LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Growing numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths have caused concerns nationwide and physicians and scientists say face masks can slow the trend.
Adventist Health has joined 100 of the nation’s top health care systems, representing thousands of hospitals in communities across the U.S., to come together with an urgent plea for all Americans – mask up, because wearing a face mask is our nation’s best chance at slowing the surging COVID-19 pandemic now.
More than 11.5 million Americans have tested positive for the virus – including an additional one million in just the past week – leading to nearly 250,000 deaths.
Lake County has so far has seen a total of 17,363 tests completed, 823 confirmed cases, 18 deaths and 53 hospitalizations.
Officials said the current trends are daunting and frightening. If the nation stays on its current course, hospital leaders are increasingly concerned that more healthfcare facilities will be overwhelmed as shortages of healthy caregivers make it difficult to handle a rapidly increasing number of patients. Unfortunately, this is already happening in parts of the country.
The next several months will be critical, health care experts have said. Though there has been positive news about vaccine development, no one knows when those vaccines will be ready for widespread use. In the meantime, everyone must remain vigilant, take precautions and follow public health orders.
The country has reached a tipping point. The power to do what is right is now in the hands of everyone everywhere, officials said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention points to recent studies that have shown face masks successfully limit spread of the COVID-19 virus. Wearing face masks protects in key ways: by protecting the wearer against inhalation of harmful pathogens and particulates and by preventing exposure of those around the wearer.
In addition to masking, the CDC suggests that everyone minimize the number of non-household contacts, maintain a physical distance of at least 6 feet and limit the amount of time around others, especially while indoors and in poorly ventilated areas.
Further information about masking guidelines – how to choose a mask, how to properly wear a mask – is available on the CDC website.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – What if our ancient and sprawling lake could talk?
The stories it would tell would originate in the Early Pleistocene, around 500,000 years ago.
In a sense, our ancient lake is talking to us today thanks to core samples that were taken from beneath the lake in the spring of 2012.
Then, a team of scientists from the University of California, Berkeley commenced drilling the sediments beneath the lake from their floating sediment core drilling rig.
Situated in the center of the Upper Arm of the lake, they extracted 3-inch diameter cores in order to answer a myriad questions about the lake.
For example, what were prehistoric conditions like back then on the lake? Which species of insect and plant life proliferated then? And, even more important, how has global warming affected Clear Lake and its environs?
UC Berkeley biologists hope that these core samples will aid them in predicting how life on our planet today will adapt throughout current and future environmental issues.
The answers may help state and local governments with plans and policies in these uncertain times.
UC Berkeley project leader, Cindy Looy, assistant professor of integrative biology, states on her website, “We are reconstructing the past to better forecast the future, because we need to know what's coming in order to adequately prepare for it.”
Looy's team of UC Berkeley faculty includes experts such as ecologists, climate modeling experts, paleontologists, pollen experts and botanists.
They are looking at our lake's core for charcoal, freshwater organisms and pollen spanning back 130,000 years, well before the human population of the vicinity.
Methods utilized by the experts include the analysis of the aforementioned matter by observing the 400-foot cores every centimeter, or every 10 years, which will give them readings of the lake's nutrient levels, temperature and oxygen content that all correlate to lake levels as well as rainfall.
Previous United States Geological Survey core samples were read every meter, making the UC Berkeley observations 100 times better with regards to time resolution.
The series of pictures into the past will reveal how the area transformed itself throughout natural global warming occurrences.
The UC Berkeley mud core samples from the lake prove that there were once forests much like Cobb Mountain's. Then, when the ice sheets receded the area became oak-dominated.
Our lake is considered by scientists to be unique, since it has endured when most other lakes outside the tropics were wiped out by glaciers.
Through the science of limnology, as the science of inland water is named, lakes around the globe are arrayed from oligotrophic to eutrophic, meaning “undernourished” and “well-nourished,” respectively.
Lakes like Lake Tahoe that are deep and cold are nearly sterile or oligotrophic, while lakes such as ours that are shallow and warm are considered eutrophic.
Eutrophic lakes support a thriving plant population with its rich nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and iron.
All of these plants give sustenance to fish, worms, shellfish and crustaceans such as crayfish, which then feed the astonishing array of avian species like grebes, egrets, wood ducks, coots, eagles, osprey and more, along with the thriving mammal populations of river otters, mink, raccoons, etc.
Learning about our lake is thrilling and ongoing.
Here in our bioregion the “book of nature” constantly reveals its hidden aspect under volcanic rocks, along the shoreline, and now beneath the depths of the oldest lake in North America.
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, freelance writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.”
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A pedestrian who authorities said was crossing Highway 53 in Clearlake outside of a crosswalk died on Thursday night after being struck by a vehicle.
The Clearlake Police Department said Saturday that the name of the male pedestrian, who was in his 60s, is being withheld pending the notification of next of kin.
Just before 10 p.m. Thursday, Clearlake Police officers responded to a report of a vehicle crash involving a pedestrian that had occurred on Highway 53 near 18th Avenue, said Sgt. Ryan Peterson.
