NORTH COAST, Calif. — A moderately sized earthquake that occurred on Saturday night in Mendocino County was the latest in a series of quakes near Talmage that Lake County residents have reported feeling over the past week.
The latest quake, measuring 3.7 in magnitude, occurred at 10:27 p.m. Saturday 2.7 miles east of Talmage and about two miles west of the Lake County line, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
It was reported at a depth of 4.3 miles, the survey said.
As of 3 a.m. Sunday, there were 165 shake reports submitted from around Lake and Mendocino counties.
That quake was located a short distance away from two others earlier in the week.
A 3.8-magnitude quake occurred near Talmage at 10:44 p.m. Thursday, also at a depth of 4.3 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The survey said 314 shake reports were submitted for that quake.
The first, and smallest, of the quakes occurred on Tuesday at 1:20 p.m. at a depth of 1.2 miles.
There were 122 shake reports submitted for that quake, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
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. — Weather forecasters and air quality officials are predicting a Labor Day weekend with smoky skies and warmer temperatures.
The National Weather Service said temperatures are expected to rise into the 90s over the weekend across much of the county, with the hottest temperatures — near the century mark — in south Lake County.
The forecast also includes a prediction of widespread haze on Saturday and Sunday, with conditions starting to clear on Monday.
The Lake County Air Quality Management District said that stable atmospheric conditions together with light winds are expected to result in smoke levels increasing throughout the county this weekend.
Fires including the Monument, McCash, Dixie and Caldor continue to create regional smoke impacts throughout Lake County and the Western States, the Air Quality Management District reported.
The district said Lake County experienced good to moderate air quality on Friday.
However, the air quality forecast through Sunday will range from “moderate” (Air Quality Index of 51 to 100) to “unhealthy for sensitive groups” (AQI of 101 to 151) with areas at lower elevations expected to experience the most smoke impacts.
Current weather models indicate smoke building during the early morning hours with gradual clearing during the daytime.
Much of the smoke is expected to stay in the Highway 101 corridor on Saturday, while Lake County should experience mostly good to moderate air quality.
The district said to expect fluctuating periods of poorer air quality as the occasional wind gusts push that smoke into our area.
On Sunday, the district said Lake County will see a change with most areas of the county forecast to reach “unhealthy for sensitive groups” throughout the day.
On Monday the district anticipates some clearing of the smoke with air quality expected to reach moderate levels based on the current weather forecast.
For more information visit the district’s website and follow the quick links for air monitoring for current smoke and air quality conditions.
What's up for September? Moving fast in the cosmos with planet Mercury, and stars Arcturus and Altair.
You'll have to be quick to catch a glimpse of Mercury this month, as the innermost and fastest-moving planet — namesake of the fleet-footed, mythological messenger — appears low in the west for a short time following sunset.
But those with a clear view toward the horizon will be rewarded with some nice planetary groupings in the first week and a half of September.
You'll find Mercury just a few degrees above the western horizon about half an hour after the Sun sets, with much brighter Venus higher and slightly farther to the south. On the 9th and 10th look for the pair to be joined by the crescent Moon.
In between the two planets is the bright star Spica, which is actually two stars orbiting each other at a distance 3 times closer than Mercury orbits our Sun!
Mercury should be visible for you from mid-northern latitudes on south. The farther south you are, the longer Mercury will be above the horizon for you before it sets.
In addition to Spica, two other bright stars you can easily spot early in the evening in September are Arcturus and Altair.
Arcturus is the brightest star in the northern sky. It owes this status largely to the fact that it's relatively closeby, at about 37 light years from our solar system.
You can find Arcturus in the west in the first couple of hours after it gets dark.
Look for the Big Dipper and follow its handle over toward the south about the width of an outstretched hand. It's easy to remember with the phrase "arc to Arcturus."
One interesting thing about Arcturus is that, compared to other stars, it's moving extremely fast with respect to our solar system. In fact, the discovery of the star's motion was a huge moment in astronomy. Before that, the positions of stars were thought to be fixed and unchanging. After Edmund Halley's discovery, the understanding that the stars move around as independent objects began to take hold.
