Category Archives: safety

Fish, safety, Water, Wildlife

Guidelines Issued On Eating Fish From California Lakes, Reservoirs

A state environmental health agency has issued its first-ever set of statewide guidelines for eating fish from California’s lakes and reservoirs, including many in Northern California and the Sierra.

The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s advisories are meant to help the public decide what fish can be safely eaten – especially from hundreds of lakes and for reservoirs that have not had fish consumption advisories established.

Most bodies of water with fish-eating advisories – because fish sampled there have high levels of methyl mercury – are found in Northern California and the Gold Rush country, as well as in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

“Prior to these new guidelines, hundreds of lakes and reservoirs in the Sierra had no fish consumption warnings – which led the public to believe that the fish from those locations were safe to eat,” said Amber Taxiera, community outreach coordinator with the Sierra Fund. “This is a big step forward for OEHHA.”

The new advisory recommends that women between the ages of 18 and 45 and children under 18 should avoid eating bass, carp and brown trout larger than 16 inches because of a risk of methyl mercury exposure, which has been shown to damage the brain and nervous system.

Some species of fish, including bullhead, catfish and bluegill, are acceptable for consumption at one serving a week. Species that are safe to eat include wild-caught rainbow trout and small brown trout. The advisory and guidelines stem from OEHHA’s evaluation of 272 lakes and reservoirs, and 2,600 fish samples.

The advisory combined mercury data from fish in California lakes that currently do not have advisories and compared those mercury levels to acceptable human exposure levels.

In the Sacramento region, at Folsom Lake and Lake Natoma, the advisory recommends following the new guidelines if the fish caught are not covered by already set location-specific guidelines.

More at ModBee.com >>>

 

Fish, safety, Water, Wildlife

Low Water Levels Forcing Boats Out Of Folsom Lake

The people who dock their boats at Folsom Lake, about 25 miles east of Sacramento, keep track of how dry the reservoir is by how many steps it takes to get from the parking lot to the floating dock.

In the spring, when melting snow and rainfall fill the lake’s basin, less than ten steps peek out from above the water. Last week, the number was 80. Jeff Gomez said he made sure to count as he trekked up and down the stairs eight different times. “I came down to refuel the boat,” Gomez said as he caught his breath after dragging a cooler down the 80 steps. “That took two trips. Now this was two trips.”

Gomez and his family were getting ready for one of their final boat rides of the year. Folsom Lake is at half its capacity, and low water levels will force Gomez and everyone else who docks their boats in the lake to remove their crafts from the water by Sunday, August 11.

It’s not unusual for Folsom Lake to lose water over the course of the summer, but the boat-removal order typically comes in the fall, not early August. “It’s not shocking, because we expected it. Lack of snow, lack of rain” said Gomez as he prepped his speedboat for an afternoon of tubing. “It’s kind of sad, though.”

More at KQED.org >>>

Bike Trail, safety, Water, Wildlife

Progress Towards New American River Bridge

The City of Sacramento wants to take a closer look at three proposed American River bridge projects connecting Natomas and Downtown Sacramento.

One of the proposals would add walking and biking access along Interstate 5.  A second rebuilds the Highway 160 crossing and would add biking and walking paths.  The third would build a new bridge connecting Sequoia Pacific Boulevard to Truxel Road.   The city’s Public Works Department says any project will require significant state and federal contributions.

“The difference being that Regional Transit has already started analyzing the Truxel bridge,” says Sparky Harris with the City.  “This is something that we can kind of piggyback on their efforts and hopefully move forward in a coordinated way.  Whereas both the I-5 and the 160 are new concepts”

Estimated costs for the projects are $15 million for the I-5 expansion, $54 million for the new Truxel bridge and $188 million for the Highway 160 crossing and the raising of Northgate Boulevard.  The City Council is expected on Thursday to approve further talks on the projects.

More at CapRadio.org >>>

Bike Trail, Fire, safety, Wildlife

$30K Raised For American River Parkway Rebuild After Fires

Efforts to repair burned out parts of the American River Parkway made a splash Saturday.

The American River Parkway Foundation’s Down River Day raised about $30,000. Sponsored rafts cruised down the river to raise the cash.

“The funds from this event this year are going to be earmarked for restoration and reforestation of the areas that have burned over the last few weeks. There have been over 160 acres that have burned over the last few weeks,” said Christina Neifer, American River Parkway Foundation.

Four fires over a five day period have left parts of the parkway scorched.

Police arrested a woman for arson Thursday, accused of starting a 100-acre fire along the river near Highway 160.

More at CBSLocal.com >>>

Bike Trail, Fire, safety, Wildlife

Investigators Say Woman May Be Linked To Other American River Parkway Fires

nvestigators say a woman arrested after a Thursday fire on the American River Parkway may be linked to three other arson cases from last week.

Today’s fire broke out along North 16th Street in Sacramento. The trio of fire last week were intentionally set along the American River Parkway.

People living along the American River Parkway are relieved an accused arsonist is behind bars.

“Well, I thought of all the embers coming over—you know, the flaming pieces of wood—and I thought, oh my god, if it hits my porch, my porch is going to go up.”

Thick smoke from last week’s blaze near Highway 150 filled Cindi Beard’s mobile home park. That blaze burned 100 acres before being brought under control.

And on Thursday, another suspicious fire was set nearby. This time, a witness waved down police, saying he saw the suspect standing over the flames just after it started.