Peterson said the male pedestrian was located at the scene with major injuries.
Medical staff from the Lake County Fire Protection District arrived at the scene and evaluated the man, who Peterson said succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased by medical staff at the scene.
The driver of the vehicle remained at the scene and was cooperative with the investigation, Peterson said.
Traffic Officer Michael Perreault responded to the scene and took over the investigation. Peterson said the southbound lanes of Highway 53 between 18th Avenue and Dam Road were closed while the scene was reviewed and evidence was collected.
Peterson said preliminary indications are that the pedestrian was crossing the roadway outside of a crosswalk and was struck by the vehicle.
This case is pending further investigation and review for final determination and cause, Peterson said.
Peterson asked drivers and pedestrians to be vigilant while on the roadways, especially with the hours of daylight being shorter and the weather changing.
Anyone with information in this case is encouraged to contact Officer Michael Perreault at 707-994-8251, Extension 519.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has nine dogs waiting for new homes this Thanksgiving week.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of husky, Labrador Retriever, pit bull, Pomeranian, red heeler and Shar Pei.
Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.
The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).
Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm for information on visiting or adopting.
This male yellow Labrador Retriever is in kennel No. 20, ID No. 14183. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male yellow Labrador Retriever
This male yellow Labrador Retriever has a medium-length coat.
He’s in kennel No. 20, ID No. 14183.
This male husky is in kennel No. 22, ID No. 14194. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male husky
This male husky has a medium-length black and white coat and blue eyes.
He’s in kennel No. 22, ID No. 14194.
This young female pit bull terrier is in kennel No. 25, ID No. 14181. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female pit bull terrier
This young female pit bull terrier has a short brown coat.
She is in kennel No. 25, ID No. 14181.
This male pit bull terrier is in kennel No. 26, ID No. 14138. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male pit bull terrier
This male pit bull terrier has a short gray and brindle coat.
He is in kennel No. 26, ID No. 14138.
This female red heeler is in kennel No. 27, ID No. 14195. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Female red heeler
This female red heeler has a short coat.
She is in kennel No. 27, ID No. 14195.
This male heeler-Labrador Retriever mix is in kennel No. 29, ID No. 14178. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male heeler-Labrador Retriever
This male heeler-Labrador Retriever mix has a short black and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 29, ID No. 14178.
This male pit bull-Shar Pei is in kennel No. 30, ID No. 14177. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male pit bull-Shar Pei
This male pit bull-Shar Pei has a short brown coat.
He is in kennel No. 30, ID No. 14177.
This male Pomeranian is in kennel No. 33, ID No. 14182. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. Male Pomeranian
This male Pomeranian has a long tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 33, ID No. 14182.
“Hugo” is a male pit bull terrier in kennel No. 34, ID No. 14174. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control. ‘Hugo’
“Hugo” is a male pit bull terrier with a medium-length black and white coat.
He has been neutered.
He’s in kennel No. 34, ID No. 14174.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – In its second meeting of the week, the Lakeport Unified School District Board on Friday night voted to affirm that it’s moving into the in-person instruction model in an effort to get teachers and students back into the classrooms as soon as possible.
In a unanimous vote at the end of the nearly two-hour meeting, the board decided to declare the district in the hybrid learning phase, the second step in the Lake County Return to School Continuum, which includes in-person schooling. That transition will be complete by Jan. 4.
As part of that phase two, Lakeport Unified students will be able to return to athletic competitions as soon as the state gives the go-ahead. Under the continuum, athletics can only resume in stages two and above, not in the first phase, distance learning.
On Nov. 9, the board had voted 3-2 during a special meeting to move into the hybrid model on Jan. 4, at the start of the next semester.
However, during its regular Wednesday night meeting, the board was confronted during a discussion on sports events by parents, students and coaches who wanted them to move up the start date to Nov. 30, with the board ultimately agreeing to hold a special meeting Friday to hear information from Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace on reopening.
Last week, Superintendent Jill Falconer told the board that Nov. 30 was the earliest staff could be prepared to move to in-person instruction after giving parents at least 10 days' notice.
With the Thanksgiving break now underway, Falconer told the board on Friday night that Nov. 30 is actually the district’s next school day.
That date, Falconer said, is “not an option because we haven’t told parents anything.”
Instead, the board approved a motion offered by Board Chair Dan Buffalo that he said offered an “elegant solution.”
It recognized that the district already is practicing stage two because of having 200 special education and English as a second language students on campus daily; that the board’s Nov. 9 decision declared the district’s movement into the second phase; and gives Jan. 4 as the time by which the transition from distance learning to the phase two hybrid model will be completed.
The board’s nuanced action on Friday night is an attempt to get ahead of what Dr. Pace said during the meeting is a high likelihood of Lake County seeing increased restrictions from the state under its revamped Blueprint for a Safer Economy.
Pace said that within the next week or so Lake could move from the red, or second-most restrictive tier on the blueprint, to purple, the most restrictive.