After you've found orange-colored Arcturus, spin yourself toward the south-southeast to find Altair. You'll spy it hanging right above Saturn all month – in fact it's about as high above Saturn as Saturn is from the horizon.
Altair is a bright white-colored star, which makes for a nice color comparison with Arcturus and nearby Antares. At just 17 light years away, it's definitely one of the closest bright stars to our solar system.
One of the coolest things about Altair is that it rotates so fast that it's flattened into an oval shape. Since it's so closeby, astronomers have actually been able to image this fast-spinner's flattened shape directly.
So look for Altair and Arcturus in the September sky – two bright, nearby stars that, along with Mercury, each have their own spin on what it means to be fast.
You can catch up on all of NASA's missions to explore the solar system and beyond at www.nasa.gov.
Preston Dyches works for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control has several dogs of mixed breeds waiting for their new families.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Australian kelpie, husky, Labrador retriever, mastiff, pit bull, rat terrier, Rhodesian Ridgeback, shepherd and terrier.
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 website not listed are still “on hold”).
This 5-year-old American pit bull terrier mix has a short brindle coat.
He is in kennel No. 12, ID No. LCAC-A-1483.
Male Labrador retriever
This 2-year-old male Labrador retriever has a short black coat with white markings.
He is in kennel No. 19, ID No. LCAC-A-1349.
‘Oliver’
“Oliver” is a 1-year-old Australian kelpie-rat terrier mix with a short tricolor coat.
He is in kennel No. 20, ID No. LCAC-A-1551.
‘Jim’
“Jim” is a 2-year-old pit bull terrier mix with a short black and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 23, ID No. LCAC-A-810.
Female mastiff
This 2-year-old female mastiff has a short brindle and white coat.
She weighs 102 pounds.
She is in kennel No. 24, ID No. LCAC-A-1395.
‘Rosco’
“Rosco” is 3-year-old a male Rhodesian Ridgeback-Shepherd mix with a short tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 25, ID No. LCAC-A-1205.
Female pit bull terrier
This 4-year-old female pit bull terrier mix has a short white coat.
She is in kennel No. 29, ID No. LCAC-A-812.
Male husky
This 2-year-old male husky has a red and cream coat.
He is in kennel No. 32, ID No. LCAC-A-1024.
Male pit bull mix
This 2-year-old male pit bull terrier mix has a short brindle coat.
He is in kennel No. 33, ID No. LCAC-A-1528.
‘Ghost’
“Ghost” is a 2-year-old female husky with an all-white coat and blue eyes.
She is in kennel No. 34, ID No. LCAC-A-1167.
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.
LAKEPORT, Calif. — Authorities said they took a woman into custody last weekend for arson after she set a fire on a city-owned property.
Janis Lynn Martinez, 38, a transient from the Lakeport area, was taken into custody on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 28, the Lakeport Police Department reported.
At 9:15 a.m. that day, Lakeport Police, with the assistance of the Lake County Sheriff's Office and Lakeport Fire Protection District, arrested Martinez for arson after witnesses identified her as having started a fire against the structure known as the old Natural High School.
The building is in the city’s parklands on North Main Street, and next to the new Lakefront Park development.
Authorities said Martinez is believed to have also started a nearby fire just minutes beforehand.
Both fires were extinguished before any significant damage resulted, officials said.
Martinez was booked into the Lake County Jail on a felony charge of arson of a structure, with bail set at $50,000. Jail records show that she also is being held on a misdemeanor charge of trespassing.
She remained in custody on Saturday, according to booking records.
Martinez is scheduled to appear in Lake County Superior Court on Sept. 27.
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. — The Clearlake City Council on Thursday evening received an update from staff on the ongoing work to help those displaced by the Cache fire and the complications in moving the recovery work forward.
Most of the meeting, which ran over an hour, was devoted to discussing aspects of the Cache fire response and efforts to transition into recovery.
The 83-acre fire began on Aug. 18 in the area of Sixth Avenue at Cache Street, burning 56 homes and 81 outbuildings.