Sacramento Police arrested 42-year-old Evangeline Deutsch for arson. Investigators say she could be a suspect in other parkway fires this summer, including several in Rancho Cordova.

“The person says she was possibly bragging about previous fires,” said Scott Williams with Sacramento Fire.

More at CBSLocal.com >>>

Bike Trail, Fire, safety, Wildlife

Woman arrested in fire along American River Parkway

A 42-year-old woman was arrested this afternoon on suspicion of arson in connection with a brush fire in the 500 block of North 16th Street.

Police said the woman, identified as Evangeline Deutsch (pictured), is homeless and was known to officers. She was booked into Sacramento County Jail.

 

Although today’s fire, which began about 2:30 p.m., burned approximately an acre, a second alarm was issued because it was near businesses and an area of the American River Parkway where a fire last week burned 100 acres, fire officials said.

Assistant Chief Niko King of the Sacramento Fire Department said investigators have questioned Deutsch and are trying to determine whether she is linked to last week’s fire. Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District officials also have been notified of the arrest, he said, in light of a string of grass fires that burned a total of 46 acres along the American River Parkway in Rancho Cordova last week.

More at MercedSunStar.com >>>

 

Bike Trail, safety, Wildlife

Disease-ridden coyote wandering by American River at Arden not dangerous, officials say

A small, mangy coyote is wandering residential streets of Arden by the American River, but he’s not dangerous, according to Sacramento Animal Care Services.

“Without a clear shot, we are resistant to kill these animals unless they’re a danger to residents,” said Gina Nepp with the Front Street Animal Shelter. “It’s a safety risk to try to kill them in populated areas.”

But residents are worried. The coyote – sick with unusually dark skin – has been spotted in the area for more than three months.

“He walks around unsteady, like he’s delirious,” said resident Enrique Hernandez, 75. “I’m scared he’s got rabies.”

Hernandez and many others have called Animal Care and the State Department of Fish & Wildlife with concerns. Nepp said they’re fully aware of the coyote

“We’ll go after him if he becomes a threat – if he starts chasing small children or something – but he’s not getting near people,” Nepp said. “He’s keeping to himself.”

More at SacBee.com >>>

 

Bike Trail, Fire, safety

Fires Along American River Parkway Raise Local Concern

For the third time in as many days, a grass fire has ripped through the El Manto access to the American River Parkway in Rancho Cordova.

Police believe these fires are the result of arson.

“There may be someone in the bushes watching us right now. It puts my men at risk when I have to send them into a field with a heavy fuel load,” said Sacramento Metro Fire Battalion Chief Charles Jenkins.

Police detained one man who matched witness descriptions of a suspect seen leaving the blaze Saturday. But when they were shown the man who was detained, those witnesses told police he wasn’t the same person, so he was released.

The largest of the three fires came Friday, when about 40 acres were scorched.

More at Fox40.com >>>

Bike Trail, safety

City to move on long-awaited safety improvements for Carlson Corridor

The intersections that connect Carlson Drive with H and J Street in East Sacramento are either a cyclist’s nightmare or a daredevil’s dream. Vehicles whiz by at freeway speeds onto streets with obscured traffic lights. Lanes are confusingly split into three separate sections by raised islands. Cyclists battle for already-narrow lanes against encroaching transit busses. Left turns become a biker’s harrowing tale of the day while even pedestrians find themselves scrambling across streets without the security of crosswalks.

Welcome to the Carlson Corridor.

The Carlson Corridor is a critical crossroad that connects traffic from California State University Sacramento and the American River Trail. The volume of daily traffic combined with the unconventional design of the Corridor has led to numerous close calls and near misses, though not everyone has been so lucky. The corridor has laid claim to the lives of two cyclists and a motorist within the past three years.

After over a year of debate and community discussion, city council members will vote Tuesday on whether to authorize city staff to seek federal grant funding for bike and pedestrian safety improvements to the Corridor, including the addition of left turn traffic signals, new crosswalks and other street design changes.

The process to get to the vote was in large part driven by the Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates. After the second cyclist’s death in April of 2011, SABA began researching the Corridor’s design issues and spoke to locals, including the River Park Neighborhood Association, about their concerns. In a few months, SABA produced a set of recommended changes and teamed up with the RPNA to present the plans to city officials in a meeting in May of 2012.

City staff promised to take action, and the wheels began rolling in May of this year, when the city released four preliminary drafts with proposed changes to the intersections that reflected many of SABA’s recommendations.

Jim Brown, director of SABA, notes that much of the necessary construction’s costs will be significant. Still, rather than seeking separate grants for individual phases, Brown feels it would be more sensible for the city to pursue funding which would address all of SABA’s recommendations. “If [the city] is going to go after grant funding, then they might as well go after grant funding for everything they want to do.”

According to Ed Cox, city of Sacramento’s bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, the city currently has sufficient funds to go ahead with the first part of the plan of adding green paint to existing bicycle lanes – regardless of whether it obtains additional grant funding or not. These changes are supposed to occur sometime later this summer or fall.

The next phase requires heavy construction and the city would need to seek federal funding via Caltrans in order to move forward — hence the vote on Tuesday. If it receives funding, this phase, called “Option B,” would square off Carlson and J Street, add two crosswalks for pedestrians on H and J, and install Sacramento’s first bike boxes, or painted boxes at intersections where bicyclists can congregate ahead of waiting traffic.

More at SacramentoPress.com >>>