If that were the case when the district was still in phase one of the back to school plan, it would be unable to open for in-person instruction until the county returned to a lower tier, which Pace said could be well after the Christmas holiday.
Lucerne Elementary and Upper Lake Unified, the county’s two smallest school districts, began the school year with in-person instruction and so far have had no issues with outbreaks, Pace reported.
Separately, some Lake County Office of Education schools have had in-person instruction. The county’s private and Christian schools also have teachers and students together in the classrooms and are capacity for enrollment, Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg told Lake County News on Friday.
Kelseyville Unified has announced plans to transition to phase two on Nov. 30, and during a special Friday afternoon meeting of the Konocti Unified School Board, Superintendent Dr. Becky Salato said that district is on target to open in the hybrid model on Jan. 5 – so long as the situation doesn’t change.
Middletown Unified this week sent out a survey to parents in which the administration reported that it is projecting January as the time for potentially moving into a stage two or three model.
However, on Friday Middletown Unified followed up with a report that three of its staffers at Coyote Valley Elementary School and Middletown Middle School have tested positive for COVID-19 and are now in quarantine.
The Lakeport Unified board met in the Marge Alakszay Center, this time sitting farther apart than at the last meeting, a measure Buffalo said was taken at the direction of Public Health and the district attorney.
They were joined by an in-person audience as well as more than 100 people including parents, and teachers participating via Zoom.
Dr. Pace, who also attended via Zoom, went through a PowerPoint that he has recently presented to other school district boards. The 19-page presentation is published below.
“Things are changing really fast right now, in the state and in the county,” said Pace, but at the same time there is evidence to support the safe opening of schools.
Pace said the United States has tended to prioritize opening restaurants more than supporting on-site learning at schools, while Europe has taken the opposite approach.
He said there is starting to be a marked increase in new cases “and there's no end in sight,” making it a very concerning time.
While he said he believes the state’s tier system is probably one of the best in the country for allowing local control and differentiation between areas, it’s not perfect.
“We are on the verge of going into the purple tier,” said Pace. “Things have really changed in the last two weeks.”
That’s because the majority of the state’s 58 counties are moving into the most restricted tier. “Our numbers are quickly moving that way, he said, adding that there is a very good chance by this time next week the county will be in the purple tier.
As of Friday, Lake’s caseload was at 823, with total deaths remaining at 18.
“I don’t think there’s anything we can do to stop that at this point,” he said of the potential tier change.
Once Lake County is in the purple tier, schools that already are open can remain so, but those that haven’t yet opened won’t be able to, although Pace said elementary schools can pursue waivers to open.
He said the science indicates that children – particularly those age 10 and under – are less susceptible to contracting and spreading COVID-19. As children get older, the chances of contracting the virus increase.
Pace explained during the meeting that of Lake County’s total cases, 100 – or 13-percent – involve children age 18 and under. Of those 100 cases, 22 percent were in children from birth to age 4, 35 percent were in the 5 to 12 age group, and 44 percent were in those ages 13 to 18. One local child has been hospitalized.
However, he said there are risks for teachers. “To ignore that, I think is a mistake.”
Pace said the evidence from Australia and Europe shows that adults are much more likely to introduce the virus into schools than children. “This data has been very reassuring about the risk” from kids transmitting it to adults. There also haven’t been many cases traced to children passing it to each other.
In New York’s schools, they did random testing of 16,000 children three weeks into school reopening and only 28 tested positive. Among 37,000 staff, there were 180 positives. Pace said that in California, only two outbreaks have been registered in schools.
Pace said there is a greater downside to not having students back in class, pointing to declining grades, challenges from poor wifi and disparities for economically disadvantaged children. There also are the impacts on mental health, increases of trauma and domestic violence, substance abuse, lack of sports and loss of socialization.
Keeping schools safe will involve social distancing, limiting congregate activities, using masks, screening for temperatures, conducting testing and having an active response when cases are identified, Pace said.
He said he’s working with the local districts to work out arrangements for testing staff. Currently, the county’s testing site doesn’t test children, although beginning on Dec. 1 it will offer testing for children age 12 and older. Pace said it’s best to go through one’s pediatrician, adding that Tribal Health also has done a good job testing children.
Buffalo asking about long-term impacts of COVID-19. Pace said there’s a lot that’s not known.
He referred to Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, or MIS-C, a rare inflammatory condition in children that’s associated with COVID-19. The California Department of Public Health said it can damage multiple organ systems, require hospitalization and be life-threatening.
Signs and symptoms of MIS-C include a fever that does not go away, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes or feeling tired. Early diagnosis and treatment of patients is critical to preventing long-term complications, the state reported.
On Friday, the California Department of Public Health said 129 cases of MIS-C have been reported statewide.
While those children get really sick, the vast majority don’t, Pace said.
Board member Carly Alvord asked Pace about the comparisons between COVID-19 and the flu.
He explained that the flu season has a beginning, middle and an end, and tends to be more seasonal. It hasn’t been the same with COVID-19.
The last really bad flu season had a death toll of 100,000, with COVID-19 now having registered 250,000 deaths in eight months, Pace said. “The worst is still ahead of us.”
