, contact PG&E immediately at 800-743-5000 to report the problem. Never attempt to retrieve anything that is on or near a power line.

· In 2014, more than 300 power outages were caused by metallic balloons in PG&E’s service area, impacting approximately 150,000 customers for more than 11.5 million minutes.

Avoid electric hazards

· “Mind the lines!” When making preparations for a New Year’s Eve party, be aware of your surroundings and check for overhead power lines nearby.

· Look up before lifting ladders and other long-handled tools outdoors to avoid accidental contact with overhead power lines. Be especially mindful of lines over your roof and lines attached to your home

· Never go near a damaged power line that has fallen to the ground or is dangling in the air. Always assumed downed electric lines are energized and extremely dangerous. Stay away, keep others away and immediately call 911 and PG&E.

For more information, visit www.pge.com/ and www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/index.page .

Water has definitely caught the attention of Californians this past year, with the continuing drought, mandatory urban conservation, fallowed farm fields and endangered fish.

There’s a lot to contemplate about water and its relationship to people and the surrounding environment.

One way to keep up on the many forms of water and our interaction with it is the State Water Resources Control Board’s Clean Water Team calendar. It’s a free, online, interactive document that lists all the major water-related events through the year, and a lot more. It can be downloaded as a pdf for reference throughout the year.

Some examples of events listed: March 14 is the International Day of Action for Rivers; May 22 kicks off Safe Boating Week; June is Great Outdoors Month; and July 2 and September 3 are Free Fishing Days – no license required.

Many of the commemorative dates and events have interactive links – click on them and find out a lot more about the date or event, including several opportunities to volunteer or participate. The calendar also includes many non-water events or dates.

But water is the focus, and the calendar also features photographs of volunteers monitoring water quality, as well as a couple of stunning pictures of leaping salmon. It’s all free and a finger click away, here: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/swamp/docs/cwt/volunteer/cwt2016calendar.pdf .

The calendar includes contributions from a variety of local environmental and volunteer water monitoring groups, and was put together by the State Water Board’s Clean Water Team.

The Clean Water Team is the citizen monitoring program of the State Water Board. Clean Water Team coordinators work statewide to provide technical assistance and guidance documents, training, quality assurance and quality control support, and temporary loans of equipment to citizen monitoring programs and watershed stewardship organizations.

Citizen monitoring is monitoring of the environment by community volunteers interested in watershed protection.  Citizen monitoring activities include collecting water quality data, evaluating fish habitat, counting birds, or making visual observations of stream health.  Community and resource managers use monitoring information to better protect California's waters.

To learn more about the Clean Water Team and how to volunteer or join a citizen monitoring group, visit here: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/swamp/cwt_general_mon.shtml .

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Ringing in the New Year should not include a visit to the hospital or behind bars for drunk driving.

If you’ve been drinking during end of the year celebrations, AAA Northern California will take you and your car home for free.

AAA’s Tipsy Tow program is open to everyone. You do not need to be a AAA member to take advantage of this service to the community.

AAA will offer the service to drinking drivers from 6 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, to 6 a.m. Jan. 1, in Northern California.

Drivers, potential passengers, party hosts, bartenders, and restaurant managers can call 800-222-4357 (AAA-HELP) for a free tow home of up to ten miles. Just tell the AAA operator, “I need a Tipsy Tow,” and a truck will be on its way.       

The service will provide a one-way ride for the driver and vehicle to the driver’s home. If there are additional passengers who need a ride, they will be taken to the driver’s home as long as there is room for them to be transported safely in the tow truck. You cannot make a reservation.

“Everybody wants to have fun at a New Year’s party,” said Cynthia Harris, spokesperson for AAA Northern California. “But if you’ve been drinking, don’t get behind the wheel. Give AAA a call and we’ll make sure you get home safely.”

According to 2010 statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 10,000 people died in alcohol-impaired crashes. That is one death every 51 minutes. As little as one drink can impair vision, steering, braking, judgment, and reaction time.

Nationally, drunk-driving crashes accounted for about 36 percent of highway deaths of young people age 16 to 24, according to 2008 statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. As little as one drink can impair vision, steering, braking, judgment, and reaction time.

AAA estimates that a first time DUI conviction in California can cost up to $12,000 in fines, penalties, restitution, legal fees, and added insurance expenses. You can’t put a price tag on a crash that causes an injury or death.

The latest survey from AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety revealed little change in motorist behavior versus previous years, in regards to “do as I say, not as I do” attitude about alcohol impairment:

– 91 percent of drivers believe it is completely unacceptable for somebody to drive when they think they may have had too much to drink.
– 92 percent of drivers think that people driving after alcohol pose a somewhat or very serious threat to their personal safety.
– 41 percent of drivers think drunk drivers are a bigger problem today compared to three years ago.
  
Despite this, one-in-eight admit to driving when they thought their alcohol level might have been close to or over the legal limit at least once in the past year.

When it comes to prescription drug use and driving, Americans report feeling even less concerned, with just over a quarter reporting feeling the same “very serious” threat to their personal safety. 

However, many of these drugs, along with over-the-counter medications, can impair a driver in similar ways as alcohol.

Previous studies have found that a single dose of some cold and allergy medications can have the same effect on driving as being above the legal limit for blood alcohol concentration, and certain antidepressants have been shown to increase crash risk by up to 41 percent.

“Just because a doctor prescribes a drug, or you can purchase it over-the-counter doesn’t necessarily mean it is safe to use while driving,” says Cynthia Harris, AAA Northern California spokesperson. “Always discuss potential side effects and interactions with your doctor or pharmacist before getting behind the wheel.”

To educate drivers on the impact that prescription and over-the-counter drugs can have on safe driving ability, the AAA Foundation developed RoadwiseRX – a free, interactive tool that allows users to input various medications and check for side effects and interactions that can lead to driver impairment.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area office has a new Facebook page.

The page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/CHP-Clear-Lake-1649138848671471/ .

Like and follow the page for updates and information about events and classes, as well as the agency's initiatives to keep Lake County roads safe.

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – On Saturday, Dec. 6, Cache Creek Vineyards & Winery held their second annual Holiday Charity Faire.

Local artists and crafters presented merchandise for sale and each vendor donated an item to a silent auction to help raise funds for Operation Tango Mike, People Services and Lake Family Resource Center. 

These three local charities decorated Christmas trees that were displayed in the tasting room throughout the month of December. The trees were generously donated by Bruno’s Shop Smart in Lakeport.

Throughout the month of December, visitors to the tasting room were invited to vote on their favorite tree.

After the final tally, Operation Tango Mike’s tree received the most votes and will be awarded $700. 

People Services came in second place and will be awarded $500, while Lake Family Resource Center took third place and will receive $300.

The winery thanked the generous vendors who donated items to the auction and the guests who came to shop and support these charitable organizations who do so much for our community.

The Van Pelt Family and the staff at Cache Creek Vineyards extended warm wishes for a very Happy New Year.