City Manager Alan Flora said the fire’s emergency shelter at the senior and community center on Bowers Avenue closed on Thursday.
All of those taking shelter at the facility — where evacuees were moved on Aug. 21 — have been moved to temporary accommodations, which Flora described as a “patchwork” of options.
He said North Coast Opportunities, or NCO, has been instrumental in placing people in a variety of programs, some of them short-term.
Flora said it’s been unexpectedly difficult to track everyone down and figure out what their needs are, and he said he believed they had 25 people — or, later in the meeting, clarified that 25 units including multiple family members — are in need of short-term housing.
While the city declared an emergency and the Board of Supervisors ratified local and health emergencies declared by the sheriff and Public Health officer, respectively, Flora said the state of California has yet to declare a disaster, although it has done so for other larger incidents. On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s request for federal assistance for other incidents was approved by President Joe Biden.
Congressman John Garamendi and Mike Thompson have both sent letters to Newsom asking that the Cache fire be added into the state declaration and the request for federal assistance. Flora said he doesn’t know if it’s going to happen or not because of the incident’s smaller footprint.
However, he pointed out that the Cache fire’s damage was very concentrated. In addition to the structures destroyed, 158 vehicles were burned, which is more than were burned in the 2,200-acre Sulphur fire that burned in the city in October 2017, Flora said.
Flora said the city has submitted an initial damage assessment that is being reviewed by the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, which has had a team in the city over the last few days.
Currently, the city is estimating the impact to private property and cleanup efforts and the city response will cost $14.5 million, of which $11 million is in cleanup and recovery costs. “That’s excluding the private property damage,” Flora said, noting the estimate will continue to be refined.
The state is looking at the damage estimate and will forward it up the chain, where it will be determined if it will be added to the state’s larger disaster declaration. In the meantime, Flora said the city will continue to be the squeaky wheel.
Cleanup work and challenges with water systems
Flora said the city barricaded some areas to keep it off limits to nonproperty owners, and the state conducted a household hazardous waste cleanup this week — removing batteries and fuel tanks. The cleanup was completed with the exception of one structure on a property north of Dam Road that was determined to be unsafe to occupy; the property will be cleared once the structure is taken down.
Flora said there also are challenges with water systems in the area.
The water system for the Cache Creek Mobile Home Park, which lost three homes and had one damaged, was destroyed and the Konocti County Water District installed a water connection last week. But Flora said it isn’t a long-term solution.
Flora said he found out on Wednesday that Creekside Mobile Home Park, where much of the damage occurred, also had its water line to the Lower Lake County Water Works district damaged. He said the district said it’s up to the property owner to repair, with the estimated cost in the range of a couple hundred thousand dollars. The property owner said he doesn’t have the money.
In the meantime, four mobile homes that were not damaged in that park could be occupied if they have water, and some are being lived in now, Flora said. He said Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has installed generators and temporary power there.
Flora said the city needs to make a decision about water supply as it may have to red-tag the homes, although they don’t want to displace more people.
He said it’s been frustrating, with more effort needed to resolve the situation both on the part of the water district and the property owner. Flora has spoken to the Konocti County Water District and that district is willing to try to help out.
The city also has sent portable toilets to the park and is taking out extra water left over from the evacuation shelter. Flora said the city will bring up the situation to state Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry to see if they can offer additional resources.
What’s getting more important every day, Flora said, is Environmental Health has determined there are toxic materials throughout the fire area, with a lot of ash and fire debris in Cache Creek currently.
“Presumably we have some rain coming sometime soon,” he said.
Cal OES has sent the California Conservation Corps out to install some mitigations, like wattles. A state water board representative was in Clearlake on Thursday to conduct planning, and the city has given the state room to store materials at its corporation yard, Flora said.
Councilman Russ Cremer asked if Yolo County Flood Control & Water Conservation District, which has the chief water rights to Clear Lake, is offering help.
“They’re certainly aware of it. No one is anxious to offer any help thus far, unfortunately,” Flora said.