He pointed out that the 1918 flu pandemic – which he said lasted about a year and a half – had 650,000 deaths.
Pace said COVID-19 is in a “whole other league” from the flu, which he added doesn’t keep students out of school.
Board member Jeannie Markham asked about sports, which Pace acknowledged are important. He said Public Health is following the state guidelines, which were due to be updated with a more elaborate version but stopped by this week’s developments, a reference to the governor’s actions to put more counties in the restricted tier.
“At this point it’s very vague what they're allowing,” he said, which is mainly conditioning.
While “fomite” transmission – through contaminated surfaces and objects – no longer seems to be as much of a concern for contracting COVID-19, Pace said being in indoor spaces, running, breathing deeply from exertion and bumping into each other is.
Alvord asked Pace if he agreed with the statement this week by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield, who said the data suggests children are safest in school.
Pace indicated he agreed, noting that with more evidence the medical community is getting behind that conclusion.
Board agrees on next actions
Following Pace’s presentation, the board then turned to its only agendized action item, the consideration of its scheduled start date.
Falconer said the district had agreed to abide by the return to school continuum, and based on that document, with some students already on campus since the beginning of the school year, she believed the district already was partially in stage two. By declaring it’s in stage two, she said they could begin sports.
Buffalo then offered the motion to make that declaration and abide by its Nov. 9 decision, making Jan. 4 the date for the transition’s completion. He said that compromise also gives staff the necessary time to complete implementing protocols and notify parents.
Markham, herself a retired teacher, said she knows that the district’s teachers will rise to the occasion. “They will be ready for this and rise to that challenge when it’s time.”
She also encouraged students and parents to take advantage of the opportunity to meet with teachers on campus. “Your struggles don’t have to be academic,” she said.
Markham added, “We care about you. We want to see you.”
During public comment, Sheriff Brian Martin, who has a son attending the high school, said he liked what he was hearing from the board and it was a good compromise. Martin had been among those on Wednesday encouraging board members to move up the school start date.
Referring to a COVID-19 outbreak that’s continuing at the jail, “We’ve dealt with this,” Martin said, noting Dr. Pace’s help and guidance, and his willingness to leave decisionmaking up to the individual agencies.
District teacher and parent Tanya Wynacht thanked the board for finding a compromise. She said she wants her students to come to school and also wants her son to be able to enjoy a school year.
The board then took the 5-0 vote to approve the motion, gaining a round of applause before the meeting ended.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Dutch painter Pieter Claesz’s Still Life with Turkey Pie (1627) features a cooked turkey that’s been placed back inside its original skin, feathers and all. Wikimedia Commons
How and why did the dishes served at Thanksgiving dinner come to be so fixed?
Many assume that most of them were simply eaten by the Pilgrims during the first Thanksgiving. For this reason, they continue to be eaten today. And it’s true that most of the ingredients are American in origin: the turkey, cranberries, pumpkin, sweet potatoes – even the green beans in the casserole and the pecans in the pie.
Yet we only have one firsthand account of the “first” Thanksgiving – a brief paragraph by Edward Winslow that doesn’t mention any of these foods. And it’s been shown, time and again, that the idea of a unique culinary tradition originating from a feast between the Pilgrims and their Native American neighbors is more advertising myth than historical truth.
But maybe there is something, nonetheless, that’s very traditional about this meal.
In fact, there may be a very good reason these particular dishes – and even the way we eat the meal – came to be strongly associated with Thanksgiving. The first Americans simply mimicked or adapted the traditional fare, flavor combinations and rituals of Europe, using them to fashion the popular dishes we continue to enjoy today.
Alaye that fesande!
To start, think of when we eat the meal: always in the early afternoon, which is just as a proper dinner would have been served 400 years ago. Back then, supper was a smaller, evening meal. Of course, there are other early dinners that families traditionally observe (especially on Sunday). But Thanksgiving always has been, and continues to be, early. It didn’t simply start sooner to accommodate a football game.
As for the ritual of carving at the table, it’s not something we normally do. But it was positively fashionable when the colonists left Europe in the 17th century. There were even carving manuals replete with illustrations for serving their favorite roasts, which were almost always wild fowl. The only difference is that they would hold the entire bird up in the air to carve thin slices, which would fall gently on each diner’s plate. (With today’s huge, domestic turkeys, it’s understandable that we leave them on the platter.)
There was even a whole language of dismemberment in medieval England: you would lyfte that swanne, alaye that fesande, wynge that partyche, dysplaye that crane, but breke that egryt.
An image from Jacques Vontet’s 1647 guidebook L'Art de Trancher la viande et toute sorte de fruits (The art of carving).
Raspberry sauce and pompion-pye
As for the turkey itself, it was one of the few New World foods that had already gained immediate acceptance in Europe, precisely because of its similarity to peacocks and pheasants, which were among the era’s most fashionable foods. In other words, the Englishmen who landed in Massachusetts didn’t eat turkey because it was the only local food available. Rather, they’d been quite familiar with it back in England, where it was even common to remove the skin and feathers, cook it and serve it with the feathers replaced, as if it were still living – a standard medieval trick.
