Foothills Sentry September 2020

Foothills Sentry Page 9 September 2020 DETECTIVE • COMMISSIONER • EDUCATOR • VETERAN Orange City Council District 1  VOTEVAUGHAN.COM VAUGHAN VOTE Ad paid for by Vaughan for City Council 2020. FPPC number (pending) Canyon Watch and Rescue Silverado residents helped avert a suicide on Sat., Aug. 1, by helping a man’s family locate and extract him from steep terrain and into an ambulance. According to Lynne Andres of Ladd Canyon Road, the man had texted his family about plan- ning to take his life in Black Star Canyon. After Search and Rescue failed to find him there, the fam- ily discovered his car in front of Andres’ house, and began search- ing for him in the steep hillside brush nearby. They also called the Sheriff’s Department. The deputies who arrived seemed constrained as to what as- sistance they could provide, how- ever. When they began to leave around sunset, Lynne’s sister Bar- bara suggested contacting neigh- bor Anthony Mack, who arrived with two-way radios. Mack radioed Canyon Watch, the local volunteer organization that normally patrols during peri- ods of high fire danger. The first three volunteers arrived within five minutes, and they and others joined the family in calling and searching for the victim. When it got dark, plans for the next day were being discussed when one of the man’s broth- ers suddenly heard him moaning in some brush less than 100 feet from the car. Family members and five volunteers managed to scale the hillside. Manolis Sfakianakis, who had arrived just moments be- fore, said later: “I told him ‘Come on, bud, let’s get down together,’ and he said ‘OK.’” By the time everyone got back down to the road, the ambulance was waiting. Barbara Andres received a phone call from the family, as they waited at the hospital. She said that they asked her to please thank our community for what we all did … he most likely would not have survived the night with- out our [relentless] efforts, sup- port, and expertise. The family sends blessings to us all. Heavy traffic The Inter-Canyon League (ICL) held a special online meet- ing, Aug. 10, to discuss a per- ceived increase in traffic and speeding, mainly on Silverado Canyon Road. Joanne Hubble summarized what she learned from speaking to OC Public Works, the California Highway Patrol, Supervisor Don Wagner, and the U.S. Forest Service. The Forest Service patrols oc- casionally, but is focused more on the Holy Fire area that is closed now, but is the source of at least 100 violations a day. Deputizing rangers to make arrests would require them to spend a third of their post-academy time in train- ing. The Maple Springs gate is typically closed only after a fire or flood. A recently completed traffic study showed the average Sil- verado Canyon Road speed as close to existing limits, except for one stretch west of Ladd Canyon Road, where it was lower. Since that is considered the safe speed, the limit there will be lowered to 35 mph. Since Silverado Canyon Road is a public road, there is no easy way to regulate traffic volume, but there might be ways to reduce speeding. Supervisor Wagner referred Hubble to Assembly- man Steven Choi’s office, which submitted a request to the CHP for more support in the canyons. Hubble asked specifically about coverage from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., when speeding seemed more prevalent. The CHP has duties elsewhere as well, but reporting each speed- ing violation might cause the can- yons to receive more attention. Stop and go In a July 29 online community meeting, OC Public Works de- scribed Santiago Canyon Road improvements in progress be- tween Cook’s Corner and the 241 Toll Road through June 2021. Lanes may be closed in one direc- tion at a time, occasionally, week- days, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. High-friction surface treatment will be applied at curves, along with center rumble strips, up- graded guardrails and signs, and bicycle buffer striping. Based on feedback from previous commu- nity meetings, no flashing bea- cons are planned. Also mentioned on the same OCPW project web page, though, is “Phase 3, the Passing Lanes Project.” In response to some questions about that, an OCPW spokesperson said he expected to have answers soon. Berry interesting Every now and then, a plant has a perfect name. One example is the large bushes along Silverado Canyon Road between Black Star Canyon and the Forest Service Fire Station that have serrated holly-like leaves, and which sport small round red berries in July. It is called hollyleaf redberry. Native to California and a couple of other states, hollyleaf redberry provides food for some birds, which is why plants some- times don’t have many berries af- ter a while. Another reason is that only the female plants produce berries. Other bushes also have red ber- ries, but if the fruit looks leathery or sticky and slightly squashed, it is probably lemonade berry. And if the berries are in tight clusters, the leaves are large, and there are thorns on the stem, that fruit will probably taste sour because it isn’t ripe yet. That’s because blackberries are red when they’re green. Pandemic, fire – and now mosquitoes COVID quarantines have caused more families to spend time outdoors, but mosquitoes are making it uncomfortable -- and downright itchy -- for many. The increased population – al- most five times higher than last year, per OC Mosquito and Vec- tor Control – may be attributed to high temperatures and humidity. The “new” invasive Aedes mos- quitoes are quiet, sneaky, small active pests that bite during the day – even indoors. Their pre- ferred diet is human, and they can bite multiple times, leaving many large, itchy welts. Tiny and black, with white stripes, they can live indoors or out, and breed in wa- ter as scant as on a saucer under a plant. Eggs can live for years before hatching. They can also transmit viruses, such as Zika, from an infected human. Residents are encouraged to eliminate possible breeding grounds by draining water from any outdoor water source, includ- ing fountains, ponds and pools, wheelbarrows, faucets or rain gutters. When outdoors, use repellents, and reapply after sweating or get- ting wet. Citronella candles and bands are popular to ward off the pests. Make certain windows are closed, and screens are not torn. Children under two months should not wear repellent, but be dressed in clothing covering their extremities. For information and to report standing water (i.e., stagnant pool), see ocvector.org . NCL Seeks New Members National Charity League Or- ange/Villa Park Chapter is a group of mothers and daughters serving their community together. The organization welcomes new members, mothers with sixth grade daughters, who have a desire to serve their commu- nity, grow their leadership skills, and cultivate cultural experiences together through the high school years. The membership drive starts Oct. 1. For more information, see na- tionalcharityleague.org.