Flora said the city was trying to estimate the cost to protect the watershed from debris in the case of a rain event. Without a state emergency declaration, he said it could cost $3 million, and they’re not seeing much sign of insurance from the property owner.
Working on options for housing, other assistance
The next priority is the overall private property cleanup and rebuilding effort, Flora said.
“Again, that’s going to be a challenge, because the vast majority of folks were not insured. So unless there is state and federal assistance, it’s going to be very difficult to see significant cleanup,” he said.
The council also added an emergency item on Thursday approving an agreement with NCO for short-term housing for Cache fire survivors.
“We have indications that there will be some level of state assistance for short-term housing assistance, whether we get a state declaration or not,” said Flora.
He said Cal OES has some philanthropic connections and will be able to piece some things together.
Fire survivors have been getting some short-term assistance — some for up to five days — that Flora said is going to run out.
He recommended the city use $100,000 from its low and moderate income housing fund, which should provide about 30 days worth of housing for those who need it. That is meant to help bridge the gap until other options can be put together.
Flora said NCO is interested in helping to administer this program and in working with the city on more permanent medium- and long-term housing options.
The council voted unanimously to approve the agreement with NCO.
Cremer reported during the meeting that the Lake Area Rotary Club Association has so far raised $39,000 for Cache fire recovery and is working on allocating $30,000 in gift cards for survivors.
Also on Thursday, the council discussed the state redistricting process and making a request to be kept together with the rest of Lake County — the county is currently split — as well as Napa and Sonoma counties, and presented a proclamation declaring September 2021 as Senior Center Month.
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.
It’s reasonable that people who would normally chip in to alleviate suffering in any of these situations might not know how to help. The Conversation U.S. asked Patrick Rooney, an economist at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy who has studied disaster giving for decades, three questions to clear up some of the concerns that many donors might have.
1. How long will donors give after disasters?
Generally, not long enough.
Given all of the disasters affecting the United States and the entire world at the same time, it’s reasonable for many people who want to donate to be unsure about what they should do. Whether you prefer to focus on the short run or the long run, I think it makes sense to donate now, but not necessarily to the most recent need that has come to your attention.
In the short run, refugees from Afghanistan and displaced people from Haiti, Louisiana and elsewhere all need “hots and cots” – disaster-speak for hot meals and somewhere to sleep.
In the long run, their needs will differ, but grow in terms of their significance and costs. Wherever refugees settle down, most families will need housing and their breadwinners will need jobs. Before becoming gainfully employed, many of those workers will require training and education.
Following these disasters, roads, bridges, utilities, schools and other infrastructure will need to be rebuilt, and people could take a long time to rebuild their lives. That’s why efforts to help with recovery need your help now and will need more help later this year, next year and possibly for a much longer period of time.
In studying disaster giving, my colleagues and I have generally found, with few exceptions, that roughly half of all the money raised through donations tends to be donated within the first four to six weeks after disasters. By the fifth or sixth month, donations usually slow to a trickle even as needs continue.
2. Do people who donate after disasters give less to their favorite causes?
Ample evidence indicates that this doesn’t usually happen.
My colleagues and I researched U.S. donations to causes tied to 9/11 disaster relief, as well as giving to other charities before and after the 2001 terrorist attacks. We found no evidence that giving related to 9/11 diminished support for other charities.
A team of philanthropy researchers has studied disaster relief giving in the United Kingdom using data garnered from more than 100,000 donors over a five-year period. They also found that disaster relief giving does not displace giving to other charities.
My IUPUI colleagues, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy and the philanthropy research group Candid collaborated on a survey of 1,243 households about their giving in 2017 and 2018. About 30% made donations annually that were tied to at least one disaster. Only 8% of these donors said that disaster giving led them to cut back on what they gave to other charities.
In other words, donors who support causes linked to disasters keep on supporting their local food pantry, favorite animal shelter, alma mater, congregation and other usual causes. And they generally do this in the same amounts as in other years.
However, things could be different this time around. There’s no precedent for so many disasters occurring simultaneously during a pandemic.