The side dishes also date back to Europe, with flavor profiles that are actually medieval in origin.
Take cranberry sauce. In medieval Europe, sour fruit sauce with wild fowl was a popular combination, one that balanced a cold and moist condiment with a hot, dry meat. In the mid-17th century, for example, the famous French chef La Varenne served turkey with raspberries.
But the real connection between Thanksgiving and the medieval feast is in the spices. Although today we use the blanket term “pumpkin spice” to characterize variations of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and ginger (and they show up practically everywhere in cheap artificial form), these flavors were the backbone of medieval cuisine, appearing in a wide array of sweet and savory dishes, from chicken to pasta.
Back then, it simply wasn’t a lavish meal without a riot of spices (which, because they needed to be imported from Asia, were wildly expensive). Today the only one of these spices that stays on the table year-round is pepper. But their pivotal role in Thanksgiving again is a reminder of the tradition’s remote origins.
And many think of green bean casserole as a classic postwar dish – invented in the 1950s as a way to use up all the cans of cream of mushroom soup that had amassed in the pantry. But “French beans” (from America) were already well-known and loved in 17th-century Europe. English Poet Gervase Markham, in 1608’s Farewel to Husbandry, remarks how tender they are when stewed. And Thomas Tryon, a British author of self-help books, writes in The Way to Health, Long Life and Happiness that French beans “far exceed and are much better than other pulses eaten green.”
Candied yams were also a 16th-century staple. In Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, when Sir John Falstaff exclaims that it should rain kissing comfits and hail potatoes, he is actually talking about Virginia sweet potatoes, which had been brought back to Europe in the late 16th century. (These weren’t just candied; they were also considered an aphrodisiac.)
Famed English chef Robert May in the mid-17th-century cookbook The Accomplisht Cook has a great recipe for (sweet) potato pie, which wouldn’t seem too amiss on the Thanksgiving table today (though with cockscombs, testicles and bone marrow would be considered perhaps a bit overgarnished).
If you haven’t tried Hannah Woolley’s world-famous pompion-pye, you haven’t lived.Foods of England
As for that very American pumpkin pie? In the 17th century, it was already quite common. One of the earliest female cookbook authors, Hannah Woolley, has a recipe for “pompion-pye” with the same spices we use today. She also includes apples, which, incidentally, are also thoroughly English in a pie.
So despite the picture we have of English colonists adapting to strange new ingredients in their new home, most of the recipes – and those we still insist on having at the Thanksgiving table – were already regular favorites.
Remember that when you lift high your (very American) turkey leg, like Henry VIII.
Historians know that turkey and corn were part of the first Thanksgiving, when Wampanoag peoples shared a harvest meal with the pilgrims of Plymouth plantation in Massachusetts. And traditional Native American farming practices tell us that squash and beans likely were part of that 1621 dinner too.
For centuries before Europeans reached North America, many Native Americans grew these foods together in one plot, along with the less familiar sunflower. They called the plants sisters to reflect how they thrived when they were cultivated together.
To answer these questions, I am working with agronomist Marshall McDaniel, horticulturalist Ajay Nair, nutritionist Donna Winham and Native gardening projects in Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Our research project, “Reuniting the Three Sisters,” explores what it means to be a responsible caretaker of the land from the perspective of peoples who have been balancing agricultural production with sustainability for hundreds of years.
Gail Danforth, an Elder of the Oneida Nation in Northeast Wisconsin, explains “three sisters” gardening.
Abundant harvests
Historically, Native people throughout the Americas bred indigenous plant varieties specific to the growing conditions of their homelands. They selected seeds for many different traits, such as flavor, texture and color.
Native growers knew that planting corn, beans, squash and sunflowers together produced mutual benefits. Corn stalks created a trellis for beans to climb, and beans’ twining vines secured the corn in high winds. They also certainly observed that corn and bean plants growing together tended to be healthier than when raised separately. Today we know the reason: Bacteria living on bean plant roots pull nitrogen – an essential plant nutrient – from the air and convert it to a form that both beans and corn can use.
Squash plants contributed by shading the ground with their broad leaves, preventing weeds from growing and retaining water in the soil. Heritage squash varieties also had spines that discouraged deer and raccoons from visiting the garden for a snack. And sunflowers planted around the edges of the garden created a natural fence, protecting other plants from wind and animals and attracting pollinators.
Interplanting these agricultural sisters produced bountiful harvests that sustained large Native communities and spurred fruitful trade economies. The first Europeans who reached the Americas were shocked at the abundant food crops they found. My research is exploring how, 200 years ago, Native American agriculturalists around the Great Lakes and along the Missouri and Red rivers fed fur traders with their diverse vegetable products.
Displaced from the land
As Euro-Americans settled permanently on the most fertile North American lands and acquired seeds that Native growers had carefully bred, they imposed policies that made Native farming practices impossible. In 1830 President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which made it official U.S. policy to force Native peoples from their home locations, pushing them onto subpar lands.
On reservations, U.S. government officials discouraged Native women from cultivating anything larger than small garden plots and pressured Native men to practice Euro-American style monoculture. Allotment policies assigned small plots to nuclear families, further limiting Native Americans’ access to land and preventing them from using communal farming practices.
Improving Native people’s access to healthy, culturally appropriate foods will help lower rates of diabetes and obesity, which affect Native Americans at disproportionately high rates. Sharing traditional knowledge about agriculture is a way for elders to pass cultural information along to younger generations. Indigenous growing techniques also protect the lands that Native nations now inhabit, and can potentially benefit the wider ecosystems around them.
Members of the Indigenous Seed Keepers Network explain the cultural importance of access to traditional seed varieties.
But Native communities often lack access to resources such as farming equipment, soil testing, fertilizer and pest prevention techniques. This is what inspired Iowa State University’s Three Sisters Gardening Project. We work collaboratively with Native farmers at Tsyunhehkw, a community agriculture program, and the Ohelaku Corn Growers Co-Op on the Oneida reservation in Wisconsin; the Nebraska Indian College, which serves the Omaha and Santee Sioux in Nebraska; and Dream of Wild Health, a nonprofit organization that works to reconnect the Native American community in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, with traditional Native plants and their culinary, medicinal and spiritual uses.
[The Conversation’s science, health and technology editors pick their favorite stories.Weekly on Wednesdays.]
We are growing three sisters research plots at ISU’s Horticulture Farm and in each of these communities. Our project also runs workshops on topics of interests to Native gardeners, encourages local soil health testing and grows rare seeds to rematriate them, or return them to their home communities.
By documenting limited nutritional offerings at reservation grocery stores, we are demonstrating the need for Indigenous gardens in Native communities. By interviewing Native growers and elders knowledgeable about foodways, we are illuminating how healing Indigenous gardening practices can be for Native communities and people – their bodies, minds and spirits.
Our Native collaborators are benefiting from the project through rematriation of rare seeds grown in ISU plots, workshops on topics they select and the new relationships they are building with Native gardeners across the Midwest. As researchers, we are learning about what it means to work collaboratively and to conduct research that respects protocols our Native collaborators value, such as treating seeds, plants and soil in a culturally appropriate manner. By listening with humility, we are working to build a network where we can all learn from one another.
Margie Bartlemus on her new ramp in the loaned scooter. Photo courtesy of Habitat for Humanity of Lake County, California. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Habitat for Humanity is continuing to offer a variety of services to make homes safer and more comfortable for Lake County residents who need the help.
Referred to Habitat for Humanity by a friend, Margaret and Margie Bartlemus were in desperate need of a ramp for their home.
It has been difficult for Margaret Bartlemus to get her daughter in and out of their home by herself and Margie Bartlemus was unable to easily use a manual wheelchair.
When they reached out to Habitat to request assistance with a ramp, they were fortunate to discover that Habitat also had a motorized scooter available for their use.
Habitat’s repair team discovered the family was also in need of a new stove, a working heating and cooling system, and repairs to a plumbing leak under their sink, all of which they addressed as part of the Brush of Kindness Critical Home Repair Program.
“Everything they have done has been wondrous,” Margie Bartlemus said. “This ramp was a miracle for me because I only had four steps to climb but they were so difficult. I want to thank them for all of the things that they did. If they can help someone else, I say trust them. They are good people.
To date, Habitat for Humanity Lake County has assisted approximately 300 homeowners with repairs to their homes. They expect to complete as many additional families as possible for 2021 and are accepting applications now.
Brush of Kindness recipients are typically seniors and military veterans who may be disabled and unable to effect repairs on their own.
In addition to Habitat’s homeownership program, critical health and safety-related repair work has become one of Habitat Lake County’s primary goals.
Donations to the Critical Home Repair Fund, especially for wheelchair ramps and lifts are critical to the program’s success.
To donate, or if you or someone you know are low-income homeowners who could benefit from critical health and safety-related repairs, please contact Habitat for Humanity Lake County at 707-994-1100 for an application or visit the office at 15312 Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake.
An AmeriCorps team works on repairs to the boardwalk on the Cache Creek Nature Trail at Anderson Marsh State Historic Park in Lower Lake, California. Courtesy photo. LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Work is almost completed on the repair and upgrade of the iconic boardwalk on the Cache Creek Nature Trail located at Anderson Marsh State Historic Park.
The Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association, or AMIA, has partnered with the California Department of State Parks, AmeriCorps and the California State Parks Foundation on the project.
The work has been supported by a “Keeping Parks Whole” grant from the California State Parks Foundation, a member-supported nonprofit that works to create support for California State Parks.
An AmeriCorps volunteer crew has been working hard to finish the project, with supervision and training by State Parks maintenance staff.
“The work on the boardwalk will include tightening the structure itself, repairing broken boards, refinishing the wood, and installing new upgraded ‘Trex’ railings that will resist the effects of hot summers and cold winters,” explained AMIA Treasurer Henry Bornstein. “The work will ensure that the boardwalk remains available for guided nature walks and public-school trips when the park fully reopens.”