3. Did 9/11 change how people give?
Yes.
The estimated US$2.8 billion that Americans gave to causes related to the harm caused by the terrorists attacks marked the beginning of new patterns in disaster philanthropy that persist today.
Unfortunately, this trend has created the temptation for abuse and fraud: Misleading websites can amass donations intended for urgent needs that instead line the pockets of people who don’t need the money. While the actual dollar amounts lost to fraud is unknowable, philanthropy scholars do not believe they represent a large share of the billions of dollars raised annually for disaster relief.
To avoid scammers, I recommend giving directly to reputable, well-established charities with experience in disaster relief and recovery. Also watch out for sound-alike and look-alike fraudulent names – such as branding that resembles a familiar charity but isn’t connected to that trusted organization.
What has not changed is the need for giving that lasts years rather than months following a major disaster. For example, I see the devastation in the wake of Haiti’s 2021 earthquake as a graphic reminder that many of the infrastructure needs from the 2010 earthquake remain unmet despite the $13.5 billion in government and private aid spent in its aftermath – amid chronic mismanagement and even abuse.
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The Employment Development Department today published its annual Labor Day Briefing, which examines state and regional labor market trends and details California’s in-demand occupations.
California gained an average of 105,500 nonfarm jobs per month during the 15-month recovery from April 2020 to July 2021 — a level of job growth not seen since the current tracking method was introduced in 1990.
Before the pandemic, the largest monthly job gain on record was 98,500 in April 2016.
Growth has averaged over 111,000 jobs gained per month this year.
The department also analyzed thousands of job postings across California to identify the most in-demand occupations.
Registered nurses and general and operations managers top the list of high-skill occupations that are in demand — with just over 20,000 recent job postings for nurses and over 8,000 job postings for managers.
Truck driving has also seen steady growth with 8,400 job postings statewide. Demand for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks also remains strong with 4,400 job ads posted.
Retail salespersons, laborers, and freight and stock workers are among the entry-level jobs requiring a high school diploma or less that are in high demand.
California hit a peak unemployment rate of 16% (April 2020) during the pandemic, which was quickly followed by unemployment falling in every region of the state.
California’s recovery, which turned 15 months old in July 2021, has featured rapidly falling unemployment and robust job growth.
Leisure and hospitality posted the largest industry sector job gain from April 2020 to July 2021, adding 558,500 jobs.
Statewide, regional employment also strengthened, with every region showing year-over job gains as of July 2021.
Los Angeles had the largest year-over gain (242,800 jobs), followed by Orange (116,400) and Bay-Peninsula (98,600).
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The city of Lakeport is moving forward with the process of increasing rates for utility customers.
In a unanimous vote at its Aug. 17 meeting, the Lakeport City Council approved a resolution declaring its intention to adopt increased water and sewer rates over a five-year period, 2022 to 2026.
Finance Director and Assistant City Manager Nick Walker said they are only allowed to set the utility rates on a five-year basis.
City officials said the last utility rate study for Lakeport was completed in 2012, and utility rates have not increased since 2017.
The council also has set a public hearing on the new rates for Oct. 19 and directed staff to provide notice to ratepayers pursuant to Proposition 218, which sets the requirements for notifications and how to protest.
The council also accepted a resolution establishing guidelines for the submission and tabulation of protests in connection with rate hearings conducted pursuant to the California Constitution.
The city hired Willdan Financial Services to do the rate study. The firm gave an initial presentation on the utility increase study on May 4, at which time the council gave the go-ahead to complete the final study.
Walker told the council that staff had worked closely with the consultant to prepare a study that meets the regulatory requirements.
Daryll Parker and Michael Cronin of Willdan attended the meeting via Zoom to explain the study and their proposal.
Their presentation and information about the study has been posted here on the city of Lakeport’s website.
“It’s been awhile since you’ve had a rate study,” said Parker, explaining the city hasn’t looked at its rates in nine years.
If the city keeps to the status quo and makes no changes, Parker said it won’t be able to meet its debt service requirements and would have no cash for operations and capital.