The AmeriCorps volunteer team members have come from all across the United States to work on this Lake County project.
“The AmeriCorps volunteers have been living, eating and working together as a single ‘cohort,’ allowing them to safely work together with minimized risk from COVID-19,” Bornstein said. “While working along-side State Parks staff and in areas in which they may encounter the public, the crew ‘masks up’ to comply with health recommendations.”
“California State Parks appreciates the help of the AmeriCorps volunteers, who give their time and energy for the benefit of all of us,” said Park Maintenance Chief Wendy Lieberg. “We also appreciate the continued help and support of our partner Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association. In times of need, they are always there to help keep the Park safe and maintained.”
“While guided public tours at Anderson Marsh State Historic Park have been temporarily suspended in compliance with current COVID-19 guidelines, the hiking trails remain open and the public is encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to get into nature and take a walk in the Park, while observing recommended guidelines regarding social distancing, face coverings and hygiene,” said AMIA President Roberta Lyons.
Anderson Marsh State Historic Park is located off of Highway 53 between Lower Lake and Clearlake and is open to the public during daylight hours.
More information about hiking at the Park can be found at www.andersonmarsh.org or by calling AMIA at 707-995-2658.
The AmeriCorps team members who are making repairs at Anderson Marsh State Historic Park in Lower Lake, California. Courtesy photo.
A joint U.S.-European satellite built to monitor global sea levels lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California Saturday at 9:17 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.
About the size of a small pickup truck, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich will extend a nearly 30-year continuous dataset on sea level collected by an ongoing collaboration of U.S. and European satellites while enhancing weather forecasts and providing detailed information on large-scale ocean currents to support ship navigation near coastlines.
"The Earth is changing, and this satellite will help deepen our understanding of how," said Karen St. Germain, director of NASA's Earth Science Division. "The changing Earth processes are affecting sea level globally, but the impact on local communities varies widely. International collaboration is critical to both understanding these changes and informing coastal communities around the world."
After arriving in orbit, the spacecraft separated from the rocket's second stage and unfolded its twin sets of solar arrays. Ground controllers successfully acquired the satellite's signal, and initial telemetry reports showed the spacecraft in good health.
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich will now undergo a series of exhaustive checks and calibrations before it starts collecting science data in a few months' time.
Continuing the legacy
The spacecraft is named in honor of Michael Freilich, the former director of NASA's Earth Science Division, who was a leading figure in advancing ocean observations from space. Freilich passed away Aug. 5, 2020. His close family and friends attended the launch of the satellite that now carries his name.
"Michael was a tireless force in Earth sciences. Climate change and sea level rise know no national borders, and he championed international collaboration to confront the challenge," said ESA (European Space Agency) Director of Earth Observation Programmes Josef Aschbacher. "It's fitting that a satellite in his name will continue the 'gold standard' of sea level measurements for the next half-decade. This European-U.S. cooperation is exemplary and will pave the way for more cooperation opportunities in Earth observation."
"Mike helped ensure NASA was a steadfast partner with scientists and space agencies worldwide, and his love of oceanography and Earth science helped us improve understanding of our beautiful planet," added Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator for science at the agency's headquarters. "This satellite so graciously named for him by our European partners will carry out the critical work Mike so believed in – adding to a legacy of crucial data about our oceans and paying it forward for the benefit of future generations."
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich will continue the sea level record that began in 1992 with the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite and continued with Jason-1 (2001), OSTM/Jason-2 (2008), and eventually Jason-3, which has been observing the oceans since 2016.
Together, these satellites have provided a nearly 30-year record of precise measurements of sea level height while tracking the rate at which our oceans are rising in response to our warming climate.
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich will pass the baton to its twin, Sentinel-6B, in 2025, extending the current climate record at least another 10 years between the two satellites.
Global science impact
This latest mission marks the first international involvement in Copernicus, the European Union's Earth Observation Programme.
Along with measuring sea levels for almost the entire globe, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich's suite of scientific instruments will also make atmospheric measurements that can be used to complement climate models and help meteorologists make better weather forecasts.
"NASA is but one of several partners involved in Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, but this satellite speaks to the very core of our mission," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. "Whether 800 miles above Earth with this remarkable spacecraft or traveling to Mars to look for signs of life, whether providing farmers with agricultural data or aiding first responders with our Disasters program, we are tirelessly committed not just to learning and exploring, but to having an impact where it's needed."
The initial orbit of Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is about 12.5 miles (20.1 kilometers) lower than its ultimate operational orbit of 830 miles (1,336 kilometers).
In less than a month, the satellite will receive commands to raise its orbit, trailing Jason-3 by about 30 seconds. Mission scientists and engineers will then spend about a year cross-calibrating data collected by the two satellites to ensure the continuity of sea level measurements from one satellite to the next.
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich will then take over as the primary sea level satellite and Jason-3 will provide a supporting role until the end of its mission.