Because the city hasn’t changed its rates in some time, the rates would have larger increases at the beginning of the five-year increase, which is from 2022 to 2026.
While the rates are not as much as they want, “they’re going in the right direction,” Parker said.
Based on bill comparisons created by the study, an average single-family residential water customer — all of whom are billed at the ⅝ by ¾ inch service charge rate — with a monthly flow of 800 cubic feet has an existing bill of $53.09, which would rise to $61.48 in the first year, and to $71.49 by the fifth year in 2026.
For sewer, in the first year that same customer, with the same monthly water flow, would see their bill increase from $74.25 to $79.50, and to $86.05 by year five.
The combined bills for that average customer would rise from $$127.34 to $157.54 over five years, with the largest increase, $13.64, coming in the first year.
Assuming that proposed 10.71% increase, Willdan reported that Lakeport will remain in the middle of the pack when compared to water systems: Kelseyville, north Lakeport (operated by Lake County Special Districts), Cloverdale, Esparto, Ukiah, Willits, Hidden Valley Lake, Healdsburg, Calistoga and St. Helena.
Parker said the next steps include setting the October public hearing, mailing out the Proposition 218 notice, conducting the public hearing, and then adopting and implementing the new rates.
Councilman Michael Froio asked if COVID-19 and drought will have an impact on the rates.
“We don’t know yet,” said Parker, adding that it’s possible and it may need to be addressed in a few years based on what the city sees in its system.
Walker said the city’s calculations included base customers, not the proposed South Main Street annexation area, as they felt that would be presumptuous.
He said he didn’t see the drought creating more revenue due to seeing more conservation.
Froio asked if the city was seeing less revenue due to conservation. Walker said it was too early to tell, that the city has asked customers to voluntarily cut back 15% and he believes there may be more state requirements once the gubernatorial recall election is past.
City Manager Kevin Ingram said the city saw quite a bit of reduction in water use due to behavioral changes following the last rate increase in 2012 and the last drought in 2014. Since then the city hasn’t seen a significant growth in use as those behavioral changes have remained in place.
Councilwoman Stacey Mattina asked about planned utility projects. Walker said they include work on the Scotts Creek wells; water main replacements on Armstrong Street, Lakeshore Drive, Lakeport Boulevard and Lupoyoma Circle; and equipment replacement; among other system upgrades.
Both Councilman Michael Green and Mayor Kenny Parlet agreed during the meeting that the council needs to have another rate study done at the end of the five-year rate increase period.
“Costs are just escalating at unbelievable rates,” and the city doesn’t need to wait nine, 10 or 11 years to study the rates again, Parlet said.
Mattina said the last time a rate study was done nine years ago it was very painful, and while it was put off, “It was time to get to it.” Now it’s not as painful, it’s doable and well done, she said.
Ingram said they can add future studies into the city’s capital expenditure program.
Froio made separate motions to accept the two resolutions, which the council approved 5-0.
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.
The study of active asteroids is a relatively new field of solar system science, focusing on objects that have asteroid-like orbits but look more like comets, with visual characteristics such as tails.
Because finding an active asteroid is such a rare event, fewer than 30 of these solar system bodies have been found since 1949, so there is still much for scientists to learn about them.
Roughly only one out of 10,000 asteroids are classified as active asteroids, so an enormous number of observations will be needed over the span of many years to yield a larger sample for study.
Through funding from a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program award in 2018, doctoral student Colin Orion Chandler in Northern Arizona University’s Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science just launched an ambitious new project, Active Asteroids, which is designed to engage volunteers in the search for more of these enigmatic objects.
The highly competitive and prestigious program, awarded to only 15 percent of the more than 2,000 yearly applicants, provides three years of funding for Chandler’s research.
“With the generous help of Citizen Scientists,” said Chandler, project founder and principal investigator, “we hope to quadruple the number of known active asteroids and encourage study of an ambiguous population of solar system objects, knowledge of which is currently hampered due to a very small sample size.”
The implications of finding more active asteroids for science and engineering are far-reaching, including:
— Helping to answer key unsolved questions about how much water was delivered to Earth after it formed, and where that water originated.