"This mission is the very essence of partnership, precision, and incredible long-term focus," said Michael Watkins, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the mission. "Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich not only provides a critical measurement, it is essential for continuing this historic multi-decadal sea level record."
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich and Sentinel-6B compose the Sentinel-6/Jason-CS (Continuity of Service) mission developed in partnership with ESA. ESA is developing the new Sentinel family of missions to support the operational needs of the Copernicus program, managed by the European Commission.
Other partners include the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, or EUMETSAT, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with funding support from the European Commission and technical support from France's National Centre for Space Studies.
"The data from this satellite, which is so critical for climate monitoring and weather forecasting, will be of unprecedented accuracy," said EUMETSAT Director-General Alain Ratier. "These data, which can only be obtained by measurements from space, will bring a wide range of benefits to people around the globe, from safer ocean travel to more precise prediction of hurricane paths, from greater understanding of sea level rise to more accurate seasonal weather forecasts, and so much more."
JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, is contributing three science instruments to each Sentinel-6 satellite: the Advanced Microwave Radiometer for Climate, the Global Navigation Satellite System – Radio Occultation, and the Laser Retroreflector Array.
NASA is also contributing launch services, ground systems supporting operation of the NASA science instruments, the science data processors for two of these instruments, and support for the U.S. component of the international Ocean Surface Topography Science Team.
The launch is managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
While it may be deflating, events like the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade are best watched from home this year. Here, the Harold the Fireman balloon lies face down as he readied for the parade on Nov. 27, 2019. Gary Hershorn via Getty Images
As Americans prepare for the first Thanksgiving in the time of the coronavirus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a stark warning a week before the big day: Don’t travel.
No over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s condo. No flying to a beach gathering with the family you choose.
And if it sounds like the CDC is trying to be like the Grinch who stole Thanksgiving, it is important to remember the grim statistic of more than a quarter of a million people dead from COVID-19. There is no mistaking: The coronavirus is out of control.
Ultimately, lowering the staggering numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths lies squarely with us. Yes, governments can mandate actions; but we’re the ones responsible for adhering to them. Our failure is clear when you look at the latest numbers: Deaths from the virus are projected to soon approach 2,000 Americans a day, and cases continue to climb in the vast majority of states.
If national numbers don’t spur action, will it help to localize the problem? You can find out what’s happening closer to home here at the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Drill down to see the data in your state and county, then take a moment to pause and consider the catastrophic consequences. It’s still within our power to reverse course and lower these numbers. But as a public health scholar and researcher, I can tell you that as infections increase, the more difficult that becomes.
Even the rural states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Wyoming are experiencing tremendous surges. Exhausted hospitals and health care workers across the U.S. are becoming overwhelmed, if not already there. Overwhelmed systems place care at risk. Those with other health conditions need medical intervention and hospitalization. And those with a lax attitude about COVID-19 put themselves at increased risk for negative health outcomes.
Modifying our behavior minimizes the chances to spread infection. But this is a big task. Government actions are most effective when based on local data and the option to loosen or tighten restrictions based on solid information. We should not view these actions as an attempt to take away our civil liberties. Instead, we should think of them as liberating, a way to keep us away from the virus.
It is not too late to modify your behavior if you’ve been reluctant to accept the realities of the virus. With promising vaccines on the horizon, our challenge as individuals is to reduce current infection numbers. And to do that, everyone must commit to established public health strategies.
Always mask up when indoors and around people who don’t live in your household.
Always mask up when outdoors and unable to maintain physical distancing.
Use either disposable masks or a multi-layer tightly woven cotton mask. Single-layer kerchiefs are insufficient.
When you mask up, make sure it fits your face and covers both nose and mouth. Wash or sanitize your hands after touching or removing the mask.
Remember that masks are not a substitute for physical distancing.
Maintain at least six feet of distance between you and others outside of your household.
Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for 20 seconds, or use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
Avoid motions that transfer organisms from your hands to your face. Your mouth, nose and eyes have mucous membranes that are potentially receptive to these organisms.
Clean frequently touched surfaces.
Do as much as possible outside and keep interactions with others short.
Fortify ventilation systems for more frequent air exchanges.
Curtail in-person holiday celebrations with those not in your household.
Celebrations are particularly challenging because it’s difficult for everyone to self-quarantine for the 14 days prior to the event. Also, events are typically inside rather than out; spacing of six feet may not be an option; ventilation systems in our energy-efficient homes are likely COVID-19-insufficient; and one cannot be masked while eating.
So for Thanksgiving, do a virtual gathering instead. Cook the same menu in different houses to promote a sense of sharing. Send e-cards to each other with a personal note and wish for a good holiday. Or do a Zoom call where all can speak and express thankfulness for the ability to still be able to connect this year.
It is not unusual for COVID-19 patients to rage when they discover that those around them dismissed or downplayed the wisdom and experience of scientists and doctors about the realities of the pandemic. But there is no need to give up, even in the face of increasingly frightening statistics. Instead, now is the time we need to commit not just to ourselves, but to one another. What’s standing in the way of curtailing the numbers of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths is us.