— Advising searches for life about where water—a prerequisite for life as we understand it—is found, both in our own solar system and other star systems, too.
— Informing spaceflight engineers seeking more practical, inexpensive and environmentally responsible sources of fuel, air and water.
— Appraising volatile availability for prospective asteroid mining efforts and sample-return missions.
In preparation for the launch, Chandler, an NAU Presidential Fellow, conducted the beta review phase of the project, enlisting the help of more than 200 volunteers, who completed 4,798 classifications of 295 objects.
“I am very, very excited the project is finally launching,” he said. “The project has been years in the making, from selection by the NSF until this launch. Even during the preparations for the project launch, we have made several important discoveries, including discovering a new active object and uncovering information about several previously known objects. These discoveries have led to three publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals, with another one in the works right now.”
As part of the testing phase, the team noticed an unusual "smudge" kept showing up around one particular object.
The object was a Centaur, an icy body with an orbit between Jupiter and Neptune. The team carried out follow-up observations with other telescopes and discovered the object was active, one of only about 20 active Centaurs discovered since 1929, and published their findings in the Astrophysical Journal Letters (see related article).
Although it will depend on the number of volunteers participating and how quickly they complete classifications, the duration of the project could be up to one year.
Chandler hopes to recruit thousands of volunteers to participate. No previous astronomy experience is needed; training is provided online through the Zooniverse platform where the project is housed.
“We need to examine 5,000 square degrees of the sky in the Southern Hemisphere, which means there are many — more than 10 million — asteroid images to classify!” he said.
Co-founders of the project are Jay Kueny of Lowell Observatory and the University of Arizona, who began collaborating with Colin in creating the project when he was a senior at NAU — and who has since then also received a GRFP award from the NSF — and NAU associate professor Chad Trujillo, who serves as the project's Chief Science Advisor. Other contributors are graduate students Annika Gustaffson and William Oldroyd.
The project’s Science Advisory Board consists of several eminent scientists, including Henry Hsieh of the Planetary Science Institute, NAU professor David Trilling, NAU assistant professor Tyler Robinson and NAU assistant professor Michael Gowanlock.
Millions of unemployed Americans are set to lose pandemic-related jobless benefits after Labor Day – just as surging cases of coronavirus slow the pace of hiring.
In all, an estimated 8.8 million people will stop receiving unemployment insurance beginning on Sept. 6, 2021. An additional 4.5 million will no longer get the extra US$300 a week the federal government has been providing to supplement state benefits.
But with the pandemic still raging thanks to the rise of the delta variant, particularly in Southern states, the expiration of these benefits seems ill-timed. While some claim that the aid is no longer needed and doing more harm than good, webelieve that the data tell another story.
Benefits lost
Three federal programs created to support workers hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns expire on Sept. 6:
The Pandemic Extended Unemployment Compensation program offers 13 additional weeks in state unemployment benefits. An estimated 3.3 million people who were getting benefits through this program are set to lose them.
“We see ‘Help Wanted’ signs everywhere,” Idaho Republican Gov. Brad Little said on May 11, 2021. “We do not want people on unemployment. We want people working.”
But the data we have so far simply doesn’t back up these claims.
We compared employment growth in the 25 states that decided to drop the federal $300 supplement with those that kept it.
Total job creation in states that kept offering the federal supplement was 35% higher than in the ones that ended the program, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, suggesting the benefits aren’t keeping workers on the sidelines.
The same pattern holds for sectors of the economy hit hardest by COVID-19. Leisure and hospitality jobs, such as waitstaff and cooks, accounted for roughly 1 in 4 of all jobs lost in 2020. Hiring in those areas was 39% higher in July 2021 in states that kept the federal benefit.
This is consistent with a growingnumber of studies that show no correlation between the higher unemployment payments during the pandemic and lagging job growth.
We won’t know whether the trend continued until the state-by-state employment breakdown is released in mid-September. But for now, the evidence doesn’t support the claim that benefits keep folks at home.
Jobless Americans still need support
But we do know that people who want to work are still being prevented from doing so because of COVID-19.
The latest jobs report, released on Sept. 3, 2021, showed that 5.6 million people were unable to work in August because their employer closed or lost business because of the pandemic, up from 5.2 million in July.
As recently as late May, before the delta variant began causing caseloads to climb, pandemic-related unemployment claims were falling across all 50 states. Then, over June and July, claims spiked again as COVID-19 cases rippled across the country.
All this shows why all three programs are still so important.
The extended benefits give unemployed people more time to find a job while helping them cover basic expenses. Gig workers, like Uber drivers and other independent contractors, need unemployment benefits too, especially as 60% of them lost income during the pandemic and many continue to struggle as business activity remains subdued. These workers are also less likely to receive employer-sponsored benefits like health care.
And the $300 federal supplement is important because pre-pandemic state benefits – which are typically about $340 a week – replaced only 30% to 50% of lost earnings. Even with the supplement, for most people, it’s still less than what they were earning from their job.
Tough choices ahead
That’s why the expiring benefits mean so much to lower-income families, especially now that the Supreme Court has struck down the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s ban on evictions.
But after the benefits expire on Labor Day, making ends meet and staying in their homes will be significantly harder for millions of American families.
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LAKEPORT, Calif. — The pandemic canceled the Lake County Fair in 2020, but on Thursday it returned for another year, and Public Health is using the event to raise awareness, offer vaccinations and guidance on staying healthy.
Between now and Sunday, many thousands of people per day will stream through the fairgrounds, and Public Health officials said they want people to safely enjoy this important event.
The county of Lake and OPTUM are partnering to provide a mobile vaccination van on-site, each day of this year’s Lake County Fair.
Dr. Gary Pace, the county’s former Public Health officer who continues to assist on matters related to COVID-19, was on hand with staff in front of the fair on the opening night on Thursday evening to offer free COVID-19 vaccinations.
Lake County residents that get newly vaccinated against COVID-19 earn free admission to the Fair.
The vaccination van will be set up near the front fairgrounds gate from noon to 9 p.m. Friday, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
While getting vaccinated between now and Sunday will not offer protection while you are at the Fair, Public Health said it will significantly limit the likelihood you will have severe complications, should you be exposed to COVID in the future.
Looking ahead to what will be another fall and winter where people will wonder whether their runny nose is due to a cold or COVID, you will want to ensure you are protected, officials reported.
“The evidence is clear: for almost everyone, getting vaccinated is safe, and offers significant protection against severe illness and death. If you have concerns, simply waiting does nothing to limit your risk. Talk to your doctor today, and get your questions answered,” Pace said in a Thursday statement.
If you attend the fair, masking, even while outdoors, is strongly recommended. Physical distancing should additionally be practiced whenever possible. Wash or sanitize your hands frequently; think about this before using your hands to eat, for example, and if you have come in physical contact with other people.
Particularly if you are unvaccinated and/or have other significant medical conditions or other factors that impair your immune system and general health, you will want to strongly consider the risks associated with being around thousands of people from other households. Attending the fair may not be the right choice for everyone this year, in light of COVID-19, Public Health said.
Though many activities have resumed, COVID-19 remains highly prevalent in Lake County communities.
The most recent case rate reported by the state for Lake County is 43.6, more than four times the expanded Purple Tier threshold used in the latter phases of the State’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy” framework.
“We have now lost 77 residents to COVID-related illness, and 14 since July 1 — just after the Delta Variant was identified in Lake County. Unvaccinated individuals were seven times more likely to contract COVID-19 in Lake County in the period from Aug. 1 to 15. The vast majority of those recently hospitalized with severe complications have also been unvaccinated,” Public Health reported.
While enjoying the Fair between now and Sunday, please take care. Other Northern California counties have attributed increases in cases and hospitalization to large events since the state’s reopening, including fairs.
Frequently asked questions and further opportunities to get vaccinated in Lake County are also available here. If mobility issues or other barriers are keeping you from getting vaccinated, call 707-263-8174.